Once again, I'm sorry for taking so long to update...I've been super busy what with summer school and re-playing Tales of the Abyss...well, mostly just that second one.

The Eighth Challenge

Sora began to open his eyes groggily and look around. The last thing he remembered, he had been playing peek-a-boo with a monkey and huggling his cuddly giant teddy bear. He snuggled closer to his teddy with a smile on his face. Suddenly, the teddy looked down at him and said, "Get off of me."

This puzzled Sora and he opened his eyes wider. The teddy bear suddenly morphed into Zexion. The Keyblade Master realized with a start that he was hugging Zexion's arm. Said Nobody was trying in vain to pry Sora off of him. Sora jumped off and launched into an apology.

"I'msososorry! Ithoughtyouweremyteddybearandyouweresocomfyandand-" he stopped to catch his breath and Zexion stood up, brushing his cloak off.

He looked down at his sleeve and said disdainfully, "You slobbered on me..."

That set Sora off onto another long winded apology. "andthatwaswhenIfellintothewaterandstartedplayingwithmydogFrederickthethird,and-" he was suddenly struck in the head with a bright orange nerf ball. He fell to the ground muttering, "Pineapples are buckets full of fun..."

"A challenge? This early in the morning?" Riku mumbled as he sat up from his bed of sand.

Sora looked over at the teen and exclaimed, "Riku has bed head!" It was true - all of Riku's hair was stuck at an odd angle making him look a bit like a Dragonball Z character.

"Shut up Sora." He muttered.

Down at the beachy weachy, everyone was gathered and ready for the next challenge. "Today, Destiny-" Ansem began.

"One two three," Imogene interrupted. The girl was wearing what looked to be an 80's workout instructor costume--complete with spandex, a head band, blue leg warmers, high tops, oh and did I mention spandex? She was jumping around excitedly and exercising.

"has a new-"

"Come on people, let's work it!"

"has a new-" Ansem tried again, louder this time.

"What are you waiting for?! You're wasting valuable workout time!" Imogene exclaimed as she twisted her body into a completely unimaginable state.

"challenge for you." Ansem finished gritting his teeth.

"Are we counting how many seconds it takes to do 15 push ups?" Demyx asked.

"Close, but now quite."

"Damn! I thought I was right on the money with that answer." Demyx said snapping his fingers.

"That reminds me, my workout regiment is low cost! The only thing I require is a year subscription to Teen magazine and a pickled radish!" Imogene exclaimed.

"No thanks, I think I've had enough of training regiments to last me a lifetime." Yuffie said, waving her hand in the air.

"You've made me very sad." Imogene said as she walked away to train some passing tourists.

"For today's challenge, you must choose three members from your team to push a boulder up over that hill and down the path, all the way to the finish line." Ansem gestured to a couple of giant boulders. "Now who are the six competitors that will be pushing the boulders?"

From team Dominators, Marluxia, Xigbar, and Cloud were chosen. From team Warriors of Justice, there was Riku, Leon and Sephiroth.

"Now for the second part of the challenge, you will choose two people from each team to protect yourself from obstacles in the race."

"We need to be protected?" Riku asked uncertainly.

"Why, yes. In this race anything goes." Ansem replied with a sinister laugh.

"Anything?" Sora asked wide eyed.

"Anything." He repeated. So, Sora and Axel were chosen from Warriors of Justice while Kairi and Larxene were chosen from Dominators. "On your marks, get set, destiny, go!" Ansem declared so fast that no one understood what he said.

"Wha?" was the uniform sound.

"I said go!" Ansem shooed them toward the boulders. The teams rushed to their boulders and began pushing them on their designated paths.

-With Team Dominators

"There is no way we'll loose this challenge!" Larxene exclaimed from in front of the boulder.

"Yeah! After all that training you put us through, we're super strong!" Xigbar said as he pushed the boulder along with ease. The three men took a second to show off their bulging biceps before returning to pushing the boulder.

"Fosheezy, it's so easy!" Marluxia exclaimed as he pushed.

The two men on either side of the Graceful Assassin turned to stare at him. "Don't ever say that again." they said simultaneously.

Marluxia scowled. Then, his expression abruptly changed, "Hey, do you guys remember that time..."

-flashback

Back on the very first day at the beach...

"It's really hot out here!" Marluxia complained.

"Suck it up pinky!" Xigbar said fanning himself with a makeshift leaf fan.

"But the heat is going to ruin my hair!" Marluxia whined.

"Normally, I wouldn't even bother telling you this, but just cover your head with a leaf hat and it will protect it." Cloud said idly as he cut a notch out of a tree.

"Great idea!" Marluxia said as he hurried to fashion himself a hat.

"Um, how do you know that?" Xigbar asked raising an eyebrow.

"I have my ways." Cloud shrugged.

-end flashback

"Where was the point in that flashback?" Xigbar asked, annoyed.

"I just felt it necessary to remind you of some good advice." was Marluxia's simple answer.

"Dude, you are so gay." Xigbar said.

"Oh no i'm not!" Marluxia scoffed waving a hand at the Freelance Shooter.

"If you say so." Xigbar shrugged. He looked around then asked, "Hey, wait, where did Kairi and Larxene go?"

"They left while Marluxia was having his flashback." Cloud said without much interest.

-With Team Warriors of Justice

"What kinds of things are we supposed to protect you guys from anyway?" Axel asked looking around warily.

"Giant flying trapeze artists!" Sora exclaimed.

"Now that's just- Oh my gosh! Giant flying trapeze artists!" There were, like the two had said, giant flying trapeze artists being launched toward them. "Holy crap! What do we do, What do we do?" Axel panicked raking his hands through his hair. "I know!" he exclaimed, grabbing Sora and holding the boy in front of him as a shield.

