Fairy Tail: Metal and Threads

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus. 

July 4, x790. 

*Swish!* 

*Cling!* 

*Swish!* 

*Bang!* 

As soon as the signal to begin was given, Ikkaku disappeared from where he stood with the use of the [Flash Step]. He then reappeared in front of Sun slashing his Zanpakuto at her left shoulder. 

However, before the slash could land, Sun unsheathed her shirasaya at a speed faster than the naked eyes of anyone below B-Rank could follow, and deflected Ikkaku's blade to the right. She then released her left hand's grip of her sheath and brought it to the hilt of her sword before reversing the blade and slashing horizontally at Ikkaku's chest. 

Luckily, as soon as his sword was deflected, Ikkaku quickly stepped back, as his posture had been broken by Sun's deflection. However, before he could completely regain his posture, Ikkaku was forced to let go of Hōzukimaru's hilt with his left hand to defend against an incoming front kick. 

"Oh! This is even better than I was expecting!" Ikkaku shouted as he sailed backwards through the air. "A good fight... No, a great fight in the making! This is what I've been waiting for!" 

"[Water/Sword Compound Magic: Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust]." Sun chanted as she quickly closed in on Ikkaku with Kanade drawn back in a thrusting position. 

*Cling!* 

Ikkaku was able to get control of his flight and force himself to the ground before Sun arrived. Then, with exquisite swordsmanship, he forced Sun's blade upward with an upward slash that transitioned into a downward slash that followed the same trajectory. 

However, instead of simply letting her blade be forced upwards, Sun decided to follow the momentum of her blade and jumped straight up in the air along with it. As a result, Ikkaku's slash missed once again. In the next instant, his instincts blared a warning, telling him to get away from where he stood. 

"[Water/Sword compound Magic: Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin]." Sun chanted as she ascended into the air. 

With her chant finished, a large amount of [Water Magic] formed around Sun's blade, compressing in the process. Then, when she reached the peak of her leap, Sun brought the blade down with great force, expecting Ikkaku to defend with his blade. So, when he leapt away, she was rather surprised. Still, she could do nothing about it. 

*Boom!* 

*Splash!* 

With Ikkaku's dodge, Sun's blade slammed into the arena floor when she landed. The impact also caused the large amount of [Water Magic] wrapped around her sword to spread outwards, once again destabilizing Ikkaku's footing. However, he did not let it bother him, as he pulled his sheath from his hip and jammed the pommel of his sword into its opening. 

At the same time, Sun pulled her sword from the ground and sheathed once again before dashing at Ikkaku with her left hand holding the sheath and her right gripping the hilt tightly. 

"[Extend, Hōzukimaru]." Ikkaku chanted his Zanpakuto's Release Command as his sword and sheath began to glow. 

"[Water/Sword Compound Magic: First Form: Water Surface Slash]." Sun chanted simultaneously. 

*Cling!* 

*Cling!* 

*Swish!* 

*Bang!* 

In the next instant, several things happened in short succession. First, Hōzukimaru's transformation finished, revealing itself to be a Kikuchi Yari with a wax wood shaft and a raid horse hair tassel hanging from its blunt end. Second, Ikkaku swung the spear around, deflecting Sun's iaido draw upwards. 

"[Water/Sword Compound Magic: Second Form: Lateral Water Wheel]." Sun chanted as she continued with her momentum and spun full circle after the strike was deflected. 

Third, Ikkaku continued to spin his spear, this time reflecting Sun's strike upwards with the butt of his spear. He then continued to flourish his spear before thrusting it towards Sun's right shoulder. 

Seeing the incoming thrust, Sun lowered her body just enough to avoid being stabbed. However, a few strands of her hair were cut in its place. Yet, Sun did not let that bother her. 

"If I hadn't sparred with Saeko so many times, I would have never thought to do this." Sun muttered as she tightened the grip on her sheath with her left hand. "[Sōryūsen]." 

Sun then pulled her sheath off her hip and slammed it into Ikkaku's chest, completely catching him off guard. As a result, his body folded around the sheath momentarily before he was sent flying by Sun's inhuman strength. 

