Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Domestic ❯ Tournament ( Chapter 3 )

Domestic

WARNINGS:

1) I do not own FF8, Squaresoft, or get any profit out of this story

2) Rated PG-13 for violence, language, and sexual content

Chapter 3: Tournament

Zell arrived at 12:55. Everybody from yesterday was squeezed into the small Quad. Taking up the entire right wall, a huge tournament bracket was displayed. Zell was in the thirty-seventh bracket with Oren Donner.

"Welcome," Squall muttered into the speaker. "Today will be the hand-to-hand combat portion of the exam. As you can see, a tournament has been constructed. The winner will be given a guaranteed spot in the Garden." An excited murmur came from the students, so the brunette paused. "Girls and boys are separated due to the lack of weapons. The rules are as follows. No scratching, pinching, pulling hair, or biting. The purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate strength, not cheap shots. You will win the fight if you knock your opponent to the floor three times. You can also win if your opponent refuses to participate, gives up, or uses a technique listed above. Understood?" Another murmur broke out from the crowd, and Squall took this as a yes. "We move from the top of the bracket to the bottom. First up is Zoggers against Azerton."

Zell watched Travis come forward and then he saw Kasey Zoggers, who fought the Wendigo yesterday, come from the left. Zoggers was easily twice Travis's weight, and he had a good foot on him. Azerton held a stoic expression on his face though, and prepared himself for the upcoming attack. It happened in a flash. Before Zoggers could even take a step, Travis threw all his weight into a right hook. A sharp cry came from the bystanders, as the giant Zoggers spun and fell to the floor.

"Damn," Zell muttered to himself.

Azerton was rubbing his wrist, but had a wide grin on his face. His knuckles appeared to have lost some skin, and a small line of blood was flowing into his palm. Trying to shake away the pain, Travis watched the giant Zoggers pull himself off the floor.

Blood was dripping down Zogger's chin, but it didn't seem to distract him. The crowd grew silent, as the mighty Zogger's stared at Azerton. His face was rapidly swelling, causing him to waver dizzily around the Quad.

With his opponent losing his focus, Travis knew a lot of pressure was off of him. Using his speed, Azerton avoided Zogger's clumsy blows, and countered. His right hand hurt every time he moved it, so a majority of his blows came from the left. Luckily, his opponent was close to losing consciousness.

A mixture of snot and blood streamed down Zogger's face. His mouth felt like it had lost eight teeth and a constant taste of blood flooded his senses. He was too distracted with his injuries to see Travis throw a strong leg sweep. The next thing he knew, he was on the hard tiled floor. He didn't have the energy to get up.

"Azerton wins round one," Squall mumbled into the speaker. "Escort Mr. Zoggers down to the Infirmary."

Travis nodded, and slowly got Zoggers to his feet.

Zell snickered to himself. Dr. Kadowaki was going to have a fit today Over half of the people in this Quad were going to be paying her a visit. The blonde planned on not being one of them. Seeing how most of these kids had problems fighting a monster with a sword, he considered this tournament easily won. His prediction was well placed, as the next few fights were full of missed punches and kicks. Zell just shook his head.

"Bracket 24," Squall said into the speaker. "Ginto against Kramer."

This got Zell's attention. The giant Wix appeared from the far back. His huge stomach was still bandaged, but he was smiling. Ginto was a mean 110 pounds, and Zell knew it wasn't going to be pretty. Wix glared at the small child; causing him to go white in the face. Daringly, Ginto took a step forward and swung as hard as he could at Wix's stomach.

The giant brunette roared in pain, but the punch didn't move him though. The tiny Ginto made like he was going to run, but Wix made sure he didn't.

Zell closed his eyes. When he opened them ten seconds later, Ginto didn't have much of a nose. Needless to say, the small child didn't get up. The blonde shook his head. The rest of the matches went smoothly. Zell saw promise in some of the contenders. Others were merely punching bags.

"Bracket 37," Squall muttered tiredly. "Dincht versus Donner."

The blonde slid his gloves off of his hands, and stuffed them into his pocket. He remembered seeing Donner on his way to the infirmary yesterday. The kid wasn't huge, but not badly built for his size. "Easy victory."

Oren wasn't as confident. He saw Zell manhandle Grendel yesterday, and he knew that if he was in Zell shoes, Ifrit would've probably made an appearance.

