Round Robin
Ch. 9
Now that Day 2 of the Round Robin had come to a close, the guild all left the arena and went back to their inns. Radioactive Decay and Mermaid Heel had both left long before the others, however, which was quite understandable for both considering what had happened during the bout between Minoru and Milliana earlier that day. Now, the many of the mages of Radioactive Decay sat with somber expressions at various tables in the main lobby, no one knowing what to say. Tsuki was upstairs in her room, silently preparing for tomorrow's fight against Blues. As much as the controversy bothered her too, she felt she had to focus on why she was there. Minoru was sitting at a table near the back corner, resting his head on the palm of his hand, inwardly hating himself for what had almost happened. The guild master was doing her best to try to console or reassure Minoru, but couldn't get much of any kind of response out of him. After this continued for a while, Avani frowned and sighed, not knowing what else to do, and was about to get up and go to her room when the door of the inn suddenly slammed open, the noise instantly gaining the attention of everyone in the lobby. Lisa Takahashi, another S-Class mage from the guild poked her head out of her room to see what was causing the commotion.
"What's going on out there?"
No one immediately answered, and all eyes were focused on Kagura Mikazuchi, who was standing just inside the doorway, with a clearly anxious Milliana cowering right behind her.
"Kanemoto!" the ace of Mermaid Heel shouted at the top of her voice. "You know why we're here! Come over here and talk to us!"
Everyone's eyes turned to the corner where Minoru was, as the white-haired man stood and walked over to where Kagura was, stopping less than a foot away from her, remaining silent as he did so. Kagura nudged Milliana out from behind her, and the neko girl looked up at him, still just as scared as when she entered the room.
"Apologize. Now." Kagura demanded, an almost threatening look in her eyes as she waited. Sheiko Setaruga, the Ghost Mage of Radioactive Decay, didn't take too kindly to Kagura's words as he seemingly appeared out of nowhere right by Minoru.
"Oh hell no! If this bitch thinks we're apologizing for anything, she's got another thing coming! Lets kick her ass right now, Minoru!" he shouted. However, when he saw the death glares that both Minoru and Kagura were giving him, he immediately stopped talking.
"I'll handle this myself, Sheiko." Minoru said.
"Alright, alright. Carry on." Sheiko responded in a casual tone as he backed away.
Turning back to face the Mermaid Heel mages, Minoru looked at Milliana and nodded his head in a slight bow before speaking.
"I'm sorry. I was wrong to let my temper get the best of me in the arena. I have no grudge whatsoever against Mermaid Heel, nor do I want any kind of unnecessary conflict between our guilds."
Milliana remained silent for a moment before Kagura looked at her and spoke.
"Whether you accept the apology is up to you, Milliana."
She took a moment and thought it over, and her anxious expression slowly changed into her normal, cheerful one as she jumped forward and latched onto Minoru with a hug.
"Nya! Apology accepted!"
Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief except for Minoru, who had an irritated expression due to Milliana's sudden hug. Kagura pulled her guild mate back before speaking again.
"We don't want any unnecessary conflict either. But if an incident like this ever happens again, we won't be so forgiving." And with that, she turned and walked out of the inn. "Lets go Milliana."
Milliana smiled and waved to the Radioactive Decay mages before quickly going to catch up with Kagura. Minoru then let out a heavy sigh as he went an sat back down, and Avani smiled as she came over and kissed his cheek.
"I'm proud of you Minoru. And see? I told you you could handle the situation."
Before Minoru could respond, Sheiko once again appeared by them.
"What gives, huh? Why'd you apologize?"
"Because we don't need a war, and neither do they." Minoru explained. "Besides, I've hurt our guild's reputation more than enough."
"Don't worry, Minoru." Avani said in a comforting tone. "Now that the situation with Mermaid Heel's been resolved, the rest will come soon enough. Try to focus on your matches in the tournament instead, alright?"
He nodded in agreement. "You're right. I'll do my best."
