Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Hikari ❯ Prologue: Part II ( Prologue )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Prologue: Part II of III

~Something was almost complete. Becoming more whole. Roxas was reacting to whatever strange power it was that was daunting him. And in response, so was she...~

Non Anime: Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 07.27.2006 | Updated On: 07.27.2006 | Pages: 21 | Words: 19.4K | Visits: 182 | Status: Work In Progress

Hikari

Prologue, Part II

Thursday, July 27, 2006

“Kimi to iu hikari ga watashi o mitsukeru mayonaka ni…”

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A boy, waking up in a strange town—

A yellow dog—

His island, disappeared—

Two people—

“Donald—”

“Goofy—”

A ship—

“So this is the key—”

Keyblade—

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Ari could hear through the wall, as Roxas started talking to himself. So he was awake too… Sighing, she resigned to tell him about the strange dream she had. If she was going to tell him about them…. She might as well tell him about all of them. She just couldn't sleep tonight… And from the sound of it, neither could he.

“Roxas?” she said softly, leaning against his door. He grew quiet.

“Yeah?”

She pushed it in gently. “I… heard you up,” she started.

“You okay?” he asked, clueing in on something. He patted the end of his bed, sliding over to make room. He suspected it was another of her strange dreams, and had finally decided that he would tell her about the ones he had been having too. Who knows, maybe they're connected. It wasn't like stranger things hadn't been happening…

Ari sighed, before seating herself next to him.

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Roxas was walking alone towards the back alley, just thinking. His mind was still churning over the events of the previous night.

As Ari had described the dream to him in detail, he had felt a chill run up his spine. It was exactly the same dream that he had had. Not only had it weirded the both of them out, but neither had been able to fall back asleep, and were thus extremely tired. As a testament to this, Roxas yawned widely.

And what about that weapon? A Keyblade? What was that about?

The one the boy had used. The one that he had used.

Roxas saw a stick lying nearby, and, intrigued, picked it up, taking a few practice swings as if he were holding a Keyblade again… It had just appeared before, when he was fighting… He closed his eyes, trying to will it to come back. But, nothing happened. When he opened his eyes, the stick was still… well, a stick. He shook his head, tossing the stick behind him.

He could hear an audible thump as it hit a person.

“Oh!” Roxas said, spinning, looking shamefaced. He was slightly shocked to see a person in a long black trench coat with hood— what the heck, it was burning outside— but they didn't seem to notice the stick or the heat, just turning and walking away.

“Sorry… about that…” Roxas said. But his broken apology appeared to fall on deaf ears.

When Roxas returned to the usual spot, he found all his friends there, eating ice cream, though Ari seemed quieter and more withdrawn than usual. He joined them, himself not too inclined to speak either. The mood seemed to spread to everyone, and for several minutes, they ate in silence.

Then, slowly… a question. “Do you guys think… we'll always be together like this?” The hesitant question was strangely introspective, coming out of Pence.

“I sure hope so,” Olette said.

“Huh? Where did that come from?” Hayner tilted his head, giving Pence a curious look.

“Uh, well, you know. Just thinking out loud.”

“Well… I doubt we can be together forever. But isn't that what growing up's all about?” Hayner said, looking philosophical. “What's important isn't how often we see each other, but how often we think about each other, right?”

Pence laughed at Hayner's sudden serious streak. “Get that off a fortune cookie?”

“That's it, no more ice cream for you!” Hayner teased, before leaning back. He sighed once. “Man, today's turning out to be a drag. You know what it is?” he said, leaning forward. “We don't want summer vacation to be over!”

It didn't take long for Hayner to present his plan— Hayner always had a plan, or an idea, or some strange mission. Now that the whole ordeal about being `thieves' was over, he was practically bursting to tell them.

So, about half an hour later, they were all out, trying to get money to go to the beach— they only had a few days of summer vacation left, and all of them had agreed it be really fun. Ari had never been to the beach.

Our beach, anyways, Roxas thought, wondering again about the island she used to talk about remembering. She hadn't talked about what she could really remember since she had started getting these strange dreams. For a moment, Roxas wondered about that. The boy in his dreams talked about his island…

And then there was the whole deal with him and Ari having the same dream.

Roxas shook his head, tacking up another poster for the Struggle, before rolling ahead on his skateboard. He had been promised 250 munny, if he could get this all done during the afternoon— the guy really wanted the Struggle advertised. It wasn't nearly enough, though. They were supposed to earn 800 each by the end of the day.

“Hey there! Roxas!”

Roxas turned around to see Ari coming up behind him on her skateboard. “He-ey there.. What're you doing?”

She held up her messenger bag, grinning. “Delivering letters. You?”

He just held up the posters. “Hey, you wanna help for a bit? Make this go faster? Or at least have someone to talk to,” he grumbled. Laughing, she wheeled over, taking some of the posters from him.

They chatted for a while, hanging up posters— at one point, Roxas wheeled in alongside the tram, hanging on and tacking up a poster on its side. He let go and coasted to a stop, admiring his work, while Ari laughed from beside him. All in all, it was turning out to be a pretty good day.

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“Nice work everyone! Added to what we started with, we now have…” Olette held out her homemade munny pouch. “Tada! 5000 munny! More than enough!”

“Sweet!” “Whoo!” “That's awesome!” “You guys are frickin' over achievers! I love you!”

Olette handed the bag to Roxas, so he could examine it. “Let's get tickets.”

Though the others started forward, Hayner and Roxas hung back. Hayner looked over at his best friend, and punched him lightly in the arm. “We can't be together forever. So we'd better make the time we do have something to remember, right?”

“Huh?”

Hayner paused for a moment, before laughing. “Gotcha!” Then he really punched Roxas in the shoulder, before running off after their friends. Roxas shook his head. No matter how philosophical he got, Hayner would always be Hayner.

He started to follow towards them, but suddenly tripped. His chin slammed into the ground, and he grunted in pain. Sitting up, he rubbed at his chin. It was painful enough that it took him a moment to realize that there was someone standing right next to him.

The man in the black cloak.

He roughly grabbed Roxas by the arm, pulling him up, before yanking him close to him. “Can you feel Sora?”

“What?” Roxas said, confused.

“Roxas! Three minutes!” Hayner yelled across the courtyard. Roxas turned to face his friend, and when he turned back— the man was gone. Like he'd never been there. “Uh… okay!” he yelled back, still uncertain about what had just happened. Deciding not to brood on it, he ran in after his friends.

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It was bad enough that he had lost the money, and Olette's money pouch. But no one else had seen the guy either?

Roxas sat off to the side of the ledge of the big clock tower over the train station, brooding. He knew that guy had been there. And that he had taken the money! But he wasn't even going to try to convince the others— they were dead sure that no one else had been there— they had told him so, when he had run into the train station, and then suddenly discovered that the munny pouch was gone, only to be forced to stand there and watch as the only train to the beach left without them.