"Good luck," Zell nodded to him.

"I'm gonna need it," Oren laughed back.

And then the smiles faded. Zell decided to take the defensive first, so Oren took the first swing. The blonde leaned back and felt the fist whiz by his nose. The swing put Donner off balance, and Zell took advantage. He grabbed the back of the boy's shirt with his left hand, and his belt with the right. Oren flew a good 10 feet, and landed awkwardly on the hard floor.

The crowd grimaced, as Donner remained there for ten seconds.. "There's one," Zell told himself. After what seemed like an eternity, Oren dizzily got to his feet. He limped back over to Zell and threw the weakest punch seen thus far. With a slight tilt, the blonde avoided the swing, and Oren once again fell to the floor. Zell shook his head. "Not even worth trying."

After another ten seconds on the floor, Oren once again got to his feet. Still somewhat dizzy, the boy brushed himself off and braced himself for Zell's next move. The blonde decided to go with the mercy blow, and used a quick leg sweep to knock him down one more time. With a soft 'thud', Oren hit the floor. "Sorry man," Zell muttered, as he saw the cuts and bruises all over Oren's forearms. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Donner nodded. "Thanks for not killing me." And with this, he limped out of the Quad to the Infirmary.

Zell walked back to the crowd. Not too much of his energy was burned, but after seeing the brackets around him, he considered that to be one of his hardest fights for a while. The first round took over an hour. Irvine kicked the hell out of a small whiny kid in bracket 48, and Selphie appeared to be doing well in the women's tournament. There didn't seem to be any other SeeDs besides them, so Zell assumed Selphie would win the women's tournament. "And I can kick Irvine's ass," he thought to himself. "There better be a trophy…or at least a pizza."

The rounds flew by faster and faster. Zell watched Azerton take some hits, but the kid always refused to take the third fall. Kramer continuously broke his opponent's noses, so people began to forfeit to him in the later rounds. Zell was doing well. He didn't take a hit until the fourth round, and even that was minor. Irvine was moving along as well, and the field became narrower and narrower.

"Final Eight," Squall muttered stoically. "Matches are as follows: Azerton vs Thor, Yittee vs Kramer, Dincht vs Kinneas, South vs McNeese. We'll continue after dinner."

Zell slowly got to his feet and left the Quad. He walked hungrily to the Cafeteria and grabbed a slice of pizza.

"ZELL!" Selphie screamed excitedly. "I'm in the final eight!"

The blonde spun around and took a seat with Selphie and Irvine.

"So are we," the cowboy said gloomily. "We get to go at it next round."

"You ready?" Zell smiled tauntingly.

"I think I'm going to quit."

"What?"

"You've killed everyone. I've made it this far, and I like my face the way it is."

"You can't quit though."

"I'm telling Squall when we get back."

"Chicken," Zell muttered, taking a bit out of his pizza.

"Call me what you want," Irvine yawned leaning back. "But don't come crying to me when Wix breaks your nose."

"Oh so the big guy's in it?" Selphie cooed. "I'd imagine he'd be hard to knock down."

"He's got a weak stomach," Zell scoffed. "It's bled a couple of times already. And what makes you think he's going to come out of the top bracket anyway?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if Yittee forfeited like me," Irvine sighed, taking a drink of his soda. "Azerton/Thor's going to be close, but they're going to knock the shit out of each other. So then all Kramer has to do is push the winner of that over."

"True," Zell muttered disappointingly.

"You're not concerned about the semi's?" Selphie asked.

"Not really. Irvine here could prolly knock out South or McNeese. And since he's being a COWARD…!"

"Sorry. Just think on the bright side; you'll get to take a little breather when we get back."

"Tch…"

The rest of lunch was given to Selphie, as she recounted every fight she was in. Zell attention was lost after the first five minutes, and he began to look around at the surrounding tables. Wix was back in the far right corner eating what appeared to be an entire lamb. He sat with two people Zell didn't recognize. Strangely, he saw South and McNeese eating at a table to their right. Finally, Travis sat alone in the left corner. He was icing a swelled up right eye that he got from the last fight.

"ZELL, ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING!" Selphie screamed, poking the blonde in the face.

"What?"

"Ugh…you're all useless."

"We gotta get back anyway cowgirl," Irvine smiled warmly. "If you keep talking you won't be able to win the tournament."

