Kingdom Hearts © to Disney and Square Enix!
Kraig and TJ © to YamiChaos27!
Iunia and Nico and other OCs © to me!
Joy © to NJoy!
Akira © to Lucywind!
Chapter 10: Let's Struggle
"We're gonna smoke this competition!"
Roxas sat down on the soft grass, a struggle bat at his side. "Yeah, we'll totally win!"
"At least this way, your combat skills won't get rusty." Axel remarked from his place by the front door.
Roxas looked up, silently summoning the Keyblade, Oathkeeper. "You know, I never really wanted the Keyblade. Honestly, I hated it. It brought me nothing but pain and suffering. I don't really want to use it ever again. Is that a bad thing?"
Axel smiled softly, thinking of his own Keyblade. He went through all that trouble to get one, and sure he joked about becoming a Keyblade Master one day, like Riku.
But did he really want that?
Even if he did, how would he even go about it?
Sure, he could move to the Land of Departure and train with Aqua, Terra, and Ven, but then he'd have to leave his home here.
Maybe early retirement was the best option, or maybe just him being a reserve member along with the others.
Reserve member sounded good.
"I don't think it's a bad thing, but it's probably good to have it in case of emergencies. You never know when some maniac is going to try and take over the worlds again."
"I guess you're right," Roxas laughed.
He didn't have to be some super hero like Sora. He could just be himself.
And right now, it was time to kick Seifer's butt.
"Well, better be getting home." Hayner stretched. "I want to be all rested up for the tournament tomorrow. See ya."
"See you later."
Axel plopped down beside his friend. "How many people are joining?"
"I know that Kraig, TJ, Hayner, Seifer, Rai, and I are joining. What about you?"
"You think I should sign up?"
"They take walk-ins."
"I'll think about it."
Roxas lay back. "Setzer will probably be there too, if my datascape experience is anything to go by. He was the champion then. Though, he was a jerk. He, at least the digital version, tried to buy me off during the tournament. I hope the real guy isn't as much of a prick."
"Guessing with how accurate that datascape was, he's probably the same."
"Fun."
Standing up, Roxas went back inside. He could hear Xion talking with Isa in the kitchen. Ever since the whole teddy bear thing, they'd been really close. She cooked with him every night.
He peeked his head into the kitchen, seeing the girl cutting something as Isa seemed to be mixing something together.
He wasn't jealous of them. Actually, he felt happy. He and Axel were already super close friends, so Axel being his guardian didn't really change much. But for Xion, it was different. Isa used to be an enemy. But they were closer than ever.
Their little group of four felt more and more like a family every day.
Yesterday, Axel bought him a whole set of Struggle bats just in time for the tournament. And Isa got him something too.
A camera.
He said that he could see how much Roxas wanted to keep as many memories as possible, so he thought a camera would be a good gift. That way Roxas could save as many memories as he wanted.
He liked it a lot.
Going into his room, he saw ten photos taped to his wall. He'd taken photos of his friends, old and new.
He planned to take the camera to the tournament tomorrow. Xion would have to hold it for him while he was fighting.
Setting down the new bat, he looked out the window into the woods outside. He liked this view.
His old view was of the town, and was in the middle of everything, but this was peaceful. Every morning he could see deer in the woods. Sometimes he saw rabbits and squirrels.
Once he saw a fox.
In the evening, he saw animals too.
Opening the window, he took in a deep breath. The smell of nature filled his nostrils. Pulling out his camera, he rested his elbows on the windowsill.
And waited.
Whoo.
There!
The owl that lived in the tree by the house finally showed up.
As he slowly raised the camera, he could see the bird stepping out of its hole in the tree, fluffing its feathers as it roused itself for the evening's hunt.
Raising the camera, Roxas focused on the bird. Resting his elbows, he steadied his hands.
Wait.
Wait.
Wait.
Click!
The camera whirred spitting out the photo as the owl flew off, startled by the sudden noise.
