"Lexbal..." Balle muttered as the ship exited the portal.

"What?" Sora asked confused.

"Oh, nothing." Balle said. "Hey look, its that coliseum!" Sora looked out the window.

"Its Olympus Coliseum!" Sora exclaimed excited.

"Oh, yeah. With Hercules, right?" Balle asked. Sora nodded.

'This should be interesting.' Balle thought.

(Theme song: THE DAY by Porno Graffitti) (A/N: I DON'T OWN THIS SONG! Just my OCs.)

(Instrumental)

(The scene start with six light flashes showing Balle's true form.)

Shizukesa ga shimikomu

you de iki wo tometa gozen goji

(The next scene shows Balle standing up seeing his true form.)

Hijou kaidan de tsume wo kamu

Asu wa docchi da?

(The scene switches back the true form then Balle reaches out to try to touch the form.)

THE DAY HAS COME

(Then Balle's true form lifted his head then turned to face Balle a little bit smiling.)

(This scene shows the title Kingdom Hearts appearing in the shadows when Balle's sun mark shined making Soleil Seekers completing the title.)

Keshite akenai yoru mo

Furi tuzukete yamanai ame mo

Kono rokudemonai sekai ni wa arun da yo

(This scene shows Balle plunging in the darkness until a blue light appeared bringing Balle back to the light revealing it to be Aqua.)

Sukoshi mo hen de wa nai no

Madoromi ni ashi wo torareteru

Anata wo semete iru wake ja nain da yo

(The next scene show Balle adventuring with Sora, Donald, Goofy, and eight silhouette Keyblade wielders that are under Balle's lead.)

Hitori kuusou ni asobu

Soko de omoi egaita koto made hajiru no kai?

(This scene shows Balle and Lexbal staring at each other until the scene changes to Balle facing his Shadowside. They stared at each others eyes which narrows starting the clash which reveals Organization XIII. Balle summons his Keyblades then blasted fire.)

Karami au meikyuu meikyuu

Sore demo yuku to iu no?

(This scene shows Balle fighting all the Organization members leaving him and Xemnas clashing blades.)

Chiisaki tabibito ga

kanaderu hajimari no kane no ne

(The next scene shows Sora running after Riku and Kairi who both vanished.)

Yuku atemo DON'T KNOW DON'T KNOW

Hontou wa kowain ja nai no?

Fumidasu sono ippo ippo ga kaete yukeru sa

THE DAY HAS COME

(The last scene show Donald, Goofy and the eight Keyblade wielders attacking the Heartless and Nobodies which changes to Balle surrounded by pillars quickly standing up and unleashing the aura and form of Ultra Instinct. Then shows all the gang standing one by one at the beach watching the sunrise.)

The quartet stepped into the world after going through the Gummi Route. They had let Balle pilot the ship this time, and they surprisingly made it out unharmed. The pirate ship had been a pain, though... They now found themselves in a dark cavern.

The others were confused by their surrondings. "Are ya sure this is the coliseum?" Goofy asked.

"It's that way!" Donald exclaimed upon seeing a shinning staircase.

"Oh..." Sora muttered. "Guess we were a little off." They started to follow the duck when a scream caught their attention. They all looked back to see a woman with brown hair being chased by blue dog-like Heartless. She tripped and the Heartless surrounded her.

"Heartless!" Sora shouted. They ran over, but the dogs ran off upon catching sight of them. Sora held out a hand to help her up, but the woman shrugged it away.

"Thanks, but... I'm fine." she muttered. Sora kept his hand out and the woman took a good look at him. She stood on her own and asked, "And you're supposed to be?" she asked with a frown, arms crossed. Balle frowned at her attitude.

"I'm Sora." the boy introduced. "He's Donald, Goofy and Balle. We came here to see how Hercules is doing."

The woman looked at them in a calculating manner. "You know Wonderboy?"

"Wonderboy?" Balle repeated.

"Yeah, 'cause we're heroes, too!" Donald said sticking his chin up.

"Ahyuk, ya mean junior heroes, Donald." Goofy corrected him in a whisper. Donald scowled at him as Balle snickered.

The woman chuckled. "Looks like we have a friend in common." she remarked. "Name's Megara. My friends call me Meg."

"So how's Herc?" Sora inquired.

"Wonderboy?" she asked. "Well, he's duking it out at the Coliseum every day. You know, 'a hero's work is never done' and all that. He's ready to drop, but he keeps fighting. Even Wonderboy has his limits, though. These opponents are bad news - special deliveries from Hades himself..."

"Hades?" Donald exclaimed.

"Right." Meg nodded. "Lord of the Underworld. I was on my way to see him. Maybe I can get Hades to give Wonderboy a breather. If anything happened to that kid..."

"Gawrsh..." Goofy said softly. "Sounds like you're more than just friends!"

Megara blushed. "Oh... uh, I mean..." she stuttered. Balle chuckled.

Sora smiled. "We'll go have a little talk with Hades." he said. "I'd hate for anything to happen to you on your way to see him."

Meg seemed taken aback. "You really want to do that?" she asked. "Well, it looks like you know what you're doing. I guess I'll take you up on that offer. But... let's keep this whole chat-with-Hades thing our little secret, okay?" she pleaded.

"Our lips are sealed." Balle said as he 'zipped up his mouth'. Meg smiled gratefully before walking back towards the Coliseum. Balle turned back to see the others already heading through the door to the Cave of the Dead. He quickly ran after them. They found themselves in a large room with little balls of steam floating around. They fought their way past some Heartless and made their way into a tunnel. Just as they entered they saw a figure in a familiar black coat streak past them.

"It's the Organization!" Donald exclaimed after the figure disappeared. They quickly ran after the figure. They had to fight their way past more Heartless and falling boulders. Balle and Sora were running full speed, when a Large Body Heartless appeared before them. Balle jumped and kicked off of its belly, flipping backwards.

