Kingdom Hearts - Blades of Three Realms

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro seemed to watch the goings on with way too much amusement, especially the fact that Roxas was once again getting roped into something odd and silly, though he was also looking down into his hand, where the key rested, before gripping it softly, causing the tumblers to spin and whirl, before quickly sinking into his hand like molten gold being absorbed, before the gate would open behind Shiro, making him look at it in awe, before closing it with but a thought, and proceeding to smirk at hearing Cloud and Leon's acceptance of his challenge, giving off one of his more confident grins "confidence is only half of the battle, Leon, just remember not to lose your own confidence~" he said in a sing-song tone, while reaching up and snatching the Record Sphere from the air and put it away, as he headed inside to at least go get signed up with Phil for the Games, given he was -not- about to let Roxas and Sora have all the fun in it.

of course, once Shiro was done with that, he'd look a bit annoyed/irritated in general, why? because of who seemed to start following him like a lost puppy after signing up for the games. "can't you do me one teeny tiny favor?" Shiro of course would grow an anger-vein and turn his head to stare with prismatic eyes locking on said person "Hades, you have thirty seconds to either say your piece, or get away from me before i decide whether or not i should go find some god-slaying relics within the gate just to be sure to off you." he said coldly enough, his presence hadn't changed, but given the cold enough stare he gave Hades made the god of death stiffen up a bit "well, i just want you to well... defeat wonder-boy for me. do that and i'll give your so called buddy Auron a complete one time only ticket back to full life." Shiro just stared at Hades, making the god start sweating in nervousness before Shiro turned away, grumbling a bit "fine. if i fight Hercules i'll defeat him for you." Hades grinned devilishly "make sure its extra deadly~!" Shiro just continued walking, though Hades wouldn't see it, the others would, they could see Shiro blatantly eye-rolling with as minimal head movement as possible, letting the eyes do the talking before Hades poofed into his black smoke, laughing a bit.

Axel just sweat-dropped, once Hades was out of earshot and vision he'd speak up "so why'd you cave and say you'll beat herc for him?" Shiro would shrug a bit, sighing "Because otherwise he wouldn't leave me alone until i'm off-world, and if he -does- chase me off world i will gladly claim self defense and use Ea within Unlimited Blade Works to tear Hades asunder." he said, of course Axel was about to ask how he planned to handle it, when Shiro just smiled a bit more impishly, something that'd look better on a ready to prank Roveth "let's just say i have a plan in my head for handling that fight if it happens." he said, looking to Roxas, Sora, and Xion, smirking a bit lightly "though seeing the sibling family of you three is actually more fun to watch~" he said cheekily in amusement.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Zidane and Pit were totally oblivious of how uncharacteristic it was for Shiro to get in on the teasing, but his comment about Roxas, Sora, and Xion managed to turn everyone else's heads in the vicinity.

"You've got to be kidding me," Roxas stared in disbelief. "Even you Shiro?!"

"See, it's unanimous!" Sora cheered with completely unnecessary excitement. Roxas was pretty sure that wasn't the correct usage for that word because not everyone was in agreement on the subject.

Crystal decided to let Sora off the hook with regards to training until after the tournament since it was only a few days away and it would be easier to work with him once they left for Radiant Garden where it would be quieter, more peaceful, and Sora would be less excitable. Everyone who was set to be competing in the Games continued with their training until the day of the tournament finally rolled around. On that day the stands would be filled to capacity with cheering and adoring fans. Crystal was sitting with Xion in the enormous crowd of spectators waiting for the first match of the day to begin between Roxas and Zidane.

"I might not be as tough as Cloud and Leon, but I'll try not to disappoint you by showing you something interesting if you're really lucky," Zidane assured Roxas as their battle began.

