Chapter 11- Rivals

"Rinoa, let's get inside the cabin. This is about to get ugly," I warned.

"Why in there?" she asked in perplexity. "We won't have any maneuverability."

"Yeah, but neither will they," I answered. "Plus, it gives us the element of surprise, and we need all the help we can get."

The Ragnarok was slowing down and gradually descending upon our location, and so the two of us hurried into the small cabin. As I slammed the door, I immediately turned around to face it, backing up toward the far wall near the bed as I drew my gunblade. I scrutinized my weapon one last time before it would be put to the true test. I sighed audibly, still uncertain if it was sturdy enough to withstand a ferocious duel with whomever stepped through that door.

(I hope it manages to hold up.) I thought.

I assumed my battle stance as I heard the sound of the doorknob slowly twisting. Then the door swung open to reveal Seifer standing there with my other friends right behind him. Only the door slamming loudly against the wall permeated the otherwise deafening silence in the room. His gunblade was drawn as well, and I could see the competitive fire burning in his eyes along with the arrogant sneer that generally accompanied it.

"Well, well…Here we are, together again, but my, how the tables have turned!" he said with a smirk, stepping into the cabin. The rest did not follow him, but merely stood there as if they were unable to move. "This is it, Squall! Nowhere to run for either of us! It all ends here!"

I stayed in my stance, ready to charge at any time, but I remained calm. I elected to say nothing in response to my rival. Seifer pointed the tip of Hyperion at me, beckoning me to fight him.

"What's the matter? Aren't you glad to see me, Squall? This is a glorious occasion! Our last battle…I thought even you'd be excited to see this day." He drew closer with delays between his steps, as if trying to act menacing as he approached. "You're not gonna let me take Rinoa from you without a struggle, are you?"

"Never!" I yelled, immediately swiping at his gunblade forcefully.

I caught him off guard, nearly disarming him. He managed to hold onto his weapon, and I lunged at his chest without hesitation to capitalize on his vulnerability. Seifer barely managed to dodge it, spinning toward my right side. He extended his gunblade as he made a complete revolution, trying to decapitate me, but I ducked below it. Almost instinctively, he leapt back out of my range as I aimed low for his knees, as if he was anticipating it.

I rose back to my feet and simply stood there, staring down my lifelong opponent. Only the two of us had even moved at all. Rinoa remained motionless behind me, and the others were still waiting outside of the cabin.

"Not bad, Squall! But we've only just begun!" Seifer exclaimed.

He aggressively slashed at me, but I parried. Then he immediately pressed his weight forward, trying to overpower me as only our gunblades separated us from one another. We tested each other's strength for a while, and I gradually began to push him back toward the door. Even as Seifer struggled, his air of conceit was ever-present in his eyes as we stared intently without either of us flinching. I heard one of his shoes softly brush against the grass as I continued to force him outside.

Suddenly, he reached out his left leg and swept my feet out from under me. I landed roughly on the floor, losing my grip on my gunblade. I felt around for it with my hands, sliding over the wood without ever taking my eyes off of Seifer. My rival glared down at me as if he was already victorious, and menacingly raised the Hyperion to deal the final blow.

"This is it, Squall! So long!"

Without hesitation, I moved my right leg swiftly across the floor and kicked the door that had remained ajar. It slammed into his face and he yelled out in pain. Quickly, I reclaimed my gunblade and scurried to my feet. With an enraged grunt, Seifer broke the door off of its hinges, accompanied by the sound of dry wood being split apart. As it dropped to the floor, he quickly raised his hand to his face, but it didn't help much. The blood flowed freely and ran off of his chin. Some of it stained his shirt and trenchcoat, while other droplets splattered quietly on the cabin floor.

Seifer's labored breathing prevailed over everything, though all else was mere silence. He removed his gloved hand from his busted nose and glanced at it briefly. Then he looked at me disdainfully, blood still pouring profusely from his injury though it had lessened slightly.

"Quick thinking, but you're only delaying the inevitable!" Seifer proclaimed confidently, having to spit out his own blood as he spoke.

"Your incessant babbling is boring me, Seifer," I said in irritation. "Do you always have to reassure yourself like that when you're losing?"

He appeared taken aback by my comments. "Never would've expected to hear something like that outta you, Squall. I suppose even you're prone to change from time to time," he said. "But if you insist, no more talk! We'll just let our gunblades speak for us!"

He charged aggressively, but I was forced to stand my ground to avoid letting him get near Rinoa. His flurry of attacks came from every direction, and I had difficulty keeping up with him. I was severely limited in my options due to the tight quarters and my current situation as well.

"Come on, Squall!" I heard Rinoa shout in encouragement, and I remembered why I was doing this in the first place.

I refused to allow myself to quit, and as I continued to endure Seifer's barrage, my adrenaline was gradually rising to its peak.

(It's time for…)

"Renzokuken!"

The sheer intensity of my attacks drove my rival toward the open space where the door used to be, but he still managed to parry every one of them.

(He knows me too well. I can't get anything by him.) I mused in frustration.

As Seifer moved backwards, he suddenly lost his balance and stumbled backwards until he fell onto the grass outside. I glanced at the floor and realized that he had tripped over the door that he had ripped off of the hinges. I rushed forward to capitalize on my opponent's vulnerability as he scampered back to his feet. He quickly got back into position and assumed his fighting stance.

He looked over at my former comrades and yelled, "Hey! You guys just gonna stand there or what?! Get him!"

None of them moved, and we all stared at each other apprehensively in uncomfortable silence. "What did I just say?! Get him!" Seifer angrily repeated.

I heard Rinoa slowly approach me from behind, and she whispered in my ear, "Let me help you. I can fight when I'm with you."

