Round Robin

Ch. 10

As the sun came up, the fans once again quickly filed into the arena for the third day of the tournament. While they made their way to their seats, Chapati and Yajima spoke from the announcers' booth.

"Welcome back, everyone! Day 3 is here, and a lot of interesting things have happened so far. Before we get to today's fights, lets talk about where everything stands as of now, and how we got here. Surprisingly, Chelia Blendy of Lamia Scale is currently leading Block A with three points, after that shocking upset win against White Eclipse's Reve Volver on Day 1, and the draw against Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tail the next day. However, that will most likely change since Chelia has a bye and will not be competing today. In Block B, Rogue Cheney of Sabertooth and Kagura Mikazuchi of Mermaid Heel are tied for the lead with four points each. Yajima-san, what do you think of the block leaders so far?"

"Hmm... I'm very impressed with Chelia. She's fought against two S-Class mages consecutively, and overcame tremendous odds to earn her points. As for Rogue and Kagura, I never had any doubt both would do very well in this tournament. Although I've noticed that Rogue still has yet to face an S-Class opponent. Kagura has already fought Lyon Vastia on Day 1, and will be taking on another S-Class mage today in Mathias Cronqvist, from Black Phoenix. I'm not saying I'm betting against Kagura, but with Rogue's opponent today being another mage that isn't an S-Class mage, I think this could potentially be a chance for Rogue to take the lead."

"Ah, you might be right. And speaking of Mermaid Heel, lets not forget that guild as a whole is still undefeated in the Round Robin. In fact, they're the only guild that hasn't lost a fight yet. As you said, though, Kagura will be fighting Black Phoenix's S-Class mage. In addition, Milliana will be taking on Bacchus from Quatro Cerberus. This will be Mermaid Heel's toughest challenge to this point, so it'll be interesting to see how they handle it. Now then-"

Chapati was interrupted by a knock on the door of the booth. The door then opened, and Lahar of the Magic Council smiled as he walked in and sat with the announcers.

"Ah! Our guest announcer for the day has arrived! Lets give a warm welcome to Lahar, Head Captain of the Council's Custody Enforcement Unit!" Chapati said.

"Thank you," Lahar responded, "and I apologize for being late."

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about." Yajima said. "Young officers such as yourself are always quite busy. And after the incident between Radioactive Decay and Mermaid Heel yesterday, it's good to know we'll have security here to stop things like that from happening in the future."

Lahar nodded. "Well, we can't be too careful. And with the council co-hosting this tournament, it wouldn't look good for us either if something like that happened again. So we'll do our best to ensure that the fans can enjoy the tournament without any further incident."

"Of course, and we all appreciate it." Chapati said. "Now then, lets take a look at today's fights. Milliana vs Bacchus, Orga vs Emerita, Blues vs Tsuki, Aira vs Rogue, Ichiya vs Minoru, Kagura vs Mathias, Lyon vs Gajeel, and of course Erza vs Reeve. Several interesting matchups, but which one stands out the most?"

Lahar was the first to answer. "You're right, there are several interesting ones. But I have to say Erza Scarlet vs Reve Volver. A rather strong rivalry has developed between the two guilds. And with this being the last guaranteed meeting between White Eclipse and Fairy Tail in the Round Robin, I don't doubt both will give it everything they have."

Yajima nodded in agreement. "Indeed, that's the matchup everyone seems to be talking about. And that's a very good point about this being the final meeting between them. This could very well turn out to be the most memorable match of the entire tournament."

"Well there you have it folks! It seems the guilds have all arrived in the arena as well, so- Wait, what's this?"

Down in the arena, Minoru Kanemoto and Kagura Mikazuchi had walked out to the center, and now stood face to face. Lahar and all the other Council guards in attendance were immediately preparing themselves to intervene if a fight broke out. However, the two mages simultaneously gave a respectful bow to the other before silently turning around and walking back to their guilds' sections. The audience applauded, relieved that the issues between the guild seemed to have been resolved. As Minoru reached his guildmates, Avani noticed he seemed more tense than usual, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"What's wrong, Minoru?"

Minoru glanced back over his shoulder, looking at the guards stationed throughout the arena before replying.

"They're everywhere..."

Avani gave a warm smile before placing a light kiss on Minoru's cheek.

"You're just here for the tournament like everyone else. Try not to let it bother you too much, alright?"

Turning his head to face her, he tried to relax as he gave a slight smile and nodded.

"I'm not sure what happened since yesterday, but it appears Mermaid Heel and Radioactive Decay have come to some sort of truce." Chapati commented. "And now that that's taken care of, lets get today's matches started!"

