Final Fantasy VII: Lifestream - Book 3: Pursuit

FIFTY-THREE

The Gold Saucer was just like I remembered. Bright, loud, and full of color and sound, and when we got to the Battle Square, I saw that it was clean and busy, as if Dyne's rampage had never happened. Dio met us near the stairs leading to his little museum.

"Cloud, my boy!" he grinned widely, waving at me with one of his thick, muscled arms. "So good to see to see you again! Everything is in order. Just entertain me and you'll have your prize."

"Done," I nodded.

When I went to the registration desk with the others, the girl there smiled at Jessie and I in recognition. "Hey, I remember you! Thank you so much for helping me when I was hurt."

Jessie laughed. "No problem! Good to see you again!"

I remembered her, too. "You're looking better. Kinda surprised that you'd come back after what happened here, though"

"Dio said I didn't have to," the girl agreed, running a hand through her blonde hair. "My name's Mary, by the way. But I heard that the guy who shot me and everyone else that day was cornered and killed down in the prison, and that helped me to not be afraid to be here. So I came back after Dio gave me some time off to recover."

Cait twitched his whiskers and waved at her. "Glad tae hear it, lass! Battle Square wouldnae be the same without ye."

"Hi, Cait!" Mary giggled. "Tell my fortune later?"

"Aye, of course!" he bowed.

I looked at him. "She knows you?"

"Lots of folks here dae," Cait explained. "I'd been comin' out tae the Gold Saucer fer quite a while before I joined up with ye, Cloud. So just aboot everyone who works here knows mae."

"Yeah, he's so cute and funny!" Mary added.

"That's Cait, alright," Jessie agreed.

Mary nodded. "So, how can I help you?"

"I'm here for the fights," I said.

"Got it, now just let me just get you registered..." Mary replied, her fingers flying skillfully across the keyboard of her computer. "Single or duo? You can go in alone or with a partner."

I raised an eyebrow. "Single. For now, anyway."

"But we'll definitely go as a duo later on!" Jessie grinned.

"Yeah," I agreed.

Aerith chuckled. "Only you would take a girl to a battle arena for a date, Cloud. I'm sure you guys'll have fun, though."

"Oh, we will!" Jessie smirked.

The arena was crowded when I went in a moment later, the stands full of people who had come here to watch the battles. I could see Jessie and the others in the main booth with Dio near the top, and he looked on eagerly as I drew Buster and Force Stealer and got ready for the first round. On Mary's suggestion, I'd brought some potions, antidotes, and other items along with a few materia, just in case. Every round after the first came with a handicap of some kind, and even though the enemies were holograms, they could still cause damage.

Many of them turned out to be ones I'd fought before, but made to be a bit tougher, such as grunts, drakes, moth slashers, dorky faces, and needle kisses along with new ones like basilisks, giant toads, black bats, and Nibel wolves. The last round had me facing a tall, shambling thing with two heads called a Ying-Yang. It was pretty strong, but I found out before long that one half of the monster—Ying—was more susceptible to magic while Yang was weaker against physical attacks. So I used that knowledge to beat it as the crowd cheered me on.