Chapter 4

The Struggle is here!
"What? Vivi?" I asked, bewildered.

"Yep," the promoter said, "He came this morning and said he wanted to be in it. A bit strange, I didn't think he was that good at fighting."

I stared at him blankly, not knowing what to say. The board read Vivi vs. Seifer. Can Vivi even handle Seifer on his own? His skills in fighting aren't that good, and he's only nine! Seifer's like... what? Sixteen? I forget.

"Hey! Fuu!" I looked to my left to see Roxas waving. Hayner's warning went through my mind. I turned away quickly and went to find Vivi. I looked back once to see him. He looks hurt... Great, now I feel even WORSE!

"Vivi! Vivi!" I called. I gulped when I saw Seifer trudging my way with an oh so angry expression on his face. Rai was silent, and Vivi was behind them. I smiled and waved to Vivi, who merely loooked up. No cute little greeting today? He must be nervous.

"ladies and gentlemen! We're about to begin, so please make your way towards the arena!" the host yelled. I clapped and tried to get into the middle of the crowd so he wouldn't find me. It was no use. seifer was always faster than I was. He grabbed my arm.

"Hang on, I want to see your face when I smack your boyfriend and star pupil around," he laughed. Rai nodded. I glared fiercely at both of them. Vivi still didn't do anything. I cooperated. It's not worth it anymore. If I can't be with Roxas, what's the point of going against Seifer?

"Our first match will be between Hayner, and my favorite customer, Roxas!" he yelled, letting them both onto the stage. I watched Hayner, who still carried that angry look. Roxas looked guilty as ever. Poor thing... I should-

No! I can't get involved!

Wait... they're talking... what's he saying? Ugh! Seifer and Rai are being too loud!

"Shut up!" I screeched at them. They stared at me, surprised, and backed away a few steps. I tried to get closer to hear.

"...wait, why should I be sorry?" I heard Hayner say in that usual cocky tone. I smiled when I saw them both laugh and get ready to start. What happened? Did they make up? Argh! I missed it! I never get to see anything! waaaugh! Oh, they're starting.

Well, needless to say, it was a fast vistory. Not that I'm surprised or anything. Hayner groaned and started whining, but jumped right back up and said something to Roxas. He nodded and left the stage. I ran to meet him. Maybe Hayner forgives me...

"And now, Vivi and seifer!"

My head snapped up. He's going on already? I froze where I was and watched. Vivi didn't move, and Seifer was making threats as usual. Vivi looks... different. I mean, he looks determined for once. usually, he has a sort of scared look to him.

The match began.

Seifer immediatly charged Vivi, knocking him over and causing him to drop an orb.

"You're mine!" Seifer yelled as he ran for the orb, but Vivi jumped in front of him and hit him in the stomach, causing him to drop ALL of his orbs!

"Vi...vi...?" This wasn't like him at all...

"I'm... not sure what just happened, but Vivi wiiins!" the host yelled. There was a round of cheers and I moved towards where Seifer was exiting.

"Seifer, what's wrong with-"

"That's not Vivi."

"Wha...?" Seifer looked at me in the eyes.

"Tell Roxas to thrash him," he muttered. I blinked and nodded. Seifer and Rai left. I pushed through the crowd towards Hayner and Olette.

"Wh.. Where's Roxas?" I asked. Hayner glared.

"I thought I told you-"

"He's over there!" Olette said, pointing him out. He was talking with that girl who runs the accesory shop. Grrr...

"Thanks," I said and ran off before Hayner could get a word out.

"Roxaaaaaas!" I called. He looked at me and smiled. The other girl left, and he walked towards me.

"Hey Fuu. Wow, what have you been teaching that kid," he asked, motioning to Vivi. I shook my head.

"That's... That's not Vivi," I said. Roxas stared at me, confused.

"What? Then who is it?" I shook my head again. he got the idea and made his way to the ring.

"Keep close to the stage," he told me. I nodded and walked over to the side Vivi was on.

"Good luck Vivi!" I said happily. Maybe I can get a waord out of him. He looked at me and blinked.

"...'Kay," he said in a low voice. I stood there quietly and waited for the match to start.

"And now, the semifinal match between Roxas and Viviiiiiii!" the host yelled. I clapped and kept my eyes on Vivi, and Roxas as well. Hm... Roxas doesn't look too bad when he stands like that...

Vivi did a spiral movement through the air and lunged at Roxas. Roxas blocked it and moved around to the back of Vivi. Vivi whirled around and deflected the hit before it reached him. Vivi swiftly ducked under Roxas's weapon and dealt him a blow to the stomach. Roxas winced and brought his elbow down on Vivi's head. Vivi shook his head and tackled Roxas to the ground. Yikes, since when was he so aggressive?

