To Defender31415: Thanks for the feedback. With the chapter with Sora and Roxas, I was meaning to give the impression that they were having regular chats in Sora's dreams, and playing cards was just one of those scenarios. In terms of the fight scenes, I am trying to write them like that, but the hardest part of writing fight scenes might be remembering to have them take damage.

Chapter 72

Let's Struggle

As they entered town and began to make their way back to the Usual Spot, they took a shortcut through the sandlot. When they noticed that Seifer and his gang were still there, they stuck to the opposite corner, hoping to avoid an unnecessary confrontation.

However, Seifer noticed them and scowled. "Hey!" he barked, causing them to stop. He still seemed sour from the run-in the previous day. He sauntered up to them, a glare on his face. His cohorts followed right behind him. "You've all got a lot of nerve showing up here after what you pulled yesterday."

"Pulled what?" Sora groaned.

"What? You want some more?" Seifer threatened.

Goofy shot a glare letting Seifer know that he was not amused. He was starting to sound like someone he knew.

"Uh, Seifer, I'm not too sure this is a good idea, y'know?" Rai warned.

"Overshooting," Fuu agreed.

Sora glared back at Seifer, expecting the older teen to start something and preparing to act accordingly. However, Riku stepped forward and met Seifer's gaze. He maintained eye contact, keeping a neutral but stern expression.

"What are you looking at?" Seifer growled.

"Oh, nothing," Riku said calmly. "Just wondering where you got that beauty mark." He pointed at Seifer's scar.

"Hmph. Some troublemaker came to school with a knife. I showed him what's what," Seifer replied.

"Okay, not bad," Riku conceded. "But the way you said that would imply that you actually know how you should treat your peers."

"Well, don't you think you're so big and bad for a new guy in town? You may be senior age, but that doesn't mean you can just tramp through here like you don't need to listen to the big guys."

"Oh, then by all means. But I don't think most respected authority figures are known to call other people 'lamers'."

Hayner and Pence laughed at the retort. Rai stepped back in shock. Fuu shrugged, as if conceding the point. A couple random passerby stopped to watch the verbal clash.

Seifer was getting irritated. He did not like this stranger waltzing in and acting like he was better than him. "I don't like people trying to tell me how to do my job. But I'll give you one last chance to apologize and get lost before I show you what it is."

"What are you? The mayor? I don't see anything saying you get to decide who can go where they please and say their piece."

Seifer balled up his fists, but he quickly realized that a crowd was forming around the sandlot. He couldn't lose his cool like this. Of course, the fact that he was harassing a group of nine would make it difficult for him to save face. But he knew that they would not try anything too rash either, so it was up to him to take control of the situation.

"Well, don't say I didn't warn you. But, I guess if you get on your knees and beg, maybe I'll let it slide," he offered mockingly.

"Hmph," Riku grunted. "Thanks, but not my style."

A cold silence fell between them. Rai and Fuu were nervous, but they put up a tough façade to support their friend. The crowd steadily grew. They started to chant something.

"Struggle. Struggle. Struggle."

Sora knew what they were doing. When he had almost gotten into a fight with Seifer, a man interrupted the confrontation and suggested that they settle their differences in a Struggle match. Granted, that match had not come until a later visit, but Sora understood the intention. Every year, during the summer, the town put together a tournament where competitors would compete in one-on-one matches. At the end of the summer, the top four challengers would clash, and the top two would fight to decide who would win the Struggle Trophy, and also get the chance to go up against the reigning champion. He knew that on the fourth day of the simulation, Roxas had won the tournament and become the new Struggle champion. He could tell that the people wanted Riku and Seifer to duke it out in a Struggle match.

"Struggle! Struggle! STRUGGLE! STRUGGLE!"

Seifer threw his hands up. "Fine. You all want it? You're gonna get it." He pointed a finger at Riku. "You better get ready. 'Cause I'm about to own you in this." He walked off to prepare. Rai and Fuu followed him.

A child who appeared no older than nine, wearing a denim jacket, a yellow-tan witch's hat with an opened zipper on the stocking part, brown gloves and shoes, and green pants approached Riku, holding a blue foam bat with a plastic handle. To Sora, Riku and Kairi's bemusement, his head appeared entirely black with yellow oval-shaped eyes, but his gaze was full of innocence. The boy handed the foam bat to Riku, adjusted his hat, then ran off to follow Seifer and his partners.