With the wind knocked completely out of his lungs, Ikkaku found it difficult to right himself in the air. Luckily, he still had the wherewithal to jab his spear into the ground and slow himself down before eventually coming to a stop. Unfortunately, he did not have much time to get himself together. 

"[Voice Magic: Howling voice]." Sun Chanted before taking a deep breath from where she stood in the arena. 

"Shit..." Ikkaku groaned, knowing that there was nothing he could do to block a sound attack. 

"Kya~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!" Sun screamed at the top of her lungs, making most people in the audience cover their ears. 

However, for Ikkaku, just covering his ears would not help. So, he did his best to defend himself by raising his spear in front of him. 

"At times like this, it wouldn't be bad to know a little [Kidō]." Ikkaku muttered to himself. 

*Bang!* 

In the next instant, the soundwave slammed into Ikkaku and sent him flying once again. 

*Bang!* 

"*Cough* *cough*" Ikkaku coughed up a mouthful of blood after slamming back first into the arena's wall. On top of that, the reverberations from the soun waves worsened the injury on his chest, as well.

"[Water/Sword Compound Magic: Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust]." Sun chanted as she dashed forward. 

*Shing!* 

Then, before Ikkaku could regain his bearing, Sun's shirasaya was stabbed into the wall, all the way to the hilt, just to the left of his head. And when Ikkaku heard the sound, he raised his head with a smile on his face. 

"Looks like I lost." Ikkaku said. "I mean, I could probably keep fighting, but that could have been my head." 

When Ikkaku said that, he glanced to his left, at Sun's hand, which was gripping Kanade's hilt tightly. 

"Shame I couldn't make you release your not-Zanpakuto thing, though." Ikkaku continued. "Would have been nice to see what it could do." 

Maybe next time." Sun replied in a cheerful tone.

{"Contestant Ikkaku has admitted defeat!"} Loli shouted excitedly. {"And the winner of the match is Sun Seto of Fairy Tail. And that's another 10 Points for Fairy Tail. In fact, let's take a look at the overall scoreboard one more time before we end the day's festivities."} 

*Cheer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!* 

With Loli's announcement of the end of the match, Sun pulled her sword from the wall. Then, she sheathed it in one fluid motion. After that, she reached out and offered Ikkaku a hand before helping him to the Domus Flau's infirmary. At the same time, all the Lacrima-Vision screens around the stadium changed to show the new overall scores. 

{Overall Scoreboard 

Rank Team Score 

Fairy Tail 78 Pts. Mermaid Heel 60 Pts. Sabertooth 41 Pts. Blue Pegasus 37 Pts. Final Fantasy 30 Pts. Quatro Cerberus 28 Pts. Lamia Scale 23 Pts. Twilight Ogre 1 Pts.} 

{"I have to say, when this year's Grand Magic Games started, I was not expecting the scores to be so lopsided."} Yajima said. {"Usually, at this point in the Games, there are at least six teams with the chance to be the champion. However, this time, although every team other than Twilight Ogre theoretically has the chance to win, realistically, I'd say there are probably only two with the chance to take the title. The returning champions, Mermaid Heel, and the ones trying to get their title back, Fairy Tail."} 

{"You're right, Yajima."} Loli added. {"We've never seen scores like these before. Even so, I'm really looking forward to the last day's event, which will happen after a rest day. So, we'll see you all in a couple of days. Until then, enjoy the festival and be safe. We're signing off for now!"} 

With that, the audience and the competitors all started to make their way out of the Domus Flau. Meanwhile, the members of Fairy Tail and Quatro Cerberus made their way to the infirmary to check on their team mates who fought in the last match of the Battle Round. 

Then, after a little small talk, Team Fairy Tail left the infirmary after finding out that when Sun hit Ikkaku with her sheath, she managed to break a few of his ribs. Luckily, the breaks were not so bad. On top of that, with [Healing Magic], Ikkaku would definitely be up by the time the last day started. But even if he wasn't, they still had a reserve member they could put in for the last day. However, Ikkaku was thoroughly against that. There was no way he would miss the chance to fight just because of a silly little injury. 