The cheering stopped. I froze for a minute, looking at everyone in the crowd. Oh, this is that weird time freeze thing again. Great. Bring on the bad guys. On that cue, Vivi vanished and five white things popped up.

I ran up onto the stage when I felt the staff from earlier pop into my hand. Roxas's club transformed into the keyblade. He looked over at me and nodded. I got into my fightting stance and he got into his.

The white things flew at us all at once. Roxas jumped to the right and I stayed in my place, working up an ice spell. It flew out of the staff and froze one of them. I ran over to it and hit it with the staff a couple of times. it vanished the third time I hit it. Roxas swung at two of them at once, knocking them back. He jumped up and brought the key down quickly, stabbing one through the stomach and kicking the other one.

They vanished all at once before we could even finish with them. I blinked and looked at the steps leading to the stage. A figure in a black cloak walked up, clapping.

"Roxas, all right! fight, fight, fight!" he said in a mocking tone. Roxas glared and tightened his grip on the blade. The figure stopped and laughed.

"You really don't remeber? It's me, you know," the man said while removing his hood, "Axel."

"Axel?" Roxas asked.

"Talk about blank with a capital 'B'. Man, even the dusks won't crack this one," he said. I stepped foward.

"What do you want here?" I asked. Axel looked over at me and laughed.

"I thought everything here was fake. How'd you get in. C'mon, you can tell me," he said, looking me up and down. I blinked.

"'Fake'..." I said. What does he mean by fake?

"Now, on to business. Roxas, Fuu,come on," he said, motioning for him to follow. Roxas held the weapon in front of him.

"Who said you could call me Fuu?" I asked. He ignored me andlaughed at Roxas's angry look.

"Wait a second, first tell me what's going on!"Roxas yelled. I nodded. Axel held his hands out to the sides and two wheels appeared in his hands. They had spikes along the sides.

"First thing's first," he said, looking to me. I backed up a step. Roxas stood in front of me.

"What do you want with Fuu?" he asked. Axel smiled.

"Well, she's not very cute," Grrrrr! LOOK WHO'S TALKING! "I don't get what you see in her, but apparently 'the boss' has a thing for her. My objective is to retrieve you both and bring you to the castle."

"Castle?" we both asked in unison. Axel spun the wheels around in his hands and glared.

"Like it or not, you two are coming with me! Concious or not!" he yelled. Roxas and I rushed foward, taking numerous swings with our weapons at him. He dodged and charged up an attack. Fire began to shoot out of his weapons. Roxas rolled out of the way and I jumped over a couple and ducked under the last few. Hooray for my shortness!

Axel rushed at Roxas, swinging rapidly and slicing his shirt. Roxas hit Axel in the stomach and knocked him back towards me.

"Fore!" I yelled and smacked him like a baseball. Axel was thrown a good distance, but he landed on his feet and rushed at me. He grabbed my arm holding the staff and twisted it. I screamed when I heard the bones crack. My arm fell limply at my side, tears of pain streaming down my face. Axel wrapped an arm around the upper half of my body and heald the sharp part of his weapon at my throat.

"Move and I'll kill her!" Axel threatened. Roxas froze in his tracks, keeping his eyes on me. Axel held the blade closer. I froze, knowing what would happen if I tried to get away.

"Let her go!" Roxas yelled. Axel backed up slowly. He tightened his grip on me, and I grimaced when he grabbed my broken arm.

Behind Roxas, a man in a red cloak appeared. His face was covered, except for one orange eye and his mouth.

"Uh-oh!" Axel yelled and let go of me. He tried to grab me, but I ran back ot Roxas's side, holding my arm.

"Roxas! This man speaks nonsense!" the man yelled.

"Roxas! Don't let him deceive you!" Axel yelled back. Oh, so he's on our side now?

"Roxas!" the red guy yelled.

"Roxas!" Axel yelled. I looked rapidly from side to side. Uh... which one is the good guy...? Roxas grabbed the sides of his head.

"Hayner... Pence... Olette..." he muttered. He straightened up and yelled it at the sky.

Time unfroze. The crowd was yelling again. I looked down and saw Vivi again. He fell over and I bent down to help him up.

"Well... I'm not sure what just happened, but Roxas wiiiiiiiiiins! Roxas is our new top Struggler!" the host yelled. Roxas walked over to check on Vivi.

"You okay?" he asked. Vivi nodded and walked away.

"Hw'd I get here?" he asked as he left. I smiled at him, but yelped suddenly when Roxas grabbed my arm.

"Hurts!" I yelled and tried to pull away. Roxas held on and moved his hand up and down it, looking for where it was broken. He ignored my protests when he pressed on the spot where it cracked.

"Hang on, I'll get some help," he said and walked off. I followed, not wanting to be in the middle of the stage when Seifer came back.