The Three Dark Angels

The number eight seed, Kreiger Solomon, heir to one of the most revered families among the Magi, was the next big drawing. He, along with Zaeco who belonged to the even more revered Gregor family, were the celebrities of the class. Kreiger Solomon, however, easily stood out in a crowd with his snow white hair which was almost always standing up, and his bright blue eyes glowed with wisdom and maturity that surprise many who first meet him.

Most people would expect him to be a kind of spoiled brat who had everything handed to him. And while Kreiger did have that option, he refused it as he started growing up, finding more values in obtaining things that he himself earned with his own hard work rather than all of it being given to him. Just what pride could he possible have in himself if everything was handed to him neatly on a silver platter?

That was why he had chosen the Dragoons when his time had come. He wanted to prove to everyone, and most importantly himself, that he deserved to be looked on with respect, respect that he had earned, respect that wasn't given to him because of his family name.

Sure, someday he would inherit the Solomon family completely, and he would take on those responsibilities at that time. But when that day came, Kreiger will be ready for it, and he will, in his own way, have earned it. Kreiger drew the number thirty.

Scorpia Lexicon, the number six seed, was the next significant drawing. Scorpia is known as one of the most pushy and stubborn individuals in the class, though different from Angelus in the fact that she can admit when she is wrong. Growing up, however, she had to learn to be stubborn and strong, being born into a poor family, forcing her to learn to fend for herself very early on in her life. Thankfully, regardless of a bit of bad family history, Scorpia finally managed to step out of that now that she had become a Dragoon, and had now arranged it so that she was the biggest support of her remaining family, her mother and two younger sisters.

Although the bastard father ran out years ago, abandoning his family for his addictions, the eldest child, Scorpia's older brother Chris, had been supporting the family as best as he could since their mother had fallen into the same addictions as their father, and Chris took the burden of both trying to support the family, as well as clean his mother up. He too, had joined the Dragoons when his summons had come, but he had met his end two years ago on the other side of the Desert in his first battle. And now, it was Scorpia's turn.

At least the Dragoons supported the families well, especially in the event of a loss of life, and hopefully, should something happen to herself, neither of her little sisters should have to go through this. That is, if the war is over when that time comes, which, compared to the fact that this war has been going on for ten years now, makes Rachel's remaining two years before her eligibility seem like so little time. Scorpia has prayed to everything for many nights that Rachel or Crystal never be put into this kind of situation. Scorpia herself had already prepared for the worst, and was not expecting to survive during her time as a Dragoon, and had already dreamed of being buried in the same robe that she was currently wearing.

However, that future has not been written yet, and it was a fate that Scorpia would fight to the very end. There was just too much at stake. She had to fight both the Techs and death itself if she was to bring a better tomorrow for her sisters. And for her, it truly started here, tonight. This was a chance to make her family name known and respected.

Her strawberry blonde hair flowed freely to her collarbones, and she kept her bright green eyes raised high as she took her turn, drawing the number twenty four.

It had been strangely noted as the drawings went on that almost none of the top ten seeds would face each other in either the first or the second round, having been divided almost perfectly. Almost.

Wartron's drawing would draw the most attention, and cause the greatest disruption of the betting pools. He smiled as soon as he saw the number he had drawn, but managed to contain his excitement, and his smile was gone when he showed his number to Master Rubadron. Looks like fate as smiled upon him after all.

"Graduate Wartron has drawn the number two!" Master Rubadron shouted, to the shock of the crowd.

Nearly everyone who heard that paused as the realization dawned that seeds one and two, Aegis and Wartron respectively, would be fighting in the first round.

"Woah...you and Wartron in the first round? That's tough." Azreal told Aegis.

"Heh, I'd kick his ass." Angelus said with a confident smile as he crossed his arms.

"I wasn't asking you."

"I'm just calling it as I see it. I don't know about Aegis, but I'd probably beat him."

Azreal rolled his eyes. "Hothead." He uttered, shaking his head.