"This is getting annoying." Balle muttered as he summoned his Keyblades. Sora grunted as he charged at it. Balle glanced behind them, Donald and Goofy were quite a bit behind. He turned to see the Large Body slidding over to him on its belly as a frightening speed. It knocked him back, sending him flying into the wall. "Why you..." Balle growled angrily. He raised his Keyblade to strike back when the cave began rumbling. All combatants looked upward was the ceiling came crashing down upon them. Balle dove to the side and rolled away. He looked up from his position on the floor to see a pile of rubble. It had squashed the Heartless, which Balle way thankful for, however, it also had the unfortunate side effect of seperating him from his friends.

"Balle!" he heard Sora call frantically. "Balle, are you okay?"

"What happened?" he heard Donald's voice demand.

"The ceiling crashed down and it separated us from Balle." Sora explained. "Just hold on, Balle! We'll get you out!" Balle looked at the large pile of rubble and shook his head.

"That will take way too long!" he called back to them. "Just go on, I'll go down this tunnel and meet up with you guys later!" It was silent as Balle waited for a response.

"Alright..." he heard Sora say after several minutes. "If you're sure. Just be careful!"

"No need to worry!" Balle yelled with a grin.

"That's when we worry the most!" he heard Goofy chuckle. Balle smiled faintly and began his trek down the tunnel. His eyes narrowed as he felt the shadows around him closing in, sensing he was alone. He suddenly found himself surrounded by Shadows.. The fight was taking forever. They just kept coming!

"This isn't good." Balle muttered as he was back into a wall. He saw his pocket flash and smiled, knowing what was coming. Dark appeared by his side, ready for battle. "Alright, let's go!" She smiled as they were both lifted into the air. Dark began firing bolts of black energy, while Balle was creating a flurry of magic. The Heartless were being destroyed by the second. Finally, Balle and Dark clasped hands as they each pointed a weapon at the Heartless, Dark's Energy Blast and Balle's Fire magic combining. "Dark Burning Magic!" The surrounding Heartless were engulfed in jet black flames. As they landed, Balle turned and grinned at her, only to turn scarlet when he felt her lips on his cheek. He began stammering and she giggled at him before winking and disappearing in her card. Balle just stood there attempting to recover his composure. He reached into his pocket and pulled out her card. He could of sworn he saw the card wink at him.

He was about to say something to her when he heard the sounds of battle up ahead. Quickly forgetting what he was about to say, he dashed to the sound, placing her card back in his pocket. He came to the end of the tunnel and entered a large room lit by blue torches. In the center, he saw a woman with pink hair fending off several Rabid Dogs with what looked like a cross between a gun and a sword. He sent two Blizzard spells at the dogs, causing them to run off. The woman turned to him. She was rather pretty. She wore a white jacket that was buttoned halfway, revealing she had a navel piercing in the shape of a rose and a brown mini skirt. She wore combat boots and a red cape.

"Thanks, but I could have handled that myself." she said coldly. Balle shrugged.

"I'm sure you could have, with that sword of yours."

"Gunblade." she corrected. Balle nodded.

"So who are you?" Balle asked. "My name's Balle by the way." The woman stared at him.

"Lightning." she said simply. "What are you doing down here?"

Balle was slightly miffed at the attitude but answered nonetheless. "My friends and I were going to see Hades before we got separated."

"Why?" she demanded. Balle was taken aback.

"To ask him to lay off one of our friends." Balle answered hesitantly. Lightning scowled.

"Don't bother!" she spat. She clenched her fist. "He'll either outright ignore you, or find a loophole, just piss you off!"

"What did he do to you?" Balle asked her gently. She rounded on him.

"That's none of your business!" she growled. Balle raised his hands in surrender.

"You're right," Balle agreed. "It's none of my business. I'm sorry."

Lightning took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "No, I'm sorry." she said quietly. "I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"Well, if that's the way Hades is, my friends and I will just have to force him to." Balle remarked. He turned to her. "It sounds like you have a bone to pick with him, too. Why don't you come with me?"

She turned and stared at him. "I don't need your help." she said stiffly.

Balle blinked before shrugging and walking off. "Okay if you say so." he said. He had walked about fifteen feet when he was interrupted.

"Fine!" Lightning growled. Balle smirked and kept walking towards the other end of the room with Lightning in tow.

Meanwhile in a room, inside a skull-like giant statue (or is it a rock?) where a blue skinned man with a blue flame for hair, black Roman robe, and black eyes (where the white part is colored yellow); is sitting at a chair irritated.

With man are two imp-like demons. One is fat and colored magenta, and the other is skinny and colored teal. Also with them is none other than Pete.

"Where do they dig these freaks up? Geez Louise," the blue skinned guy grumbled while sitting in his throne-like chair.

"Ah, they're nuttin' but trouble, the whole lot of 'em," Pete agreed. "Now, what are you going to do about Hercules? He's made mince meat outta every fighter you sent at 'im." Pete started to laugh. "Pretty soon the Underworld's going to be standing room only!" Then he suggested: "Say, why don't you pick someone already dead and save him the trouble?"

The blue guy got up a bit in outrage, scaring the fat bad guy and the two imps, but then he calmed down as he reconsider the idea. "Dead…" He said then brightens up at the idea. "Dead is good! And I know just the warrior." Pete and the two imps still looked worried.

"Oh man… He's got that look again…" The magenta imp mumbled to the teal imp.

"Y-Yeah, I-I just hope that nothing would go wrong…" the teal imp replied back.

Hades walked towards a large pit and began chanting. The pit turned into a gigantic swirling green vortex. Pete walked over and gulped.

"By the by, uh... What's down there?" he asked. Hades walked up to him.

"Just the Underworld's deepest dungeon." he said casually. "This time I'm bringing out the mother of all bad guys."

