Fairy Tail: Metal and Threads

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus. 

July 1, x790. 

{"Things are really coming down to the wire now, aren't they?"} Loli asked while watching Sun and rogue exchange offense and defense. {"Honestly, it looks like this could go on for a while."} 

{"Indeed."} Yajima added. {"While Sun seems to have the upper hand when it comes to combat techniques, none of her slashes have been able to damage Rogue, who can turn his body into shadows at will. However, thanks to Sun's skill in swordsman ship, Rogue has been unable to land a decisive blow, as well."} 

And just as Yajima said, Sun and Rogue have been in a stalemate ever since they were the only ones left on the floating platform. And had it not been for Rogue's [Shadow Form], Sun would have claimed victory quite a while ago. Yet, she and Rogue have been exchanging blows for the last forty-five minutes with no clear winner in sight. 

"Although it's not obvious yet thanks to her technique, Sun is starting to get tired." Alfonzo said while watching the ongoing event. 

"Yeah... Rogue really is a bad match for her." Elicia added. 

"How does someone even hit a shadow?" Marin asked. 

"Well, it's not really about hitting the shadow." Alfonzo said. "It's more about making it so that the shadow can't exist." 

"Huh?" Marin intoned confusedly. "What do you mean?" 

"Well..." Alfonzo said, starting his explanation. 

Meanwhile, Sun, like Alfonzo said, was starting to get tired. Though, her fatigue was not physical. Instead, it was mental. Because as a mermaid, her physical qualities were much better than most humans. So, it was more likely for Rogue to tire out physically before she did. 

However, the mental strain she was under was something else. Not only did Sun have to worry about keeping her guard up and attacking whenever Rogue showed an opening, which did not work at all thanks to his [Shadow Form]. She also had to multitask and come up with a way to damage Rogue despite his intangibility. 

'I can't keep going like this.' Sun thought to herself as she dodged an attack from Rogue's shadow covered right foot. She then continued her thoughts while counterattacking with an upward slash, to no avail. "Should I just destroy the whole platform? I mean, that's probably what my guild mates would do, right? No... That's not how I want to win. Alfonzo said show no mercy and make Sabertooth know they made a mistake. And that's what I wanna do.' 

*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!* 

While continuing to think of a way to get past Rogue's shadow form, Sun skillfully parried all the punches and kicks Rogue threw her way. While doing so, she could tell that Rogue was also starting to get frustrated with the stalemate. 

'Maybe he'll make a mistake I can take advantage of.' Sun thought to herself. She then mentally shook her head at that idea. 'No, that's not how Fairy Tail wizards do things.' 

As that thought came to an end, Sun blocked another one of Rogue's punches. However, when she did, she noticed something strange. Rogue's [Shadow Form] flickered for a moment. 

'What was that?' Sun thought to herself while playing back the last exchange in her head. A few moments later, Sun widened her eyes in realization as she exclaimed internally. 'Now I get it.' 

With that, Sun parried another one of Rogue's attacks. Then, she took deep breath that was audible from every seat in the spectator stands. 

"Ha! Haven't you grown tired of trying and failing?" Rogue asked. "Even if your soundwaves can affect me while I'm in my [Shadow Form], as long as I remain in that form, you won't be able to hurt me with your subsequent attacks. So, why don't you just give up?" 

Ignoring Rogue, Sun slowly exhaled. However, instead of just exhaling air, she released a large amount of [Water Magic] from her mouth. Then, with her magic power control, she surrounded both herself and Rogue in a large column of water. 

Seeing the large amount of water surrounding him, Rogue stopped to look at it for a moment. Yet, he quickly returned his sight to Sun. 

"Although this is quite impressive, water can't harm a shadow, either." Rogue said in a tone filled with superiority. "You really should just give up. After all, it's normal that you lose to me. I'm a Dragon Slayer, After all." 

In response, Sun only shook her head at Rogue's lack of insight. Meanwhile she controlled the water surrounding them, trying to find the right position, density, and angle of the water. 

"*Sigh* Your stubbornness will only lead to more pain." Rogue said, sounding a bit disdainful that Sun refused to give up. He then chanted in a cold tone. "[Shadow Dragon's Waxwing Flash]."

Intending to end things quickly, Rogue flared his magic power. He then turned into a shadow once again. Then, he rushed forward, and when he was in range, he spread his shadow self around Son. 

"Ah! I think I finally got it." Sun said in a cheerful tone. "[Water Magic: Megiddo]."

Then, just before Rogue could start pummeling Sun from every direction by materializing his hands from the shadows, a bright light fell over everything inside the column of water Sun was controlling. In fact, the light was so bright, that there were no longer any shadows inside the column of water. And unfortunately for Rogue, in a place where shadows could not exist, he is also unable to maintain his [Shadow Form]. 

