Chapter 12
After Lucy's fight with Flare, the officials had been forced to postpone the next battle while wizard technicians went down into the arena to mend the damage from Lucy's final attack. They had just finished the repairs when Logan suddenly returned to his team from out of the stands.
"Hey, man. Where'd you sneak off to?" Gray asked as he rejoined them at the railing.
"Just had to go and make an appointment for later." He said ambiguously. "Where's Lucy?"
"She's gone to the infirmary to have her scratches tended to." Erza said.
"You're just in time, pal. They're about to start the next fights. It'll give us the chance to scope out the competition a little more." Natsu said.
"Alright, folks, now that the field's clear, it's time to begin the second fight of today's battle matches!" Chapati exclaimed from his booth. "From Blue Pegasus, it's the debonair man about town, Ren Akatsuki! He's the master of air magic! By expertly manipulating the air about him, he can either alter the density of the air around his opponents, or remove it altogether."
Ren walked in from the north side of the arena, looking as suave and overly quaffed as any man possibly could. At the same time, his adversary was walking in from the opposing end of the stadium.
"He'll be going up against the almighty thunderclap of Sabertooth, Orga Nanagear! As part of the reigning championship team, Orga has requested we not reveal his magic before the start of the match. Who will win this next exciting clash? Let's find out!"
"Mmhmm! This should be a great match." Mr. Yajima said.
"Go, Ren! Win this one for Blue Pegasus!" Jenny Realight declared. "Don't forget, Sherry's in the stands, and she's rooting for you!"
Down in the arena, Ren and Orga squared off to each other from double arm's length away.
"You may be from the strongest guild in Fiore, but don't think that means I'm afraid of you." Ren said in his usual, stony demeanor.
Orga chuckled with the effortless confidence of a cat staring down at a mouse.
"Big words from such a tiny little pony, but don't worry. I'll try not to mess up that pretty face too badly."
"And now, let's begin!" Chapati roared.
Ren instantly jumped a full three feet backwards, hoping to avoid the opening salvo he expected to be coming.
"Aerial!" Ren shouted.
His spell activated, creating a dome of undulating air that surrounded Orga.
"Areial, Dual Layer!"
Within the dome, a second layer of an airy barrier formed itself directly over Orga's body. Through all of this, the Sabertooth wizard hadn't budged an inch.
"Now I've got you!" Ren smiled bullishly. "With my dual layer, not only are you losing oxygen, but the second layer is a far denser atmosphere, pressing down on your body and making it hard to move!"
Orga smirked condescendingly, and walked straight through Ren's magic as easily as if the air were a gentle spring breeze.
"Is that all you've got?" Orga asked.
Ren grunted with determination. "I'll show you what I've got. Density Shift!"
Ren suddenly streaked to another spot in a hazy, yet still discernible flash.
"Aerial Phose!"
Striking an unnecessary pose to activate his magic, Ren caused a massive dome of viciously circulating air to extend away from him. The air was moving so fast and in such sharp currents that it actually caused the ground to be torn up. The attack stopped just short of hitting Orga.
After that, Ren repeated the process, executing four more Aerial Phose maneuvers in less than a minute.
"This is strange, folks! Ren Akatsuki is using a lot of magic, but none of his attacks are even approaching his opponent. What could he be planning?!"
After Ren's sixth repetition, the ground of the arena looked like it had suffered from contact with a whole battalion of mortar rounds.
"Now, let's see how you handle this! Linked Aerial Shot!"
New magic circles suddenly appeared at all the points where Ren had been previously, and at the same time, the numerous amounts of rubble he created began to levitate. All of the boulders Ren had made were whipped up by his air and sent hurling towards Orga with more than enough force to crush any human body into jelly. Orga just stood there, not moving a muscle.
When the rocks were just six feet away, Orga raised his right hand, and without a word, he conjured a spell. A massive concussion of magic lightning detonated directly in front of him. It not only pulverized all of the assaulting boulders into harmless pebbles, but encompassed and struck Ren with its full force as well. As the flash of the magic subsided, Ren was revealed to be sprawled on the ground, seemingly unconscious.
OOO
"No, Ren! You've got to get up, baby! Get back up and fight him! I know you can do it!" Sherry called out from the Lamia Scale enclave.
"What do you think you're doing?!" The old hag of Lamia Scale asked. "The last thing we need is one of our own rooting for the enemy!"
"Geez, give the kid a break, old hag. They are engaged after all." A guild mate said.
OOO
Down in the stadium, Ren groaned in pain as his eyes groggily fluttered open. His eyelids felt to him like they weighed ten-thousand pounds. He started to wearily try and push himself up to his feet.
"That's it! You can do it, sweetie! I believe in you!" He could hear Sherry calling.
His arms were trembling violently. Every half inch he elevated himself sent fresh waves of fire hot needles shooting up and down his limbs. He was almost halfway back to his feet when his biceps and triceps locked up on him, and he collided with the ground again. The shock of the seizure in his muscles and impact was enough to sap the last of his awareness. Ren was out cold.
