Of fists and feet-underground arena (RANK C)

[Tatsuma]

Tatsuma walked through Magnolia toward what he could only ascertain was the location of the underground fighting arena from the smell of copious amounts of colongue and the sound of excited shuffling. As he strolled forward and caught the air of the crowd his mind flashed back to what his clients had told him.


"Please get our son back safely! He's gotten himself mixed up into something illegal we think. He's late comming home all the time and we think it has something to do with this fighting ring that's in town. Surely he's not fighting!" the woman, Marcy, said before falling back into a couch. She was obviously distressed.
"Our son isn't a fighter. He was always such a good little boy, but lately he just hasn't been himself. He's so angry, even going so far as to yell at us, and there's just..." The man, Earl, finished for his wife, though he trailed off suddenly.
"Just something different?" Tatsuma asked?
"Something dark... It's like someone is threatening him." Earl elaborated.


The flashback suddenly stopped when he accidentally bumped into someone who proceeded to shout at him.
"Hey kid, watch where the **** you're goin' or I'll bump my fist into your face!" The man threatened viciously.
"Oh I'm sorry, just trying to get to the ring." Tatsu answered with a wide, seemingly innocent grin. He had factored in that he wouldn't actually be able to participate in the fights, but all he could do was cross his fingers, which he did literally, not figuratively.

Tatsuma kept his grin in check as he walked up to the registration and watched as a guild wizard from some unnamed guild tried to register.
"No guild mages bub." The registrar, a fairly large man with a badly beaten face and countless scars, said simply.
"But I came all this wa-"
"No- guild-mages! Just get the hell out!" He shouted, standing, albeit slowly and unsteadily. He unfolded from the chair he had previously been sitting in. Without another word of protest the guild mage left.
"Well ****..." He thought to himself, as he pulled his black haori from his shoulders leaving only the black tunic beneath. With that he ripped the fabric into strips and began wrapping his hands. If the job went well he would be able to buy another one anyway.

After he was confident that he had properly wrapped his hands he approached the registrar and began signing up.
"You're a bit young to be fighting hanging out down here aint ya?" The man said.
"Well, like my dad always used to tell me..." He let it trail off as he finished registering and took off toward the area where the fighters could would wait. He honestly didn't know how to finish the sentence anyway, he didn't even know who his father was.

The prep area was full of fighters that were obviously not here for the same reason he was. Most of them were pretty burly, older than he was, and looked like they wanted to get out there and kill someone.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a treat for your first match we have a vict- I mean newcomer here for your viewing pleasure. The kickoff? He will be fighting Sue Phil Liz! Now we've seen his punches drop someone to their knees, we've seen this man knock out opponents with one hit!" The crowd practically screamed at his introduction, meanwhile Tatsu hadn't even gotten his name mentioned. Evidently someone pointed out that fact so the announcer corrected it.
"Evidently the new guy's name is Tatsuma Shinju!" He added as if it were a mere afterthought. The crowd noticed and the man whom he had bumped into shouted from the stands.

"Who the hell even cares!" He jeered. Tatsuma only shook his head. An opponent of this caliber was certainly going to be something. He even started to reconsider his decision not to use magic, but figured this would be the best test. The first round could be the easiest and he needed to do this. There was something freeing about not using his magic and relying only on the skills he had learned after Rhidran had left him.
"Fighters... BEGIN!" The announcer shouted as the crowd roared and Sue took off toward Tatsu.


At first he had to blink. There was no way this guy was actually moving this slowly; but as the punch neared Tatsuma easily slid out of the way. He provided no counter attack, but watched as the guy prepared another strike. Unsuprisingly it was another punch, and this time he didn't get away so cleanly. As the fist closed in he moved his head out of the way then stepped toward the guy with Sue's arm completely clear of his body. As a result, Sue's momentum added to the damage as Tatsu slammed his open palm with the combined force of his own momentum and his opponent's momentum, into the poor guy's chest. As soon as the connection was made Tatsu shifted his feet, pivoting on his right foot to bring his left leg into position to stomp on Sue's right calf. It brought him to his knees but the backward momentum from Tatsu's earlier strike worked against his balance and locked him in position on the floor.