Roxas sighed, looking dejectedly out over the town. They each had ice cream, but he wasn't sure he was hungry. “Hey… Roxas?” Ari's tentative voice made him tense up, before sighing again.

“Yeah?”

She leaned in. “I saw the guy,” she whispered. “In the black coat.”

Startled, he looked over at her. How could she have known…

Unless she had seen him too.

“So I'm not crazy,” Roxas said under his breath. But this was far from reassuring— he could see she was worried about it too. First the dreams, then this phantom that only they could see. For half a moment, he considered telling her about the strange white creature he had fought before. Roxas stared down at his melting ice cream, before resting his head in his hand.

“Cheer up already,” came from down at Hayner's end of the line. Roxas glanced up to see his best friend give him a thumbs up. It made Roxas feel a little better, but it didn't assuage his guilt.

“That was definitely weird, though,” Pence said.

“Strange,” Olette agreed.

And Hayner; “You said it.”

Suddenly, Ari flinched, leaning forward and clutching at her head.

“Ice cream headache?” Olette asked.

Ari just shook her head. The others began looking worried, she seemed like she was in serious pain. She actually dropped her ice cream and grabbed at her head with both hands.

Restoration at 28%.

Naminé… hurry…

“Ari?”

Slowly, Ari uncurled from her position, nodding. Roxas looked out across the town again.

What's going on?

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That night, there were more dreams... Ari writhed in her bed.

A mermaid—

“—Must not meddle in the affairs of other worlds—”

The destructive power of the Keyblade—

“Thus, I do hereby dub thee Junior Heroes—”

A genie—

Halloween—

“Riku! What are you doing here—”

Flying around a clock tower—

Searching for your light—

Riku—

Kai—

Ari sat bolt upright, before hugging her own knees, and beginning to shake. This time… this time she had been there too. Except… well, that version of her was different, but somehow… Augh, what's happening to me? None of this is real! Why am I seeing it? Why do I feel these things?

That was the other thing… Ari had started… feeling things. It was like a weird, other sense. Like she could sense the presence of others. Sense presences… strange things that she couldn't describe.

On the other side of a wall, Roxas could hear muffled sobbing coming through. He wasn't sure Ari would want to talk— if they had had the same dream again— now he was starting to dream about her…

Maybe it was because he was thinking about her so much. She had been on his mind a lot lately. Or maybe it's the other way around.

Roxas stared out of the window into the dark. He kept feeling like something should be happening… but that something just wouldn't come.

It was maybe an hour later that he managed to fall back asleep. Suddenly, his dreams were haunted by a pale girl in white.

“Who're you…”

But all she did was smile, knowingly.

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“Huh? What's this?” Roxas said, striding into the usual spot, Ari trailing behind. All that morning she had been unusually quiet and shaky, prompting Roxas' mother to take her temperature, just to make sure she wasn't sick.

A note was tacked up. `Meet at the station. Today's the day we hit the beach— and don't sweat about the munny! -Hayner'

It was a short but quiet ride over to the Station Heights. Part of Roxas really wanted to ask Ari what was bugging her, but deep inside, he already knew.

As they rounded the corner, the two saw Pence and Olette.

“Hey,” Roxas called out.

“Morning!” Olette called back cheerily.

Then everything stopped.

There was no sound— except for Ari's sharp intake of breath. Roxas turned to see her— she looked scared. But when he turned back, it looked like time had frozen dead. Roxas started walking towards Pence and Olette, nervously, only to be brought short by someone standing in the way.

“Huh?” Roxas said, startled. It's the girl from my dream! he suddenly realized.

“Hello Roxas,” the figure said.

“Uh… Hi… And you are…?”

The girl held up a hand to quiet him. “I wanted to meet you at least once.”

This surprised Roxas. “Me?”

“Yes. You.”

The girl then walked past Roxas, to Ari, who had remained silent throughout this whole ordeal. Roxas had forgotten she was standing behind him.

“And you… you're… Hm.” The girl tilted her head to the side, and Ari's eyes seemed to flash in the light. “Ah…” The strange girl smiled. “It's good you're here.” She leaned in and whispered something to Ari, who recoiled slightly, before looking at Roxas.

He felt suddenly very self conscious as both of them were looking at him. But then the girl in white disappeared—

“Olette dragged me along to go shopping,” Pence complained good-naturedly. Roxas started— apparently, time had started again..

“Hey, you guys wanna come with us?” Olette suddenly offered, brightening up.

“Um, uhh… wait.” Roxas was still staring off in the direction the girl had gone. “Did you just see that…”

Pence laughed. “He's stalling.”

“Very well then,” Olette said, acting overly dignified. “Ari?”

“Uh… uh, yeah,” she finally said, rolling her skateboard over to them, and trailing along behind.

“We'll see you later, Roxas, okay?” Olette called as the three made their way off.

Roxas stared at their retreating backs. “Y-yeah…” When they were gone, he looked in the direction the girl had gone. “Did she go to that haunted mansion?” he wondered out loud. Roxas wheeled down into the Tram Common, all the way to the hole in the wall, before dismounting and ducking through.

A pool of darkness appeared in front of him. Roxas halted, watching as three more strange creatures poured out of it.

One grabbed his arm, but he instantly yanked it away, unwilling to be caught again. “Lemme go!” he yelled, tearing his arm out of its grasp and running back into town.

The three creatures chased him all the way into the Sandlot, where Seifer greeted him in the usual fashion: “Hey, chicken wuss—” He stopped short as he saw the three white creatures following Roxas.

Fuu pointed at them, shocked. “Who's that?”

Seifer made a gesture, and, albeit hesitantly, Rai and Fuu got into fighting positions— while Vivi ran away. “I dunno,” Seifer growled, “But they've already crossed the line. Find a weapon!”

Roxas didn't think Seifer was talking to him, but didn't particularly care, as he spotted a Struggle bat nearby. Rolling past it, he grabbed it and came up in a fighting stance. He knew it wouldn't be enough, but… at least it was something.

The three came at him, and Roxas dodged and weaved, not escaping unscathed. Eventually, he found them backing him into a corner. He tried to attack again, but was only rewarded by a kick that sent his weapon flying. A second strike knocked him to the ground. He landed hard, but scrambled away for a moment's respite. Glancing over at Seifer's gang, he saw they were being herded into a group.

And then— they were frozen— just like Pence and Olette. Roxas' eyebrows went straight up. Not again… he thought. The three white creatures simply circled around them, until they were facing Roxas once more.

“Roxas!” The blonde turned to face the voice. It was the same girl in white that he had seen earlier, standing on the roof of a nearby building. How she could have gotten up there, he hadn't a clue, but he didn't particularly care. “Use the Keyblade!” she called out.

