Chapter 104: Duel!

"Ladies and Gentlemen welcome back to day two of the Grand Magic Games! I'm your host, Chapati Lola and here next to me are your special guests, Lucius Kaiser and Tiny from the Magic Council!"

"It's a pleasure to see you all again." Lucius greeted the masses with a wave. "Sa'pleasure." Tiny kept his greeting short and straight to the point.

"We have some high caliber matchups for you today, but first, it's time for the day two event! Today you'll be showcasing the power and velocity in your magic by an event we simply like to call...Duel!"

"Don't remember this one.." Reve admitted.

"The rules to duel are simple. Two mages will start, one from each guild and stand upon the opposing platform. Each mage will simultaneously attack, a full on offensive display in an attempt to knock their opponent off of the platform. If neither one is knocked off, we'll go again until someone finally falls off the platform. Once all five duels are completed, the rankings will be decided by how far they were blown away. Good luck to everyone, and first up, it's Twilight Zone's Adacore versus Leon Shi of Black Phoenix!"

"Hmph. Simple." Adacore marched over towards his platform, waving back to the cheers his guild mates gave him without turning around to meet them. His wavy red hair stood vertically, matching his low, red eyes. Tall, slender and pale, Adacore now stood across from Black Phoenix's Acid Dragon Slayer, Leon Shi. His premise was mysterious, but that didn't stop Adacore from keeping a swagger on him — a small curl of the right side of his lips as the two waited for the go ahead from Mato the pumpkin headed host.

"With the introduction you got, I expected you to no show up until near the end of the games." Adacore said in an attempt to poke the proverbial bear about what happened on the first day. Leon merely smiled in return, not taking the redhead's words by any negative connotation at all. "Oh, that? Don't worry. I'm nothing special at all! Just another man made Dragon Slayer."

"Oh, a second generation, huh? Well that puts my stomach at ease just a little." He laughed himself, obviously joking about the implication of being worried. "But I do have to ask. Why are you in the event portion of this day? A Slayer I believe would have been dying to fight someone."

That's when Leon rubbed the back of his head, laughing once more. "Well to be honest, the two people I've been dying to fight aren't even competing, so everyone else just seemed lackluster. No offense to them."

Adacore definitely took offense to it however, and that caused an annoyed grin in retaliation as he readied himself thanks to Mate raised hand. "Oh is that so? Well hopefully this fire mage can change your mind about that. They do call me the Crimson King after all."

"Mages ready?" Mato asked, receiving a nod from Adacore Vendetta and a "hai" from Leon Shi. "And...begin!"

"Alright, lets blow this guy away!" The confident Adacore shouted, raising a right hand to the sky just to bring it back to his side. He gained a powerful purplish-red aura, keeping eyes glared towards Leon as the arena shook to its core. "Hell Prominence!" The Twilight Zone mage shouted, shooting forth his attack — a large, laser beam like blast of purple and red flames launching directly towards Leon. And as the attack made its way towards its target, just as the rules stated, it was time for Leon to fire as well. That's when a powerful inhaling sound could be heard over the powerful Hells Prominence. That alone put everyone on notice — the crowd on the edge of their seats as Leon leaned back as far as he could while still inhaling.

"Roar..." All of Black Phoenix chanted along with their Dragon Slayer.

"Of the..."They continued as the build of of magic caused the entire arena to vibrate.

"...ACID DRAGON!" Asuka and the others shouted at the top of their lungs, and at the same time, Leon fired off what was the strongest attack showcased so far. An enormous funnel of acid magic hurled forward, clashing with the Hells Prominence for not even half a second before swallowing the attack whole.

"What the!?" Adacore could do nothing but shield himself with his own arms, and even that wasn't enough as the mage went flying off the platform and landing on the ground below. He didn't walk away unscathed either, in fact it was completely opposite of such. Adacore was scorched in an entirely different way than what fire could do. He was teetering between consciousness, but finally sat up as he looked towards the platform Leon stood upon with a smile upon his face. "My bad! I overdid it!"

"Adacore has lost! And that's a whole twenty yards from the platform!" Chapati shouted. "Twilight Zone is in danger of a last place event finish here!"

