A struggle to remember
Author's Notes- Hope you had a Merry Christmas everybody! Happy New Year. God. Last time, I was wishing you a happy Halloween. God damn TalkTalk and their stupid internet connection! Now I'm with BT and they're loads better. So after the special COM and reverse Chapter, we come to back to Sora's story. Today, we find him fighting in the struggle tournament!
Sora woke up, after another dream about the adventures of Naruto. He had just seen Naruto go into Beast's Castle. 'The end is coming.' Sora said, absent-mindedly. With a start, Sora remembered what today was. The Struggle tournament was today. Him and Hayner were going to battle for the grand prize. Sora got dressed in his regular outfit, and ran to the Sandlot. Realising he had forgotten his struggle bat, he ran back home.
"Hey there dude." Hayner greeted Sora. Pence and Olette smiled and greeted him, also. The sandlot was packed with people. Either spectators or people to do with the tournament. "Hi Hayner. You ready?" The caramel haired boy asked, eagerly. Hayner gave off his famous cocky smile. "Of course. I'll meet you over at the board. They're telling the competitors over there." Sora nodded, and he watched his friend race off to where the mayor of Twilight Town was standing, along with Seifer and Vivi. Sora frowned. Nobody was quite sure how Vivi had gotten into the tournament, but he had been able to beat loads of other competitors, who hadn't gotten into the finals. "Good luck man." Pence said to Sora. He smiled and nodded. Olette flew in and gave Sora a little kiss on the cheek. "For luck." She explained, quickly. Pence snickered, and underneath his breathe he said. "You gave Hayner a kiss on the lips." The two both heard. Olette blushed bright crimson. Sora just laughed, as he went over to the other finalists. "Hello Sora." The mayor greeted him. He counted all the finalists and nodded to himself. "Right. All here? Good. You all know how to struggle. We'll have people hook the ball suits onto you, just before you fight. But, now I have to tell you the line-up. The first round sees Sora against Hayner." The two mentioned boys frowned. Hayner soon recovered and flashed Sora a confident smile. Sora still felt bad. He and Hayner were supposed to face each other in the finals, not in the first round. "And so the second rounds see Seifer against Vivi. That leaves the two winners to face off. That person gets the trophy and then the chance to go up against Setzer." Seifer's hand went up. "Is it true that we get the Champions' belt, if we win against Seitzer?" The mayor nodded, hesitantly. "Yes, but don't be disappointed if you can't beat him. He's very tough." Seifer looked unfazed, or if anything even more determined. The crew broke off, leaving Hayner and Sora to get on the stage, where the announcer was starting up the competition. The announcer was also one of the shop owners. He knew everyone in Twilight Town and everyone liked him.
"Welcome ladies and gentlemen! To this year's Struggle Tournament Finals! Today we see four kids from Twilight Town, who you all know and love. We have Hayner! Seifer! Sora! And Vivi!" The audience erupted into cheers. Hayner smiled, widely at the attention. Sora looked uncomfortable. "These four will be battling against each other." The announcer continued. "And one of them will have the chance to face off against Setzer." At the sound of his name, girls started screaming out, in delight. Sora saw Pence and Olette cringing, as they were surrounded by the girls. The man in question, was standing beside the mayor, and gave a little wave. The cries grew louder. The announcer began announcing the 1st match. "Right here. We have our homeboy Hayner against his best friend and our little mail deliverer; Sora!" The two boys faced each other. "Stop looking like that." Hayner said, seeing the miserable look on Sora's face. Said Caramel haired boy looked up, sadly. Hayner shook his head, in disgust. "Pull yourself together man! This is supposed to be fun. You need to fight your friends sometimes. That's how life goes." Hayner said, in an odd grave voice, that made Sora frown. It sounded like Hayner wasn't talking about them, but him and someone else. But somehow, Hayner's words made Sora feel more confident. He raised his struggle bat, and made sure that all of the blue balls, that were attached to him were secure. "3...2...1...Struggle!" Hayner came in fast, swiping at Sora, who jabbed in Hayner's directions, stopping all of his swings half way. The two knowing each other's moves were evenly matched. Hayner was the first to get a few balls off of Sora, but Hayner soon had all the balls of his front taken off of him, with a few quick moves from Sora. The battle continued much like that. The two were even in skill level, but Hayner had a weight and strength advantage. Likewise, Sora was much faster and lighter than Hayner, making it easy for him to hit him, and get away, before Hayner could launch a counter. The battle was called on a matter of a time out. The person with the most balls still stuck on their body was the winner. As the bell rang, the two boys were panting and drenched in sweat. They walked off the stage, arm in arm laughing. The scores came in. Sora had 43 and Hayner had 37. Hayner was disappointed, but hid it well. He congratulated Sora on his victory. The two went off to Pence and Hayner, wanting to watch Seifer go against Vivi.