Mato went out to the center of the arena, microphone in hand.

"Ladies and gentlemen! It is time to begin the matches for Day 3 of the Round Robin, kabo! Our first bout will be between Bacchus of Quatro Cerberus, and Milliana of Mermaid Heel! Would both mages please make their way out now, kabo!"

"Easy win, Bacchus! You got this!" Rocker shouted.

Bacchus grinned before replying. "Of course I do. Wild..."

"FOUR!" his guildmates shouted in unison, and Bacchus made his way out to the center of the arena, carrying his gourd in his hand.

Milliana was clearly nervous, and just before she started walking, Kagura placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Remember, Milliana, he may be strong, but he's also reckless. Be smart about how you fight him, and you can win."

A bright smile came over Milliana's face, and she felt much more confident after hearing Kagura's words.

"Thanks, Kagura-chan! I won't let you down!"

Kagura's expression remained stoic as usual as she nodded, and Milliana jogged out into the arena, where Bacchus was already waiting.

"Are both fighters ready, kabo?" Mato asked, looking to both mages.

"Damn right I am." Bacchus answered before speaking to Milliana. "And don't think I'll go easy on ya just because you're one of one of Mermaid Heel's ladies."

"I won't hold back either." Milliana replied with a confident grin. "I'm feeling spiffy, and I plan on winning this for Mermaid Heel!"

Bacchus just laughed at the comment.

"Well that ain't gonna happen, but I like the confidence. Now then, try to make this as wild as ya can." he said as he crouched into his signature fighting stance.

Mato took one last glance at both mages before raising his hand and shouting, "Begin!", and the gong rang out immediately after.

Milliana was the first to act, removing her cloak and throwing it right at Bacchus to try to distract him, then quickly threw off her gloves, revealing her sharp nails as she lunged forward and swiped at him. Bacchus merely smirked, however and leaned to the side as the cloak flew by him, never taking his eyes off his opponent. As she repeatedly slashed at him, Bacchus expertly avoided each attack with ease, before eventually smacking one of her wrists away as her hand approached, then stepping forward and slamming a palm strike directly in the center of Milliana's stomach, knocking her back several feet as Bacchus crouched into his stance again.

"Wild..."

"FOUR!" the Quatro Cerberus mages shouted from their section.

Milliana grunted in frustration as she stood back up, then held out a hand, pointing her palm toward Bacchus.

"Nekosoku Tube!"

A pink magic circle opened in front of her palm, releasing a magic rope which launched toward Bacchus. And as it approached, he chuckled and swayed to the side to avoid it, then took off in a sprint toward Milliana. Seeing her opponent quickly approaching, the Mermaid Heel mage sent more ropes from the magic circle, hoping at least one of them would find their target. However, Bacchus was too quick, and avoided each of them as he moved. When he was close, another tube came from the magic circle, and was mere inches from his head when he dove to the side, narrowly avoiding it as well. He immediately sprung up and sent another magic palm strike into Milliana's stomach, again knocking her back.

"Oi, what's wrong? Weren't ya gonna beat me? Or are ya not feelin' so 'spiffy' anymore?" Bacchus said with a grin.

Milliana grit her teeth as she stood up again, her frustration continued to build.

"Shut up! I'm just getting started!"

She then waited for a moment to plan her next move, then started running in a circle around Bacchus, firing another magic rope at him every few seconds.

"Hm? Tryin to keep your distance, are ya? Heh. Not gonna work!" Bacchus said with a smug grin, before running toward her, again dodging the ropes as they came at him. When he got close, he reared his right hand back, preparing another palm strike. But as he did so, one of the ropes he had dodged snaked back and wrapped around his wrist.

"Tch. Like this is gonna stop me!" he said as he swung the palm of his free hand into the tube. But to his surprise, nothing happened, as he realized he couldn't bring his magic energy into his palm.

"Oi, what the hell...? This thing cancels out magic too?" he said to himself. And while he was in his train of thought, another tube wrapped around his right ankle. And when he snapped his head around to take a look, another wrapped around his free wrist, and yet another around his other ankle.

"Dammit!" Bacchus shouted, frustrated with himself for getting caught like this. Milliana now smirked and ran toward Bacchus, then jumped and slid all around him, twisting the ropes until they had Bacchus down on the ground, with his arms and legs tied up in an awkward fashion, keeping him from moving.

The Quatro Cerberus mages were now panicking as they saw their S-Class mage in a bad situation.

