Round Robin

Ch. 11

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's almost time to begin the next match in Day 3 of the inaugural Round Robin!" Chapati said from the announcers' booth. "But before we continue, lets talk again about what we've seen so far today. Milliana seemed to have Bacchus right where she wanted him, but just couldn't put the Drunken Falcon away. And then Orga and Rita had a tremendous bout that neither was able to win, as both were knocked out by the end of it."

Lahar nodded. "Yes, both were interesting fights. I think having the issue with Radioactice Decay settled really allowed Milliana to stay focused on her fight, and even come close to victory. But as you said, she just wasn't able to make it happen today."

"Hmm, indeed." Yajima said. "And Rita from Black Phoenix has impressed me quite a bit. She has a win, a loss, and a draw so far, but she's fought very well against very powerful opponents. She'll certainly not be one to underestimate as the tournament progresses."

"I agree, Yajima-san. And now, it seems we're ready for our next match, so lets watch and see what happens!"

"Would Blues of Quatro Cerberus and Tsuki Mizuki of Radioactive Decay please step forward, kabo!" Mato said into his microphone out in the center of the arena.

"Ya got this, Blues!" Bacchus said with a grin. "Get the win, then we'll all head back and celebrate Quatro Cerberus winnin' BOTH its fights today."

The Water Dragon Slayer, grinned back and nodded before throwing his fist into the air.

"Wild!"

"FOUR!" the rest responded in unison, before Blues began walking out into the arena.

Lisa Takahashi smiled and pat Tsuki on the shoulder.

"Good luck, Tsuki!"

"Hmph." the dark haired woman smirked. "Thanks, but he's the one that's going to need it, not me."

And with that, she walked out into the arena too, the two mages stopping when they were face to face.

"Are both mages ready, kabo?" Mato asked, and both Blues and Tsuki nodded in response, so he raised his hand and the gong sounded.

"Begin!"

Tsuki held her hands out the the sides, and a sword made of blood formed in each of them. She then narrowed her eyes at her opponent, and took off in a dead sprint toward the dragon slayer.

"Well alright then," Blues said with a slight grin as he crouched down into a fighting stance, waiting for her to attack. "Try to make this wild for me, alright?"

"Hmph."

Tsuki ignored the comment, and as soon as Blues was within reach, she began to expertly swing her swords in a series of quick, fluid slashes. The first sailed over his head as he ducked under it, and he swayed his body away from the next few, before jumping back to avoid the final attack, a horizontal slash aimed at his waist.

"Heh. You're gonna have to do a lot better than that." Blues said with a confident smirk.

"Oh really?" Tsuki responded, nodding her head to motion Blues to look down. And when he did, he was surprised to see that though he hadn't felt it, her last slash had actually managed to leave a slight cut on his stomach.

"Tch. So what? Something like this is nothing."

Blues then gathered dense water as hard as steel around his body and rushed forward, throwing a strong punch directed right at the blood mage's head. Having had plenty of time to anticipate the attack Tsuki was easily able to duck under it, and spun as she swung one of her swords at his leg. However, she was surprised to find that her sword had been unable to slice through the dense, watery armor covering Blues, who then grinned as he prepared a counterattack.

"Water Dragon's Kick!"

Before she could react, a water-covered leg from Blues quickly swung and slammed into Tsuki's shoulder with enough strength to send the female rolling across the ground for several feet. When she finally stopped rolling, Tsuki got back up to a knee and grunted in pain as she put a hand on her shoulder.

"Damn. I think it's dislocated..." she said to herself.

"Well, that doesn't look good." commented Freya from Radioactive Decay's section.

"You're right." Melody responded with a concerned expression. "She still has a chance, though, doesn't she?"

Iris Hale, her face as expressionless as ever, gave a slight nod. "Yes, but only if she can land something big soon to turn the momentum in her favor. Otherwise..."

Blues smirked at the sight of his injured opponent.

"Not done already, are you?" he said smugly, then charged forward once again.