The crowd was continually gasping throughout the whole of the Seifer/Vivi battle. The two were going at it, ferociously. Nobody had seen Vivi use this kind of power before. Seifer was having to use his full strength against the tiny cloaked guy? Girl? It? Vivi had amazing agility and strength. Together Seifer was under serious pressure. He couldn't handle all of the hits. Blue balls were flying off his body left and right. Another thing that had people gasping. Seifer looked like he was actually getting hurt out there. Eventually, he just cried out and stopped the whole thing. Vivi stopped, but judging by the look in his eyes, he wasn't happy about it. Seifer fumed off. Soon Fuu and Rai were behind him. Before he left, Seifer turned to Sora. "That's not Vivi. Be careful." Sora frowned, as Seifer left in a great huff. Sora looked at his friends, who shrugged in reply. Sora looked up at Vivi, who stared at him, with greed? Maybe lust, if Vivi was a girl.
Sora stood a few feet away from Vivi. Both had their bats raised. Both were ready to battle. The announcer gave them the ok, and the two went at it with intense strength and speed. However, Vivi didn't seem to want to get rid of the blue balls that covered Sora, it seemed like he wanted to hurt Sora. If that was his goal, he was succeeding. Sora had hardly lost any of his balls, but was soon covered in bruises. Sora didn't understand what was going on, but considered using some of the jutsu that he seemed to be able to use. He dismissed the thought. Vivi wasn't a bad guy, he just seemed to struggle badly and violently. Sora swiped. Dodged. Jumped. Swiped. Got hit. Again. Again. Sora fell to the ground, exhausted. Vivi advanced on him and Sora jumped upwards, clashing into Vivi. The crowd gasped. Sora knew this wasn't the kind of thing that was tolerated in Struggle tournaments. The announcer looked between the two, anxiously. Sora had to finish this fast. Again he considered using a jutsu, but he needed to do it without a hand sign and it couldn't be a huge thing. He skimmed through all of his known jutsu. Suddenly, Sora thought of something. It wasn't exactly a jutsu, so he thought it would be alright to use. He tackled Vivi, hitting him with his bat. Constant hits. He threw Vivi into the air. Jumped. And struck the last of the balls were upon Vivi. Sora was expecting cheers to go out. None came. Had he done something wrong? He looked around. Everyone had excited looks on their faces and some had their mouths open, like they were cheering but there was no sound coming out. Everyone was frozen in place. Sora looked over at Vivi, who was looking at Sora, with lividness. With a start, Sora remembered that this was familiar. When Namine was here, she had made time stand still. Was this the same thing? The answer was no. Vivi exploded. Three Nobodies came out Vivi's tiny body. Sora gasped and stepped back. The Nobodies advanced on him, with large, fluid steps. Sora looked at my Struggle bat. He knew it was no good against the Nobodies, but what he was hoping for was that it would change into the KeyKunai. Nothing was happening.
