CHAPTER LXVII

BIG SURPRISE

Cloud serenely waited for the buzzer to sound – as soon as it did, he dove at the closest target.

"Stay back!" he yelled at Aerith, clashing his sword against Trolo's heavy, metallic arm. The robot was faster than Cloud had anticipated, throwing punches every second with his free arm. Cloud absorbed three punches into his chest before he realized the pain they were causing – he hopped backwards from Trolo, trying to rethink his current approach.

Selphie and Tidus had opted to target Aerith together – Selphie's nunchaku buzzed like a set of dainty wings around her head as she approached the lady in pink. Aerith raised her staff, shouting 'stopra!'; all it did was cause Selphie to flinch and lose a bit of momentum. Tidus used Aerith's attack as an opportunity to bat her backwards with his massive sword. As she crashed into the barbed fence behind her, Tidus was taken to his knees by a small, brown blur…

Roy had vaulted himself towards Selphie, grabbing onto her whirling nunchaku…spinning them rapidly to try and rid herself of the unwelcome guest, Selphie put Roy in just the position he had wanted – at the precise moment of his arc, Roy let go, flying into Tidus' backside, catching him completely unaware. He painfully slid across the dirty ground on his face, the small, sturdy man riding on his back.

"Quit being such a baby!" Seifer snarled at Hayner as he tried to back up through the metal grates in the fence. "We didn't just throw away 1,000 munny, did we!"

"M…maybe if we let 'em tire themselves out…" Hayner pleaded, trying not to lose face in front of his rival.

"I can't BELIEVE you'd wuss out when it finally mattered! For a guy who talks so much trash, you got nothin' to back it up…" Seifer said, drawing his gunblade and scanning the arena for anyone who decided to come their way.

Hayner turned his back to Seifer and stared out of a hole in the dome. As he tried to reach his fingers through, they knocked into something solid…but there was nothing there. He examined several other holes in the wall, tapping them lightly – a small fleck of light appeared briefly as he tapped, and at once he knew some kind of force field was in place. That fact became abundantly clear as water began to rise from the bottom of the dome, quickly filling what would soon become a fishbowl…

"Uh oh! The water level's rising, and you can't do anything about it! Hope you've got gills, contestants!" the announcer's voice taunted. The audience went into an uproar – people were calling foul play left and right, though the viewers that had nothing at stake couldn't help but enjoy the spectacle…

Cloud felt the water around his ankles – he smirked as he jumped straight over the head of Trolo, swinging underneath his body. As he connected with the back of Trolo's head, the robot fell face first into the water, Cloud triumphantly landing on his back. Now all he had to do was wait for the robot to short circuit…

Selphie cracked Aerith across the jaw with her weapons, causing her to yelp in pain. Cloud looked on, not wanting to free Trolo until he was definitely short circuited.

"Aerith! I said stay back! Come over here so I can protect you!" he bellowed, his voice resounding more like an order than a plea.

"Not exactly…" she gasped, trying her hardest to block Selphie's masterful nunchaku swings, "an option…right now…besides," she screamed with gaining intensity. With an increasing fervor, she drew her staff back and called 'blizzaga!' swinging it like a baseball bat into Selphie's stomach. Selphie, knocked upward and backward by the force of the spell and the swing, smashed into the top of the dome – falling limply to the wet floor, completely knocked out.

"I can take care of myself," Aerith said proudly, flashing a cheesy grin at Cloud from across the dome.

"Tidus and Selphie, show's over…" the announcer said miserably. They couldn't be sure, but some of the audience members could swear they saw a man that looked just like the announcer standing in the betting lines earlier that evening…

The water began to flow more quickly – within a minute's time, Cloud was up to his neck in water, and everyone else was floating around, trying to find a way to drain the dome. Roy punched the wall with his beefy arms, but it was no use – floating in water and standing on land were two entirely different things when it came to brute force.

