Eternia & Master Shuhei v. Waffles & Master Aegis

Waffles decided to join the tournament. It may be his solution to figure out who he was. He stood in the shadows before stepping on the bright sunlight. Beside him was a tall and stout figure. It was no doubt that it was Master Aegis. He didn't know him for a long time, but he thinks it will go pretty well. "Lucious, do you think we can win this?" He ask his gun, Lucious. Lucious can talk when he is on his 'Gun Mode'. "Trust in yourself, Master." He replied. Even Waffles doubt his own strength. Who he is about to face will be strong.

He can feel his heart beat for a moment. He can hear the crowd cheering. He handled Lucious like he is a gun. He can feel his magic power flowing through him and synchronizing just so both Lucious and Waffles can match up to the spell Waffles is about to cast, and Lucious firing the correct spell.

The time had finally come. The day of the Tournament arrived at long last. It was one of the events Aegis had been looking forward to the most. It was natural, despite everything he is still a knight, so as such one of the things he enjoyed the most was combating worthy opponents and knowing who his first foe is, a dramatic fight was guaranteed.
"Heh."
From the other side of the gate before him could be heard the cheers of hundreds, if not thousands. Actually, that must have been an understatement, for if one was to measure the scale of the unified shouts, it would sound more like millions. Quite literally, an army of people anticipating the confrontation with the judges hyping them further.

"Man, this really is going to be an absurd fight." -spoke Aegis, smirking.
It was probably the first time. The first time he ever felt this mixed thrill and fear when he wasn't going to war. It certainly was strange, no doubt about that. He could feel it, his senses sharpening, his gaze focusing itself to become a glare, his body tensing. Yet... for the first time in his life... his mind was at ease. The murderous instincts to survive were not there, the righteous drive, too. He was simply anticipating the rush of battle, but not it's consequences.
"I do admit this is refreshing."
It was almost funny. He had fought so many battles, but had never before charged into war for the sake of combat itself. A carefree war, unbound by the horrors of genocide or meaningless violence. It was simply... for fun. The thought felt so ironic that the knight couldn't help but grin.

However, his partner seemed for more troubled. Speaking of him, they had never met before. Judging by his insignia, he was a Fairy Tail mage with peculiar gun-based magic, but that's about all he knew. Realising that with a 'Hmm', the cyan knight stood up from the railing he was sitting on, utterly oblivious to the sea of people screaming around him and trying to get his autograph or hug, possibly even strangle, him. With a few light steps he approached his ally and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey" -he began saying- "Don't worry about it."
The knight flashed a light, carefree smile which caused several rows of people standing directly behind his partner to either burst out in cheers or faint.
"Do not fret. The enemy is only as scary as you let them be. You do not fear me, right? Haha, and yet I am probably about as strong as our opponent. So don't let them scare you."
As he was making his speech, every one around them suddenly grew silent. Even the fans understood that what he was saying was important, or was it that hearing such a speech for real was one of their goals? Regardless, a fitting silence instilled.
"The greatest taboo of combat is hesitation. You need to be strong and act according to what you think is right. Your judgement must not be hazy and your resolve must not waver. After all, we're in this together, are we not? I am only as strong as you are and vice-versa, so you mustn't doubt yourself. I have to be able to trust you to cover my back and you have to be able to trust me for the same reason. But even so, in the end you should be confident enough to cover your front yourself. Such a thing depends not on your power or your physical strength, it depends on your resolve and determination. Stand tall and be proud. Stare down the forces of the enemy, even if they are more powerful! It is then that you'll realise how strength is just one of the many factors in battle and it is then, that your foes will understand that despite everything, you are a worthy opponent!"
He paused for a moment and began walking towards the entrance to the arena. Reaching it, Aegis placed one hand on it and turned to face back, extending his other hand to Waffles.
"So then, partner..."
As those words echoed around the area, some people had tears roll down their faces, others were exhibiting a massive grin.

Are we gonna go kick their asses or what?

