Roxas fought to hide a smirk as he did the warm-ups Scott was showing him. He felt like he was in some sad Rocky Balboa remake...

Well, that is if Rocky wore a Gi.

Despite Professor Xavier's urges to keep the sparring discreet, everyone had gathered outside the gym, peering in through the glass. The ones inside were Xavier, Scott, Logan, Kitty, Shadow, X23, and Roxas himself. Shadow and Roxas had kept their little arrangement secret, but had managed to convince everyone to let them have a go.

Roxas finished one exercise and switched to another. While transitioning, he caught X23 looking at him. She was fuming a little, and knowing Kurt and Kitty, it was common knowledge by now as to why. X23 looked away and Roxas did the warm up unaffected. They'd sort it out soon enough.

"Okay, alright already." Logan sounded unamused at the display Scott and Roxas were kicking up. Now that Roxas stopped and looked around, he noticed some of the other students had been making fun of his exertions.

Logan beckoned Roxas over to the mat—a six by six metre grouping of several smaller gym mats—and stood him a metre or so in front of Kitty, his opponent.

"Right, since we have no idea what you know, you're going to start with some basics."

Roxas resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He could see where this was going.

"Just simple wrestling. Pin the other guy, keep him there for ten seconds, first to six wins gets the trophy." By 'trophy' Logan meant the winner's cut of any gambled monies by the students, something that went on behind the teachers backs. They'd tried to stop it several times in the past, Roxas was told, but it persisted anyway.

Scott whispered a few words of advice, but Roxas wasn't listening. He was looking at kitty; she had been waving to someone outside when she stepped onto the mat, and was waving again. Roxas looked at the guy in question. He was tallish, brown hair, dark eyes, wore his clothing pretty neatly. Stood with an almost soldier-esque presence. Probably a boyfriend.

Roxas shook his head slightly. Whatever, he thought, No skin off my nose.

Logan ushered Scott away and raised his arm, ready to give the go. Roxas got his mind into the fight; wrestling. Grab the other person, tip them off balance, put them in a bind or lock, or know their feet out from under them. Whatever gets them to the floor. From there, just plain strength and a little strategy on the side. Simple.

Logan chopped down between them, and they fell into low stances, feet wide, hands shoulder level and open. Roxas charged in, grabbing Kitty's arms. He pushed and pulled, trying to lift off her footing and throw her to the ground.

Roxas gasped in surprise as Kitty did this to him instead.

He was stunned for a moment, Kitty holding him face down with his arm behind his back. He struggled, but it was pointless. Ten slaps on the ground from Scott, and Kitty got up and readied herself for the next round.

Roxas felt a mixture of embarrassment and what closely resembled fury as his face reddened. He got back up and readied again. He'd underestimated Kitty, but he wouldn't do it again. A little brains before brawn was needed here. He charged again, this time grabbing for the cloth of her Gi. He intended to get in close, nullify Kitty's advantage in experience.

Only to be thwarted by her advantage in strength.

Again he was pinned and his pride was bruised. He got back up and readied a third time, blocking out the faint sound of laughter from outside. Stubbornly, Roxas amounted his weakness to his absence from any sort of hard physical exertion. He knew he had taken bigger than her, and refused to think that she was simply stronger than he was.

This time he waited for Kitty to make the first move. She got the hint quickly and grabbed Roxas by the collar, getting in before he could react. He was helpless as he was tossed onto his back. By some miracle, he rolled to the side in time to avoid another pin, forcing Kitty to come after him from another angle. They grappled, Kitty slowly wearing him down and pinning his arms above his head, while Roxas did all he could to stop her from getting atop him to finish the pin.

He struggled and struggled, but to no avail. She was going to win for a third time. Roxas searched in desperation for a way to turn the situation around, finding nothing. Then, suddenly, he noticed Kitty's weight was being put to one side as she tried to finish her pin. If he could just...hit...the inside...of her elbow...