"What's going on?" Kakashi asked. He and Diz were staring at the screen, which showed Sora backing away from three Nobodies that just emerged from a little creature with a pointy hat and a cloak. "The Organization is in." Diz said, gravely. Kakashi's visible eye widened. "How?" Diz shook his head and was pressing keys, rapidly, sending a digital KeyKunai to Sora. "I'm not sure. There's only the one. I think it's Axel. Figures. He's determined. I supposing he sent in the lesser Nobodies to get a location for him, so he could use a corridor of darkness to get into the mainframe." Diz let out an annoyed grunt. "If that Axel starts messing around with Sora's mind, then our work will have been for nothing." Kakashi put his book down. "I'll go in and fight him if I have to." Diz nodded, and started making arrangements to send Kakashi into the simulated Twilight Town.
Sora slashed at the Nobodies, with the KeyKunai that had appeared in his hands moments earlier. He had to make shadow clones to combat all of the Nobodies. These guy were tougher than the other ones he had met so far. He had an idea. It was something that seemed familiar, although he couldn't remember Naruto ever using it. He summoned out a Rasengan. Sora noted that the ball was red and not blue, like it normally was. There was a reason behind that. Kyubbi. The nine-tailed fox. But he was supposed to be inside of Naruto. Sora added this to the list of things that didn't make sense in my life. Sora planted the Rasengan at the tip of his KeyKunai, and it swirled down the blade. He impaled the KeyKunai right through the Nobody, he was facing. His clones did the same. All of the Nobodies were destroyed.
"Sora! Fight, fight, fight." Sora stopped dead. That voice. Those words. They sent a huge headache throughout his whole brain. They made his memories crash. Sora turned around and saw that a red headed man in a cloak, with red clouds on it. "Hey Sora." He greeted, as if we were old friends. The KeyKunai user didn't respond. He looked upset. "You don't remember me do you?" Sora shook his head. The red headed man's expression turned to one of anger. He began cursing fluently. Part of the caramel haired boy wanted to laugh, as if this was natural behaviour for this stranger. Axel looked at him again, with a look of longing. "They brainwashed you, man. I'm sorry. Look. I'm sure we can take you back to the superior and work out a way to get your memories back." I didn't understand a thing he just said. Another one for the list, I suppose. "Um…look dude. I don't know what's going on, but what I do know is that you're not telling me something and I don't like this superior. And I want to stay here and know what Namine and this Ansem guy have in store for me?" Everything that Sora had been thinking about just flowed out of him. Upon thinking about the dream with the superior, he felt uneasy and realised that he didn't like this superior. Also, Sora could see it in this man's eyes that he was uncomfortable. He didn't enjoy lying to him, or at least he wasn't telling him the truth. The man was speechless. He regarded Sora with anger. "What Namine and everyone involved with her are only out to take your life away from you." "That's enough Axel!" Another person had entered the sandlot. This man wore a military like outfit and a mask, which covered his mouth. One of his eyes was that of a sharingan. "Kakashi Hatake." Axel said, amused. "Axel. Number seven of Organization XIII or do you call yourselves Organization IX now? The Flurry of Dancing Flames. User of Chakrams. Controller of the Dancer Nobodies." Axel put his hand over where his heart should be, pretending to be touched that Kakashi remembered him so well. "You memorised it." He said, with sarcasm. Sora suddenly jumped away from between the two. He could feel the tension building between these two. "Chidori!" Kakashi cried, going at a speed, that even Sora thought was impossible to achieve. Axel blocked it, with two metallic rings. Both were covered in spikes. Kakashi jumped back, and Axel threw his chakrams at him. They burst into flames and kept going. Kakashi blew fire into his hands, and grabbed the chakrams. Sora guessed that the fire balls in his hands, were Kakashi's way of being able to touch Axel's flames. Kakashi threw back the chakrams. Axel caught them easily, and jumped upwards, lashing out kicks, while his legs were covered in fire. Kakashi blocked. Countered, with his fist full of electricity. Both of the two were quite evenly matched, but Kakashi had a better variety of attacks, not to mention he was a lot faster. "Water Style: Water Dragon jutsu! Earth Style: 1000 Hound barrage! Lightning Style: Double lightning blade!" After a dragon made of water makes him look like a drowned rat, seemingly endless dogs biting him and an 'X' shaped scar going across his front, Axel seemed pretty beat. In a last effort, Axel looked at Sora, sadly. "Sora. Come back to us." (A/N- That was my Demyx tribute. RIP Demyx.)
