Round Robin
Chapter 2
The first day of the tournament was here, and the crowd excitedly filed into the arena and waited for the event to begin. Fans were talking amongst themselves, debating which fight seemed the most exciting, and who they expected to win. Fairy Tail, White Eclipse, and Sabertooth seemed to be the guilds the majority picked to win, but there were some who felt some of the newer mages would have an advantage since their abilities were not as well-known. As the spectators made their way to their seats, the voices of the announcers rang through the arena as they began to discuss the tournament.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the inaugural Round Robin! I'm Chapati Lola, being joined once again by Yajima-san!"
"It's an honor to be here once again."
"Now lets get right to it. For those of you who missed the announcement yesterday, the eight fights scheduled for today are as follows: Blues vs Rogue Cheney, Mathias Cronqvist vs Eve Tearm, Reve Volver vs Chelia Blendy, Orga Nanagear vs Bacchus, Emerita Megido vs Minoru Kanemoto, Tsuki Mizuki vs Gajeel Redfox, Erza Scarlet vs Ichiya Kotobuki, and Kagura Mikazuchi vs Lyon Vastia. Yajima-san, which of these fights are you most looking forward to."
"Hmm...All of them seem like interesting matchups, though I suppose the opening and closing fights seem to stand out most to me. We may not know a lot about Blues, but any time two Dragon Slayers clash, it's sure to be an interesting match. And of course Kagura vs Lyon in a rematch from the Grand Magic Games will be very entertaining, especially considering their last bout ended in a draw."
"Ah, that's a good point. Personally, I'm also looking forward to seeing what happens when Erza fights Ichiya. We all know he's a rather unorthodox mage, so it should be interesting to see how Titania goes about handling this challenge."
"Indeed. And let's not forget some of the newer mages making appearances. I'm quite interested in seeing what they can do as well."
"That's true. Emerita vs Minoru should be a perfect example of what you're talking about. For those who don't know, Emerita came up short in Black Phoenix's S-Class exams, but has fought on par with, and even defeated mages of the S-Class level before. Very little is known about Radioactive Decay's Minoru Kanemoto, but he is one of their S-Classes and said to be a rather strong mage, so it should be exciting to see what happens when the two meet in the arena. Ah, it seems we're just about ready to start. The mages are making their way out to the arena now."
Along the lower level balcony, the members of all nine guilds made their way to the areas their respective areas as the crowd roared. Cheers broke out, mostly for the well known mages and guilds, but with a few for the lesser known ones mixed in as well. When they had taken their places, Mato, the pumpkin-headed mascot and referee, walked out to the center.
"Hello and welcome everyone! It's now time to begin the Round Robin! Without further adieu, we will begin the first fight now! Rogue Cheney from Sabertooth, Blues from Quatro Cerberus, please make your way to the arena floor, kabo!"
Not wasting any time, both Dragon Slayers hopped over the wall and onto the ground, then walked out to the center of the arena, stopping a few feet away from each other. Neither said a word, but there was a clear intensity surrounding both mages, and the desire to win was evident in them. Mato raised his hand, preparing to start the match.
"Are both mages ready, kabo?"
Both Blues and Rogue nodded, and Mato swung his hand in a downward motion and a gong sounded immediately after.
"Begin!"
Immediately, a blue aura flowed over Blues' body, while a black aura surrounded Rogue.
"Oh?! It's the Blue Drive and Shadow Drive! It may only be the first match of the tournament, but it seems these two dragon slayers won't be holding anything back!" said Chapati.
Back in the arena, Blues and Rogue charged, throwing a flurry of punches and kicks at each other. Due to the speed increase from the Blue and Shadow Drives, the mages' movements seemed like a blur to the majority of the spectators. Neither seemed to be hitting the other, and it appeared the two were at a stalemate, until Blues finally found an opening and grinned as he brought his fist up at Rogue's chin with an uppercut.
"Got you now, Rogue!"
But his smirk quickly changed to more of a confused expression as his fist seemed to pass right through Rogue, leaving Blues open as the Shadow Dragon Slayer covered his right arm in shadows and thrust it forward.
"Shadow Dragon's Slash!"
The attack slammed right into Blues' sternum, knocking him back several feet, though he managed to stay up on his feet.
"Tch. Those shadows are gonna be annoying to deal with..."
Where Sabertooth's mages were watching, Sting cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted out.
"You've got this, Rogue! Show this guy what happens when you mess with one of the twin dragons of Sabertooth!"
