Everyone was a bit surprised to see Mirajane Strauss step up to bat. She only fought out of necessity these days, so many didn't even see her in combat. Noticing the strange looks, she couldn't help but smile. "What? I fight a little too every now and then."
"...I don't think I've actually see her fight, at all." Luke mumbled to the others. He wasn't the only one. She did compete in the Grand Magic Games, but that was during an event, and it was more of a scramble than a brawl.
"She's an S-class like Laxus and Erza. So I don't think we should take her lightly." Selene crossed her arms. As much as Reve liked to look down on Fairy Tail, most of the others were well aware not to take them lightly. Especially after how quickly Laxus dealt with Waiston. They weren't outmatched, but if their egos got the best of them, then they really would be.
"I've seen her fight before." Reve said while waving a dismissive hand. "It was back at Aiden's huge lab last year, but she wasn't that impressive. Me and the others practically carried that fight, she wasn't needed."
"My, Reve. That's a rather rude thing to say about someone standing not too far away." Even though Mira pointed this out, she had a smile on her face.
"You'll regret underestimating my sister!" Lisanna said with a wide grin.
"Yeah! Mira has the strength of ten men and more!" Elfman added. Of course the siblings were going to root for their sister. Anyone who knew Mira knew just how strong she could be.
"Maybe we should take them at their word." Zalen pushed his glasses up, being mindful of the situation. From what he knew, the Strauss siblings were quite tough. Mira, Elfman, and Lisanna, in that order. "Those siblings aren't half bad..."
"If she's nothing special, I'll gladly take care of her." The one to speak up was Draco. The blaze mage was feeling himself. "I haven't had a real fight since that Dealer stuff. So I'll gladly step in there!"
"i wanted a crack at her." Heather mumbled. So she was going to step forward, much to the chagrin of the man who just volunteered himself.
"Me too! Let's rock paper scissors for it!" Leon hopped up. Draco and Heather rolled their eyes, before actually deciding to go through with this.
"...What are they doing?" Ena whispered to her brother. In response, Kurtnaga gave a clueless shrug.
"I haven't the faintest idea..." Kurthnaga responded. Humans could be weird sometimes. But he would be lying if he said he didn't find it a little entertaining, at least.
"Rock...paper...scissors...SHOOT!" The three of them threw their hands out. Heather and Leon both picked scissors, while Draco remained firm with rock.
"Agh!" Leon comically fell over at the fact he lost his chance to fight.
"Tch. Whatever." Heather scoffed, turned on her heel, and went back to the spectator seat. "Fine, you win. Just make sure you don't embarrass yourself."
"Are we all decided?" Ena looked back and forth between the two guilds. Something about this interaction amused her. It did feel...very human.
"Yeah we are!" Draco laughed while stepping forward, cracking his knuckles. To him, Mirajane Strauss was an unknown opponent. But he wasn't going to waste this chance and potentially show up one of Fairy Tail's strongest! "So, are you ready to do this? My Blaze magic will burn your chances of victory to cinders!"
"I wanna fight this guy now..." Natsu saw another fire mage, and he wanted to test his flames. But this was Mira's fight, and he was pretty sure this was going to end with Draco in the dirt.
"I'm ready. But I do hope you're ready, too." Mira had a sweet smile on her face before a magic circle appeared above her. "Are we going to follow the White Eclipse tradition again? If so...you're free to begin when you want."
"You bet I'm ready! Here I come, Mirajane Strauss!" Draco sprinted forward without delay, white flames igniting around his left arm. Despite that sweet face, Draco wasn't going to underestimate her! That's why he was giving this first swing everything he had. "Ardent Spark!" Draco threw his blazing fist right at Mira's cheek, only for it to be halted immediately. "Eh?"
Mira shifted into her Satan Soul just as Draco threw his punch. Her hand caught his fist and a shockwave boomed out. Despite the flames, she was able to withstand the impact just fine. "Truthfully, I think this conflict is a little silly. But since your guild has challenged mine, I intend to do what I can to aid Fairy Tail's victory." And then, she shifted, her tail slamming into Draco. This caused him to grunt and slide backwards.
"Ow, a tail?" Draco felt that impact, but he shook it off. He was staring down a demon. While he did have some fights in White Eclipse, Mirajane felt like she was on a different level. He could feel the pressure given off just by her Satan Soul. "Did I bite off more than I can chew already? Nah...!"
"Don't let her scare you!" Takeru exclaimed.
"Right!" Draco nodded to this. Mira had yet to actually move, so he was going to take this chance to attack once again. He drew his hand back, white flames blazing along his arm. "Ardent Blaze!" He threw his hand forward, sending a wave of white flames towards Mira. These blames burned a path straight to the demoness.
Mira cupped her hands together, a sphere of darkness forming within the empty space between her blast. "Demon Blast!" She threw her hands forward; the Demon Blast and Ardent Blaze collided against each other, exploding after a few seconds. There was a thick cloud of smoke that filled the courtyard. Mira had no plans of letting Draco rest easy, flying forward at incredible speeds before appearing out of the smoke. Draco's eyes were wide as he had no chance to react, and Mira's fist slammed right into his stomach, infused with darkness to really add some sting.
