Fairy Tail: Metal and Threads

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.

July 4, x790.

{"The event will last for thirty minutes and the team with the highest score at the end will be the winner and receive 10 points."} Mato said, continuing his explanation. {"And like in every other event, the scores each team will receive after the winner will go like the other events, with each subsequent team receiving few points. So, is everyone ready?"} 

*Cheer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*

In response to Mato's question, the crowd went wild. However, it was not only for the start of a new event that the crowd was in an uproar. Rather, it was because they would get to see all the strongest members of each team in one event. Though, they were a bit unsure if Thibault should really be mentioned in the same sentence as the others.

{"Then~~~, let's get started~~~~!"} Mato shouted excitedly.

At the same time, the arena was covered in a blinding flash. And when the light faded, none of the eight wizards could be seen. Instead, there was only a large octagonal structure in the center of the arena. And on each side of this eight-sided structure was a guild symbol denoting which side belonged to which competitor.

Not only that, but all the screens in the arena had changed, as well. They were now showing the inside of the Super Balls court from different angles. And the only thing anyone could see at the moment were the eight guild wizards looking around, clearly trying to get a sense of the dimensions of the court.

{"Alright then!"} Mato shouted once again. {"Let's start the event! The first ball will be dropping..."}

Mato's dramatic pause put everyone in the arena on the edges of their seats, anticipating what would happen in the last individual event of this year's Grand Magic Games. And after a few seconds of tense silence, all recording lacrima in the Super Balls court pointed at a particular hole in the ceiling. Then, everyone watched as a yellow ball fell through it.

{"Now~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"} Mato shouted, his shout lasting until the ball had fallen halfway to the court's floor.

"Electromagnetism Magic: Lightning Enhancement]."

"[Shunko]."

"[Perfume Magic: Fleet-Foot Perfume, Power Perfume]."

"[Iron Rock Wall]."

"[White Drive]."

"[Haste]."

As soon as Mato gave the official starting signal, nearly all the wizards cast spells simultaneously. The only exceptions being Bacchus and Thibault. And the reason for those two abstaining from casting anything was simple. Bacchus knew that no matter what he cast, he would be no match in a test of speed with the likes of Alfonzo and Yoruichi, having worked with them in the past. As for Thibault, he simply did not know any support spells. The only thing he was any good at was imbuing his kanabō with magic power.

*Bang!* x 3

An instant later, Yoruichi was the first to arrive next to the ball. However, she was surprised to see that Alfonzo was not the next closest. So, she looked around to see where he was, as she did not think there was anyone fast enough to keep up with him. Yet, she quickly understood the situation when she saw several thick rock walls that had sprouted from the floor between Alfonzo's goal and the center point of the court, which caused her to shake her head.

It should be noted that Yoruichi was not shaking her head at the fact that Jura tried to obstruct Alfonzo from reaching the ball. Instead, she was shaking her head at the fact that he thought a trick like that would work in the first place, as by the time she looked in the direction of the [Iron Rock Walls], there were already holes in all of them. Yet, Alfonzo was nowhere to be seen.

'This could be bad.' Yoruichi thought to herself. 'Losing track of someone as powerful as Alfonzo never ends well.'

"[White Dragon's Roar]." Sting Chanted after realizing that even with [White Drive], a spell that increased all his magical and physical parameters, he was still no match for Yoruichi's speed.

Without even looking in the direction of Stings [Dragon Roar], Yoruichi struck the ball with her knee, sending it higher into the air before casually side stepping the attack. Then, as the [Roar] ended, she leapt into the air and kicked the ball in the direction where Sting's attack went flying, which happened to be where Thibault should have been standing... In front of his goal.

*Bang!*

"The first point is mine." Yoruichi said with a smile as her foot collided with the ball.

And just as expected, when the ball was sent flying towards the Twilight Ogre goal, there was no one defending it. And the reason was easy enough to understand. When Sting's [Roar] missed the ball, it slammed into Thibault, who to his credit, was able to get his weapon up to defend himself. Unfortunately, the force behind Sting's attack was much more than Thibault could handle. And in the end, he was knocked unconscious when his own weapons slammed into his forehead.