"You know, if you swing like a wild animal I'm just going to assume you're wearing a costume and start guessing at what food animal is hiding underneath." Tatsu teased, using an innocent smiled that invariably didn't match his words. In response Sue didn't follow the advice.
"AAAGGGGHHH" He roared as he charged, swinging wildly. Eventually though, Tatsu started to notice a pattern so instead of simply dodging he was estimating blows. That was when the fight was truely lost. A right hook from Sue resulted in a devestating punch aimed for a cheekbone, the left straight that was thrown resulted in a sharp knee kick which dislocated Sue's knee and gave him the time to grab the arm from the failed strike. Finally, he twisted it, and once again stomped on his opponent's right thigh before delivering a strike to the base of his skull.

By the time Sue hit the floor of the ring the crowd was in stunned silence which turned out to be simply the eye of the storm. A mixture of loud boos and roaring cheers erupted from the stands as he walked off.
"Ladies and gentlemen... Tatsuma is the winner. In the most surprising Not to mention disappointing match we've seen in a while we have a new fighter to watch closely." The announcer said, mumbling the part about the match being disappointing.

For Tatsu, the crowd didn't matter. He had proved to himself that his own training was of benefit, and that he didn't have to rely only on what he had learned from his mother.

1148/1500 words.

[GM Account]

Tygart chuckled as he watched the new kid storm the arena, taking out Sue without much hassle. “Woah did you see that Tygart? That kid is good!” someone said behind him to which he slowly shook his head while stroking his beard with his right hand, a devious smirk making its appearance on his face. “Sue is an idiot and the weakest fighter in this arena. Anyone could have beaten him though I must admit, the boy does have skills."

“B-but Tygart…for someone of your ag-“ the man didn’t get to finish his sentence as Tygart moved fast, turning to punch him hard on his stomach, making the man bend over in pain, blood starting to form and trickle down his lips. “I am not old,” Tygart’s voice was calm but it still held a deadly ring to it which no-one near him failed to notice as they hung their head.

As the second round was about to start, the announcer had already matched him up with the young boy. Tygart would have been lying if he said he wasn’t jealous of the boy’s youthful glow which made him more determined to win. As he stepped into the ring, he calmly smiled at the young boy, standing his ground and letting the announcer go on and on about his achievements, praising the kid’s first win afterwards.

[Tatsuma]

Tatsu listened with to the announcer, evidently the guy he was about to fight was an old timer, that meant that he was probably going to be physically less maneuverable than he probably would be, but he had way more experience with fights against other mages, of which the young dragon slayer could count on one hand for his own tally.

He found himself standing there tapping his foot, and then impatiently pacing back and forth across his side of the arena as he waited for him to finish Tygarts many acheivements. Once he finished that, and began Tatsu's one arena win and spoke over the prognosis of the likely outcome of the battle with the words "and his face in the floor" lining the mood of his speech. Still he was resolved not to use magic for the fight, though he was honestly a little wary of the situation provided the effect. He left room to change his mind in the event it looked like he was desperately outmatched, but in the event of a fair fight he was fully prepared to stay just the way he was.

"Fighters.... BEGIN!" The announcer shouted. Without missing a beat Tatsu held his hands in front of him.
"I... challenge the laws of nature and reason by summoning the power of destruction." The dragon slayer chanted as electricity surged in visible waves over his body. In truth it wasn't a spell, just a distraction to put Tygart off guard. As soon as the last syllable was uttered he charged forward at full speed, leaping into the air and using his momentum as the brunt of the attack with his knees in line for Tygart's chin and his elbow held ready to strike the top of his head. The remaining arm was held in a defensive manner to guard himself, but he was more planning on using it to stop in case the attack missed. With the way Tatsu was poised as he flew through the air it was meant to mimic the jaws of the wolves he had watched to develop this method of fighting.
"Just kidding!" He shouted as he dashed through the air at his opponent.