Riku turned to his friends, holding the foam bat uncertainly. "So… how does a Struggle work?" he asked.

Sora took the bat from Riku's hand and swung it around a bit. "You hit the other guy with the foam bat and try to knock his balls off," he said.

Riku stared at Sora for a long minute, trying to process what he said. "What?" he finally said.

Hayner took the bat from Sora. "You and your opponent wear Velcro suits, and one hundred orbs are attached to each of you. The match lasts one minute. The objective is to fight your opponent and try to knock off as many orbs as you can with your bat, and attach them to your suit. The challenger with the most orbs when time is up is the winner," he explained.

Riku regarded the foam bat and nodded. "Alright. Let's give it a go," he said.

Within an hour, word had spread of the day's Struggle. A team had raised a stage in the Sandlot, taking up most of the area and leaving the perimeter for the audience to stand around and watch.

Riku wore bands of Velcro around his arms, legs, torso, and forehead. Sora, Kairi and Hayner helped him attach small blue orbs. Seifer was already wearing his suit, and Rai and Fuu were busy attaching the last of his red orbs.

When they were done, Riku and Seifer approached an obese man with a bisected moustache and a yellow-and-green track suit. "Good afternoon, gentlemen," the man greeted. He turned to look at Riku directly. "Name's Dio. It's a pleasure to have you in this match." He turned back to include Seifer in the conversation. "Now, I'm sure you both know the rules, but let me explain them again." He explained the rules. "Now, are you two ready?" Riku and Seifer nodded. "Alright, then. Now, you get up there, and I'll talk to Biggs so we can get this match going."

The two competitors nodded and parted ways. They took their Struggle bats from their respective companions and climbed the steps up to the stage, facing each other on opposite sides. This was met with some applause.

A man who appeared to be in his mid- to upper twenties stood on a wooden podium on the side where Seifer stood. He had brown eyes and dirty blond hair, and he wore a black jerkin with white sleeves and a yellow stripe across the chest, red shorts, two-shade orange shoes, and a blue armband. "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Biggs, and I'll be your ref for today's match," he said. "On this fine Sunday afternoon, a local resident and a newcomer are about to settle their differences on the stage. Over here, we have our current tournament champion, Seifer Almasy! When he finds something he doesn't agree with, he clashes with it head-on. And on the other end of the Sandlot, our town has a new visitor, and he's got a problem with Seifer's attitude, Riku!"

Seifer pointed his bat at Riku tauntingly. Riku held his over his head like he would his Keyblade. A portion of the crowd, including Rai, cheered Seifer's name, while Sora, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Hayner, Pence, and Olette called out in support of Riku.

Biggs cleared his throat to indicate that the crowd should quiet down. "Alright, then. Put one minute on the clock and let's STRUGGLE!"

A horn blared and the fight commenced. Seifer lunged at Riku and swung his bat downward, but Riku stepped out of the way, letting him stumble past him. He then struck Seifer in the arm, sending a dozen orbs flying across the stage. He swung again, but Seifer blocked and retaliated with a blow to the side. They took a moment to try to gather up as many orbs as they could, but Seifer launched into a spinning attack to try to stop Riku. Riku parried the attack and delivered a combo, knocking thirty-four orbs loose from Seifer's person. Seifer struck back and knocked eleven orbs off of Riku.

Seifer jumped back while Riku set about gathering the fallen orbs. He jumped into the air, pointed his bat at Riku, and dove toward him. "Isn't this romantic?!" he shouted as he came down.

Riku brought his hands to his cheeks in mock surprise. "Really? I didn't know you felt that way," he joked as he stepped out of the way of the attack, letting Seifer pass harmlessly by. "I-I don't know what to say." He attacked Seifer, knocking him across the stage and making him drop more orbs.

Enraged, Seifer picked himself up and charged at Riku. He struck Riku in the gut, then in the leg, but Riku retaliated and hit him in the chin, shoulder, and side, sending him flying. As they realized that time was winding down, they stopped what they were doing to gather up the scattered orbs and attach as many as possible to their suits.