Pete looked up to the blue guy and saw how serious he was. Stepping back, he stuttered, "You d-don't say?" He backed up against the wall with the two imps. "Well… maybe I should go."

Hades summoned two fireballs in his hands and threw them into the pit. They exploded and some smoke rose out of the pit. The smoke slowly turned crimson, beginning to spark.

After a few moments, a figure stepped out of the dissipating smoke. The figure is a man with ruffled black hair with a vertical scar over his left eye, his face is partly hidden by his red jacket that's long and over his black suit with one of his arms out of the sleeve, hanging in the bag of the front of the jacket. A black belt went around his jacket, holding his arm back.

Once the figure's feet touched the ground, the pit behind him closed. The figure opened his right eye, as the left isn't functioning because of the cut, revealing his eye to be brown. Hades laughed, but became serious once again.

"Let's cut to the chase," he began, "Here's the deal I'm gonna offer you. I let you out of the slammer- no strings- you'll be as free as a bird." The man began looking around the place while the blue guy is talking, setting his eyes on Pete and the two imps (who backed to the wall in fear). "And all for one little job. Fight Hercules… in the Coliseum… to the death!"

The man, however, smirked. "This is my story," he began, "And you're not part of it." He rested his blade, that seemed to appear out of nowhere, on his shoulder.

The blue guy was outraged. "Did you forget you're talking to?" He demanded, "I am the Lord of the Dead!"

"Heh, no wonder no one wants to die." the man said. This was the scene that Balle and Lightning walked in upon.

The blue guy then turned red. "You are fired!" He roared then charged at the man, who blocked the attack with his sword. Balle summoned his Keyblades while Lightning drew her Gunblade.

"Hades!" Balle shouted. Hades spotted them, turning blue once more. His attention was drawn to the door opposite them, where three familiar figures emerged.

"You again?" Hades demanded. Sora and the others were confused, before they spotted Balle.

"Balle!" Sora cried. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

The man had attacked Hades while he was distracted and threw him back. "Fight!" he shouted at them. Lightning smirked.

"Don't have to tell me twice." she said as she charged at Hades. The blue man knocker her weapon away.

"You... you're that girl that wanted me to find her sister." Hades said before smirking. "Tell me, did you ever find her?"

"Shut up!" she roared. 'So that's why she hates Hades...' Balle thought. Hades quickly turned red and tossed a fireball at the man, who dropped his guard there. He took the hit and was knocked down. Balle and Sora quickly ran over to see if he was okay.

"I'm fine, go!" he told them. Balle nodded and ran over to help out Lightning. She was knocked back, making her slide backwards.

"Something's wrong..." she muttered.

Hades smiled an evil smile at that. "That's right!" Hades said, "See, that's the thing. In the Underworld, heroes are zeroes. Comes with the territory." Balle charged at him and landed a three hit combo on him, knocking him backwards. Hades gaped at him before turning red. "How dare you? How dare you harm me in my Underworld?" he screamed as the flames on his head reached enormous level. "I am God of the Dead!" Hades was furious.

"This isn't good..." Balle muttered as he stepped back. Hades threw a fireball at him, but it was deflected by the man from before.

"We can't fight him here," he insisted. "We have to go... now!"

"But I've got to talk to Hades!" Sora complained.

"Don't bother, Sora." Balle said. "He wouldn't help anyway." Balle ran over and grabbed Lightning by the shoulder. "Let's go." She growled at Hades one last time before she followed he and the others out.

As they left the chamber, Sora and Goofy quickly closed the door. Donald gasped for breath. "Is he gone?" he asked.

"Don't count on it." the man said.

"Huh?" Sora mumbled in confusion. He looked over to his right and gasped out "Whoa!" when he saw Hades, leaning against the wall next to them.

Hades smirked at their surprised looks. "Leaving so soon?" He asked.

A barrier came up to their side, blocking the exit and Heartless surrounded Hades. "Oh great…" Balle moaned sarcastically. They figured the Heartless are holding the barrier, so they took care of those first while ignoring Hades. Finally, they got back to the chamber, Sora, Donald and Goofy were on the ground, exhausted. Balle was leaning against the wall with Lightning. The older man wasn't fazed at all, and simply stood there waiting.

Sora looked at the man. "Wow, you're really good," Sora remarked. "Are you some kind of hero?"

The man shook his head 'no'. "No. I'm no hero. I'm just an…" he began, then paused for a moment. "Auron." Goofy and Sora exchanged confused glances. "My name."

After they gave out an 'Oh…', Sora got up. "I'm Sora," he introduced himself.

Donald jumped on Sora's back, causing him to lose balance. "Donald Duck!" Donald introduced himself.

Then Goofy jumped onto Donald, making Sora lose balance some more. "Goofy!" Goofy introduced himself, then Sora collapsed because of their weight. Auron looked at the two leaning against the wall.

"And you?"

Balle helped the three to their feet before he answered. "I'm Balle."

"Lightning."

Auron turned to Sora and smirked. "It seems we were fated to meet," he said, "Looks like you could use a guardian."

Sora pushed Donald and Goofy off of him. "Guardian?" He repeated, "Thanks but no thanks." He stubbornly started walking out of the chamber. Balle just shook his head and began to follow him, Lightning trailing after. Auron chuckled and followed.

"I've got my Heartless all over the Underworld now," Pete told Hades as the Lord of the Dead walked back into his chamber after giving chase to the others. "You can leave those pipsqueaks to me. You just focus on turning Hercules into a Heartless! Then he'll be all mine!"

Hades suddenly ignited. "This is my Underworld, you idiot!" He yelled, "I'll take care of it myself!" Pete quickly backed off. Hades looked out the window and snapped his fingers. A 20-foot three headed black dog with red eyes came up to it. "Cerberus, go!" He commanded. The dog started running after the six of them.

