The Darkness Within
Chapter 13: Winners and Losers
Neron and Max stepped up onto the arena, both equally nervous after seeing what happened to Riku and Jetta. Neron, however, had to support not only his confidence, but Max's confidence too, since he was practical shaking in his sneakers. The blonde simply sighed heavily before he looked back at Riku; he still wasn't up. When his gaze returned to the battle arena he found their competitors had already stepped up.
One was a rather tall man that looked as if he had no mussel at all, but then again the baggy clothes could just be hiding his true mussels. He had wild platinum blonde hair with rich amber eyes that gave off a lazy, yet relaxed, look. He wouldn't have been scary if it wasn't for the fact that he was barring his fangs and had, what seemed to look like, razor sharp nails. Next to him was a shorter man, that seemed way tougher than the other, with long brown hair pulled back into a loss and messy ponytail. His odd hazy blue eyes held a death glare on Neron as he pulled out a large sword that was sheathed on his back.
"The second round is between Neron and Max, from Team Strife, and Ryo and Toan, from Team Kuroi," Koto announced, "The rules are the same, and so, with that said, let the battle begin!"
"These two are scared out of their minds," The talk man whispered to his partner.
"So I see," The other man said, "Lets have some fun with them. What do you say, Toan? Sound good to you?"
"Doesn't it always," Toan said as he extended his claws and charged at the shaking Max. Ryo also charged forward as well, holding his sword by his side, aimed directly for Neron.
"Fire!" Max shouted as he shot off several fireballs from his wand. Toan smiled, barring his fangs once again, as he dodged every one of them with a graceful side step; continuing his advance on Max. He jumped up in the air, claws extended for when he pounced on the dog from above, but Max had something else planed.
"Blizzard!" He yelled as a flurry of snow came shooting out of his wand, numbing the demon's skin as he continued to fall. Before he knew it the snow had turned into ice crystals and were zipping past him at a fast speed, cutting his clothes and his skin.
Max ran out of the way, once his spell had ended, letting the demon land in a squatting position on the ground. Once again Toan leaped at the dog, but this time Max wasn't prepared. Toan had slammed into his back from behind, digging his claws into Max's skin as he pushed him down at the arena floor. His amber eyes flashed as he continued to dig deeper into his back.
"Wind!" Max managed to shout with his teeth clinched in pain. Instantly, the wind currents picked up around his body and violently threw Toan from his back.
"Amazing!" Koto announced, "I've never seen one person hold so much power over more than one element before. What a magnificent display!"
As Ryo charged at, what he thought was, the unarmed boy as he lifted his sword over his head to strike the stupid boy for not moving while he had the chance. Neron crossed his arms over his chest, palms out, and waited for the right moment. As Ryo's sword descended upon Neron he uncrossed his arms, a light shining from each hand as his two Keyblades appeared before him. Ryo was shocked at how the two weapons got there as he pushed down on the boy's two crossed... giant keys?
Neron smirked at the man's surprised expression as he closed his two Keyblades on the man's sword like scissors, and once secured he twisted the sword out of his grasp. The sword dropped with a clang as the blonde back slashed with the key. Ryo managed to block with a metal wrist guard, but was surprised to find it gone after the attack. Both starred dumbly at the Keyblade to find Ryo's wrist guard hanging from the hook at the end of his weapon.
"So that's what the hook is for," Neron exclaimed as he removed it from the hook and placed it on his own wrist. Neron smiled at the Kindthief Keyblade now knowing that it really was a thief, "Thanks for the wrist guard." Neron gave the man one last smile before he returned to focusing on the battle.
"Damn you, you little brat!" Ryo growled as he began to lash out at Neron with fierce punches.
The Keyblade wielder gasped at the sudden furry of punches as he stumbled backwards while blocking his every punch with the two keys, most of it just being luck. Frustrated at Neron, Ryo reached out and grabbed hold of his two keys, keeping Neron in place as he struggled to get them back, before he kicked him in the chest. Neron groaned as he fell to the ground, trying to catch the breath that was knocked from his lungs. Ryo smiled as he tossed the keys in the air, catching them by the handle, but just as his hands touched the handle they disappeared from his hands and back into Neron's.