He did. He hit but bringing up a knee and giving it a little tap. She toppled forward with an 'oof!', giving Roxas the break he needed. He scrambled out from under her, Kitty letting go of his hands to push herself up, and he wrapped an arm under and around her shoulder, placing the hand behind her neck. She must have recognised what he was trying, because she started to shake him off. He managed to stay on, barely, but somehow he not only did that, but got his other arm under the other shoulder and got her in the full lock.

They fought for some time, Kitty trying to pry herself loose, Roxas holding on like grim death, but eventually, Roxas got his first victory. He got up, resisting the urge to pump a first.

He wasn't likely to win again, this time being a fluke, but at least his ego was soothed somewhat.

Humiliation hurt like hell. Kitty six, Roxas one. Not even that one victory could account for how bad he was beaten the next four times. Any hopes of this not being mentioned the next day were so very much in vain.

Kitty had gone off to the side, her boyfriend having been let in, and now as engaged in a round of flirting.

Thankfully, everyone inside largely ignored the sound beating and just got on with the matter at hand.

"You're not overly strong, but you put up a fight; Kitty's pretty no-nonsense with fighting guys."

Roxas tried to ignore the slight smirk at the corner of Logan's mouth as he spoke.

"I want to see how fast you are." Logan walked to the edge of the mat and picked up a wooden katana. He tossed it to Roxas, grabbing a bo-staff for himself. "Main point is defence. Hit me if you can, but you lose if I hit you eight times."

Roxas nodded and stood in the same battle stance as he had the previous evening. He glanced to the side, at the other end of the room from Kitty and the other guy, where X23 and Shadow were practicing some sort of sequence. He made a mental note to keep an eye on them, see what he could gleam of their tactics.

Logan started up, making a few swipes that Roxas blocked easily enough. Gradually picking up in speed and power, Roxas finally felt like he was getting some real training, instead of the boring weights that he was limited to before.

Logan made a quick swipe at Roxas side, moving faster than before. Roxas mind saw it coming, but his body was a little slow. He blocked it just in time, but he didn't stop there. Moving on instinct, Roxas ducked, flicked Logan's weapon over his head with his own weapon, and the made a sideways chop at Logan's head.

Logan blocked it and made three more very fast strikes, all of which hit. Roxas fought the urge to double over from the pain, but his face scrunched up in agony.

"You alright?" Logan's sympathy sounded limited.

"Fine." Roxas grunted. He stood straight again before resuming his combat stance.

Logan smiled a little and started to slowly spin the staff around himself. "You're tougher than you look."

The next few minutes consisted of Logan hitting with varying degrees of speed and strength, Roxas largely being on defence. Roxas pulled a few more counters, but soon enough it ended with Logan as the winner.

With that over, Logan dismissed him so he could recover. Roxas took the opportunity to look around the room. Shadow was next to verse Logan, and he seemed rather relaxed about it. Logan had ditched the bo-staff, going for hand to hand. Looking to the side, he saw Kitty flaunting a few bills and coins to the other students while flexing her arms. Show-off...

X23 was still doing some warm ups. Had she taken a break at all?

Before Roxas could figure an answer, his attention was drawn back to Logan and Shadow as they began. Roxas was immediately impressed by Logan's brutality and relentlessness, and even more intimidated by Shadow's speed and ferocity. Suddenly, Roxas was having reservations about their upcoming match.

The rules they were going by were easy enough to catch on to. Fists and feet only, first to three knock downs wins.

Roxas walked over to Xavier, who was watching the match with growing concern.

"You never said what his powers were." Roxas said once he was close enough to talk.

"Excuse me?"

"Shadow's powers. You never said what they were."

"Ah. Yes." Xavier smiled through his nervous expression. "Slipped my mind, I guess. He is a telepath, like myself and Jean, and also has similar regenerative abilities to Logan and X23."

"What?" Roxas looked at Shadow. "He can heal like X23?"

"Yes, and he has had adamantium grafted to his skeleton in a similar manner."