Aegis simply flashed a grin, but everyone around simply erupted in morale-lifting cheers and applause. He watched his partner intently until he walked next to him and with a slight flick of his wrist(and a but of help from a pulse of raw magic) practically blew the gate up and walked inside through the dust, his long cyan trench coat fluttering behind him.
The crowds couldn't contain themselves. Despite the fact around 80% of all female spectators were cheering for Shuhei, making Aegis partially wonder what kind of playboy image he had, there were actually quite a few cheering for the knight.
"So Recreation magic has female fans too? Hahaha, epic." -commenting casually as he slowly walked towards the centre of the arena, the knight was looking through all the posters people were flailing about. Noticing the one of himself, the cyan-haired mage raised an eyebrow and with a grin, assumed the exact same pose of the poster, recreating Serenity in his extended hand. With a lightning-fast flourish he accustomed his sense of touch to the hilt of the weapon before assuming a relaxed stance with his eyes focused forward.
The enemy stood there, Shuhei. Charging in without a plan would be suicidal, as he is a daunting foe. Knowing that, Aegis looked over his shoulder to where his partner stood and spoke.
"I'll deal with Shuhei. Whatever you do, do not pull his murderous intent on yourself in the beginning. Distract his ally for long enough for me to trade a few blows with him, then I want you to do whatever you can to annoy Shuhei without getting yourself killed by his partner. If it works, he'll probably try to eliminate you to prevent further hindrance. That's what I want. I know it's a highly risky tactic, but if the fight gets prolonged to that extent I'm willing to attempt it. If you are too, you'll know when to do it. If not, then it's alright, I have back-up plans too, haha. But it'd be friggin' awesome if he loses because of such a mistake, and I'd love to gauge his combat experience."
Smirking one more time, he turned to face Shuhei, who stood far enough to not hear what he was saying.
Oh, and one last thing. If you're going to be doing dangerous things like that, try to be within around 20 metres of me. So now that the boring part's done with...
The cyan knight looked at Shuhei with a confident smile and took a reverse grip of Serenity before making a slight bow. It was an act of respect, showing Aegis acknowledges his foe's might and that he agrees to the rules of honourable combat, or at least as much as it could be allowed within a tag-team tournament. As the shouts of the crowd grew impossibly loud, Aegis' concentration grew in proportion.
"So, Master of Blue Pegasus." -The shout of the Knight of Recreation boomed with force sufficient to reach who was meant to hear it.

With doubt, he was approached by his ally, cheering him and telling him some enlightening words. Those words were inspirational. Those words struck on both Waffles and Lucious. "Tsk. Let's do this!" "Right!" both of them seemed to be inspired. Inspired by the words of the master of Saber Tooth.

"I'll deal with Shuhei. Whatever you do, do not pull his murderous intent on yourself in the beginning. Distract his ally for long enough for me to trade a few blows with him, then I want you to do whatever you can to annoy Shuhei without getting yourself killed by his partner. If it works, he'll probably try to eliminate you to prevent further hindrance. That's what I want. I know it's a highly risky tactic, but if the fight gets prolonged to that extent I'm willing to attempt it. If you are too, you'll know when to do it. If not, then it's alright, I have back-up plans too, haha. But it'd be friggin' awesome if he loses because of such a mistake, and I'd love to gauge his combat experience." The cyan knight said to him. Oh, and one last thing. If you're going to be doing dangerous things like that, try to be within around 20 metres of me. So now that the boring part's done with...

"I am able to 'annoy' them using only one spell, and I can control it whenever I want. Also, if Lucious turns into his beast form, there is nothing much I can do as he does what he wants. Also, I can't use Erementuraido as Lucious is on his beast form. So. Let's win this!" He said, facing the arena. "Hmm..." Lucious was held by Waffles and he is speechless. Waffles and the cyan haired knight might have a great time.

Meanwhile, his left eye glowed bright red. It didn't hurt much. It gave him a relieving feeling, as well as it provided him a memory, although he didn't cast a spell yet. The memory retrieved was when he was at the arena with his ally at the Polar Kingdom. They are on a tournament, and he gave his ally inspiring words as well so that they might win. However, he thought it was just what he thought, or at least, he was recovering. Bits by bits, his memory is slowly recovering. After a moment, his left eye turned to normal.

OOC: Some kind of announcement or mass PM would have been awesome for letting us know this started >_>

IC:
last but by far not the least, the White Wizard Shuhei stepped out from the archway leading in to the Arena.  The sound of the thunderous cheers grew even louder as he made his appearance and it hit Shuhei like a tidal wave.  For a moment he stood in awe.  Beautiful women were cheering his name and others were holding up signs and posters with his name and image.  He smiled, and raised his hands to the heavens embracing their cheers, which then became even louder as he acknowledged them.  The overwhelming thrill and adrenaline he felt from the audience seemed overpowering and made him feel far more superior to what he was before that moment.  He basked in his glory and wondered, how long he would be able to milk this before they had to actually start fighting.  Waving and laughing, he slowly walked towards the center of the arena, drawing their cheers for as long as he could.  He stopped and stood next to his comrade Eternia, someone with whom he felt lucky to be paired with, and turned to face the audience behind him and waved.  "This is quite something isn't it?"  He asked his partner before turning himself around to face his opponents who stood several meters from them and stared them down with an expression that boasted confidence.

