Chapter 197

Willy Vs. Mattan

WILLY'S POV

I now stood in the tunnel, waiting for my turn to fight in the arena. As I listened to the cheers echoing from outside, I couldn't help but feel a little nervous. This match would be my first fight since what happened with the Infinity Clock. However, I also felt a little bit excited, believing that this was my chance to show everyone the results of my training, and see how I fared in a fight.

"All right, Willy, this is it," I told myself. "This is what you've been training for. Things may have been down for Fairy Tail lately, but this is your chance to give them some hope. You got this."

I looked at my hands and punched them together, psyching myself up. Then, I took a deep breath and started walking forward, eventually coming out of the tunnel.

Immediately upon doing so, the crowd erupted in boos and cheers. The boos were most likely for me, and the encouragement was for my opponent. However, I paid them no mind as I continued walking, keeping my eyes focused straight ahead to where Mato stood in the middle of the arena. At the same time, I also saw my opponent, Mattan, walking out.

Mattan was a young woman who was pretty slim, curvy, and had shoulder-length pink hair. Her outfit was a blue hat with gold trims sporting cat ears, white gloves, boots with silver edges, a blue cut-off shirt with the upper half being transparent pink, and violet stockings.

While I walked on, I glanced towards the balcony box where the members of Raven Tail stood, every one of their eyes fixed solely on me.

"I better be on guard when it comes to them during the match," I thought. "Tu Chi may be watching Lapis and Asuka, but there will be no one watching out for me in this fight. If I'm not careful, I'll end up like Gray and Lucy."

"And here he comes, folks, the wizard representing Fairy Tail, Willy Falconer!" Chapati spoke out. "And from the other side, we have Mattan Ginger from Twilight Orge!"

"From the looks of things, it seems obvious who the audience is rooting for," said Jenny. "And frankly, I can't blame them. I've heard quite a few rumors that Willy doesn't have the best reputation, and people call him "Traitor of the Balam Alliance."

"That may be so, but rumors don't last longer than the truth," said Yajima. "Despite it all, Willy is a strong and capable wizard considering that he's one of Fairy Tail's elite wizards, and he's been under the tutelage of Tu Chi."

"Hold a second, did you say Tu Chi?!" exclaimed Chapati. "As in the Wizard Saint, Tu Chi?"

"The very same," smiled Yajima. "And as I'm sure you're well aware, Tu Chi is one of the strongest Wizards Saints that's ever been known. I'd say she's about as strong as Jura, if not a little bit more."

"Well, that's certainly a surprise," said Jenny. "But we'll see if any of that training pays off against Mattan. I hear that she's a master of two types of magic and is one of Twilight Orge's strongest, so this should be a good match."

Mira and the rest of Fairy Tail Team B watched as Willy entered the arena. They could hear the crowd cheering, but not for Willy.

"Talk about a tough crowd," Laxus spoke with a frown. "Then again, I can't blame them after what happened."

"Ignore them. The opinions don't matter anyway," said Gajeel. "I'm hoping Water-Boy wins this match because we sure as hell could use a win right now."

"Hopefully, he doesn't screw up like Jellal did," huffed Laxus. "If he does, that'll be an even bigger letdown."

Mira smiled. "Oh, don't you worry about that," she said. "Willy's got this in the bag. After all, he's been training hard for this."

"Now that I think about it, this will be the first time I'll ever see Willy fight," said Laxus. "While we fought alongside each other back on Tenrou Island, I never had the chance to see his skills."

"You'll just have to wait and see," said Mira.

"I know you can win this, Willy. Make sure you don't lose," Mira spoke in her thoughts. "Show everyone what you're made of."

WILLY'S POV

I now stood a few feet away from Mattan while Mato stood in the middle.

Mattan took one look at me and flashed a confident smile. "So, you're Willy Falconer, huh?" she said. "Everyone's been saying that you're quite the brute, but honestly, I'm not impressed."