"First Flynn got too cocky, and now Adacore." Evanee shook her head. "Disappointed, but not surprised. You men are truly a let down, that's for sure. I didn't think we'd have to pick up the slack so fast."

As Aubrey nodded along in agreement with her sister, Rylo replied with a nervous smile and a sweat drop down the temple of his head. "Now now...it's not over yet. We can still pray for a point here. And we still have the fight portion of the day! This is easily salvaged."

"...That was powerful." Takeru admitted, looking on towards the innocent looking Leon Shi. "I'm sure that wasn't all of it either. That Leon guy is surely holding back. It's almost worth competing now."

"Don't jump the gun or anything." Reve retaliated sarcastically, also keeping his eyes on Leon as he retreated to his guild. "That's not even the Ace, but I have a hunch that order in Black Phoenix isn't as cut and dry as other guilds."

"Next up! It's Empyrean Dawn's Mizaki Izumi against Sabertooth's Orga Nanagear!"

The big behemoth of a Lightning God Slayer stepped up to the platform, absorbing the cheers from his fans and his guild mates alike. His eyes then redirected towards the female across from him who climbed up to her own platform. A smirk grazed across Orga's features, and Misaki mimicked him, placing a left hand on her hip as well.

"Lets go Misaki! Big brother is rooting for you!" Marshall shouted, waving with both hands like an innocent boy. "Hugs and kisses if you win!"

Misaki then took a deep breath to wipe away the embarrassment she was quietly feeling. "Don't kill him when you're done here." She chanted before turning back to Orga with the me confidence she began with.

"More criminal siblings within Empyrean Dawn, hm Kaiser?" Tiny asked, looking towards his direction. Without returning the gaze, Lucius Kaiser grinned, prepping for another background story for the Empyrean in question.

"Unlike Nina and Julia, Marshall and Misaki are completely different, so I'll tell their stories one at at time — starting with Misaki of course. She is...her brother's keeper. Marshall's magic and personality causes him to go a bit off the rails here and there. So Misaki acted as his mediator growing up. By mediator of course, to use such a word means that there would need to be a middle-person between two or more conflicting situations or people. Well, I'll explain that later today. I do believe Marshall will be fighting for us today after all. But as I was saying, Misaki is the mediator to Marshall, but of course the middle ground she sought for, though unbelievably less dangerous than Marshall's own thinking, still brought forth heinous crimes. Murder was the forefront of course. That's all you get from me for now when it comes to the Izumi's, but if you're wondering what Misaki's magic is, I'll happily obliged a bit of that as well. But not all of it. What Misaki will be showcasing to you today...is Total Darkness Magic. Rare, but it's quite calm compared to what she's not allowed to use."

Ominously frightening. Chapati gulped as he wanted to ask, but Kaiser raised a finger from his seat as if to hush the announcer; as if he knew he was going to ask. "Like I said, that won't be revealed. But Misaki is one of the strongest members of Empyrean Dawn based on her magic alone."

All eyes were on her now as she waved towards Lucius Kaiser, who returned the friendly gesture before turning back to the sight before her. She let out a "tch" while rolling her eyes. "I was hoping for someone cute like Sting or Rufus. But I'm already here I guess."

"You ex criminals sure are getting a lot of undeserved publicity." Orga pointed out as black lightning surged around him. His comment caused a smirk on black painted lips. "Oh? Does it bother you, Tiger?" She asked, slowly removing her hand from her hip. "Don't worry. We always earn our reputations. Now, get ready to send me your best, big lug. And lets get this over with."

"My pleasure!" Orga replied with an anxious grin, and as Mato gave permission to begin, Orga started off with a bang — holding both hands outward as an abundance of black lightning gathered between them. "Lightning God's Charged Particle Cannon!" From his exclamation, the God Slayer released a powerful beam of black lightning that rushed directly for Misaki. She didn't flinch. Instead, the Empyrean slowly raised her open right hand as a darker than black aura wrapped around her entire frame. With one last stoic grunt, she called forth her attack.

