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Description
Tifa recognized the woman who stood up to answer the challenge:
Faye Valentine, a member of a group of space bounty hunters.
They had visited the Seventh Heaven a few times during the event for drinks,
but Tifa had no interaction with them.
It was only from Revy that she had learned who they were.
Apparently, Revy and Faye were rivals;
having boxed each other over a spat at another bar where they ended up
bonding due to how even they had been.
Revy had won, but even she had admitted the fight could have gone either way.
She had tried talking Faye into entering the Seventh Heaven event,
but Faye hadn’t seemed interested.
Ever since her lost to Revy, she had been boxing less and less
until it seemed like she had put it aside,
with Revy expressing concern that maybe she had lost interest.
Yet, here she was, standing up in response to Barret’s announcement
with a determined look as she stared at Tifa.
Even her fellow group members were looking up at her in surprise.
“Alright, then!” Barret said. “Get yourself ready as quickly as you can.
Anyone else?” He looked around the audience, but no one else answered.
Fortunately for Faye, she had her duffel bag with her boxing gear
in her ship parked outside and was able to change within the next half hour,
along with getting officially registered into the event and squaring away the paperwork.
Nobody else had answered the challenge during this time,
so it looked like Faye would be Tifa’s final opponent for the event.
And if this woman was as good as Revy, it would be one tough match.
Part of Tifa was still a little disappointed that Revy hadn’t been the victor
in their fight…until she found out from Cloud who had found out from Rock
that the Lagoon Company’s usual bar had a bad habit of attracting trouble because of them,
so Tifa and the Seventh Heaven probably had dodged a bullet on that one.
Still, if this Faye character had a chance…
Even if she did, however, Faye still needed to win,
and Tifa wasn’t going to make it any easier for her than she did with any other opponent
participating in the event.

Fortunately for Tifa, she had suffered little to no injury against Aqua
or any of the other previous fights that day,
so she required little healing in preparation for the match.
She didn’t even feel tired.
If anything, those fights had warmed her up for this match.
She stood in her corner with Cloud as Faye entered the ring.
Two members of Faye’s group accompanied her as her cornermen:
the youngest one, Ed, and the green-haired man named Spike.
After the introductory announcements, Tifa and Faye met in the center of the ring.
“I’ve seen your fight with Revy,” Tifa said.
She had watched the fight in preparation for Revy, but she had taken notes on Faye as well.
For the most part, she fought very similarly to Revy. “She spoke very highly of you.”
Faye, despite smiling, appeared to scoff at the statement.
“That doesn’t sound like her at all.”
“She was disappointed that you hadn’t entered the event.”
“Probably because she thought she’d get a kick out of seeing me lose to you…
but that’s not gonna happen. I’m gonna do what she couldn’t and win that prize for myself.”
Tifa smiled at that. Was that what changed her mind? Just to show Revy up?
Whatever the reason, Tifa was glad to have this final fight for the event.
“Well, Miss Valentine, good luck to you. May the best woman win!”
Gloves touched, the fighters went to their corners, and the bell rang.

Faye started strong by immediately going on the offensive, nearly taking Tifa by surprise.
The bartender blocked her punches, but she noticed how precise and controlled they were.
She had come out swinging, but nothing about it was wild or sloppy.
When Tifa found an opening for a counter, Faye effortlessly weaved beneath it
and continued to force Tifa back onto the defensive.
The bounty hunter may not have been boxing much professionally,
but it was clear that she had been keeping up with her training.
Still, Tifa found an opening and landed a body blow on Faye, scoring the first hit.
However, Faye countered with a good swing on Tifa’s left cheek.
From that point on, Tifa took the offensive until the bell rang.
Faye was no pushover, but she didn’t have the same barbaric style that Revy had.
In fact, it was only the fourth round when Faye clinched Tifa.
Up to that point, the two had been alternating back and forth in each round,
wearing each other down and getting some good hits in.
It hadn’t exactly been a battle of attrition just yet,
but Faye going for a clinch so soon was not a good sign for her.
“Getting tired already?” Tifa asked.
“Sh…shut up,” Faye said. “Been a sec since I’ve gotten in the ring for real.”
“I can tell. You’re not bad, but you’re gonna have to do better
if you wanna last as long as Revy did.”
“Oh, you just wait…”