They were fairly evenly matched in speed since Roxas was still using Oathkeeper and Oblivion for the moment and wasn't utilizing his light speed movement capability. And while Zidane's twin daggers that could be fused into a double-bladed sword weren't anywhere near as impressive in scale as Cloud's sword or Leon's gunblade, Zidane was incredibly skilled in their use as had been evident from watching his sparring matches against Pit leading up to the tournament. His strikes weren't as brutal as going up against Cloud or Leon, but there was impressive strength behind them to suggest that Zidane was stronger than his appearance might suggest. This proved even more true when partway through the fight when Roxas seemed to be gaining the upper-hand after learning more of Zidane's attack patterns and how to counter them Zidane suddenly transformed gaining luminous pink hair and having his clothing replaced by patches of luminous pink fur as he assumed his Trance form.

"Time to get serious!" Zidane smirked as he rushed at Roxas delivering far more devastating physical blows while also unleashing powerful bursts and explosions of bright pink energy in various forms.

Roxas was so surprised by the transformation that the first few blows nailed him head-on and he was sent skidding across the ground where he finally managed to snap out of it as he was getting back on his feet. Zidane was right about what he'd said before. This was definitely interesting and highly unexpected. Even so, Roxas could still fight and now that he had gotten over the initial shock of Zidane's transformation he could focus on how to try to fight back. Zidane's strength had increased tremendously and the blasts of energy he could unleash were also incredibly powerful, but Zidane's speed was still about the same. Roxas could still pick up the pace and unleash a few moves he had been holding off on, unleashing powerful double Strike Raids enveloping Oathkeeper and Oblivion in the powers of light and darkness respectively for added damage. Some of Zidane's attacks had a good amount of range on them, but Roxas could at least avoid taking direct hits as long as he focused on using his own long range abilities. Eventually it turned out that Zidane's transformation, while impressive, also had a time limit and once that was up he reverted to normal while Roxas was still going strong and managed to knock him out with a few more strategically aimed powerful hits.

"Man, you Keyblade wielders really are strong," Zidane picked himself up once it was over, still smiling. "I thought I had you for sure, but you even managed to beat my Trance mode."

"Yeah, I definitely wasn't expecting that," Roxas admitted while feeling a little overwhelmed by all the cheering coming from the crowded stands.

Next up would be Sora VS Pit. Sora was naturally using his go-to weapon of choice, the Kingdom Key, while Pit had an assortment of weapons and defensive options at his disposal. Sora decided to open by going straight into his Ragnarok aerial combo since Pit certainly seemed like he was going to be a fairly floaty opponent. This backfired spectacularly, however, as Pit proved to be able to defect the magic projectiles back at Sora using his Guardian Orbitars for defense. Sora wasn't too happy about that and next launched into a Sonic Blade combo that Pit was slightly less prepared to counter as it managed to smash right past his attempts to block with his own twin daggers and he got knocked around quite a bit by the brute force of it all. Pit recovered and fused his blades into a bow, firing off homing arrows of light down at Sora from a position in midair as he slowly floated back down into the arena. Sora missed on blocking the first few arrows taking some damage while being knocked back, but once he managed to work out the timing he began swatting the rest back at Pit. Once that tactic was no longer viable Pit switched to his Upperdash Arm as he landed back on the ground and rushed at Sora hammering him into the air with a powerful uppercut motion that momentarily stunned the Keyblade wielder leaving him wide open for another volley of light arrows. Sora snapped out of it in time for the next volley of arrows and readied the Kingdom Key to unleash his own Strike Raid to whirl through the arrows to smack into Pit directly knocking him back hard for a good amount of damage. The two went back and forth like that for a while until finally Sora's tenacity won out and he was the only one still standing, although he was certainly battered and bruised for his efforts, but he nevertheless grinned in triumph not really minding the pain.

"It looks like Sora's defensive abilities could still really use some work," Xion noted from her place in the stands.

"What's worse is that he's going solo so Donald isn't there to heal him either," Crystal added with a nod. "Roxas did great against Zidane though."

"Did you know about that power Zidane used during the fight?" Xion inquired.

