This is an original fan fic by me. It was originally posted on a forum message board under the title of Beginning of Destiny. Please respect my work and the work of others and don't plagiarize. Enjoy!
Chapter 11: The first Struggle: Setzer Versus the unknown youth!
"Struggle?" A curious Buddy repeated in his cluelessness. The crowd had exploded in excitement with Setzer's declaration as Setzer glared at Buddy as he stood in his mock battle stance, intent on avenging his loss.
"Well?" Setzer asked loudly, growing impatient. "Aren't you going to take a stance? We can't struggle if you don't take a stance!"
"I would, but…"
"But what?" Setzer demanded relaxing his stance for the moment. "Spit it out! I haven't got all day!"
"What's struggle?" Buddy asked innocently, leaving the Struggle champion, along with the rest of the growing crowd dumbstruck and speechless.
"P-please tell me you're joking!" Setzer stuttered in shock as he stared at the boy with his right eye twitching slightly. "You mean to tell me that you have never heard of Struggle?!?"
"Nope!" Buddy chirped, scratching the back of his head. Setzer couldn't believe what he was hearing! To actually meet someone who doesn't know about one of the most popular contests in the world!
"What rock have you been living under!?! Never heard of Struggle?! I find that hard to0 believe!" Setzer yelled in anger, thinking that Buddy was lying to throw the champ off guard. He resumed his stance and got ready for his attack, not even caring that the size of the crowd didn't leave enough room for proper combat, nor bothering of asking the audience to give them space. He was about to lunge when someone called out over the crowd.
"SETZER! ENOUGH OF THIS!" The voice said loudly and with authority. Setzer once again relaxed his stance and looked towards the direction the voice had come from, just beyond the crowd. Buddy, still having no idea of what was happening or what he should do with the strange bat that Setzer had given him, decided to join his gaze in the same direction of Setzer's out of curiosity.
Fighting his way through swarm of people, a heavy set man emerged from the crowd and stood before Setzer. He seemed to be about five feet, nine inches tall and looked like he was in his early forties. He wore a brown dress vest on top of green sweater, which went well with his brown slacks. His black hair was combed back and to the sides, with it parting down the middle of his head. Just under his nose, he had a pencil line mustache, giving him a dignified and formal look.
"Perez!" Setzer said in surprise as he locked eyes with the rotund individual, who was obviously not happy with the brazen showboat, while Buddy only looked on silently without speaking. "What are you doing here?"
"I was shopping with my wife, but that's not the problem." The other said with authority to Setzer, whose usual holier-than-thou attitude suddenly took a leave of absence. "The problem, my good Setzer, is that you were about to hold an unsanctioned Struggle match in the middle of a crowded street. You know the rules about unsanctioned matches!"
"I don't see what the big deal is." Setzer calmly replied in a rebuttal as he ran his fingers through his hair with a sigh. "I have two committee approved Struggle bats with me. I should be able to hold a match whenever I please."
"Two Struggle bats do not a proper Struggle make!" the gentleman retorted, gesturing with one of his hands as he spoke. "You know perfectly well that there is more to a Struggle than just hitting each other with bats! A lot of hard work has been done in order to make Struggle what it is. To hold an unsanctioned Struggle is to insult everyone who dedicated time and effort into this event."
"I am one of those people Perez." Setzer scoffed while lightly tapping his Struggle bat off of his shoulder. "With me as the champion, I've created a goal for witch all aspiring Strugglers can aspire to, but never attain. I have assured that people will always have a reason to Struggle! And if you want to the match to be 'official' so badly, then just say the word. You've got the authority, don't you?"
"That's the problem with you Setzer. You think that just because you are Twilight Town's Struggle Champion, you think that the rules don't apply to you. You have to realize that the rules apply to everyone! You've got to think about what kind of example you're setting for others. If I bend the rules with you, I'd have to bend it for everyone else, and I can't do that!"
"Excuse me..." Buddy interrupted with a nervous smile, starting to feel ignored. "But who are you?"
"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't see you there!" The older individual squeaked, a little surprised at Buddy's sudden interjection. He cleared his throat, covering his mouth politely with a curled up fist before holding them behind his back. "I am the President of Twilight Town's branch of the Struggle Regulations Committee, but everyone calls me Perez for short."
Yeah, but what's your name? Buddy thought to himself, not wanting to seem rude. "I see, and what exactly is Struggle? I'm… new to the area, and don't know all that much."