Faye maintained the clinch until the ref broke it up.
From the fifth round, the fire in Faye was renewed
and she managed to get around Tifa’s defenses more times than the bartender would have liked.
Her sides were becoming darker by the end of every round,
and her left eye was getting swollen in two places.
Not enough to keep her from seeing, but the pain was still enough to bother Tifa.
Cloud did the best he could to treat her wounds, but everything was adding up over time.
However, Faye hadn’t been faring all that well herself.
Both of her eyes were black, and even though the bruising on her ribs
didn’t appear to be as bad as Tifa’s,
the bartender had noticed the bounty hunter wincing on several occasions
as she moved around the ring.
Not only that, but while she managed to knock Tifa down three times,
Faye was knocked down five, taking noticeably longer
and longer to rise and beat the count every time.
Both Spike and Ed looked less like cornermen
and more like a pit crew feverishly fixing a car as they treated her between rounds.
Even the fourth member, Jet,
had been giving them fresh towels and medical supplies to help with Faye.
In round nine, Faye’s fire was starting to die out again
as she clinched Tifa once more.
Tifa had welcomed it as the match was taking its toll on her as well,
but Faye looked as if she was about to collapse.
The round ended during the clinch and Spike broke out the third pack of smelling salts for Faye.
Tifa had only needed one pack by this point,
but Cloud did break out the second one at the end of the tenth.
Like with her fight against Revy, the fight became more of a slugfest
the closer they got to the twelfth round.
However, Faye looked like she was running out of steam.
“Even if she makes it to the end of the twelfth round,”
Cloud said, “there’s no way the ref will give her the win.
She’s had to clinch you twice and she’s been knocked down more times than you.
You just need to be careful.”
“Yeah.” Tifa looked over at Faye’s corner and saw Spike checking her eyes.
“You think her team will throw in the towel?”
“If we’re lucky. Unless you think she’ll give up herself?”
Tifa looked hard at Faye. “No…”
Round eleven. Deciding not to take any more risks,
Tifa went all out and dominated the round.
Faye fought back enough to keep the ref from ending the match
and even got some good head shots on Tifa,
but things were not looking good for the bounty hunter.
Cloud broke out one more pack of smelling salts to be safe.
They were on the final round now like with Revy,
but the scale was tipping more towards Tifa’s favor this time.
A shame too. Maybe if Faye had been in more boxing matches lately,
things would’ve been more even. Unfortunately for Faye, she was becoming sluggish,
her guard loose, and her eyes looked more and more glazed with every hit.
Tifa felt herself running on fumes as well,
so she decided to end it when she saw Faye starting to wobble
and her gaze fell away from Tifa.
However, as soon as Tifa’s arms split to ready the punch,
Faye’s eyes suddenly snapped back to Tifa and delivered an uppercut right beneath
the bartender’s chin. Tifa found herself looking up at the lights on the ceiling,
her teeth clenching the back part of her mouth guard as they had instinctively closed
to keep it from shooting out of her mouth.
She knew she had been hit, but as she thought of how to react,
her thoughts trailed off. She felt her back hit the canvas.
Okay, she just needed to get up and…her thoughts trailed off again.

Tifa awoke to Cloud casting a cure spell on her. Wait.
If he was using magic to heal her, then that meant…
She heard the audience cheering
and looked over to see Faye with her gloved hands raised.
It was clear to Tifa now that she had lost.
Knocked out by that uppercut.
Ed had gotten into the ring as well to hug Faye
while Spike came over to put a hand on her shoulder.
Even Jet had climbed in to join them.
“Sorry, Tifa,” Cloud said as he helped her up. “She got a good hit on you.”
“Yeah,” Tifa said. “Yeah she did…”
She noticed Faye looking at her and their eyes locked.
Tifa smiled and nodded at her,
and Faye returned the gesture before going back to the crowds.

