Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.
July 2, x790.
{"Ladies and gentlemen, we're back for the second day of the Grand Magic Games!"} Loli shouted enthusiastically. {"I, Loli Chapati, am here once again with my co-host, Yajima!"}
{"Good morning, everyone."} Yajima said in a calm tone.
After Yajima's greeting, Loli's enthusiasm died down by quite a bit.
{"And today, we have a guest in the booth with us today."} Loli continued in a much more subdued, and somewhat fearful, tone. {"Ladies and gentlemen, join us in welcoming one of the captains of the Fiore's Knights, Lady Lalatina Ford Dustiness."}
With Loli's announcement, the crowd fell silent. Though they were impressed to know that a knight from the kingdom's knights was present, they were unsure of who the knight in question was. However, that would change momentarily.
{"Mr. Chapati, please..."} A seemingly embarrassed female voice that was familiar to most of the wizards in attendance rang out over the venue. {"... just call me Darkness. That is a much more comfortable term of address for me."}
Hearing the name Darkness, the crowd took a deep breath in unison. They were surprised that anyone would let the knight rumored to be a pervert on a level that no one has ever seen before was allowed into the broadcasting booth for such a big event.
Meanwhile, the wizards, after receiving confirmation of the guest, almost all face palmed in unison. Because, they had seen how Darkness could be from just watching acts of violence, they knew things would be troublesome today.
"Did they seriously let her be a guest commentator for today's events?" Alfonzo asked in a dumbfounded tone.
"It looks like it." Marin replied while looking at Elicia with a teasing smile on her face. "Well, at least it's Lici who will be participating in today's event."
"Ugh! All the sudden, I don't wanna go up anymore." Elicia said in a mortified tone. She then looked at Alfonzo with puppy dog eyes. "Fonzie, can you go today, please?"
"Not a chance in hell." Alfonzo replied without even looking at his first wife.
That response only made Elicia's puppy dog eyed expression turn into a pout while she tried her best to convince Alfonzo to take her place.
In fact, after the feast thrown for Final Fantasy's visit to meet the Fairy Tail guild, Alfonzo, Elicia, Marin, Sun, and Brandish, after Alfonzo discussed making new weapons for Squall, Tifa, Terra, and a few other members of the Final Fantasy guild who used melee weapons ended, discussed who would go up for today's event. And Elicia, after seeing Sun's performance the day before, was excited to go up today.
On a side note, many of the female members of Final Fantasy were quite conflicted about Alfonzo's cooking. While they readily acknowledged that it was the best food they had ever eaten, they were also quite embarrassed by all the involuntary moaning, writhing, and leaking they did while eating it. The male members of the guild, however, all gave Alfonzo a thumbs up and praised him for the two amazing feasts his food provided.
But after hearing that Darkness would be the guest commentator, she was quite reluctant.
On another note, During the feast, Edea and her husband Cid, took the opportunity to talk to Ur, with Gildarts by her side, and talked about magic and the possibility of an alliance between the two guilds. Ur even told Edea that she should come to Magnolia to see their training facilities.
Ur did make sure not to make any promises that Alfonzo would install them in the Final Fantasy guild hall, though. She did remember Alfonzo's displeasure at being volunteered to do the work for the other guilds without getting his approval first, after all. So, she told Edea that if she liked what she saw, she could discuss with Alfonzo about possibly getting a set of training chambers for her guild, as well.
Naturally, Edea accepted the proposal. She then let Ur know that she would come to Magnolia with some of her wizards around the time for the Harvest Festival. After that, the feast went without a hitch. Though, Final Fantasy's wizards did get to witness one of the famous Fairy Tail brawls during the evening. Some of them even participated after being drawn into the atmosphere.
While Team Fairy Tail was remembering the events of the previous knight, the introduction in the broadcast booth continued.
{"Alright, I'm sure no one is here to listen to us talk."} Loli said, his enthusiasm returning. {"So, before we get to the event for today, let's take another look at the scores after the first day."}
{Overall Scoreboard
Rank Team Score
Fairy Tail 20 Pts. Mermaid Heel 16 Pts. Final Fantasy 13 Pts. Blue Pegasus 11 Pts. Sabertooth 8 Pts. Quatro Cerberus 4 Pts. Lamia Scale 2 Pts. Twilight Ogre 0 Pts.}
{"Now, let's send it to Mato for details on the second day's event."} Loli said after reading out the scores.
{"Thanks, Loli."} Mato said, his image appearing on all the screens around the Domus Flau. {"Today's event is called..."}
Reaching that point, the screens in the arena changed to show the name of the event at the same time Mato announced it.