"Tch." Tsuki scoffed at the taunt, bud didn't budge as her opponent approached. As Blued drew near, he reared his fist back preparing to send a water-covered fist at her, and bring a quick ending to the fight. However, right then, a smirk came over Tsuki's face. And the second he was close enough, she sprung forward and quickly formed a mace made of blood in her right hand, and slammed it right into Blues' face. The water around him prevented the spikes covering the mace to stab into him, but the blunt impact from the weapon was still enough to severely daze the dragon slayer, who went staggering backward, barely able to stay on his feet.

"Oh shit! That ain't wild!" Bacchus shouted from his team's section.

"Come on, Blues!" Rocker called out. "Hang in there!"

"Yes! This is her chance!" Melody shouted cheerfully.

"Finish it, Tsuki!" Freya shouted out.

In his dazed state, Blues had now turned to face away from her, and the water around his body began disappearing. Seeing her opening, Tsuki rushed forward, holding the mace in her uninjured arm. What she didn't know, however, was that by now Blues had recovered some from the hit, and was actually waiting for her to get close so he could attack again. Using his keen sense of smell, the dragon slayer paid attention to where she was, preparing his spell as he did so.

"Water Dragon's..."

Tsuki's eyes widened as she heard him speak, and she increased her speed, trying to finish him off before he could complete his spell. She lifted her mace in the air and began to swing it, but it was too late. Blues quickly spun around to face her before unleashing his spell.

"ROAR!"

As he said this, a massive torrent of water rushed out of his mouth, hitting Tsuki with full force from point blank range, launching her across the arena and sending her crashing into the wall. She then slumped from the wall to the ground, and Mato went to check on her, and confirmed she was in fact unconscious.

"Tsuki is down, kabo! Blues wins!"

"Heh..." As Blues made his way back to his teammates, Kuro was the first to speak.

"Nice job, Blues. Had a bit of a close call, though. You alright?"

"Of course I am." Blues responded with a smirk. "Just got a little headache, that's all."

Master Goldmine came over and began leading Blues back to the infirmary.

"Well, lets get ya to the infirmary anyway. Could come back to bite ya later if it turns out to be more than just a headache."

"Oi, don't keep him here too long." Bacchus said with a grin. "Don't forget, we still gotta head back and celebrate goin undefeated today! Wild!"

"FOUR!" the rest responded.

Tsuki grunted and rubbed her head as she regained consciousness.

"Tch. I lost again..."

She sighed and walked back to her guild's section.

"It's ok, Tsuki. You tried your best."

"It doesn't matter. I'll have to do better tomorrow." she replied, not stopping as she went straight back to the infirmary to have her injured shoulder treated.

Avani gave a warm smile to the other members before speaking.

"Don't worry, guys. I'll make sure she's alright. And I'll be back before our next match starts."

With that, she then walked back to the infirmary to check on Tsuki.

"And there's another win for Quatro Cerberus!" Chapati said. "And with that win, Quatro Cerberus goes a second day in a row without suffering a loss. Milliana and Tsuki may not be favorites to win this tournament, but there's no doubt today has given Quatro Cerberus a good boost in momentum."

"Hmm. I agree." Yajima responded. "It also looks like Mermaid Heel could be losing some momentum as well. Today marks their first loss, and though she gained a point in a draw yesterday, Milliana has yet to defeat any of her opponents. And with Tsuki's loss today, Radioactive Decay's mages currently have a combined total of only three points, coming from one win and a draw. They'll need to find a way out of this slump soon if they want a chance to win this tournament."

"True," Lahar chimed in, "but don't forget their S-Class mage will also be competing later. Minoru hasn't won yet, but today could be a good chance for him to turn his guild's momentum around. And don't count Mermaid Heel out yet either. Despite Milliana's loss, I have no doubt they'll continue to perform excellently as the tournament progresses."

Chapati nodded in agreement. "Good points. We'll see both those guilds in action again later. But up next, we have a rematch between White Eclipse and Sabertooth!"