The crowd erupted into a mad chorus of applause. From the Sabertooth enclave, Sting chuckled with satisfaction. Orga turned and began to walk back towards the exit to go into the stands.
Chapati chimed in to say, "And with that one-hit KO, this is Sabertooth's Orga Nanagear! With his victory, Sabertooth jumps right back into the lead! They've been dominating the scene today, which I don't think anyone finds surprising. They've scored a total of twenty points! Meanwhile, Blue Pegasus will have to go and make do with the mere four points they've made today. What a shame!"
"Come on, Orga!" Sting called down as the man passed below. "Did you have it to end it that fast? Couldn't you have made it a little more entertaining?"
Orga glared up at his guild mate. The look was at once almost hostile, and yet devoid of all emotion. To everyone who didn't know him, the scene had all the earmarks of a dullard working hard to produce a thought. He suddenly turned and headed back into the center of the arena.
"Alright, fine. I'll go sing a song." He said with a straight face and flat cadence.
"That's now what I meant, ya meathead!" Sting yelled.
Approaching Mato the mascot, Orga shot his hand out demandingly.
"Gimme the mic!"
Mato stretched his arm to the limit to hand it up.
"I don't know what's going on, but it looks like Orga's about to make a speech." Chapati told the crowd.
Orga tapped the microphone a couple times, and then began to rap.
"You other guilds think, that you're really cool, but we're so strong, we're gonna make you drool!"
He was pumping his arm up and down as if he were trying to stab something with his fingers, and his voice was horrendous. The guy had no ability to sing whatsoever. His voice was bereft of all tone. If there were any notes he was trying to hit, than all of them were stillborn.
"There ain't no stoppin' the Sabertooth guild! You losers just watch, we're gonna leave you thrilled!"
OOO
As the concert from hell droned on, the team from Fairy Tail were not enjoying themselves. Natsu was holding his ears closed with a comically pained expression. Gray had covered his own ears with ice. Even Erza seemed to be distressed by the caterwauling going on, but was trying not show how much.
The oral torture was grating on Logan's nerves as well, and as he still hadn't fully recovered from his dark mood surrounding Raven's Tail, he decided to do everyone a favor.
After snatching up a burger that Gray had been about to eat, Logan proceeded along the bottom ring of the stands. While walking, he squeezed the burger in his hands, molding it into a small ball, not caring about the grease getting on his fingers.
When he stopped, Logan had placed himself directly in front of Orga, just a few hundred feet or so away. Logan lifted his left leg off the ground, pulled his right arm back, and pitched a perfect fastball with the crushed sandwich. It rocketed across the field, entered Orga's gaping maw, and shot straight down his gullet.
As it had to be, the effect was instantaneous. Orga stopped singing and toppled to his knees. One hand supported him against the ground while the other reflexively grasped his neck. Despite that the chunk of meat had gone all the way through, he coughed and sputtered from the shock of it, eyes wide, stunned by the feeling of the foreign object forcing its way inside of him. A fairly decent amount of mocking laughter within the crowd arose from the spectacle.
Not eager to add any fuel to the grudge against himself or his guild, Logan returned to his friends before anyone from Sabertooth could spot him.
"Well, now..." Mato spoke up. "Thank you for that lovely performance, Mr. Orga. I'm sure all the Sabertooth fans out there loved it! Now then, it's time to get on with our next fight of the day!"
Recovered, and taking the cue, Orga stood up and made his way back to the exit on his team's side of the stadium. He looked back and forth among the seats as he walked, trying to spot who'd embarrassed him.
As he left, the repair crew rushed onto the field to take care of the crater he'd left behind. Since the damage was far less extensive than after Lucy's fight, they had it wrapped up within just a few minutes.
"Now, ladies and gentlemen, let's get on with the next fight! From the medley of mad mutts, it's Warcry from Quatro Cerberus! He's a user of something called 'Tear Magic.' I'm not sure what that is, but it should be interesting to see!"
A tall, tan skinned guy walked onto the field as the intro was read out. Not a whole lot could be discerned of him from a distance because of what he was wearing. The hooded poncho looked like it was made entirely of coarse fur, covered the man's entire body, and was crowned with a hood made to resemble a dog's head. The guy was even baring his teeth, as if he were growling at the crowd.
Chapati then said to the coliseum, "And here's his opponent! From the loveliest guild throughout the land, it's Araña Webb from Mermaid Heel! A master of Thread Magic, this vivacious vixen can turn anything into a sticky situation! Will she be able to tame the maddened mutt? Let's find out!"
In the center of the ring, the man dressed like a dog and the woman in a spider-web themed jumpsuit squared off against each other.
"As you know, you will have thirty minutes to fight. All spells are legal, except for anything which could do permanent damage or cause death. And now, begin!"
Both of the combatants simultaneously jumped backwards to create more space.