"Got it!"
He took the photo and shook it.
His smile widened as he watched the picture slowly appear.
He caught the owl mid fluff of its feathers.
Wonderful!
"Dinner's ready." Axel opened the door as Roxas pinned the photo up with the others. "Got another one?"
"I got the owl."
"Xion says you should name all the animals you take pictures of."
"That's kind of her thing, not mine. She can name them if she wants."
Axel looked at the animal photos, pointing at the fox. "This guy looks like a Finn(1) to me."
"Here." Roxas tossed him a marker. "You can write the name on the picture."
Axel wrote the name "Finn" on the photograph as Roxas put the camera away and shut the window.
He looked at the wall. Tomorrow, he'd have some new photos to add.
"Looks like a lot of people signed up!" Isa looked at the chalkboard hanging on a wall of the sandlot.
During the night, people hung banners and set up a temporary stage.
All for the preliminary competition.
The tournament that would decide the top 4 competitors who would compete in the finals at the end of summer.
To be in the top four, you had to win two matches.
Roxas looked for his name.
Bracket 1: Seifer and a boy named Finlay.
Bracket 2: Kraig and a girl named Joelle.
The winners of those brackets would face off to decide the first finalist.
Bracket 3: Roxas and Rai.
Bracket 4: A boy named Caden and a boy name Auston.
Roxas had to win this to be a finalist. And he figured Seifer would try and dominate his bracket.
Bracket 5: Hayner and a boy named Gerrard.
Bracket 6: Fuu and a boy named Caetano.
Hayner would probably make it. Only Fuu would be a problem for him.
Bracket 7: Olette and Iunia.
Bracket 8: TJ and a young man named Kamden.
Olette joined just for fun. Roxas knew she was tough, but she just wanted to have fun, and wasn't gunning for the win. So, he figured either Iunia or TJ would win this one.
But victory wasn't assured for anyone.
Any slip could cost the match.
People from all around town gathered, excitedly chattering.
The mayor, Rowan Connelly, stood on the stage next to the struggle sponsor, some older wealthier man named Cornell Fowler(2). Chatting with them was another man who Roxas remembered to be the struggle announcer, Kevin Blakeley(3).
A minute later, Kevin walked up to the front of the stage and let out a whistle. Everyone paused, looking at him. He laughed. "Hi everyone! Welcome to this year's Struggle Prelims! I hope you're all ready for a great time!"
The crowd lit up with cheers.
Roxas felt his heartrate spike as he handed Xion his bag. "Take care of this, ok."
"I will, and I'll try to get some good pictures." The girl sat down.
"And I'll help." Akira wheeled her chair beside Xion's seat, her own camera in her lap.
"Thanks."
He jogged over to Hayner and the other contestants by the stage as Axel and Isa sat beside Xion. Pence, Rico, and Joy joined them.
"Now! We have some exciting matches today! Remember, today we will walk away with four finalists. And we've got a killer lineup this year! Some old favorites and some newcomers. Our first match will be between the Discipline Committee head himself, Seifer, and our resident bad-boy, Finlay!"
Seifer stepped up on stage along with a boy in bright red and black clothing. Even with his limited people experience, Roxas could tell this other kid was trying a little hard to look like a bad kid.
Finlay grinned. "Ready to lose, Seifer!"
"You wish."
Seifer would probably wipe the floor with him.
…
And he did.
Finlay fought erratically, mostly just yelling and swinging wildly.
The fight didn't last long, and Finlay departed with a few words that Roxas had only heard Isa and Axel tell him never to say to people.
"And the winner of match one is Seifer!"
The crowd cheered.
He was a jerk, but people seemed to be his fan at least when it came to the Struggle tournaments.
He hopped off the stage, glaring at Roxas. "Let's see how you do, chicken wuss."
Seriously?
