CHAPTER LXV

SHOWDOWN, ROUND ONE

As the warning bell chimed, the ground around the dome started to rise in large, rectangular blocks, surprising almost all of the onlookers. As it stopped rising in levels, it created a large set of bleachers. The audience was mostly full of the other combatants who were eager to get a look at the competition; but there were plenty of other assorted gamblers and card sharks watching as well. There was a good chance that there were bets being taken on the Showdown – though, first round bets were always a gamble.

On each of the four sides of the dome, there hung two identical bandanas each – a set of red, blue, green and yellow. Mickey tied the yellow one around his neck as Pete wrapped his around his arm. Zell and Rekka wore blue, Go-Go and Fran had gotten red and that left Arch and Kale with green. It was much easier for the audience to tell who was on what team this way. The announcer's voice came over the intercom once again.

"The match will last 20 minutes. Killing is not an option in the Showdown – the stakes are high, but it's still just a game, after all. If at any point you can't continue, remove your bandana and drop it – this will signal a forfeit. And don't forget to be on your toes – surprises can happen at any moment!" His voice was followed by a loud, shrill buzzing noise which indicated the beginning of the match.

Arch was the first to move – he lashed his whips upward, grabbing the dome. As he swung around the arena, trying to get a good vantage point, Kale carefully aimed a shot at Rekka, the large chocobo across the field.

Zell was quick on his feet – waiting for the perfect timing, he slashed at the arrow with his hand, splintering it in half mere feet in front of Rekka. As a sign of appreciation, Rekka lowered her head and charged head on at Kale, head butting him in the stomach.

"Go get 'em, small fry!" Pete said, lifting Mickey up by the scruff of his shirt – he spun around once and hurled Mickey like a javelin across the field toward Go-Go. When Mickey connected with Go-Go, it sent him flying backwards into the barbed wire portion of the dome. The purple haired Fran went into a flurry of attacks – whipping her fan around her faster than Mickey could ever hope to block. Taking the brunt of the attack, he saw Pete charging out of the corner of his eye.

Grappling with the wounded Johnny Go-Go was a challenge for Pete – the two weaponless muscle-heads were matched, pound for pound. Zell was caught off guard by the swinging Arch – with one Tarzan like movement, Arch had placed his feet squarely behind Zell's head, knocking him into the fence.

Seemingly from nowhere, two large boxes appeared and hovered over the center of the arena – each rapidly blinked colors, slowing only incrementally as time went on. Acting on a hunch, Kale shot a wooden arrow at one of the boxes – as it struck, the box immediately stopped alternating colors - sticking on red. Johnny Go-Go fell backwards as Pete suddenly felt no resistance from him…Fran had slowed down to a pace that Mickey could handle, as he swung his keyblade, knocking the fan out of her hand and clear out of the ring.

Some of the spectators booed and hissed as the announcer's voice rang out again. "Oh, and Kale activates one of our many traps – a slo-mo box, now tied to Go-Go and Fran! Will they be able to come back from the devastating disadvantage?"

Pete turned his back on Go-Go, who slowly pushed himself up off of the ground. Catching him off guard, Zell drove his foot into Pete's massive stomach, causing him to keel over in pain, nearly falling on Go-Go.

Like a bullet train, Rekka the chocobo continued to drive around the dome, searching for a target that would hold still long enough for her to smash it. Though he was unleashing a flurry or metal tipped arrows at Mickey, Kale never saw the bird coming – it smashed into his side, flinging him into the solid red block. It began to rotate again as Kale's limp body fell to the ground.

"And our first team is eliminated! Kale and Arch – show's over!" The two of them flashed in a green blur, appearing outside of the dome. Arch cursed under his breath, as Kale laid out on the floor, gasping for air as he awakened. Arch rolled his whips up and silently left him behind – there was clearly no love lost between the two strangers.

Back in the ring, Go-Go and Fran had backed away from Mickey and Pete. Now that the boxes no longer blinked green, the pace had quickened. Trying his best not to land on yellow, Mickey fired a bolt of lightening down on the second block, stopping it on blue.

Immediately, Zell and Rekka flew across the dome, crashing awkwardly into each other as they crumpled into a pile. As he tried to get up, Zell couldn't move more than a foot or two from Rekka, who had been encountering the same problem. Zell's bandana found Rekka's, tied around her long neck, and stuck to it – Zell flailing as he was dragged around the dome by the frightened and confused beast.

"The magnet box…ooh, that's a good one!" the announcer bellowed.

Go-Go reached his hands up into the sky, clenching his fingers together – as he smashed them downwards, pulverizing the ground, a shockwave of blue light emanated from the ground, knocking Rekka, Pete and Fran off of their feet – Mickey was quick enough to jump over the blast, using the opportunity to begin a combo on Go-Go.

Rekka skidded to a stop as she dragged Zell's motionless body underneath her – the trip had flipped them, causing the heavy bird to land awkwardly on her partner. Unfortunately, the impact knocked Zell out cold, removing the second team from the Showdown.

"Zell and Rekka – show's over!" the announcer cheerfully teased. Four members of the audience all stood up, each of them wearing a shirt that bore a different letter of the word 'Zell'. As he slid off of Rekka's back, Zell awoke to the familiar smell of hot dogs, as his supporters embarrassingly pummeled him with the food.

"Just you an' me, pumpkin…" Pete said, encroaching on Fran's space. Now the blocks overhead were blinking so fast they could hardly be seen – from yellow to red and back again, over and over. "I think you and your buddy need some time to bond…" Pete said, jumping at the magnet box, punching it with his clenched fist.

Much to his dismay, instead of stopping on a color, the box promptly blew up in his face – a feeling Pete knew all too well. It sent him rocketing skywards, slamming him into the very top of the dome.

Go-Go was simply no match for Mickey – he tried grabbing the keyblade from him, as well as dodging his attacks…but every move he made, Mickey was a step ahead. From the corner of his eye, Mickey saw Pete falling fast toward the ground…if he hit, he'd definitely be knocked out cold…

Not wasting another second, Mickey jumped on Go-Go's head, vaulting over his broad shoulders and into the dome behind him. Pushing as hard as his little legs could, he shot off of the wall into Go-Go's back. The resulting force shoved Go-Go right where Mickey wanted him – underneath the massive, falling girth of Pete.

"Oooh!" cried the announcer and most of the audience – Pete fell with such force that he actually cracked the polished floor of the Setzer Dome beneath Go-Go's now limp body. The red team was warped out of the dome, leaving only a stunned Pete and Mickey, standing alone in the center.

"Good save, twerp…" Pete mumbled, rubbing his stomach where Zell had kicked him.

"The winners, ladies and gentlemen, of round one – Mickey and Pete!" called the announcer. After they were beamed out of the dome, they handed over their bandanas to Thorn and headed separately toward the bleachers, content with the fact that they had won – no matter how lucky they had been.