Later that evening, a party was held to conclude the weeklong event.
Several of the fighters who had participated in the event,
along with their cornermen and friends, attended the celebration.
Cana Alberona chatted with Vanessa Enoteca, Rangiku laughed with Tsunade,
and Revy, 18, Mt. Lady, and Aqua were having fun trying to drink each other
under the table as their friends and loved ones nervously watched over them.
Tifa’s friends were mingling with Faye’s crew as well.
Jet and Barret were comparing their prosthetic arms to each other’s
with Jet considering turning his into a weapon like Barret’s.
Cloud and Spike leaned against the bar in their own conversation
with the two chuckling every now and then.
Ed had attached herself to Cid asking him a barrage of questions much to his annoyance,
but he never raised his voice at her.
Even their pet corgi, Ein, had been seen walking alongside Red XIII
who would later say that the dog had been “rather insightful.”
Tifa found time to spend with all of them,
receiving congratulations for winning almost every fight in the event
and condolences for her loss on the final one.
Eventually, Tifa found some time alone with Faye Valentine at a corner booth.
“I haven’t had the chance to congratulate you yet,” Tifa said to her. “You fought well.”
“Thanks,” She said.
Both fighters had been fully healed thanks to the potions and restorative magic.
Faye still couldn’t believe how well they had worked given how all the bruises,
scars, and swollen eyes were gone now. “Sorry about ruining your streak there.”
“Don’t be. If anything, this is the best way to end the event.
If I hadn’t lost, people would probably say I had the whole event rigged.”
“True. And the fact that you’ve won every fight until the very end
is a really good setup for the big leagues.”
“Exactly! And now I got a regular customer too!”
Faye laughed. “You say that now, but I don’t know how much you’re gonna like me as a regular.”
“Eh, that’s fine. Worst case, all I need to do is beat you in a rematch.”
Faye’s drink stopped midway to her mouth. “…I’m sorry, what?”
“Didn’t you read the fine print? I reserve the right to challenge you to a rematch,
and if you lose said rematch—or deny the challenge
then I’m allowed to revoke your lifetime discount.
Felt necessary in case the winner turned out to be a jerk.”
“Clever,” Faye said, chuckling and shaking her head.
“But if I’m gonna rub this victory into anyone’s face, it’s gonna be Revy’s.
She beat me, you’ve beaten her, and now I’ve beaten you.”
“Sounds like we got a little trifecta going on between us.”
They both laughed before Tifa went on.
“I have to ask though; right before the uppercut…were you faking it to fool me or…?”
Faye shook her head. “I was that close to falling over.
I don’t know how, but I just…pulled it together at the right moment, I guess.”
“Well, I’m glad you did.” Tifa raised her glass to Faye. “To a good victory…”
Faye raised her glass as well. “And to a nice friendship.”

Story and idea by TheCrimsonDuke

This art was made by the amazing and talented josuegnr1993

Description
Tifa recognized the woman who stood up to answer the challenge:
Faye Valentine, a member of a group of space bounty hunters.
They had visited the Seventh Heaven a few times during the event for drinks,
but Tifa had no interaction with them.
It was only from Revy that she had learned who they were.
Apparently, Revy and Faye were rivals;
having boxed each other over a spat at another bar where they ended up
bonding due to how even they had been.
Revy had won, but even she had admitted the fight could have gone either way.
She had tried talking Faye into entering the Seventh Heaven event,
but Faye hadn’t seemed interested.
Ever since her lost to Revy, she had been boxing less and less
until it seemed like she had put it aside,
with Revy expressing concern that maybe she had lost interest.
Yet, here she was, standing up in response to Barret’s announcement
with a determined look as she stared at Tifa.
Even her fellow group members were looking up at her in surprise.
“Alright, then!” Barret said. “Get yourself ready as quickly as you can.
Anyone else?” He looked around the audience, but no one else answered.
Fortunately for Faye, she had her duffel bag with her boxing gear
in her ship parked outside and was able to change within the next half hour,
along with getting officially registered into the event and squaring away the paperwork.
Nobody else had answered the challenge during this time,
so it looked like Faye would be Tifa’s final opponent for the event.
And if this woman was as good as Revy, it would be one tough match.
Part of Tifa was still a little disappointed that Revy hadn’t been the victor
in their fight…until she found out from Cloud who had found out from Rock
that the Lagoon Company’s usual bar had a bad habit of attracting trouble because of them,
so Tifa and the Seventh Heaven probably had dodged a bullet on that one.
Still, if this Faye character had a chance…
Even if she did, however, Faye still needed to win,
and Tifa wasn’t going to make it any easier for her than she did with any other opponent
participating in the event.