“Huh?” Roxas didn't know how to make the Keyblade appear… He spun around, now surrounded by the creatures. Suddenly, one on his left zipped forward to attack, and crying out, he tossed his arms up in front of his face to guard himself.

There was a bright flash—

—dive to the heart—

And suddenly Roxas found himself in a place unlike any other.

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“Dang it, where is he?” Hayner fumed, pushing his skateboard down the hill.

“Slow down, Hayner, please,” Ari pleaded with him, softly. “For all you know he could've gotten hurt or something.”

Hayner appeared to be ignoring her. “We checked the Station, checked the Tram Common, checked the usual spot… Rrr… He'd better be at the Sandlot.”

The two of them wheeled into the Sandlot to an unusual sight— it brought Hayner's rant to a dead stop.

“What were those things?” Roxas asked, standing among Seifer and his gang.

“Outsiders, that's what,” Seifer said. Roxas just shook his head, but Seifer didn't appear to care. “And if they don't wise up to the rules around here, I might have to take `disciplinary measures'.”

“Oh yeah,” Rai said, the regular yes-man. “Seifer's always lookin' after the town, y'know?”

Suddenly, Fuu looked off to the side, straight at Hayner and Ari. Roxas started a bit at seeing them. Hayner just made an inarticulate noise, turning and walking off, skateboard in hand.

“Hayner!” Ari said, turning after him. She only went a few steps, before turning to look back at Roxas. She shook her head, before following Hayner up.

“Hey!” Roxas yelled, running after them. “Wait up!”

Seifer called after his retreating back, “No chickening out of the tournament tomorrow!”

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Roxas strode up to the usual spot, looking just about as angry as Hayner. No, not angry, he thought privately, hurt. Why'd they leave me like that?

“So…” Pence started, after an awkward silence. “You hung out with Seifer's gang today?”

Roxas gave Pence a strange look. “No…” Then, realizing what had Hayner upset, he turned to face him. “It's not like that!” But no one replied… “Oh… yeah. How was the beach? Wasn't that today?” he asked, trying to sound conversational, but his voice broke in the middle. Stupid, stupid, stupid. How could I have forgotten?

“We didn't go,” Olette said, a bit quietly. “It wouldn't be the same without you, right?”

For that moment, Roxas stood there, looking at his friends, before he just deflated. “…Sorry,” he said, his head hanging. Then, trying to lighten things up; “Hey! How `bout we go tomorrow? We could get those pretzels and…”

“I promised I'd be somewhere,” Hayner said stiffly, not looking at him.

The Struggle, Roxas thought to himself, mentally beating himself up. “Ohh…”

Hayner shook his head, rising to his feet. “I'm outta here.”

Ari watched him disappear through the makeshift door of their little spot. A pain shot through her head all of a sudden, but she merely clenched her teeth, trying not to show it. Not now, not now, she thought. It was all just part of this weird dream she'd been having. It wasn't real… Yet… she couldn't shake the feeling that something was happening. Something was almost done….

Restoration at 48%.

As long as Naminé accomplishes her goal… we needn't worry about what befalls Roxas.

They were like pieces of a puzzle; small, tiny pieces that looked so different you could hardly believe any of them would go together.

Part of Ari didn't want to solve this puzzle.

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This night, it was all about them. Kairi, Riku… Sora.

Friendship. The Keyblade. Rifts growing between people.

Ari could only feel that the puzzle was growing more complete. Pieces were falling into place— she… she felt like she knew these people. These people whose lives she watched every night in her head.

And again, somehow she had been in this whole mess.

Something is almost halfway done, she thought to herself, remembering the mechanical voice and the echoing ones from the computer screens… And now the dreams are becoming more whole. Something is going to happen. But what?

Nearby, Roxas closed his eyes, leaning back into his pillow. Is this what's going to happen to us? Friends growing apart?

And then, that charm… a promise. “Right… Promise,” Roxas said, shaking his head. He turned over on his side. Sora's friend had given him a charm and made him promise to return it. A promise that they would meet again. But what's a promise to my friends worth if I can't even keep it? What does that make my friendship worth… “What a mess…”

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“Roxas, wake up.”

“Nnh.”

“Roxas, today's the Struggle!”

“Double nnh,” he said, pushing the door open wearily.

Ari stepped in, carefully not to tread on the mess on the ground. “Come on… Get out there, get moving… It'll help you take your mind off of… well, you know,” she finished quietly.

Do you? he wondered. Ari seemed to sense something was wrong.

“Roxas?” She stepped over to him, placing one hand lightly on his shoulder. “You can always talk to me.” With that, she headed back to the door. “Oh, hey, Roxas, I decided to enter the Struggle tournament!” she said, ducking her head back inside the door.

“W-what?” Roxas suddenly cried out, jumping up from his bed. “You can't be serious!” He tried to follow her out, but tripped on the junk in his floor. Annoyed, he kicked it out of the way. “Don't tell me you're serious,” he said, as he finally made it to the dining room, where Ari was sitting down to breakfast.

“Why shouldn't I be?” Ari demanded. She was wearing a white tank top, as per usual, and jeans, but he noticed that her patched up jacket was on the back on the back of the chair. Not her sweater jacket— her old one. The one they had found her with.

“What the…” He pointed at it. “I didn't know you still had that. Wait, never mind that, what do you mean, you're entering the Struggle? You've never fought before!”

“Yes I have,” Ari said evenly, spooning up cereal into her mouth.

“Oh yes, the fight you can't remember.”

“Not just that,” she said through a full mouth. She glanced over at him, and for a moment her eyes seemed kind've… yellow. But that was impossible. Roxas just stared at her incredulously, and she just shrugged, tipping her bowl up to her mouth and finishing her breakfast.

It's that same feeling… like something is acting through her, he thought. The day before she had been silent and scared witless at anything that moved. Now, she wanted to enter a fighting tournament. And… not just that? Roxas remember the injuries she had had. “What, do you mean you used to fight a lot before you came here?” he asked, pulling up a chair and grabbing a bowl.

Again, Ari shrugged— she sincerely didn't know— before taking her bowl to the sink. “Don't worry about me.” Roxas just shook his head incredulously, and started eating. All the while, she was fiddling with her old jacket. Then, with a pair of scissors, she cut off the bottom half of it, so the jacket only fell to about navel level. “There we go,” she muttered to herself, taking out a needle and some thread from a drawer. She quickly hemmed up the edge— a cheap job that would have to be taken out later and redone, but it was enough for one afternoon.

“Okay, I'll bite,” Roxas finally said. “Why are you mutilating your old jacket?”

Ari grinned. “Those struggle bats hurt, I want something tough that covers my skin. But that bottom part just made it weight too much.”

That's… oddly tactical. But Roxas didn't say anything. He had enough on his mind as it was.