Mato once again took the stage and spoke.

"It's time for our next fight. Rogue Cheney of Sabertooth and Aira Aeolus of White Eclipse, please make your way into the arena, kabo!"

Both mages walked out to the center of the arena, stopping several feet from each other.

"Are both mages ready?" Mato asked, and both Rogue and Aira nodded in response. "Very well!" Mato then raised his hand and the gong sounded once again. "Begin!"

"Shadow Drive." Rogue said, and immediately, a black aura began to surround the dragon slayer. Not having expected him to resort to something like this so soon, Aira jumped back to create a bit more distance, and braced herself as she waited to see what he would do. But to her surprise, Rogue just stood still, not showing any sign of an immediate attempt to attack. She blinked, and looked at him with a confused expression.

"Aren't you going to attack? Why use your Shadow Drive if you're just going to stand there?"

"I don't need to explain myself to you." Rogue answered plainly. "You'll just have to find out for yourself."

In Sabertooth's section, Rufus gave a soft chuckle, and Sting turned to glance at him.

"Oi, what's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing. It just that Rogue's strategy amuses me. And if this match goes the way I think it will, then it shall indeed be interesting to witness."

"Hm... Well, if you say so..."

Aira waited another moment, just in case Rogue was actually planning some kind of attack. But when it became clear he wasn't, she decided to make her move.

"Fine then. Have it your way. Sonicboom!"

As she spoke, Aira sent several small, yet strong bursts of wind at the Shadow Dragon Slayer. Unfazed, Rogue made use of his Shadow Drive as he took to the air, then quickly and expertly navigated his way around each attack without a single one hitting him, before speeding toward Aira. Seeing her opponent rapidly approaching, she sent a roundhouse kick toward his head, only for it to pass right through him as he went past her. Rogue then turned around and sped toward her again, and Aira again attempted to stop him, this time with a punch, only for the same thing to happen as Rogue passed right by her unharmed. A frustrated expression came over Aira's face, but in her mind, she was actually calmly analyzing the situation.

"It's hard to tell, but I don't think he can attack while in a shadow-like form." she thought to herself. "If he could, he would've tried by now. And physical attacks can't hit him, but what about magic...?"

With this in mind, she waited for him to approach again. And as he did, Aira crossed her arms in front of her and charged at him.

"Great Cross Slash!"

Her speed suddenly increased as she sped toward him. But, just before she reached him, Rogue quickly moved up into the air to avoid it. And as he descended toward her, he gathered shadows around his right leg, before swinging the leg around to kick her.

"Shadow Dragon's Claw!"

Aira barely managed to react in time, putting her arms up in front of her to take the force of the attack, which sent her sliding back, though she managed to stay on her feet.

"Despite having an apparent speed advantage for Rogue, Aira was still able to defend herself! It seems both mages are having trouble gaining any ground in this one!" Chapati commented.

"Tch. I've wasted too much time already." Rogue said to himself. His shadowy aura appeared once again and he charged forward, gathering the shadows around his right hand before thrusting it forward once he was close to his opponent.

"Shadow Dragon's Crushing Fang!"

But as the attack approached her, Aira dove to the side to avoid it before shouting out.

"Severe Hurricane Wall!"

At that moment, four tornadoes surrounded Rogue and closed in on him, growing larger each moment until they collided together, forming a much larger tornado and trapping Rogue inside. But the attack soon died down and spat the Dragon Slayer out, sending him to the ground, though he immediately picked himself back up.

"I'm running out of time." Aira said to herself. "I need to end this quickly..."

Rogue seemed to be having the same thought, though he remained silent. While he was planning his next move, Aira decided to go all out and attempt to end it right then.

"Tempest!" she suddenly shouted, and a large cloud formed around Rogue. Lightning then began to surge through it, sending painful shocks through the Dragon Slayer, and causing him to let out several agonized shouts. Seconds later, the cloud dispersed, revealing the Sabertooth mage down on a knee, clearly in pain as he tried to catch his breath. But suddenly, Rogue's head snapped up to face her, an intense look in his eyes.