"I don't think so." Alfonzo said as he appeared right behind Yoruichi with is right arm extended over her shoulder. ["Metal Magic: Vibranium Shield]."

Although Alfonzo did not speak it very loudly, because of how close he was to Yoruichi, she could hear the name of his spell. And when she heard it, her eyes opened wide in dumbfounded amazement, as she knew that she was the reason he could even use the metal he called Vibranium, as she had given it to him on his birthday a little more than five years ago.

At the same time, while Yoruichi's eyes widened in surprise, a round metal shield with red and blue concentric circles and a white star in the center appeared in the path of the ball.

{"OH, Wow!"} Loli exclaimed, finally able to catch up to the action after the event started. "Contestant Alfonzo, after being hindered at the start by Contestant Jura, was able to stop what I'm sure many of us was sure to be the first score of this event."}

{"Yes, that was quite impressive."} Yajima added. {"But something seems off about this."}

{"What do you mean, Yajima?"} Loli asked in a curious tone. "Oh, wait! Alfonzo is on the move again!"}

And just as Loli said, Alfonzo had disappeared from behind Yoruichi, bringing her out of her daze. Though, many of the people in the audience missed how happily she smiled before she put her game face back on and chased after Alfonzo.

Meanwhile, Alfonzo appeared behind the shield, which the ball was resting against, about to lose to gravity and fall to the floor. However, before that could happen, he grabbed the shield, which, thanks to his [Metal Magic], transformed into a rather large, metallic pool stick.

"Carom, corner pocket." Alfonzo said with a grin.

Then, Alfonzo drew is pool cue back before striking the ball, sending it flying at high speed.

*Boom!*

For those who forgot, the metal Alfonzo called Vibranium, something native to the Soul Continent that Yoruichi originated from, had the ability to absorb kinetic energy. And with Alfonzo's magic, it is able to expel that absorbed kinetic energy, as well.

So, as a result of adding the already formidable amount of kinetic energy that was absorbed when Yoruichi kicked the ball and the power of Alfonzo's strike, the sound of impact was so loud that some safety protocols built into the recording lacrimas were activated, dulling the sound. Significantly, to not harm the ordinary civilians in the crowd.

At the same time, Yoruichi, who was forced chasing after Alfonzo to regain control of the ball realized she would not make it in time. Then, when she saw the somewhat sinister smile on Alfonzo's face, she wisely decided to get out of the way of Alfonzo's shot at Sabertooth's goal. Though, it would be more accurate to say his shot at Sting, who was standing in front of Sabertooth's goal.

"Bring it on! I'm all fired up!" Sting shouted, pumping himself up for the upcoming confrontation. "White Dragon's Iron Fist]!"

"Hey, he stole my line!" Natsu shouted from Fairy Tail's seating area.

In the next instant, Sting threw his punch forward, his fist meeting the ball with great force.

*Bang!*

Unfortunately, though Sting's punch would have been more than enough to destroy a large, three-story house with one blow, it was nowhere near enough to cancel the force behind Alfonzo's shot on his goal.

"Gah~~~~~~~!" Sting shouted an instant after his fist met the ball.

As a result, Sting was sent flying into his goal while the ball ricocheted to Sting's right, thanks to the spin Alfonzo put on the ball when he struck it, towards Final Fantasy's goal.

The majority of the audience was dumbfounded when they saw Sting fly off like that. Yet, Squall, the ace of Final Fantasy remained focused. And thanks to the [Haste] spell he cast at the beginning of the event, he was able to keep up with the speed at which the ball was moving. However, unlike Sting, he knew he was incapable of stopping it head on. So, he had every intension of deflecting it. And if possible, towards one of the two undefended goals.

"[Limit Break: Renzokuken]." Squall chanted as he flared his magic power to its limit... Then, right past it.

With Squall's chant, Squall's magic power became visible to the entire arena for a brief moment while waves of air were pushed outwards with him at their center. Then, he held is gunblade to his right and dashed forward to meet the incoming ball a little further away from his goal.