So Shadow had claws? Roxas saw the current fight in a new light; if it were no-holds-barred, there'd be quite a bloody display on right now.

"You mentioned telepathy?"

"Yes, I did. Shadow is telepathic, though unlike his regeneration, his telepathy is not as advanced. He is barely above Jean's strength."

Roxas thought about those moments of silence from their earlier discussion. Had Shadow been reading his mind. Whatever, didn't matter now.

"So, telepathy and regeneration...what was the third one?"

"His third power manifests in intense blasts of energy, similar to Scott, but different in that they project from his hands and for the moment seem to be at will."

"Three powers..." Roxas said under his breath. "That's a bit unfair..."

"Indeed. Instead of having one gift, like every other mutant, he has three. But then ,perhaps they were forced upon him, instead of being a product of nature."

Shadow was knocked down hard. There were exaggerated 'ooh's' from outside before the cheers started. Shadow got back up, clenching a fist that momentarily glowed green.

"Hm. Make that four." Xavier said to himself.

Roxas looked to the Professor to explain further.

"Logan mentioned that Shadow shot a beam of projectile energy from his hand."

"So that was the green flash?"

"Yes."

Roxas looked back at the fight. He'd lost who was winning during his conversation with Xavier, but the students outside seemed to be swapping bets in Shadow's favour.

Shadow scored another point, and Scott, who was doing the job of referee again, declared Shadow the winner. He must have been enjoying the position, because he grabbed shadows hand and put it up in the air.

Roxas rolled his eyes and stepped up to the mat for his match with Shadow, fighting the fear that had built during Shadow and Logan's match. He grabbed the wooden katana, hoping that holding it wouldn't interfere with summoning the Keyblade.

Then, to his surprise, X23 walked up and told Shadow to get back. Shadow complied without protest.

I was beginning to worry she wouldn't come through.

X23 grabbed another katana, turning it around a few times in her hand, and took her place at the other end of the mats centre. Roxas could dimly hear frantic whispers from the other students outside the glass.

Scott gave a look to Xavier, who just gave a nod to go-ahead in response. Roxas figured he was interested to see how their earlier confrontation would play in this. Scott, shrugging, raised his arm.

"Well, at least she's guaranteed to be a little gentler than Shadow..." He muttered.

Wrong. Roxas thought.

"First to score two hits." Scott dropped his arm, and X23 leapt in. Unlike Logan, X23 showed no quarter, coming on with relentless attacks. However, they were entirely predictable.

Roxas gained enough confidence to begin dodging instead of blocking. Dodging to one side, Roxas barged into X23. She was heavy because of her skeleton, almost causing Roxas to lose his balance with the effort it took to knock her over.

X23 growled and swiped at his legs, but Roxas easily overleapt the swipe. He stepped out of range and fell into his ready stance. X23 got back up and charged again.

"See ya." Roxas taunted as he fell forward into a roll. He felt his back collide with X23's foot.

"You little..." X23 gasped as she stumbled over. She arose again, but didn't attack.

The next dozen seconds were tense. Roxas risked a glance at the other students. They had ceased their previous behaviour of cheering and playing up the action, and instead were all wearing an expression of nervousness. Maybe they picked up onto the fact X23 wasn't holding back.

X23 seemed to be unsure of what to do. Roxas knew he should take advantage of this, but he was still held back by his weak physique. Finally, X23 made a move, coming in close to try and grapple Roxas like Kitty had. Roxas cursed under his breath, resorting to the same futile efforts that he'd been forced to use with Kitty, struggling against superior strength.

Then Roxas cursed again as he realised wrestling wasn't X23's plan at all. She was going for his sword, trying to wrest it from his grip. He was helpless as he was lifted here and there, the only thing he could do being to hold onto his sword for dear life.

"Get off!" Roxas snarled. X23 responded by hauling him over her shoulder, tearing the hilt of his sword from his fingers with the momentum. Roxas landed on his back, knocking some of the air from his lungs. Cursing X23 with what little air he had left, he rolled away to safety, narrowly avoiding the two descending lengths of wood aimed for his chest.