In the inn where Black Phoenix's mages were staying, Rita and Mathias were arguing as usual, though after today's matches, both were in bad moods causing this particular argument to be more intense than normal. Mathias said Rita was foolish for fighting injured and not using her tag partner, while Rita told him to mind his own business and actually defeat his opponents instead of fighting them to a draw, to which Mathias responded that at least he hadn't lost a fight yet, then Rita told him to stop being overconfident, and so on. The bickering was getting on everyone's nerves, though no one wanted to be the one to get between them. Finally, Master Anri slammed her fists on a table as she stood and shouted.
"HHHHHHHRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH !"
Finally, the two mages stopped arguing as they looked over at Anri in unison. The guild master walked over to them before "lightly" slapping them both across their faces.
"Mathias, you're fighting Kagura tomorrow, which could be your toughest fight of the tournament. Rita, even though you've been healed somewhat, you're injured and going up against Orga tomorrow. Both of you. Get. Your shit. Together!"
"Yes master..." they both said before going off to separate tables. The Frost Dragon Slayer, Hikaru Frost, spoke after they'd both sat down.
"Master's right. Tomorrow's matches will be pretty difficult. It might be smart to use your tag partners, don't you think?"
"Maybe. I'm still thinking about that." Mathias answered. "After all, it's still early in the tournament. I'd hate if I needed to use it later but didn't have it anymore, you know?"
"For once I actually agree." Rita replied. "Orga's strong, but he's not the only strong opponent on the schedule. And my ribs have healed a lot already. I don't know what he'll end up doing, but I think I'll hold off and use mine later."
Hikaru just shrugged her shoulders. "Suit yourselves."
Things were almost identical with the Lamia Scale mages tonight to the way they were the previous night. Jura came in late after repairing the damages in the arena, and the mages enjoyed mostly casual conversation and some lighthearted jokes. Chelia was sitting in a chair at a table, bandages covering a lot of her as a result of her fierce battle with Erza earlier, as Lyon and Sheri both walked over to check on her.
"Another excellent match today, Chelia. That was quite impressive." Lyon said.
"Thanks, Lyon!" she replied with a cheerful smile. "Jura's advice really helped out a lot."
Sheri smiled and clasped her hands together in front of her.
"Guildmates helping one another to overcome incredible odds. That's love!~"
"Speaking of helping each other," Jura said as he walked over to the group, "what are your matches for tomorrow again?"
"Chelia has her bye tomorrow, and my opponent is Gajeel." Lyon answered.
"I see. In that case, Chelia, I suggest you use your time tomorrow to heal yourself and rest as much as you can. You'll have six more fights after tomorrow without any days off, and you'll want to be as close to a hundred percent as possible going into that."
The young God Slayer smiled again and nodded.
"I will. Thanks again for the help, Jura!"
He nodded before turning to Lyon again.
"As for you, be careful tomorrow, Lyon. Since you've already had your bye, this tournament will be stressful on you from here on out. Try to win early, and take as little damage as possible. Chelia can heal your injuries, but it'd be better if she could conserve as much magic energy for her fights as possible, so how healthy you can stay on your own will be a factor in determining how many points you score in this tournament."
Lyon nodded in response.
"If a quick win is what I need, I'll get it done. Gray may not be in this, but a win over his guild will be pretty nice." he said with a grin.
"You're certainly right to be confident. Just make sure you don't get carried away with it."
"Of course. But with Chelia fighting so hard, I'm determined to do everything I can on my end too."
"Good. I hope to see that determination out in the arena tomorrow, Lyon-dono."
"Wild..."
"FOUR!" came the familiar shouts from the Quatro Cerberus mages who were gathered at the bar of their inn, celebrating a successful day in the tournament. All had a mug of beer, except Blues and Kuro, of course, who had water instead. Blues had a wide grin on his face as he spoke.
"We might've had a bit of a bad start the first day, but I think we made up for it with the three points today."
"Damn right!" Rocker responded with a similar grin. "Even if you didn't win, Blues, Mathias is one of your toughest opponents in this thing, so getting the draw against him was pretty wild!"
Semmes then chimed in. "And you can't forget Bacchus beating the girl that took out Radioactive Decay's S-Class mage. That was wild too."
"FOUR!" they all shouted in unison again, as Bacchus chuckled and took a sip of his beer.
"Yeah, it was a good day today. And tomorrow's gonna be even better. Blues has the blood mage from Radioactive Decay, and I've got Milliana. They might as well just give us the points now and save us the trouble."