"Obsidian." With such a calm, melodic tone, Misaki released a powerful beam of her own. Not only did the two beams collide, but a winner was quickly decided as Orga's Particle Cannon was literally devoured by the darkness, leaving him defenseless as he attempted to cover himself with his own bulky arms. That defense meant nothing as the Obsidian beam slammed directly into him, sending him flying off the platform and landing into the field below. What made it worse, was that Orga was now completely unconscious from a single attack — eyes white and mouth agape as smoke fumed from it.

"O...Orga is out!" Chapati managed to say. "His ending point was...a full forty five yards!"

Everyone was stunned as Orga laid there unconscious. That's when Misaki walked over to her fallen victim, standing over him with a boot pressed to his chest. It caused a stir, but Orga was still unresponsive albeit it. "Slayers aren't really that amazing anymore. I'm sure you've heard of the new era of mages, correct? Obviously not if this is what you had to offer. Everyone is aware that this world can no longer simply thrive on hosting a destructive magic. But who am I to lecture a commoner since I'm something much lower. A criminal." She stared at Orga a bit longer, and the longer she did, the more the want to harm him came. Her pupils slowly dilated, and slowly she gained a predatory visage as her palm began glowing black again. She was about to lift her hand to attack the fallen Orga before four portals opened up around her. Before she could move, Sting, Rogue, Minerva and Rufus were surrounding her with Yukino watching in the back just as afraid as everyone in the audience.

Marshall took a step forward, ready to unsheathe his blade before his comrades held out a hand to halt his progress. "Oi...what do you think you're doing to our comrade?" Sting asked, snarling towards her with a threatening visage. "My memory tells me that this was a simple duel, not a fight to the death. Please don't force us to act. You won the event." Rufus added with just as much disdain for her. "If you don't lower your magic, I'll kill you right here." Minerva said it so bluntly, but Misaki didn't budge. She was still contemplating it until finally Kaiser spoke.

"Now now, Misaki. You did well, but remember the rules here. Remember why you're here. You're not that person anymore."

Like a switch, Kaiser's words caused Misaki to drop her hand, brushing by Sting as she walked off back to her team. Chapati then tried his best to bring the crowd back into things. "Well...Empyrean Dawn now holds the lead as Sabertooth sits in last for the time being! Can anyone beat Misaki's record? Lets find out as the next round of contestants are... Quatro Cerberus's Warcry versus Mermaid Heel's Risley Law!"

"That was real tense, huh?" Waiston took note of the prior situation, causing Reve to nod. "Yeah, that Misaki girl is strong. I wonder just how much stronger Empyrean Dawn is. Who is the top dog there? And what's Kaiser's real scheme with them?"

"I meant her showdown with Sabertooth just now, but that too."

Reve shrugged. "That I don't care about. We've never been friends with Sabertooth either, and that's because of Fairy Tail and how their alliance quickly allowed them to choose sides. We've been on our own from the beginning. You know that, Waiston."

"Maybe we should seek allies too. It must be nice." Said Kuro, joining in while slumping over the railing to watch the ongoing event. "But I know getting anyone to like us is a stretch."

"You're speaking of alliances in case of war, Kuro, not based off of an actual relationship with other guilds. That's what it sounds like." The fiery haired male turned to Takeru, who remained in his seat, one hand pressed to his chin as he continued watching the event. "And Fiore is pretty united, so that'll never happen unless some big reason surfaces, but to create an alliance with other guilds without any real relationships with the guild members would be fickle, and more of a burden than an asset. Fairy Tail grew bonds with the likes of Lamia Scale, Mermaid Heel and Sabertooth. As weak as they are, they're still a stronger bond than anything we have with literally anyone. So they win that by default. Yet we have the advantage because when it comes to competitions, you can only rely on your own guild, and that's where we're the strongest."

Kuro couldn't help but agree with a nod. "Yeah, I'm just saying it would be nice to have relationships with mages connected to other guilds is all. Anything we've been involved in, it's because we've been dragged into it. Even Tartarus, even though it was as much as our problem as it was theirs. And each time, they came out with no casualties while we suffered. Darn...I just made myself upset at them again." And it showed as Kuro's eyes peered over towards Erza and the others. "Look at them. Some people may be missing for now, but they'll have their entire family back together eventually. For us though, there's just some people we can't get back.."

