I'd love to tell you that I've been working hard this past month, but that'd be a lie. I also don't have a reasonable excuse. All I can do is give you this and hope you don't stay too mad at me! Enjoy and review!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned except for Seth Makarov, Maria and Charles.
This.
"Ichigo, pass me the tape!"
This is why.
"Ichigo, are you listening to me? I need the tape!"
If there were anything, anything, else that he could be doing besides arts and crafts with Rukia, he'd be doing it.
*SMACK*
"Ow! What was that for!?" Ichigo yells out as the foot that had been planted in his face pulls itself out of the impression it leaves.
"You weren't listening, and I needed the tape," Rukia explains, landing gently. She grabs the tape dispenser from Ichigo's side of the table and scurries over to her work space. Ichigo groans as he watches her connect edges of colorful scraps on the monstrosity in front of her.
He looks around at the other tables. Sure, there are some other ones that don't look so good, some that may even be worse than Rukia's, but it's not so much about the quality of what she's building as its general shape.
Honestly, he's kind of glad that she sucks so much at art, because if he had to fight inside of a giant rabbit he would have nightmares for weeks.
In his scan of the room he catches glimpses of some pretty amazing structures. The girl that was with that really annoying guy dressed in all black with the piercings (what was his name?) used some sort of magic to make a castle out of the words brick, glass and stone.
Another creation looks so detailed it looked like miniature people had built it. It's like a high-rise apartment complex, and he wouldn't be surprised if each room was fully decorated. This one is being made by the little girl with silver hair, accompanied by the tall scary looking guy with red hair.
However, neither of these compare to the masterpiece a few tables over from him and Rukia. It had been complete in a manner of minutes by a little girl in a kimono. It looks like an old japanese dojo that had been built by a madman, with tons of walls and wooden poles sticking out everywhere. It would make for an interesting arena, to say the least, but the thing that's making some people look away from their own projects was the aura that surrounds it, instilling a sense of excitement and energy in the groups nearest to it.
Ichigo's gaze turns back to Rukia's project and he shudders once more at the thought of a larger scale version. This is why he doesn't let her make things.
Standing at the top of the stair case in the room, Seth and Maria announce that the time limit is up. They walk down to the crowd and start perusing the creations, taking note of each one. They spend no more time on any one than another and inspect each building equally, and some people start to wonder what exactly they're looking for, as they seem interested even in the silliest of designs.
After a good 30 minutes of judging, the pair meet back up at the top of the stair case. They exchanging some words and consider their choice for a moment until Seth calls for everyone's attention.
"A decision has been made," the large man announces. "After much consideration, both Maria and I have observed what we deem to be the best choice for an arena for this year's tournament."
Seth steps away from the railing and allows Maria to come forward. The small girl looks towards Rukia, and Ichigo gulps audibly. 'They wouldn't...'
"The design for this year's arena has been chosen from the creation of Rukia Kuchiki," Maria says officially. Due to Seth's flair for drama, the room goes dark with the exception of a single spot light shining down upon the black haired Soul Reaper and her large rabbit.
"Of course," Seth says, resuming his position, "there will be adjustments as we scale it to a thousand times the original size, but we will attempt to retain as much detail as we can." Every word seems to be another nail in Ichigo's coffin.
"I thank you all for participating! Now, Charles will show you all to your rooms," Seth says, allowing the AI to take over. "After you've set your luggage there, the way to the dining hall and the training grounds will be open."
...
"Gotta say, I've never fought inside a giant rabbit before," Natsu says casually to his fellow dragon slayer. Gajeel just grunts in response. He isn't feeling very sociable at the moment because he was hungry, and while the dining hall is available, the food was not. This was to ensure that those with larger apetites did not eat all of the food before the others could get any.
"I'm a little surprised they chose that rabbit for the arena," Levy says skeptically.
"Yeah right, you're just jealous you didn't win," Gajeel cops back. Grumpy though he may be, he'd never miss an opportunity to poke fun at the little squirt.