"Shadow Dragon's Roar!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, as the vortex of shadows launched from his mouth. Caught off guard by the fact that he was able to continue fighting, Aira couldn't react in time, and the roar hit with full force, launching her backward. The White Eclipse mage rolled for several feet before finally coming to a stop as Mato ran to check on her. But before he could even reach her, Aira had already begun to pull herself back up, a look of surprise appearing on Rogue's face as she made it back onto a knee.

"Come on, Aira! You can beat this guy!" Luke shouted from White Eclipse section.

"Rogue, hurry up and finish it! You're running out of time!" Sting shouted.

And he was right. This match had gone on for quite a wile, and still neither mage had a clear advantage over the other. Both of them knew they needed to act fast, but as they started to jump forward to launch into another attack, the gong rang out through the arena to signal the end of the match.

"The time limit has been reached, kabo!" Mato announced. "This match ends in a draw! Rogue and Aira receive one point each!"

"Hmph..." Rogue silently turned and walked back to Sabertooth's section, where Sting smiled and patted a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright. One point's better than nothing."

He nodded. "I'll be sure to do better tomorrow."

Aira sighed and walked back to her guild's section as well.

"Sorry I didn't get the win."

"Hey, at least you got a point." Reve said. "And besides, after I beat Erza later, Quatro Cerberus won't be the only guild to have gone undefeated today."

"Just don't slip up like you did in Day 1." Luke replied, earning an annoyed glance from the S-Class mage, before Reve turned to face Aira again.

"Anyway, you did good, Aira."

"Thanks!" she replied with a bright smile. "And good luck in your fight too, Reve!"

"Well, that was certainly an interesting bout." Chapati said. "They used up the full thirty minutes and still, each only landed one solid hit on the other."

"I think both tried to focus too much on coming up with a good strategy, and didn't commit enough time to putting them into motion." Lahar commented.

Yajima nodded in agreement. "Indeed. And with this, Sabertooth has failed to win either of its matches against White Eclipse. However, Rogue still moves into first place in Block B for now, though Kagura can move on past him if she defeats her opponent later."

"Very true. But now, it's time to begin the first of four S-Class vs S-Class matchups here in Day 3! This should be interesting!"

"Radioactive Decay's Minoru Kanemoto and Blue Pegasus' Ichiya Kotobuki, please step forward, kabo!" Mato announced from the center of the arena.

Minoru started to walk, but stopped and turned back around when he heard a voice coming from behind him.

"Minoru! Wait!" Avani shouted to him as she ran toward him, smiling as she came to a stop in front of him.

"Sorry, I just wanted to wish you luck." she said, then leaned up and gave him a quick kiss. "And remember what I told you earlier. You're just here for the tournament like everyone else. Try not to let "them" worry you too much."

The white-haired man was tense and nervous, but did his best to suppress it as he nodded.

"Thank you, Avani. I'll do my best."

With that, he turned and took a deep breath as he walked out into the arena, keeping his eyes down to avoid looking at the Coucil's men posted throughout the arena.

Hibiki, Ren, and Eve all stood behind Ichiya and cheered him on.

"We know you'll do great as always, Ichiya-sensei."

"Hmph. Not like that other guy stands a chance anyway."

"Go get those points, Ichiya-sensei!"

"MEN! After making full use of my bye yesterday, my perfume is ready to show its magnificence once more!" Ichiya said before walking out as well.

The mages stopped a few feet apart from each other as Mato spoke again.

"Are both mage ready, kabo?"

"I'm ready. Men~" Ichiya responded, and Minoru gave a silent nod.

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

Rather than immediately attack, Ichiya struck an awkward pose, with random sparkles appearing around him as he spoke.

"Hm! The perfume of your magic is strong. It is a shame that our first meeting must be as foes. But still, I won't hold back. I'll give you one chance to surren- GAH!"