"Alright! For our second match, we have our quiet but tough customer, Kraig! We're excited to have him sign up for the first time this year! And he'll be facing one of the few girls who has ever entered the tournament, the queen of the half-pipe, Joelle!"
Kraig sighed and walked up on stage. A girl with tan skin and pastel pink hair in high pigtails, wearing a rainbow skirt and a headband with cat ears, hopped up on stage, ignoring the stairs.
Honestly, Kraig looked a little bored.
TJ ran up to the stage. "Kraig, if you don't want to do this, you don't have to. You know that."
"I know."
Joelle grinned. "You've got this, Kraig. But, don't be too upset when I win."
The boy smirked. "Sure."
Now this…
This was a fight.
Kraig seemed so quiet, but he fought well. He moved similar to how Roxas saw Terra fighting. He wasn't fast, but his strikes were strong, and packed a punch.
Joelle on the other hand, she was fast. Roxas saw her come in on her roller blades. She was going to be tough to beat.
Honestly, Kraig looked like he was having fun. But he didn't seem as keen to win as she did.
And so she did.
"And the winner of match two is, Joelle!"
"Heck yeah!" She held up a hand to Kraig. "High-five man!"
The boy lightly tapped her hand before exiting the stage and finding a seat on the bench near Nico.
Kevin grinned. "Alright! Now the battle to find our first finalist! Joelle vs Seifer! We have a five minute break before we see who will be the winner!"
"You know you won't win, cat-ears."
"Oh really?" Joelle winked at Seifer. "Has your little training adventure made you cockier than already were? And anyways, it's just for fun. So, let's have some fun with it."
"And that's why you'll lose. You don't take it seriously."
"We'll see."
Gosh, Seifer was a jerk.
When the timer went off for the break, Joelle leapt up onto the stage. "You ready, Seifer?"
Roxas REALLY wanted her to win.
Olette cheered. "Get him Jo!"
"I'll do my best!"
"And the battle for the first finalist spot starts… NOW!"
This fight lasted a while.
Seifer's moves were calculated and careful. He was a good fighter. Joelle didn't seem to have the same combat experience as him, but her speed made up for it.
But it wasn't enough.
Seifer soon sent the girl flying. "That's what you get."
"And the winner is SEIFER!"
The crowd cheered as he left the stage. Joelle stood up, brushing off her skirt. "That was fun!" Hopping down, she walked over to the others, pausing to look at Roxas. "Hey, new guy. Rumor has it that you beat him."
"I did."
"Good." She grabbed her rollerblades. "I can't wait to watch that smug look get wiped off his face."
Walking off, she saluted the other contestants.
Kevin clapped his hands. "Now onto the second set of brackets. First match is a newcomer to town! Everyone give a big welcome to Roxas!" The crowd cheered, and Roxas couldn't help but blush a little. "And he'll be facing off with the one of the Disciplinary Committee, Rai!"
"You're goin' down, ya know!"
"Doubt it."
This wouldn't take long. If he was anything like the digital Rai, he was strong but not very fast or coordinated. And he'd fought stronger.
Taking the struggle bat, Roxas took his new combat stance. Usually fighting with two swords made it a little weird to switch to just one, and he'd tried to find a new stance that was different than Sora's. So, he just adapted his two-sword stance. One sword in hand, the other poised in front to block or deflect, but that wouldn't be much help here as contact of any kind counted against him.
But he'd been practicing.
The bell rang to start the match. With lightning speed, Roxas rushed forward, slashing under Rai's guard immediately, catching him in the stomach.
The crowd gasped.
Even Seifer looked surprised.
Now he knew, their fight before… Roxas was holding back.
Pivoting on his left foot, Roxas jumped, slashing upwards before Rai could even turn around.
Five hits.
That's all it took to win.
Coming down from the second strike, he scored his third hit.
Rai spun around, swinging for Roxas, but the boy ducked under, spinning around to catch Rai on the back of the knees.
With a yelp, the older boy buckled and Roxas took his final strike across the back.
