Chapter 4 - Testing, Testing

Roxas entered the prison and walked to the only occupied cell, staring at its occupant from under his hood. "It seems you didn't enjoy yesterday's… entertainment. It's a shame. Lexaeus got bored. It's not every day he gets to use his Skysplitter on someone. You could at least put up a fight."

Sitting in the cell, Riku didn't move. He was seated on the floor, leaning up against the wall. His head hung forward, his eyes staring blankly into nowhere at nothing.

"I have something you'll like, though. Larxene found Sora, but she hasn't reported in. We're assuming that she's been destroyed. We've lost track of Sora now."

Again, Riku didn't respond.

Giving into his rage, Roxas used a corridor of darkness to take him into the cell, where he grabbed the collar of Riku's coat and yanked him up. "You're pathetic! Is this what you've been reduced to?" He ground his teeth. "The man I fought a year ago would never have let something like this happen."

Riku continued to stare blankly at nothing. Frustrated and disgusted, Roxas dropped his back to the floor and opened a corridor of darkness, leaving the prison altogether.

When Sora opened his eyes, he knew he'd messed up. All around him was a bright shade of brown and tan, walls of stone and sandy floors. Across from them was a large door, two giant statues of armored gladiators standing guard over it.

Kairi stuck the Star Shard back in her bag. "You got distracted, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I guess I did," he chuckled, "but I know where we are! We're in-"

"Olympus Coliseum," a voice finished for him, and Sora spun around.

"Cloud!"

Leaning up against the wall behind them, arms crosses, was Cloud, though he looked different from the last time Sora had met him. He was wearing a zippered shirt with only one sleeve, black gloves, similar navy pants and boots, and a large cape-like scrap of fabric strapped to one side of his belt. His large sword stood up against the wall beside him, this one engraved with lines where it separated, but still wrapped in bandages. His spiky blond hair was shorter, and something about him was different, though Sora couldn't quite place it.

"Good to see you again, Sora," Cloud said, "Been a while."

Sora smiled sheepishly. "Couldn't help it. So, how have you been? Have you found who you were looking for?"

"Yeah, I found him. I found him, fought the darkness, and I won. Kind of a bittersweet victory, but it's over." Cloud grabbed his sword off the wall and strapped it to his back as he walked to them. "This your girlfriend?"

Sora glanced franticly from Kairi to Cloud, blushing profusely. "Th-this is Kairi!"

Kairi shook Cloud's hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Pleasure." Cloud turned back to Sora. "Here for the tournament?"

"There's a tournament?"

"Just announced a few days ago. It starts in a few hours, but there's still time to register."

Sora almost jumped for joy. "I'm there!" Without waiting, he dashed off towards the coliseum.

Inside the Lobby hadn't changed a bit, the walls still lined with trophies and plaques from various tournaments. They had changed, though, as Sora didn't recognize any of them. Standing at the entrance to the stadium, his back to them, was Phil, mumbling something to himself.

"Phil, there are more to register," Cloud said, walking over to the training master.

Phil waved him off. "We've got plenty of contestants already, Spiky. There's no more room."

Cloud didn't look pleased, but Sora managed not to laugh. "Not even for me, Phil?" he asked, trying to sound offended.

Spinning around, Phil jumped. "Well, if it isn't Sora! How have ya been? How are Donald and Goofy doing?"

"Everything's been fine, Phil. How's Hercules?"

"Champ's been great. Got himself a girl and everything."

Sora was astounded. "He does!"

"Yeah, real handful of one, but they really suit each other. Anyway, you want in on the tournament?"

"I thought you said there wasn't room."

Phil scowled. "No way am I holding off on your tournament comeback! I'll work you in."

Kairi stepped forward. "Is there room for one more? I'd like to enter."

"You a friend of Sora's?" Phil asked. When she nodded, he smiled. "You're in. Now, if you excuse me, I have to go rework the matchups."