Minoru cut off Ichiya's sentence by smashing his fist into the short mage's face, launching him back several feet.

"M-men... I see you won't be accepting the offer." Ichiya said as he stood back up. "Very well. Then I have no choice but to defeat you!"

Ichiya then pulled a vial out of his jacket and removed the cork, releasing his Paralyzing Perfume, which began to make its way toward his opponent.

"Hmph." Minoru scoffed, then wrote the word "breeze" in the air with his index finger. His magic then used the word to create a breeze in the air which blew Ichiya's perfume away. "Is that all? Pathetic."

He then wrote "War Hammer" in the air, and his signature weapon appeared in his hands as he rushed at the Blue Pegasus mage. Minoru lifted the hammer high in the air and shouted out as he swung it down as hard as he could. Not surprisingly, Ichiya was able to dive away from the attack before it could hit, and the hammer crashed into the ground, leaving a small crater. But Minoru hadn't expected the attack to his anyway. And as Ichiya jumped to the side, Minoru immediately held a hand out to face him and wrote "fireball" in the air. Before the Perfume Mage could react, a large fireball launched forward and crashed into him, exploding as it knocked him right out of the air.

"And Ichiya takes another hit!" Chapati said. "This had been incredibly one-sided thus far. Will the Blue Pegasus mage be able to turn this around?!"

While Ichiya was down, Minoru became distracted as the sight of one of the Council's guards entered the corner of his field of vision, and he couldn't help but stop and take a quick glance around. While this happened, Ichiya had struggled, but managed to pull himself back to his feet again, and inserted two of his perfume vials into his nostrils.

"Fleet-Foot Perfume: Zero Distance Inhalation! Men!~"

Minoru snapped out of his thoughts, instantly bringing his focus back to the fight. But Ichiya then began to run in circles around Minoru, his perfume increasing his speed exponentially, to the point that Minoru had difficulty following where exactly he was. This annoyed Minoru, but he knew what kind of strategy Ichiya was using. So he knelt down on a knee and began to write on the ground with his finger, knowing what Ichiya was about to do. Ichiya saw this, and thought it seemed like a good opening to attack. So once he was behind Minoru, he changed his direction and darted straight for the Solid Script mage, only to crash right into a rock wall that suddenly rose up from the ground.

The impact with the wall left Ichiya daze, and he started staggering backward. Minoru, however, was already moving to capitalize on Ichiya's mistake, as he wrote the word "boulder" on the wall. He then pulled a fist back and slammed it right where he had written the word, and a large portion of the wall formed into a boulder which launched forward right into Ichiya, crashing into him as he was once again launched backward. Mato immediately ran over to check on Ichiya, who appeared to be unconscious, and Minoru again started to glance around at the guards, his eyes stopping when the reached the announcers' booth.

"Ichiya might be down! This could be Minoru's first win of the tournament, and a much needed one at that!" Chapati said.

"Yes, but...he keeps taking his eyes off of his opponent." Lahar said. "And why is he looking at us right now?"

"Hmm...did we perhaps say something that offended him?" Yajima asked, equally curious.

Back in the arena, Mato raised his hand. "Ichiya is down! Mino-"

"Wait!" Ichiya suddenly shouted, cutting Mato off.

"Tch. Still won't stay down, huh?" Minoru said, again bringing his attention back to Ichiya, who was now on his hands and knees, trying to catch his breath. Ichiya then winced as he brought one of his hands to his ribs. To everyone else, it seemed as if he was trying to test the severity of an injury, but actually, the mage was doing this to hide the fact that he was reaching for another vial. This one contained his Pain Perfume, and as he removed the cork, the perfume made its way toward Minoru, who instinctively began to write another spell to blow the perfume away. However, he had noticed the perfume too late, and before he could finish his spell, the perfume made its way into his nose. Immediately, intense pain began to surge all through Minoru's body, as he dropped to the ground and began to shout and writhe around in agony.

"Minoru!" Avani shouted out with a concerned expression as she watched on.