"Ok Irvy. Let's head back," Selphie smiled

So the group leisurely trudged back to the Quad. Zell watched Irvine go up to the skybox to talk to Squall, and knew that he was in the final four. Slowly, the Quad began to refill with people. Zell sat on the ground and concentrated. He really wanted a swing at Kramer. He wanted to break his nose. He could and he would. Adrenaline rushed through his veins and he was ready to take a swing at anyone.

"Azerton vs. Thor," Squall thundered into the speaker.

A cheer erupted from the crowd. The tournament was finally getting interesting. It was going to be an interesting fight. Thor was 5'10 compared to Travis's 5'8, and both were about 140 pounds. Azerton still had his swollen eye, and probably a lot of other cuts and bruises. Thor was in the same shape. He had a large gash on the right side of his chin and a torn up right knee. Thor was a kicks specialist though, and Zell knew that Travis would have a sore side by the end of it.

The Quad suddenly became very quiet, as Thor and Azerton glared at each other. Zell saw the first blows in slow motion. Both contenders took the offensive. Travis aimed for the injured chin and Thor threw a chest kick. Both connected. Both fell to the floor. A loud gasp was heard, as Thor and Travis remained on the ground. A puddle of blood was forming under Thor and Travis seemed to have the wind knocked out of him. Twenty seconds later, they both groggily got to their feet. It turned into a boxing match from there. Both were holding onto each other for support, and shots were occasionally exchanged. Travis was tripped up on a well placed leg sweep, and Thor collapsed back with a lucky uppercut. One fall remained. The match had the full Quad's attention. Even the contenders in the women's tournament took a break to watch.

Travis couldn't block it. With unexpected force, Thor spanned his leg and connected with Travis's chin. Zell shuttered, as Azerton's body spun to one knee. "It's over. A good show on his part, but damn."

Azerton lost consciousness for a second. He didn't know why he was down on his knee. He didn't know why everyone was looking at him. Then the pain set in. A migraine headache swept over his senses, causing him to wince painfully. It felt like he lost his jaw. He tried to touch it, but his hand jumped back, as if he touched a hot stove. There was no blood, but it felt like he had a tumor on his chin. Then he remembered where he was. Then he remembered what he was doing.

Thor's body relaxed and he let out a sigh. He did it. He was in the semis. Wix was going to be impossible to beat, but at least he made it this far. Maybe Leonhart would recognize that and accept him in the Garden. He won his monster fight after all, and being one of four best hand-to-hand fighters of the applicants wasn't a bad thing. Yeah hopefully this would get him in. He wondered if forfeiting the next round would lower his score. His chin was bleeding profusely, and he didn't want a broken nose to go with it. Letting out another deep breath, Thor regained his composure and went for the easy push over.

But it didn't go as expected. Zell saw it in slow motion. The shock on Thor's face, as Travis wheeled around and threw his fist as hard as he could. The grimace in pain, as the fist connected just above to the left of his left eye. The fall to the ground, followed by Travis grabbing his fist in pain. Blood was streaming down his knuckles, and Thor was lying face down on the floor. Travis stayed on one knee for quite a while. He had won.

The Quad was in complete silence

"He cracked him," a kid said behind Irvine. "Did you see that? He cracked him."

It took that uniting voice to get the room buzzing. Zell looked at the black haired boy in disbelief. Never had he seen such a destructive blow before. He wondered if Thor would ever get up.

"Dincht, take Thor down to the Infirmary," Squall said shakily.

Zell nodded meekly, and picked the kid off of the floor. He was unconscious, and a dark black circle was forming around his eye. You could still make out the knuckle marks on the side of his face.

"Yittee has forfeited to Kramer. Kinneas has forfeited to Dincht. So next up is South against McNeese," Squall muttered, regaining his composure.

This was the last thing Zell heard as he left the Quad. As always, Dr. Kadowaki had a fit, but she didn't point her anger at Zell. The blonde watched as the doctor finally got Thor back to consciousness.

"You can go back now Dincht. Thanks for bringing him," Dr. Kadowaki smiled.

Zell obliged and made his way back down to the Quad. "His face has gotta hurt. I've never seen anything like that." The blonde felt a shiver go through his body, but he quickly regained himself. "Focus on Wix. That was Azerton's best fight."

When he returned, he found South and McNeese shaking hands.