"Oi, Bacchus, I know Milliana and Tsuki might not exactly be favorites to win the Round Robin, but I still think we should be taking them as seriously as anyone else." Kuro said.
"Huh? What, ya don't think we can handle it?" Bacchus asked.
"Of course you can, and I'm sure you will. But we've already seen a few crazy upsets, mostly because of people underestimating their opponents. We all know we're the wildest guild around, but we should still try to stay focused, no matter who we're facing. That's all I'm saying."
"He's got a good point." Master Goldmine said as he walked in the room to join them. "The only thing certain about this tournament is that it's unpredictable. I doubt either of you will feel the need to use your tag partner tomorrow, but at least make sure you do what you what you have to, and be smart about it."
"Yeah yeah." Bacchus said, barely paying attention to his guild master's words as he continued to drink. "Nothin' to worry 'bout. We'll win both our fights. And it'll be..." he grinned once again before finishing the sentence "...wild."
"FOUR!"
A heavily bandaged Eve Tearm was resting in his room at Blue Pegasus' inn, while the other members were gathered in the main lobby.
"This tournament hasn't gone so well for Eve so far. Two days in and already this badly wounded. He's lucky he has his bye tomorrow or we might've had to think about withdrawing him from the whole thing." Hibiki said with a worried expression on his face.
"Hmph. The baka shouldn't have been so wreckless." Ren said, though he turned his head away immediately after as concern was evident in his face as well. "But still...I hope he's alright."
Jenny, who had a good amount of bandages wrapped around herself as well, let out a heavy sigh.
"Geez. I still have no idea why he picked me as his partner. He should've picked you, Ren. You actually have past experience fighting that Arania girl, not to mention you've teamed up with Eve before."
"Not to worry." Ichiya said, randomly striking a strange pose as sparkles appeared around him. "He has earned his rest, and will turn this around once he resumes his matches. In the meantime, I will carry the perfume of Blue Pegasus to victory! Men~"
"Of course, Ichiya-sensei." Hibiki said as he and Ren suddenly appeared behind Ichiya, each doing a pose of their own as their worried expressions were suddenly replaced by much more confident ones.
"As if there was ever any doubt." Rem responded, and a sweatdrop rolled down Jenny's head as she watched on.
Sting stood at the balcony of Sabertooth's large inn, looking out over the streets of Crocus as Lector sat next to him on the ledge.
"You know, this tournament would be way cooler if you were in it, Sting-kun."
The dragon slayer chuckled. "I wish I could be in it too. But since I'm the current guild master, I'm not eligible for this one. But still, I'm glad we can at least cheer Rogue and Orga on."
"And of course we appreciate it, Sting." Rogue said as he walked out and stood beside Sting on the balcony, with Frosch close behind.
"Heh. You kinda snuck up on me there. You're so quiet I didn't even hear you coming. How's Orga, by the way?"
"Still a bit frustrated that he lost, as you could probably guess, but he'll be ready for his fight tomorrow."
"Good. One loss won't be enough to stop us. We'll still win this thing."
Lector jumped up and emphatically threw his little paw up.
"With Sting-kun leading us, no one can stop Sabertooth!"
"Fro thinks so too!" the green exceed responded.
Rogue gave a faint smile and nod. "Though of course I can't underestimate my opponent. She defeated Gajeel, after all."
"Oh yeah. That girl from White Eclipse, right? Well, I'm sure you can take her."
Again he nodded, his face taking a more serious look now.
"Sting, what do you you think about what happened between Radioactive Decay and Mermaid Heel earlier?"
Sting sighed and scratched his head.
"I've been thinking about that too. It's a tricky situation. I know if something like that had happened to one of you guys, I'd be pretty tempted to do something reckless. It wouldn't be easy to just let it go. But at the same time, unsanctioned fighting between guilds never have good outcomes."
"Hm...I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens."
Sting nodded before smiling and patting Rogue on the shoulder.
"Lets try not to think too much about them, alright? For now, just get some rest so you'll be ready for tomorrow."
Again Rogue gave a small smile before nodding, then walked away as Frosch followed close behind. Sting then sighed as he leaned against the balcony again next to Lector, becoming lost in his thoughts as he resumed looking out over the streets of Crocus.