The six made it back to the entrance chamber and Donald tried to push the gate open. "What? It's closed!" he exclaimed. Sora and Goofy went to help him. It didn't budge.

"Come on, open!" Sora grunted. Balle noticed that the door was chained with a giant lock on it. 'If Sora can do it, so can I.' he thought as he summoned Oathkeeper.

"Will that open it?" Auron asked.

"It should." Balle responded. He pointed it at the lock, but then they heard a roar behind them.

"What's that?" Lightning shouted, getting the trio's attention.

"Hurry!" Auron shouted, resting his sword on his shoulder. Then Cerberus came from the ceiling from nowhere. Balle nodded and pointed his Keyblade to the lock again. A blue beam shot out from the tip and entered the lock. The lock clicked open and disappeared.

"Cool…" Balle said as Donald and Goofy opened the gate and went through. Before Cerberus could block their path, Auron blocked it with his sword. Balle and Sora were about to leave the cave too after Lightning went through, but they looked back at Auron. They hesitated, but they went back to Auron. A barrier formed itself in front of the gate, preventing Donald, Goofy and Lightning to help them in battle.

"Sora!" Donald and Goofy shouted. Lightning simply looked at Balle in concern.

Balle, Sora and Auron charged at the three-headed dog, with Sora and Auron attacking the heads on the sides and Balle attacking the center. They did considerable damage to Cerberus, but it got irritated, thus it spun around knocking Auron and Sora off. Balle was dragged along by the heads.

Balle managed to push the side heads away from him, then launched himself into the air. The center head was about to bite him until he blocked it with his Keyblade. One of the side heads tried to bite him there, but Balle pulled his Keyblade out and jumped into the air. He descended to the dogs and slammed into the top of the center head. "So long!" The center head slammed into the ground, causing the two other heads to slam into each other, knocking all three out at the same time. Needless to say, everyone else was amazed.

"Let's go before that thing wakes up!" Balle shouted, snapping them all back to reality. He, Sora and Auron ran out after the barrier fell. He and Auron began pushing the gate closed. The dog saw it closing and ran up to it snarling. Sora, Donald and Goofy taunted Cerberus as the gate closed and Cerberus crashed into it.

"Whew…" Sora muttered. Balle noticed something and looked around.

"Hey, where did Auron go?" He asked. Indeed, Auron was gone.

Sora shrugged. "He can take care of himself," he said casually. "Let's just go back to the Coliseum and meet up with Meg. Then we can try this again."

Balle just sighed as he followed them. Lightning followed silently.

Meanwhile, Meg was in the Coliseum lobby with the red-orange haired man. "C'mon Wonderboy, play hooky for the day," Meg insisted.

The man, known as Hercules or 'Wonderboy' to Meg, shook his head. "Sorry Meg, but I can't," he apologized. "They needed me… They came to see a hero." He stood up. "Besides, what does a hero need a rest for?" He tried to flex his arm muscles, but couldn't due to his fatigue. He waved her bye with a smile and walked to the arena. Though he sighed tiredly.

Meg sighed. "Sora, Balle… don't let me down…" She whispered to herself.

Hades and Pete were silent in his chamber.

"So let's see if I got this right…" Hades began. "That brats' Keyblades work on any lock?"

"That's right!" Pete replied.

Hades laughed evilly. "Did I ever tell you about the killer coliseum we have right here in the Underworld?" He asked. Pete shook his head. "It makes the one upstairs look like an Olympic kiddie pool."

Pete slammed his fists on the table. "Then that's where we're going to end Herc the Jerk's winning streak!" He exclaimed.

"Problem," Hades interrupted. "Zeus locked it tight." Pete groaned at that. He noticed Hades looking at him, then his eyes widen as it hit him. "Exactly," Hades agreed, seeing that he'd gotten it. "Now, all we have to do is swipe that Keyblade and reopen the Underdrome!"

Pete chuckled evilly, but frowned. "But that Keyblade's kinda particular," he added in some bad news. "It won't work for just anybody. And those kids are no pushovers, either."

Hades thought about this. "I think this calls for a woman's touch," he said. He snapped his fingers, and a statue of Megara appeared in his hand.

Sora pushed open the Coliseum gates. The bright structure of Olympus Coliseum came into view. The five marveled at the sight before them. "Gawrsh, this sure brings back memories!" Goofy remarked.

"So this is the Coliseum?" Balle asked as he looked around. "At least we're out in the sun again."

"You can say that again." Sora said as they walked towards the Coliseum. Balle hung back and walked with Lightning.

"So, you asked Hades to help you find your sister. But he tricked you, huh?" Balle asked. She sighed and nodded.

"My sister, Serah." she whispered so only he would hear. "I haven't seen her in a long time, she's the only family I have left." Balle put a comforting hand on her shoulder. The doors swung open and Hercules slowly walked out. He sighed, tired, then he rejoiced as he saw the trio. "Sora! Donald! Goofy!" He exclaimed happily. "When'd you get here?"

"Hey Herc!" Sora said with a wave.

"Hi!" Donald shouted.

"Howdy there!" Goofy greeted him.

"You on another adventure?" he asked walking up to them as Meg appeared in the doorway.

Sora scratched his neck. "Yeah, trackin' down some friends, wipin' out some Heartless."

Herc laughed and he clasped hands with Sora. "Junior heroes, always busy!"

Sora grinned back. "You know it!"

The hero then noticed Balle and Lightning for the first time. "Oh, and who are these tow?"

"Hey there," Balle waved. "Balle du Dragon, and this is Lightning."

"Nice to meet you!" Herc said, patting him on the back. Balle's knees buckled but he managed to remain standing. All of them went into the lobby. Balle took a look at the trophies Sora and the others won.

"We usually come here to compete in the games," Goofy explained, "And at that area is where the Keyhole to this world used to be." He said, pointing to an open area.

"So, have you found those friends of yours yet?" Herc asked them as he sat on a pedestal.