OOO
"Ha! Check it out, it's Warcry. Wait 'til you get a load of this guy's shtick. It's hilarious!" Sting said mockingly.
He was still leaning against the railing for the Sabertooth enclave. At the moment, there was only Rogue and Rufus accompanying him.
"Myself, I find it quite interesting. In fact, I've memorized it's intricacies." Rufus said.
"I couldn't care less." Rogue said as he stood up.
With that, he walked right out on his guildmates, exiting the enclave. He strode quickly through the hallway with a sour, sullen look of deep concentration.
"The only wizard here who interests me is you, Gajeel." He thought.
OOO
Down in the fighting area, Warcry was standing with open hands held out and away from himself like open claws. He was growling from his throat. At the same time, Araña was holding herself as if she weren't concerned. With a hand on her hip and a relaxed posture, she projected a calmness and ease of manner which painted a clear contrast from her opponent.
"Match three begins... NOW!" A gong rang out to accompany Chapati's words.
On the ground, a series of snuffling sounds began to emanate from Warcry. Within moments, great mounds of tears began to cascade out of his eyes, spewing with the force of a geyser.
OOO
"He's bawling!" Natsu exclaimed.
He, Logan, Erza, and Gray were all at the edge of their spots within the bottom ring. Even in their world, with their constant exposure to magic, this was something none of them could say they'd seen before.
"He certainly is crying." Erza observed, transfixed.
"Well, I mean, it has to do something, right? He wouldn't just start crying." Gray said. "Hey, Logan, you're good at this kind of thing. What's he doing?"
"I have no clue." Logan said, as perplexed as the rest of them. "I've no memory of seeing anything like this."
OOO
Back down on the ground, the volume and ferocity of Warcry's wailing was only growing in intensity.
"I don't know what this is all about, but I won't let you have the first blow." Araña Webb declared. "Thread magic, Web Shot!"
Araña cupped her hands together in front of her, and a split second after her magic circle appeared, a thick, silky mass of grayish-white threads emerged from her hands. They moved and spread themselves wider as they lurched further from her hands. The shape and form looked almost identical to the typically seen pattern of a spider's web.
Her webs reached out and grabbed at Warcry. Some of them bypassed the man entirely, but thanks to Araña pouring in a bit more magic, she made them curve and go back again. Within seconds, Warcry was completely encircled, covered from head to foot so that he couldn't even be seen.
"I can't believe how easy that was." Araña said. "Now, we just have to wait for the clock to run-"
Before she could finish her boast, all the layers of her webbing exploded outward. Warcry was still standing right where he had been, crying even harder than before. The difference was that the endless rivers of tears streaming from his eyes had now formed themselves into two sets of fists and feet, each as large as the man himself.
"What in the world?" Araña couldn't help but say.
"Now, that my cr-crying's reached it's z-z-zenith, there's no way you'll be able to beat me." Warcry said between sobs.
One of the giant fists of tears than dashed forward, elongating itself to reach her. Araña back-flipped out of the way, barely avoiding the watery pummel. Spray from the magic appendage misted onto her face and upper body. Some of it even got into her mouth, and she could taste the salt of the man's tears.
Less than a second after she'd landed, one of the feet made of tears swiveled itself around its counterpart and pelted Araña full on the body. It lifted her off the ground and carried her upwards for about eight feet before she slid off and fell back to the ground. She landed in a crouch, her outfit soaked through and her green hair disarrayed. Araña didn't appear to be injured, but there was a distinctly nonplussed quality to her.
"That's a pretty good trick." Araña said, wiping wet hairs out of her face. "With that, you can attack your enemy from a good distance, and presumably protect yourself without having to give up your position."
Warcry neither confirmed nor denied her assessment, but made a series of sobs which somehow sounded like a growl at the same time. He then lashed out with all four of his extra limbs at once.
The right hand fist twisted a curve to fly high into the air and then came screaming down at Araña from above. She easily spun to her left, dodging the punch, but at the same time, the left foot was bearing down on her from just outside her peripheral vision. Araña ducked as far as she could, bending backwards with the flexibility of a contortionist and dodging the blow. The second hand then came thrashing towards her in the gap underneath its sibling, forcing Araña to spin, slam her palm into the ground, and twirl herself so she was momentarily whirling in midair.
"Now I've got you-hoo-hoo-hoo!" Warcry sobbed.
Araña saw the final foot careening towards her from outside the others for another full impact strike with the force of at least eight men.
"Web shot!"
Araña flung out her hand blindly in the direction of the wall and cast her spell, the sticky thread shooting forth. It attached to the distant stone and allowed Araña to yank herself to safety, but not in time to perfectly avoid the assault. The heel of the watery foot punched hard into her lower body, making her legs go halfway numb.
For the moment, she was out of Warcry's range. The spray from all those attacks had further added to her state of soddenness, soaking her to the bone. Araña spread her legs to adjust her weight a bit. With how she was suddenly breathing hard, she had to do it to stay upright.