"That took a dark turn, Kuro..." Cygnus admitted, rubbing the back of his head through the awkward silence the Fire Make Mage created with his subtle anger. "But the right one." Reve replied, garnering their attention. "That's real motivation to be better than them. Don't forget everyone we lost getting tied up in Fairy Tail's situations. Zeref, Tartarus, everything we've been through, we've lost people because of them and their carelessness. Our rivalry, no...our beef with Fairy Tail runs deeper than who is the stronger guild, and you all are aware of that. What leaves a bitter taste in your mouths is that they don't understand that. So it's your jobs to make them understand. Right?"

"Hai." A bunch of them agreed simultaneously. The rookies just sat off to the side, within earshot but Reve's words reached them loud and clear, even if they weren't there to experience it all first hand. Luke looked over, noticing their expression change as they watched the games, giving a small smile to himself before turning back to watch as well — Risley and Warcry coming to a conclusion.

"Your winner is Warcry! Knocking Risely Law off seventeen yards! Misaki still holds the lead and record with forty five, putting Warcry just under Leon Shi who stands at twenty yards! Not bad Warcry!"

"Alright! We're in third!" Nobarly shouted as Warcry yelled at the top of his lungs the sound of victory. "Wild!" "Four!" The guild chanted as the next two competitors readied to enter the ring.

"Next up! We have White Eclipse B's Micaiah versus The Council's Akeji Vero! Akeji is one of the council's most aspiring rookies! Renowned, polished and poised, this handsome young man is a hit with everyone in Fiore, including the ladies!"

"Why is Chapati reading a dating service intro?" Reiss asked with a disgusted face. His team followed with the same look. "He is hot though." Riley added, causing the others to turn their disgusted looks towards her. "I'm just speaking the truth. He's pretty built, and black hair is always a plus; especially with those blue eyes. I'd take him—"

"LETS GO MICAIAH!" Reiss shouted over Riley's unwanted dissection of The Council's rookie officer. They both bowed, then retracted into a readied stance. As he did so, Akeji summoned a magic seal at his feet. It then began to spin rapidly, gaining momentum as aura from that circle began shining brightly.

{"Micaiah, after seeing what this event is. You should go next. We need a big push, and you can change the guard right here! We can catapult ourselves to the front with big wins today. Think you can do it?"

She nodded to Reiss's plea, clenching her petite fists together. "I can! I already know what to do, so leave it to me!"}

"Here I come." The Council rookie spoke so calmly in the midst of his spinning magic circle that continued to gain strength and momentum. Finally, Akeji sprung forward thanks to the power behind his magic.

"Oof. I think we made a mistake here." Crisdelin admitted with a smile, and that's when it happened.

"Black Knight!" Micaiah shouted with one hand raised high above her head. Summoned just as Akeji took off, just before the summoner herself, a large, black armored knight appeared to protect Micaiah — holding forth a large shield that gained a magic seal of its own. Soon, the two would collide, creating a resisting force against one another until finally, Akeji was seen flying backwards uncontrollably until he finally hit the ground.

"WHOOOA!" Chapati shouted, leading a chorus of cheers as Micaiah stood victorious against the fallen Council member. "Akeji Vero is out by a full fifth two yards! White Eclipse B now stands in first place with only one more round to go!" Can it be topped? Lets find out as our two remaining competitors enter the arena! It's Fairy Tail's Mirajane Strauss, vs. White Eclipse's Aira Aeolus!"

Anticipation grew, and as the B team celebrated with their victorious Micaiah, more than a team would off an event, Aira stepped forward, standing before Mirajane herself. The women shared a smile, and though their tones were gentle, the wording was anything but.

"Ara Ara, it's nice to stand before you, Aira-chan. Though, I was hoping Kairi would still be a part of your guild when these games came back around. She's the only one I'm interested in." Mirajane had no problem admitting this, placing a right hand to her cheek while holding that faux innocent smile of hers. Aira titled her head, keeping her own curve of the lips while her hands remained clasped together before her. "Oh my. That's too bad. To be honest, I also wish Kairi was still a member of White Eclipse, but she's moved on to a new home. Unfortunately for you, it doesn't make us any weaker, and surely not me. It seems that a reminder is needed for such."

