Here's the next chapter! Hope you all enjoy!

July 6, X791

In the clock tower of Crocus, Melody clenched her fists and took a fighting stance across from White Valyrie's Bryant, his body clad in black iron armor, all while Frost was sitting propped up against a nearby wall and barely conscious.

"Rhythm…" Melody charged toward Bryant while magic energy was powering up in her right hand.

"Iron God…" Bryant sucked in a lot of air and puffed his cheeks.

"BLAST!" Melody brought down her magic-infused hand on Bryant.

"BELLOW!" Bryant shot a breath of sharp iron shards at Melody.

The blast sent Melody flying back to the other side of the clock tower's first floor and she recovered and regained her footing just before her body hit the wall.

"Tch!" Melody scoffed.

"Even if your attack hit, it wouldn't have done a thing to my armor!" Bryant boasted.

Melody stood back up and swung her arm through the air, releasing a powerful, violet sound wave from it.

"Rhythm Wave!"

Bryant stood his ground, but when the wave struck him he could feel painful vibrations occurring all over his body.

"Rrrrrrrrrgh!" Bryant groaned in pain and clutched his head. "The hell-The hell d'ya do ta me?!"

"I can't break through your armor. That much is true." Melody responded. "But I CAN use it to hurt you."

"THAT MAKES NO SENSE!" Bryant shouted. "YOU CAN'T HURT ME IF YOU CAN'T BREAK MY DEFENSES!"

"Let me explain, you brainless monkey." Melody sighed and placed her palm against her face. "My Sound Magic releases powerful vibrations in various forms. When those vibrations hit something, the waves of pressure force said target to vibrate. In this case, my attack caused your armor to vibrate against your body, damaging your body and senses in the process."

"You have bullshit magic, ya know that?!" Bryant yelled angrily.

"Stop being a baby…" Melody said with a deadpan expression.

Bryant charged in roaring with his fist raised and as soon as he got in close Melody kicked him in the chin with a magically charged foot, sending him flying high into the clock tower. She followed after him by jumping off the various gears and turbines until she reached a horizontally positioned cog that Bryant had landed on. As he got back on his feet, he dispelled his iron armor and cracked his neck.

"Damn, that was a hell of a kick." Bryant said.

"I meant to kick you in the groin." Melody said. "The fight would've been over sooner."

"That's low!" Bryant exclaimed. "Your magic may have forced me to strip off my armor, but I still have the home field advantage. As a Slayer Wizard, this whole tower is an all you can eat buffet. Chomping on one of these parts'll replenish my magic."

*He doesn't realize how stupid of an idea that is.* Melody thought as she smirked.

Bryant pointed all of his fingers at Melody. "Iron God Machine Gun!"

A spray of iron bullets were fired from Bryant's fingers and Melody tried to block them by waving a sonic pulse from her arm, but it only shielded her torso and head with several of the bullets piercing through her legs.

"Dammit!" Melody growled as her legs started bleeding and her stature became a bit off balance.

"You're open!" Bryant shouted as he charged at Melody again, this time transforming his arm into a black iron bat. "Iron God Home Run!"

Bryant knocked Melody off of their cog and into a vertically positioned one, causing her to fall after hitting it. As she fell, she grabbed one of the teeth of a nearby cog and climbed up the series of gears until she managed to get to another horizontal cog.

Bryant looked over to Melody from the cog he was standing on. "I'm impressed my Home Run didn't knock you out."

Melody could feel great pain in her torso and clutched her ribs. *But you managed to crack a few of my ribs, though… If he hit me with another one of those, I'll be down for the count.*

Before she could think any further, Bryant lunged at her with his bat-shaped arm and she barely managed to jump out of the way. The cog beneath him was smashed and Melody latched onto another tooth and climbed it.

"You ain't getting' away!" Bryant shouted as he took a deep breath. "Iron God Howl!"

Melody was caught in the blast of iron shards and she fell along with the machinations of the clock tower. As the parts fell, she leapt off of them with an extra jump boost from her magic until she was right in front of Bryant.

"Rhythm Axe!" Melody kicked Bryant sideways in the face and sent him crashing into another set of gears.

As Bryant fell, he turned his right hand into sharp iron and latched onto the side of one of the cogs. He then used his left hand to grab one of the cogs he had crashed into and started eating it like a cookie. While he was distracted, Melody jumped at him and tried to deliver another kick infused with magic.

"Don't bother me while I'm eating!" Bryant shouted as he used the half-eaten cog to swat her away and into clock tower's wall.

Melody fell onto a horizontal cog as Bryant finished eating the one he was holding. While she struggled to get up, Bryant landed in front of her and picked her up by the collar of her shirt.

"Don't go out already." Bryant said. "The fun's only just started."

Melody coughed and then smirked. "Heh, I'm not one to go down easy."

"That's kinda hot." Bryant smiled.

"Ohhh, how I've waited for this…" Melody muttered to herself.

"Wha-?"

Melody swung her right leg back, infused it with her magical power and swung it forward.

BOOM!

Bryant's face twitched and winced in intense pain from Melody kicking him in the groin and he was launched high into the clock tower again, but this time even higher than before. She was let go as soon as he was sent flying and landed on her feet on the cog. Melody started jumping with a boost from her magic, upward and against any nearby parts that were still standing.

