Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail
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"Shishi Sonson!" shouted Zoro as he struck like a flash, appearing behind Kagura with his katana once again in its sheath. To those who had watched the quick strike t had been almost instantaneous but to those whose eyes were attuned to fights of such magnitude they had seen Zoro's sword get pulled out as he charged forward before striking then putting the katana back within the sheath. To Erza she could quickly understand the reasoning for such a thing, knowing that the style he was using predominantly focused around the unsheathing of the blade which when practised long enough could be the fastest strike in their arsenal. Kagura however had been quick enough to lift up her sword and block the attack yet while it hadn't cut her she could feel the wind pressure behind the attack.
Looking over her shoulder, Kagura looked at her opponent who was likewise looking over his shoulder at her. She was well aware that that wasn't the best the green haired swordsman had to offer, that was merely an opening strike to test her reflexes. Had she been half a second slower the blade would have sliced across her chest and would have had her on the back foot. Yet there was much more to it she feared.
Magical blades when they cut someone did so in a way that it would be non-lethal, that was just the way that they were manufactured. Very few magical swords actually had the power to take the life of another person, the damage being more internal than anything. She knew that her own blade would take a single life during the time she wielded it, but the blade that Zoro had used was something else entirely. It wasn't magical, that much she could tell. Had she been hit by that attack she wouldn't just be lying on the ground unconscious, with that blade it would be in a pool of her own blood as she slowly died in front of everybody. This wasn't a spectacle of some kind, this was a man who had fought to the death on more than one occasion.
For the split second that Zoro had unsheathed the blade, Kagura had felt an ominous presence around it, such as like how people were able to sense the magical power of somebody powerful. This power she felt however was dark, as if the blade was cursed with black magic. Turning around, she got into her stance, knowing that a single slip up in this fight could cost her her life.
Deciding to take on the offensive, Kagura charged forward and swung the sheathed Archenemy at Zoro who pulled two of his katana out of their respective sheaths and blocked the attack. "What an explosive start to the battle!" shouted Chapati but neither of the two combatants truly listened to what he was saying as they started exchanging blows with one another, the sound of metal ringing across metal ringing across the arena.
Erza watched from the stand as the two swordsman below exchanged blow after blow, neither of them getting past their opponent's defence. Between the two of them she couldn't tell who would have the final strike, neither of them backing down from one another in what could only be described as a war. It didn't matter who else fought today, the battle that these two were having would undoubtedly be the highlight of the day.
Leaping back from the confrontation, Kagura knew that she needed to find some way to turn this battle more advantageous for her. Delving into her resources, she triggered her magical ability and the effects became instantaneous.
From his position, Zoro felt as if his weight had been multiplied rapidly as a heavy pressure was placed on his body. Turning his attention back to Kagura, he saw that she had leapt into the air, Archenemy poised to strike. "Strong Form," she said coldly as she prepared to attack.
Even with gravity being multiplied and pushed against him, the green haired swordsman managed to lift two katana up to block the attack but much like how Kagura had felt the pressure from his attack before, he could feel the pressure behind her strike as the ground around him exploded in a shower of debris and dust. In between the midst of the unseen battlefield, Kagura lashed out at Zoro with his foot and caught him across the cheek with enough force to send him careening out of the dust cloud. Skidding across the floor, Zoro got to his feet with Wadou Ichimonji unsheathed and raised above his head.
"Sanjuroku pound hou!" shouted Zoro as he swung the katana in a circular motion. Sensing the oncoming danger, Kagura leapt out of the debris before the attack penetrated the dust cloud before continuing onwards and hitting the wall of the arena, carving a large slash into the concrete.
"What extraordinary magical power!" shouted Chapati getting more excited with the match second by second.
"It seems that the strength of the Straw Hats isn't limited to Luffy," said Jenny who was just as amazed as her fellow commentator.
Yajima however was being silent on the topic, watching the fight intently. Undoubtedly he had become interested in the Straw Hats and looked forward to seeing what they could produce over the next few days. However there was something that he couldn't quite understand with them and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Having just watched the one attack that Zoro had unleashed, it didn't look like he had sent a magical attack forward in that slashing moment, but rather the strength that he possessed had allowed his slash to actually continue in a flight path. He wasn't too sure of the specific details but there was one thing he was slowly becoming more confident of, that the swordsman in front of him wasn't using magic.
"You are indeed skilled," said Kagura as she eyed her opponent cautiously.
"Likewise," said Zoro as he placed the blunt edge of Wadou on his shoulder, resting it there casually. Even though the flight had been rather explosive from the get go neither of the two combatants had truly taken any damage. "I'd wish you'd stop holding back though, I can't truly get serious if somebody isn't facing me with everything they've got."