When Phil had left, Sora turned to Kairi. "Are you sure about this?"

"Of course I am," she said, but a frown appeared on her face. "Why? Do you think I can't handle it?"

He shook his head. "After what I saw against Larxene, there's no way I could think that."

A couple hours later, the first round matchups were announced, and all the participants prepared for their matches. Much to Sora's horror and surprise, Kairi's match was first, and his was last.

"Don't worry about it. Don't get impatient and everything will be fine," Kairi instructed, giving him a warm smile and a thumbs up before she went into the arena for her match. Sora took a place in the stands with Cloud, who was seated calmly at one side, his sword leaning up against the bench beside him.

Kairi's opponent was blond man with a deep tan wearing metal pants and a white dress shirt. He pulled out a sword and faced off against her. Kairi only held out her fists.

"Now I'm worried," Sora muttered, on the edge of his seat.

Cloud snorted laughter. "Just wait and see."

The man took a running charge at her, his sword at the ready, but Kairi ducked under his swipe and twisted, bringing her fist up in a powerful uppercut. He stumbled backwards, wobbling on his feet. Kairi sprang back to her feet and nailed him with a roundhouse kick to the head. Too stunned to react, it hit him full force and sent him flying into the arena's barrier, where he collapsed, groaning in pain. Two medics came out and carried him away on a stretcher, quickly accompanied by a woman in pigtails from the audience, presumably his girlfriend.

"That…was over fast…" Sora stared, his jaw slack.

"Two hits. Impressive," Cloud muttered.

Her bout finished, Kairi came to join them in the stands. "What did you think?"

"Sora's at a loss for words," Cloud answered quickly.

"Hey, I- well… I'm still pretty surprised. You're a really great fighter, Kairi."

"Of course!" she smiled, "With both you and Riku gone, I had nothing else to do. I wasn't going to sit around waiting for you forever, so I figured that the least I could do was learn to fight. I'm not going to sit around like a damsel in distress and wait to be rescued again."

Sora couldn't help but smile. "Well, that's not going to happen again. You can take care of yourself. But, wow. I'm impressed."

"Women who can fight and stand up for themselves are attractive," Cloud said, sitting down. He had gotten up and come back without them noticing.

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "You sound like you're talking from experience."

Cloud blushed. "It's-it's not…Okay, it is like that."

"Who is she?" Sora asked.

"Your opponent. It's time for your match."

In the arena, Sora was nervous and the match hadn't even started. He felt stiff, out of practice, and it was something he knew was going to slow him down. Across from him, his opponent, Tifa, was calmly pulling on her gloves. From what he could see, she shared a lot in common with Kairi, from her posture to her style of clothing; loose and relaxed, yet firm and prepared.

The moment the match began, Sora summoned his Keyblade and took a defensive position. Tifa was after him almost instantly, charging across the arena and aiming a fist at his face. Sora ducked under it, and she retaliated with an upward swing of her leg, her knee almost in contact with his nose. He jumped back, trying to put some distance between them to prepare a counter, but Tifa continued her assault, firing off a long combination of kicks and punches. He dodged each one, though some were close, until his back hit something hard. There was barely time for him to comprehend that it was the arena barrier before Tifa's fist came flying at his head.

In a split second maneuver, Sora dodged to the side, rolling out of the way of any attacks Tifa might have countered with, though she didn't. There was an audible crack as her first hit the barrier dead on, and Sora looked back to see her rubbing her hand. The magical barrier now sported a massive crack, spreading outward from its source in all directions.

Sora gulped. 'I'm dead. I'm as good as dead.'

Shaking the soreness out of her hand, Tifa turned to face him and began her attack again. Sora ducked and weaved around them, but it was beginning to tire him out. 'I have to think of something. There has to be a way I can get an attack in. Come on, how did Larxene fight against Kairi?' Sora could feel the next barrier wall closing in on him, so he raised his Keyblade to block. The impact from Tifa's fist sent him stumbling back until he hit the wall. 'What am I thinking? Larxene lost!'