Fortunately for Tifa, she had suffered little to no injury against Aqua
or any of the other previous fights that day,
so she required little healing in preparation for the match.
She didn’t even feel tired.
If anything, those fights had warmed her up for this match.
She stood in her corner with Cloud as Faye entered the ring.
Two members of Faye’s group accompanied her as her cornermen:
the youngest one, Ed, and the green-haired man named Spike.
After the introductory announcements, Tifa and Faye met in the center of the ring.
“I’ve seen your fight with Revy,” Tifa said.
She had watched the fight in preparation for Revy, but she had taken notes on Faye as well.
For the most part, she fought very similarly to Revy. “She spoke very highly of you.”
Faye, despite smiling, appeared to scoff at the statement.
“That doesn’t sound like her at all.”
“She was disappointed that you hadn’t entered the event.”
“Probably because she thought she’d get a kick out of seeing me lose to you…
but that’s not gonna happen. I’m gonna do what she couldn’t and win that prize for myself.”
Tifa smiled at that. Was that what changed her mind? Just to show Revy up?
Whatever the reason, Tifa was glad to have this final fight for the event.
“Well, Miss Valentine, good luck to you. May the best woman win!”
Gloves touched, the fighters went to their corners, and the bell rang.

Faye started strong by immediately going on the offensive, nearly taking Tifa by surprise.
The bartender blocked her punches, but she noticed how precise and controlled they were.
She had come out swinging, but nothing about it was wild or sloppy.
When Tifa found an opening for a counter, Faye effortlessly weaved beneath it
and continued to force Tifa back onto the defensive.
The bounty hunter may not have been boxing much professionally,
but it was clear that she had been keeping up with her training.
Still, Tifa found an opening and landed a body blow on Faye, scoring the first hit.
However, Faye countered with a good swing on Tifa’s left cheek.
From that point on, Tifa took the offensive until the bell rang.
Faye was no pushover, but she didn’t have the same barbaric style that Revy had.
In fact, it was only the fourth round when Faye clinched Tifa.
Up to that point, the two had been alternating back and forth in each round,
wearing each other down and getting some good hits in.
It hadn’t exactly been a battle of attrition just yet,
but Faye going for a clinch so soon was not a good sign for her.
“Getting tired already?” Tifa asked.
“Sh…shut up,” Faye said. “Been a sec since I’ve gotten in the ring for real.”
“I can tell. You’re not bad, but you’re gonna have to do better
if you wanna last as long as Revy did.”
“Oh, you just wait…”

Faye maintained the clinch until the ref broke it up.
From the fifth round, the fire in Faye was renewed
and she managed to get around Tifa’s defenses more times than the bartender would have liked.
Her sides were becoming darker by the end of every round,
and her left eye was getting swollen in two places.
Not enough to keep her from seeing, but the pain was still enough to bother Tifa.
Cloud did the best he could to treat her wounds, but everything was adding up over time.
However, Faye hadn’t been faring all that well herself.
Both of her eyes were black, and even though the bruising on her ribs
didn’t appear to be as bad as Tifa’s,
the bartender had noticed the bounty hunter wincing on several occasions
as she moved around the ring.
Not only that, but while she managed to knock Tifa down three times,
Faye was knocked down five, taking noticeably longer
and longer to rise and beat the count every time.
Both Spike and Ed looked less like cornermen
and more like a pit crew feverishly fixing a car as they treated her between rounds.
Even the fourth member, Jet,
had been giving them fresh towels and medical supplies to help with Faye.
In round nine, Faye’s fire was starting to die out again
as she clinched Tifa once more.
Tifa had welcomed it as the match was taking its toll on her as well,
but Faye looked as if she was about to collapse.
The round ended during the clinch and Spike broke out the third pack of smelling salts for Faye.
Tifa had only needed one pack by this point,
but Cloud did break out the second one at the end of the tenth.
Like with her fight against Revy, the fight became more of a slugfest
the closer they got to the twelfth round.
However, Faye looked like she was running out of steam.
“Even if she makes it to the end of the twelfth round,”
Cloud said, “there’s no way the ref will give her the win.
She’s had to clinch you twice and she’s been knocked down more times than you.
You just need to be careful.”
“Yeah.” Tifa looked over at Faye’s corner and saw Spike checking her eyes.
“You think her team will throw in the towel?”
“If we’re lucky. Unless you think she’ll give up herself?”
Tifa looked hard at Faye. “No…”
Round eleven. Deciding not to take any more risks,
Tifa went all out and dominated the round.
Faye fought back enough to keep the ref from ending the match
and even got some good head shots on Tifa,
but things were not looking good for the bounty hunter.
Cloud broke out one more pack of smelling salts to be safe.
They were on the final round now like with Revy,
but the scale was tipping more towards Tifa’s favor this time.
A shame too. Maybe if Faye had been in more boxing matches lately,
things would’ve been more even. Unfortunately for Faye, she was becoming sluggish,
her guard loose, and her eyes looked more and more glazed with every hit.
Tifa felt herself running on fumes as well,
so she decided to end it when she saw Faye starting to wobble
and her gaze fell away from Tifa.
However, as soon as Tifa’s arms split to ready the punch,
Faye’s eyes suddenly snapped back to Tifa and delivered an uppercut right beneath
the bartender’s chin. Tifa found herself looking up at the lights on the ceiling,
her teeth clenching the back part of her mouth guard as they had instinctively closed
to keep it from shooting out of her mouth.
She knew she had been hit, but as she thought of how to react,
her thoughts trailed off. She felt her back hit the canvas.
Okay, she just needed to get up and…her thoughts trailed off again.