"Lets go Mira!" Bickslow shouted, standing next to Freed who was waving a small flag in his hands, and Evergreen, who was directly next to Elfman waving two of the same flags.

"...WAIT!? HUH!?" Elfman would lead the surprise shouting as the Raijinshu appeared literally out of nowhere. Evergreen then turned to Elfman with an evil look. "Did you win your fight, you lug head?"

Elfman gulped, but then straightened up as tried to regain himself. "O-of course I did. Decisively! Like a man should."

"Oh is that so? Well you'll see what decisively looks like when Laxus fights today!" Evergreen shouted, waving her flags with the Raijinshu once more.

"Does that means...he's here!?" Lucy asked. Freed nodded with folded arms and a proud smirk. "Of course. We wouldn't be if he wasn't. We rescinded our Blue Pegasus memberships and became Fairy Tail mages once again."

"Wait..." Gray quickly caught on. "You guys were at Blue Pegasus this entire time? With Ichiya?"

A shiver went down Erza's spine at the thought alone, and Cana and the others attempted to hold in their laughter. "I can't see Laxus trying to court women like that." The drunkard admitted, folding over and laughing. Freed shook his head.

"Laxus was always off training, so that's something he never partook in." That caught everyone's attention, and Freed knew it. "He only showed up to Blue Pegasus to recover and rest. Besides that, our Laxus was out pushing himself to the limits, and becoming... someone who can protect everyone.." Freed's words struck himself and the Raijinshu, leaving the others slightly confused before they turned back to Mirajane with an announcing Chapati.

"Blow her away!" Cana shouted, disregarding the potential awkward moment brewing as she rooted her guild mate on.

"Ladies are you ready!" Chapati shouted. Aira and Mirajane both nodded. "And begin!"

As Chapati gave them the green light, the White Eclipse Mage showed first signs by gathering a plethora of wind around her — enough to cause reverberations throughout the arena. Not much of violent shaking, but simply disruption took over the atmosphere as Aira kept a serious visage intact — glued to Mirajane herself. Mirajane grinned, readying herself as well. "In all honesty, Aira, I'm well aware of just how strong you are, but today is a bad matchup for you."

"And how is that?" She asked, and the answer she received, was an unpleasant one.

"Takeover..." Mirajane began, a light consuming her entire frame as she lost her current attire. As the light gradually diminished, she stood in a takeover that was new...yet familiar. Aira's eyes slowly widened as Mirajane revealed her newest form.

Her snowy white hair lengthened, and the top at two points resembled that of feline like ears. Little black diamond shaped markings appeared both above and beneath her eyes, and on her arms those shapes appeared at the end of her forearms as her skin became a gradient of pale normalcy to black like charcoal — down to her now extended nails. A large black scarf, decorated with yellow scales covered the skin tight green leotard underneath, along with green and black heeled boots that halted just above the knee. Her appearance was all too familiar with some, and that was because those who were there remember the encounter of the Tartarus Demons.

"Takeover...Jackal!" Mirajane boasted proudly as she now stood in her new form, extending a single arm as she beckoned Aira to attack her. "Well then, Aira-chan, shall we proceed?" She asked in a sly tone, noticing the shift in her opponent's demeanor. Aira sucked her teeth, her brows furrowing as she continued to collect an abundance of wind around her. "So that's where the Tartarus Demons went to, huh?" She asked rhetorically. "That matters naught. I still don't plan on losing here, Mira. So take this!"

"Aira wait!" Reve shouted with haste, but it was too late.

"Crushing Air Palm!" Aira shouted, and as an enlarged torrent of wind came rushing towards Mirajane, the demon takeover simply grinned, pulling her extended arm back and then outward along with her other, coiling them into the motion of a dial — clockwise before swinging her arms the opposite direction. This created a powerful torrent of her own, but an explosive one. Induced with fire, Mirajane's potent attack rushed towards Aira, colliding for only a second before taking over the Wind Mage's completely.