"Yes! You've got him not, Ichiya-senpai!"' Hibiki called out from Blue Pegasus' section, the rest of the Trimens group eagerly watching the fight as well.

Doing his best to fight against the pain, Minoru grit his teeth and shakily began to stand back up. Surprised that Minoru had even managed to remain conscious, Ichiya removed the vial containing his Power Perfume.

"I'm impressed. Your perfume is most resilient. But unfortunately, I must win this fight for my guild."

He then removed the cork and inhaled the perfume. As he did, his muscles and overall body mass began to expand several times greater than normal, until the short orange-haired mage had become more resemblant of a hulking monster. Ichiya began to walk toward Minoru, each step causing the ground beneath him to shake. By this point, Minoru had managed to stand back up, but couldn't move his body fast enough to avoid a massive fist that Ichiya then threw at him. The punch slammed right into Minoru and sent him flying back, crashing hard into the wall of the arena, leaving an imprint where his body hit. He then fell to the ground, but to the surprise of everyone in the arena, was somehow able to force himself to stand up again, though he was clearly dazed from the hit he'd just taken.

"Alright then... Lets finish this."

He lifted his hand, preparing to write a spell that he knew for sure would end this fight and give him his first win. However, the second he began to write, the gong sounded.

"The time limit has been reached, kabo! This match ends in a draw! Both Minoru and Ichiya receive one point each!"

"You gotta be kidding. Another draw?" Minoru said, frustrated that he was unable to get the win.

Ichiya sighed as his body reverted back to normal. He then began walking back toward Blue Pegasus' section, only to collapse halfway there.

"Ichiya-sensei!" Hibiki, Ren, and Eve all yelled in unison as they sprinted out to him.

"M-men..." was all he could say in response.

"You did great, sensei! Now lets get you back to the infirmary so you can rest up." Eve said, and the three lifted Ichiya off the ground and carried him back to the infirmary.

Minoru limped back to Radioactive Decay's section, keeping a hand on his back as he went. And as he arrived, Avani immediately put her arms around him and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

"You did great, Minoru. I know that can't have been easy with all of them here."

"Thanks, Avani. But I still let it distract me a few times, and I wasn't able to get a win."

"That doesn't matter. You still did your best."

"How's the back, Minoru?" Freya asked as she walked over.

"I'll be fine." He answered, turning to glance at her.

"Hm..." Not convinced, she used her magic to cover her fist in iron, then slammed it several times into Minoru's back causing him to shout in pain before glaring at her.

"WHAT THE HELL, FREYA?!"

"Better now?" she asked with an innocent smile.

"I- actually, yeah, it kinda is. How'd you do that?"

"Oh wow, really?! Heh. Guess I got lucky." she said with a chuckle.

Minoru just grunted and gave her an irritated look, before Avani spoke again.

"Come on guys, lets just watch the rest of the matches now, ne?"

Both nodded, and turned their attention back to the arena.

"Well, with that draw, Bacchus remains in first place in Block A, as Ichiya now has 3 points, and Minoru has 2." Chapati said.

"Indeed." Yajima replied. "And that was also the third match today that ended in a draw."

Lahar nodded. "That's true, I hadn't thought about that. But I notice Minoru seemed...as if his mind was somewhere else at several points in the match. I can't help but think he might've had a better chance of winning if he had stayed focused."

"It just goes to show that you have to keep your eye on the prize at all times to do well in this tournament. And now with the majority of today's fights, we are down to three more fights, each of which will be battles between S-Class mages. Kagura Mikazuchi of Mermaid Heel vs Black Phoenix's Mathias Cronqvist. Lamia Scale's Lyon Vastia vs Fairy Tail's Iron Dragon Slayer, Gajeel Redfox. And of course, the one everyone's talking about, the legendary "Titania", Erza Scarlet vs White Eclipse's S-Class Gunslinger, Reve Volver. What will happen when these mages step into the arena together?! Stay tuned to find out!"