Roxas came to his feet and got ready to dodge like mad. X23 stood heaving with aggression, whether because of hesitation or personal glory, Roxas couldn't tell. The entire room had gone silent.

After a minute, X23 broke the silence. "Yield." She snarled in a whisper.

"As if." He whispered back, mocking he tone.

She lunged forward, hacking at him viciously. Roxas dodged out of the way, but then was caught by a round house to the ribs. There were gasps from outside.

"X23, that's too far." Xavier said in a warning tone.

Roxas staggered to the side, clutching the side of his chest.

Something exploded in him, and he leapt in savagely. X23 leant to one side to let his charge go past.

Then Roxas reached out and grabbed X23's wrist. She responded by dropping one of the swords and going in for another round of grappling. There was another round of gasps as Roxas rammed his head into her nose—the adamantium didn't cover that—and then a louder round as Roxas rammed a fist into the side of her head. His hand hurt...

"Roxas!" Xavier shouted.

X23 charged at Roxas, ditching her other sword and tackling Roxas to the ground and cracking a rib in the process. Roxas was winded for an instant, giving X23 opportunity to raise her arm for a knock-out blow.

Roxas eyes went wide as he saw the approaching fist. He lifted his hands and—

Then there was a length of blue-black cloud between them. A loud clang rang as X23's fist hit the Keyblade. X23 grunted in pain.

Roxas pushed up with his off hand, bringing the tip of the Keyblade across X23's face. She grunted again and retreated off of him. They retook their positions, only X23 was the one without a weapon.

Roxas, not ignorant of the metal in his opponents arms, didn't let up. He edged his was forward, wary of another attempt at grappling from X23.

"Roxas," Xavier spoke as if he were facing a bomb with a countdown in the single digits, "X23, that is enough!"

"He can't hurt me with that." X23 slowly, menacingly, drew her claws. "I can take him."

"Prove it." Roxas moved in with a pair of downward swipes, forcing X23 back and gaining himself some momentum. He pressed the attack for all it was worth, X23 making an occasional block with her claws. Roxas upped the ante, pushing himself faster to force X23 to make a move or take a hit.

X23 chose the former, crossing her arms in front of an oncoming strike, letting the Keyblade hit. She quickly grabbed hold of the blade, resorting to the same trick as before.

Without thinking, Roxas let her take it. His body moved on instinct and he stepped back. He watched as X23 took the length of black metal, took the grip in hand with a milliseconds quick spin of her wrist. She spun around to bring the blade to Roxas' shoulder and...

He ducked. The Keyblade sailed over his head and he stepped forward to deliver a kick. X23 let out an 'oof' as it connected with her abdomen.

X23 fell into a backward roll that brought her to her feet. She snarled and raised the Keyblade to—

"Roxas wins!"

Both X23 and Roxas stopped. "What?" They said in bewilderment.

"First to two hits." Scott explained, keeping his tone neutral. "Roxas landed a punch, and he just landed a kick as well. He wins." His voice lowered to a warning tone. "Back away."

Roxas did as Scott said. X23, on the other hand, sliced through a door and left.

There was a long moment of silence before Kitty was heard ushering everyone away outside, with the help of a few other students.

"I'm going after X23." Logan said gruffly as he left through the cut up door. Xavier motored over to Roxas.

"I expect you and X23 to resolve this as soon as possible. I will tell her the same."

Roxas looked at the floor and nodded. "Yes, Professor."

As he turned away, Xavier said over his shoulder, "Nice right hook, but aim for the jaw next time."

Roxas watched the Professor move over to the broken door, where Scott was standing. From what Roxas could discern, they were talking about X23. Either that or how they did not need to be paying for another door on top of all the other damage around the school. He absently rubbed his right hand, a smile finding its way to his face. Then he rubbed his side. The rib wasn't broken outright, but it hurt a lot. He fought an urge to touch his face.