Just then, he noticed his adversary Aegis speaking to his partner with whom Shuhei believed he had no prior relationship.  If Shuhei had to guess, he would assume he was giving his partner some advice for the fight.  Shuhei's eagle eyes zoomed in on the Knights lips and read their movements, a feat only a few mages were capable of and a skill which Shuhei preferred to keep secret.  "So that's how it is huh?"  He said under his breath.  He crossed his arms, focusing on the two in front of him, observing them carefully.  "Eternia, keep your distance from them both and watch my back.  I hear this guy is pretty honorable, so we'll be putting that to the test."  Shuhei grinned.  Though honor was something he himself held dear, he wasn't beyond exploiting his opponents weaknesses.  He raised his arm, pointing his index finger to the sky and extending his thumb and as if he were inhaling an enormous amount of air, he gorged himself on the light of the sun which shown down brilliantly over the arena.  Refreshed and revitalized, Shuhei roared loudly.

FIGHT!!!

Heero declared, officially starting the match. There in the arena stood 4 mages, preparing to battle. Waffles and Lucious themselves prepared, as their bullets will either change the tides of battle or not. He gripped Lucious and pulled multiple triggers, shooting many times while aiming below the female. "DANCE, PUNY!!! DANCE!!!" Multiple ice bullets being shot straight below his enemy, Eternia. Each bullet when fired at the ground shattered, causing it to glow below the shining sun. It illuminated, and creating a very bright thing, but it only took moments to glow, until the shards melts.

He has no intentions of hurting her at first. Think of it as a warm up. The bullets are perfectly harmless, but he doesn't want his opponent to know it.

He watched as he saw his opponent, Eternia, black clouds above him [color=#33ffff]What kind of sorcery is this?[/color] he thought to himself. He knew that it would be an offensive spell that his opponent is conjuring. He channeled the magic power from Lucious, and verbally casted a spell without being heard by his opponent. "Apurōchi o ridairekuto - erementaru kotowaza - hanekaeru" He conjured a sky blue magic circle in front of him, and went through it. He disappeared, and the magic circle was closed.


The two clouds collided, and caused a bolt of lightning to call forth to when Waffles were standing. In fact, the spell failed. Meanwhile, Waffles moved the magic circle behind Eternia without being noticed, coming out from the magic circle. He aimed the gun towards Eternia, and herby casted another spell. "Brr... it's so cold! Now... Kotai to ekitai - erementarureido - sutoringusu!" A magic circle appeared in front of him. As he pulled the trigger, strings comes forth from the magic circle. Eventually, it may bind Eternia. If she dodges, Waffles can manage to move the strings towards her. He is ready to move the magic circle below Eternia to make her forcefully transport towards Master Aegis.

Magic Power: 80/100 (Used 2 D-Ranks)
Chill (Self): 2 posts remaining
Cooldown of Strings - 3 posts remaining
Duration of Ricochet - 3 posts remaining
Cooldown of Ricochet - 3 posts remaining

Surprisingly enough, it was the midget to Aegis' left who made the first move, swiftly throwing his gun forward and firing several shots toward Eternia's feet.  Shuhei watched the kids movements closely and acknowledged the guns angle in the boys hand and predicted where the shots would land.  He swiftly kicked off the ground with his left foot and with precision and grace he pivoted on his right.  His silk robe fluttered beautifully as he placed himself directly in front of his partner as she began to cast her tremendously thunderous spell.  The bullets burst directly in front of the White Dragon Slayer, releasing refractions of light which Shuhei gladly partook of.  He sucked up the light and felt the magical power flow through him until the ice reverted to water again.  From his experience with spells that refracted light, Shuhei assessed the level of magical essence within midgets spells and came to the conclusion that there was no danger from those shots.  "Lets teach them that we're not to be toyed with, Eternia."  Shuhei stated as the crowd roared around them.  