"What'd you say!?" Levy's cheeks puff up in indignation before she turns away with a "hmmph", crossing her arms over her chest.
"Honesty, it's not all that surprising that they chose that one," Happy interjects. "They always choose the wierdest arenas."
"Yeah, no kidding," Natsu adds, "One year we had to duke it out in a giant burrito." The fire dragon slayer seems to shiver at the memory, his face turning purple.
"What's wrong with Salamander?" Gajeel asks.
"That year the arena sprouted wings and started flying halfway through the fight because it lasted so long," Happy answers, giggling at the memory of Natsu nearly barfing while slowly being overwhelmed by the beefy contents of the giant winged burrito.
The talk of a giant burrito starts to stir Gajeel's hunger again, but he doesn't complain about it due to what happend about 10 seconds after he walked into the dining hall. After voicing several rather loud opinions about "not waiting for those slow pokes", Seth had shown up and explained the policy in much the same way Mirjane might with a smile on his face the whole time, but there was an underlying sense of dread radiating off of him.
So, Gajeel simply sits and waits for the food, glancing here and there for any stray bits of metal that might be lying around. 'I wonder where that carrot top's at,' Gajeel thinks to himself, theorizing that a good fight might make him focus a little less on the emptiness of his stomach.
Even though Ichigo's fairly far away and more and more people are filing in by the second it doesn't take long to find him. He and the black haired girl he brought with him are causing a bit of commotion, even amongst the antics of the rest of the weird people in the dining hall. Though he can't hear what they're saying clearly, Gajeel can tell by the look on the Rukia's face that Ichigo had probably said something that upset her without even realizing what he'd done because he himself has been in that position before with a certain blue haired squirt.
"Hey, I never said the rabbit sucked, I just don't want to fight in it!" Ichgio exclaims in defense.
"That because you think it sucks!" Rukia accuses.
"Will you stop putting words in my mouth!?"
"Only if you admit that Chappy is cute and adorable!"
"Well, maybe the real one..."
*SMACK*
"OUCH! What the heck was that for!?"
"For saying my Chappy looks bad!"
"I never said that!"
"Hey, Carrot Top!" a gravelly voice yells over the noise. Ichigo grits his teeth at the insult and turns around, recognizing the voice.
"It's you," he grinds out, a dangerous smile plastered on his face.
"Yeah, it's me," Gajeel says, butting his head against Ichigo's. "What say you we head on over to the training grounds and have ourselves a battle?"
"I'd say that sounds like a great idea," Ichigo replies, pushing back at the metal eater's forehead with his own. The two stay like that, growling at each other with wide, insane grins on their faces before they take off as fast as possible down the hallway to the place where Charles had indicated they could fight.
"Last one their has to let the other one hit them in the face!" Gajeel challenges.
"You're on!" Ichigo replies before flash stepping once, just to give himself a bit of a lead.
"Wha- Hey, no fair!" Gajeel exclaims, not stopping for a second. Instead, he extends his fist towards the orange haired guy and turns it into a black iron beam aimed straight for Ichigo's legs.
"Look who's not playing fair now!" Ichigo retorts as he easily dodges the attack. What he doesn't realize though, as his head is currently turned back towards Gajeel, is the Gajeel didn't miss at all.
*TWANG*
The sounds of a skull bouncing off of iron resonates throughout the hallway as Gajeel leaps over Ichigo, who had crumpled to the floor after ramming head first into the metal beam that Gajeel had transformed his arm into. He keeps running, looking back and sticking his tongue out, pulling his bottom eyelid down and spanking himself tauntingly.
After a minute of recovery, Ichigo grinds his teeth together. "That was a dirty trick! Get back here, you metal studded freak!" he roars, flash stepping as fast as possible towards the barely visible Gajeel. He was currently opening the door that he knew led to the training grounds, and he was determined to get there first. "Bankai!" he shouts, bolstering his speed immensely.