Tifa awoke to Cloud casting a cure spell on her. Wait.
If he was using magic to heal her, then that meant…
She heard the audience cheering
and looked over to see Faye with her gloved hands raised.
It was clear to Tifa now that she had lost.
Knocked out by that uppercut.
Ed had gotten into the ring as well to hug Faye
while Spike came over to put a hand on her shoulder.
Even Jet had climbed in to join them.
“Sorry, Tifa,” Cloud said as he helped her up. “She got a good hit on you.”
“Yeah,” Tifa said. “Yeah she did…”
She noticed Faye looking at her and their eyes locked.
Tifa smiled and nodded at her,
and Faye returned the gesture before going back to the crowds.

Later that evening, a party was held to conclude the weeklong event.
Several of the fighters who had participated in the event,
along with their cornermen and friends, attended the celebration.
Cana Alberona chatted with Vanessa Enoteca, Rangiku laughed with Tsunade,
and Revy, 18, Mt. Lady, and Aqua were having fun trying to drink each other
under the table as their friends and loved ones nervously watched over them.
Tifa’s friends were mingling with Faye’s crew as well.
Jet and Barret were comparing their prosthetic arms to each other’s
with Jet considering turning his into a weapon like Barret’s.
Cloud and Spike leaned against the bar in their own conversation
with the two chuckling every now and then.
Ed had attached herself to Cid asking him a barrage of questions much to his annoyance,
but he never raised his voice at her.
Even their pet corgi, Ein, had been seen walking alongside Red XIII
who would later say that the dog had been “rather insightful.”
Tifa found time to spend with all of them,
receiving congratulations for winning almost every fight in the event
and condolences for her loss on the final one.
Eventually, Tifa found some time alone with Faye Valentine at a corner booth.
“I haven’t had the chance to congratulate you yet,” Tifa said to her. “You fought well.”
“Thanks,” She said.
Both fighters had been fully healed thanks to the potions and restorative magic.
Faye still couldn’t believe how well they had worked given how all the bruises,
scars, and swollen eyes were gone now. “Sorry about ruining your streak there.”
“Don’t be. If anything, this is the best way to end the event.
If I hadn’t lost, people would probably say I had the whole event rigged.”
“True. And the fact that you’ve won every fight until the very end
is a really good setup for the big leagues.”
“Exactly! And now I got a regular customer too!”
Faye laughed. “You say that now, but I don’t know how much you’re gonna like me as a regular.”
“Eh, that’s fine. Worst case, all I need to do is beat you in a rematch.”
Faye’s drink stopped midway to her mouth. “…I’m sorry, what?”
“Didn’t you read the fine print? I reserve the right to challenge you to a rematch,
and if you lose said rematch—or deny the challenge
then I’m allowed to revoke your lifetime discount.
Felt necessary in case the winner turned out to be a jerk.”
“Clever,” Faye said, chuckling and shaking her head.
“But if I’m gonna rub this victory into anyone’s face, it’s gonna be Revy’s.
She beat me, you’ve beaten her, and now I’ve beaten you.”
“Sounds like we got a little trifecta going on between us.”
They both laughed before Tifa went on.
“I have to ask though; right before the uppercut…were you faking it to fool me or…?”
Faye shook her head. “I was that close to falling over.
I don’t know how, but I just…pulled it together at the right moment, I guess.”
“Well, I’m glad you did.” Tifa raised her glass to Faye. “To a good victory…”
Faye raised her glass as well. “And to a nice friendship.”

Story and idea by TheCrimsonDuke

This art was made by the amazing and talented josuegnr1993