Shuhei's legs slid apart slightly and his arms were thrown forward, slapping together.  Slowly he began to separate his palms while maintaining contact with his fingertips.  Between his palms a brilliant sphere of white light began to radiate so brightly it colored the stadium white, and just as Eternia's bolt of lightning erupted from the clouds above the dwarfish mage, Shuhei completely separated his hands and swung his arms back releasing the light from the orb, all together an action that took less than two seconds.  The light fired in multiple rays which fired off in two dozen different directions, all of which arced towards the miniature mage to converge upon him from all directions and would strike a mere half second after the bolt of lightning. Upon firing the spell, Shuhei sucked up as much light as he could from the sun, replenishing the energy he had wasted casting his spell.  The spells were both flashy and apparently crowd pleasing.  The earth trembling cheer of the crowd made Shuhei's heart beat faster and filled him with a sense of vigor and enthusiasm.  He had never truly realized this about himself, but apparently he was a show off.  

Holy Ray: -5% Magic
Devoured Sunlight: +5% Magic
Magic Remaining: 100%

As Aegis spoke the final words to his partner he was looking forward, towards his opponent. Thanks to that, the knight managed to notice Shuhei's focused stare directed at his face. Moments after, the Light Dragon Slayer crossed his arms in with what seemed to be a slightly dissatisfied expression and turned to talk to his partner.
"Hm."
That fact didn't sit well with Aegis. It was just too strange. Intent stare, followed with dissatisfaction just as the cyan-haired mage spoke his plan to Waffles, it was all just too much of a coincidence and his guts were telling him there was more to it that meets the eye.
'The eye, huh.'
An intent stare, aimed at the knight's face. What followed was a reaction to the words Aegis spoke, something which would only occur should Shuhei know them. Hearing them was out of the question. The only other sense that could possibly uncover the same information would be sight, provided his gaze was locked upon Aegis' lips.
'A factor which was present, it seems.'
With those thoughts in mind, the knight had sufficient reasons to suspect Shuhei's sight is outstandingly good, so much so that he could lip read from over 10 metres away flawlessly. No true proof was present, but he felt his opponent's body language and actions were enough to safely conclude such a thing. Understanding that his foe would hold many trump cards, Aegis took advantage of the last moments before the fight started and activated Origin Perception EX as he glared at his enemy, peering into his existence.
'So that's what you can do.' -he thought- 'It's good I chose to perceive you.'

The moment the fight was officially started, Waffles had begun doing one of possibly the stupidest things a weaker person would do when faced with his stronger opponents, meaning that he was either incredibly inexperienced in combat or a tactical genius. Regardless of which case it was, he gave Aegis exactly what he needed. Time to make a heavy gamble.

His move was entirely based on foresight and anticipation. For this fight, his only chance of overwhelming his opponent is through those abilities alone, as he should prove better or on par with him in other paragraphs. Aegis, through Origin Perception, understood that on Shuhei's list of priorities, winning comes before honour. The knight also knew that he was rather famous for his "heroism", more specifically his choice to always protect others and disregarding his own safety. Those two thoughts in mind, Aegis did not forget that before the fight, he signalled his foe that he wishes to fight honourably. Those facts put together imply that Shuhei would aim to abuse the cyan-eyed swordsman's honourable spirit to tie his hands and defeat him more easily.
Only one way to do that at the time. Aim at Waffles.
Adding to that the fact Aegis' team mate was practically taunting both dragon slayers and it was clear that the likeliness of him getting targeted first was very high.
Something else derived through from Origin Perception was a bit about Shuhei's personality. He appeared to enjoy showing off, implying he may chose to use a slower, but flashier attack against Waffles.

Aegis understood that if all that was to be true, then the scenario was such that he was left completely unchecked for some seconds while his target was absolutely covered in openings and the knight only ever needed one. It was a great gamble, for if his predictions were off, he might very well end up jumping face first into a spell he can't avoid and suffer severe damage. Furthermore, there was a high probability of Waffles being hit in both cases.
But that was also his advantage.
Shuhei would not expect Aegis to abandon his ally to fate and jump in for the kill, or at least so he hoped.

