JE-FREAKIN'-SUS! OO;;; How could I fall so far behind in updating? To all my fans and readers, I'm so very sorry. I know you wanted me to update A LOT sooner, but time and circumstance have not allowed this. BUT! Now that I'm able to spend more time online, I will attempt to update more often. Sound familair? ; I know. It does. Anyway, onto the brand spankin' new chapter!
Chapter 14- Exposed
The next round of fights quickly passed. It really came as no shock when Squall was the only member of the SeeD's who was left. Selphie, Quistis, Zell, Irvine and Fujin all watched from the sidelines as the last match for the semi-finals began. "Why's he the only one left? Why were we all knocked out so early?" Zell whined.
"HE'S SQUALL." Fujin simply stated.
"Good point." Zell sighed.
Sipping a bit of soda, Selphie watched the arena intently. Irvine noticed this and touched her shoulder, causing her to nearly jump from her seat with a small scream. "You okay?" He asked.
"Just-" Selphie started.
"PARANOID." Fujin finished.
"No!" Selphie fumed. "I'm keeping an eye out for mega-skank and her little blond lap dog."
Seeing Fujin confused, Zell leaned over and whispered. "We kinda had a run-in with Seifer and Rinoa after dinner the other night, and Selphie's been out for blood ever since."
"UNDERSTANDABLE." She responded, leaning back a bit in her chair and crossing her arm. Had she been with them, it would be doubtful that she'd be here and not in a holding cell. They were able to stop Selphie, but she knew she'd plow through a hundred SeeD's to get at Rinoa's throat.
The crowd roared as Squall and his next opponent entered the arena. He didn't need to look around for his friends. He could just tell they were watching him and wishing him good luck.
/C'mon.../ Fujin thought mentally. /You can do it, I know you can. /
Hopping into the ring, Squall glanced at his opponent. A thin looking teenager with short, spiked brown hair with streaks of blue running through it, and a face with more metal in it then Squall's gunblade. Pericings along his ears, nose, eyebrows, and what looked like deadbolts in his neck made him feel more machine then man. /Maybe I can beat him with a giant magnet.../ He thought to himself.
The tone sounded for the fight to begin, the frail looking teen quickly rushing at Squall. He screamed like a wild man, tossing random punches and kicks with a bewildering speed. Squall ducked and weaved, nimbly darting off to the side to avoid a swift kick to the head.
However, the boy was in swift pursuit. He leaped into the air, screeching and flairing his arms, as if immitating a bird swooping down to catch a small rat. /He's kidding, right/ Squall thought, then sighed. Quickly, he brought his foot up, swiftly kicking him in the gut. A gurgling kind of wheeze escaped the boy as he hung there for a moment, then simply flopped down to the ground.
After a bit of poking, the judge walked over and raised Squall's hand. "The winner!" He announced before the crowd erupted in cheers.
"Whoo-hoo!" Selphie laughed, hopping up and down as she punched Zell in the arm, hard. "You go, Squall!"
"Ow..." Zell said lowly, rubbing his arm before cheering. "You the man, Squall!"
"What an odd fighting style that boy had." Quistis commented. "What do you suppose that was?" She asked, looking to Selphie.
"I dunno." She shrugged. "Crazy nutziod style?"
A few minutes later, the group met up with Squall outside of the arena. Everyone patted his back and commented on his quick win. All but Fujin who stood off to the side, simply watching in quite awe. Spotting her, he walked up and brushed a bit of hair from her eye. "Hey." He said.
"HELLO." She said back, blushing a bit. "IMPRESSIVE."
"I suppose." Squall shrugged. "The guy was just begging for it. His defense was terrible."
"PERHAPS" She nodded, descretly taking his hand. "STILL IMPRESSIVE."
Squall blushed. He wasn't use to so many compliments at once. His shoulder jerked as Zell gave him a small push, walking up with the rest. "Hey, so you guys wanna come grab a bite with us? All that fighting made me hungry."
"You didn't fight." Selphie pointed out.
"I know. I mean watching other people fight makes me hungry." He beamed.
"I could go for something." Squall nodded, then looked to Fujin. "You?"
Fujin nodded as a small gurgle rumbled in her stomach. She hadn't eaten anything since before her match yesterday. "PLEASE." She said with a small blush.