"Come on, Bacchus! Hang in there!" Blues shouted.

"Over in Mermaid Heel's section, everyone was loudly cheering for their teammate. Despite what she'd said earlier, Kagura had guessed that at best Milliana might be able to get another draw with the time limit expiring. But now she seemed to have a golden opportunity at an upset victory.

"YOU'VE GOT HIM RIGHT WHERE YOU WANT HIM! FINISH IT, MILLIANA!" Kagura shouted out.

"Right!" Milliana nodded, then leaped high into the air and cupped her hands together, pointing them down at Bacchus.

"Kitten Blast!"

Again the magic circle opened, and another magic rope, glowing and much larger than the previous ones launched at Bacchus, who was still struggling to try to free himself from the ropes that had bound his limbs.

"Sh-shit!"

Unable to avoid it, Milliana's attack hit with full force, causing a small cloud of dust to appear around Bacchus' body. When Milliana landed, she took a moment to catch her breath, and waited in anticipation along with everyone else watching to see if she had won.

"Did Milliana just defeat Bacchus?" Erza said as she watched on from Fairy Tail's section, a slight look of disbelief on her face.

"Oh?! We might have another upset over here!" Sting said with an excited grin as he watched with the other Sabertooth mages.

When the dust cloud started to die down, Milliana's eyes widened as Bacchus was seen standing there with a smirk, the tubes no longer around his arms or legs, and he was holding his gourd in his right hand.

"Tch. I thought she had it..." Kagura said with a slight grimmace.

"Man, that was a close call." Kuro said, sighing in relief.

Back in the arena, Bacchus continued to grin as he spoke.

"Gotta admit, I didn't think ya'd be able to pull somethin' like that. If that attack of yours had been a bit stronger, it might've actually gotten the job done instead of just cuttin' the ropes for me. But I think it's about time I ended this."

"Milliana! Don't let him drink from that gourd!" Kagura shouted, but it was too late. Before Milliana could even think about trying to prevent it, Bacchus had already lifted the gourd to his mouth and taken a drink. He then set it down before crouching into his stance once again, swaying slightly as he did so. Knowing what Bacchus was going to do next, Kagura again shouted in an attempt to alert her guildmate.

"Watch yourself! Get out of his way!"

Milliana attempted to brace herself so she could react once Bacchus moved. However, in the blink of an eye, he shot right past her, with seven bright blue marks emanating from her torso, where Bacchus' magic palm strikes had hit almost simultaneously. The pain of taking so many attacks at once being too much for her, Milliana merely gave a slight gasp, before falling unconscious to the ground as Mato ran over to check on her.

"Milliana is down, kabo! Bacchus wins!"

"Wild! Bacchus shouted as he threw his fist into the air."

"FOUR!" came the usual reply from the other Quatro Cerberus mages.

When Bacchus made it back to his guildmates, Yaegar smacked a hand on Bacchus' shoulder.

"Wild fight, Bacchus!"

"Yeah, you almost gave me a heart attack." Master Goldmine said with a chuckle.

"Heh. I got the points, and that's what counts. And once Blues wins his fight, we'll head back to the in and celebrate a second consecutive day with no losses. Sound wild to you guys?" he said with a smirk as he looked at the others. The response was unanimous as they all grinned and threw their fists into the air*

"FOUR!"

As Milliana regained consciousness, she noticed someone was helping her back to Mermaid Heel's section, and glanced over to see that it was Kagura.

"Sorry..." she said, looking down with a sad expression on her face.

"Don't be." she said, her face as expressionless as usual. "You may not've won today, but you put up a great fight against an opponent many thought you wouldn't stand a chance against. You should be proud of that."

A small smile appeared on Milliana's face as she gave a slight nod.

"Thanks, Kagura-chan."

"And with that win, Bacchus now has four points, passing Chelia Blendy for first place in Block A, though that could change soon depending on how the rest of the fights go." Chapati commented.

"Yes, and is also means Mermaid Heel is no longer undefeated," Lahar added, "though Milliana certainly put up a good fight."

Yajima nodded in agreement. "Indeed. And going back to Chapati's comment, I believe our next fight is one of those that might have an impact on the first place standing in Block A, correct?"

"That's right, Yajima-san. Orga vs Rita. Each of them have a win and a loss so far, but a win today would put either of them at four points, tying them with Bacchus for first place."

Lahar nodded. "Every point counts, and once you fall in the rankings, it can be very hard to climb back to the top. This will be an important fight for both mages."

"Very true." Chapati replied. "And I believe it's time for that fight to start, so lets see how it turns out."