"It was more of a friend's fight," Irvine told him. "McNeese took three stupid falls. No real injuries."

Zell nodded. "Just take down South and Wix is all yours."

"Semi-Finals," Squall announced tiredly. "First up, Azerton versus Kramer."

Zell watched sadly as the healthy Wix walked past him. From the far right corner, Travis limped into the center. Wix hadn't taken a fall today, and didn't take more then four hits. Azerton on the other hand, looked like he got hit by a train. His right eye was a dark black, the left side of his face had a huge brush burn from Thor's shoe, and he was clutching an injured side.

"This is going to be depressing," Zell muttered to Irvine.

"Just hope Kramer leaves him a face."

Zell just shook his head.

Wix looked menacingly at Travis. Azerton just looked at the ground. The fight began slowly. Wix took a few good swings at the much smaller Travis, but he was always one jump away from him. Aggravated, Kramer lifted his giant leg and connected in a shin shot. Travis leaned forward to grab his injured leg, but Wix pushed his injured face back. There was one fall. Gracefully, Azerton regained his feet and glared at the giant in front of him. Before he could react, Wix took a monstrous swing at his swollen eye.

Zell grimaced and watched the boy fall to the floor. He was going to lose this fight. There was no way he could pull this off. His knuckles were probably shattered, and taking a swing would be near impossible, more or less one that would knock Wix off his feet. Zell really hated to see it end this way. He just kept the thought of knocking the snot out of Wix in the finals in the back of his mind.

Travis contemplated getting up after his second fall, but he convinced himself he had to do it. Even if it was to only be knocked down again, he had to prove that he was tough. That he wouldn't give up pain. If he could only do this, Leonhart would accept him. He'd make it in the Garden. Wavering on the border of consciousness, Azerton hazily got to his feet and watched Wix come in for the final blow. The giant brunette ruthlessly picked up Travis by his hair, and threw him to the ground. Hitting the ground, Travis covered his throbbing head. He thought it was over. He thought he could relax.

"CHEAP SHOT!" Zell yelled, sliding his gloves out of his pockets. "HE'S DISQUALIFIED! READ THE RULES DUMBASS!" he roared making his way to the chubby child.

Squall beat him to it however. The ground trembled and then exploded, as Ifrit tore out of the floor. Before Wix could react, the hell beast scooped him up in its giant paw.

The audience flinched at the vicious GF. Half were cheering for Ifrit to eat the chubby bastard. The other half was petrified in fear of the beast. Zell was cheering for Wix's consumption. To his disappointment, Ifrit magically disappeared back under the floor. Wix fell to the floor, too scared to say anything.

"Get out of my Quad," Squall scoffed, a bit enraged.

With the entire Quad glaring at him, Wix walked back to his dorm. By this time, Travis had regained himself to a sitting position, and painfully walked back over to the crowd.

"Semi-Final number two," Squall muttered, getting his stoic voice back. "Dincht against South.

Zell knew if he won this fight, he would win the tournament. He shot a glance to the half conscious Travis, who was currently running a hand through his hair. South didn't pose any special threat to Zell, and it was over relatively quickly. The blonde didn't destroy the boy, but with a few well placed kicks and punches, South fell rather quickly.

"Good fight man," Zell nodded, helping him to his feet.

"Thanks," South muttered. "You pretty much got this wrapped up."

"Yeah. I guess so."

"Final Match: Azerton vs. Dincht," Squall muttered.

The crowd was excited for the final, but not as much as the Thor/Azerton fight earlier. That was clearly the best fight of the night. This wasn't going to be spectacular. You had a martial arts expert who took a total of two hits all day, and you have a kid who looked like hell. They knew how it was going to end, but they hoped the blonde wouldn't kill the kid.

Zell stayed in the center of the Quad, and watched the battered Travis limp over to him. The tiredness showed on his face. Zell knew this was going to be easy. He knew with a light push he would claim victory.

Travis was half conscious. Blood was still seeping into his palm, and his face was a mess. He hoped this would be quick. His head was throbbing in pain and he felt like throwing up. It wasn't worth it. He wondered if his body could take three more falls. Trying to suck it up, Travis raised his fists and looked for the blonde to do the same.

…He didn't

"I forfeit," the blonde yelled up to Squall.

The Quad went completely silent.

"Congrats man."

(**********)