"And the winner is ROXAS with a stunning performance! I've never seen anything like it!"
"Whoa…" Rai looked at the boy. "That was insane, ya know."
Roxas smiled, holding out a hand to help him up. "Good job yourself."
Rai gave a little smile before walking off the stage, followed by Roxas.
Axel laughed. "That's the Roxas we know."
"He's gonna smoke the competition!" Joy cheered.
Nico nodded. "That was the coolest thing I've ever seen! Seifer doesn't stand a chance."
Xion took a picture of Roxas from her seat.
She could see the next two competitors, one of which would fight Roxas next.
They looked scared.
"The next match is between a first-timer who just turned thirteen last week! Caden! And he'll be facing the school's vice president, Auston!"
A younger boy, who looked just old enough to enter, hopped up on stage. He glanced over at Roxas, brushing some his orange hair out of his face. "Whoever wins has to fight him."
The older boy, a boy with dark skin and short-cut black hair, sighed. "I know. But let's make this a good match, since neither of us are going to the finals."
"Yeah!"
Roxas watched the two. They looked like they were having fun.
He'd take it easy on them, but he wouldn't lose.
And actually, it looked like Auston was already taking it a little easy on Caden. It was Caden's first year, so he was probably planning to let the younger kid win.
And that's what happened.
"And the winner is CADEN!"
The young boy cheered. "That was awesome!"
Auston laughed. "You're really good. How long have you been practicing for this?"
"Since I could even hold a struggle bat!" The boy hopped down, looking over at Roxas. "Though, I don't think I'll win the next match."
"But we'll have fun." Roxas smiled.
The boy smiled back. "So, you won't cream me like you did to Rai?"
"Nah. He was not being very nice to my friends a few weeks ago, so that was a little payback." He glanced toward Seifer. "And a warning to someone else."
When he looked back, Caden stood right in front of him, eyes wide. "Whoa. You're super cool! This fight is gonna be so much fun!"
Yeah, it would be.
After a five minute break, Roxas and Caden stepped onto the stage. The crowd cheered, but they already knew the outcome, as did Caden.
"Don't wipe the floor with him!" Axel yelled.
"I won't."
"And now, to find our second finalist! Caden vs Roxas!"
The fight began. Roxas waited, letting Caden rush forward.
The boy certainly had talent. He was quick and knew where to strike to take down someone bigger than him. Roxas had to dodge and block multiple shots to the back of the knee, kidney, and collar bone.
He got in a few hits, and even let Caden get in a few.
Caden knew Roxas was taking it easy, but he didn't seem to mind. He was having way too much fun.
The crowd cheered with every strike, getting into the game the two played on stage. Though, eventually, Roxas dealt the final blow.
"And the winner is ROXAS!"
Caden laughed. "That was so cool! Can you teach me to fight like you!?"
"You want me to?"
"Yeah! You're like the coolest person I've ever met!"
"Well," Roxas smiled down at the boy, "sure, why not."
"Awesome!"
They exited the stage, Caden running off to find his mom. The woman seemed really excited for her son.
Roxas walked to the others, sitting between Xion and Axel.
"Awesome job!"
"That had to be the coolest fight ever."
Xion handed him the camera. "I took a few pictures, but I don't think they're as good as yours or Akira's." She gave him the photos. A few turned out blurry, but there was one of Roxas ducking under Rai's strike, and another of him crossing blades with Caden.
"These are great, Xion. Thank you!"
Isa handed the boy a bottle of water as the next two combatants entered the ring.
"Our next match has our favorite troublemaker himself, Hayner!" The crowd cheered. "And he'll be facing off against the cheer captain himself, Gerrard!"
"YEEEEEAAAAAHHHHH!"
A large, muscular pale boy with sandy blonde hair leapt onto the stage. He stood a little taller than Seifer, so that would give him an advantage over Hayner.
But Hayner could handle it.