The White Eclipse mages all seemed to be in a good mood, as all of its mages were laughing and having a good time. The only one absent from the group was Reve, who had locked himself away in his room so he could mentally prepare for his fight with Erza tomorrow.
At a table in the lobby, Waiston Tunundra, White Eclipse's Ice Dragon Slayer, was having an arm wrestling contest with Cygnus Gwydion. Most of the other members had gathered around to watch and place bets, with both Cygnus and Waiston having roughly half the members betting on them. Everyone loudly cheered for the mage they bet on as neither seemed to budge the other for a while, until a sudden change in the gravity around their hands led to the back of Waiston's practically slamming through the table. Everyone who bet on Cygnus immediately cheered in celebration, while everyone else objected to the ending.
"Oi, he used magic! That's cheating!" Luke shouted, causing Takeru to chuckle and shake his head.
"You're just mad because you lost the bet. Now pay up." he said, holding out his hand as he waited for the Copy Mage to give him the money.
"Tch. Whatever." he said as he reluctantly handed the money over.
Among the slight bickering, Waiston was just as upset with the outcome as everyone who bet on him.
"You can't just use your Gravity Magic like that! I want a rematch!"
"Heh. Too bad. There's no rule against it." Cygnus replied with a smug grin.
"Waiston's right." Aira interjected, also frustrated after losing some money because of the contest. "Besides, I was going to use that money to go shopping later."
"Shouldn't you be more concerned about your match tomorrow anyway?" Cygnus asked.
"Well... Yeah, I guess so..." she said, pouting a bit.
Hearing the conversation, Luke turned to face the group.
"Who're you fighting again, Aira?"
"Rogue." she answered.
"Eh. I wouldn't worry about it. You already beat Gajeel. This guy won't be a problem."
"Well, I should still take him seriously. He's one of the reasons Sabertooth was the top guild for several years after all."
"Key word, 'was'. They lost their spot at the top. Now it's our turn to take that role."
Tayakata, who had been sitting off to the side, then decided to give some input.
"You're both right. We do want to show that we're the top guild, but stupid mistakes caused by arrogance won't help that. Aira's right to want to take her fight with Rogue seriously tomorrow."
Takeru then spoke again. "Speaking of taking fights seriously, Reve must really want to win this one if he's staying locked up in his room like this to prepare."
"Yeah, it's his obsession with Erza again. Though I was kind of expecting him to be down here rambling on all night about how he'd defeat Titania tomorrow." Luke said.
"It's good he's so determined. But still, I don't think he's eaten since we came back. I'll take some food up to him and see how he's doing." Taya said before standing up and walking away.
She prepared a small plate of food and went upstairs to his room and knocked on the door.
"Reve?"
A moment went by, but there was no answer. She tried turning the knob with her hand, but immediately found that the door was locked. A bit irritated now, she stood back before slamming her foot into the door, kicking it wide open, then walked inside.
"Reve, I brought you some-"
Her voice trailed off when she found the room was empty, and the window was open. Almost instantly knowing what had happened, she hurled the plate, which smashed into tiny pieces as it collided with the wall.
"Goddammit, Reve!"
The Fairy Tail Mages were gathered in the main lobby, just like the previous night. And once again, Natsu was complaining that Gajeel hadn't chosen to call on him as a tag partner during his fight earlier.
"Gajeel! Why didn't you listen to me and let me fight too?! That's two fights now you could've won if you just picked me as a partner, baka!"
"Oi, shut the hell up, Salamander! It's my decision when I use my partner! And ya know what, maybe I'll pick someone else just to piss you off!"
"What?! I'll kick your ass right now, Gajeel!"
"Now now, everyone," Mirajane said with her usual sweet smile, though there was a subtly threatening aura about her as she spoke, "lets not fight amongst ourselves. It'd be a shame if one or both of you had to spend the rest of the tournament in the hospital."
"...R-right..." both Dragon Slayers said simultaneously before dropping the issue.
On the other side of the room, Gray was speaking to Erza about her fight.
"Oi, you think you're ready for tomorrow, Erza?"
The scarlet haired mage nodded. "Reve is a tough opponent, no doubt. But I'm confident I can-"
She was interrupted by a sudden knock at the door.