"This hasn't been going on for very long, so why am I suddenly feeling so tired?" She asked herself internally.
OOO
"What in the Sam Hill is goin' on down there?!" Beth Vanderwood asked heatedly. "I've never seen Araña have this much trouble with anyone before! I didn't think anyone could whup her but you, Kagura."
"Aw, don't you worry about it, Beth! Araña knows how to take care of herself. She'll be fine!" Rinsley said.
"Yeah, she's probably just warming up. You know how she likes to size up her opponents sometimes." Their hooded companion said.
"Well, maybe, but I don't know. She looks a bit tuckered out to me. What do you think, Kagura?" Beth asked.
Their team leader, Kagura Mikazuchi, said nothing. She stared out at the ongoing battle, studying it intently.
OOO
Logan snapped his fingers meaningfully.
"That's it! That's what he's doing!" Logan said with emphasis.
"What are you talkin' about, man?" Natsu asked.
"I just figured out what Warcry's magic does. Tears, water, it's so obvious. Quite the clever little trick."
There was a glint in his eyes none of them had seen before. If he wasn't still frowning and holding himself so rigidly, he would look like he was enjoying himself.
"Hmm. It seems Logan tends to derive pleasure from puzzle solving and figuring things out." Erza thought to herself.
"So? You gonna share it with the rest of us?" Gray asked.
"I think I'll see if you guys can come up with the answer. I'll give you a few minutes." Logan said in something coming dangerously close to a near playful tone.
"Hmph!" Natsu grunted petulantly. "Why am I not surprised?"
Erza couldn't help but smile. Even if he didn't realize it, she liked how Logan was slowly building his own, unique rapport with everyone on the team.
"I guess with Lucy's win, and Raven Tail's departure, he's able to calm down." She thought.
OOO
After about ten seconds of harder than normal breathing for her, Araña stood straighter and more easily than before. It wasn't too easy, because her vision had started to cloud and haze a little bit.
"I could really use some water." She thought.
She finally started moving again, walking back in Warcry's direction, trying her best to look unfazed.
"I just need to better avoid those stupid tear appendages, and I'll be fine. Suppose I should become more mobile now."
Araña placed her hands together again, but held them together for much longer than before. Warcry launched another attack while she was still charging up, but Araña leaped backwards and avoided the hit. Upon landing, she lifted her hands high over her head.
"Web Shot: Complete Funnel Web!"
A bundle of webbing many times larger than either of her first spells blasted from her hands in every direction. In only a second, her webs had reached out to latch themselves onto the complete circumference of the circle making up the arena, barely seven feet down from where it became the audience stands. With an easy jerk, Araña pulled herself up to be standing atop her creation. There was both a delicate, and yet easy nonchalance to how she was balanced on the threads.
"It won't be so easy for you to reach me now." She said.
In an attempt to prove her wrong, Warcry shot both of his fists of tears up at her. They collided with the intricate threads, and the web bent from the force, but didn't break. The only effect was many small geysers from the spray of his tears erupting through the holes.
Araña smirked. "And now that you can't reach me, I think it's time we ended this battle. Thread Magic: Poison Needle!"
Within a two foot diameter, the webbing beneath Araña peeled strands of itself away. They became rigid, taking on an appearance of sharpness, and faintly glowed with green energy. Aimed right at Warcry, they fired through the air.
For the first time in the whole fight, the dog-man from Quatro Cerberus was forced to dodge something. His leap took him out of the trajectory for most of them, but a few tore through his poncho and accompanying skin on his left side. The effect couldn't have come quicker, as Warcry was visibly slower and more lethargic right away, with a new note of pain in his crying. He knew that if just a grazing cut could do that much to him, than any direct impacts would floor him before he knew he'd been hit.
Not wasting any time, he summoned his strength and started running as fast as he could. Weaving himself through a zigzagging serpentine, Warcry also started to repeatedly throw his misty-eyed fists and feet up at the webbing over and over again. Araña hauled it as well. Not in defense, since her funnel web acted as a shield, but to keep Warcry in range of her poison needles, which could only adjust their angle of firing so much.
For about five minutes, the fight carried on just like that, back and forth. Both combatants kept themselves in constant motion, never stopping. Warcry hurled fist and foot after fist and foot up at the green-haired woman, each one exploding against the web, and soon replaced by a duplicate. The only visible effect were the eruptions of water through the holes of the web.
At the same time, Araña kept up a limitless stream of poisoned needles from her webbing, forcing Warcry to scramble this way and that like a mad dog. Several more had caused a few shallow cuts, and while they'd slowed him, they'd not been enough to make the man go down.
Just as Warcry had shoulder rolled to his right to evade the latest torrent, he sent all four of his magic limbs up at Araña yet again. Still moving from the habit, Araña didn't make a particular effort to dodge the attacks, secure in the knowledge of her protection. After the water had splashed up through the gaps in the web like they had about three dozen times already, something different happened. The pellets of moisture hung there in the air for a moment, and then they all moved laterally through the air and each one belted itself into Araña, be it in her face, hands, or any part of her clothed body.