I quickly muttered "No" without moving my lips.

"But they won't hurt me. They need me. Plus, they can't do anything about my sorceress powers. Please, Squall!" she pleaded. "You can't beat them all by yourself, and you know that."

"…Fine, I can't stop you anyway, but keep your distance. Nothing impulsive."

As I gazed around at my former comrades, anticipating who would strike first, I ran my fingers along my gunblade. It seemed to have held up pretty well while I was dueling with Seifer, and I thought it might last until Kiros could arrive. It could be a while before he could come to our rescue though.

I watched Selphie reluctantly pull out her nunchaku with a bit of reluctance. Even she didn't say a word; there was no reason to speak anyway. She swung her weapon at me somewhat timidly, and I easily parried.

"…Don't hold back. You know what you have to do," I told her.

I don't know what possessed me to say that, but I felt like they needed some sort of justification for what they were doing. Naturally, it wasn't to my benefit to tell Selphie just to attack me, but I could tell that none of them really wanted to do this. Perhaps I didn't want them to feel guilty about having to take Rinoa from me because I understood their situation.

"But Squall, I…"

"I know. I don't like this any more than you do, but this isn't your fault. I've gotta do this, and so do you."

She nodded in acceptance, and we each resumed our battle stances. She hardened her face, appearing more gravely serious than I thought was possible for her. She cried out and her nunchaku came at my head with blinding speed. I ducked as I held up my gunblade to block it. Our weapons met with a fierce clang, and I winced as I stumbled backwards. Selphie aggressively followed up with a low sweep along the ground. I couldn't regain my balance in time to get out of the way, and my legs were taken out. I fell onto the soft grass, but it didn't ease the pain in my knees.

I prevented myself from succumbing to the instinct of closing my eyes, and I saw the nunchaku coming straight toward my face. I swiped my gunblade across my body and caught the chain; Selphie's weapon wrapped around my blade due to its momentum. Using my strength to my advantage, I powerfully yanked backwards, and she had no choice but to be dragged toward me. She tried to stay on her feet, but she eventually tumbled and rolled along the ground.

Our weapons untangled, and I scurried to my feet in an attempt to capitalize on the situation. With great agility, Selphie leapt back up and instinctively assumed a defensive stance as she turned around to face me. I slashed downward with a grunt, but she fully extended her nunchaku to block it. The tough steel seemed to be unbreakable, which was fortunate for her. I clenched my teeth as I used my strength to try to gain some leverage over her, but she didn't budge.

In frustration, I kicked at her petite frame, but Selphie speedily pulled back and cartwheeled out of my range. Her pure quickness made her a tough target to hit, and I began to realize how aggravating it must have been for her foes to fight her. I was very impressed with her ability; she was better in combat than I previously thought. She knew when to take a situation seriously, and I knew I couldn't afford to underestimate her again.

We both stood still for a few moments, and then I beckoned her to come at me with my gunblade because I had no intention of going after her. She might have been out of striking distance for me, but the incredible reach of her weapon made it easy for her to attack me. The flat side of my blade stopped her nunchaku, and she hurried to retract it.

Then Selphie began to twirl her weapon in an ostentatious display at a high speed. I tried to keep my eyes on it, but I remained aware and defensive of what she might do. I assumed Seifer's stance, holding my gunblade out with only one hand because it was better suited for defense.

Then, without warning, she struck at my right side, but I was ready for it. I parried with my gunblade and quickly reached out my left hand to grab the chain. I began to slowly drag Selphie toward me, and for some reason, she refused to relinquish her grip on her nunchaku as she struggled. My heart pounded as I realized that I had the opportunity to finish off one of my friends, and I wondered if I would be able to do it.

Before I had a chance to decide, a whip cracked against my wrist, and the excruciating pain was too much to allow me to hold onto the nunchaku any longer. Selphie stumbled backward and landed on the ground as I briefly examined my wound. The fabric of my jacket had been torn to shreds, and blood was flowing from an open cut. Nonchalantly, I turned to face my former instructor Quistis, trying to act as if the injury didn't faze me.

"Sorry, but this is business," she said.

"Then let's get on with it," I replied calmly.

"I never expected that I would be forced to fight my best student," she commented.

"That's the nature of being a SeeD," I added. "You can't choose your enemies."

"You're right."

Without hesitation, she wrapped her whip around my legs before I could react. I couldn't move at all, and she roughly pulled back, forcing me to the ground with a quiet thud. Then she unwound her weapon from my legs and quickly attacked again. There was a sharp crack as it struck me diagonally across the chest. I yelled out in pain, and I saw that my white shirt had been ripped open and whatever was left of it was being quickly drenched with my blood.

Quistis coldly and accurate hit the same spot once more, and it almost felt like her whip had cut to the bone. She tried it again, but I managed to roll out of the way in desperation. As I struggled to rise to my feet, she continued to attack me ceaselessly. I was lashed across the back multiple times, but the rush of adrenaline refused to let me fall down to the ground again.

My teeth gnashed together as I tried to hold back cries of anguish, and I blindly slashed with my gunblade in hopes of deflecting her whip. It wrapped around the blade, and my sheer power extracted it from her hands. I charged at Quistis, and she tripped as she attempted to get out of my way. I stopped directly in front of her, and I could feel the wind blowing against my bare back, which was searing in pain. I realized that most of my leather jacket had been destroyed by her repeated strikes. With an expressionless face, I raised my gunblade over my head, dreading to deliver the final blow.

Then I heard the sound of a shotgun clicking directly behind me. "Not so fast, buddy," Irvine warned.

Note: I apologize for such a large gap between chapters. Sometimes you just have periods where you're not motivated to write, or you don't know what to write. I'll try to avoid that in the future and write more frequently if I can.