"Sure, I've been on the receiving end of that myself more than once when we used to practice together with Yuffie," Crystal responded with a fond smile. "He's a friend so I wasn't going to spoil the surprise. Besides, I knew Roxas would be able to figure out how to get past it. Zidane can be strong and he likes to show off, but he's more of a showman than he is a fighter. He wants to make sure everyone is having a good time."

The next match was going to be Shiro VS Cloud and Leon. The latter two stepped out into the arena readying their respective weapons as they waited for Shiro to make his move.

"Well then, let's see what you've got," Leon challenged as he watched Shiro closely.

"If you want to fight Hercules, you're gonna have to get through us," Cloud added with a slight smirk. "Think you've got what it takes?"  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro would hum a bit as he walked onto the field, cracking his neck once to the left, then once to the right, before flicking out his hands with an idle movement, popping out Einlanzer from one sleeve into his left hand, and tracing out the first full Zanpakutoh he learned from the Bleach World he had been to when the journeys first begun as he smiled all too serenely "well, i think this is a good enough handicap for myself, my current outfit and not going all out... but first... Ban.. Kai." he said, his tone going hollow, intensely cold in nature as black Reiatsu blasted out around him in a geyser, before the large butcher blade he held in hand transformed into that of a large Daito blade instead, with the manji cross-guard and chain-length tassel on the end as he brought the blade up "Tensa... Zangetsu." he said, giving off a brief smirk soon after, before said Shiro.. actually faded mid smirking, showing it was nothing but an After-image made by Shiro's raw speed as he appeared behind Leon, rearing back his leg.. and literally giving the gunblade toting warrior a punt straight into his behind "figured i'd start things off with some payback, that's for trying to baby me and act like a goddamn doddering old codger to me and Crystal, now act your age!" he said, shaking a fist at Leon with an anger-vein on his forehead, showing he had clearly had that pent up for way too long. of course, after that Shiro would disappear into another after-image once more to return back to his original starting position and lowered Tensa Zangetsu with a smirk "okay, that felt much better to get off my chest."

Axel of course cheered Roxas on against Zidane, figuring his buddy had it in the bag against Zidane, as for Sora vs Pit, he would at least watch with amusement at how Sora struggled, but he also narrowed his eyes lightly before looking to Crystal and Xion "what're the odds of Sora actually not even registering as a threat against Shiro when Shiro gets past Leon and Cloud?" he'd ask while rubbing his chin, studying the way Shiro moved and held himself, it certainly -was- far different than how he handled himself against Gilgamesh, when he went as hard as he did against the King of Heroes. "because from the looks of how Sora fought in his fight with Pit.. he is sorely lacking in more than just defensive capabilities.. he's lacking in attack power as well." he said, frowning "plus with the journeys he's been on, wouldn't he have at least unlocked more than the Kingdom Key?" he'd ask, since it was one of the few things on his mind and all.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Leon, of course, face-planted into the polished marble of the arena floor and grimaced before picking himself back up to stare at Shiro mildly. "Act my age, huh? When did you get so cocky?" Leon wasn't holding anything back now as he fully extended the energy blade from Lionheart and started swinging aggressively at Shiro.

Cloud stifled a laugh at Leon's expense before going after Shiro himself, charging across the battlefield at high speed while swinging his own blade trying to mow Shiro down with brute force.

"You're right, Sora should have a lot more keychains to choose from," Xion had to agree with Axel's concerns.

"It's true," Crystal nodded. "Sora should at least be able to use his version of Oathkeeper since I doubt Kairi would let him leave without that good luck charm she made. But he should have plenty of other options too. I guess he must need training for more reasons than we originally thought."

Roxas would of course be watching from the waiting area to see how Shiro's match with Cloud and Leon was going. It looked like Shiro had managed to provoke Leon right from the start. His attention drifted to Sora though as he was also concerned about how badly Sora had struggled against Pit. For all intents and purposes it seemed like Pit was an even weaker opponent than Zidane so it shouldn't have been a problem for Sora, but Sora had only barely managed to come out of that one on top.