"What the-"
"In a bizarre event, Ryo's plan to use Neron's two... uh... keys against him has backfired," Koto announced, "It seems Neron holds some kind of power over his weapons so only he can use them. Amazing! I don't recall seeing anything like it."
Neron smiled as he stood from the ground, Keyblades in hand, preparing himself for another round. Ryo had already picked his sword up from the ground and had started another charge at Neron. Both met in the center of the arena with their weapons clashing as they blocked each other's moves almost perfectly.
Riku moaned as he started to wake from his unconscious state. He was confused at first because he was hurting so badly, and yet there was a relaxing sensation spreading through his body. It felt odd to feel pain and comfort all at once, but he noticed that the pain was slowly leaving his body; all but a pain in his shoulder that hurt like hell.
"That's all I can do," a woman's voice said before the comfort ended and he was left with that annoying pain in his shoulder. Riku growled as he started to open his eyes to see whom it was, "Oh! He's waking up!"
"So soon?" came a deep voice.
"I know, I figured he'd be out a little longer myself," The woman said. Riku remembered her voice now, it was Botan, and the other was Cloud. He opened his eyes a bit further to find that his deduction was right. Both Cloud and Botan came into his view, hovering over him.
"You feeling okay," Cloud asked.
"...Does it look like I'm okay," Riku moaned as he shut his eyes. Cloud just glared at the boy before he shook his good shoulder roughly.
"Hey, get up, you need to drink this."
"Give it to me later."
"You really should drink it," Botan said, cutting in before it got any uglier, "It's a potion and I'm sure it will help your condition." Riku slowly opened his eyes again and looked over at the angry Cloud with a potion in his hand.
"Fine," Riku said as he reached up for it. Cloud, reluctantly, gave the potion to Riku and watched him drink every last drop.
"Feel any better?"
"Yeah a little," Riku said before he tried to sit up, getting help from Botan, even if he protested, "How long has their fight been going on?"
"It just started," Botan answered as she watched him stand without her help.
Riku turned his attention away from the battle and to the place where he last saw Jetta. Without another word he walked off in Jetta's direction to check up on her, ignoring Botan's shouts to stay put. He felt fine, well, good enough not to stay in one place. Besides, his shoulder was the only thing really hurting him, and he didn't need his shoulder to walk; so what harm could he possibly do to himself?
"Damn mutt faced brat," Toan growled as he stood up and dusted his shirt off.
Toan looked up at Max, with his little wand pointed at him ready for anything, but Toan noticed the shaky grip he had on that stink. The man laughed as he slowly approached the dog. This wizard mutt was terrified of the man, and Toan loved the advantage he had. Sure he was tossed into the air like nothing a few moments ago, but that's nothing compared to the fear that struck Max.
Without another word Toan charged at Max once again, knocking the wand out of his hand before he had the chance to summon up any more spells. Max gasped from the shock of his wand being knocked out of the ring before he was hit in the face by the back of Toan's fist. Max rolled a few feet before he came to a stop. As he laid there, he wished Donald would have taught him martial art instead of magic.
"So you are useless without your little stick," Toan laughed as he picked Max up by the collar of his shirt, "Since you can't fight back anymore, why don't you hold still while I beat the living hell out of you."
Toan smiled at the dog as he brought back his other fist and just when he was going to strike one of Neron's Keyblades came flying at him. Toan let out a yelp in pain as he dropped Max to the ground, holding his severely cut arm. While Toan was down and vulnerable, Max lashed out giving the demon a few good left and right hooks until he feel to the ground. Max might not have his wand for casting spells, but that didn't mean could throw a few punches.
"Thanks, Neron," Max called out to the blonde as his Keyblade returned to his hand.
"Any time!" Neron called back before he realized he was still in a fight as well.
Neron turned just in time to find Ryo was starting another attack on him. Quickly he dodged the oncoming sword, by just a hair, before he swung the Keyblade backwards and knocked Ryo in the back. Neron continued to turn until he struck the man with the other Keyblade. While Ryo was stumbling a bit to catch his balance, Neron roughly kicked the sword out of his hands, and then, using the Kindthief, he stole the other wrist guard from his arm.