"We will now start the second match, kabo!" Mato announced. "Orga Nanagear of Sabertooth and Emerita Megido of Black Phoenix, please step forward!"

Rita and Orga both strode out into the arena, stoping several feet in front of each other, with determined expressions on their faces.

"Eh? She's so tiny compared to him." Sting commented.

Rufus chuckled before replying. "True. However, she has already demonstrated that size is an obstacle she can overcome. I'm sure Orga is more than capable of easily defeating his opponent, of course. But size will not be a factor in the outcome, as difficult as that might be to believe."

"Hmm... Well, if you say so." Sting said with a shrug.

"Kick his ass, Rita!" shouted Mizaki from Black Phoenix's section.

"You can take him, no problem!" added Trace Varsuna, the brother of Master Anri, who then chimed in as well.

"You better not lose, you lil shit! HHHHHRRRRAAAAAGGGGGAAAAHHHHH!"

Mato looked to both mages and asked. "Are you ready, kabo?"

Orga immediately nodded. Rita took a moment to consider using her tag partner now, but decided against it, and nodded as well.

"Very well! Begin!" Mato said, raising his hand as the gong sounded.

Rita wasted no time, immediately sprinting toward the God Slayer. Orga raised an eyebrow, finding it curious that she would charge at him head on like this, and simply waited to see what she'd do. When she was close, she leapt into the air, and flipped forward, slamming her right leg down with an axe kick aimed directly at Orga's head. However, Orga could tell what was coming, and put his forearm up, allowing it to take the force of the kick. But to his surprise, he felt a considerable amount of pain from the kick, though, he didn't allow any sign of it to show. The god slayer then swung his arm back, sending Rita back through the air, though she simply flipped and landed right on her feet.

"Tch. This one's a lot stronger than she looks." Orga muttered to himself. "But if she wants to try hand to hand combat, fine by me."

Engulfing his body in lightning, Orga then dashed at Rita with blinding speed. But while Rita might not've been as fast as Orga, she was definitely smarter, and predicted in her mind exactly what he would do. As Orga closed in, Rita effortlessly avoided a lightning-covered fist by simply jumping to the side. Orga immediately redirected and came back with another strike, which Rita again dodged in a similar manner. Orga grunted in frustration before unleashing a barrage of attacks this time, but he was still unable to land a hit on Rita. Right as the final punch missed, Rita took out her scroll, then ducked down and quickly spun around, slamming her scroll into the back of his knee, causing his leg to buckle as he fell to a knee.

"What the hell? That's no ordinary scroll..." he said to himself.

Seeing an opening, Rita then lunged forward to attack, but was suddenly met with large lightning-covered fist right in her face, launching her back several feet.

"Heh. That's more like it." Orga said with a slight grin as he stood back up.

Rita quickly picked herself back up too and dusted herself off.

"Took you long enough to land a hit."

Orga's grin was suddenly replaced by a more annoyed expression. "What was that?'

"You heard me. Geez, I figured you'd be all bulk and no brain, but you're really going out of your way to prove me right."

"Alright then. We'll see if you're still running your mouth after I put you in the infirmary for the rest of this tournament."

"As if you could." Rita replied, rolling her eyes.

The annoyed God Slayer cupped his hands together, with his right hand hovering slightly over the left, and a small ball of black lightning began to form. Knowing what was coming, Rita began to recite one of her scroll's incantations.

"O' flickering flame of eternity, burn bright!..."

As she spoke, Orga began to announce the name of his own attack.

"120 mm Black Lightning...!"

"Fireball!"

"Canon!"

Rita launched her fireball at the same time that Orga's lightning canon fired, and the two attacks collided halfway between the two mages, creating a large explosion. As the smoke cleared, Orga waited to see what Rita was doing, and was somewhat to surprised to see she was reciting another incantation already.

"O' disturbing power now unleashed, meet thy judgement upon the evil before me! Violent Pain!"

Unbeknownst to Orga, his shadow had now come under Rita's control, and vectors began to shoot out of it, stabbing into his back, as well as his arms and legs, drawing a sudden shout of pain from the God Slayer. Orga then glared at Rita and spoke through grit teeth.

"You think something like this can stop me?! You shouldn't underestimate Sabertooth!"

He then engulfed his body in lightning once again, using the bright light to dispel the shadow and freeing him from Rita's spell.