It's a promise! His and Hayner's. Their promise to go to the Struggle. One of them would have to win. Again Roxas thought of the dream of the night before.

He buried his head in one hand.

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“And Roxas wins, with 128 points to 72! Not even friendship will slow this kid down!” The Struggle announcer raised up Roxas' hand in victory, but he quickly pulled it away to go over to Hayner. He approached slowly, starting to say something, then thinking better of it. Uncomfortably, he scratched behind his head— “Um…” Hayner made a motion to cut him off, and Roxas felt his anxiety growing— until he noticed Hayner's slight smile.

“I lost,” he said, shaking his head. “I can't believe it! I guess I taught you well,” Hayner added, as a jibe.

Roxas grinned, relieved. “I… had a lot of fun fighting you.”

“Yeah?” Hayner crossed his arms, but remained smiling. “Well I didn't, wise guy.”

For the moment, Roxas didn't care— he had his best friend back. Nothing weird had happened all morning. For the time being, it felt like things were… back to normal. In fact, the only strange thing was that Ari had made it all the way through the preliminaries, and was in the quarterfinals, just like him. Semifinals, Roxas automatically corrected. He had just beaten Hayner, which pushed him up to the semifinals. At that, he looked up and smiled at his best friend, who nodded at him. He understood; it all depended on him now. With a glance over at Ari, however, he wondered at that.

They soon had to clear the stage, though, as Seifer, and, incredibly, Vivi, walked up. Roxas gave Vivi a strange look, but he just giggled.

It only took a minute for Vivi to bring Seifer to his knees. The whole crowd looked on, shocked.

“I-I'm not sure what just happened… Um…” The announcer, for once, was at a loss for words. “But… the winner is Vivi! In a positively blistering comeback!”

Seifer stumbled off the stage, past Roxas. As he drew near him, though, he put his hand out and grabbed Roxas' shoulder. “That's not Vivi.”

“Huh?”

Seifer just kept staring at him, before walking off. He called back, “Thrash `im.”

Roxas turned to look back at Vivi, who was climbing off of the stage on the other side. But Vivi was quickly put from his mind, as Ari climbed the stage, now donning her patched, stitched, torn and worn jacket. Today, she had not two but three hair ties in, just to keep any of it from getting loose. The crowd cheered her on, though, despite the fact that Roxas thought it was ridiculous. She stepped back into a ready position, both hands on the bat, waiting for her opponent.

None other than Rai stepped into the arena. Roxas felt the blood drain out of his face. Ari just smiled, winking at him.

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“Un-be-LIEVABLE! This kid is on fire, people!” Not only had Ari wiped the floor with Rai, she had just eliminated Fuu, as well. That put her right up into the finals. Impossible as it seemed, it was just as impossible as Vivi making it to the semifinals, Roxas reflected, readying himself to enter the arena. At least Ari is bigger than the bat.

It took a minute for the crowd to quiet down, but soon Roxas and Vivi stood opposite each other, and the announcer called for the match to start.

“Let's…”

“STRUGGLE!” Before the collective voices of the crowd had died, Vivi had already rocketed forward, spinning around so fast that Roxas barely caught a glimpse of his dark grin before also catching a bat to the face. Vivi's momentum sent him unceremoniously to the ground, and as he rose, Vivi caught him with a shot to the stomach, followed by a blow towards his head.

Swinging right around the bat, Roxas rushed Vivi, swinging low. The little kid easily jumped over the bat, and on landing, sent himself into another jump, this time to sail over Roxas' shoulder and attack the back of his leg.

Roxas had already spun to meet Vivi, and kicked out a foot to knock away the oncoming bat.

`Points are only awarded for strikes above the knees and elbows,' the judge had said, glancing at Vivi. He had made no reaction, so the judge moved on. `No cheap shots, okay boys,' he had said, making pointed glances at Hayner and Seifer.

Roxas took advantage of Vivi's momentary pause to lash out with his bat, coming down hard with an overhead strike. Vivi glanced up and jumped backwards, but still caught the bat down his front.

He landed a few feet away on his chest. Roxas settled back into a fighting position, not quite sure how he felt about hitting someone who was down, especially someone so much smaller than himself. An instant later, he was regretting it, as Vivi had already regained his footing and was dashing towards him again, bat swinging.

Where did Vivi learn to fight so well? Roxas parried as many of the shots as he could, but felt a sucker blow to his already sore stomach, and flinched away.

For just a moment, Vivi's image seemed to waver.

The white creature from before blurred into his vision.

Roxas' eyes went wide, and his enemy approached to attack, but he had dashed forward, pain and all, to meet the attack with one of his own, using his forward momentum to knock his opponent off balance, and getting in two cross slashes before Vivi bounced back, trying to jump up in the air, only to be slung backwards through the air towards the edge of the arena.

On the edge of the fight, his four friends watched avidly, soaking it up. Hayner's attention, however, was split between Roxas and Ari. She seemed intent on seeing it all; again, that eagerness to fight. But she also seemed…

What? Puzzled?

As Hayner turned to watch Roxas once more, he was forced to revise his thought from puzzled to baffled. He had never seen Roxas or Vivi this aggressive. What had caught his friend's nerves enough that he would fight like this?

Ari, in the meantime, was enjoying the spectacle, much like the roaring crowd around her, though perhaps for different reasons. Something was wrong about Vivi, there was no doubt about that… she didn't even stop to wonder why this didn't bother her. But she could feel the change going through Roxas in response to it. She had been able, in spurts, to feel it over the past few days. Much like what was coursing through her veins right now— a new power, a new… perception. A different perception, one that she was having difficulty holding.

But why now, after such time?

She could feel that even after the disjoint dreams and strange visions, more of herself was returning, more of her true self. Perhaps it was resonance? After all, there was a connection between the two of them, she could feel that distinctly enough. It was familiar, deeply familiar, more than just summer time friends or foster siblings.

Something was almost complete. Becoming more whole. Roxas was reacting to whatever strange power it was that was daunting him. And in response, so was she. But—

Ari's eyes snapped up to the flying Vivi, who was soaring ungracefully towards the edge of the arena— landing outside of it would end the match.

Half an inch away from the border, Vivi froze.

“Huh?” Roxas said, starting. He searched the crowd, only to find everyone else frozen. …Almost everyone else— his eyes found Ari— the only other one unaffected.

“Roxas?”

“What's going on?”

“I don't—”

Both of them gasped as Vivi's frozen form started to pulse with light, bits swirling off of it like some demented cloud. Within seconds it receded to reveal one of the white creatures. Ari's eyes slid to Roxas as she heard a sharp intake of breath.

“Again?” he intoned, swearing softly a moment later.

So this was what was plaguing him? Almost naturally, he slid into a battle stance, one of an experienced fighter. She recognized it. No clue where from, but she did recognize it. Another familiar sensation rose in her, a dark, hateful feeling. This was… the enemy.