Word count 1514/1500

[GM Account]

Tygart nodded in the direction of the announcer before turning his attention towards the boy. He was going for the kill, lunging at him in an attack position not too long after the announcer gave the go signal. He didn’t miss the electricity that he showed off and he would be lying if he said he didn’t feel surprised to see that. He hadn’t expected the boy to know magic. However, Tygart had surprises of his own. He crouched down to a running position before charging straight at him with his own magic power. “BULL RUSH!” He yelled out as he travelled in high speed towards his opponent. The difference was that he was using a D rank spell while the boy was using his mere strength. He might not cause much damage but he should be able to send the boy flying a few feet back.

[Tatsuma]

Tatsuma wasn't sure what he was expecting... but it wasn't that. As the huge man smashed into him he went flying back several feet and hitting his back on the floor. He rolled with it and pushed his palm into the floor to spring himself back up onto his feet and prep his next move. Obviously he was going to have to use magic. The other guy had been much too focused on trying to match speed, if Tygart hadn't been using magic he should have taken some damage, but the man appeared unscathed.

"Not bad for an old timer. I've never been knocked out of the air before, let's see if those old bones can take another hit!" He roared as he charged once more. This time however, he activated his shock shield as he repeated the same attack he had performed before, making sure the activation was somewhat delayed. The goal he had in mind was to set the shield up to go off right before he reached his target.

"SHOCK SHIELD!" He roared as a sheen of electricity crackled over the length of Tatsu's body, creating a repulsorfield, though Tatsu had no idea about any of that. All he wanted to do was complete his mission and to do that he had to get through this target. He would even use his dragon roar if he had to.

Shock shield:

HP: 220/250
MP: 180/200

[GM Account]

Tygart was feeling smug. The boy actually thought he could come into a fighter arena like this and win it just like that? He chuckled, stroking his beard. In the middle of his self praising moment, he forgot to keep track of the boy's movements. Due to this, in matter of seconds, Tatsuma was closer to him with a sort of lightning shield going off around him. He tried to activate his bull rush in between but it failed as he was knocked off his feet, his body feeling heavy as they went numb. "Hell!"

[Tatsuma]

Tatsuma grinned as Tygart fell, taking in the moment with as much enjoyment as he could muster. A year ago and he would have finished him off, moving in for the kill shot as soon as his opponent was open. Instead, this time, he focused on targeting the enemy for the sheer purpose of knocking him unconscious and as soon as his feet hit the ground he jumped into the air, flipping backwards and holding his feet so that his knees could make contact with Tygart's solar plexus, the bread basket, the point most targeted for the purposes of knocking someone out. Just in case it didn't work though, he prepared himself to use his dragon palm to finish the fight. He didn't have time to waste here and he needed to get onto his actual target.

Briefly, his mind flashed back to a fight he had gotten in right after coming down from the mountains. The bandit had only been trying to steal some money for food and he hadn't been expecting the lightning magic attack Tatsu had struck him with as he demanded his money. In turn, and out of anger, Tatsu had finished the job by stomping on the back of the guy's neck. As his mind returned to this moment he was glad that past was behind him. He wasn't about to kill anyone now for no reason, not anymore. He had the opportunity to change, and he was making a point of enacting that opportunity now.

[GM Account]

Tygart closed his eyes with a growl as the announcer screamed in both shock and excitement over the fact that a complete newbie managed to beat not one but two experienced arena fighters.

From far away, Daniel was watching every move of that kid. The glass bottle in his hands shattered as he crushed it in his hands with an angry snarl. He didn't expect the kid to get even close to the final round but that silver haired boy beat Tygart whom he acknowledged as a good fighter. "That's it!" He growled as he got up from his seat to make his way towards the arena. " Let's get this started!"

[Tatsuma]

Tatsu stepped down from the arena, relaxing for but a moment before turning back around and heading back out to the arena once more. He had one more fight to complete and he couldn't believe his luck. It was just the person he wanted to see. He had heard the guy was fighting but he only had to cut through two people in order to get to him. It was of little to no consequence though, but he was finally getting somewhere. Lets get this started? He seemed awfully eager.