Sora shook his head. "Still working on it." he said. "When we got here, we ran into Meg-"

Balle cut him off. "Mega trouble! So we had to help somebody out." he said poking Sora with his elbow. Meg smiled gratefully and Sora rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Y- yeah!" Sora recovered. "We tried to go teach Hades a thing or two, but the Underworld drains all our strength."

"Don't suppose you have any ideas?" Balle asked hopefully. Hercules looked thoughtful.

"Well..." he began. "there is a stone that guards against the Underworld's curse. The gods on Mount Olympus use it whenever they have to go down there."

Sora's face brightened. "Think we could use it?"

Herc smiled. "Sure, why not!" he said as he hopped off the pedestal. "I'll go get it for you."

"Thanks!" Balle grinned. He turned to Lightning and whispered, "Then we can go teach Hades a lesson about playing with people's feelings." Lightning turned to him and graced him with a small smile.

"But Hades is no pushover, even if you've got the Olympus Stone." Herc warned. "And I have a match today, so I can't go with you..." A light bulb went off in Herc's head. "Know what you need? Training! Why don't you talk to Phil?"

"Hey!" Sora exclaimed. "Good idea!"

Balle turned to his female companion. "What do you think?"

She nodded. "It's always a good idea to prepare before a big encounter." Balle nodded and the two followed the others out the door. The five of them walked into the arena where they saw a two-foot man with goat legs, horns, a goatee, and a mid-aged man belly; walking around some pots and looking at them.

Sora was about to greet him when he said, "How're feeling champ?" It seems to the trio, the goat man thought Sora is Herc. "Ya gotta rest up for tomorrow's match. No one doesn't want to see a hero all tired and worn out, capice? And remember those two things that I told you to keep in mind." He held out two fingers. "Eat, bathe, and sleep."

Now, while the goat man was pointing them out, Goofy counted them with his own fingers, getting three. Sora and Balle laughed at Phil's miscalculation.

The goat man heard the laugh, and turned around to pummel the person until he saw the trio. He was surprised to see the trio. "Hey, if it isn't the junior heroes!" He cheered.

"Lookin' good, Phil." Sora said, smiling at the satyr.

"Never better," he replied, then he asked: "So, you finally earned your 'true hero' wings yet?"

The trio's silence spoke for them. "Nope, you ain't got what it takes," Phil concluded.

"WHA?" Sora, Donald and Goofy complained. Phil finally noticed the other two.

"'Ey, who's this?" he asked pointing at Balle and Lightning.

"This is Balle and... erm... Lightning?" Sora asked for confirmation. Lightning nodded stiffly.

"Hmm, so you here to become heroes too?" Phil asked crossing his arms. Balle sweat dropped.

"Er, no." he replied.

"No?" Phil asked surprised. Sora, Donald and Goofy looked at him surprised. "Pretty much everyone who comes here is lookin' to be a hero."

"Then I must be a first then." Balle grinned.

"But he's pretty much a hero already." Sora exclaimed. "He saved all those people on his era!"

"I just did what I had to." Balle told him. Sora was about to say something when they heard Phil laughing.

"Now that's a hero's attitude!" he said with a grin. He looked thoughtful. "Hey, pal. You look kinda familiar, we met before?"

"I don't think so." Balle said. 'Wait, did he meet Lexbal?'

"You sure?" Phil continued. "Well, if you wanna be a hero, then you came to the right place. You got what it takes, you got potential." 'He reminds me of those other three...' Phil thought to himself.

"So, what's up with you guys lately?" Phil asked, changing the subject.

"Well, we need to train so we can take on Hades," Sora replied.

"You? Take on Hades?" Phil repeated, then he laughed at them. He stopped laughing when he noticed them glaring and cleared his throat. "Anyway, if you want to take him on, then train hard. Got it?"

"You bet!" Sora said as he, Donald and Goofy entered the area with the pots.

"Well, this will be interesting..." Balle said, he was planning to watch when he felt himself be dragged away. He looked to see Lightning dragging him to a secluded area littered with various obstacles. "Lightning?"

"You. Me. Spar. Now." she grunted. Balle blinked as she walked a short distance away. She turned to face him, drawing her Gunblade and took a stance.

Balle summoned his Keyblades as he entered combat mode.

Lightning charged him before feinting left. Balle swiftly parried the blow and pivoted slashing at her abdomen. She flipped backwards, avoiding the blow. She lunged, slashing her blade upward. Balle sidestepped, but was caught off guard when she suddenly pivoted, slashing at his stomach. He barely blocked it when she continued her barrage, taking advantage of his surprise. He strikes were incredibly fast and precise. Finesse and agility. "You'll have to to better than that!" Balle smirked.

'She's fast, but I'm faster!' Balle thought as he ducked her side slash and tripped her. He did a series of flips to gain distance.

"Show off." Lightning accused with a smirk. Balle smirked back and hurled both Keyblades at her. She deflected the first one, but had to dodge the second. This was all that Balle needed, as he was already within striking distance. He summoned back his blades and the assault began. He was pushing her back steadily by raining blows on her Gunblade. He suddenly flipped back, catching her by surprise, as she had lifted her Blazefire Saber to defend. He then lunged, using the extra force to losen her grip on the blade. He then used the teeth of Oblivion to catch it in its grip and ripped in from her hands, tossing it aside. In a flash both Keyblades were at her throat, in a position reminiscent of a pair of scissors.

Balle could see the shock in her eyes, which slowly turned to acceptance and respect. "Good duel." Balle complimented.

"Yeah.." she said. They turned to see Sora, Donald, Goofy and Phil staring at them in amazement.

"Nice fightin', kid." Phil complimented. "You sure you don't want no training?"

Balle grinned. "You sure are eager about this, Phil." he teased. Phil stammered, making them all laugh at him. There attention was drawn to the exit, as Hercules walked through. Phil walked up to him.