Visibly it could be seen that Zoro had struck a nerve with swords mistress, it was common for opponents to speak down to their opposition and when they had done so to Kagura they had soon suffered for their actions. This time however, Kagura knew that unless she gave it everything that she had she would be unable to defeat the green haired swordsman in front of her. Yet that meant that she would need to unsheathe Archenemy, something she had sworn not to do until she faced that opponent.
Becoming slowly enraged, Kagura charged forward, quickly closing the gap between them. However, this allowed Zoro enough time to take out both of his other katanas which forced Kagura to come to a stop. The theory that every sword held a different property had gone out the window some time ago but as she watched Zoro place the white hilted sword in his mouth, she knew that he was starting to get serious. That in turn meant that she needed to give it as much as she could.
Once more the gravity around Zoro began to weigh down on him yet to most who would crumble under the pressure, Zoro stood there without moving an inch, as if the gravity had no true effect on him. Kagura used this as her chance and charged forth, intending on finishing the fight with a single blow.
"Tatsu Maki!" shouted Zoro despite the sword being held in his mouth as he twisted on the spot. The crowd watched in awe as a Kagura was blasted into the air, several slashes appearing across her body and arms yet she didn't seem overly effected by it. Directly over Zoro, she once more changed gravity yet this time it wasn't on her target below her but rather on herself, multiplying the force of gravity tenfold.
Kagura plummeted towards the ground at an unseen pace, rocketing forward with enough force to break the floor of the stadium had she hit the ground. Yet Zoro had stood his ground and with all three swords had managed to block the downward strike. Twisting to the side, Zoro pushed Kagura to the side but was unprepared as he felt the hilt of the sheathed sword slam into the bridge of his nose, blood bursting forth in a red shower.
If Kagura thought this would give her an advantage she was sadly mistaken as Zoro seemed to only grin at the damage. Both combatants charged forward and the sound of metal clanging on metal echoed across the battleground as Kagura desperately tried to break through the impressive defence that Zoro provided with the trio of blades that he wielded. At this pace, she didn't doubt that there would be a second chance if she got struck even once with his counter attacks.
In a single split of a second, Kagura spotted her opportunity as all three blades came careening towards her torso. Dropping down so she was almost parallel to the ground, the katana soared over the top of her before she swung directly upwards, her unsheathed sword slashing at Zoro's midsection.
The crowd watched in awe as time seemed to stand still, Kagura's attack having cleaved through the shirt the swordsman had been wearing and also cutting lightly across his skin. Yet with the perfect opportunity to follow up she was unable to do so as her eyes went wide in shock and horror. With his midriff exposed she could see the massive scar that stretched from the top right of his torso to the bottom left. It wasn't a light scar either, a wound half this size should have been enough to kill a normal man yet whether from luck or sheer determination he had managed to survive such an attack. If Kagura was unsure of it before she was well aware of it now; this man was not a magician, he was a warrior.
Leaping away to gain some distance between her and Zoro, her reprieve was short lived as the green haired swordsman sent another flying attack at her, this time though it was with three katana instead of one. As she leapt out of the way Erza felt her fist clench tightly, multiple thoughts going through her head. Predominantly the largest one being that when she had duelled Zoro several months earlier, despite the fact that she had not been permitted to change armour while he had restricted himself to a single katana, it was clear that he had merely been toying with her. While she had contemplated about it before in passing thoughts she knew that he had been holding back against her, to this extent however was seemingly ridiculous. Had she truly been this weak without her armour advantages, or was her opponent simply that much more skilled than her?
Meanwhile down on the battlefield, Kagura had decided that no matter how much strength she put into her attacks she was unlikely going to be able to overpower Zoro. Changing her stance, she focused her magic once again as her 'Gravity' magic went to play. Unlike the other times when she had used this however, this time the gravity around Zoro was negated, the green haired swordsman finding himself floating in midair.
Not giving him time to collect his bearings, Kagura leapt forward much faster than she had before, appearing behind Zoro in a flash. For those whose eyesight had been quick enough, they could see that the member of Mermaid Heel had attacked six times in a single instant. Yet at the same time they were able to see that Zoro had used the two katana in his hands to block every attack. One attack however went unseen by most, but Kagura could feel it now however as she placed her hand on her stomach, pulling her palm back to see her skin stained with crimson blood.
'He blocked every attack with the two katana in his hands and then struck out with the one in his mouth," analysed Erza, having been one of the few people to have seen the entire act play out. Even though he had been a member of their guild and had helped Fairy Tail back from the brink, it angered her to know that his strength was seemingly unmatched. She questioned whether or not there was anybody in the guild who could compete against him in physical strength alone.
"Guess this is what I get for not having gone serious from the start," said Kagura as she turned to face Zoro.