"You don't know when to quit, do you?" asked a clearly agitated Rita, who then began to recite another spell. Orga, however, wasn't about to let that happen, and immediately held his right arm out, aiming his palm toward her. A large sphere of black lightning quickly formed around Rita before she had any time to react. For several seconds, agonized screams could be heard coming from the inside of the sphere as Rita was electrocuted. When the spell finally died down, Rita fell to the ground as Mato went to check on her. Orga fell to a knee and grinned as he started panting.

"Heh... She was tough, but not tough enough..."

But his eyes suddenly widened in surprise as he saw Rita slowly starting to stand up again.

"What?! Impossible!"

"You shouldn't underestimate me, saber..." Rita said with a grin, doing her best to block out the pain she was in.

Orga forced himself back up to his feet, and both knew that they'd have to hurry if they wanted to end this before the time limit was reached. So Orga cupped his hands together once again, charging his black lightning between his hands. Rita began another incantation.

"O' power that lies in the root of all creation, o' memory inscribed in ages past, hear my call and arise before me...!"

By now Orga's lightning had charged to its fullest potential, as he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Lightning God's Charge Particle Cannon!"

Right as he spoke, Rita launched her attack as well.

"Ancient Catastrophe!" she shouted creating seven orbs of various elements which rushed right toward the God Slayer as he launched his own attack.

The two destructive techniques collided, creating powerful shockwave that blasted both Rita and Orga back several feet, and the two mages both fell unconscious as they landed flat on their backs.

"...Both mages are down, kabo! This match ends in a draw!"

The crowd gave a standing ovation for both mages as the exciting match came to an end, and several of the others from Sabertooth and Black Phoenix came out to assist their respective guildmates.

"Are you alright?" asked a concerned Lucina, who was kneeling by her former teacher, with many of the other members gathering around as well.

"Wh...what...?" Rita said as she slowly opened her eyes and saw Lucina. "...Did I win?"

Lucina shook her head. "It was a draw. But you did great!"

"She's right, Rita." Chisio said. "That was an amazing fight!"

Rita sighed and rubbed her head in slight frustration.

"Well, I guess one point's still better than nothing."

Master Anri then walked forward, and began poking Rita with a stick. Rita looked at her guild master awkwardly for a moment before finally asking.

"...What are you doing, Anri?"

"Making sure you're not dead or something? Meh. I don't know. Just felt like doing it."

"Well I'm obviously alive, so would you please stop that?" Rita replied, a bit annoyed by her master's oddball antics even though she had gotten used to them fairly quickly after she'd joined the guild.

Anri didn't give an immediate response, and a portal suddenly opened above Rita, sucking her inside before closing.

"Master! What was that for?!" Lucing asked.

"Relax. I just sent her to the infirmary. It was quicker than carrying her. She needs her rest anyway." the guild master replied before walking back to her guild's section. The other members all just shrugged in unison before following her back.

Orga sat up and grunted as he rubbed his aching head, then noticed the other Sabertooth mages had gathered, and Sting was offering a hand to help him up.

"Nice job, Orga. Another great fight."

The God Slayer took Sting's hand and stood back up.

"Thanks. Sorry I didn't get the win. I'll make sure to do better next time."

"I'm sure you'll be just fine, Orga-sama." Yukino said with a slight smile.

"Of course. Oh, and Yukino. I need to talk to you about something after we leave the arena." Orga replied.

Yukino blinked, a little surprised and unsure of what he was talking about.

"A-alright, Orga-sama..."

"Well, lets not stand around all day. There's still more fights to come." Sting said.

The rest nodded, and the Sabertooth mages each made their way back to their section.

Once the arena was clear, the announcers began to comment.

"That was an amazing match between two very talented mages! And that draw puts both Rita and Orga at three points, tying them with Chelia Blendy for second place in Block A, which means for the moment Bacchus is still in first place for that block after his victory against Milliana in our opening match today." Chapati said.

"Indeed...though Ichiya and Reve each will have a chance to tie for the lead spot in the block later as well." Yajima replied.

"Very true." Lahar added. "and as we talked about earlier, I think Reve's fight against Erza later will be particularly interesting to watch."

Chapati nodded in agreement.

"Yes, that match could have a big impact on the rankings, not to mention the heated feud between Fairy Tail and White Eclipse."

"And lets not forget the fact that this will be the last time the two guilds face each other in the Round Robin. Aira defeated Gajeel yesterday, and you know Fairy Tail will want to even the score." Yajima added.

"Ah, that's a good point, Yajima-san." Chapati said. "Many fights to come, and each win is starting to matter more and more as the mages continue through the Round Robin. Who will continue to climb through the rankings, and who will be left behind? Stay tuned to find out!"