An instant later, Squall stood just to the right of the ball's path with his gunblade raised, ready to send the ball flying in a different direction. Yet, as he exerted force to swing his gunblade down, his finger resting on the trigger to add some additional striking force, he found that he was completely incapable of moving it, as if it had frozen in the air.

Unfortunately, that also meant that Squall lost the timing to deflect the ball. As a result, it sailed into his goal with no resistance. And as intelligent as Squall was, he understood immediately what caused his gunblade to be stuck. And when he glanced in the culprit's direction, he was greeted by a wide smile and a thumbs up from Alfonzo.

"Fucking Master of Metals." Squall muttered under his breath.

{"The first point of the event has been scored!"} Loli shouted. {"And Fairy Tail takes an early lead!"}

{"Are you sure, Loli?"} Yajima asked with his eyes opening slightly. {"Although it seems obvious to all of us, Alfonzo was not the last one to touch the ball before it went into Team Final Fantasy's goal."}

{"Ah! Now that you mention it, that's true."} Loli replied while scratching the side of his head, causing his wig to shift with every scratch. {"I guess we'll have to ask the judges for their judgement on this one. Well, what do you say, judges?"}

With Loli bringing the judges into this ruling, the event came to a temporary stop, giving both Sting and Thibault the opportunity to regain their senses. And when they did, they both ended up glaring at the one who left them unable to continue for a short time. Meaning, Sting was glaring at Alfonzo while Thibault was glaring at Sting.

Meanwhile, Loli and Yajima were discussing the event so far. And although there was not much to see, all of it was rather intense.

{"I'd really like to see what kind of reading the MPF would have been able to get on that shot Contestant Alfonzo took."} Loli said excitedly while watching the replay of the first score on the Lacrima-Vision screen with the rest of the audience.

{"Although it was powerful, I don't think the numbers would be as high as you expect, Loli."} Yajima said while examining the footage with the critical eye of a former Magic Councilman.

{"What makes you say that?"} Loli asked in a curious tone, though he was not the only curious one.

{"This is why."} Yajima said while controlling the video to play from the moment Alfonzo struck the ball with his metal pool stick. "Alright, now slow it down as much as you can. Now look at that, instead of just brute force, Alfonzo added a spin to the ball, which made the ball react differently when it came in contact with Sting's fist. In fact, he looks to be using a high-level technique from that game Sixth Sense Holdings introduced a few years ago."}

{"Now that you mention it..."} Loli said while looking at Alfonzo's form. {"You're right. He even called his shot."}

{"That's right."} Yajima replied with a nod. {"And that spin is what made the ball go towards Final Fantasy's goal."}

{"That part finally makes sense."} Loli said in a tone filled with understanding. {"But that doesn't explain why Contestant Squall did not defend his goal when he was so close to the ball."}

{"*Sigh* Did you forget what Alfonzo Marcus' title is, Loli?"} Yajima asked in an exasperated tone.

{"Of course not."} Loli replied energetically. {"He's the Master of Metals."}

{"And what do you think Squall's weapon is made of?"} Yajima asked as if he were dealing with someone with a learning disability.

{"Metal, probab--- Ooh~~~~~~! I get it!"} Loli exclaimed.

"*Sigh* Sometimes I hate this job." Yajima muttered quiet enough that the microphones would not be able to pick it up.

{"Ah! It looks like the judges have made their judgement."} Loli said excitedly, having not heard Yajima's grumbling. {"And the verdict is... The point goes to Team Fairy Tail, as there was clearly no intent from the contestant of Team Sabertooth."}

*Cheer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*

The decision by the judges received a loud round of applause from the audience. Well, not the entirety of the audience, as the members of Sabertooth, with their unfounded confidence felt as if Sting must have knocked the ball towards Squall's goal on purpose.

Luckily, Sting was unable to hear his guild mates. Because despite being brash and arrogant, not even he, in good conscience, could take credit for the way things ended in that exchange.

{"Well, now that the decision has been made, why don't we get back to the Super Balls event?"} Loli asked excitedly. {"And according to the judges, the action will commence again in thirty seconds. So, I hope you're all ready."}