"What the...?" Rogue exclaimed in confusion. "How is this possible?" 

"I really wanna tell you how I did it, but..." Sun said as she sheathed Kanade once again. "... if I do, Alfonzo and Lici will yell at me for explaining my abilities like a third-rate villain. Sorry. [Water/Sword Compound Magic: Secret Form; Tidal Wave]." 

As soon as she finished chanting, Sun drew her sword much faster than the naked eye could follow. And with the sword draw, Sun spun in a full circle. Thanks to that, a circular wall of compressed air was forced outward with Sun as the center point. 

*Bang!* 

Unfortunately, that meant that Rogue was hit by this wall of compressed air before it slammed him into the water column. 

*Splash!* 

With that, not only Rogue, but the entire column of water was sent flying towards the edges of the ring. And with the damage Rogue took because he was unprepared for Sun's attack, he was too disoriented to stop himself from being washed over the edge of the platform. 

{"And that's it~~~~~!"} Loli shouted over the broadcasting system. {"In a stunning turn of events, Sun has overcome the Shadow Dragon Slayer's ability to turn into shadows with a brilliant show of intelligence. And with that, the first event, 'There Can Be Only One,' has come to an end with Sun Seto from Fairy Tail taking first place!"} 

*Cheer~~~~~!* 

While the crowd went wild with Loli's announcement, Sun with a wide smile on her face, stood in the center of the floating platform, which was currently lowering itself to the ground, while waving at the crowd. 

"She did exactly what you said she would need to do to win." Marin said while looking at Alfonzo with astonishment. 

"Of course she did." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "Although Sun is all happy go lucky, she's really quite intelligent when she takes the time to think through a problem. In fact, she's one of the more intelligent members of the guild." 

"Not that the bar is all that high." Brandish said in a dry tone. 

No one argued with that statement. 

"Anyway, now we just have to wait until the pairings are picked for the battle rounds." Elicia said with a smile. "I wonder which of us will fight today." 

"Only time will tell." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. 

Not long later, sun joined the rest of her team in the seating area and received praise from not only the members of Team Fairy Tail, but all her guild mates sitting in the stands behind them, as well. Meanwhile, everyone could see Minerva berating Rogue for losing. On top of that, the anger Jiemma was feeling due to the loss could be felt by the entire section where Sabertooth was seated. 

{"Okay, Ladies and gentlemen!"} Loli shouted over the cheers, drawing all the attention in the arena onto himself. {"With the event for the first day over, why don't we take a look at the scores?"} 

With that, all the screens in the Domus Flau displayed the current scores at the same time. 

{Overall Scoreboard 

Rank Team Score 

Fairy Tail 10 Pts. Sabertooth 8 Pts. Mermaid Heel 6 Pts Quatro Cerberus 4 Pts. Final Fantasy 3 Pts. Lamia Scale 2 Pts. Blue Pegasus 1 Pts. Twilight Ogre 0 Pts.} 

{"I gotta say, some of our newcomers did quite well for their very first event, didn't they?"} Loli asked after reading out the scores to the audience. 

{"Indeed."} Yajima replied. {"And that proves that you can't look down on anyone. There are powerful wizards hidden everywhere in Fiore."} 

{"Well said."} Loli said with a nod. {"Now, it's time we move onto the second part of today's action, the Battle Round. And for those who don't know, each day, the Battle Round goes a little something like this. Each day, the eight teams will be paired up for a one-on-one duel with the contestants being chosen by our sponsors to give you, the audience, the most entertaining duels each day. So, are you all ready?"} 

"Yeah~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!" The crowd shouted in unison with great fervor. 

{"Great!"} Loli shouted just as enthusiastically. {"And as it just so happens, I just received the matchups for today's Battle Round. So, let's see here... *Rustle* *Rustle* Ah... Why is this thing so hard to open? Huh? Oh, crap, this thing is still on."} 

{"Calm down, Loli."} Yajima said comfortingly. 

{"Right, just gotta stay calm."} Loli murmured while continuing to try and open the envelope with the match list inside. {"Okay, here it is. Now, let's get ready."} 

*Cheer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!* 

Once again, the crowd cheered loudly, completely unbothered by Loli's little mistake. 

{"Alright, then the first match for today's Battle Round will be between..."} Loli said, pausing for a moment to build suspense. {"Alfonzo Marcus from Fairy Tail versus Orga Nanagear from Sabertooth. It looks like this will be a duel between two masters of channeling electricity. Yajima, any predictions of how this will go?"} 

{"Well, Alfonzo is one of the Ten Wizard Saints."} Yajima replied. {"But judging by how is guild mate, Rogue, performed in the earlier event, I doubt Orga will go down easily."} 

{"I see."} Loli said while nodding his head. {"Stellar insight as always."} 

"Sabertooth is the strongest!" Orga shouted from his seating area before jumping down into the arena. 