Her eyes widened in shock, and unfortunately with no defense, Aira could only desperately put her arms up as a shield as the now overpowering fiery explosive wave — boosted by her own winds took her off her feet and sent her flying...

Flying further than anything recorded so far.

It wasn't even a contest once Aira landed, and everyone was speechless once everything cleared. Finally, Tiny cleared his throat once he realized Chapati and Mato were too shocked to speak. "It looks like ya winner is Mirajane. And that's what? One hundred and ten yards? That makes White Eclipse the supreme losers of this event, right?"

"Th...that's right!" Chapati said, finally coming to. "Ladies and Gentlemen! The Duel event is over, and your first place winner is... Mirajane of Fairy Tail! She gives her team ten points, shooting Fairy Tail up to twenty three points!"

"Alright Mira!" Lucy shouted, hugging Cana as the two celebrated with the rest of their guild. "Too easy! And against the pain in the ass White Eclipse too!" Cana added.

"Oi...Aira..." Jack cringed, looking on as Aira regained herself to take the walk of shame back to her guild. Clapping was heard in an attempt to keep her spirits high, but the atmosphere never shifted from defeat, partially because it happened so surprisingly. Not just losing to Mirajane, but losing so bad, that they lost the event completely.

"In second place it's Micaiah of White Eclipse B! That's nine points for them, putting them at twenty with their counterparts!"

"We...we're tied with the veterans!?" Reiss shouted in disbelief. "That's...that's huge! That's so huge!"

"That's what she said!" Lance shouted, celebrating as Micaiah rubbed the back of her head, bashfully taking in the congratulations from her teammates around her.

"In third is Mizaki Izumi of Empyrean Dawn! That gives her eight points, raising her team to seventeen!"

"Hmph. If I would have known, I wouldn't have held back so much like I was instructed." She complained, yet shrugged victoriously as Marshall waved his arms around her. "You were amazing out there, little sister! Your big brother is proud of you!"

"Get away from me, Marshall."

"Up next, it's Leon Shi with seven points! That puts Black Phoenix at fourteen total points!" Leon rubbed the back of his head. "My bad. It's really hard to gauge these things. I didn't want to hurt my opponent or anything with my magic either."

"What did you say!?" Adacore shouted, bandaged up to show proof of Leon's words.

"And finally of the winner's side, it's Warcry of Quatro Cerberus! He gains six points for his efforts!"

"Wild!" The tear mage shouted. "FOUR!" Everyone of his guild and then some joined in chorus. "We're on the board! That's a good start! Lets keep making up for it!" Bacchus pumped his fist. "They always count us out, and we always retaliate and make noise! Lets do it!"

"How wrong you are Bacchus." Reve stated to himself, memories flashing back to the Grand Magic Games of last year. "Ever since last year's tournament, you've been kept a close eye on. You came in first in the preliminaries that year. You defeated Selene as well, and even scored high on some of the events. Your slow start hasn't swept you under the rug, and it sure hasn't caused us to look the other way when it comes to Quatro Cerberus. Same goes for Sabertooth and Mermaid Heel.. Despite these newbies making noise, I know not to overlook or underestimate the ones that have been here before..."

"And now, the losers bracket!" Chapati shouted. "First up, with five points, it's Mermaid Heel's Risley Law! Mermaid Heel now has seven points!"

Risley rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, but Kagura nodded in approval as the others congratulated her.

"Next, it's Adacore from Twilight Zone with four points for his team! That leads them to twenty two points!"

"Boo! Loser!" Evanee and Aubrey bantered at their own guild mate, causing Adacore to gain a tick mark as Rylo turned away, trying not to laugh. "But hey, look at that. We're in second now." Rylo boasted, pointing to the ever changing scoreboard. "Even with White Eclipse's score we're still ahead by two, and trailing Fairy Tail by one."

"Every point matters, I'm told." Evanee added. "But being this close to the lead is also a positive notion."

"Next it's Orga from Sabertooth! Managing three points for his guild, he puts Sabertooth at eighteen!"

Sting patted his comrade on the back. "Nice try big guy! You did great! Not even I expected her to have that much power behind her attack."