{"Assault Course"} Mato said, finishing his sentence. {"Now, each team, please send up one participant to compete in this event."}
"Well, go on, Lici." Alfonzo said as he patted Elicia on her back.
"Ugh! Do I really have to?" Elicia asked in a whiny tone.
{"*Pant* *Pant*"}
At that moment, the sound of a woman excited panting echoed throughout the Domus Flau.
{"Um... Darkness.... are you okay?"} Loli asked in atone mixed with confusion and concern.
{"Oh, I'm fine."] Darkness said, regaining her composure quickly. Though, that did not last long. {"I just got the feeling that someone was thinking something bad about me. And I was wondering what it could have been. *Pant* Were they thinking that I would do something to ruin the broadcast? *Pant* Something so terrible that I would be kicked out of the knights? *Pant* And if that were to happen, my family would probably disown me. *Pant* Then, I would be forced to live on the streets *Pant* Maybe having to sell myself for a stale loaf of bread *Pant* Oh! What kind of depraved acts would I have to engage---"}
*Static!*
{"Um... it looks like there was a problem with Darkness' microphone."} Loli said, sounding quite nervous while wiping off the sweat that was streaming down his forehead. Meanwhile, Darkness' continued rant could be heard in the background. {"We'll do our best to get that fixed as soon as possible."}
By now, the entire audience had fallen silent with uncomfortable expressions on their faces. Meanwhile, concerned parents could be seen covering the ears of their younger children all over the Domus Flau.
At the same time, Elicia looked at Alfonzo, her puppy dog eyes back with a vengeance, while tears began to pool in her eyes.
"Please, Fonzie, don't make me go." Elicia said, while almost crying.
Seeing the expression on Elicia's face, Alfonzo was about to give in. However, before he could open his mouth, Marin, with a mischievous grin on her face, interrupted.
"No way, Lici." Marin said, her expression turning stern as soon as she started talking. "You basically strong-armed your way into participating in this event last night. Even when both Brandish and I said we wanted to do it. So, don't back out now that things are awkward."
After saying that, Marin's mischievous expression re-emerged.
"Besides, if you go up, at least you'll be participating with someone you're familiar with, right?" Marin continued. "Because I'm sure that Karen will come up, too, even if they had already decided who would participate today, when she sees you."
Immediately, Elicia paled at the thought. Not only would she have to deal with Darkness' commentary, but she would also have to deal with Karen's desire to be her pet. Unfortunately, just as she thought things could not get any worse, she heard Lucy's voice from behind er in the stands with the rest of the guild.
"Virgo, what are you doing here?" Lucy asked in a confused tone.
"Good morning, Princess." Virgo replied while bowing politely to Lucy. "Please punish me for showing up without being summoned."
"No, that's not what I meant." Lucy shouted in annoyance. "I'm asking why you summoned yourself in the first place."
"Oh, I see." Virgo replied with a hint of disappointment in her tone. "I came to support my best friend. I'm sure she'll be great as a guest commentator."
"Seriously?" Lucy asked in a tone filled with disbelief. "Are you hearing the same things I am?"
Meanwhile, back in Team Fairy Tail's seating area...
"Oh, damn..." Alfonzo said in a tone filled with astonishment. "The whole unholy trinity is here. Today is really going to be something, isn't it?"
"Fonzie~~~!" Elicia whined loudly.
"Just get it over with, Lici." Alfonzo said in a sympathetic tone. "There's no way Marin is gonna let you get out of this."
In response, not only Marin, but Brandish, who also did not want to compete with Darkness, who was prone to outbursts, commentating, nodded vigorously. The only one who would not have minded taking Lici's place because of how miserable she looked, Sun, was unable to do so because she had already taken part in yesterday's event.
"Fine, I'll go." Elicia said with her head hanging low. "And I thought you were my sister, Marin. But I don't even know you anymore."
Elicia then stood up and leapt into the arena while Marin could not help laughing at Elicia's melodrama. Then, when Elicia landed on the arena floor, Marin turned to look at Alfonzo.
"By the way, Fonzie, I've been thinking about this for a while, but..." Marin said while raising her right index finger and placing it on her chin. "Yesterday, you said something about not having material to research the God Slayer property when you beat up that guy from Sabertooth, right? But didn't you collect that from Romeo?"
"It was just a humiliation tactic." Alfonzo replied nonchalantly. "I wanted to show them exactly how little I thought of them. And making their magic seem more like research material than an actual threat seemed like a good way to do it."
Hearing that, Marin, Sun, and Brandish all nodded in understanding.