"Don't hurt him too bad, Fonzie." Elicia said as Alfonzo stood up to face his opponent. 

"I'll try not to." Alfonzo replied as he stepped forward. "But no guarantees." 

Alfonzo then took another step forward. And with that step, he vanished from the seating area in a burst of speed before reappearing near the center of the arena. 

*Cheer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!* 

Seeing Alfonzo appear in the ring from nowhere, the crowd once again cheered excitedly. 

"He's gotten a lot faster." Yoruichi said with her eyes narrowed. "He's much faster than I was before Bumble Bee and I left for home." 

"You're still faster, though." Sui-Feng said, not wanting to admit just how fast Alfonzo was, as he was even faster than she was. 

"At my top speed, maybe." Yoruichi replied. "But I'm not sure if he was going all out. I mean, look how leisurely he looks." 

And indeed, Alfonzo looked almost uninterested in the upcoming match. 

{"Okay, for the uninformed, I'll give you a quick rundown of the rules."} Loli said just as Orga reached a good starting point. {"Each fight during the Battle Round will be one-on-one like I said. Each battle will have a time limit of thirty minutes. The winner will be decided when one contestant is deemed unable to continue. And should the match go until the time limit, it will be considered a draw. As for the scores, winners get 10 points. Losers get a big fat 0. And a draw will result in both teams receiving 5 points. Everyone got that? Good. Then, let the match.... Begin!"} 

"Hah! You use electricity?" Orga asked once the signal was given while flaring his magic power to its limits. "Well, you'd better come up with another strategy. Because you ain't got nothing on me." 

"Sure, buddy, whatever you say." Alfonzo replied lazily, showing just as much disdain for the members of Sabertooth as they had shown for Fairy Tail in the waiting room. "Look let's just get this over with, okay? Use all your strongest spells now. Because if you don't, you won't have a chance to later." 

"Why you!" Orga shouted, enraged by Alfonzo's dismissive attitude. "I'll show you what a true master of Lightning looks like!" 

Orga then raised his arms and pointed them at Alfonzo with his palms facing each other a few inches apart. Then, his arms started to crackle with black lightning. After that, tose sparks began gathering between his palms, creating an orb of black lightning that continuously grew in size. 

"Ooh~~~~~~~~~!" The crowd's interest in the strange colored lightning was clear. 

"Oh, black lightning?" Alfonzo said in a bored tone while raising an eyebrow. "So, you're a God Slayer. Not bad, I guess." 

As Alfonzo continued to speak in that dismissive tone, Orga grew more and more enraged. As a result, the voltage of his lightning grew proportionally. 

"So, what if you know about [God Slayer Magic]." Orga said as his spell neared completion. "What can you do about it? [120 mm Black Lightning Cannon]." 

With Orga's chant, the orb of lightning, as big as a 120 mm mortar, was fired in Alfonzo's direction. However, Alfonzo did not even seem to react. 

"Hah! Can't even react, can you?" Orga shouted, gloating over his anticipated easy victory. 

However, just as the [120 mm Black Lightning Cannon] was about to hit Alfonzo, his hand was engulfed in violet electricity. Then, he calmly raised his hand in the black lightning projectiles flight path. And with little effort, Alfonzo caught Orga's spell. 

Seeing that, Orga's eyes widened in surprise to a comical degree. Meanwhile, the crowd fell silent. 

As one of the Ten Wizard Saints, everyone watching the match expected Alfonzo to come out of this exchange unharmed. However, they expected him to dodge the attack. But when he simply caught it, no one knew exactly what to say. 

"Hmm... When Natsu fought the Fire God Slayer, I didn't get to examine the God Slaying property in his flames." Alfonzo said casually while examining the ball of lightning in his hand. "But now, I think I might be able to imbue my metals with the God Slaying property if I study this. Thanks, man." 

As he spoke, Alfonzo looked at the orb of lightning in his hand from every angle. Then, when he reached the end of his speech, he created a metal container before stuffing the lightning orb into it. And when that was done, he clipped it onto the sash he wore around the waist of his combat attire. 

"So, is that it?" Alfonzo asked the dumbfounded Orga. "Or do you have anything else for me?" 

"Damn you!" Orga shouted, completely incensed by Alfonzo's taunt. "I'll beat you up real good!" 

With that, Orga charged forward, his body crackling with black lightning. 

"*Sigh* Oh well, I guess not." Alfonzo muttered while watching Orga approach. "Well then, I guess I'll end this." 

As he said that, Orga reached his optimal range. Then, he threw a heavily telegraphed overhand right. 