After equipping the other wrist guard he charged at the man, lashing out with his Keyblades. Ryo once again grabbed onto to boy's Keyblades to stop his attacks. Quickly he pushed down on the Keyblades and punched Neron several times before he could use his weapons to defend himself. When Neron regained his control, he brought up the Keyblades and blocked the next few punches. With little to no effort, Ryo flipped over the boy and kicked him in the back.
Neron instantly lost his balance and fell to the ground with a thump, skidding across the ground a few feet as well. Making sure Neron stayed down, Ryo jumped onto his back, slamming the heels of his feet into his spine. The boy let out a shout as he tightened the grip on his Keyblades. While Neron was struggling to get up, Ryo ran for his fallen sword, and once he had it in hand he charged at Neron.
The blonde had made it onto his hands and knees by now, and with Ryo on the charge he had to hurry. Luck was not on Neron's side as the man turned his sword to the dull edge of the blade and swung upwards, knocking the teen in the jaw. Neron went flying backwards and landed on his back, which didn't feel to good since it was already injured to begin with.
"It looks like Ryo is taking advantage of Neron's injures. How wonderful is that? I love it when the challengers fight dirty," Koto announced before she turned her attention to Max's fight, "Folks it looks like Team Kuroi is ruling in this battle. It seems like Max is having quite a hard time avoiding Toan's lightning fast strikes."
Indeed, Koto was true, because moments after Max had beaten down Toan he had rose up and lashed out violent and quick punches on him, and not one was he able to block. Toan was now growing bored of just beating Max senseless. In the blink of an eye Toan had Max hoisted in the air by the collar of his shirt. With an evil looking smirk he slammed Max to the ground, watching him do a second bounce on the ground. Before Max hit the ground on the second bounce Toan kicked him in the gut, sending him out of the arena.
"Now that Max is out of the arena, he has ten seconds to get back in before he is excluded for the rest of the battle," Koto stated, "One. Two."
Max slowly lifted himself from the ground and wincing from the pain in, not only, his back, from getting slammed on the ground, but his stomach too. He lifted his head to see how far he was from the arena and was surprised to find that his wand was a few feet in front of him, and that he was pretty far away from the arena.
"Three. Four. Five. Six."
Max crawled over to his wand and slowly stood from the ground. He knew that in his stat he wouldn't be able to make it back in time, so the next best thing would be to help Neron out one final time.
"Seven. Eight."
"Thunder!" Max shouted as his wand sparked at the tip.
"Nine... uh..." Koto paused as she looked up above the arena as dark clouds formed out of nowhere, "What's going on?"
Koto's question was soon answered by many bolts of lightning striking the ground from the cloud. The fox woman gasped as she ran out from under the cloud, just barely dodging a lighting bolt. Both Toan and Ryo shouted as the lighting struck them several times, stunning them for the moment. Like Koto, Neron was left to dodge the bolts of lightning, praying that he wouldn't get hit like his two challengers. The boy sighed seeing that the clouds had vanished just as fast as they came; now knowing he was out of danger.
"Well, I think it's safe to say that it has been ten seconds, so Max is now excluded from the rest of the battle," Koto announced with a shaky voice, still a little stunned, as she stood from the ground, "If that last attack doesn't keep Toan and Ryo down Neron is going to have a hard time fighting the both of them alone."
"That's for sure," Neron muttered as he stood from the ground, but so did Toan and Ryo.
"This is going to be fun," Toan commented as he smiled at his teammate before both charged at the still shaken boy.
"So, how's Jetta doing?" Riku asked as he walked up to the two girls.
"Riku?" Aerith gasped, "You recovered fast. Did Cloud give you the potion?"
"Yes," Riku answered, "But I still have this injury in my shoulder."
"Here," Aerith said as she held out another potion for Riku, "Maybe this will help it." Riku looked down at the green liquid and then back at Aerith.
"How many more do you have?"
"This is my last one-"
"Save it," Riku said, "Jetta will need it more than me. So, what's her condition?"