"So, do you think the last day's event will be the same as it has been every year?" Marin asked while she and the rest of Team Fairy Tail walked through the city of Crocus on the way back to their hotel. 

"I don't see why not." Elicia replied. 

"Yeah, if the shit ain't broke, don't fix it, right?" Alfonzo added. 

"I guess." Marin replied. "Still, it's been five years with the same event at the end. Won't the audience get bored? Especially since the people participating are mostly the same every year." 

"Don't worry about it." Sun said with a smile, still in a good mood from her victory. "We've watched it every year, right? And we didn't get bored, did we?" 

"No, I guess not." Marin replied. 

"See?" Sun said as she pulled Marin into a hug. "Then, there's nothing to worry about, ya see?" 

In response, Marin smiled as she returned the hug. Then, the group continued on to the hotel. And when they arrived, a couple of little missiles ran towards them, one a little faster than the other. 

"Congratulations, Daddy!" Amare and Bianca shouted happily as they both ran towards Alfonzo as soon as he opened the door. 

"Aww~~~~~!" x 3 

Seeing Amar'e and Bianca running towards them, Elicia, Marin, and Sun could not help cooing loudly. Even Brandish, who did not coo audibly, flushed slightly because of the cuteness. 

Meanwhile, Alfonzo crouched down with a wide smile on his face and opened his arms to welcome his son and daughter. Then, when they were both in his arms, Alfonzo stood up and gave each of them a kiss on the cheek. 

"Thanks, Mar'e and Bia." Alfonzo said happily. "But you need to congratulate Sun, too, right?" 

Hearing that, Amar'e and Bianca turned their heads and smiled at Sun. 

"Congratulations, Mama Sun!." x 2 

Immediately, Sun wrapped her arms around the two children, as well, with a wide smile on her face. 

Then, while still wrapped in Alfonzo's and Sun's arms, Bianca turned her head towards Alfonzo and looked at him with excitement. 

"Daddy, hungry!" Bianca said excitedly. 

Immediately afterwards, the hotel's lobby was filled with voices that repeated after Bianca without shame. 

"Daddy, hungry!" 

Looking around, every member of the guild that was not part of Team Fairy Tail, without exception, had said that in unison. And when Alfonzo saw all of them looking at him with puppy dog eyes, he almost vomited. Luckily, Amar'e and Bianca were in his arms. Otherwise, he would have been the one starting the guild-wide brawl. Especially since he remembered telling more than a few of the guild members that if they ever looked at him with puppy dog eyes again, he would have something to say about it. 

In the end, Alfonzo was able to push down his frustration. Then, he made his way to the kitchen to cook a celebration feast. And after a hardy meal that still ended in a guild-wide brawl, everyone went to bed, ready to rest before the last day of the Games. 

July 5, x790. 

"Are you sure you'll be back before noon?" Elicia asked as she saw off Alfonzo and Irene, who were going to head back to Magnolia to create a magic item so they could spy on Akatsuki's communications. "You know Mar'e and the kids will be sad if you're not back by then." 

Currently, the sun had yet to rise in Fiore. Meaning, Alfonzo, Elicia, and Irene were standing on the Sixth Sense Hotel's roof at the darkest part of the night. 

"Don't worry, Elicia." Irene said with a smile. "This shouldn't take too long. It's just we don't have the proper tools here." 

"I hope so." Elicia replied. "Well, I'll see you soon, then." 

Elicia then stepped forward and pecked Alfonzo on the lips. 

"I'm coming, too." Erza, who just stepped through the roof access door, said as she approached the group of three. "Mother said there was something she wanted to show me back at her house while Alfonzo was working to create the magic item." 

"Sure." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "Either way, we should be back before we need to leave for Ryuzetsu Land." 

With that, Alfonzo, Erza, and Irene made their way onto the Blackbird. Then, in an act of consideration, Alfonzo raised the airship high into the sky, with his [Metal Magic], before engaging the engines. That way, the sound from the engines would not wake anyone who was not already awake. And just like that, the Blackbird set off on its trip to Magnolia without anyone knowing, other than the members of Akatsuki, who had been watching the Sixth Sense Hotel to keep an eye on their target.