"Listen, I gotta take off for a bit." the satyr said.

"Where to?" Sora asked curiously.

"None of your beeswax." Phil said. Sora sighed as the satyr walked off. They turned back to Herc.

"Sorry, guys..." the hero apologized. "The Olympus Stone has been stolen."

"What?" Sora exclaimed.

"By who?" Balle asked. Herc shook his head.

"We don't know who did it yet." he told them. "All we're sure of is that it was a guy in a black-hooded cloak. And he had accomplices - a bunch of creatures in white." Sora, Balle, Donald and Goofy all looked at each other in alarm. Lightning remained silent. "Someone you know?" Herc asked.

"I think so." Sora said slowly. "Hey, if we can get the Olympus Stone back, can we borrow it for a while?"

"Sure." Herc smiled. "By the way, have you seen Meg?"

"No." they answered.

"Oh," Herc said disappointed. "okay..."

"Feeling under the weather?" a voice asked from behind Herc. A blue hand lay on his shoulder. Herc spun around and glared at Hades. "You know, I thought staying in perfect shape was part of the hero job description... you know what I'm sayin'."

"Oh, right..." Sora muttered then spoke in a louder voice. "Hades, we gotta talk!"

Hades rolled his eyes and flicked him in between the eyes, sending Sora to the ground. Everyone sweat dropped. "I came to share a bit of mildly-interesting news: Seems your dear, sweet little Nutmeg..." he disappeared, as Herc was about to attack him and reappeared behind him. "went and got herself lost in the Underworld."

"You mean you kidnapped her!" Herc accused.

"Well, maybe..." Hades said casually. "But why get caught up in the details?" Hercules whistled and a white stallion with blue hair and white wings and a unicorn horn flew to him. Hercules was about to get on until Hades said, "You can't leave now, okay? You've got a very important match today, against, um... the bloodthirsty Hydra! I mean, if you don't stick around, who knows what kind of 'accidents' might happen."

"Yeah, accidents you cause." Sora accused.

"You're sick, Hades." Lightning said.

"Like I said: details, who needs 'em?"

"You're just a coward!" Herc yelled.

"Aw well." Hades said disappearing. "Can't all be heroes."

Herc crossed his arms, closing his eyes. Sora walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. "Can you handle this?" he asked.

"You got it!" Donald said with his hands on his hips. "We're heroes!"

"Junior heroes, Donald." Goofy corrected. Donald just glared at him.

"You take care of the Hydra." Sora said.

Balle nodded. "We'll take care of the rest."

Herc put his hands on Sora and Balle's shoulders. "I'm counting on you guys." He turned to the horse. "Pegasus, you gotta find Meg." he ordered. Pegasus nodded and took off, flying.

Sora turned to Balle, Donald and Goofy. "Alright, let's go!" he said as they ran off towards the Underworld's entrance.

"I'm going with you." Lightning called. Balle turned to her.

"Whatever you say, Lightning." Balle said as he turned. She nodded and he turned back.

"And, Balle?" she called again. He turned to her curiously. She gave him a small smile. "Call me Light."

"Phil!" Sora shouted as they saw the satyr laying on the ground.

"Ooh, ohh..." Phil groaned as he got up.

"What happened?" Balle asked him.

"I spotted this strange guy all dressed in black." Phil explained. "I chased after him, but he turned on me. Next thing I know, I'm seeing stars."

"Dressed in black?" Donald exclaimed. "He's the one who stole the Olympus Stone."

"Where'd he go?" Balle asked. Phil gestured to the large door.

"To the Underworld." all of them turned towards the large door. "He's a bad apple, alright. And all I wanted was to find a backup hero. Just in case Herc needed to take a break."

"Down here?" Balle asked incredulously. Phil smiled sheepishly.

"Heroes, eh?" Sora asked. "You could have just asked!"

"You're right!" Phil said. "Hey, kid. You wanna fill in for Herc?" he asked Balle, completely ignoring Sora. He, Donald and Goofy fell over.

"I meant us!" Sora shouted.

"Oh, good one..." Phil chuckled. Sora just sighed and began walking towards the door, hanging his head. A dark cloud was raining on him which he didn't seem to notice. Everyone sweat dropped as they followed him. They had to fight their way through Heartless and a blinding fog. They eventually made it out of the mist and saw a black cloaked person standing with their back turned.

"Huh?" the person, a young male, asked as he heard their footsteps. "Ah! You!" he cried in alarm.

"So that's the thief?" Lightning asked unimpressed. The Nobody bristled and took off his hood to reveal short blonde hair. He stared at Sora and Ash.

"Wait a sec..." he muttered. "Roxas?"

Sora blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Roxas?" the Nobody tried again before groaning. "Oh, its no use."

"What are you talking about?" Sora demanded. The Nobody turned to Balle.

"What about you?" the Nobody asked him. For some reason, Balle understood what he meant.

"I'm not going back..." Balle answered. His friends looked at him confused. A name flashed in Balle's mind. "Demyx."

"Haha, so you remember me? What AN HONOR!" the Nobody, Demyx said, taking out a slip of paper. "Let's see, here... 'If the subjects fail to respond, use aggression to liberate their true dispositions'... Right... Did they ever pick the wrong guy for this one..." he muttered the last part while putting the paper away.

"You're bizarre..." Sora said shaking his head. He gasped when Demyx took out a round object.

"So you are the thief!" Goofy accused.

"Now that's just plain rude!" Demyx said as he raised the stone. It glowed gold as he was bathed in its light. He pulled out a blue sitar and the five got into battle stances. "Dance water, dance!" he cried as a hundred water forms appeared. They lunged at the water forms. Balle grabbed one by the tail and began flailing it about, destroying all its bretheren along with it. Sora grinned and copied him.