"Not to good I'm afraid," Yukina said softly as she looked up at Riku with sad blue eyes, "Both of her arms are still broken, and I'm afraid I've used up all of my magic. However, she is better than she was."
"What was she like before?"
"Many bruised bones, three broken rips, and, what seemed like, hundreds of cuts from the rubble, I assume," Yukina said with a heavy sigh, "Do you have any magic left, Aerith?"
"Not enough to heal her broken arms, but I can make them better," Aerith answered as she held her hands over the girl.
Riku watched with curiosity as green waves of energy pulsed from her hands. After a moment or two of watching her, Riku started to get a little bored. Riku turned his gaze to the arena and was surprised to find Max slowly walking towards the small group. Now worried about Neron being alone in the arena he looked on at the battle, wincing a bit from the punches being thrown at him.
One of the punches that a blonde man threw knocked Neron clear out of the ring. The two men smiled at one another before they walked off to their leader, already sure of their victory. Koto counted, but Neron didn't even bother to move from his place on the ground. Riku sighed heavily, knowing that that battle was lost.
"By two knock outs it looks like Team Kuroi has won the round!" Koto announced, receiving shouts of joy from the audience of demons, glad that their kind won the round.
"You did good," Riku said as he placed a hand on Max's shoulder.
"Whatever," Max sighed, "Maybe if that Toan guy hadn't of knocked my wand out of the ring we could have had a chance at winning."
"It's okay, a least you lost by a knock out," Riku said, "It could have been worse."
"True," Max said before he decided to change the subject, "I didn't expect you up so soon. How are you feeling?"
"Neither did Aerith," Riku said with a faint smile, "but I'm better than I was." Riku looked over at Neron to find he had sat up, but still hadn't bothered to move from the spot he had landed in.
"I'm gonna go see how Neron is doing," Riku said as he started to walk off, "Get some rest."
"You can bet I will," Max said before he dropped to the ground, exhausted and beaten from the battle. He was glad, even thrilled, to get the time to rest.
"Okay, will the team captains come up onto the arena for the final battle," Koto shouted with anticipation, "I don't know about you folks, but I'm getting excided about this last battle, considering that it is the battle to decide the winners. Talk about the pressure, but by the looks on these two captain's faces they don't seem at all nervous."
"I was hoping it would come down to this," The leader of Team Kuroi said as he smiled at Cloud. A low humph escaped Cloud's throat as he sat the dull edge of his Buster sword on his shoulder, taking on a relaxed appearance.
"Lets just get this over with," Cloud spat as he turned his blue eyes to Koto.
"Right," Koto said, taking Cloud's hint, "The final match to determine the winners of this round are between Cloud, the leader of Team Strife, and Kusue, the leader of Team Kuroi. Let the battle commence!"
"Ready to die so soon I see," Kusue said his arm rose into the air, reaching high above his head, "I'll be more than happy to assist."
"Someone's conceited," Cloud spat as he readied his sword, griping the handle with both hands.
"And why shouldn't I be," Kusue said with a smile as his lime green eyes gleamed at the blonde.
Cloud gave the man a confused look as he continued to stand there with his arm held up high. Not wanted to wait any longer to find out what he was doing, Cloud charged in, holding his sword at his side ready to lash out at the man. Kusue smiled as a portal opened in the sky and dropped out an odd looking sword with a blade on each end and the handle in the middle. The man got the sword just in time too because right when he did Cloud unleashed his attack. A metal clang echoed through the stadium as Cloud's attack was blocked.
"Hey Riku," Neron sighed as the boy walked up to him.
"Are you feeling okay?" Riku asked as he sat down beside him.
"My back hurts, and I think I'll get a few bruises, but other than that I'm fine," Neron said, "I just need to gather the pieces of my shattered pride, that's all."
"That's the spirit, Neron," Riku chuckled as he gave the boy a pat on the back.
"Gah! Riku!"
"Oh right," Riku said as he pulled his hand away, "Sorry, I forgot."
"So... uh... How's Jetta doing?"
"She better, still unconscious, but better," Riku answered, "Both of her arms are broken though."