"And then it's Akeji Vero for the council! Surviving with two points, they are now up to twelve!"

"Looks like I have some cleaning up to do tomorrow." Crisdelin hummed, turning her back to the rookie who now stood alone, away from the team.

"And finally! Surprisingly! Zero points for Aira Aeolus and White Eclipse A, keeping them at twenty points."

"Thank goodness for the strong start." Luke replied, sighing a bit as he waited for the next announcement. "Zero...that stings." Reve murmured to himself. "We'll get it back." Adamantine assured. "We'll take the ten points in this fight, then we won't look back after that. Right, Captain?"

Reve looked over at the confident dragon, nodding in reassurance. "It would have been nice to stretch the lead...to put our foots on their throats, but you're right. We'll take back what's ours eventually, and we won't look back. You're up soon, big guy."

Chapati then took the mic again. "Ladies and gentlemen! Don't let these scores fool you, because that was only the first half of day two! After a short break, we'll be starting off the battle portion of the day; starting with White Eclipse B's Ramman Verdi's Fairy Tail's Laxus Dreyar!"

Reiss, who had been celebrating this entire time, instantly froze. "Oh no... just when we were gaining momentum..." The redhead slumped over as if he saw the end of the world. Ramman on the other hand, took a step forward, towering the hunched over Reiss with his arms folded. "Even I know that name, and that makes this even better for me. I cant wait to test my strength against this victim of mine."

Reiss looked up confused. "You're awfully confident to be fighting against one of Fairy Tail's strongest members!" He shouted. Ramman looked down, simply starting in disappointment to his captain. "You should stay down there, close to the ground. The way you're crying...it suits you at this moment, Captain."

The way he said Captain with such a sarcastic, condescending tone left an impact as he walked off alone to prepare for his fight. Reiss could only look back as the others remained silent, watching Ramman walk away.

"With that type of confidence. We can't have anything but faith in him.." Said Tyson. "Where did you find him again?"

The question was pointed at Ilaria, and she answered post haste. "Just on the streets. He stuck out like a sore thumb, so I knew he was special. All main characters of stories always stick out like sore thumbs in the middle of a street."

Facepalms by nearly everyone, but Ilaria held her stance on Ramman and her decision to pick him. "Also, his soul was speaking to me. It was dying to kill something. Though he's not going to, his soul is yearning for it, which means he's not only confident, he has the aggressor of a real fighter. So even if he doesn't win, I know that I made the right pick, because I picked someone that wants to win. Even if it's life or death. He doesn't want to survive. He wants to win."

"...Well that was a much better answer." Reiss admitted as the blaring horn blew. He turned to see Ramman walking into the arena, waiting for his opponent to arrive.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, our first match is White Eclipse B's Ramman, versus..."

Suddenly, a clash of lightning hit the ground, and from it, the big bulky blond of Fairy Tail made his first appearance since Tartarus. With a brand new haircut, and a giant coat draped over his shoulders, and a smug grin as the stadium erupted in cheers over a crowd favorite.

"He's here!" A random shouted. "I can't believe it." Another one added.

"...Fairy Tail's very own, Laxus Dreyar!"

"Lets go Laxus!" Freed shouted, joining in with everyone now as the leader of the Raijinshu made his appearance. Makarov's grandson kept his gaze on Ramman however, sparking lightning around his person lightly. "So you're my first opponent? Please show me what you're capable of, kid."

A nerve was struck immediately. Ramman quietly grit his teeth before coming to a smile of his own. Soon, lightning surged around his both as well, mostly his right arm which he held at the ready. "Don't worry. I'll show you just what I'm capable of, old man."

"Oh? He uses lightning? This is open and shut for Laxus!" Bickslow shouted. "Yeah!" Cynthia added. "Laxus is a Lightning Dragon Slayer! This guy is done!"

"Oh am I!?" Ramman shouted back towards Cynthia, catching her off guard and causing her to comically cower away from the jump scare. "Hey, I'm your opponent." Laxus reminded Ramman. He then turned back to Laxus, still grinning an almost evil grin as both waited for the bell to ring. And finally...Mato shouted.

"Mages...begin!"