None of the hits had more force than the equivalent of a lump of wet sand, but Araña suddenly collapsed to her knees and hands. She was rasping deep breaths in a dry, choking wheeze.
"Oh, ladies and gentlemen, I can't tell you what's going on, but I am hooked on the spectacle, whatever it is!" Chapati roared to the crowd. "Despite that Araña Web seemed to have the clear advantage in this third match-up, it's somehow she herself who now seems on the brink of collapse! What could have caused this?!"
OOO
"What the? What's goin' on? I thought the web lady had this thing in the bag." Natsu asked.
"Leave it to you to be the last one to figure it out, flame-brain." Gray said to everyone. "I had it cracked a couple minutes ago. It really is a good trick."
"Very good, Gray. I, myself, came upon the truth only a minute or so after Logan." Erza added.
"What the heck are you guys talkin' about?!" Natsu demanded, little sparks shooting from his mouth.
"We're talkin' about Warcry's magic." Gray said.
"What? The fists made of tears?! What's that got to do with anything?! He's barely touched her"
"Logan, since you were the first of us to figure out the truth, why don't you fill him in?" Erza suggested.
"Yeah, okay." Logan said. "It's really quite simple, Natsu. What Warcry has is a magic that perfectly camouflages it's true purpose. Let me ask you, what's the primary difference between tears and regular water?"
"Huh? How the heck should I know?" Natsu asked back.
"Saline. The difference is the saline in the tears. Those huge fists and feet created from Warcry's tears, I'm sure their attacks do inflict some blunt force damage, but it's really just the delivery mechanism. Through skin absorption, he's been injecting minute amounts of saline, that's salt, directly into her body with every attack, even the ones that didn't land. What you're seeing out there is a woman suffering from acute dehydration."
"Hmm." Natsu grunted. "Well, I guess that's one way to win a fight, but sounds pretty boring if you ask me."
OOO
On top of the webbing she had thought would seal her victory, Araña Web knelt gasping for breath. In the opening created by her temporary debilitation, Warcry had taken full advantage to continue his onslaught of spraying his tears onto her through the gaps relentlessly.
Araña's mouth was bone dry, her mind was numbing, her arms were trembling. She was getting weaker by the second, and she knew that her consciousness would begin to wane at any second.
"This is no good! My magic power's starting to fade!"
At the periphery of her senses, she could feel the cohesion of her webs to the surface of the wall beginning to buckle. Whether it would be from passing out due to Warcry's magic, or her own fall back to the ground, she knew she had lost this fight.
"Alright, so maybe I can't win now, but I can at least make sure I don't lose!" Araña thought.
Collecting every scrap of energy she had left, Araña used it to convert her funnel web for one last shot.
"Poison Sleep Webbing!" She declared.
To the chorus of countless snapping connections, Araña's web detached itself from the stadium walls and hurdled back to earth as one, tumultuous mass. There was nowhere for Warcry to run as the all-encompassing net buried him into the dirt. Araña's spell did as it was intended, conking Warcry's lights out before he could even try to escape.
Unfortunately, the situation was no better for Araña herself. Just as she'd predicted, the combination of her dehydration along with the fall had left her out cold.
"Wow, folks! Who would have seen this one coming?! In a surprise ending, both competitors are unconscious at the same time, making this battle end in a draw! As per the rules, that means that both Quatro Cerberus and Mermaid Heel will each receive five points. They may not be able to hear it, but let's give a big round of applause for these two superb combatants!"
OOO
From their position, Erza was scrutinizing the scene with the eye of a connoisseur in deep reflection.
"On the whole, I would say that was a very informative fight. It may not have been all that brutal or explosive, but I find the approaches the both of them use with their magic to be rather fascinating. Warcry's technique allows him to wear down his opponents while keeping them at a distance, whereas Araña focuses more on mobility. Quite interesting."
"They were at least more evenly matched than Ren and Orga in the last fight. Those Sabertooth guys aren't gonna be easy to beat." Gray said, with some bitterness entering his voice. "I can tell you that for sure."
"Eh, who cares about all that right now?!" Natsu said. "This next fight has me all fired up. I can't wait to see which of 'em from team B will be fighting!"
"Now that you mention, I'm quite curious as to that myself." Erza said, growing serious.
"It just better not be... you know who." Logan cautiously said.
OOO
It took a bit longer than previously for the technicians to clean up the field for the final fight. Mostly because the clean-up crew had to go out to get rid of the webbing before the medical team could retrieve the snoozing participants.
"Now then, folks, it's time for the final fight of the day! If you've been keeping track, than I don't need to tell you which guilds are up next, but I'll say it anyway!" Chapati enthused. "From Lamia Scale, it's the man himself! The chrome-domed monk who shakes the very ground he walks on, the king of all earth magic, the Wizard Saint, Jura!"