Everyone gave a small laugh, starting to walk off. Stopping just a bit from the resturant, Squall's eyes narrowed as he saw someone not too far off. "Ah. Squall!" Spaz called out, waving.
Fujin's hand instantly tightened around Squalls as he came walking up. "Hello...Spaz, was it?" He asked.
"Indeed." He said, strolling up to the group. "The finals are tomorrow, and it's down to just you and me." A wide smile spread across his face. "Good luck tomorrow."
"Thanks. I'm sure I'll need it." He said, starting to walk off again.
Spaz instantly shot his hand to his chest, stopping him. "Oh, I know you will. I don't intend to just beat you tomorrow. I will wipe you off the very face of this planet. Every last speck of your existence will me obliterated to the point where the gods themselves won't even be able to put your soul back together."
"Some would interpritate that as a death threat." Squall said, taking his wrist and moving his hand. "I've heard better."
Their eyes met as they passed, Fujin also glaring up at him deathly. "Bastard..." She muttered to herself.
"Whats that?" Zell asked.
"NOTHING." She said, walking up a bit closer and resting her head on Squall's shoulder. "If he hurts you, I'll kill him." She said flatly, in one of the rare moments she forced herself to speak normally.
"I'm already going to kill him for hurting you." Squall said back, squeezing her hand.
Squall and Fujin ate their meal in peace, Zell, Selphie, Quistis and Irvine all chatting amoungst themselves. "Oh..." Quistis sighed. "I can't eat another bite."
"Me either..." Selphie moaned, flopping on Irvine. "I'm gonna pop..."
"I'm still hungry." Zell proclaimed, taking a long sip of his drink.
"Thats impossible. We've gone through four pizza's, two of which you ate by yourself." Irvine said in astonishment.
"I'm a fast eater. Blame my metabolism." Zell said.
"I blame his parents." Fujin whispered to Squall, earning a small smirk.
"You're getting better at that." Squall pointed out. "Those speech therapy sessions with Dr. Kadawoki must be working."
"A little." She shrugged, her voice a bit gruff. It was hard keeping her voice down for extended periods of time, but with help from the doctor and a little working by herself until late at night, Fujin was slowly but surly attaining a normal sounding voice.
After finishing all the food that was left and tipping generously, they decided to head back to their rooms at the presidental palace. Everyone slept in reletive peace, except for Fujin. She sat at the window, looking out over the rest of Esthar. "It doesn't look much different at night, does it?" Squall suddenly asked, sitting next to her.
A bit startled, Fujin shook her head. "It's beautiful. Even after-"
"Let that go." Squall interrupted. "It was a long time ago. Water under the bridge. "
A small smile spread across Fujin's face as she turned and lay back against Squall. She sighed contently, feeling the warmth of his body press to hers in the moonlight. "Nice..." She mummered.
Squall nodded, sitting there and petting her hair as they watched the sky. Clouds passed over head, casuing the moonlight to fade in and out everynow and then. "Hey, Fujin?" Squall asked before looking down and seeing she was asleep. Smirking, he shifted her around and picked her up, carrying her over to the bed before falling asleep himself.
The final day for the tournament finally arrived, and the entire city was alive with excitement. The stadium was compleatly sold out, packed passed capacity. The cheers and screams of the crwod were deafining, egar to see who would be the first champion of the Esthar tournament. "Dude, these fans look ready for blood." Zell said, looking around.
"That may be true, but at least the funds this tournament brought in will help the economy." Quistis smiled.
"When are you NOT a teacher?" Selphie giggled, sticking her tongue out.
"SILENCE!" Fujin suddenly barked. "SQUALL." She pointed out to the arena, where, sure enough, Squall had already stepped into the ring. The entire arena seemed to be on his side, large sections of the seats holding up banners with "Go Squall!" and "I heart Leonhart!".
Spaz recived less then a generous welcome. Most booed and the more annyoed people pelted him with snacks and any other objects they could find.
"Not a fan favorite." Irvine commented. "But as much as no one likes him, he's a good fighter. I'll give him that at least."