Sora looked at Kakashi with a mixture of emotions. Amazement, bewilderment and anger. Kakashi put a finger on his lips. "Sora. I'm sorry, but this world is a confusing place. Just think of Hayner, Pence and Olette." Sora nodded and closed his eyes. He tried to wash away everything he had just seen. He tried to rip up the list of things that didn't make in his life. He tried to follow Kakashi's advice and thought of Hayner, Pence and Olette. "Hayner! Pence! Olette!"
Cheers erupted from the audience. Sora blinked. He was holding his struggle bat. Vivi was panting, heavily across from him. "Good fight Sora." Vivi breathed. He got down off the stage. The announcer had started joining in the cheers. "That's right folks! This year's Struggle tournament winner is none other than Sora!" Sora saw Hayner, Pence and Olette smiling at him, proudly. He nodded at them. The announcer brought Hayner up on stage, along with Vivi. "You see Hayner. Since Seifer ended his match early, he was disqualified. That means you come third." Hayner's eyes lit up immediately. He pumped his fists in the air, and received a small bronze medallion. Vivi got a large silver medal and Sora got given a huge trophy, which was very well designed. Sora thought it was beautiful. Specifically, the different coloured crystal balls that were displayed upon it. Sora set the large trophy down, and it was watched carefully by Pence and Olette. The announcer called Sora and Setzer to the stage. At the sound of his name, Setzer's fans screamed out loud. The tall silver haired man strutted onto the stage. He towered, intimately, over the caramel haired boy, as he crushed his hand. "Tell you what kid." Setzer said. "How about you make this an easy win for me and I'll make it worth your while?" Sora was in shock. "Are you trying to bribe me, to take a dive?" Setzer chuckled. "You make it sound like I'm asking you to take drugs." Sora scowled. "Forget it!" Sora jumped backwards, clutching his struggle bat. Now it was Setzer's time to scowl. "You stupid little son of a bitch. I'll make you pay for your ignorance." Setzer was first off the announcer's mark. He came up on Sora fast, who deflected and parried. Setzer almost lost his grip on his bat. Sora advanced on him.
The whole crowd gasped in awe. Sora fell to the ground, panting in exasperation. Setzer's fans were crying. Setzer had no balls. Sora had won. Setzer had gone fully red, either from embarrassment or exhaustion. He turned to go, but was about to go back on Sora, his mouth open, as if he was going to say something. At that moment, Hayner, Pence and Olette came rushing up to congratulate Sora. The caramel haired boy smiled ear to ear, as the announcer gave him the Champion's belt. Sora was on Cloud Nine. With Pence and Olette carrying his trophy and Hayner insisting on wearing his belt, Sora was left with nothing to do, but float towards Station Heights. He almost really forgot about the mysterious Axel. While on the clock tower Sora was hit with a stroke of inspiration. He got his trophy and broke off the small crystal orbs. He threw them to his friends, who caught them, with looks on surprise on their faces. "We agreed that we would share the grand prize." Sora reminded them. Hayner was the first to object. "That was when we thought the grand prize was money." Sora placed a finger on Hayner's lips. "Do me a favour. Shut up." Hayner nodded, while Pence and Olette laughed. I held up my blue crystal up to the sky, and watched as the light from the setting sun made the crystal glisten. His friends copied. Sora smiled at the moment. Of course, a thought ruined the whole thing. 'They brainwashed you, man. I'm sorry. Look. I'm sure we can take you back to the superior and work out a way to get your memories back.' Although he knew that Axel hadn't been fully truthful in those words, he was pretty sure that Axel was right about his memories were wrong. Sora tried surfing through his memories before the start of this week, when the pictures were stolen, but he couldn't do it well. They were blurred. He remembered more of Naruto's life than he remembered his own. He remembered the time when Naruto had ridden his first skateboard, but he couldn't remember ever taking lessons himself. Sora started breathing slowly. He was scaring himself. He tried to calm himself down and stopped thinking about the whole thing. Too bad he relaxed a little too much. His crystal fell right out of his hands. Sora's eyes bulged. He made a grab for it. Missed. Made another, shifting his weight towards the edge. Got it. And his body left the ledge. Olette screamed. Hayner made a wild grab for Sora. Pence stood there, completely stunned, his mouth handing open. Sora couldn't grip the reality of his situation. He knew he was falling. He knew that the clock tower was the largest building in the whole of Twilight Town, and it was easily over 100 feet tall. It may have all been in Sora's head, but he seemed to be falling in slow motion. He closed his eyes, not wanting to witness his own death.