Suddenly, an idea came to him. He dodged under Tifa's fist, moving quickly to her side, and hit the back of her leg with his Keyblade. Having no protection there, Tifa let out a yelp of pain, but didn't give up. Before Sora could distance himself, she swung her injured leg up, hitting Sora's chest with her foot. He went tumbling half way across the arena.

Jumping to his feet, Sora waited for Tifa's next attack. 'I did learn one thing by watching Kairi fight. If I'm going to stand a chance, I can't keep thinking I'm going to be able to land solid hits on her. I have to attack when I can and then put as much distance as I can between us.'

Tifa recovered quickly, steadying herself on her feet, but Sora could see that she was trying to keep most of her weight off her injury. She ran at him with a bit of a hobble, and Sora ducked under her punch. This time he aimed for her arm, but Tifa drew back her fist and it hit the Keyblade instead. Sora almost lost his grip, but managed to withdraw and recover.

The pattern continued, with Sora taking solitary strikes as he dodged her attacks. Tifa managed to land one hit, grazing his shoulder, but it did nothing more than make him loose his balance. He recovered with a roll to dodge her accompanying downward strike and jumped over her, landing a hit on her back. Tifa yelled out in pain, but only seemed to get angry. She spun on her heels and lunged at him. Startled by the change in approach, Sora barely managed to dive out of the way.

Tifa hit the ground, palms first, and swung her legs back. They hit the arena barrier and, crouching against the wall and lifting her hands off the ground, she sprang at him again. She collided with Sora and sent him sprawling on his back, his head hitting the ground. Then, she pulled back her fist to punch him. With his arms pinned across his chest, he did the only thing he could. He forced his arms, with his Keyblade, up, knocking Tifa away. He scrambled quickly to his feet, but stopped.

Lying on the ground, Tifa was clutching her chest and gritting her teeth in pain. She looked like she was trying to sit up, but she let out a gasp of pain and flopped onto her back again. From somewhere, Phil was announcing Sora's victory, but he was confused.

He ran over to Tifa and crouched by her side. "Are you alright?"

In response, she backhanded him across the chest, knocking him onto his backside. He sat there, stunned, as Kairi and Cloud raced over. Kairi muttered a healing spell.

Cloud looked distressed. "Tifa, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," she said, sitting up with a grimace. "Thanks," she said to Kairi, who gave her a smile.

Instantly, Kairi turned around and unleashed her anger on Sora. "What were you thinking, doing something like that! You could have seriously hurt her!"

"I wasn't trying to!" Sora protested, getting to his feet, "I was just trying to defend myself. Besides, I didn't hit her that hard…"

Kairi opened her mouth to protest, but closed it. "Never mind, Sora. You wouldn't get it anyway."

"Get what?"

"Ignore it!"

Cloud cleared his throat, and brought their attention to him. Tifa was dusting herself off beside him. "The three of us are in the next round. It's a short tournament, so the next round is already the semifinals."

"Then who's the last guy?"

"Him," Tifa answered, pointing at one side of the stands.

It took a bit of looking to find who she was talking about. Finally, Sora spotted him standing in the shadows. Dressed in black with a long red cape, long black hair and red eyes, he looked intimidating, even from a far, and his pointed metal boots and clawed gauntlet added to the effect. He didn't pay any attention to them, turning and walking into the lobby, his cape flowing behind him.

"That's Vincent for you," she muttered, crossing her arms.

Sora looked at Tifa. "You know him?"

"Vincent Valentine," Cloud answered. "He's a friend of ours, of a certain sort. Mysterious kind of guy, but he can be pretty nice when he wants to be. Still, he's your next opponent."

"Mine?"

Kairi nudged him. "No, mine."

Can anyone guess who Kairi's opponent in this chapter was? A billion cookies and a speedy update if anyone can.