NOTE: After our break, we return to the GGB with Round 2! As usual, the voting for Group 5 is available on the forum.

--

"Fourty-eight fighters have tested the waters of the GGB in twenty-four matches. We had beatdowns and upsets, close calls and Cinderella stories, but that was just the start! That was only one round of five Pool Play Rounds and now they are fighting for the first tickets to the Knockouts! A 2-0 record holds a nigh-locked shot in the next phase, while 0-2 means you're fighting all the way. Welcome back to the Hakurei Shrine, ladies and gentlemen, as we kick off Round Two! I'm Rinnosuke Morichika and with me is the lovely Tenshi Hinanai! This time last round, we had the surprise appearance of Hong Meiling as a force. This came at the expense of Hell's Traffic Accident, Rin Kaenbyou. The kasha will now try to get on her feet as she takes on the winter spirit Letty Whiterock. The fires of Hell against the bite of Winter! We take you to the shrine to kick off Round Two here at the GGB!"

A clash of styles met in the field as the coldly dressed Letty shook hands with the fiery redhead Orin.

"No offense, Miss Whiterock, but do you melt?"

"…no…"

"Well that's good, that way I can carry you off without a bucket."

Letty scoffed as she gripped her trident and pointed it at Orin, "Snow turns into water, enough water can douse ANY fire."

*TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET*

Orin struck first, sending a trail of flames at Letty, who used her trident to divert the flames to the air. She formed clouds above her as the flames made contact. A light drizzle of rain began to cover the field as Letty struck, thrusting her trident up in an attempt to stab the kasha. Orin grabbed the prongs just in time and lifted herself up to avoid getting skewered. Clenching the metal prongs, she smiled at her opponent as she dropped back to the ground, taking the two prongs she had grasped with her. A few drips of molten metal fell from what remained of Letty's trident as she threw it away.

"And enough heat can melt anything." Immediately Orin delivered an uppercut to the winter spirit's chest. An aura of fire blasted from the kasha's fist, blasting Letty skyward and into the field barrier. She kept on the defensive, waiting for the winter spirit to drop down. The light rain began to intensify as it soon became a downpour, with Letty still lost in the clouds.

"Your own heat will be your downfall, kitty cat!"

SPELL CARD: LETTY [TABLE TURNING]

Thanks to the heat from Orin, the usual blizzard from Letty turned into a collapsing ceiling of water. The kasha couldn't dodge as the tidal wave crashed down, the massive pressure taking Orin crashing against the wall. Letty descended back to the ground, eying the wet and curled-up cat.

"Aww…little kitty get all wet?" Letty's tone was strangely sadistic, sensing victory. Clouds formed around the winter spirit as she prepared to finish off her opponent when she suddenly collapsed to her knees. Steam rose from the wading-depth water as Letty started to sweat uncontrollably.

"You forget where I'm from, snow-girl. FEEL THE TRUE FIRES OF HELL!"

SPELL CARD: RIN [HELL'S BLAZING WHEEL]

The field erupted in fire and steam as pulsating walls of flame blasted out from Orin, the force slammed Letty into the wall repeatedly as alternating waves of scalding steam and blazing fire crashed into the winter spirit. As the waves subsided, it was obvious that it was too much for Letty as she immediately fell to the ground, motionless.

*TWEEEEEEEEEEEET* "Letty's aura has dissipated! The winner is Rin!"

"With a fiery blast, Rin Kaenbyou snatches her first victory in the GGB and gets the Palace of Earth Spirits on the right path after their disappointing outing in the first round. What did you think Miss Hinanai?"

"I was pleasantly surprised with Letty Whiterock's efforts, actually. She used the natural convection emitted from a fire-user like Rin to her advantage to attempt to drown the cat's chances of winning. Unfortunately, the natural heat from Rin was overpowering as the fires of hell greatly exceed the boiling point of water, turning the arena into a scalding steam room for which Letty had no escape."

"Well, thanks to that win, the cat is out of the doghouse at 1-1. Now the Aki Sisters hope to also get a win on their belt, but they have a doozy on their hands. Hong Meiling burst onto the scene last round, and is hoping to keep her hot streak going. Can two heads prevail where they couldn't last time? We take you back to the field for our second match of the night."

The field dissipated and reset, allowing the heat and steam to escape between matches. Meiling quietly shook hands with both sisters before setting up in a ready position.

*TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET*

Not even a second after the whistle finished, Meiling connected on a roundhouse kick against the head of the younger Minoriko. Shizuka could barely turn her head in time to watch her sister go flying into the field wall. Without any time to react, Shizuka found her head being pulled down as Meiling connected again, this time with her knee. The older sister jerked backwards and fell onto the ground unmoving.

*TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET* "Y…Ya didn't have to do that to bo--er, the Aki Sisters' auras have dissipated! The winner is Meiling!"

"I…wow…" Rinnosuke was struck speechless at the quick and efficient method used by Meiling to gain her second win, "Hong Meiling, wasting NO time and almost NO effort, just obliterated the Aki Sisters to become the GGB's first 2-0 fighter!"

"It gets that little annoyance out of the way for the suddenly business Meiling." Tenshi quickly enters her opinion on the quick match, "Her next match? Against Sanae Kochiya for what will most likely be the fight for the top seed out of Group One."

"On that note, as the fairies pick up, well, what remains of the Aki Sisters, Sanae Kochiya and Hina Kagiyama are about to face off in our main event. Both are 1-0, both are eying Hong Meiling, both want the top spot, both are up next!"

The final two fighters shook hands in the field and entered a ready position. The shrine maiden muttered a few spells into her gohei.

"How humorous," Hina spoke up, "Misfortune takes on miracles. Two pure opposites."

"Your curses are nothing but minor roadblocks. "Sanae stared at her opponent, "Kanako, Suwako, and I will reach the summit together."

*TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET*

Rising to her tiptoes, Hina began to spin as a dark wind enveloped the doll. Sharp gusts blasted towards Sanae, who stood her ground. Digging her feet into the ground, the shrine maiden formed a shield of light wind around her person. A small giggle came from Sanae.

"It's like I'm focusing my chi."

"Your chi?"

"Yeah! Like in Dragonball!"

"Drago-what?" Hina was lost, not understanding Sanae's reference to her old world. That soon became the least of the curse doll's worries as she soon found herself losing balance. Sanae's wind gusted in an attempt to catch Hina off-guard. With a few stutter steps, Hina was able to keep off the ground as she spun faster to deflect any further gusts.

"Of course, we're talking about the good stuff. The Pre-Raditz era, back when Son Goku was a kid and participating in fighting tournaments."

"What are y-" Hina's question was cut short as she had to quickly dodge a danmaku blast from the rambling shrine maiden. She sent a spinning blast in retaliation, which was quickly dodged by Sanae, who didn't seem to miss a breath.

"Well, Raditz to Freezer was absolutely fantastic as well, but it felt like a more mature story. It was completely different than the Dragonball at start." Sanae charged and dropped down to sweep the curse doll's legs. Hina dropped to the ground painfully as she continued to roll along the ground. Sanae looked down at her opponent with a hint of malice.

"It should have ended there. Son Goku was the only Super Saiya-jin. Freezer, the ultimate evil, vanquished. But no…it was too popular to end there. Sheishua couldn't let their cash cow end at that moment. Toriyama-sensei was forced to keep going. The plot got convoluted. For some reason these androids built by a minor villain from the past were more powerful than universe's scourge, Freezer." Sanae's face grew mad as star-shaped danmaku formed behind her. Hina was scared motionless as the shrine maiden's speech got angrier and angrier, while the curse doll had no clue why.

"And EVERYONE could go Super Saiya-jin! And different levels of Super Saiya-jin? What kind of crap was that? It diluted the masterpiece! It tainted perfection!" Sanae's face was full of malice as pointed her gohei at Hina, "EVERYTHING! WAS! RUINED!"

SPELL CARD: SANAE [ESOTERICA]

The built-up danmaku blasted from behind Sanae on a collision course with Hina, who could only roll along the floor as fast as possible to avoid the cascade of bullets rushing towards her. At the worst possible moment, Hina realized that she couldn't roll any farther as she had hit the wall of the field. The falling bullets caught up as Hina could do nothing to guard herself. The blast was more than enough as the smoke cleared, a motionless Hina lay crumpled against the barrier. Sanae shook her head as if she fell out of a trance.

"Oh…I fell into fangirling, so sorry!"

*TWEEEEEEEEEEET* "Hina's aura has dissipated! The winner is Sanae!"

Sanae bowed towards the crumpled Hina before leaving the field as the fairies rolled the winter spirit away.