As the water level rose, it caused a very odd situation – the four foot circle at the top of the dome soon became the only viable source of air. Roy, Cloud, Aerith, Hayner and Seifer's heads all poked out of the water, trying to make use of what little air there was left while begrudgingly allowing the others to stay alive. The water level slowly began to creep upwards, moistening their chins…

"Well, this is it…looks like we're gonna die…we're gonna die because of 1,000 stupid munny!" Hayner said, slapping Seifer in the face.

"Did…did you just slap me! You're gonna pay for that, chicken-wuss…" he said, suckerpunching Hayner in the gut underwater.

"They can't make an obstacle that would kill us…could they?" Aerith asked, her chin bobbing up and down in the cool, blue pool.

"I don't wanna find out…" Cloud said, as he gulped a large breath of air and dove down below.

Much to his pleasure, he found what he sought – Trolo's arm had proven capable of bending the steel, and he hoped to disrupt the force field with it. But much to his chagrin, the arm was flying towards him in a powerful punch - which knocked what little breath he had out of his lungs. Kicking his legs toward the surface, he heard Trolo's mechanical voice for the first time, muffled by the water.

"Waterproof," he said, grabbing Cloud's ankle with his shining arm. Cloud managed to gasp a lungful of air right before the robot dragged him back down below, slamming him effortlessly into the ground. Water didn't seem to slow him down, like it did most people – Cloud spied that his body had sprouted holes and flaps, making him far more hydrodynamic than the average human. Taking shot after shot at Cloud's torso with his rapidly moving legs, the robot seemed indestructible…

Summing up all of his energy, Cloud closed his eyes and glowed a faint, muted blue…he floated effortlessly, his flowing cloak looking more like a demonic pair of wings, completely unaffected by the water's pressure…using the short time he had, Cloud swung his Buster Sword thrice – once, tearing off the robot's legs in midkick; the second time, digging straight through its torso; and the final time, lopping off its right arm and head. The robot crumbled to the ground in pieces, as Cloud grabbed the arm, manipulated some wires and clenched closed a section of the metal dome.

Immediately, the force field was disrupted – in a flash, Trolo and Roy were teleported out of the dome. Draining much faster than it filled, Cloud and Aerith touched the damp ground on one side of the dome, opposite of Hayner and Seifer.

"Trolo and Roy, show's over! I knew a robot would never make the cut…" he said to the side, forgetting to shut his microphone off for a moment. The rude gesture he received from Roy as he picked up his partner's remains reminded the announcer of that tiny fact.

Hayner looked wide-eyed at Cloud, whose black cloak was dripping wet across the dome.

"Dude, we got one more team – don't tell me you're still gonna wuss out!" Seifer prodded Hayner.

"……SHUT THE HELL UP!" Hayner screamed as his rage peaked, leaving Seifer in his dust as he drew his kitana for the first time. Driving straight at Cloud, he noticed an easy opportunity for a strike…just like Struggle, he reminded himself…

But he was flung across the dome and into the fence with one swing from Cloud's sword. In fact, Cloud hadn't even taken a step – he waited patiently until Hayner was in range, and connected. Walking slowly across the dome, Cloud sheathed his Buster Sword on his back. Hayner whimpered on the side of the dome, as Cloud came face to face with Seifer. As defiantly as he could muster, Seifer swung overhead at Cloud – he was stunned to see that Cloud had blocked his powerful attack…merely with a buckle on his black, leather gauntlet.

Cloud smiled coyly at Seifer, who had drawn his gunblade back to his side. His eyes were wider than Hayner's had been – reaching up, he closed his eyes sadly as he removed the blue bandana and dropped it to the ground at Cloud's feet. Immediately, he and Hayner were teleported out of the dome, near the exit.

As Hayner struggled to stand, Seifer silently allowed him to rest some of his weight on his shoulder. Hayner looked up, half-smiling, half-wincing with pain.

"Chicken-wuss," Hayner said, as the two of them walked down the aisle and out of the Setzer Dome.

"The final team to make it through the preliminaries is Cloud and Aerith! Give 'em a big hand, folks!" the announcer bellowed, sending the audience into a frenzy. Aerith smiled, untying Cloud's bandana from his arm - as he silently allowed it.