No, another voice seemed to say. It was like the enemy. Ari reeled for a moment, before closing her eyes. Enemy? Did she even have an enemy? When her eyes opened, she focused on the creature standing before Roxas. Both seemed to be waiting for the others to make the first move. Ari approached—

—and found herself brought up short. Frowning, she placed one hand out in front of her. The air shimmered, but her hand would not pass the spot.

In an instant she had flung herself up against the barrier, staring wide-eyed through it as more creatures appeared, instantly surrounding Roxas. “Again?.!.!” For the moment, the other presence building in her was forgotten. Roxas was spinning, trying to not leave himself vulnerable to any of the creatures, but still did not attack. She didn't understand, why wasn't he attacking with the Struggle bat?

Roxas continued to turn. He could still remember the Keyblade from the days before. He had fought with it in the darkness… He could feel it then… why couldn't he feel it now? He tried to will a part of himself back into that void, that place that hadn't quite felt real… how had he called it then? Roxas' eyes closed, his hope about to wane— he could sense they were about to attack.

From the dark, he could feel another presence, and strangely enough…

Who's there… Who're you?

Was it the same one? He imagined he felt— he thought he could feel— a reaction…

And—

A blinding flash of light, and warmth seemed to spread outwards. Something of the other in Ari faltered and she could feel it recede, leaving her baffled as to what exactly was going on— she could remember what had happened but not why—

Suddenly she gasped, feeling something from the light encompass her. It was pain, burning, it was agony… and in the same moment, it was powerful, reassuring… It was familiar and she could remember it… She could remember being the fighter with this other perception… this strange…

This strange…

What? she thought hungrily, desperate for an answer. With what?

The light receded, and Ari knew it had been instantaneous and time consuming, all at once. In Roxas' hand was a blade, a Keyblade, bits of data fading out of existence around it. “Again…”

And in her own right hand, one identical to it.

But all she could do was watch as her friend… no, her brother… fought them all off, on his own. She was herself again— she was a bit shaky, but rather confident of this… What was she supposed to do? Was she a fighter? Her hand tightened around the Keyblade, eyes clenching. Why was everything so confusing? She opened her eyes, swinging the Keyblade back before bringing it forward in a perfect arc to collide with the barrier. The barrier in front of her didn't give. There has to be a way to break it! She grabbed the blade with her left hand too, frustrated. Within, she saw Roxas stumble once, before taking another hit. Something was building in her. No… in the Keyblade. She could feel it start to shake.

With a few deft swipes, he finally finished off the attacking horde, slumping down slightly.

As if by instinct, Ari raised the Keyblade, and a thin beam of light sprung from its tip, shattering the barrier.

“Roxas!”

I recognize that worried voice, he thought, amused. Grinning slightly, he looked up at her as she dashed up to him, but the wear still showed on his face.

“Are you okay? Frig, that's a stupid question… C'mon, we've got to… got to…”

“Do what?” Roxas stood up straighter, looking around for some sign of life, before gesturing at the still frozen people. Ari followed his example and glanced around.

“I… don't know…” she admitted reluctantly. Again, her hand tightened on the Keyblade, until she checked the movement. Surprised at herself, she glanced down at her hand. It was as if it were a habit. But that made no sense, she had never seen this Keyblade before—

Then how do I know what it is?

“You too?” Ari flinched a bit, before looking up at Roxas, wide-eyed. He was looking at her Keyblade.

“…I guess so.”

Applause came from behind them.

Both teens jumped at the sudden sound, spinning to find a cloaked man standing behind them. Ari instinctively stepped back, spooked despite the weapon she was apparently proficient at wielding. Roxas glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, before stepping protectively in front of her.

“Roxas…” The figure laughed, looking around the field. “All right. Fight fight fight…”

Roxas gave the man a confused, wary look, tensing up as he approached closer.

He paused. “You really don't remember…? It's me.” He lifted his hands to pull down his hood to reveal flaming red hair. “Y'know, Axel…” He grinned, as if this presentation would be enough to make Roxas recognize him. Or as if he really thinks I know who he is, he thought.

“Axel?” Roxas sounded more than incredulous; he heard a voice from behind him ask, “Do you know him?”

Axel stopped again, looking slightly unnerved, the slight movement of his face muscles given away by the strange tattoos around his eyes. “Talk about blank with a capital B. Man oh man,” he continued, starting to slowly circle the two, only to find two Keyblades brandished at him, if somewhat shakily. Everything about his appearance screamed trouble. He sadly shook his head. “Not even the Dusks are gonna crack this one,” he said, in a tone that reminded Ari of the way Hayner would mock Roxas. Axel reached towards Roxas— for a moment, Ari entertained the idea that he was going to tousle his hair.

Roxas batted Axel's arm away.

Almost instantly flames appeared at Axel's sides, two spinning chakram within. He reached out to grab them, not paying any attention to the teens, though; as if he were steeling himself for something more.

“Wait a sec,” Roxas cried, realizing that something was about to happen. “Tell me what's going on!”

Axel was now looking around. “This town is his creation, right?” going on as if either of the other two had any idea what he was talking about. “Which means we don't

have time for a Q & A. You're coming with me, conscious or not. Then you'll hear the story.” The strange man made crossing slashes in midair, almost playfully. But neither Roxas nor Ari doubted that he was still threatening them. He crouched, leaning back slightly, chakram held almost limp at his sides; ready to fight. Then, something strange happened. It seemed like it was flying around Roxas and Ari, who was still standing behind him. A distortion in the air, like the kind caused on a hot day, maybe. Axel straightened up, and they could hear him mutter, “Uh-oh.”

Roxas looked between Axel and the Keyblade, before sighing. He couldn't help but feel he was being manipulated, in two directions at once. To Ari's surprise, he threw the weapon at Axel's feet, refusing to fight. “What's going on?.!” he cried, thoroughly frustrated.

An instant later, it reappeared in his hand. The Keyblade chooses its master.

Axel seemed amused, though Roxas verged on exasperated. “Number 13. Roxas. The Keyblade's Chosen One.” He turned to Ari, with whom he had not seemed concerned… until now. “Well well well. Hadn't expected you here.” Ari seemed to recoil a bit further behind Roxas at that remark, while Axel simply gave a dark smile, and returned to a fighting position, almost idly spinning his chakram.

Roxas glanced down at the Keyblade reluctantly… It glowed, as if to reassure him. It only took a moment for Roxas to choose, and he slid into a stance as well. He glanced for a moment over at Ari, who had shuffled up next to him. She gave a weak smile, before nodding, a gesture which he returned.

“Okay… Fine!” Roxas declared, glaring at Axel, who tossed his head back, sending his mane of untamable red hair into ripples. “You asked for it!”