"Well, I suppose I'll take that as a compliment," I replied.

Mattan then pointed at me while striking a strange and flashy pose. "Now, you listen up, kid! You may think you're hot stuff because you supposedly trained under a Wizard Saint, but I'm willing to bet that's all BS, and I'll prove it by beating you! Plus, this will be my chance to get some payback for your friends knocking us out in the preliminaries!"

"You seem pretty confident," I said while cracking my knuckles. "But where I come from, we talk with our fists and magic instead of words, so I hope you got the power to back up that statement."

Mato then spoke. "All right, you two, this will be a single-elimination match," he said. "There's no time limit, and the match will continue until one of you is knocked out or surrenders. In addition, I can stop the match, but that is solely my decision."

I then took a stance, and Mattan did the same. As she did, two giant orange-red flames flared from behind her lower body and her head.

Mato then gave the word. "Now, the first match of Mattan Ginger and Willy Falconer will now begin!" he called out as he raised his hand. "Ready...! Fight!"

He then jumped back as the gong sounded, signaling the start of the match.

Immediately, Mattan went on the attack dashing straight toward me while elegantly turning her body, and fired a wave of flames. I quickly bent backward to dodge, missing the fire as I went into a handstand and flipped, landing back on my feet.

Mattan continued her assault, holding her hands together, conjuring a ball of flame, and firing multiple shots. I jumped and hopped around, dodging them easily, side-stepping and ducking.

"Man! You're pretty fast, ain'tcha?" Mattan grinned. "Then, let's see how you handle this!"

She held her hands out and threw them out, releasing a chilling wave of ice. I crouched a little and jumped up, avoiding the attack while crossing my arms with my palms out, and summoned forth a pair of water stars from them.

"WATER DRAGON: DOUBLE STAR!"

I threw the stars aiming toward Mattan, but she was quick to defend herself by releasing another wave of ice and freezing the water stars. The wave of ice continued straight towards me, but I quickly used a spell of my own.

"WATER DRAGON: AQUA JET!"

While putting my feet forward, I shot water from their bottoms and maneuvered out of the way, dodging the wave of ice as it hit the ground behind me while I landed.

Mattan turned again, releasing another wave of fire, but I quickly held out my hands to their sides, straightening them out while cloaking them with water. Then, crossing my swords into an X with a mighty slice, I cut straight through the flames and dashed towards her.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Mattan yelled as she released another wave of ice from her hands.

I jumped into the air avoiding the attack while flipping upside down. Water then covered my leg as I swung and flipped forward in an ax kick.

"WATER DRAGON: TALON!"

Mattan quickly jumped back as my foot slammed to the ground causing a small explosion of water as it sprayed all around. As soon as she gained some distance, Mattan released another shower of fireballs.

I quickly jumped forward while dashing side to side, dodging them, and while a few of them shot toward me, I cloaked my hands in water and punched them out, blocking them.

"This battle is heating up in this cool battle as both Willy and Mattan continue putting on an impressive display!" Chapati continued with his commentary. "Mattan's fire and ice magic and Willy's water magic are truly something to behold!"

Mattan then stopped firing, and I deflected the last fireball. The two of us then stared grimly at each other, waiting for one another to make a move.

"I gotta admit, Mattan ain't too bad, but this seems too easy," I thought. "Not only that, but her attacks are mostly long-range, which leads me to believe that she doesn't do so well in close combat. Overall, I can beat her, no problem, but let me see if I can take things up a notch."

I dug my feet into the ground and shot forward as Mattan held her hands in front and then fired several chunks of ice. Then, using my enhanced fists, I punched through one after the other, not stopping until I was close enough to her, throwing a punch.

As a look of surprise crossed Mattan's face, she quickly moved her head to the right, avoiding the punch, and tried gaining some distance. However, I didn't let up as I pursued her while continuing to swing.