Namine had been watching Sora all day. She had hated seeing Axel in so much pain, and knowing she was the cause of it. She really was a witch. She hated herself and her powers. The only reason she didn't kill herself was her own selfish agenda. She needed Roxas. If everyone had a light, in this world. He was hers. But to get to him, she had to get Sora to release their memories. She watched as Sora fell from the Clock Tower. She felt his conscious slipping away. 'Diz and Kakashi will be busy trying to fix this.' Namine thought, an idea slowly forming in her brain. It was something that might help point Sora in a better direction, but she also owed two other people for taking away their lights.
Hinata and Li were walking home from school. Two fellow classmates were walking with them. They were called Selphie and Tidus. After Sasuke and Xion had left Destiny Isle, Hinata and Li had gotten new friends, although they weren't nearly as comfortable with them, than they were with the other five…no two, right? Just Xion and Sasuke. No. Deep down, Hinata and Li both knew that they were more than the two who had left. They had had dreams of being stuck in people's bodies, with Xion. Sasuke had been a bad guy, consumed by darkness and their hosts were the bravest people in the world. They just couldn't remember them. The two said goodbye to Selphie and Tidus, and continued home. With the two orphans living together, a large variety of love-life rumours were started about the two. They had no feelings for each other, more than a strong friendship. Li turned to Hinata. "Have you noticed that the dreams are becoming more and more frequent?" Hinata nodded. "I think it's a good sign. Maybe we'll be able to remember them soon." 'Remember who?' Hinata and Li were stunned by the voice. They looked around and saw no-one. The two hadn't spoken. But who was it that had? "Who are you?" Hinata tried asking. 'I was about to ask you the same question. Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing here? Is this even real?' So many questions came from the male voice. "I'm Hinata and that's Li." The male voice was silent for a minute. "Ah. Then you two are their lights, right?" Li's and Hinata's eyes widened. Was this it? "You know them don't you? The ones that hosted us. The ones that fought against Sasuke, when he was evil." Li's voice was excited and is words flowed out of him, quickly. "Uh…yeah. What can't you remember them? Ugh. Hinata. What am I going to do with you?" The boy's voice had changed, towards his last words. Hinata recognised them, immediately. "Naruto!" She said, with a high-pitched cry, causing passer-bys to look at her, curiously. With the name, a load of memories flooded into her. She remembered everything about the three kids. Naruto, Sakura and Roxas. Li looked at her, mystified. She flashed a rare smile at him. "I remember, Li. Do you remember her? Sakura?" Li looked dumbfounded. 'Oh thanks Li. I knew I should have gone out with Sasuke.' Li rolled his eyes, at the female's voice. "Oh please, Sakura. You know you love me." Li's eyes widened. He smiled. "I remember…"
Author's Notes- There you are people. In case you noticed, I did take away the whole letter thing. It's just unneeded. Next Time- The mysteries of Twilight Town!