"Are you still up for another round?" Shadow called from where he stood against a wall on the other side of the room, where he had been since the start of Roxas and X23's fight

"I'll be fine," He answered, patting the damaged rib, "Just a bruise." He twirled the Keyblade in his hand as Shadow approached the mat. "Oblivion..." He whispered.

"Naming our toys, are we?" Shadow jested.

Roxas froze, his grip on the Keyblade tightening with annoyance. "What am I, six?" He turned to face Shadow, holding the Keyblade at his side. "I was remembering what it was called."

"Can you remember anything further?" Shadow asked.

"No." Roxas voice gained a twinge of sadness. "I've tried but...well, my head starts to hurt if I push too far."

Shadow nodded, as if understandingly. "Can you get rid of it?"

Roxas shook his head. "No. If I could, I would've pulled a little trick on X23; make it disappear so she couldn't get it off me, and the make it reappear when I want it."

Shadow raised an eyebrow. "Crafty. Try to make that happen this time."

Roxas displayed the Keyblade. "You want me to grab a wooden sword?"

Shadow examined one of his hands. "No. The Keyblade will do fine. I'll use my fists." He brought his hands up in front of him and began to circle Roxas. "If I manage to hit you, I win a point."

"Sounds good to me." Scott said as he came away from the door. "You sure you're up for it?"

Roxas nodded. "Yes." He looked out the window. "Pity there's no crowd this..." He trailed off, still looking out at the night-time darkness. He could have sworn he saw something...

"Roxas?" Scott asked, shaking Roxas shoulder a bit. "You still there?"

"Huh?" Roxas came back to himself. He shook his head and got his mind back on track. "It's nothing. Just...thought there was a cat outside...or something."

He knew there was more to it than that, something really important, but...

Scott shrugged. "First to two, like last time. Just no broken noses, ribs, or any injuries requiring casts or stitches. Got it?"

Roxas lunged in with the Keyblade aimed for Shadow's ribs. "Sure."

Welcome back to the story everyone! First post of the new year. I like to think I did well with this, but I'm not entirely sure; mostly, I don't think the 'he knew there was more to it than than' came across quite right. Still, considering that I rewrote the end of it twice, I think I did well. Better than what happened with chapter fifteen; anyone who's written anything will have come across this blunder:

Last week, I was doing my thing; typing for a moment, then playing freecell, mahjong, chess, solitare, whatever, until going back to typing, all the while decimating my eardrums with some music. Typical stuff. I finished for the day, and backed up my story from my flash drive to my computer (as every one should do; have at least two or three back ups). What I didn't realize was, I had been working on the copy that was on my computer, not my flash drive; I copied over roughly two hours of work!

After searching madly through my computer for a way to recover the lost data, I took a moment to recover from my disheartened state. After some time, I sat back down, and tried to re-write the ending to chapter fifteen from memory. Three and a half pages...

When I post it, I'll point out what parts were affected, and how I think they came out originally. It came out alright, but not as I originally intended.

As for the reviews that have come up during the break; I am very enthused by the support and positive reception that my writing has gotten. I didn't have any questions asked between Roxas and X23 during their fight, because it seemed a little unlikely, given their personalities (X23 only talked to Logan during her fight with him in the series because she was venting some trauma, and this is simply some personal confusion). Shadow is a bit of a jerk in this, yes, but if you look at his behavior in any Sonic(tm) games, comics, or whatever, you'll see he's not very pleasant anyway. He goes for his goal. To hell with anything else.

The link in Roxas' mind is something of a big thing to get around. I'm not sure where to go with it; it's there, Namine is trying to use it to find Roxas, she can commune with him, but what else to do with it?

Anyway, I digress. To Darkness21; I'll give it a look, just as soon as I'm through the book I'm currently reading (just finished another one before that. Read for an entire day!).

That's all for now. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll update in two weeks.