"Look at him go!" Chapati cried. "Willy not only punches his way past Mattan's ice attack but is getting up close and personal with her as she dodges his relentless attacks!"

"Willy may have the speed and agility advantage, but Mattan ain't no slouch either," Jenny added. "And while both of these wizards have been able to block each other, one of them will have to land a hit sooner or later."

I continued attacking Mattan swinging my fists while she dodged until I tried sweeping her legs with a low kick. Only for her to jump up high into the air as she raised her hands above her hand.

"Nice try, but now, try this on for size!" Mattan yelled.

She threw her hands and released another blast of ice magic stronger than previously. Reacting quickly, I jumped backward, dodging just as the attack blasted where I was just a moment ago.

But as I landed back on the ground while skidding, my feet started to slip, causing me to lose my balance. I quickly caught myself, preventing myself from falling while still unsteady. I looked down to the ground and soon realized what had happened.

The ground had been covered by a thin layer of ice that spread almost throughout the arena. Mattan was smirking with triumph as she stood a few feet away on a tiny bit of area free from the ice.

"Look at that! Mattan Ginger has frozen the ground with that last attack!" Chapati exclaimed. "And Willy Falconer seems to be having trouble staying up!"

As I struggled to stay still while keeping upright, Mattan laughed snidely.

"How do you like that?! If you can't stay standing, it doesn't matter how fast you are!" she said while pointing. "Now, let's see if you can dodge or deflect my attacks this time!"

She then used her magic again to fire an array of fireballs. I quickly tried punching them to block, but I was quick to lose my balance by slipping and getting hit due to the ice. Several explosions occurred when they made contact sending me sliding across the icy floor.

As I did, I made a sword materialize in my hand and, while flipping, stabbed it in the ground to stop myself.

NO POV

"Oh! And Mattan finally scores a direct hit sending Willy skidding across the floor!" Chapati yelled in his mic. "Luckily, Willy managed to stop himself, but he still finds himself in a precarious situation!"

"That was a pretty smart move on Mattan's part," Jenny commented. "By freezing the ground and covering it in ice, Mattan's taken away Willy's advantage in speed and mobility. Even he will have a bit of trouble on that ice."

"Mr. Yajima, do you have any comments about this?" Chapati asked the old man.

Yajima didn't say a word as he kept his eyes focused on the fight.

I managed to pull myself up with my sword while staying upright, but Mattan kept her attack, showering me with fireballs. It didn't hurt me much, but it was starting to grow a bit annoying.

I created another sword, stabbing it into the ground. Then, I grabbed both blades by their hilts, pulled myself back, and surged forward toward Mattan, bringing my kick back for another water-cloaked kick.

"WATER DRAGON: TALON!"

But as I swung my leg, Mattan ducked out of the way to dodge, making me miss her. As I landed back on the ground, sliding on the ice, I quickly summoned another sword and stabbed it, which helped me stop.

I looked up in time for Mattan to fire a blast of ice magic at the ground before me, causing an explosion to cloud my vision. As soon as I could see again, I tried to attack again, but my legs wouldn't move for some reason, and they felt cold.

I saw that my legs were encased in thick ice from my feet to my knees. I grunted and pulled, trying to pull them free, but the ice wouldn't break or budge.

"That oughta keep you still," Mattan said with a laugh. "If you can't move, it doesn't matter how quick or flexible you are! Time to finish you off by turning you into an ice cube!"

She held out her hand and began repeatedly firing blasts of ice while I crossed my arms to defend as I took every shot. More ice slowly covered my body as she did, making it grow stiffer by the second.

NO POV

"This does not look good for Willy!" Chapati announced in alarm. "Mattan continues her relentless assault by shooting multiple ice attacks at Willy while he's unable to fight back!"

"Oh, no! Willy!" Lucy cried.

"Come on, man! You gotta get out of there!" Natsu yelled.