Rogue glanced back in Sting's direction, giving a slight nod before turning his attention to Blues again. With his Shadow Drive still activated, Rogue went high into the air before descending toward Quatro Cerberus' dragon slayer, again covering his arm in shadows and trying to strike him with it.
"Shadow Dragon's Crushing Fang!"
But Blues had clearly seen the attack coming and dove out of the way, and Rogue's attack collided with the ground, creating a cloud of dust around him. A light then caught Rogue's eye, and he looked down to see a blue magic circle under him.
"Too late! Water Dragon's Geyser!" shouted Blues.
Before Rogue could react, scalding hot water erupted up from the magic circle, tossing Rogue up into the air and leaving burns over several areas of his body before the Shadow Dragon Slayer fell to the ground.
"Rogue!" the Sabertooth mages yelled out in unison, worried expressions on each of their faces. Mato began running out to check on Rogue's condition.
"Rogue took a big hit and seems to be out cold! The referee may declare Blues the winner!" shouted Chapati from the announcers' booth. However, just before Mato reached him, Rogue slowly began to pull himself up to his feet.
"I'm not...done just yet..."
The crowd excitedly cheered and applauded as he stood to continue the fight. A thick black aura then surrounded Rogue, and scale-like patterns began to form on his face as he entered his Dragon Force. Blues simply grinned, then activated his own Dragon Force as the blue aura surrounded him, and the scale-like patterns formed on his skin as well.
"Heh. Wild."
"FOUR!" chimed in the rest of Quatro Cerberus.
As if each knew what the other was about to do, the two Dragon Slayers reared their heads back to prepare their next attack.
"Water Dragon's..."
"Shadow Dragon's..."
"ROAR!" they shouted at the same time, throwing their heads forward as the massive amounts of water and shadow rushed forward, colliding midway between them. The two were in a deadlock for several seconds, but Blues' attack eventually overpowered Rogues's and sent him flying back. The shadow dragon slayer was seen motionless on the ground, and Blues began panting as he tried to catch his breath. The crowd exploded into loud cheers for the spectacular fight, and Blues grinned as he turned back to face his guild mates who were watching on. But Bacchus then noticed something and tried to warn the Water Dragon Slayer.
"BLUES! BEHIND YOU!"
"Huh?" he responded with a confused expression, then started to turn around. But it was too late. While Blues' attention was turned away from Rogue, the Sabertooth mage had sunk into the shadows and snuck toward Blues. Before Blues could react, Rogue rushed up out of the ground at him, sending a torrent of shadows from his hands which wrapped around Blues and assaulted him.
"Shadow Dragon's Waxwing Flash!"
The attack cause Blues to let out a gasp in pain as he was sent into the air, then collapsed unconscious on the ground. After running over to check on him, Mato held a hand up and spoke.
"Blues is down, kabo! Rogue wins the match!"
The crowd once again roared as the exciting fight reached its conclusion, as Chapati and Yajima began to talk about it.
"What an incredible match! No doubt a perfect way to kick off this tournament, wouldn't you agree, Yajima-san?"
"Hm, indeed. It looked as if Blues had it won, but in the end it's Rogue who gets the 2 points."
"It just goes to show that the unpredictable can happen at any moment in a tournament like this."
As Blues regained consciousness, the other Quatro Cerberus mages had come over, and helped him to his feet before leading him back.
"Don't let it bother ya, Blues. It was a hell of a wild fight, and ya still got seven more." said Bacchus with a grin.
Blues nodded in response. "You're right. I can still win this thing."
"That's the spirit! Wild..."
"FOUR!" they all shouted together.
On the other side of the arena, Rogue was limping back toward the Sabertooth mages, when Sting rushed out and put Rogue's arm over his shoulders to support him while helping him walk back.
"Nice job out there! I knew you could do it!"
Rouge simply smiled and gave a slight nod. "Arigatou, Sting."
After the two mages had made their way back, Mato again stood in the center of the arena.
"The next fight is Mathias Cronqvist from Black Phoenix against Eve Tearm of Blue Pegasus! Both mages please make your way out to the arena, kabo!"
The blond S-Class mage of Black Phoenix casually walked out into the arena, smoking a cigarette as he went, and the young member of the Trimens walked out too, stopping several feet away from his opponent.
"I know we haven't met, but still, good luck." said Eve with a smile, to which Mathias simply chuckled before dropping his cigarette and stepping on it to put it out.