Donald was casting Thunder on the forms while Goofy hurled his shield at them. Lightning transformed her blade into gun mode and was firing rounds at them. Within thirty seconds, the forms were all gone. Demyx was panting heavily. Balle's eyes flashed with memory.

"You never were the fighter..." Balle muttered. Demyx sighed.

"Roxas, Lexbal... come back to us!" he said as he disappeared.

Sora rested his Keyblade on his shoulder. "Guys a broken record." he blinked and turned to Balle, who was picking up the Olympus Stone. "Alright, Balle. Explanations please."

"Yeah," Goofy said. "You seemed to know that guy."

"And who is Roxas?" Sora asked. "And Balle?"

Balle sighed. He wasn't looking forward to this. "I'm not sure who Roxas is." he told them. "But Lexbal... is... my Nobody."

Sora, Donald and Goofy blinked before their eyes widened. "WHAT?" Lightning just looked confused.

"What are you all talking about?" she demanded. They spent a few moments filling her in on the Nobodies and Orangization XIII. "So... if a Nobody is created by someone being turned into a Heartless, then how are you here?"

Balle smiled sheepishly. "Mine was a special case."

"Was?" Sora asked.

"Right after I lost my heart, it was returned to me. I was revived." Balle explained, not wanting to have to explain the whole thing. "He resides in my heart now. As we speak, we are still becoming one." Balle's eyes flashed with memory once again. This time the others noticed as well. "My Nobody was the original No. 13. Lexbal: The Forgotten Key." The others let all the information sink in.

"So what do you know about the Organization?" Sora asked eagerly.

"I don't have all his memories." Balle shook his head. "Just random tidbits come to me." Sora looked down in disappointment. "Anyway, we're wasting time! We're supposed to be rescuing Meg!"

"Oh, right!" Sora exclaimed. Balle looked at the stone and raised it above his head. All of them were bathed in the glow of the Olympus Stone.

"I can feel my stength returning." Lightning said in relief.

"Let's go!" Sora said. "Meg needs our help!"

There was a huge stone with the figure of Megara on the front and a keyhole in the center. It locked up a pillar of black and blue darkness. Sora pointed his Keyblade at it and unlocked it. A bright flash filled up the whole area and the rock was gone. There was a pillar of light instead.

"Meg!" Donald shouted.

"Almost there," Sora remarked, then they all stepped into the depression. The next thing they knew, they appeared in a big cavern. There was Meg, and Hades was next to her.

"Gee," Hades said in mock appreciation, "thank you so much!" After a moment, he muttered, "Now have a nice day," and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Hang on Meg!" Balle said as he broke the bonds off of her.

Meg smiled at that, then she gasped. "Watch out!" She shouted, pointing behind them.

They turned and saw Pete, and a bunch of Hook Bat Heartless. "Aw, what's the matter?" Pete teased as the quintet brought out their weapons. "Can't fight in the Underworld? Boo-hoo-hoo!" Pete laughed.

"Better think again..." Sora muttered.

"Charge!" Pete shouted. The Hook Bats surrounded them, but the quintet took them all out. Pete summoned more, but Lightning shot them out of the air. Soldiers began appearing.

"Ugh!" Sora grunted as he took out another Hook Bat, "There's too many!"

Then some Hook Bats collided with Pete from behind. Hercules ran up to them. "Sorry I'm late," he said. Pete got up, but Pegasus came down and clopped Pete on the head, making him go down stunned again.

Hercules put Meg on Pegasus and ordered, "You guys get Meg out of here. I'll meet you guys up at the Coliseum."

Sora was confused. "What are you going to do?" He asked.

Hercules smirked and jabbed his thumb back to Pete, who got up from his double whammy. "I'm going to show these guys what happens when they mess with a true hero," he replied.

They were reassured by this, and so they ran out of the cavern. Pete tried to follow, but Hercules got in his way.

They all reappeared back at the lock area, and Pegasus landed next to the quintet. "I'm not leaving him," Meg insisted.

"He'll be fine," Sora reassured.

"Look, even Wonderboy has his limits. He can't keep winning forever," Meg pointed out.

"Then we'll go back Herc up!" Balle suggested.

"Get Meg out of here!" Donald shouted to Pegasus. The winged horse flew out of sight, along with Megara.

The quintet went back and appeared next to Hercules. Sora and Hercules nodded at each other, and faced Pete and his Heartless. Balle felt a slight rumbling beneath him. "Aw no! The cavern is going to collapse!" He announced to the others. That means they had to beat Pete before that happened.

Sora jumped up and started attacking Pete. Donald, Goofy and Lightning focused on the Hook Bats. Pete formed a barrier around himself. "Ha, Pete's invincible!" He shouted.

Balle grinned and slammed into the barrier with both Keyblades, using them like a baseball bat. "Grand slam!" he yelled, sending Pete flying and bouncing everywhere.

And because of the barrier rolling around, Pete is getting green at the face. Fortunately (for him), Hercules punched the barrier, breaking it and sending Pete flying.

By now, the Heartless were taken care of. Pete got up. "Grr… I'll get you pipsqueaks for this later!" He shouted to them. "This place is starting to give me the creeps." He then ran out of the cavern. The rumbling took on a greater intensity, and they all ran out of there.

They came back to the Underworld entrance, meeting up with Meg, Pegasus and Phil. "Well, well, well. You really blew it this time, didn't you?" Hades' voice asked from overhead. He appeared behind the group. "So, Blunderboy, you're just a washout after all."

Sora grinned. "No one likes a sore loser," he said.

"Can it, Keyboy!" Hades growled.

"Then let me." Herc smirked. He walked up to Hades and said, "No one likes a sore loser, Hades."

Hades walked away. "Yeah, yeah, Styx and stones." he said casually. "Hey, maybe you should go check on that Hydra you neglected to finish off. I hear things are really falling apart up there." He disappeared. "Sorry to go so soon, but I have another diversion to attend to."