The crowd instantly sprung into gushing applause as a man standing at least six-foot, four-inches tall, with a wispy, ten-inch beard and a head so bald it shined walked cheerfully out into the arena.
OOO
Up on the bottom ring, Erza readjusted her position among the four of them so that she could stand next to Logan.
"Logan, you should observe him very closely in this fight. This is actually lucky for us. We'll almost certainly be facing Jura at some point, and you're the only one of us who isn't familiar with him."
"Got it. I won't take my eyes off of him." Logan said, matching her earnestness.
OOO
"And now, for his opponent! From Fairy Tail Team B, not all of you may know him, but you're sure to love him! He's the metal muncher with the bad attitude, the wielder of iron dragon slayer magic, it's Black-Steel Gajeel!"
From the other end of the paddock, Gajeel strode out with an arrogant gait, and a cocky smirk on his face. He was clearly looking forward to what was about to happen.
"I've been handed a note to say that the original combatant from Fairy Tail Team B was meant to be the mysterious Mystogan, but due to a sudden family emergency, he will be withdrawing from the competition. While that is a shame, I think we can all agree that this fight will by no means be an inferior substitute! We've got hardened rock versus forged iron! So, without further ado, it's time to rock and roll!"
Down on the ground, similar to how all the other fighters had done before them, Jura and Gajeel squared off to share some words before the match.
Jura said, "To be quite honest, I do like the idea of getting to fight with your legendary Mystogan. After all, no one's sure what he looks like or what his magic even does. However, you are not an inadequate opponent, and I'm planning to enjoy myself. In Lamia scale, we were thrilled when we learned that all of you from Tenro were safe and alive."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Keep talkin' all you want, baldy. I didn't really give a damn who I went up against when the shy boy backed out, just happy to be fightin' on the first day. But, the idea of gettin' to thrash one of the Wizard Saints in front of the whole country, well that gets my blood pumpin' like you wouldn't believe." Gajeel said back.
The announcer decreed, "Now, let the final fight of the day begin!"
Not missing a beat, with a smile somehow both childlike and full of malignancy, Gajeel struck first.
"Iron Dragon Club!"
He jabbed his hand forwards, the flesh of his right arm transforming into a flat-headed length of polished metal. The pole elongated itself, aiming to plunge right into the wizard saint's chest.
"Iron Rock Wall!" Jura chanted, flicking his fingers in a certain way.
Directly in front of him emerged a ten-foot tall pillar of solid rock that looked sturdy enough to block anything. Gajeel smirked, and his clubbed arm suddenly curved itself around the pillar and smacked sharply into Jura's right hip. Flying through the air, Jura turned to Gajeel and smiled.
"Iron Rock Grip!" He yelled, pointing his open palm towards the other man.
A string of different sized rocks erupted out of the ground to form themselves around Jura's hand. Instantly after finishing their silhouette, the rock hand shot forward again through the air, grabbed onto Gajeel's wrist and carried him off. In quick succession, Jura fired another three rock grips which then grabbed onto Gajeel's reformed other wrist, both of his ankles, and pinned him to the far distant wall of the stadium.
Landing back on the ground, Jura lost no time in casting his next spell.
"Iron Rock Eruption!"
A new pillar of earth burst forth from the ground directly beneth Jura's feet, propelling him swiftly across the distance. Closing in on where Gajeel was pinned, he cast yet another spell never seen before by anyone in Fairy Tail.
"Iron Rock Knuckles!"
Holding his right fist out, poised to punch, a fresh wave of rocks and pebbles formed around Jura's flesh, quadrupling his arm in size and destructive power.
Gajeel smirked knowingly. "Iron Dragon Club!"
Both of his legs transformed into metal clubs, extending hard into the ground and sending Gajeel skyward, setting him free. High above Jura, Gajeel inhaled deeply, and let loose the most well known spell of his breed.
"Iron Dragon Roar!"
The gale force whirlwind, exploding energy, and maelstrom of metal shrapnel sprung from Gajeel's mouth with all the gentility of a pack of rampaging vulcans. It barreled down through the air towards Jura, but the strongest man from Lamia Scale looked unfazed as he smiled and clapped his hands together.
"Iron Rock Prayer!"
A gigantic pair of rock hewn hands burst forth from the ground beneath them, forming themselves into the prayer position and taking the full brunt of Gajeel's attack.
"Iron Rock Stairs!"
New pillars began to spring up, not just out of the ground, but out of the stone constructing the very walls of the stadium. In a fluidity and speed of motion unexpected from someone his size, Jura effortlessly leaped from platform to platform until he was above Gajeel again, and then made the last one lengthen itself to propel him forward. Jura placed a strapping, full contact of foot to face kick into the side of Gajeel's head. The iron dragon slayer tumbled back to make intimate acquaintance with the ground, while the Wizard Saint set himself down gently.
It didn't take more than just a couple of seconds for Gajeel to sit up in his small crater. A thin line of blood was running from his mouth down his cheek. He stood up with no signs of serious injury and wiped the blood from his mouth with a devilish, gleeful smile painting his face.