As Waffles fired his deliberately off-set shots, Shuhei jumped in front of Eternia, apparently his attention focused on the gunner. As that was happening, Aegis turned so that his left shoulder faced the enemy and tensed up his previously relaxed posture, beginning to assume a lowered stance with his head tilted towards the space between his arms, which in turn were raised to shoulder level. It was a traditional offensive stance used often by many swordsmen... but Aegis had an entirely different purpose for it. He had tilted his head forward while raising his arms because he wanted to have the lower half of his face hidden by his arm and shoulder. The reason was quite simple.
"Spellrend..." -was the word he spoke in a low voice and the word he did not want his opponent to hear or see, because that single word was the only thing that gave away the difference between the general stance and Aegis' version, which was less a sword fighting stance and more a preparation for a spell. Just as Shuhei began the motion for the spell, the knight had finished the preparations for the one he was going to make. When the White Dragon Slayer lashed his hands forth, wanting to clap them, Aegis used Linkstep to transport himself right next to him. The very instant he materialised in his desired location, he executed the second part of the spell. Kicking off from the ground and unleashing the stored power in them at the same time, thus launching himself forward at speeds so great he left behind after images as he flew through the air. It was a point-blank execution of the spell and technique known as "Spellrend Drive". Aegis did not want to take any chances with this attack, the opening he was shown was just too great to allow such a thing. Not only were both Shuhei and Eternia open to attack, but they were aligned perfectly, meaning they could both be struck with a single swing.  Furthermore, the Storm Slayer's line of sight was blocked by her partner to a large extent, so the time for reaction she had was even less.

The whole offence and quite possibly the outcome of the fight pivoted on that one attack Aegis made, his first one. For that reason, he made sure to counter Shuhei's reflexes which are almost as fast as light itself by moving not simply fast, as fast as actual light. Even if that was a feat the White Slayer was capable of himself, his reaction time shouldn't be as quick, since despite having his reaction time greatly reduced as a side-effect of his magic, reaction time depends on the brain's processing speed, the speed at which it's "commands" reach the body's muscles and the speed at which the muscle fiber contracts. None of those are executed via or effected by light in any way, so it should not be possible to accelerate them to such speeds, not to mention physical matter's inability to move as fast as light.
That was what Aegis was relying on to make his attack work, so he was, deep within hoping that his foe could not defy the laws of the world like a god and somehow evade, especially considering his awkward at the time stance.

As the cyan knight flew past both his enemies, he dug his heels into the ground about 5 metres behind Eternia and used them to pivot around.
"...Drive!"
At that point Aegis destroyed Serenity and occupied his free hands with Kanshou & Bakuya, immediately executing Hiken: Shards of Reality in the direction of his foes, but reducing it's range so that it ends just before hitting Waffles if he still stood where he was initially. That action had several purposes. The first one was to attempt to eliminate Eternia right from the start, the second was to try to deal massive damage to the, hopefully, deabilitated Shuhei and the third and final purpose was to protect Waffles in case there were any spells flying towards him. Basically, instead of trying to defend him through defensive spells and abilities, Aegis wanted to try and actually overpower and destroy any spells that might be flying towards him with one of his strongest ones.

---

It was the end of Round 1. Master Aegis prevented Waffles from being harmed with Shuhei's spells. He don't want his comrades to defend him, but still, it can't be prevented. He didn't want to lose either. Waffles is in danger with Eternia's spell, but it can be averted using one spell. He can use this for transport. If only he can redirect the spell towards the opponent, but alas, the spell is too strong for his spell to handle. "Apurōchi o ridairekuto - erementaru kotowaza - hanekaeru!" He chanted, raising his hand. A sky blue magic circle appears below him, and in time, he sinks on it. He closed the magic circle and opens another one behind Eternia without being notice. The spell hit the ground, luckily. He stepped out from the magic circle, and moved it below Eternia, raising his hand, and as he raised his hand, the magic circle rose from the ground. It swallowed Eternia and he used this for 'Forced Transport'. If it was done succesfully, he will move the magic circle high, and ejecting Eternia.

If he fails to 'Force Transport' Eternia, then he can still move the magic circle until he successfully 'Force Transport' her.

Although, he will be hit by 'Shards of Reality.' His plan was to send Eternia high in mid-air, and make her think that she is safe. However, he will 'Force Transport' her again in front of him, and transport back beside Master Aegis. That way, he won't be able to be hit by 'Shards of Reality.' If Eternia was in mid-air, he will execute this plan immediately.

Redirect Approach - Elemental Proverb - Ricochet: 2 Post Cooldown
Redirect Approach - Elemental Proverb - Ricochet: 2 Post Duration
Chill (Self) - 2 Posts

(OOC: Correction - I never swapped places with Eternia. I was far away and behind Eternia. The magic circle would be large enough, like 5-10 meter radius, and if I was standing there, I would sink in my own Magic Circle. Technically, I'm in a safe distance. But since everyone said I swapped places with Eternia, I edited my post and also I forgot something to put. I was just reminded by myself.)