"Wait!" Sora cried.

"Falling apart?" Balle repeated. "That can't be good..." He followed as Hercules ran up the stairs. He stopped at the entrance to the Coliseum and let his jaw drop. Herc fell to his knees.

"This can't be..." he muttered. The Coliseum was in ruins. Sora ran out and barely dodged a piece of rubble flying at him. They looked up to see a giant dragon-like creature destroying everything. Phil, Meg and Pegasus ran over to Herc.

"Champ!" Phil sighed in relief. "You're safe!"

"I failed..." he whispered.

"It's not your fault!" Meg insisted.

"I left everyone unprotected." he suddenly slammed his fist into the ground. "Hades was right. I'm just a... a washout."

"Aw, come on, champ!" Phil snapped. "I didn't train you to think like that!"

"Wonderboy..."

"Phil's right." Sora said running up to them. "This is no time to beat yourself up."

Herc clutched his head. "I'm some hero..." The Hydra looked over to them and roared. Balle ran over to them.

"Hercules!" he shouted. "Snap out of it!" When he didn't respond, Balle growled. "This isn't the time to be wallowing in self-pity like some pathetic child!" Herc turned to him in shock, as did everyone else. "I'm not going to lie. This is your fault..." Herc looked down in shame.

"Balle!" Sora hissed. Phil just stared at him, waiting to see what would happen until he thought he and everyone saw surrounding Balle is a complex silver, purple and blue aura consisting of rippling, fire-like energy, complete with sparkling particles traveling upwards.

"...you made a huge mistake, that means you have to fix it. Take responsibility for your actions! This isn't something you can just blow off because you feel like it! Right now, this isn't about you, these people need your help. They need their hero! I'm not going to babysit you. You're a fully grown man, then act like it!"

"Balle..." Meg began.

"No..." Herc whispered. They all turned to him in shock. He looked up, determination burning in his eyes. "He's right. This is my fault, and I'm going to fix it!" He turned to Balle. "Thanks, Balle."

Balle smirked canceling the sudden aura. "Don't mention it." Herc turned to all of them.

"I'll need your help."

"Then you've got it!" Balle replied. The others nodded, still in shock over Balle's motivation speech. Herc grinned and the six of them went on to face the Hydra.

"That Balle is really something." Phil commented. Meg stared after them.

"He sure is..." she muttered.

The Hydra collapsed before them. Herc stabbed it in the head with his sword, ending its life. He then collapsed onto the broken steps of the Coliseum. "Give yourself a chance to rest," Meg ordered Hercules as they sat on the remaining steps. She glanced at the quintet. "Sora, Donald, Goofy, Lightning... Balle; I owe you big time."

"Balle du Dragon." Phil said from behind them.

"What is it, Phil?" Balle asked curiously. Hercules quickly stood, despite Meg's protests, and stood next to Phil.

"Though, we can't do it officially," he began then straightened up and spoke more formally. Herc looked proud. "I hereby dub thee: True Hero!"

"Eh?" Balle asked incredulously. Sora, Donald and Goofy gaped.

"The skill, the attitude, the determination, the courage, the motivation: You've got it all, kid. And you've shown us the ultimate power that not even a god can attain... Ultra Instinct! But I only saw it's quarter incomplete form so you got a lot of meditating to do to complete it. Remember that and you'll be fine." Phil said smirking.

"Hey!" Sora said excitedly. "What about us?"

"Mmmm..." he said inspecting them. "Hmm... nope." They fell over.

"Aw, man!" Sora said.

"Don't worry, you'll get there." Herc assured them. "As long as you train hard."

"Well, let me be the first to congratulate you." Lightning said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks..." Balle muttered. He looked at her in concern. "What are you going to do now?"

She shrugged. "I'll hang out around here for a while, help out with reconstruction and all."

Herc nodded. "We appreciate the help."

"Let us know if Hades or the Heartless start acting up." Sora said with a smile. "We'll take care of it!"

"Yeah, that's what heroes are for!" Donald exclaimed.

"Junior heroes, Donald." Goofy corrected. "Balle is the hero." Donald glared at both Goofy and Balle. Balle sweat dropped.

"Well, anyway..." Sora said sweat dropping as well. "We have to hit the road."

Meg smiled. "Okay, don't be strangers."

"We look forward to your next visit." Herc waved.

Lightning placed her hands on Balle's shoulders. "Take care of yourself." she glanced at Sora and the others. "You too. Whatever your names are." Everyone fell over.

"You don't even know our names?!" Sora asked in disbelief.

"No, nor do I really care." she turned back to Balle. "I'll see you again."

"Well, time to go." Sora said sweat dropping. "Oh! The Olympus Stone!"

"That's right." Balle said as he took it out. It suddenly began glowing. Balle and Sora looked at each other and nodded. They quickly opened the gate.

"What was that?" Herc asked.

"The gate is open." Balle said. "We'll be seeing you guys." They waved as the Gummi Ship beamed them up once more.

At a castle far from where the heroes are, a mouse-like being in a pink and red dress is looking at the skewed row of books in the library. "Hmm…" she mumbled, "I wonder where that old album could be?"

"QUEEN MINNIE!" She heard a squeaky voice call to her. She turned and saw two chipmunks, one with a black nose and the other with a red nose, running as fast as they could to her. They started jumping, like they had seen something horrible.

"There's some wrong in the Hall of the Cornerstone!" The red nosed chipmunk shouted.

"There are a lot of thorns everywhere!" The black nose chipmunk added. They ran back to the direction from where they came with the queen following them.

They went to the 'Hall of the Cornerstone' and Queen Minnie gasped as she saw big pointy thorns all over the place. Looking solemn, she said, "Oh, King Mickey, please come back soon. The castle is in danger! Donald, Goofy… Where are you?" She looked up at the ceiling, hoping that they would hear her…