Gajeel, feeling the burst in power, hurries up to get inside the huge double doors and win the race. He can feel Ichigo closing in on him fast and knows that he has no time to waste. Just as he's entering the giant expanse of the multi-terrain training area, though, Ichigo appears right beside him, reaching an arm out to make it in first.
This causes Ichigo to bump into Gajeel, and the two of them are thrown to the ground. It isn't long, however, before the both of them are at each other's throats again, each claiming victory over the other.
"Ahem, sirs?" the robotic voice of Charles says, getting the pair's attention. "If I may interject, the two of you entered this room at exactly the same time," he says. Both Ichigo and Gajeel freeze up for a second before glaring at the other, as if accusing each other of bribing the AI. They stand up and leap backwards, putting a fair amount of distance between them.
The commotion they caused just entering the training grounds was enough to draw the attention of some nearby people who had already begun training, but they quickly lost interest and got back to their activities as Ichigo and Gajeel each enter a ready stance, Ichigo with Tensa Zangetsu and Gajeel with... well... Gajeel.
Ichigo starts the fight by kicking off of the ground at high speed, flying at his opponent who barely has enough time to turn his fist into metal and block the attack. "You're pretty quick," Ichigo says, the tone of battle in his voice. "Nice little trick you've got, turning your body into metal."
"Yeah, you're not so bad yourself," Gajeel returns, just as dangerously. "But there's plenty more where that came from!" the wizard cries out, aiming a punch for Ichigo's gut. He misses, though, as he knew he would, and quickly sweeps around himself in a wide arc to ensure that, wherever the Soul Reaper disappeared to, he'll find him if he's near enough to hit.
Ichigo ducks under the large steel beam and aims to slash Gajeel in the side, but his blade is stopped with the sound of metal on metal. Ichigo's eyes widen in surprise, the shock of the sudden impact jarring his arms as well as his mind. 'How can he deflect my zanpakuto like that!?'
"Surprised?" Gajeel leers. "You really are dumb, huh? You'd think that you'd learn by now that I can turn my whole body into metal." Gajeel seizes the opportunity and quickly trips Ichigo by sweeping his legs, punching him in the gut as he falls.
The blow sends Ichigo back a little ways. He stands up, trying to regain the air from his recently emptied lungs.
"Oh come on, is that all you Soul Reapers have to offer?" Gajeel taunts. "If so, that's so boring! If not, then come over here and show me what you're made of!"
"That's not what he means, Mr. Redfox," Seth's voice interjects, the man seeming to appear out of nowhere. "You see, his sword, or zanpakuto, has raw spirit energy running through it, making even the dullest blade razor sharp," he explains to Gajeel. "Of course, a weapon like that would be a little over powered against enemies that don't have protection from spiritual weapons, so I modified how it works. I did the same with everyone's abilities, in fact. As long as you're in this dimension, your power and energy is just the same as everyone else's, and it's called Lithul," the creator says, causing Ichigo and Gajeel to nod, even though they have little to no idea what he meant by that.
Seth picks up on their blank stares and sighs. "Ichigo, just think of his metal skin as an arrancar's hierro. You'll have to either cut hard enough to break metal with a regular sword or find an opening to attack."
Ichigo nods at that. "Sounds simple enough. So, I'll just hit him harder then!" he yells, charging Gajeel once again. This time, though, Gajeel has a surprise.
"Iron Dragon Roar!" the black haired man shouts, putting his hands in front of his mouth as though he were gripping a clarinet and blowing out through them in a spray of metal dust.
Ichigo sees the attack and barely has time to react. "Getsuga Tensho!" he announces, swinging Tensa Zangetsu in a wide arc and sending a wave of blood red energy crashing into the oncoming attack. The two neutralize each other, leaving Ichigo and Gajeel panting. Gajeel had meant to end it there and put over half his Lithul into that attack, making Ichigo respond in kind.
"Hey, I'm getting a little tired, so what say you we end this here and now?" Ichigo suggests. Gajeel grins.