"You know, Shiro is going to be even more difficult to beat than Pit," Roxas started awkwardly. "Heck, he's going to be even tougher than Zidane or fighting Cloud and Leon at the same time."

"So, you think he's going to beat Cloud and Leon too, huh?" Sora figured that was probably going to be the case since Shiro seemed a lot stronger than the last time Sora had seen him. "Which means one of us is going to have to fight him in the next match."

"Or we could fight him together," Roxas finally suggested. "Even then, I'm not sure we can beat him, but we might stand a better chance."

"Wait, you seriously want for us to team up?" Sora was as much surprised as he was confused by the offer. "That would be awesome!"  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro looked way too amused at the fact he actually riled Leon up, something he actually wanted as he could lead Leon around in circles if he wanted, but the speedy Cloud coming in as well made him switch Tensa Zangetsu into a reverse grip and whip around to use it to block Cloud's Buster Sword while Einlanzer was brought up to parry and bash aside Leon's swings with his energy blade, his eyes sparkling with amusement and all "cocky? not at all, i just had some pent up frustration at you acting like an overbearing mother hen moreso than Tifa, as well as the fact that you act like a 60 year old war veteran when you're not even a third of that age, i mean come on, relax, let the Youth flow through you instead of just being a doddering old Codger!" he quipped, while proceeding to flick Einlanzer around in a perfect circle to parry Leon's blade to the ground temporarily, and flung said blade into the air, reaching out and quickly snatching Leon by his jacket, and glancing back only minorly towards Cloud "incoming present for ya!~" he said, before whipping around and flinging Leon -right- at Cloud's predicted place where he'd strike next while Shiro had reached up, caught Einlanzer as it came down and started backpedaling away from the area where the two might collide.

Axel nodded in general as he snickered at Leon's expense "wow, Shiro's not holding back on how he feels about Leon is he, even if he's holding back physically and manuverability wise against them." he said, having noticed how restricted Shiro seemed to be in his latest outfit change, even when he returned to being his younger self "well, looks like Shiro's definitely having a lot more fun than usual... i definitely think Shiro's gonna change back into his normal clothes when he fights Roxas, if only to have more capabilities manuverability and speed wise in case Roxas tries to use his limit breaks on Shiro." he pointed out, while humming in thought, especially on the fact that Sora -really- needed to step up his game if he was going to even hope to match Shiro, much less Roxas at this point.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Leon collided with Cloud sending them both sprawling into the ground of the arena. Shiro's tactic certainly had the desired effect, namely immobilizing Cloud to halt his charge attack.

"You're becoming a cheeky little b*****d," Leon eyed Shiro as he got back on his feet.

"I think you'd better sit this one out and leave him to me now," Cloud would say as he readied his weapon again.

Leon recognized from Cloud's stance what he was about to do and decided to casually stand his ground. "Yeah, I should probably just stay out of the way if you're going to use that already."

The technique in question was of course going to be Cloud's patented Omnislash and this time he definitely wasn't intending on going easy on Shiro.

"Roxas is testing himself to see if he's gotten any stronger from his training so I think he'll probably want to use everything at his disposal to see what he's truly capable of," Crystal mentioned with a nod to Axel. "He knows that Shiro has been training too and that he's probably out of his league, but Roxas doesn't want to just give him the victory. He's going to make Shiro have to earn it. And, so long as the two of them aren't trying to kill each other, I'm totally fine with seeing how this plays out."

"Right, Roxas is trying to gain his own confidence," Xion agreed. "Even if he can't beat Shiro he'll want to give it everything he's got to prove to himself that he's capable of at least that much."

Sora had been watching with amusement when Shiro decided to grab Leon and hurl him at Cloud to disrupt his charge attack. Sora would have never thought to do a thing like that, but seeing it in action was pretty hilarious.