A thought occurred to Tatsu in that moment. If his opponent was overly eager it meant he would be more inclined to make mistakes, and typically that meant they were also more prideful. He thought of himself as an example of this, and took the opportunity before the match started to try to rope him in.  
"Hey Daniel! I've been sent here by your parents to bring you back. I'll make you a wager if you wouldn't mind. If you win, I'll join you and even be your underling. If I win you go back to your parents, tell them what has happened, and get out of this underground business." He said with a smile. Internally he was smirking, and beneath that was a predator ready to pounce

[GM Account]

Hs parents? His parents had sent this little runt to capture him and bring him back? His right eye twitched as he started to shake with anger. How dare they? What did they think of themselves as? He couldn't possibly go back to the life he once led.Every single day was a torture. Everyone looked down on him and thought he was weak. They poked fun of him and said he was nothing but a cowardly, incapable fool. That was till he met his teacher who taught him dark magic and what real power is. Fear. People's fear is your power. "Fine! I will come back if you beat me!"
'I can't lose. I just can't lose'

[Tatsuma]

Tatsu couldn't believe his luck. The kid had even somehow managed to take the bait. Still it was going to require at least a little amount of discretion obviously, but the guy whom he was talking to was confident in his skills just as Tatsu was confident that dragon slayer magic would suffice. Still, he found it a bit odd that the kid had given in so easily. Decidedly, he was going to take further advantage, and get a little greedy if he managed to win. He decided that he was going to gather information from the kid if he could. He highly doubted that he had just left one day and decided to start studying, someone was teaching him, and either that someone knew he was fighting and didn't care, or that someone had no idea and would probably like to know what their student was using those lessons for.
"Fighters... BEGIN!" The announcer called out. Without missing a beat, Tatsu took off after his opponent, launching himself across the arena. He was resolute not to use magic still until the kid gave him a reason to do so. Reactionary magic was going to be the major course of action to take.

As he zipped forward, he sought a hard, sharp kick to the kids' lower chest, attempting to settle everything in one blow. If it turned out to be that easy he was going to probably kick himself in the ass. There was literally no way that his kid managed to come in here to this place and climb up to this rank with no way to protect himself... right?

[GM Account]

"I don't want to waste my life living a boring life!" he almost shouted out as he waited for the kid to make the first move. He met his teacher in an ally way when he was crying alone after getting beat up by some older men. His teacher wasn't the kind type. No. Instead, he made fun of him and his weakness. He instilled anger and a thirst for revenge in him. He extended an opportunity to learn. He offered him dark powers and he took it happily. He knew everything paid off when he was able to beat his bullies, beating them up till they were almost dead.

"You can't just beat me, kid!" He shouted as he stretched his right arm forward. Black energy formed in his palm as a ray of darkness was shot right towards the silver haired kid.

[Tatsuma]

Tatsuma had sorely underestimated the guy. He was once again knocked out of the air by another combatant and sent rolling across the floor. While he felt that blow, he was ready to get back up and start again. He started by activating his lightning flash, the brief surge of electricity serving as a notable warning sign he was about to do something. He moved, hopping side to side and letting the cloaking help his movement blur as he began to zip forward at his opponent. With palms outstretched he activated his lightning palm in the right hand, and his lightning dragon burst in the left hand. He moved as a blur toward his opponent and ducked under, turning around to strike his back with both attacks.

Once they hit, Tatsu slammed his fist into the back of the guy's head and kicked him while he lay there, sealing the victory and ending it in a flash as he had done with the others. The kid had good reflexes, but he wasn't here to play around.
"I believe we had a deal. Live a good life and protect your parents with the power you've gained. If you ever need a way out, a place to continue working on growing stronger, come see Fairy Tail, in this very same city. I'll even help you myself." He said to the boy as he left the stage to a mixed reaction of boos and cheers. He had done his job, the mission had been accomplished, as long as Daniel was a man of his word the mission was done and over with and he could collect his pay, though he left with something just as valuable.

[exit]

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