A bell rang, signaling the end of the match. Riku and Seifer stopped collecting the orbs and stood straight up. A quick glance made it obvious that Riku was the winner, having far more orbs on his suit than Seifer. But Biggs stepped up, carrying two buckets to make a point of counting how many orbs they each had. When all was said and done, Seifer had only sixty while Riku had one hundred and twenty. Dio marked the score off on the bulletin board, showing all that Riku had won with twice as many orbs as Seifer. Riku's friends, as well as a number of townsfolk who had turned to his side, cheered.

"Well, it looks like a classic dark horse victory," Biggs announced. "The winner is Riku!" He grabbed Riku's wrist and held his arm up. This announcement was met with even greater cheers.

"Way to go, Riku!" Sora called.

"We knew you could do it!" Mickey shouted.

"Yeah! Riku!" Kairi cheered.

Riku enjoyed the cheers and the feeling of triumph. His competitive spirit had been riled up by his banter with Seifer and it had been stoked even more as the anticipation for the Struggle built up. He had not felt this confident and proud since before he had first left the islands. It felt good.

Riku climbed down and joined his friends. Sora pulled him into a headlock while Kairi and Mickey gave him pats on the back.

"You sure showed him!" Sora congratulated.

A man with long silver hair, purple eyes, and several thin scars on his face approached them, prompting Sora, Kairi and Mickey to stop horsing around. The man wore a loose shirt that was lilac in the front and purple in the back, black pants, knee-high lilac boots with swirly lavender designs, a han purple sash around his waist and covering part of his left leg, a black belt with a skull-shaped buckle, and a long black coat with yellow lining which he wore as a cape and kept in place with a short silver chain.

Sora had seen him around town a few times, though he had never met him personally. Roxas, however, had encountered him in the Simulated Twilight Town. Setzer was the Struggle champion until Roxas faced him and won.

"You were pretty good up there," he told Riku. "I always enjoy an unexpected challenge to place my bets on."

Mickey raised his eyebrow. "Do you actually gamble on these?" he asked.

Setzer chuckled. "Not in that sense, no. But wondering who will come out on top, between the familiar champion and an unknown challenger, is half the fun." He turned back to address Riku. "And it sure was fun."

"Uh, thanks," Riku replied.

"Never be afraid to face the unknown," Setzer advised. "But be sure you know what chips you are putting in the pile when you do so." With that, he walked off.

A moment later, Seifer approached them, not looking too happy that he had lost. He was followed by Rai, Fuu, and the Shadow-faced kid, Vivi. "Hmph. You got lucky," Seifer said coldly, trying to maintain a confident appearance. "But don't let this win go to your head. I'll show you, one day."

He walked off, leaving his companions. "That was a good fight, y'know? I mean—" Rai blurted as he realized that he was praising Riku.

"Unanticipated performance," Fuu said, maintaining a little more ambiguity in what she had meant, though the party could easily guess. Rai ran off in embarrassment while Fuu simply walked away calmly.

That left Vivi, who looked up at Riku. "That was cool, Mister," he said sincerely. He adjusted his hat and ran off to rejoin Seifer's gang.

"Do you know what you just did?" Hayner asked. Riku looked at him in confusion. "You just beat Seifer in a Struggle match." He punched Riku lightly on the arm. "You know what that means?"

Pence and Olette pointed their thumbs back over their shoulders, in the direction of Market Street. Sora nodded in understanding.

"You just earned 'the icing on the cake'," Sora said.

The party of nine had purchased Sea-Salt Ice Cream and leaned back against the nearby wall. They enjoyed the salty-and-sweet taste in each bite. They mostly remained silent, replaying the match in their minds, though Sora, Kairi, Hayner, Pence, and Olette momentarily contemplated the discoveries made and questions raised in the mansion that morning.

Sora looked up at the sky and a thought occurred to him. "Say, have you guys ever gone up to eat on the clock tower?" he asked.

Hayner, Pence and Olette were surprised by the question. Pence wondered why he would ask something like that, while Olette worried that something like that would be dangerous.

"No, why?" Hayner replied.

Sora shrugged. "It's just… I know a guy who would tell you that the view up there is great."

Riku, Donald and Goofy smiled. Kairi giggled. Hayner raised an eyebrow while Pence and Olette looked at each other in confusion, before the three of them finally mouthed "Oh". They had gotten an idea as to who Sora was referring to.