"What the heck's going on?!" Elfman exclaimed. "How's Willy getting his butt whipped like this?! Unless that Mattan girl's stronger than he expected."

"I don't know," Erza spoke with her arms crossed. "But something doesn't feel right. Those attacks shouldn't have affected him so much."

Mattan continued firing blasts of ice, creating explosion after explosion creating a giant frosty cloud that billowed over Willy's location. After a while, she stopped wearing a satisfied smirk on her face.

The cloud of frost faded, revealing Willy now encased in a large chunk of size, completely frozen.

"Well, folks, it looks like Willy's been put on ice! Literally!" Chapati resumed commentating. "Could this be the end for him?! Has Fairy Tail's last hope for a victory gone with the icy wind and been let go?!"

The crowd began to cheer wildly while all the Fairy Tail members were shocked and horrified, believing that Willy had lost. But then, they, along with some of the audience members, heard a voice call out.

"Hey, Willy! Stop fooling around already!"

Natsu and the others looked up and found that the voice came from Mirajane over at Fairy Tail B's balcony box.

"Come on! I know you're holding back, so why don't you finish the fight already!" Mira continued to shout.

"Yeah, come on, Water-Boy! You're making us yawn over here!" Gajeel also yelled. "Hurry up and take that broad down already!"

"Wait, hold on. Willy's holding back?" Lucy repeated as she looked back at the arena.

It was then that cracks began to appear on the ice, cracking while spreading throughout until finally, the ice exploded as Willy burst free, seemingly unharmed.

WILLY'S POV

After breaking free from the ice, I shivered a bit as I rolled my right shoulder.

"Man! That was cold!" I complained. "I think I preferred getting hit by the fire. At least I'm resistant to it."

"I don't believe it! Willy managed to break out of the ice!" I heard Jenny speak in disbelief.

"I figured as much," said Yajima. "It seems that Mattan's attacks had zero effect on him, and what we just saw was another show."

Mattan now wore a shocked expression as she gawked at me. "Wh-What's going on?!" she demanded. "How the heck did you break out?! You shouldn't be able to do that!"

"Well, to put bluntly, it's just as my fellow guildmate said, I was holding back," I told her. "Sorry, but I wanted to feel you out to see how you stacked up. I'll admit, you're way stronger than those other guys you got in your guild. But sadly, I'm afraid I'm way stronger than you."

An angry scowl twisted Mattan's face. "What did you just say?!" she snapped. "You're bluffing! There's no way you could've been holding back!"

"But it's true. I mean, seriously, I'm telling the truth," I insisted. "I could probably beat you with my eyes closed if I wanted to."

Mattan's face went as red as a cherry in anger as the flames behind her flared. "You little bastard!" she yelled. "You wanna act cocky with me?! Fine then! If that's how you wanna play it, then why don't you put your jewel where your mouth is?!" She then jabbed a finger at me. "Fight me with your eyes shut!"

I couldn't help but stare blankly at her. "Um, are you sure you want me to do that?" I asked. "If I did that, I might end up not only beating you but also embarrassing you."

"Of course, I'm sure!" Mattan snapped again. "Unless you're nothing but a liar and are nothing but talk!"

I couldn't help but sigh as I cracked my neck a bit. "All right then. If that's what you want. But don't say I didn't warn you."

I then closed my eyes and concentrated, letting magic power surge through my body, making it glow blue as I activated my Aqua Sense.

I could see Mittan's silhouette and two strange ghostly balls representing her flames. I then held up a hand and beckoned her with a finger.

Mattan growled in anger, her flames flaring. "You cocky punk! Get ready to lose because I'll burn you to a crisp!" she shrieked. "Now, take this!"

She then spun her body, releasing a powerful wave of fire. As soon as it was close enough, I bent backward to avoid it, and as the flames shot past me, I straightened back up.

While I couldn't see Mattan's face, I did see her silhouette take a step back.

"Th-That was just a fluke!" she said, trying to sound confident. "But let's see you try and dodge these!"