“That's more like it!” he hissed, kneeling down, his chakram beginning to spin in flame.

Spurts of fire issued upwards, like a crack had appeared in the earth, stunning both teenagers. But instead of catching on fire, horribly and painfully, they found that suddenly Axel was dashing straight for them. Startled, they jumped out of the way, one to either side, but both cried out in pain as they felt searing flames striking their backs.

Roxas stumbled forward; he managed to get a glimpse of Ari falling flat and spinning around to bring the Keyblade up in front of her. Inexplicably, the blade seemed to glow and deflect part of the second attack; but a moment later, Axel was on Roxas.

The blonde teen brought up the Keyblade just in time to protect from a hammering blow, but was forced to jump backwards as Axel tried to slice across his middle.

Roxas brought the Keyblade forward to attack. Axel parried it easily, with a perfect arc of his left chakram, knocking Roxas' shot to the side, and raising his right chakram.

Out of nowhere, a blade slammed down into the right circle, causing Axel to spin in surprise. He only got a glimpse of Ari before Roxas took advantage of his distraction to deliver a cross blow to Axel's head, only partially blocked by a hastily thrown up arm. Axel still went tumbling to the side.

Catching himself on one hand, he grinned ruefully. “Haven't lost it, have you,” he mused, eyeing the two who had now paused a ways away. His glance fell on Ari, and his eyes narrowed.

Axel sprung up, grunting with effort as he launched one spinning blade towards Ari, who's eyes grew wider than seemed humanly possible. She flinched, bringing the Keyblade in her hands upwards a bit. It was enough to deflect the blades, but the force of the blow still transferred to her, sending the metal shaft of the blade into her shoulders and almost making her fall.

Roxas had no time to react as Axel rushed him yet again. This time, Roxas ducked the first blow, before bouncing up and into Axel's space, bringing the hilt of the Keyblade up in front of him to slam into Axel's jaw.

Now, Roxas thought. He wasn't going to allow this psycho another chance.

Without pause, he continued to attack Axel, something within him taking over, some long forgotten instinct. Vaguely, he noticed Ari returning to the battle, getting in shots where she could. Axel swiped and sliced, but barely got a moment to do more than parry. Dimly, he was aware that they were pushing him back. He arched his back forward, bowing his head in concentration.

Ari backpedaled away, leaping back as she saw flames form on him, remembering the first attack. This time, a pillar of flame seemed to erupt, catching Roxas, who had not been so quick.

Anxiously, Ari slid forward, but immediately stepped back as Axel slashed out at her. He turned away, seemingly more interested in Roxas, and Ari darted forward, bringing the Keyblade down on the back of his leg, which gave.

Crying out in pain, Axel spun with the fall, bringing his right arm in. Ari only realized his intention as his arm uncurled and the broad side of the chakram caught her full force in the face and chest, sending her literally rolling backwards and tracing bloody lines across her face.

Roxas, who had noticed that up until that point, Axel had all but ignored Ari, gave a half guttural yell, dashing up to Axel with a punch right as the fire-elemental turned to face him. He followed through with an attack, but Axel got one of his chakram interposed enough between the two of them to completely knock aside the strike.

It took Roxas off balance just enough to allow Axel one good slice, right down the side of his face and torso. Roxas cried out in pain, dropping his weapon. Axel grinned, rising quickly and bringing up the other chakram as Roxas fell, flinching in pain.

A whirring noise penetrated the air a half second before Axel let out a scream of pain, dropping both chakrams as he clutched at his left wrist with his right hand.A second Keyblade clattered to the ground near Roxas' kneeling form, and, furiously, Axel spun to see Ari facing him, a shaky defiance on her face. Groaning, Roxas pushed himself up, grabbing both Keyblades in front of him, and sidling back, trying not to flinch with pain at each movement. He could feel blood running down his face and front. Axel's eyes narrowed, and Roxas reflected that he looked like a cat. He gritted his teeth, raising both weapons he had found himself with and preparing to exchange another round of blows.

“Enough.”

The voice alone was commanding enough to halt the feud going on between the three. The specter materializing in a fountain of data between them all was just par for the course.

Axel spat, “So it was you.” Still infuriated, and only agitated further by this strange appearance, he summoned both chakram back to his hands in a burst of flame, before sending them spinning straight at the figure.

The figure, which was a man clothed almost entirely in red robes, to include scarlet cloths wrapped around his head, did not even attempt to evade the attack. Instead, the chakram both disappeared, seeming to strike an invisible barrier just in front of the man, which destroyed them. Both Ari and Roxas stared in wonder at this strange person. He turned to face Roxas.

“Roxas, this man speaks nonsense!”

“Huh?” Roxas said, taken aback. Whatever he had expected the apparition to say, it wasn't this.

“Roxas!” His head swung back to Axel, who seemed positively worried. About me? he wondered, suddenly baffled. “Don't let him deceive you!”

“Roxas!”

Both were moving in, suddenly pressing his space. What do they want from me? The air around him began to distort again, and the noise itself seemed to be pounding on his head, both of them yelling his name and bearing down on him.

“Hayner… Pence… Olette…” Roxas muttered, wanting all of his friends here.

“Hayner!”

All of this shouting was getting the better of him.

“Pence!”

He backed away from the advancing men, holding his head in his hands.

“Olette!”

He could feel blood between his fingers… His head started throbbing, as a whiteness seemed to take over his vision, the sounds of shouting melding together into one big—

“Roxas!”

Roxas' eyes snapped open, the familiar voice breaking through to him. “Ari?”

His world flashed, and suddenly, Roxas found himself standing in the middle of the Struggle Arena, the crowds cheering him on. There were no wounds on him, no cuts or burns; he was only holding a Struggle bat. And it was only Vivi facing him down, reeling, as if a bit confused. The kid suddenly fell forward, obviously beaten.

“What… What just happened?” the announcer yelled, his commentary paused momentarily.

“Huh?” Vivi mumbled, rising to his feet once more. “How did I get here?”

“Roxas!” Roxas turned to see Olette shouting and waving from the sidelines.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the announcer yelled out, apparently having been informed that Roxas was indeed the victor. “We have a winner! And,” he added, amidst cheers and screams, “it looks like Ari, our fiery girl and all around underdog is already rip-raring to go, as she's already on the platform!”

Roxas turned, baffled, to see Ari standing there, just as confused as he was, gripping her own Struggle bat. She mouthed the words, `What's going on?' at him, eyes wide, and he just shrugged.

“Contestants, take your positions,” the judge yelled, apparently deciding they were ready to fight.

Ari hesitated a moment, before rushing over to Roxas. She didn't know exactly what had just happened, but she did know that she had seen Roxas giving it his all. Even if the blood streaks and scratches were gone, she could still see him breathing heavily— she knew she must be the same, if not worse. And he had done most of the fighting. Ari placed one hand on his shoulder, and looked into his eyes.