A tone went off, starting the match. Squall instantly charged at Spaz, his fists clenched tight. His body twisted, his hand swinging around to hit Spaz in the face, only for Spaz to block it. It went on like this for a while. Squall would toss all the martial arts moves he had learned and Spaz would block them all. Finally, Spaz took the upper hand, his hand shooting out and grabbing Squall by his head. "You annoy me!" He yelled as he slammed Squall's head into the arena floor.
"SQUALL!" Fujin suddenly yelled, trying to jump the guard rail.
Zell and Selphie both grabbed her and held her tight. "Fu, calm down! "
Spaz stood over Squall with a sneer on his face. "Pathetic." He spat, rasing his foot and bringing it down on Squall's chest over and over again. "I expected more from you, SeeD. I thought you were taught to overcome any obstacle!"
"Thats enough!" The ref said.
"Back off!" Spaz yelled. The very area in front of him seemed to bend and distort, sending the referee flying out of the ring. He leaned down, picking Squall up by the front of his shirt. A line of blood trickled down his chin, his head simply lulling to the side as Spaz picked him up with ease. "Fine...if you won't give it your all, I'll have to provoke you." He held his free hand out, his palm flat to the audience. No sooner had he clenched his fist, a wave of energy spread through the North side of the stadium. Screams and yells of terror were heard as people were engulfed in the energy, disintegrating them instantly.
Weakly, Squall reached up, grabbing Spaz's wrist. "You...monster..." He said in a gruff tone.
"Yes. I'm a monster. One of four out for you blood." He said. Gripping his neck with both hands, he slowly began to squeeze as Squall beat and clawed at his arms. "And I'm going to be the first and last one you meet. Maybe if they're lucky, my brothers and sisters can kill your friends."
A shot rang out through the arena, bits of cloth and flesh flying by Spaz's face. "Not happening, talk, dark and crazy." Irvine said, holding out his gun with smoke billowing from the barrel.
"Put him down." Selphie said, twirling her nunchucku about. "Before we make you put him down."
Zell cracked his knuckles, at the same time tilting his head from side to side to crack his neck. "Better listen to the girl, or we're gonna lay down some serious hurt!"
"Enough talk!" Fujin yelled, dashing past them everyone. Her body spun nimbly in the air, her weapon launching at Spaz.
Spaz swiped his hand, knocking Fujin's weapon away like a toy. "You all really think you can contend with me!"
"Yeah!" They all yelled. Zell rushed forward as Irvine began unloading shot after shot. Quistis and Selphie stayed behind him, focusing on pelting him with spells.
Punchs, kicks, spells, bullets. Spaz dodged them all, finally letting Squall go in the confusion. Puting his arm around her shoulder, Fujin carryed him out of the ring and propped him up. "STAY." She said, grabbing her weapon again and dashing off to the fight.
An explosion of magical energy sent Irvine flying back in Selphie and Quistis. "You're all so weak, it's sad. How you managed to even stay alive this long boggles my mind."
"Boggle this!" Zell yelled, launching himself at Spaz. His fist was surrounded suddenly in energy as he came down, landing the blow stright into his chest. As the energy swirled around them, Zell pushing forward into the attack, he called out. "How do you like the taste of my Meteor Barret attack, punk!"
"Almost worth mentioning." Spaz smirked, grabbing Zell by his wrist. The energy around his hand instantly dispersed, leaving Zell in absolute shock before Spaz spun and slammed him into the ground. He looked around, seeing just about everyone indesposed. "There was one more..." he said to himself.
"Yo." Fujin said from behind him.
Turning, Spaz smirked and peered down at her. "Ah yes. The so called Wind Goddess of Balamb."
"Shut up and fight." She simply said, rasing her fists up.
"Gladly." Spaz said with a nod, seeming to disappear. It didn't take long for him to show back up, standing behind Fujin and grabbing her in a bear hug. "I'm going to squeeze the life out of you frail human body, you miserable-" His sentence ended there, his eyes going wide as he stumbled a bit.
Fujin slipped from his grasp, watching him wobble back and forth be glaring at him. She cast an Aero spell on herself to launch her high into the air, only to fly back down and landing both feet on Spaz's face.
An eerie silence followed, Fujin panting as she walked over and turned Spaz onto his stomach. /Thank Hyne the wind didn't change.../ She thought, reaching down and plucking her chakra from the back of Spaz's head.