"Honestly, I was starting to think maybe you didn't like me," he then said to Roxas as they continued watching while Cloud prepared to unleash his Omnislash on Shiro.

"Sora, what are you even talking about?" Roxas was legitimately confused by what Sora was saying now. "I mean, you know I don't hate you, right?"

"It's just, ever since you started traveling with Crystal and her friends you haven't been back in Twilight Town as often and I almost never get to see you, but at the same time you never seem especially happy to see me either," Sora explained somewhat awkwardly. "So, of course, I still wonder if maybe you resent me for what happened to you before."

"Sora..." Roxas hesitated slightly. "It's not like that. I never blamed you for any of that. You didn't even have a say in the matter. It was all DiZ and the Organization. And I knew in that moment I first saw you sleeping in that chamber that you really did need me. But you don't need me anymore and I'm still trying to find myself. The only reason I don't look forward to seeing you is because every time I visit you latch onto me like some kind of hugging parasite."

"Really, that was all that's been bugging you?" Sora seemed genuinely surprised to hear this new piece of information.

"Well yeah, I'm not exactly big on the whole hugging thing," Roxas pointed out as though it should have been obvious.

"But you never seem to mind when Crystal--" Sora started, but Roxas quickly cut him off.

"That's different," Roxas shot back at him. "She doesn't try to smother me with affection every chance she gets. And she avoids it almost entirely when we're in public."

"Huh, I hadn't really thought of it like that," Sora had just enough foresight to seem embarrassed by his prior lack of insight.

"Honestly Sora, you're kind of hopeless," Roxas sighed and shook his head while directly his attention back to Shiro match against Cloud and Leon.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro had idly begun spinning Tensa Zangetsu, seeing that stance of cloud's actually brought his eyes to change into a dark, almost blood red, with a blue array starting to form in the pupils, shining with mirth and almost sadistic-ness as Shiro took on a less than friendly frown now, before re-sheathing Einlanzer up his sleeve, and dispersing Tensa Zangetsu after resealing it from Bankai form as he brought his hands forward and imitated the exact stance, gripping onto air, before saying the two dreaded words that -everyone- should come to fear from his mouth, especially when spoken in that hollow tone he uses "Trace... On." with that, and almost like prismatic electricity shooting around his body, Prana started generating at a high pace, before in his hand stood an exact Replica of Cloud's own weapon, gripping the handle he let the eerie eyes he had gaze right into cloud's blue ones. "just so you know Cloud, whatever i do during this fight i actually mean no harm with it, that and we do need to talk about a few things after this... Golden WEAPON." he said in a more commanding tone, lacing with a bit of power from the lifestream by sheer accident as he readied himself, the image of Cloud's self imposing slightly over Shiro, before he'd charge in with Buster sword at the ready, aiming to initiate Omnislash at the same exact moment.

Axel nodded with a chuckle "well, i don't think Roxas should worry about Shiro just handing him a win, with how he's acting right now i think he genuinely wants to win, so i see Shiro fighting slightly above Roxas's level, to both help him push his limits harder, and to let Roxas see the fruits of his training, since if Shiro went full throttle on Roxas it'd probably be a one-sided curbstomping. though Sora might need something like that to physically get him into gear for your training..." he said contemplatively, before raising an eyebrow seeing the spiritual infusion moment going down with Shiro, and what he was about to use "oh, this could be interesting right here... Shiro calling for an Omni-clash?" he quipped in way too much amusement at punning the attack name.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro had been about to switch gears into chaining Starburst Stream to continue his onslaught once Leon actually fired on him with the fireball, Shiro instead took the blast head-on, enveloping him in a bit of a smoke cloud, before he would leap out of it, minor burn marks on his face at best as he reached up to wipe the soot off his face and dismissed the buster sword for the moment, instead he would settle down into a sprinter stance, before he literally sprung into action with a charge of his own, aiming for a rising kick straight for Leon's chin, basically about to pull the same hand to hand combat move he used on Seifer when he was pissed off, thought gleaming red/blue eyes staring at both Cloud and Leon as he smirked only -very- slightly in regards to things.