Roxas looked into her eyes, strangely red, and thought he could see glimpses of something through them. Like, another time, another place, reflected back at him. He had a distinct and sudden feeling that he was blushing, but Ari gave no sign of noticing as she leaned in close.

“You've already proved yourself enough for me.” With that, she glanced at the judge, and shook her head, turning to depart from the stage. She let the Struggle bat fall as she stepped off into the hushed crowd, shocked to see that she had come so far only to throw the championship match.

“What?” The announcer's voice reflected the mass bewilderment evident on everyone's faces. “Uh… l-ladies and gentlemen… this is highly unprecedented… but… uh— Roxas! Our new top Struggler!”

The cheers seemed only half hearted, as most people were completely disappointed by what they figured would be at least the second most exciting match of the day. Most were probably writing it off as nerves, or exhaustion, or Ari simply quitting before she got beat, bad. Roxas grinned thankfully at her, but he too was confused. He had… before all the craziness started… been looking forward to fighting her.

She smiled, before making a small circle with her finger, indicating that he should turn around. Frowning, he did so, to see Setzer's graceful form rising onto the fighting platform. The crowd erupted into another round of screams, Ari's disappointment momentarily forgotten. Roxas groaned inwardly. He had completely forgotten about the title match that came after the finals.

Setzer turned in place, waving unconcernedly at the masses, provoking screams from many a teenage and pre-teen girl. As his cold gaze returned to Roxas, the teenager could help but feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise. The lithe form, the cool attitude; even Setzer's appearance— it all reminded Roxas too much of his far too close encounter with Axel, just a few minutes earlier. Meanwhile, the crowd began to chant his name. No longer was Roxas the crowd's favorite.

Setzer flashed one fake yet attractive smile, prompting another round of screaming. Roxas looked around, exasperated— even more so to see Olette grinning nervously and even Ari blushing. He made a noise of disgust, rolling his eyes. Some peo—

“Hey, munchkin—” Setzer was, thankfully, cut off by the judge walking up to them.

“Setzer, Roxas— you two, play fair now.” His eyes lingered on Setzer, wary. But then he shook his head and moved on. “You're at the top of the bracket.”

“There's only room for one up here,” Setzer commented, suavely, before indulging in a chuckle. What the heck? Roxas wondered. That wasn't even funny. He doubted that Setzer had to worry about whether or not his jokes were funny to get choruses of laughter. Roxas edged away, starting to notice that Setzer's cologne was making him sick.

The judge didn't seem too warmed by Setzer's pretentiousness. “Well. May the best man win.”

In his head, Roxas was sure Setzer had just thought the words `I plan on it,' or something similar. He'd be willing to stake a great deal of money on this fact.

“Hey, Rucksack.”

“Roxas,” he snapped.

“Whatever,” he said playfully. Setzer tilted his head gracefully, and even Roxas had to admit that he was a good actor, and charming. If he weren't already upset with the man, he probably would have been inclined to laugh along with him. “How about you throw the match for me?”

It took a second to register in Roxas' brain, but the instant it did, he felt the spell break. He scoffed, giving Setzer an incredulous look.

From the sidelines, his friends must have realized that something or other about Setzer was getting to Roxas. Hayner, who disliked Setzer from afar as much as any other guy, frowned, leaning forward on the edge of the platform. “Roxas! Focus!”

Distracted momentarily, Roxas turned to look at his friends, before giving them a reassuring smile.

Setzer's head followed his glance, as if he were indulging in some game of Roxas'. “Ah, come on…” He gave a wonderful smile, his eyes half closing, and the teen began to realize how so many girls could have crushes on him. Of course, thinking back to Olette and Ari dampened that thought immediately, only serving to annoy him more and make him blush. “Let me win, and I'll make it worth your while.”

“Get real,” Roxas ground out through clenched teeth.

Throughout their whole discussion, the announcer had been giving his spiel, and was about to start the match. The contestants went to their respective positions.

“Whatever you think is right, you're wrong,” Setzer said, his voice still smooth, but the icy chill returned to it once again. So, if he can't charm me, he's going to try to intimidate me? Hah, good luck, Roxas thought. Especially after everything else that had happened that day.

“STRUGGLE!”

Setzer darted forward, and Roxas turned, his right side forward, bringing up his bat in a block. Setzer was undaunted, though, attacking with several thrusts, forcing Roxas to move his bat around, trying to pre-empt the strikes. One he went in the wrong direction, and was forced to actually jump back to avoid the strike, ducking down.

Seifer lunged again, a strike that seemed to go wild over Roxas' head, until he felt a sharp pain in his shin, launching his leg out from under him. All of a sudden, he was face-to-dirt on the ground. He heard a couple of boos and hisses from the sidelines, Hayner's voice rather prominent.

But, Setzer had been attacking. The judge had no choice but to ignore it, even though he knew Setzer had kicked Roxas deliberately.

“Here, let me help you,” Setzer said, offering a hand to Roxas, who ignored it, pushing himself up on his own. But as soon as Roxas' hand was within reach, he reached down and clasped him around the forearm anyways, for all purposes appearing to help him up. Roxas simply pulled his arm back, but Setzer's grip tightened like a vice. “Come on kid, put on as much of a show as you like, but face it, you don't stand a chance anyways.”

“Maybe I'm just stubborn.”

Setzer just grinned. “Nice attitude. It's a shame it's not doing you any good. Now, you know what I want, do we have a deal?”

“Whatever!” Roxas said, finally yanking his arm out of Setzer's grip.

Setzer seemed satisfied, although Roxas had absolutely no intention of throwing the fight. For all he knew, that could be the only reason Setzer was champion… he cheated and bribed. Not for long, Roxas thought, determined to take the offensive to the silver-haired freak.

Roxas dashed towards Setzer, pulling his right arm back. Right as he closed with him, he swung it forward, closer to himself than he should have. Setzer smirked, raising his bat in a cross block.

The crowd made noises of astonishment as Roxas' bat didn't even connect with Seifer's.

Instead, he took another running step, spinning to slash at Setzer across the back, using the force from his curled in arm like a spring bouncing back. Setzer, who hadn't realized it was a bluff, not just a stupid error, took the hit square across the back, stumbling forward.

At the same time, he tried to turn to face Roxas, tripping himself up for a moment.

Roxas grinned, and helped Setzer along a bit by aiming an attack at his head. Setzer flung his bat up to block, but threw himself off balance, landing on his back in the dirt.

“Here, let me help you.”

Setzer just glared up at Roxas for a moment. The teenager was enjoying this far too much. How dare he mock him? Setzer's eyes seemed to glimmer dangerously, like Ari's did whenever she got spirited. But Roxas still held out his hand. Warily, Setzer took it, pulling himself to his feet.