"I was thinking the same thing," he says, putting his hands together and forming his Iron Dragon Sword. Ichigo coats his blade in an unfired Getsuga Tensho, increasing its destructive capability. The both kick off of the ground and run at each other, bringing their swords at the other's, causing a sizable explosion of energy. Some people look at it with mild curiosity, ginning at Gajeel and Ichigo's determination.
Once the dust settles a few seconds later, Ichigo and Gajeel are on the ground, having been blown back 20 feet each by the repercussion of the swords. The both look at each other and smile before getting up.
"Nice fight, Carrot Top," Gajeel says.
"Not so bad yourself, Metal Freak," Ichigo replies.
Suddenly, the door to the training ground bursts open and a truly malificent aura comes from within the building. The two guys freeze, a cold sweat breaking out for both of them, they slowly turn to face the doorway, where two rather small girls glare daggers back at them.
"Gajeel..." Levy almost growls out.
"Ichigo..." Rukia mirrors the same dangerously angry tone.
"Oh, hey, Rukia, I just remembered, Gajeel and I've got something we gotta do," Ichigo says, grabbing Gajeel as though he were an old pal and quickly making his way away from the murderous pair.
"Yeah, we've got that thing, don't we? I almost forgot," Gajeel plays along, and once they're out of Rukia and Levy's spell range they take off as fast as their legs can carry them. "Do you have any idea why they're mad!?" Gajeel asks Ichigo.
"No clue!" Ichigo replies. "Just keep running!"
Seth just chuckles as he watches the four of them looking so lively. "This is exactly the kind of thing I like about this convention," he says as Maria walks in behind Rukia and Levy, who have taken off after their badasses.
Maria just shakes her head and sighs, a look of pity on her face. "I swear, men can be so dense," she says. "I bet they don't even know what they did."
"All men?" Seth asks playfully with a sideways grin on his face.
"Yes, all men," Maria replies confidently, making Seth's smile falter.
"Well, what do you suppose they did?" Seth asks to change the subject.
"There's a sign right in front of the dining hall that says that badasses and lolis that are in a relationship can get a special meal with their own table. Mr. Redfox promised Miss Mcgarden he'd do it with her. He then ditched Miss McGarden to run off and fight with Mr. Kurosaki, so Miss McGarden told Miss Kuchiki," Maria explains.
"But then why is Rukia mad at Ichigo?" Seth asks, confused.
Maria just sighs. "She's mad at Mr. Kurosaki for stealing away Mr. Redfox."
"But how was he supposed to know about the promise?" Seth inquires, mystified at he logic.
"A woman's heart is something that not even you can understand completely, sir," Maria states.
"Apparently. It's a wonder you're so similar to them in emotions, considering I made you," Seth says, more to himself than to Maria. "Still, I can usually tell what you're thinking, even if I don't always know why."
Maria doesn't argue with him, but in her mind she can't help but giggle at her creator. He doesn't know what she's thinking right now, otherwise there'd be trouble...
"What's so funny?" Seth asks, making Maria snap out of her daze.
"Huh?" she asks.
"I said: what's so funny?" Seth repeats, amiling triumphantly at having caught his assisstant off guard.
"Nothing, sir," Maria says firmly, quickly regaining her composure. 'How does he do that?'
"Sure," Seth says, letting the matter go. "Anyways, I'm sure there are people who're getting pretty grumpy in the dining hall right about now," Seth says before snapping his fingers, teleporting everyone outside the dining hall to a table, with him and Maria at the head table.
"Hello, everyone!" Seth calls out for his guests' attention. "I'm sure you've all had a very long day, so now it's time to eat!" And, with the snap of his fingers, the tables are laden with all sorts of food, ranging from Chinese to American delicacies, though Italian seems to be the main theme.
Seth sits down at the table next to his assistant and digs in to the food before them. He keeps a watchful eye out for everyone, smiling at the thousands of different pairs interacting with each other. He loves the opportunity to bring people together across dimensions like this. He's also sure he isn't the only one who can't wait for tomorrow's main event: the start of the tournament.