She held out her hands and then fired an array of fireballs. Rather than use my magic to deflect them, I quickly moved my body effortlessly, dodging the fireballs while remaining where I stood.

"There's no way!" Mattan exclaimed as she stopped. "How are you doing that?!"

"Easy. I may have my eyes shut, but I can still see you," I replied. "Everything from your movements to all the magic that you fire."

Mattan then fired multiple ice beams, but I avoided them again while skating along the ice, circling and dashing at a rate too hard for her to follow. I could see that she was looking around back and forth, confused and bewildered.

NO POV

"I don't believe what I'm seeing! Willy is now dodging all of Mattan's attacks with ease while keeping his eyes shut and standing on the ice!" Chapati cried out. "Does he have incredible reflexes, or is he using a trick to predict them?!"

"I would have thought it'd be obvious, Chapati, although I wouldn't call it a trick," Yajima said. "Willy's utilizing a special spell that Tu Chi herself created. A spell called the Aqua Sense."

"Aqua Sense?" repeated Jenny. "I've certainly never heard of such a spell."

"It's a spell that allows the user to sense the magic power and water within a target," explained Yajima. "Normally, it's used for searching, but it seems Willy can utilize it for combat. Combine that with his flexibility and speed, and he's a force to be reckoned with."

WILLY'S POV

I continued dashing around Mattan while avoiding every attack she threw at me. I could tell that she was starting to panic because she was firing her attacks haphazardly, which I wanted.

"Perfect. Now, time for me to end this!"

And while Mattan was still firing, I jumped high into the air performing a flip, and then landed just behind her. I then lightly tapped Mattan's shoulder, and just as she started turning around, I brought my leg up, putting my magic into it, and gave her a wicked kick right in her stomach.

Mattan's eyes bulged out of their sockets while coughing a glob of spit from the blow as its force sent her flying and tumbling to the ground. Her flames quickly fizzled out, revealing a cotton ball on her bottoms and her hat as she lay there, not moving.

"And that's it!" Chapati yelled out. "The winner of this match due to a knockout with a single hit, Willy Falconer of Fary Tail! Therefore, he moves on to the semi-finals!"

I felt happy that I won the fight, but at the same time, I couldn't help but feel a bit bad feeling that I overdid it.

I then turned and walked away from the arena to leave, but as I did, I could hear most of the audience yelling, booing, and yelling some things.

"You lousy punk! I know you cheated!"

"You're nothing but a brat and a traitor!"

"There's no way I'll accept someone like you!"

"He must have had someone helping him win! The match was fixed!"

Hearing those words did make me feel a bit angry, but I also could see that over where the Fairy Tail members were, they were cheering, celebrating my victory, which lessened my anger.

"It sucks that the audience still thinks of me as the bad guy, but I was able to win and give everyone else a bit of hope, so that's good enough for me."

And as I left the arena, ignoring the jeers, I couldn't help but let a smile cross my face.

NO POV

Over at the Raven Tail balcony box, Alexei and the rest of the Raven Tail team watched as Willy walked out of the arena.

"Hey, Boss. You sure about leaving that guy alone?" asked Nullpudding. "If you wanted to, you could have had Obra drain away his magic power like the blonde girl."

"Yes, I could have," said Alexei. "But if I had given such an order, we would have gotten caught by Tu Chi of the Wizard Saints, so we can't afford to take any risks. Besides, our plans for Fairy Tail are just getting started, and Fuzen will play a key role in dealing with Willy Falconer. That boy is quite a formidable foe, but once Fuzen's done with him, he'll become nothing more than a broken man. And I'll be looking forward to seeing the look on his and Makarov's faces when that happens."

Nullpudding snickered. "Sounds like a good time," he said. "As the saying goes, there's more than one way to skin a cat, or in this case, to declaw a dragon."

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And as always, thank you for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter!

Dragomaster, signing off!