"Dude, even if you're angry, you can't be this bad in hand-to-hand combat, right?" Alfonzo asked as he, with is hands coated in violet electricity, swatted Orga's punch to the side. He then continued while cutting off the flow of electricity to his hands as he threw a combination of punches into Orga's torso. "I mean, every other wizard I've ever met who practices some kind of [Slayer Magic] is pretty good. Have you been slacking off, or something?" 

While speaking, Alfonzo landed a left hook to Orga's ribs. He then followed up with a right uppercut, followed by a left uppercut to his abdomen. Then, when Orga doubled over, he continued speaking while landing a right hook to the side of Orga's head. 

"Or have you just fought people weaker than you?" Alfonzo asked as his hook landed on Orga's head. "I mean, your magic is pretty powerful. So, you could probably overwhelm all your opponents with little effort before, right?" 

Dazed from Alfonzo's blow to the head, Orga staggered. However, he could still hear Alfonzo, though through the ringing of his ears, he could not make out what he was saying. Still, he could hear the dismissive and disdainful tone he was speaking in. and that angered him even further. 

So, with all his might, Orga once again reeled back his fist and threw a haymaker at Alfonzo's head. 

"*Sigh*" Alfonzo sighed in disappointment as he ducked under Orga's punch. 

*Bang!* 

Then, he threw a heavy uppercut that landed on Orga's chin, snapping his head back and sending him flying into the air. 

"Well, it's been a while since I've used this one." Alfonzo muttered while watching Orga rise into the air. "I won't use a weapon this time, though. I don't' wanna break any bones, after all. Well, here goes. [Electromagnetism Magic: Flash Point]." 

With Alfonzo's chant, a pair of electrified rails appeared on either side of him and were pointed at Orga in the air. Then, Alfonzo simply vanished from where he stood. 

*Boom!* 

A moment later, Orga slammed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. 

*Boom!* 

Shortly after that, a sonic boom sounded around the Domus Flau, causing everyone to cover their ears. Luckily, none of the shockwaves caused by the sonic booms were able to harm the audience, as a magical barrier was erected around the arena. 

"Thirty-seven." Yoruichi said in an impressed tone. 

"Thirty-seven what?" Rangiku asked curiously. 

"Alfonzo made thirty-seven passes before sending the Sabertooth boy crashing into the ground." Retsu, who was sitting right behind Team Mermaid Heel, said, answering Rangiku's question. 

"And he probably could have gone even faster." Yoruichi added. "But if he had, he risked permanently injuring that guy. He's really gotten quite terrifying since the last time I saw him fight." 

Upon hearing that, the rest of Team Mermaid Heel fell silent like the rest of the audience and waited for the dust to settle. However, they did not have to wait too long, as Alfonzo swung his arm, generating a gust of wind that blew away the dust. 

And with the dust cleared, everyone could see Orga lying at the bottom of a shallow crater with bruises all over his body and his eyes rolled up into the back of his head, clearly unconscious. 

Immediately upon seeing Orga's state, Sting, Rogue, and Rufus jumped down from the stands to rush to Orga's side. All the while, they glared daggers at Alfonzo. 

"Hey, why so serious?" Alfonzo asked while tilting his head in mock confusion. "I mean, I didn't kill him. Hell, I didn't even cripple him. He's just gonna be sore for a few days." 

*Smack!* 

Alfonzo, after not receiving an answer for a few moments, slapped his right fist into his upturned left palm with an expression of realization on his face. 

"Oh, I get it.!" Alfonzo exclaimed. "You all wanna avenge your friends loss. Even though winning and losing are part of any competition." 

Reaching that point, Alfonzo's expression turned deadly serious. 

"Well then, you're all welcome to try any time." Alfonzo said as he flared his magic power to its limit. 

Immediately, the entire Domus Flau began to shake under Alfonzo's magic power pressure, making it hard to breathe for everyone present. However, Sting, Rogue, and Rufus had it the worst. Immediately upon feeling Alfonzo's power, they all felt their backs break out in cold sweat. 

Even Jiemma, sitting behind the Team Sabertooth seating area, opened his eyes wide in amazement. He had been certain he was the strongest wizard on the continent, despite having never faced any of the Wizard Saints. Yet, his whole world view had just been flipped on its head. 

"You all made a terrible mistake trying to goad me into getting disqualified." Alfonzo said in a menacing tone. "And Fairy Tail intends to show you just how big of a mistake that was. Had you just faced us head on, we would have at least tried to make things look interesting. But now, the kid gloves are off. And you're about to see just what Fairy Tail's strongest team is capable of." 

With that said, Alfonz's reeled in his magic power. Then, he turned around without another word, leaving the entire arena in shocked silence as he returned to his seat. 

{"UH... Um... Well... That's the end of the first battle."} Loli said, still trying to collect himself after feeling how massive Alfonzo's magic power was. {"And the winner is Alfonzo Marcus of Fairy Tail."}