"You did enough," said Zoro as he removed the sword from his mouth a moment before the gong rang out, signalling that the match had concluded in a draw.
"The match is over!" shouted Chapati from the commentator box. "The best from Mermaid Heel has fought to a stalemate with Roronoa Zoro of the Straw Hats!"
"The wound isn't too deep," said Zoro as he walked past Kagura nonchalantly. "If we fight again don't hold back."
Kagura took those words in stride as medics quickly rushed the field, wanting to make sure that the ace of Mermaid Heel wasn't too badly injured (they'd already had enough fun trying to put Rufus back together). She didn't like having to withhold her strength and coming into this tournament she had thought her only one on one competition would have been Jura. After that fight though, she couldn't help just what the rest of the Straw Hats could bring to the table.
Part of her question was answered as Zoro looked up from where he was standing and had to dodge the incoming kick from Sanji. "Marimo, why'd you have to hurt Kagura-chan so much?" questioned Sanji as he lashed out with his right boot.
"Baka this was a contest and I didn't hurt her too much!" shouted Zoro in reply as he slashed out at the chef who ducked underneath the blow.
"Oi why you two fighting each other!" shouted Usopp from the stands while Luffy laughed away at it all.
"It seems that Sanji from the Straw Hats has taken some offence to something that Zoro did in the fight," commented Chapati. "The two of them are fighting with one another with enough ferocity that could tame the mightiest of beasts."
"It just goes to show that not everyone in a guild can coincide with one another perfectly," added Yajima.
"While we would love to see these two fight it out we have to clear the arena for the next match," said Chapati. As the next two battles raged on, even though they were impressive to watch they were nothing in comparison to the battle of the swordsman that had taken place. Lucy had lost in a battle against Flare although in a way which seemed to anger a number of people and left others in a state of confusion. Meanwhile the other fight had been a complete whitewash with Orga of Sabretooth obliterating his opponent in a single move.
The final match had been much more entertaining having pitted Jura of Lamia Scale against 'Mystogan' of Fairy Tail B. While it had been the most explosive match by far, the fact that Mystogan had seemingly had a mental break down in the middle of the match and had passed out after having survived several of Jura's more devastating attacks.
"And so the first day of the Grand Magic Games comes to an end!" shouted Chapati as the action ceased in the arena. "Coming in first is Sabretooth with a perfect twenty points to start the competition! Following them is Raven Tail with eighteen points. In third is Lamia Scale with sixteen points. After their battle which concluded in a draw, Mermaid Heel is in fourth place with nine points. Having leap frogged their way off the bottom, the Straw Hats are now in fifth place with five points, meaning that Quatro Cerberus has dropped to sixth with only three points to their name. Fighting it out for the wooden spoon for the moment are both the teams from Fairy Tail, with Fairy Tail B besting their guild mates by a single point, two points to one. Undoubtedly though it has been an explosive day at the Grand Magic Games and we undoubtedly await for the rest of the tournament to take place. We hope that you can join us tomorrow."
"Ja Ne," said Jenny as cutely as she could, knowing that that would be her last time in the commentator's box.
Yajima made no final comment as he stepped away from the announce table. Of the three of them he had been the one to speak up the least in the three remaining fights. While Sabretooth's win had been predictable and Fairy Tail's losses to a point, the way in which both of Fairy Tail's defeats had come about had immediately got his attention to outside interference. It was undoubtedly clear that Lucy's match had been tampered with at the ending, her spell having been wiped clean of the battlefield in an instant. Magic like that didn't simply disperse and while it had fooled most of the people in the stadium he was wiser about such a thing. He would be speaking with Makarov about this, hopefully the Master of Fairy Tail would provide him with some answers.
"Lucy!" exclaimed Natsu as the member of Fairy Tail made her way back to the balcony where the rest of her team was standing. "Are you alright?"
"All good now," said Lucy solemnly, clearly still upset with her loss.
Ace remained somewhat silent, looking to see whether or not Lucy would open up to them without them needing to tear away at her for some answers. Unsurprisingly she opted to shift the attention away from herself and to the scoreboard that hung above the battleground. "Don't worry about it Lucy, I'll compete tomorrow and I'll turn it all around!" declared Natsu boldly which seemed to put a smile on everybody's faces.
In the infirmary however it was a different story as Charle sat up from her slumber, shaking as her latest prophecy seemed to appear. There wasn't much to go by off however and she couldn't truly tell whether it was merely a nightmare or something much worse. Fragments of it were much clearer than others yet none of these visions were pleasant.
A white knight.
A Giant Magic Circle.
Mercurius, the palace collapsing.
Lucy, singing with tears running down her face.
A Straw Hat torn in two.
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Hope you enjoyed.
For those who put in suggestions, thank you for your effort and if I see them as being...entertaining, they shall be done.
Peace.