"Gah-!" Draco coughed from the punch to his stomach, which nearly made him double over as a result. Mira then spun around, her heel colliding against his temple. Her physical prowess was on display, as he tumbled along the ground violently. He was able to spring up after a few seconds onto his feet, one eye clenched shut as he felt the bruises all over his body. "Okay, so she's tougher than she looks. But so am I." Draco then cupped his hands together, before throwing them into the air. "Ardent Ray!" From his palms, numerous white beams of fire shot into the sky, before raining down on Mira.
"Oh." Mira glanced up to see these beams of fire raining down on her. She crossed her arms, the beams of fire crashing down on her. This was the first time Draco's attacks actually landed against, her, and she could tell that these flames were quite strong. Each ray that struck around her created a thick cloud of smoke.
Draco planned to make use of this and charged ahead, his flames covering the entirety of his body. "Ardent Impact!" A white hot streak of flame shot forward as Draco crashed into Mira's body with a shoulder tackle. Momentum was on his side as he managed to force her to slide back a little bit. Keeping his offensive pressure going, Draco them flicked his wrist upward. "And Ardent Burst!" From the ground, a white hot pillar of flame erupted from underneath Mira, consuming her completely.
"Nice going, Draco!" Kuro exclaimed. "Keep it up!"
"...This fight's over." Laxus shrugged. Draco was not showing anything too impressive in his eyes. Before White Eclipse could make a snarky remark of some kind, as the flames died down, Mira was seen, burned, damaged, but clearly still standing.
"No way, even after all that?" Draco said with a sweat drop. He thought he was getting somewhere, but it just looked like they were exiting the warm up as far as she was concerned.
"I must thank you. It's been a while since I got to stretch a little bit.'" Mira's sweet smile struck fear in Draco when she was like this. Mira's arms were surrounded in darkness, and she promptly held them forward. The mass of dark magic gathered into a large sphere, which then turned into a larger blast that soared towards Draco. "Evil Explosion!"
"Ah-!" Draco tried to muster up some defense for this, but he couldn't. The explosion that occurred on impact was massive, a whirlwind of darkness shaking the castle courtyard as everyone had to cover their eyes for a few seconds.
"What strength for a human...!" Kurthnaga gasped, his arm shielding his eyes from the fierce winds. Slowly, the winds died down, Draco was laying on his back, eyes pure white to signify his defeat. "I-I see...Draco has been KO'ed. Which means Fairy Tail is leading 2-1..."
"Wow!" Ena clasped her hands together, reptilian eyes sparkling at Fairy Tail's strength.
"Huh." Mii's expression displayed some hint of intrigue. "Not bad."
"And he embarrassed himself..." Heather shook her head.
"Nice one, Mira-nee!" Lisanna cheered. "I knew you'd win!"
"You sure showed him!" Elfman always felt good when Mira kicked butt.
"Thank you. I had no plans to disappoint." Mira smiled as she returned back to normal. She took a breath, and Wendy went to go heal her injuries.
"I had no idea she was that strong..." Aira spoke with wide eyes, moving over to bring Draco and heal him.
"..." Sidney didn't say a word about Mira's strength; he didn't need to. Mira was stronger than the others were giving her credit for.
"Haha!" Natsu had to laugh. "You guys are fallin' behind!"
"Shut it! We're about to make a comeback!" Takeru exclaimed. "Come and fight me right now, Salamander! I want a rematch!" Takeru said while launching himself to the battlefield.
"I'll gladly kick your ass again!" Natsu was about to go and fight Takeru again, but the two of them were both held back. Gajeel and Leon both beat them to the punch, sliding into the battlefield before they could. "Huh!?"
"Hey, what gives?!" Takeru growled.
"I wanna fight!" Gajeel and Leon both exclaimed at the same time.
"This was bound to happen. I could see his impatience growing with each second." Pantherlily was not surprised by this outcome. Neither was Levy.
"These humans are quite strong." Kurthnaga admitted. "Now I'm even more certain that White Eclipse will be the ones to aid us and end this civil war before it can begin."
"Huh!?" Ena looked towards her brother with a look of shock. "How can you say that, when Fairy Tail is winning so far!?"
"So far." Kurthnaga added with a smug grin. "I have absolute faith in the wizard guild that I've chosen to aid us. My decision was based on fact, while yours, on feeling. While I am not saying your reason was incorrect, my reason is based on truth. White Eclipse is the strongest guild in Fiore at present, and I believe they are about to prove it, here and now."
"Tch..." Ena couldn't help but grumble. Fairy Tail had accomplishments of their own as well! But it wasn't worth getting into an argument over. They'd literally be there for hours, and she knew they didn't have that kind of time. "If the two of you are ready..."