Roxas was immediately forced to duck a blow as Setzer spun in place, trying to bring his bat down on Roxas' head in a backlash, almost like the one Roxas had just performed. When he looked up at Setzer, the man glared at him.

Roxas shuffled forwards, trying to cross slash, but Setzer parried, using the momentum from the weapons bouncing off of one another to spin it around, trying to catch Roxas in the jaw. Roxas narrowly batted the strike away, sidestepping and trying to bring an overhead strike down onto Setzer. It connected with the man's shoulder, but Setzer had already started to step backwards, and at any rate Setzer was really too tall for the move to be effective.

The fighters separated for a moment, but in a flash, Setzer was on Roxas again, this time leading with a hilt strike. Roxas tried to side step him to get at Setzer's back, but the older fighter was too clever to let that happen more than once.

Setzer swung the bat wide, to which Roxas managed to throw up an arm, still catching the blow hard, and he winced, stumbling a bit.

Setzer smirked delivering a horizontal slash at Roxas' head. Roxas, still in enough pain from having taken the last blow to his sword-arm, didn't attempt to parry, only to duck.

It seemed to have been what Setzer was planning, as he saw a triumphant grin light up the man's face. He reared back and delivered a crushing vertical blow—

To the spot where Roxas' head had been.

Roxas was smart enough to lean and step back, but instead of continuing to backpedal, he instead let his left foot fall on the Struggle bat. Setzer attempted to pull his trapped weapon out from under Roxas' foot and trip the younger fighter up, but he was in an awkward hunched position with little leverage. Roxas decided to help him go in that direction with a power-shot of his own, straight into Setzer's face.

He was satisfied at the grunt of pain Setzer made, rolling back on his back. His foot still on the other fighter's bat, he glanced over at the time.

Almost gone. Good.

A match could end in one of three ways. One of the players was disqualified, for stepping off of the platform or giving up, for example. One of the players was incapable of continuing to fight. Or, when the time ran out, in which case, the player with the highest technical score won.

Looking back at Setzer, he indulged in a smug smile, before kicking the other competitor's bat to him.

Setzer rose, a dark expression on his face. “This isn't what we agreed upon.”

Roxas rushed him again. “`We agreed' on nothing!” He swung back his arm, but thought better of it and twisted his bat in for a jab to Setzer's chest, right over Setzer's low block. But Setzer only flinched slightly, bringing his own bat up to knock Roxas' upwards.

The silver-haired fighter then reared back, delivering a devastating thrust into Roxas' torso. Roxas yelled in pain— or tried to, as the wind was knocked out of him.

He felt like he'd been pile-drived in the chest. He couldn't get enough air into his lungs, and his chest felt like it was on fire. Dimly he wondered if Setzer had actually managed to crack any ribs. It certainly felt like it. Roxas moaned rolling over on one side. He could see his friends standing there, watching, hoping for something. But after that blow, Roxas wasn't sure he could finish the match. He saw their expressions suddenly grow alarmed, and he rolled painfully to the side, coming up in a kneeling position, having avoided an attack from Seifer. He tried to suck some air into his lungs, with only marginal success.

Setzr laughed. “That friend of yours over there, with the silver hair. She's very pretty.”

Roxas' eyes narrowed, and he tried to rise. “Leave her alone, you creep,” he growled, determined to punch Setzer in the mouth as hard as he could, even if it would get him disqualified. But, the pain spreading across his chest made him seize up, all the while gasping for air. Setzer laughed even harder.

Then, he lunged. Roxas managed to parry, but the sudden movement and force threw him off balance again.

The blonde found himself almost on his back, only one hand behind him to support himself, as Setzer brought his bat down vertically, an attack that Roxas knew was intended to end this. In such a foul position, all he could think to do was kick at Seifer's bat.

Not only did he connect, but he connected with the very back of the bat, almost on the hilt. It jarred the bat out of Setzer's grip, as well as wrenching Setzer's arm. The man cried out in pain, grabbing his shoulder.

Almost instinctively, Roxas rolled forward, trying to ignore the burning across his torso, and slammed the hilt of his bat into Setzer's stomach. The older man instantly doubled up in pain, his wide eyes practically glazed over. Roxas then delivered a cross blow— not as strong or well aimed as it should have been, something he cursed, because it would lose him points. But it was enough to knock Setzer off balance, and the older man went down— face down.

Roxas didn't even have time to look over him once, because in a flash, Setzer had sprung up and forward with a horizontal slash of his own, knocking Roxas' legs out from under him. Roxas hit the dirt, catching himself with his hands, as Setzer stood triumphantly over him. The teen tried to bring himself up, but couldn't, instead slipping and falling all the way to the ground.

The crowd gasped, and both contestants glanced at the clock. Only 11 seconds remaining.

Setzer grinned, looking back at Roxas. “You know, if you set me up with that girl, that friend of yours, I might overlook the struggle you put up today…”

Anger burned inside of Roxas, and he pushed himself up again. He was not going to end this match on the ground, and be counted as unable to fight. He wasn't going to let this match default to Setzer. All he needed was one more blow, and he could shut Setzer up.

Shakily, he rose to his feet. He shot Setzer a look of hatred, and the man only narrowed his eyes. “Too late, time's up.”

Not late enough, Roxas thought, springing forward for one last attack. He saw Setzer's wide eyes right before the bat collided with his face, the satisfying crack of bone audible even through the buzzer, signifying the end of the match.

Roxas stumbled back, letting his bat fall. All of a sudden, Hayner and Ari were both on the platform with him, Hayner patting his back, Ari holding his hand, embarrassingly enough. He didn't have the strength left in him to protest, so he just gave them a weak grin.

But something was wrong.

“Guys? What's up?” he asked, brow furrowed at their worried expressions.

Ari glanced over at Setzer, who now had a small crowd of people around him. He was clutching some wad of tissue or something to his face, the blood even apparent from over on Roxas' side. And, on the sidelines, the judge conferring with other officials over some pieces of paper.

Roxas glanced back at her. “They wouldn't disqualify me for that! Would they?” he suddenly asked of Hayner, worried. “It was an accident…”

“Nn… no…” Hayner started, as if unsure of what to say. “Heck, it was a great shot, really high scoring I'd guess… And his nose, well, that was just a bonus,” he said, a bit anxious. Roxas gave him a puzzled look.

“What are you getting at, Hayner?”

Ari squeezed his hand, pulling slightly to get him to face her. “You got in the last shot after the buzzer started. It won't count.”

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A/N: Wow, this prologue sure is getting long, isn't it?

Hey, if you liked the story, leave behind a review, so I know people read it, I know who you are, any feedback you have… All of it's appreciated. Okay, no, that's not true, is it? :) I suppose I might get miffed if you posted something to the effect of `this totly sux its borign'. But if you give a reason or some tips, hey, the story gets better! :D