"...Ouch," Neron commented, "Now I feel a little bad about complaining about my back."
"Yeah, I felt the same way when I complained about my shoulder," Riku said before he looked over at the boy, "It might just be me, but you seem a little concerned about her."
"Feh," Neron snorted, "I'm only worried about when she gets up and starts yakking again. The girl's got a mouth the size of this world, and she never knows when, or how, to shut it."
"Okay, Neron. Whatever you say," Riku said in a non-believing way before he turned his attention back to the battle. Neron gave the silver haired boy a dirty look before he too decided on watching the final battle.
"This is truly an amazing final battle," Koto announced, "Every attack that has been made, by Cloud or Kusue, has been countered. Not one hit has been made, which is a little disappointed cause I was hoping for some blood spray about now."
"I've seen enough," Cloud spat as he swung one last time. Kusue blocked it, just like he expected, and pushed away from him with his sword.
Cloud took a few more steps back and held onto his sword with one hand. His other hand balled up into a fist as he closed his blue eyes to concentrate. A breeze picked up around him as electricity sparked from underneath his feet. The electricity climbed up and around his body just as the wind picked up even further. His mahogany colored cape started to flap behind him, rising higher and higher as the wind around him grew stronger. A bat-like wing on his left shoulder blade unfolded from under the cape and spread out as far as it would reach. The lightning around him grew stronger and soon his feet lifted off the ground.
"It's over," Cloud hissed as his eyes reopened as he once again grasped his sword with both hands.
Kusue gasped, not knowing what to do as Cloud came flying at him with a tremendous speed. In a split second Cloud had zipped past him and landed gracefully. Blood dripped from the tip of his blade and onto the arena floor as Kusue dropped his odd sword. The next to fall to the area floor was Kusue, with a pool of blood forming around his body from a gash in his side that literally went halfway through his body.
"I hope you're happy now?" Cloud spat as he looked over a Koto with intense eyes.
"...Amazing... Purely amazing," Koto gasped, "Now that was the blood spill I was looking for! I think it's safe to say that I don't need to count for Kusue cause he looks about as dead as you can get. With two out of three wins, Team Strife wins this round and advances to the next!"
"...Damn..." Neron gasped as he started at Cloud with wide eyes, "He just made us look like complete weaklings."
"I know," Riku said, "And I won my battle."
"Shut up," Neron hissed as he punched at Riku's arm before he stood, Riku doing the same. Both smiled at Cloud as he walked over to the two with his sword, once again, resting on his shoulder.
"That was awesome, Cloud," Neron commented, "You definitely showed us all up."
"Here kid," Cloud said, ignoring the complement as he tossed Neron a bottle of potion, "I think you need it." Neron caught the bottle and looked down at it in confusion.
"You mean you had a potion all along?" Neron asked.
"I was saving it, just incase I needed it after my battle, but it seems that worthless demon did nothing to me so you can have it." Neron looked down at the bottle as both guys cocked an eyebrow at him, "Do you want it or not? Cause I'll gladly take it back."
"What about Jetta?"
"What about her?" Cloud asked.
"I think she needs it more than me."
"Yeah, well, right now she's unconscious and can't drink anything so it doesn't really matter."
"But-"
"Just drink it," Cloud growled before he walked off.
"It doesn't matter much anyway since that one potion can't possibly fix broken bones," Riku said, "Go ahead and drink it." Neron let out a heavy sigh.
"Of course, if you really want to help Jetta that bad then I'll take it to Aerith so she can give it to her when she wakes up," Riku said with a sly smirk on his face. Neron glared at him, knowing exactly what he was trying to say, before he drank the potion.
"You're really starting to bug me now, Riku," Neron spat as he started to walk away.
"It's not my fault you're an open book just dying to be read." Riku laughed lightly after Neron turned to glare at him one last time.
"Shut up, Riku!" Neron shouted, "You don't know anything about me."
"That can easily be changed," Riku said with a smug smile as he walked past the boy. Neron cocked an eyebrow at the boy, wondering what he meant by that before he followed him over to where all the others were gathered.