Sora squealed. "Ahh! Don't hurt me!"

The trapeze artists landed in front of him and patted his head. "Aww, what a cute little boy! Don't worry, we won't hurt you." they said. Then they turned around and flew away, shouting, "We're blasting off again!"

"Whew, that was a close one!" Axel sighed letting go of Sora and wiping his forehead. Turning to Riku, Leon and Sephiroth, he called out, "Come on guys, hurry up!"

"That's easy for you to say!" Riku muttered, "Why don't you try pushing a giant boulder uphill?"

"Nah, I'm good." Axel said as he fanned his face with his hand.

"Ah, it's so hot!" Leon complained.

"I'll cool you down!" Sora declared running behind the three pushing the boulder. He began to blow on them with all of his might and make wild fanning motions with his arms. Axel burst into laughter seeing Sora's antics. He was laughing so hard that he fell to the ground and rolled to the edge of the path, tumbling off. His laughter was punctuated by his sounds of pain.

"Hahahaha-ow-hahaha-ow-hahaha. ha. ha. ow. I'm okay!" he called to the others.

Sora suddenly exclaimed, "Hey, it's Kairi! Hi Kairi!" He waved at the girl who was accompanied by Larxene. They were a level above team Warriors of Justice and were pushing a boulder that was slightly smaller than the one Riku and the others were pushing.

"They're not going to drop that on us, are they?" Leon asked warily.

Riku shook his head. "Nah, they won't actually drop it on- HOLY SHIT! They're dropping it on us!"

"Don't worry, I'll protect you!" Sora said standing between the incoming boulder and his teammates.

"With what?! Your bare hands?!" Riku exclaimed as he pulled Sora away and to the side. Everyone leapt away as the rock collided with their own and sent it flying down the same ledge Axel had fallen off of.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of that ledge...Axel lay on his back, and had finally stopped chuckling. He looked up, only to see the two giant boulders headed toward him.

Back at the top of the ledge, they heard Axel cry, "This just isn't my day!"

There were two loud crashes as the boulders collided with the ground. "Axel!" Sora cried as he ran to the ledge and jumped off. Riku followed after Sora while Leon and Sephiroth watched from above. Not seeing Axel, Sora looked around frantically until he spotted Axel's boots. Boots that were sticking out from underneath one of the boulders.

Riku gasped and Sora started sobbing. "The author wouldn't really kill off a character...would she?" Riku wondered disbelievingly.

"He lived a wonderful life full of fulfillment and magic markers!" Sora cried.

"Who did?" Axel asked.

"Axel did!" Sora replied still sobbing.

"I did?" Axel asked again.

"Yeah, you - Axel?!" Sora looked up and verified that the red head was actually there. "But why-how-but-but your boots!" Sora stuttered.

"Oh that? They got caught when I tried to get out of the way, so I slipped out of them and left them there." Axel replied casually.

"How did you manage to get them off in time?" Riku asked skeptically.

"Cuz I'm cool like that." Axel said as he yanked his boots free. "Man, now my boots are crushed!" he complained.

"I was hoping that boulder would have crushed you." Sephiroth said sullenly from his spot above them.

"Ah, bite me!" Axel yelled at him. Sephiroth cracked his knuckles. "Er - I meant that in the nicest way possible." he yelled back.

So, in the end, team Warriors of Justice ended up loosing the challenge.

"That's no fair!" Riku yelled at Ansem once they got to the finish line. "They interfered with us!" he yelled pointing at Larxene and Kairi who were busy whistling and kicking the sand trying to look innocent.

Ansem shrugged, "I did say anything goes."

"How many times have I had to tell you?! You've got to work your buns and thighs!" Imogene shouted at a poor tourist who was most certainly broken in many places.

"But I broke my left thigh and I have severe allergies!" the man protested.

"Hahahah! Victory is ours!" Larxene laughed. "There is no way you can compete with our super powerful team!" On cue, the superpower crew assembled.

"Super," Xigbar said.

"Team," Kairi said.

"Go," Marluxia said.

"Exclamation point." Cloud muttered unenthusiastically.

"What is the prize?" Yuffie asked, secretly hoping it wasn't a pencil sharpener.

"A dump truck full of fruit and a single bottle of champagne, which Destiny will deliver to your camp upon your return." Ansem said.

-Council fire

"I'm tired, cranky and I have sand in my shoes, so let's get this over with!" Ansem said. Yada yada yada. Things happened and there were votes ready to be counted. "Alrighty then - the votes are in and stand as thus: Axel - 3, Sephiroth - 5."

There was a deathly silence. No one dared to look at the newest looser.

"You dared to vote me off?!" the silver haired man yelled. One Winged Angel began to play in the background as meteors struck the island. There were several screams - many of them issued by Ansem, and everyone ran for cover.

"It's the end of the world!" Xemnas screamed.

"The sky is falling!" Sora cried.

"Goodbye cruel world." Vexen said as he sipped a spot of tea.

Then, the trapdoor opened and Sephiroth fell through. Abruptly, the music stopped and the sky cleared.

The area was silent, save for the sounds of sizzling from things the meteors burned. Ansem coughed and emerged from underneath his podium. "I believe you should be getting back to your campsite." He said as he walked off to go eat a pastrami sandwich.

OH MAI GOD! I'M SORRY SEPHIROTH!!! (And all of you out there who loved Sephiroth) but the story had to go on, and the magical finger landed on Sephy's name...

Anyway, if you havn't totally disowned me for getting rid of Sephiroth, review please...