The match started, and the difference in strength and height was obvious. And this guy wasn't heavy-footed at all. He moved and quick and fast on his feet.
Hayner moved, going on the defensive for the most part, though he got in a few jabs between strikes.
Gerrard got in his fair share as well. And his hit harder.
"Hayner! You got this!"
"Go Hayner!"
Hayner grit his teeth before charging straight at Gerrard. A second before the taller boy swung, Hayner dropped, sliding between Gerrard's legs, taking a slash at his ankles as he did.
And made the final contact.
"And the winner is HAYNER!"
Gerrard laughed, grabbing the boy from the ground. "Awesome job, man!"
"Thanks Gerrard! You're tough."
"I do try. Well, good luck on the next match."
"Thanks!"
As they exited the stage, Fuu walked up with a boy with red-streaked black hair.
"Our next match is between another member of the Disciplinary Committee, Fuu, and Joelle's counterpart, the king of the half pipe, Caetano!"
Caetano waved to Joelle. "If I win, you buy me a soda!"
"When you lose, you buy ME a soda!"
"… cold."
Fuu didn't say a word as the match began. She lunged forward, striking quick and precise. Caetano dodged well, having a similar technique as Joelle, but Fuu never gave him room to breathe.
Strike after strike.
She didn't give him time to recover at all.
And in no time, she'd hit him five times.
"And the winner is FUU!"
Hayner looked over at Roxas, giving him a thumbs up.
They'd trained for this.
Hayner could beat her.
The two stepped onto the stage, Hayner smiling as Fuu stood there, calm as ever.
They charged.
Fuu didn't change her tactics, but Hayner met her. The boy moved just as fast and furious as she did.
Made sense, since Isa offered to give Hayner some tips as well. So, his movements resembled Isa's berserker style in a way.
The audience grew quiet.
Strike after strike.
When one would tag the other would follow it up. They were nearly tied for points at this moment.
Anyone could win.
Smack!
"And that's the match! The winner is HAYNER!"
Everyone erupted in cheers as Hayner's bat rested against Fuu's shoulder. He'd gotten in the last hit just before she did.
"That was nuts…"
Fuu said nothing.
She turned and left.
"Alright everyone! We have three of our four finalists! Let's see who will be the last one! First we have the kind, helpful, top of her class, Olette! And she'll be facing the tech-queen herself, Iunia!"
Iunia and Olette walked up together, laughing. Roxas hadn't seen Iunia without her oversized plaid hoodie before. She always wore it, even in the heat of the day. But the oversized sleeves would probably be an issue in combat.
"I can't believe they're both doing this."
"Blame TJ. He convinced Olette at least." Nico smirked. "Nia was planning on doing this from the start. She's been working on her game lately and wants to make sure the combat feels real, so she decided to enter to see what the rush of combat really felt like."
"Game?"
"Yeah," Akira smiled, "Iunia is making her own video game. She's been working on it for a few years now."
Nico cheered. "Go Nia! You've got this!"
"Nia?"
"Only Nico gets to call her that. Boyfriend privileges."
"That's right."
The match began and the two girls squared off. Olette moved in a similar manner to Hayner, actually almost identical to him. Had he been teaching her?
Iunia moved sharply, her movements different than anything Roxas had seen before.
"Hold on." Pence asked. "Is she mimicking the combat from… oh what's that game? Replicant(4)."
"Yeah, she is." Nico shrugged. "She didn't really have any training, so she copied the characters' movements."
"Your girlfriend is a geek."
"Oh yeah."
She'd copied the moves? They were very precise, and Olette seemed to be able to read them, at least for a while.
Part of the way through the fight, Iunia began changing her style, copying Olette.
She adapted fast.
And threw Olette off.
"And the winner is IUNIA!"
Olette smiled. "Great job!"
"You too, Lettie!"
TJ waited for them, grinning. "Great job, but you won't beat me, Iunia."
"Let's wait and see, shall we?"