"You know what? You're better than I was expecting! This might really be fun!" Boomed Gajeel's voice.
"You're quite skilled yourself." Jura returned the compliment. "And although I would love to see Fairy Tail do well in this competition, you understand that I can't simply throw the fight for you."
"Ha! I'd be insulted if I didn't get everything you can dish out! Now, then, why don't I show ya something I've been working on since we started training for this shindig?"
Gajeel spread his legs out for a more balanced stance and then held his arms out wide from his body.
"Iron Dragon Double Sword!"
Both of Gajeel's arms altered themselves to become his baleful looking, six-foot long iron swords with long and thick protruding serrations every few inches.
"You can transform both arms at once now? I would have expected more." Jura said.
"Oh, you just wait, baldy. There's more comin'."
The serrations on both of Gajeel's arm swords began to move, rotating swiftly around the blade to create a whir of menacing lethality. Gajeel lifted his arms, aiming them directly at Jura across the distance. For a few long moments, nothing happened as the dragon slayer held his arms out, chuckling ominously to himself.
"Iron Dragon Missile!" He shrieked.
Both of his buzzing blades suddenly detached themselves from his arms and flew forward as if fired from a gun. They soared through the air so quickly that Jura didn't even have time to invoke his trademark protection spell. With no other choice, the wizard saint was forced to leap to his left just as the iron perils came within inches of his body, shredding part of his clothes in the process.
Gajeel was then rushing forward, both arms transformed and buzzing yet again. Back on his guard now, Jura lost no time in conjuring a defense.
"Iron Rock Wall: Widespread Formation!"
Springing up from the dirt was a row of no less than sixty of his defensive pillars, spread out in a wide arc to make it more difficult to penetrate.
"Iron Dragon Club!" He heard Gajeel shout.
Gajeel was then high in the air again, using his spell to have jumped over all the pillars.
"Iron Dragon Missile!"
His swords launched from his arms yet again, but Jura wasn't about to be caught unawares for a second time.
"Iron Rock Wall Reformation!"
His pillars softened to a consistency like mud and merged together into a single glob. Jura whipped his hand through a scooping motion, causing the mass of mud to move and reshape itself into something like a cresting wave before hardening in time to stop the swords.
Out of Jura's sight, Gajeel landed on the wall far behind him, but wasn't there for long, using his club spell to springboard off and back towards his enemy.
"Iron Dragon Scales!"
Every inch of Gajeel's flesh changed from normal human skin to hardened iron within the blink of an eye. Jura had barely turned around before Gajeel was on him and pummeling him with iron punch after punch. Gajeel was throwing all of his strength into the barrage, every punch he planted into Jura's gut having the dragon slayer's full weight behind the blow. Jura was even feeling his ribs just begin to crack when he finally managed to rally a response.
"Iron Rock Fist!"
A gigantic fist of stone exploded out of the ground directly beneath Gajeel, affording him no chance to even try and dodge. He was punched away from Jura, through the top layer of the reformed rock wall, and higher up into the air.
Still airborne, Gajeel took the opportunity to retaliate yet again. He aimed his arms back down to the ground and started to fire off his projectile swords yet again. The first set flew so close that Jura had to rearrange his rock wall a small bit, but after that, they appeared to go wild. Gajeel fired off more than three dozen pairs, going all over the place, into every angle of the wall and littering the ground. Just before touching down again, Gajeel let out his most wicked sounding cackle yet.
"Iron Dragon Mines!"
"What?!" Jura yelled.
Out of nowhere, all of the serrations lining each of the swords blasted away from their base units in each and every direction they could travel. The effect was an immediate and impenetrable cloud of dust, along with the undeniable sound of countless things breaking.
"This is incredible, folks! Gajeel from Fairy Tail is making Lamia Scale's wizard saint look like a rank amateur! Could that fantastically vicious surprise have knocked the man called the strongest human in Fiore out of the fight?! We don't know yet!" Chapati screamed out.
Gajeel tapped down with some force in the middle of the arena, and waited for the dust to settle so he could see his handiwork. The destruction to the ring was like nothing seen thus far. As was the intended effect with that spell, it looked like a bomb had gone off. More pieces of the walls were broken off or gouged out than in any of the other fights. Deep grooves were present all throughout the ground. Gajeel could see where some of the spikes were laying flat on the ground, and he guessed that those must have triggered the crowd protecting enchantment and then fallen back down.
"Is that? Yes, it is, folks! He's still up!"
At that sound, Gajeel whipped his head around and saw that Jura really was still standing. He was breathing slightly harder than before, and instead of the clothes he had been wearing, there was now a suit of armor made entirely from rocks covering him from head to toe.
Gajeel couldn't repress a twinge of annoyance then, but only for a moment.
"Fightin' this guy's just as good as Salamander!" He thought to himself.