Axel would raise an eyebrow seeing the sudden gear switch after utilizing Omnislash against Cloud's that he switched entirely to hand to hand combat style instead of sticking to a sword fight "huh, i completely forgot Shiro could utilize close quarters combat without a weapon in hand..." he mused, while nodding to Crystal a bit "well, i wish you the best of luck, as Sora's a pretty hard nut to crack... at least from what i'm seeing, almost as hard as it was for Roxas to be more.. active, and less a zombie." he said, rubbing his chin a bit "course, Xemnas's doctrines about nobodies didn't help matters in that case."  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro of course -almost- pouted seeing the fact that while he hit square on with the kick, he couldn't send Leon into the air like he did Seifer, and clicked his tongue in annoyance before spinning around and bringing the boot to catch Lionheart and send it to the ground away from Shiro while using some extra leg strength to help his arms when he pushed up and used one hand with some black blood enhancing to literally catch the buster sword mid downward swing one handed before using that as a flip-off point to narrowly escape the trap of two swords aiming to hurt him, skidding back once he landed back on his feet from his acrobatics, the black blood dripping from the palm of his hand before it hardened to where it prevented more blood loss, and allowed Shiro to take a breath, before tracing out a sword that'd be intimately familiar to Cloud, a certain Dai-katana that was gracefully curved, silverish in sheen, and soon enough, an image began over-imposing Shiro as he focused in immersing himself into this "i told you, Cloud... i... will never become... a memory." he said, looking up with the image imposed green slit eyes, 'silver' hair waving in the breeze, in fact, he even decided to bring it a bit further by sprouting one of his two prismatic wings, which, with the image, became of course... midnight black as he gave a small smirk.

Axel nodded a bit as he hummed "seems he definitely knows how to fight without a weapon, but was expecting something else to happen before he got out of that minor predicament he put himself in."he commented, before going bug-eyed seeing the act Shiro was about to put on "oh what the hell!?! i know he pulled this kind of thing against Gilgamesh with that lance he used, but is he -seriously- asking for it by going -that- far?" he said looking incredulous after seeing Shiro go into spirit immersion with the one blade he shouldn't use in front of Cloud. either way, he'd look to Crystal with a thoughtful hum "to me, Sora and Riku are rivals first, friends later, plus with how Sora acts about his emotions... yeah, i can see them definitely not talking to each other.. but you'd think Kairi would've called Sora out on his clamming up though."  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro of course just raised an eyebrow at Cloud's scream of rage, though when the furious attacks came on, Shiro fought back just as hard, but with an air of fluid and grace only Sephiroth would pull off as he slashed and clashed with Cloud's furious strikes, before Shiro, within the image, maximized both Reinforcement and his Black Blood, the blue and red eyes shining even more making the ominous green eyes glow much like the real Sephiroth's."hmph... to think you'd be so petty as to deny your darkness yet when faced with me you embrace it like a wild animal.. such an unbecoming fate, is it not, Cloud? you could do -so- much better." of course, Shiro would use his free hand and spawn in an orb of light, which to Cloud would look like an orb of Darkness, and aim to slam it into Cloud's face and let it explode. "come now, is this all you have?" he'd say, thankfully, Shiro was about to end this quickly anyway, and once cloud was charging back in once more, Shiro would be ready as he sprouted the second wing, and shifted his shoulders out of his top, to open up and reveal fairly large growths coming out, before they opened up revealing what looked to be ports, glowing brightly with Golden white energy "let me show you the light, Cloud..." he said, more in his normal voice now as he dropped Masamune to drop the image as he looked dead on, before starting to fire numerous golden white bolts of energy from his shoulders at Cloud, but also making sure the blasts would not hit the crowd or the Coliseum, so that they would all go into the air harmlessly or hit the enraged Cloud head on.