Romeo went and opened the door, and looked up with wide eyes as he was surprised to see White Eclipse's Reve Volver standing there grinning down at him.
"Hey there, kid. How's it going? Don't mind if I come in, do you?" Not waiting for a response, the gunslinger ruffled Romeo's hair a bit before strolling inside.
"Oi, keep your hands off my son, Volver." Said Macao with an angry expression.
Reve chuckled and smirked, not even looking his way.
"Take it easy, old man. I'm just here for a friendly chat with Erza."
"Well I'm right here. Spit it out." Erza said as she walked up to Reve, stopping right in front of him.
"Just want to wish ya luck, and to say may the best mage win." he said, the grin never leaving his face as he spoke.
"You can stop that. We both know you wouldn't come here just for that."
"Heh. You shouldn't be so quick to judge a person's character, Scarlet. But you're right, nonetheless. I'm here to outright tell you that tomorrow, White Eclipse will defeat Fairy Tail for the SECOND time in this tournament, and prove we're superior."
"Do you think I care about being the 'number one' guild, Reve? I don't fight to prove superiority. I fight for the people I care about, my nakama. And I won't tolerate you talking down to them just for to feed your ego."
"If you've got a problem with me or anything I said," he leaned his face down closer to hers while he spoke, as if daring her to hit him, "then do something about it."
"Excuse me?" Erza said, raising an eyebrow at the man.
"You heard me. If you want me to pay for what I've said, why wait until tomorrow? In fact, lets step outside and settle this right now."
Not waiting for a response, Reve walked out the door and stood in the middle of the street, looking back at the inn.
"Well? I'm waiting."
While Erza debated what to do, Laxus couldn't help but chuckle.
"Well now, this certainly got interesting. I suggest you go teach him a lesson, Erza."
"I don't think that's a good idea." Levy replied, a look of concern on her face. "Just wait until tomorrow, Erza. There's no need to fight him right now."
Erza remained silent a moment longer, then walked out into the street, stopping several feet away from him. She then looked back toward the inn.
"Everyone, stay inside. I don't want any of you accidentally getting hurt." she said, before requipping a sword into her hand.
"Heh. Didn't think you'd actually have the guts to come out here. Well then, lets get this started." Reve said as he requipped a pistol in his right hand and aimed at Erza.
For what seemed like an eternity, the two stared each other down, neither moving a muscle. And right as each was about to make their move, a figure came falling from the sky, crashing into the ground between them, the impact creating a cloud of dust. Erza, Reve, and the Fairy Tail mages watched on in confusion as they waited to see who or what it was. When the dust cleared, a white haired man with a red scarf around his neck was seen standing about halfway between Erza and Reve. This was Sidney Castle, the SS-Class mage of White Eclipse. A surprised expression came over all the faces of the nearby mages, including Reve.
"Sidney? What the hell are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same, Reve." Sidney said as he glanced in the Guns Requip mage's direction. "Are you so eager to fight that you'd risk getting yourself, possibly even the whole guild disqualified from this tournament?"
"Oi, she agreed to this fight. Just let me kick her ass and I'll come right back to the inn."
"Yes, she did agree to fight. After you provoked her. Remember why we're here in the first place. It's not so you can go around picking fights whenever you want. It's for the 20 million jewel, and the guaranteed spot in next year's Grand Magic Games. And in case you hadn't noticed, there's already enough talk about potential guild wars breaking out without us contributing even more to the drama."
Reve sighed and let his gun disappear since it was clear Sidney had no intention of letting him finish this fight tonight.
"Fine, fine. I hear you." he said before looking at Erza again. "Today, tomorrow, it doesn't make a difference. Because White Eclipse is, and always will be, the best guild around. See ya tomorrow, Erza."
And with that, he put his hands in his pockets and began the walk back to White Eclipse's inn. Sidney took a brief glance at Erza and the Fairy Tail mages, then began walking back the same direction Reve went. Erza then gave a slight sigh and walked back into the inn, when Lucy walked over to her.
"Erza? Are you alright?"
She nodded before speaking.
"I refuse to let him defeat me. Tomorrow, I'll show him and everyone in White Eclipse what happens when you underestimate Fairy Tail."