"Never mess with an angry fan. Sanae Kochiya's innocent talk about her favorite comic suddenly turned malicious and Hina Kagiyama was the unfortunate soul on the receiving end. More importantly, we are set next round for a fantastic battle between our first two 2-0 fighters. Hong Meiling and Sanae Kochiya will face off in Round Three for the first GUARANTEED Knockout berth. However, we must head to the SDM as allegiances are put to the test. Shikieiki Yamaxanadu hasn't always been fond of her worker Komachi Onozuka and now she might be able to truly tell the shinigami how she truly feels. Of course, everyone will be tuning in for Yuyuko Saigyouji taking on her gardener Youmu Konpaku. Both fighters are considered immensely powerful, but the pure, unwavering loyalty of Youmu gives thick layers of drama. Can the swordsman turn her blade against the princess she swore allegiance to? For Tenshi Hinanai, this is Rinnosuke Morichika, see you at SDM!"

--

"Is this the longest time you've been apart?"

"No, I've sent her on long missions before. Most I can think of was a month for a training sabbatical."

A ghost and a vampire were enjoying a spot of tea as they watched the night sky from the very viewing room in the Scarlet Devil Mansion where they fought each other in Round 1. Yuyuko and Remilia were both having rare moments without their main servants, one off away in another group, the other forcibly removed by her mistress.

"It'll be interesting how she'll see me when we enter the field. Remilia, have you been in a serious fight with your maid?"

Remilia giggled as she sipped her tea, "It was how we first met. I think that's what separates Sakuya from your gardener. She came to me with the intent to kill; Miss Youmu came to you with the intent to protect."

"And as you taught your maid humility, I…or rather Youki, taught Youmu the blade."

"And you mentioned that her teacher is no longer with us?"

"Of a sort, he has disappeared to an unknown location. It was…not a good time for Youmu and me. I'm sure you've never seen Sakuya cry."

"Not really. Perhaps our first meeting she was fighting tears back after her defeat was inevitable. Her emotions were an absolute mess those couple of minutes. She was entirely willing to end her life if she couldn't end mine."

"From what I've seen of Sakuya, it's extremely strange to visualize her in any sort of emotional flux."

"It is. That was still the only time I've seen her like that. She is mostly one of two emotions: stoic and murderous. Mostly towards Meiling."

The ghost gave an elegant laugh before turning her attention to the night sky. "Youmu…you started as the offspring and student of Youki. Then you became my servant. Tomorrow, I get to see the Youmu Konpaku that she wants herself to be."

--

In the gardens of the SDM, the moonlight shone off the katana of a gardener, training alone and for the first time in her life, for herself. A second reflection began to shine, this time from a scythe.

"Aaah, the ever diligent swordsman…" Komachi smirked in the darkness as she watched Youmu continue silently through her motions. With a groan, the reaper once again tried to start a conversation with the gardener, "I'm facing my boss, too. It's a really awkward feeling. The concept of turning your blade on the person that has issued you orders for years is both frightening and relieving."

"Leave."

Youmu finally spoke, but not a word that Komachi wanted to hear. She picked up her scythe to keep it on hand in case tension escalated.

"How come? Am I disrupting your training?"

"How can you find it 'relieving' to strike your mistress?"

"Ugh, Shikieiki is not my mistress." Komachi visualized in her head a bit before shaking it in disgust. "But she always sends me on these crappy jobs and then punishes me for the littlest things-"

"Then don't do those 'littest things'."

Komachi sighed as she continued to tempt fate, "It's just…something I've been wanting to do for a while. Shikieiki and I…don't see eye to eye often. Figuratively and literally-"

"Do you think this is an ideal time for jokes?"

"It's just…I don't know. During our fight, after you won, I didn't see you smile once. I even smiled after seeing your wealth and I lost. You don't have to be all serious, I'm sure your mistress feels the same way. Regardless of what the miko says, this is not serious business. It's all for fun and bragging rights. So lighten up, hell, take it easy."

Youmu peeked over to Komachi for a few seconds before returning to her swings, "To prove I can protect my Mistress from any threat, I plan to win."

"Even if you have to cut through her to do it?"

The gardener sighed, her sword lowered, "Then so be it. Now please leave me be."

Komachi turned and left Youmu to her practice. The swordsman watched the reaper disappear into the night, sighed once again, and placed her sword on the ground. She dropped to her seat, placing her forehead against her knees.

"Mistress Yuyuko…please be able to forgive me…"

--

STANDINGS:

Hong Meiling 2-0

Sanae Kochiya 2-0

Hina Kagiyama 1-1

Rin Kaenbyou 1-1

Letty Whiterock 0-2

Aki Sisters 0-2