DOOOOOONG!

"AH!" Melody shrieked in pain.

She fell out of the air and grasped her ears like she was in pain, landing on the cog that was just underneath her.

"Fuck!" Melody shouted as she cradling her body and clamping her head. "That god awful bell!"

Melody would have been in deep trouble if she hadn't just kicked Bryant in the balls. Near the top of the clock tower with the bell right above, Bryant finally landed on his side while holding onto his crushed family jewels with his mouth wide open and eyes almost blank.

*Okay… Not gonna hit on her anymore…* Bryant thought as he lied motionless.

The bell ringing lasted for ten seconds and Melody took ten more to regain her senses and stop feeling the massive migraine.

"I just HAD to fight him in a clock tower…" Melody mumbled to herself before continuing to jump her way through the tower.

Once she reached the top floor, Bryant was finally standing up, but his posture was far from perfect due to what Melody did to his goods.

"Th… That was a dirty trick!" Bryant exclaimed. "And not in a fun way!"

"You had it coming." Melody retorted.

"Er-Ain't gonna argue with that." Bryant squealed in pain.

Melody examined Bryant's current state, taking note of his weak posture, the damage he had already taken and that his defensive capabilities have been significantly reduced since he lowered his armor.

*I can't use my trump card in here.* Bryant thought. *There's not enough space. I'll probably lose, but I still have one more trick up my sleeve.*

Black iron blades began protruding from his arms, legs and neck and he started spinning in a circle.

"Iron God Slicer!"

Bryant's shape became a bladed whirlwind and he moved straight toward Melody.

"I'd hate to cut up such a beautiful lady, but you left me no choice!" Bryant said. "Just try and stop this!"

Melody jumped to the right and avoided Bryant except for a part of the zipper of her jacket was slashed up. She looked down at it and her body started shaking.

"Dammit!" Bryant shouted as he kept spinning and moving. "I missed! And I can't stop! Why'd I use this move if I didn't know how to stop?!"

Bryant kept moving to the point where he fell off the edge of the top floor and stopped spinning, the blades retracting back into his body. As he was falling, Melody jumped after him, got right above him and clutched his face while her eyes were filled with rage.

"Do you know… What happens when you tear up my jacket?" She growled.

"Oh crap…" Bryant whimpered.

Melody boosted the speed of their fall with her sound magic and they were just about to hit the floor at the bottom of the clock tower.

"RHYTHM METEOR!"

Melody smashed Bryant against the floor with an incredible amount of force that created a large, cracked crater and he coughed up blood.

"I amplified the force of the impact with my magic." Melody stated. "You definitely won't be getting up for a while after this."

Shortly after the shaking stopped and the debris wasn't being sent back anymore, Bryant soon lost consciousness and sprawled out on the ground with his mouth open, blood all over his chin and his eyes completely white and lifeless. Melody stood up while panting heavily from exhaustion and turned toward her still barely conscious friend, Frost. After a few more pants, she smirked at the Ice Dragon Slayer with great confidence.

"Y… You were… awesome… Melo… dy…" Frost barely uttered just before losing consciousness.

"Frost…" Melody tried to jog over to Frost, but she immediately fell to her knees and could barely stand up. "Damn! I used up too much magic in that fight! I-it's all right, as long as no one comes-"

The sound of footsteps caught Melody's attention and saw that Jura was now standing in front of her.

"… Shit-"

Jura chopped Melody on the head, knocking her onto the floor and rendering her unconscious. He looked around the clock tower to see that everyone else was already knocked out of the games, so he just turned around and left.

Spiral was running through the streets of the capital, looking for any Sabertooth wizards he could find.

*Wizards are dropping like flies.* Spiral thought as he ran. *I need to find at least one of those Saber guys before they're all taken out!*

Spiral heard something come from his left and stopped running, a magic bolt passing in front of him and barely missing him.

"I'm not surprised Bryant lost." A voice spoke.

Spiral turned to the voice to see Leah standing on the rooftop.

"I always knew his cockiness would get the better of him." Leah continued.

"Sorry, but I don't have time to fight you right now!" Spiral said. "There's someone else I need to take down!"

"And why should I let you just pass by?" Leah questioned. "This IS a free for all. And the rules state that opposing wizards HAVE to battle."

*Dammit!* Spiral gritted his teeth.

Underneath Mercurius, a cloaked figure stood before Natsu, Lucy and the others. Almost out of nowhere, the figure began sobbing and sniffling.

"I'm sorry…" They covered their mouth with their left hand.

Natsu just looked at the figure.

"Could… you help me?" They asked.

"That voice…" Yukino gasped.

"Huh?" Mirajane reacted.

"You're…" Loke was about to say.

The figure then used their left hand to remove their hood and reveal another Lucy, tears streaming down her face.

"LUCY!" Both Natsu and Lionel yelled.

"WHAAAAAAT?!" Lucy screamed.

A/N: For this chapter, I tried to get most of it as a fight without a whole lot of dialogue, but still keep it within my word limit. I know some of you want to see the Jayden and Kara fight, but that will come eventually. I want to get one more fight in and do a little catching up with the group in the castle before I get to it. By the way, as a Fairy Tail fan, I bought all of the costumes for Dead or Alive 5: Last Round, a fighting game I highly recommend! Those costumes are awesome! Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Stay tuned for next time!