"WE ARE!" Gajeel and Leon both exclaimed as they rocketed forward. Leon's fist of acid and Gajeel's fist of iron slipped past each other, and they struck each other in the chest. Sliding back, Leon was the one shaking his fist. "Ow...!"
Gajeel felt some burns on his body, but he shifted into his iron scales at the last second before impact. "Giehehehe! If Salamander can beat you, there's no reason why I can't either!"
"You are the one that fought Tristan, now that I think about it." Leon spoke with a slight grin. Gajeel was strong and he knew it, so he entered his Acid Drive to kick things up a notch. Gajeel deserved that much if they were going to fight. The two of them then lunged at each other once again, entering a flurry of fists. Their punches were either avoided, or they collided against the other in a no holds bar match. The two of them weren't backing down from this slugfest.
"C'mon, Gajeel!" Levy exclaimed. "You can beat him!"
"Don't let up, Leon!" Aira shouted, cheering for Leon. Each punch left by the other resulted in a shockwave as well.
"Iron Dragon's..."
"Acid's Dragon's..."
"ROAR!" The two exclaimed in unison. Their respective roars exploding from their mouths at such close range. The result was an explosion that blew the two of them backwards, causing them both to slide back. Both slayers wore smirks on their faces, as this fight was already ramping up for them. Leon had a number of bruises on his body, while Gajeel's iron scales were slowly corroding due to the acidic properties of Leon's magic. They both knew they had to finish this fight fast, otherwise they would lose momentum to the other!
Gajeel pointed his arm forward, a green magic circle appearing in front of him. "Iron Dragon's Lance: Demon Logs!" From the seal, multiple iron spears began to shoot towards Leon!
"Acid Dragon's Wave!" Leon threw an orb of ace from his hands, watching as his and Gajeel's attacks collided!
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Back in Black Phoenix, Tristan couldn't help but stare out a window. Leon left for White Eclipse a few hours ago, and he had no idea what was keeping him so long. "Hm...Leon-san has been gone for quite some time, now..."
Trinity soon appeared, arms folded over his chest. "He did say he was going to visit White Eclipse, did he not? Perhaps his stay has been extended for one reason or another."
"Maybe so." Tristan let out a small sigh. "I'm not worried about him. I simply expected him to be back by now. But I'm sure he's fine, wherever he is right now."
.
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Gajeel and Leon's slugfest continued soon after. Everyone was watching tensely as the two of them even entered their dual modes, kicking things up as they went all out! Leon's fist slammed against Gajeel's cheek, forcing his head to snap back. But Gajeel held his ground, his iron and shadowy fist punching straight into Leon's chest, causing the acid dragon to grunt out. The two of them were quickly growing exhausted from this back and forth show. Until they both wound up, going for one final punch to end it all.
"Iron Fist of the Poison Acid Dragon!"
"Iron Shadow Dragon's Hard Fist!"
Gajeel and Leon's fists struck their foe right in the stomach, a shockwave of their respective magics pulsing out of the other. It was a fierce clash and both of the dragons slumped against each other, before staggering backwards. Their bodies both returned to normal, and everyone watched with bated breath to see who would be the one to fall first. It was...Gajeel. He fell over first, unconscious. But not even a second later, did Leon fall as well.
"A-Ah!?" Ena gasped.
"Gajeel fell first. We win." Reve stated.
"What?! You can't make that sort of decision!" Juvia exclaimed. "Gajeel-kun and Leon practically fell at the same time!"
"Well...at the end of the day, that sort of decision isn't really up to us." Jaxon glanced at Ena and Kurthnaga. The two dragon siblings were a little at a loss at first. It was so close they wanted to deem it a draw...
"Gajeel did fall first." Ena said with a small sigh. When it came from her, the supporter of Fairy Tail, they had no choice but to accept the decision. Kurthnaga just nodded in agreement. "So this means that Fairy Tail and White Eclipse are now even."
"So, the next one to win will be the one to face our island's troubles. And the losing guild must return home." Kurthnaga said.
"I really don't think we should entertain..." Ena began, but she was mumbling, and she got cut off.
"Ena, do not worry." Erza spoke while stepping forward, as Gajeel and Leon were pulled off to get healed. "I will end this charade once and for all."
Upon Erza stepping into the ring, Reve finally jumped in. This was his chance to officially settle things between them. "Finally. I was wondering when I'd get the chance to embarrass you, Erza." His patented cocky grin was ever present.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Reve." Erza stated calmly, her hand extended. A heavenly glow appeared within her palm, which turned into a sword that she gripped tightly. Her gaze was directly on Reve, eyes narrowing as she faced down his annoying smirk. "All I know is that this is the chance to shut that mouth of yours for a long time, and the silence that follows will be blissful."
'Hah!" Reve chuckled condescendingly at Erza's words. In his hand, a single pistol appeared, and he pointed it towards Erza. "Someone's been letting you live in a fantasy world for a long time now, Scarlet. It's time for you to wake up."
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Next time: It Never Ends; Erza vs Reve