TJ gave her a thumbs up and leapt onto the stage. "And now the last bracket! Our human bouncy-ball, TJ, vs everyone's favorite snack maker, Kamden!" A young man with brown hair followed TJ up. Oh yeah. He was the snack vendor at the movie theater.
"May the best man win, TJ."
"Yeah!"
The fight began quickly. Kamden was no slouch, but TJ certainly had more experience in combat.
Though, Roxas watched Iunia more than the fight itself.
She sat on the sidelines, watching intently, her eyes studying everything. Her hands and fingers twitched as if they were puppeteering something.
Was she going to try and copy TJ's combat for the next match?
Could she do that?
If so… how many people had she been analyzing this whole time?
"Nico, how good is Iunia's memory?"
"She can remember almost anything down to the last detail. It's how she's always been."
Oh…
This was going to be good.
"And the winner is TJ!"
"Yeah!"
Kamden shook the boy's hand. "Good job, and good luck!"
"Thanks!"
TJ hopped down for a quick water break before bounding back onto the stage.
"And the final match of the day to decide the last finalist! We have TJ vs Iunia!"
The girl followed him up, glancing down at Nico and those around him.
Kraig gave a little smirk. "She's gonna cream him."
"Absolutely."
TJ hopped around on the platform. "You ready?"
"Oh yeah."
They charged at one another.
Wait!
She sprinted forward, low and fast.
Just like Roxas did!
"She's a genius." Kraig glanced at Nico. "I think TJ underestimates her."
With a slash, she dealt the first hit. Sliding back, she ducked under a strike from TJ, but he followed it up and hit her again.
Her next attack mirrored the ferocity of Fuu's strikes, pushing him back while dealing two more strikes.
Then she switched again, going to the moves she copied from the video game. TJ managed to get in a hit, but so did she.
One more to go.
Dashing forward, she took the stance Joelle had and with a quick slash, they each hit each other.
But her strike made the difference.
"And the winner is IUNIA!"
The crowd went wild.
"That was crazy!" TJ laughed. "How'd you do that!?"
"Trade secret."
Kevin walked onto the platform. "Would our four finalists please come up!" Iunia stayed there as Hayner, Roxas, and Seifer walked up. "The last week of summer we will see who will be our winner this year and will get the chance to take on the champion, Setzer!"
Seifer glanced over. "Me of course."
"In your dreams, maybe."
Roxas smiled.
He'd win. He just knew it.
Just like before.
Just like before…
Footnotes:
(1) Finn is a reference to the actual fox from the youtube channel SaveaFox. They have an orange fox named Finnegan.
(2) In the novels, he is named Wallace as a reference to Barrett Wallace.
(3) In the novels, he is named Biggs, as a reference to Biggs from Final Fantasy 7, but he's in my story as himself, so I had to change it.
(4) This is a reference to Nier: Replicant.
VAs:
Kevin Blakely- Kevin Delaney (Tournament Announcer, Captain Marvel, Edna "E" Mode)
Finlay Corvi- Jonathan von Mering (Locke Cole, Sergeant Gavett, Raymond, Chris, Richter)
Joelle Fay- Jennifer Losi (Ganyu, Shinobu Kawajiri, Lillie, Naomi Randall, Terano Totobami)
Caden Cooper- Tru Valentino (Cuphead, Gary, Black Panther/T'Challa, Chuntao, Lou, Scadan)
Auston Symons- Bobby Edner (Vaan, Lil Kid, Junior, Francis, Asher Kingsley, Jake, Edgar)
Gerrard Geary- Bryce Papenbrook (Kirito/Kazuto Kirigaya, Rin Okumura, Eren Jaeger)
Caetano Coburn- Khoi Dao (Tetsuya Kuroko, Albedo, Rei Kiriyama, Keiichi Maebara, Murata)
Kamden Hutchinson- Mark Whitten (Kaedehara Kazuha, Kyojuro Rengoku, Seteth, Raymond Lawrence)