"You must be from overseas, then. Anyone from this continent not knowing about Struggle seems pretty unlikely." Perez deduced with crossed arms. "To put it simply, Struggle is a contest, usually between two individuals, who attack each other using objects such as the bat that you're holding. In a normal Struggle, each player starts out with a hundred points, and every time they successfully land a strike to their opponent, then that person drops points. You can gain points by collecting dropped points. The winner is the one who has the most points at the end of the time limit, which is usually from a minute to ten minutes."
"Wait a sec!" Buddy interrupted. "How do you 'collect' points?"
"What are you an idiot?" Setzer scoffed loudly, staring at the teen with an irritated look in his eyes. "Do you think that there are Velcro vests that we wear and that we just stick felt balls onto?"
"Setzer calm down!!" Perez barked, glancing over his shoulder towards Setzer. He turned back towards Buddy to answer his question. "Basically, it's computers. Every designated Struggle ring has a computer that, when in conjunction with the force meter in the Struggle back and impact meters worn by the contestants, calculate how many points a contestant loses based on how much force is in each strike, and then projects them in a virtual image onto the field, and when a contestant passes through a one of these images, that point is added to the contestant's score."
"I see…" Buddy sighed. "So what you're saying is that a Struggle basically a fight."
"Basically. But we try to encourage people Struggle in designated areas with regulation equipment. Unsanctioned Struggles can get quite dangerous."
Buddy broke eye contact with Perez and then stared at Setzer, a vague thought running through his head.
"No thanks." Buddy declared loudly, earning a raised eyebrow and a puzzled look from the crowd, which had fallen silent with the arrival of Perez.
"What do you mean?" Setzer asked, unsure of the meaning of Buddy's remark.
"I won't fight you."
"WHAT!!" Setzer shouted in shock. The crowd started to whisper to each other, not sure of what to make of the spectacle. "But why"
"Simple. I have no reason to."
"But I'm the Champion!! Doesn't that mean anything to you?!?"
"Not really, no. I've never even heard of you before today, to tell the truth."
"Now do you get it Setzer? You're opponent is refusing your challenge. It would be best to stop this spectacle now!" Perez stated plainly to Setzer, recoiling from Buddy's words. He couldn't believe that there was someone who didn't know who he was. But like the true entertainer that he was, he recovered quickly. He stood at the ready, posing for his fans in a picture perfect example of finesse. With a smirk, he instantly retaliated to their arguments.
"So what, are you saying that we should just have a Struggle somewhere else after all the proper channels have been gone through? Or not Struggle at all? You know perfectly well that the heart of any sport revolves around the fans. Are you saying we should just disappoint all these people?"
Setzer raised his Struggle bat into the air and the crowd exploded with cheers, the spectators clapping and calling out for a Struggle. Perez stared at the man and gave a heavy sigh.
"I can see that this could get out of hand." Perez droned, not surprised with Setzer's actions. That man has a tendency to turn everything into a performance. He turned towards Buddy. "Hey kid! You might as well go along with it."
"But I have no reason to!"
"Yeah, but that doesn't matter to Setzer. He loves being the center of attention. Once he gets into his show, it's impossible to stop him. The way he works a crowd, we're likely to have a riot on our hands.
"But…"
"If the honor of being in the same ring as me isn't enough…" Setzer interrupted with a sly smile crawling on his face. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a metal clip, filled with a strange roll of paper. He took the roll out and unrolled it, flashing it all to the crowd. "Perhaps fifty thousand munny will me enough incentive!"
But that doesn't look like munny!
"And before you ask, large amounts of munny can be interpreted in cotton paper form for easier management. It's not like I have a bag of holding to carry fifty thousand little gems with me."
Buddy stood silently for a minute, taking Setzer's remark as an insult to his intelligence. Setzer had gotten it right, but it still was a little insulting. The crowd watched intently and with much anticipation as Buddy gave it one last thought.
"Fine, I'll do it." The youth conceded. If only to shut this guy up!
The crowd gave a great cheer, and Setzer smirked in victory. Perez held up his hands to silence the noise.
"Then it's settled. But it won't happen here, let's move it back to the intersection where there is more room." The Perez ordered, and with that the crowd retreated to the intersection, forming a barrier of spectators at every street entrance, creating a make shift ring. Before Setzer could take his place, Perez stopped him with a warning. "Listen Setzer, I do this begrudgingly. This is the only time I will tolerate such actions. You'll be walking on thin ice after this, is that clear?"
"Whatever…" Setzer dismissed, not really listening to the Perez's warning. He went through the crowd after handing the prize munny to the Perez. Perez sighed and took his place as well, acting as the announcer and judge of the match. He looked around the ring once, locking eyes with both contestants, and with everyone in the crowd. After he was done, he closed his eyes and centered himself. He took his deepest breath and hollered with all his might.