Author: I'm so sorry I got this out so late, it's just...to... many... battle... scenes... and I was kinda running a blank when it came to the battles. Now I feel so bad, and I'm so sorry if this chapter sucked. ((Slams head against keyboard)) My head hurts. T-T
Sora: Mine would too if I slammed it against a keyboard. ((Demon sighs))
Author: You guys better be happy that I love you, you wonderful reviewers, cause there's going to be fighting in the next chapter as well. ((Sighs heavily)) I'm so not cut out for this. ((Falls out in the floor))
Riku: ((Grins evilly as he raises his foot))
Author: ((Growls)) Step on me and there will be hell to pay, Riku!
Riku: You're no fun. ((Walks off))
Author: Kairi! Here! Read! ((Hands Kairi the notes))
Kairi: Um... okay.
Sora: What about me!?
Author: Kairi was closer. ((Grins))
animefreak321654's note: ((Hugs the dictionary)) You're the best, and don't you worry I'll give this back in the next chapter, after I've had my fun. ((Grins evilly)) Yes, I will have lots and lots of fun. Muwahahaha- ((Cough cough)) Um, yeah, glad you enjoyed the last chapter and I'm also glad you didn't doubt me. ((Grins)) Thank you for reviewing and thanks once again for the dictionary!
Zanisha's note: Yeah the tic-tac-toe thing was a last minute thing just for kicks. I'm glad a lot of people liked it though. Makes my last minute kick seem worthwhile. ((Grins)) The whole reason I got this out late was because of all the stupid fight scenes. ((Pulls at hair)) I had everything planed, but when I'd started to type it I just couldn't for some reason. Stupid me! Yeah, I've noticed the whole 'evil people getting better attacks' too! I guess it makes it look like the good guy had to conquer over a lot to win... or something like that. ((Shrugs)) Thank you very, very much for reviewing!
Rurouni Saiyan's note: I find it funny that you said exactly what I was going to do in this chapter. I had planed all along for Neron and Max to lose, but I didn't think about that limit break. Truthfully I've never seen that limit break before, only cause I'm not that fare in the Final Fantasy 7 game yet. ((Sighs)) I really need to get further in that game. I'm missing out on all the good stuff. The whole nailing Riku to the floor thing... not a bad idea. You should really do that. LOL! Anyway, thanks for the review. ((Grins))
MagRowan's note: I'm glad you liked the last chapter. ((Grins)) And I'm really, really glad that you think I'm getting better at catching my spelling. Myself I don't, but I like going with what you say. ((Grins)) I can't believe I missed following... again! I've been working on that one and I'm getting to were I can catch myself...or I was, LOL. As always thanks for checking my horrible spelling and for reviewing. ((Bows head)) I am very grateful.
Two-Step's note: Hi yas!! Two-Step!! I'm glad you liked my Bio. (to others reviewers who like to read other reviewer's notes (like I do): This is one of my friends for school, she told me she was going to find me, and look she did. ((Grins)) Though she could have just e-mailed me cause I know she knows nothing about kh, but oh well.)
Author: I suddenly have a surge of energy. ((Waves the dictionary animefreak321654 gave her with a smile)) Oh, Riku!
Riku: o.O ((Starts to run away but realizes he can't move)) What the? ((Looks down to find his shoe nailed to the floor))
Rurouni Saiyan: ((Runs off laughing with a hammer in her hand))
Sora: Everyone's just against you, Riku. ((Laughs))
Riku: Why me? ((Gets hit in the head with the dictionary)) O.O
Author: It's cause we love you Riku. ((Grins)) ... Whoa! Did you see that? I didn't miss! Go me!
Riku: You just now noticed? ((Rubs head))
Kairi: Riku, I don't think you're in the position to be talking back at Demon right about now.
Sora: She has a point. ((Riku sighs))
Author: Thanks for stopping by, and for all the helpful items, and just cause I love you guys so much, everyone gets a turn at hitting Riku while he's vulnerable. ((Hands out pillows)) Have fun, and remember: it's only a pillow so hit as hard as you like. ((Winks))
Sora: I wanna turn!
Kairi: Me too!
Riku: o.O What?