It was then that Gajeel finally heard his own breathing, and realized that he was panting much harder than his opponent. It slowly came to him how heavy his arms and legs were starting to feel, even after they'd only been fighting for no more than five to ten minutes. He knew it couldn't have been longer than that so far.
"You dragon slayers really never disappoint!" Jura said praisingly. "I wasn't planning to show this trick until the final day, but you forced it out of me! I would have been skewered otherwise!"
"You ain't half bad either! But, what do you say we go ahead and wrap this up?"
"That's just what I was thinking!" Jura said.
On that note, pushing themselves to an erect bearing, the two men charged each other for one final skirmish. They collided, and it was immediate pandemonium. Gajeel slammed a hard, short uppercut into Jura's stomach. Jura planted a corkscrewing hook into Gajeel's jaw. Gajeel got in a jab to the nose. Jura, a straight left to the eye.
Gajeel leaned back to try and make room for a powerhouse hook-punch, but Jura blocked it with his outer right wrist and countered with a two-fingered windpipe jab that made Gajeel sputter even through his iron. Jura then tried for a clumsy shin kick, his movement encumbered by his armor, but Gajeel leapt three-feet up to easily avoid it, and then bashed a flying roundhouse punch to Jura's face for all he was worth.
It continued on like that for several minutes, both fighters duking it out as hard as they could. There was a constant stream of dust rising off of Jura's rock armor with every hit, while just as many sparks were jetting off of Gajeel's metal shell.
"I don't know how to call this, folks!" Chapati announced. "Both men are going at it like a professional boxing match, and neither seem to be giving or gaining any ground. I can't even tell if either even seem to be very hurt! How long can this go on?!"
As Jura was swinging a short hook, Gajeel ensnared him by wrapping his arm as far around Jura's as it would go. Jura tried to throw him off with a left punch, but Gajeel lifted one leg, kicked it into Jura's wrist, and then made iron wrap around the wrist to hold it in place.
"Now I got ya!" Gajeel crooned.
With his free hand, he began to pelt Jura's unprotected face with punch after punch, relishing the victory he could feel coming. After he'd successfully landed half a dozen direct blows, Jura took back control by intentionally making his armor dissolve around Gajeel's grips, so that with the seventh punch, Jura was thrown clear of the other man's reach. The wizard saint arced through the air for about eight feet before landing in an undignified looking way right on his butt.
Unconcerned, Gajeel smirked down at his opponent, feeling triumphant.
"Any last words, baldy?"
Jura smiled up at him. "Yes. Thanks for being good enough to coat yourself so well in my rock dust."
Gajeel's eyes widened, and he pushed off his legs to dash forward, but it was too late. Jura shot his right hand forward, holding it in his most common position for casting, and fired off his spell.
"Iron Rock Coffin!"
Rocks and boulders from all over the arena, including from Jura's own armor, all rushed at Gajeel together, encircling and capturing him before he could do anything. As one, the rocks began to squeeze, compressing themselves, visibly shrinking as much as possible over the silhouette of their hostage. The sound of rending, shrieking metal came through to the crowd, and for a terrible second, it almost sounded like it could be Gajeel himself crying out.
The crushing went on for almost a full minute, and then the rocks vanished, and an unconscious Gajeel slumped to the ground. Jura climbed groggily to his feet, and turned to address the crowd.
"I want you to know that's not harmed. My spell does crush the opponent, but only enough to force the breath from their lungs so they'll pass out within the airtight seal. He'll be just fine."
Chapati then chimed in to say, "You heard the man, everyone! With that, it's the end of day one for the Grand Magic Games, and what a spectacular fight to finish up the day! I don't think anyone can complain that that battle had it all!"
He paused a few seconds to create the right affect, allowing the crowd to howl their heads off.
"So then, lets look at how everything's panned out after this first day. Leading the pack with twenty points, it's no surprise to find Sabertooth. Coming in second place with sixteen points, we have Lamia Scale. With a respectable third place ranking considering their rocky start, it's Fairy Tail Team A! Following behind them in fourth is Raven's Tail with eight points. The ladies of Mermaid Heel come in fifth with eight points. In sixth are Quatro Cerberus with seven points, four points to Blue Pegasus to take seventh, and with just one point to bring up the rear, we have Fairy Tail Team B! That's all we've got for you today, Fiore, but we'll be back tomorrow with more action than you can shake a stick at! These games are far from over!"
OOO
A/N: There we have it! First day, all done! I tell you guys, it was a bit of a challenge coming up with good attacks and action sequences for these side characters, most of whom are just totally unexplored in canon, but I think it came out really well and made for some great fights. Things are heating up in the games now, and they won't be cooling any time soon. Stay tuned for the next chapter, because we'll be having some all new, never before seen in Fairy Tail action coming at you, and you won't want to miss it! As always, I stupendously enjoy writing Fairy Tail, and a big thanks to my regular and new readers alike. Any constructive criticisms you might want to share, I'm fully open to them, and I'll see you guys again soon.