{"Oh, we have our first competitor!"} Loli shouted after noticing Elicia jump into the arena. {"And just like for yesterday's event, it's a wizard from Fairy Tail. And today, it's the Magic Seamstress, Elicia Marcus Taylor!"}
*Cheer~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
And just as expected, the crowd, most of whom owned at least one piece of clothing from the Taylor Shop, cheered loudly.
At the same time, the other guilds also started choosing their participants. From Mermaid Heel, Sui-Feng jumped into the arena with a determined expression on her face. From Lamia Scale, it was Yuka. From Quatro Cerberus, Ikkaku, looking like he really wanted a rematch, leapt into the arena. Aerith participated on behalf of Final Fantasy while Rufus took the spot for Sabertooth, and another random guy jumped in from Twilight Ogre.
As for Blue Pegasus, Ichiya was standing in front of his team and giving a peptalk before he jumped into the arena to join the other competitors.
"Don't worry, everyone." Ichiya said while making a handsome pose and smiling with arose stem held between his teeth. "I'll do my best to bring our score up. Then, the kingdom will under---- Men~~~~~~~~!"
*Bang!*
However, before he could finish, Ichiya was shoved to the side, slamming into the wall separating the Blue Pegasus' seating area from Lamia Scale's stands with great force.
"Well, we should have seen this coming." Sorano said while shaking her head. "As soon as Elicia was involved, the was no way that Karen would have been able to contain herself."
"Karen really likes Lici, huh?" Jenny asked with a smile. "They must be really good friends."
Sorano only looked at Jenny out of the corner of her eye for a moment. Then, she returned her attention back to the arena.
'That girl's cutesy act is really good.' Sorano thought to herself. 'She's just as fanatical about Alfonzo as Karen is about Elicia. But at least she's not as... fervent about her desires, though. Plus, after the last time she went to Magnolia, she doesn't act quite as much. So, I guess he had a good effect on her.'
After her thoughts reached that point, Sorano looked over to the Fairy Tail seating area. And when Alfonzo felt her gaze, he turned to look at her, too. Then, he shrugged his shoulders with a helpless expression on his face before looking back into the arena with an amused expression on his face.
'He's getting a kick out of this, huh?' Sorano thought to herself as she turned to look at Karen pestering Elicia. She then, like Alfonzo, shrugged her shoulders helplessly.
Meanwhile, in the arena...
"Please, Elicia, you really should punish me." Karen said in a serious tone. "I broke my promise to you, after all. You made me promise not to let any more of the outfits you made for me get damaged during battle, and I was unable to keep that promise."
While Karen continued trying to convince Elicia to punish her, Elicia wore an uncomfortable expression. On top of being done with Karen's solicitations to make the green haired woman her pet, she could also feel Darkness' anticipatory gaze on her, as well.
'Why do I have to go through this?' Elicia asked herself.
["You brought this on yourself because you never think through your actions."] Scylla said with no sympathy in her tone. ["Even worse, you're not into either of them. So, you can't even turn this into something kinky like you enjoy. Oh well, you'll just have to live with it."]
'*Sigh* I've never envied James and Tatsuo more than I do right now.' Elicia said to herself.
After having that thought, Elicia remembered what Alfonzo said about dealing with Karen's actions from the day before. So, she schooled her expression and looked at Karen with an air of solemnity.
"*Sigh* Karen, I'm really disappointed in you." Elicia said in a thoroughly disappointed tone. "I never thought you were the type to break promises like that. In fact, I'm so disappointed that I don't even know what to do.'
Karen's eyes widened immediately upon hearing that. Then, she lowered her head with tears welling up in her eyes.
'Seeing her like that, I kinda feel bad for her.' Elicia thought to herself, her resolve faltering for a moment.
"I'm sorry, Elicia." Karen said in a genuinely heartfelt tone. "I never meant to disappoint you. So, please, punish me for my failure."
'And it's gone.' Elicia thought to herself while her expression turned deadpan.
Luckily, Karen's focus was pulled away from her when Sui-Feng approached to say something to Elicia.
"Elicia Marcus Taylor." Sui-Feng said in a serious toen.
"Oh, hey, Sui-Feng." Elicia said with a smile. "What's up?"
"I won't lose to you again." Sui-Feng said sternly. "I'll prove that you're not stronger than Lady Yoruichi, let alone someone like me."
Sui-Feng then turned around and walked away without giving Elicia a chance to respond. And while Elicia was completely unbothered by Sui-Feng's declaration, Karen found herself quite angry.
"Just who does that midget think she is?" Karen shouted, enraged at Sui-Feng's challenge to Elicia.
{"Alright, now that the eight competitors have been decided, let me explain the rules of 'Assault Course."} Mato said, interrupting Karen's rant.