Axel of course just stared at the battle, before sighing a bit lightly and facepalming "only Shiro would use something crazy that might get him killed..." he muttered, before shaking his head as he looked up to the sky "i think i am just gonna be glad that Shiro won't goad Roxas like he's goaded Leon and Cloud..." he said more vocally, while glancing down towards the waiting area, as if knowing that Sora on the other hand would probably be -all- too easy to rile up.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

If the smoldering pile of unconscious Cloud in a crater in the middle of the arena was anything to go by, it looked like Shiro's blatant overkill tactic had worked. Leon looked on nervously wondering where the hell that power Shiro had just demonstrated had even come from. He was still standing and he was certainly capable of going on, but after that show of power he was feeling somewhat reluctant to continue against him one on one.

"I think I'll just let you have this one," Leon shook his head. "I might not be an old man, but I do know I'm already at my limit and it looks like you've barely even scratched the surface. Besides, someone has to drag his sorry a** out of here," Leon frowned deeply at Cloud. "I can't believe he'd lose his mind over a mere illusion of Sephiroth. This stupidity is becoming a major problem." He then walked over and took Cloud by the ankle to start dragging him back into the waiting area to make room for the next combatants.

"Yeah, I think Leon's going to have a pretty bruised ego after this," Crystal agreed as she also looked toward the waiting area.

Roxas was understandably alarmed by that last ditch show of power Shiro had used to floor Cloud. He knew it was bad when Leon decided he didn't want anything more to do with fighting Shiro either. Still, Sora was totally fired up and had the Kingdom Key at the ready as though he was entirely unfazed by what had just happened out there in the arena.

"Come on, Roxas, we shouldn't keep Shiro waiting," Sora spoke as he started stomping out into the arena with his characteristic grin plastered on his face.

"Yeah, I know," Roxas sighed and then brought out Road In Between and Sweetstack in preparation for going up against Shiro. Sora might very well have thought he stood a chance against Shiro, but it was Roxas who was going to be Shiro's real opponent and Roxas was pretty sure they both knew that. Sure, Shiro might humor Sora into a false sense of security before beating him into the ground, but in his present condition there was just no way Sora could pose any real threat. "Well Shiro, I hope you don't mind, but we decided it might make things more interesting for you if you have to fight both of us at once."

"I guess Roxas noticed how much Sora was struggling in his last match and must have volunteered to team up with him so he can watch his back while they're going up against Shiro," Xion realized as she watched both Sora and Roxas step out into the arena.

"Sora seems pretty happy with the arrangement," Crystal added. "He might not be so thrilled after the beating he's about to get from Shiro, but it's nice to see them getting along."  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro would take off a sigh, before nodding to Leon as he took Cloud off the field "tell Cloud i need to rip into him about that rage thing later." he said with a smile, while turning towards Roxas and Sora, looking neutral in the face, instead though of using his current clothing, he would bring a hand up and snapped his fingers, igniting his clothes on fire, which would then alter them back into his typical casual clothes: black Leather jacket, red shirt, jeans, and his steel toed boots. of course, once he changed gear, he would summon out Melody and Ancient in hands as he hummed a bit lightly, before tapping the keyblades to his feet a moment and looked between the two, more focusing on Roxas since Sora would be way too easy to take advantage of, so instead he'd just focus on the larger threat first. "so...how was things while i was gone to Spira anyway? forgot to ask." he asked casually enough as he smiled gently.

Axel just sighed, shaking his head a bit "looks like Shiro's focusing on Roxas first as being the bigger threat, bet that won't sit well with Sora." he commented, while putting his hands behind his head, already planning to get Roxas some sea salt ice cream win or loss aside and all. "let's just see how badly Shiro tries to capitalize on the weaker Sora..." he said mostly to himself, curious on how Shiro will handle this fight.