"Sure, you too. And try not to take the loss too hard. It's nothing personal."
Eve's expression quickly change to a more irritated one, as Mato raised his hand.
"Are both mages ready?"
Eve and Mathias nodded, and Mato brought his hand down as the gong sounded.
"Begin!"
Eve smirked and held a hand out, with the palm facing Mathias.
"Thanks to Hibiki-san, I know all about your Glyph Magic. I doubt I can overpower it, but your magic won't be much use if I don't let you use it. White Fury!"
As he said this, a snowstorm burst from the palm of his hand and rapidly approached Mathias, who stood still and watched as the snow engulfed him. But once the attack died down, Eve was surprised to see Mathias hadn't even budged from where he was standing, and his lips had curled into a wide grin.
"If I'd known it was supposed to snow today I would've brought a coat. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to manage."
Eve grunted in frustration and began to shoot another burst of snow out of his palm, when Mathias used a spell of his own.
"Ignis."
As he uttered the word, a fireball launched forward at Eve, melting all the snow in its path, then exploded as it collided with the Blue Pegasus mage. When the smoke cleared, Eve was seen on his hands and knees, his clothes torn in several places, and limbs shaking. From where Eve's guild mates were, Hibiki shouted out in concern for his teammate.
"Eve! Hang in there!"
The announcers took a moment to comment on the attack.
"That attack definitely seems to have put Eve on the ropes, but what exactly was that, Yajima-san?"
"Mathias' Glyph Magic utilizes tattoos, using them to summon forth whatever it symbolizes, in this case, a fireball. It's a rare magic, but extremely versatile."
"Eh? It sounds bad for Eve. Lets see how he responds."
Grunting in pain as he moved, again Eve extended his palm forward.
"Blizzard!"
Another snow storm emerged, but this one was much thicker, and encompassed the majority of the area. For the first time in the fight, Mathias' grin disappeared as he crouched down a bit and put his arms up to protect his face from the snow.
"How annoying. Do you really think something like this can-"
He was interrupted by Eve's fist, which came seemingly from out of nowhere and collided with the side of Mathias' head, knocking him down as the announcers chimed in.
"Eve used his magic to blind Mathias so he could move in for close combat! But was it enough?!"
"Hm, it's certainly not what you'd expect from Eve. But he is a former Rune Knight after all, so he shouldn't be underestimated."
The crowd cheered at the sign of a possible upset, but none of the Black Phoenix mages said anything or showed any concern. The reason why became clear when Mathias stood back up, rubbing his head, though he didn't seem to be very effected by the hit.
"Heh. You got me. But I think it's about time we ended this. Arma Lupus."
As the words were spoken, Mathias' body transformed into that of a werewolf, causing surprised expressions to appear on the faces of many who saw it, including Eve. The Trimens member was too slow to react as Mathias quickly dashed forward, slamming a paw into Eve's face, the impact knocking him off his feet and sending him backward. Shortly after he hit the ground, Mato ran over to check on him. Eve was out cold, with large cuts on his face left form Mathias' attack.
"Eve is down! Mathias wins the battle!"
The crowd applauded the two mages as Mathias reverted back to his normal form and began walking back to his fellow guild members. Black Phoenix's guild master, Anri Varsuna smiled and pat him on the shoulder.
"Well done, Mathias! Looks like you won't have to spend the night in the pocket dimension after all!" The words drew strange looks from people nearby who were unfamiliar with the wild card guild master, though Mathias just chuckled and lit another cigarette.
"Thanks. I appreciate it."
Out in the arena, Ren Akatsuki and Hibiki Lates rushed out to help Eve up, who was just now regaining consciousness.
"S-sorry, Hibiki-san. Even though you told me about his magic, I wasn't able to win."
"Hey, forget about that. You did your best, that's all that matters." Hibiki responded with a bright smile, before Ren spoke too.
"Besides, we need to focus on cheering Ichiya-senpai on in his fight later, not that he'll need the help of course."
Eve smiled and nodded as they made their way off the arena floor.
While they were walking off, the announcers spoke again.
"We've had two fights now in the inaugural Round Robin! Thus far, Rogue Cheney and Mathias Cronqvist lead with two points, but with many more fights to come, it'll be interesting to see what the scores look like at the end of Day 1!"
"Hm, indeed. The first day is pivotal for establishing momentum for the rest of the tournament. What we've seen so far has been interesting, and there's sure to be many more such moments as the tournament progresses."