"ARE YOU READY FOR A STRUUUUUUUUUUUUGGLEEEEE?!?"
This sent the entire crowd into frenzy, as they cheered louder than ever before. Despite it not being a regulation match, even he couldn't help get a little into the mood as he smiled. He let them go on like that for a moment before moving on.
"This is an unregulated, unclassified Struggle match." He threw his left arm out in Setzer's direction, his palm open as if he were presenting him. "In this corner is:"
"Setzer Gabbiani." Setzer said, completing the sentence.
"And in this corner is:" He repeated, thrusting his right arm out in Buddy's direction.
"Buddy." The teen stuttered, following Setzer's example. He was a little nervous, being the center of attention once again. Perez continued, speaking loudly and to no person in particular.
"Since this is an impromptu Struggle match without the proper equipment, the regular one hundred point rules will be substituted in favor of the three strikes rule. The first to land three solid strikes to the body will be the winner. Attacks deflected by the arms will not be counted towards your score. As expected, attacking your opponent's sensitive area is strictly forbidden. Contestants, do you agree to these terms?"
"Yes." agreed Setzer.
"Okay…" stuttered Buddy.
"Then it's agreed. A moment will be granted for final comments." Perez announced. Setzer, standing at the ready, smirked with a look of victory.
"Just so you know kid, going against me in a Struggle match is a totally different matter than going against me in a card game. Your luck just officially ran out!"
"Whatever!" Buddy retorted in defiance, standing firmly with his Struggle bat to the side. "Let's just do this already!"
"Struggle match! Setzer versus Buddy!FIGHT!" Perez shouted as he threw down his hand in a vertical swipe between the two, signaling the start. Without any hesitation, Setzer made his move.
"My life is a chip in the pile…" He announced passionately, striking the same battle pose from earlier, swiping his Struggle bat down diagonally with his right hand, cocking his head slightly. Standing at the opposite end of the ring from Buddy he crouched down low in preparation for a lunge.
"It's time to ante up!" He dash towards Buddy, not even considering defense, planning on making a quick finish. His coat flapped through the air as he sprinted his arms off to the side, a look of certainty on his face. He just got into striking range, preparing to strike, when…
BONK!
Buddy had brought his Struggle bat down in a vertical strike, striking Setzer squarely on the head. Setzer froze immediately when he was struck, standing in the in mid dash. Everyone who witnessed it seemed to have been left speechless. Setzer looked up, with the Struggle bat still on his head, and leered at the boy.
"It seems you are more skilled than I originally thought." Setzer stated calmly, containing his anger. His eye started twitching slightly.
"I don't think my 'skill' had anything to do with it." Buddy claimed, staring back with a blank look on his face. "I think you just made a really stupid move."
"Uh, round one to Buddy!" The Perez stated. Setzer removed himself from under the club and this time, resumed a proper battle stance.
"I won't make the same to mistake twice." Setzer said, standing at the ready. Buddy silently grasped his struggle bat tightly with both hands, bending his knees slightly. They waited for the signal to begin the next bout.
"Round Two, FIGHT!"
Anyone else who had lost the first round would have waited for their opponent to make the first move, but Setzer wasn't anybody else. He quickly thrust his club forward, aiming for Buddy's abdomen. Buddy quickly defused his attack by swinging his bat up, knocking it off center, and swung it to Setzer's side, landing a second blow. The crowd erupted into elation, either cheering for Buddy or against him. Perez excitedly announced the winner.
"Round two to Buddy!"
Setzer, jumped back a couple feet. His anger is now clearly visible on his face.
"THAT'S IT! NO MORE MISTER NICE GUY!! NOW YOU FACE THE STRUGGLE SCREWDRIVER!" He yelled with intensity. He glared at Buddy, unchaining his coat from around his neck and threw it into the crowd. Perez instantly announced the next round.
"Round Three, Fight!"
Setzer instantly leaped forward with unexpected power, flying through the air, spinning as he flew towards Buddy. Buddy looked on at the amazing spectacle and thought Holy Crap!
Not able to dodge, Buddy blocked the spinning Struggle bat with his own, reinforcing it by resting it on his arm. He could feel the sheer force that Setzer attacked with, pushing him back a little. Setzer stopped spinning, no longer able to get the necessary turning force, and before he could land, Buddy swung his Struggle bat up with all his might, nailing Setzer squarely on the chin. Sent flying away, Setzer landed a few feet away and the crowd roared, cheering for the victorious, and mysterious, youth. Before Setzer even landed, The Struggle President yelled with excitement and passion:
"MATCH TO BUDDY!"
Chapter 11: The First Struggle Match: End.