Angelus' eye twitched and glared at Azreal.

Once Wartron was off stage, he made a direct beeline to Aegis, who met his gaze. Once he was before Aegis, Wartron held out his hand.

"Whatever happens, I'll have no ill feelings. I only ask that you give it your all, and may the best win." Wartron offered, though he was all business.

Aegis shook the offered hand. "Agreed." Aegis replied, and Wartron walked away to rejoin his parents.

"That guy man...something about him just irks me." Angelus commented, shaking his head slightly.

"He's just a guy who takes life very seriously, like Aegis here." Azreal said, gesturing to Aegis with a thumb.

"It's not that, it's just the way he presents himself somehow. He doesn't say it, but I'm sure that somewhere, he's so fucking full of himself that he'll pop someday. I'd bet money right now that during that handshake, he was thinking something along the lines of 'I'm gonna put this motherfucker into the ground for sure cause I'm better than him'. That's almost always what I feel whenever that guy speaks to anyone."

"Dude...you need to chill. You're reading into him way too much. He's just a guy who enjoys being serious all the time. If he was like what you said, then he wouldn't have bothered to come over here with the handshake. He's just a guy who is always focused on something, and doesn't bother with what he considers bullshit, that's all. He doesn't really mean to be rude, but it is true that he can come off as such. The point is that he isn't rude or full of himself, he's just a less extreme version of Aegis, one that has something resembling a life." Azreal retorted.

"Zaeco's next." Aegis cut in, causing both Azreal and Angelus to turn their heads back to the stage.

"Graduate Zaeco has drawn the number seventeen!" Master Rubadron announced.

Angelus read the brackets of a nearby board, which an individual has been filling in as the drawings went on, and Angelus began to smile which quickly got wider and wider.

"He's in my bracket, and if he gets that far, I'll be seeing him in the third round. I'm going to enjoy that very much." Angelus said with a wide and evil grin.

"Don't forget that you have to get that far too." Aegis commented.

Angelus' head snapped to Aegis, his smile instantly vanishing. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, dick."

"I didn't say that you couldn't get that far, I'm saying that you still have to get that far. You still have to win your two fights first before you can think about fighting Zaeco."

"Whatever. Who am I up against first anyway...?"

"Haven't you been paying attention at all?" Azreal asked.

"No." Angelus replied. "Hmm, Peter? Shouldn't be too difficult."

"I think he'll give you a tougher time than you think. He can adept to situations better than you can, and is certainly capable of beating you if you let him."

"Bah, I won't give him the chance. I'll take him out as quickly as I can and move on, and save all of my best moves for the open fields."

Aegis cracked a smile. "Unexpected, I didn't think you would have any strategy for this, and you were just planning to muscle your way through. Maybe you did grow up a little after all."

"Why the fuck do you have to be such a dick?"

"Because it's still funny. And we still have to pay you back for putting both of us through all of the bullshit we're going to deal with after the Tournament since your dumbass just had to go pick a fight with Zaeco." Azreal answered.

"I thought we weren't talking about that." Angelus grumbled.

"I don't think Master Phoenix will mind if we harass you on that subject."

"That's it, I'm going. What ring am I at anyway? Ring...twelve let's do it!" Angelus said as he walked off.

As he walked, he could hear Master Rubadron speaking, who had just dismissed the final member of the class.

"Graduates! It is time to take your places in the rings, and show those who have gathered here today that they can have pride in those who shall be their shields and their swords, leading from the front!"

Unfortunately for Angelus and others, the rings were not very easy to walk to, for there was a constantly moving human maze that Angelus had to navigate through for five to ten minutes before he finally arrived at his ring. He saw that Peter was already there, and Angelus climbed up on the ring, and it was here that he truly noticed for the first time just how many people were there.

Almost nowhere within sight could he actually see the ground at all, which was being blocked by the mass crowds that were gathered around the rings. Sure, there were the guards and judges that were also scattered around the ring, but, they seemed like a single meager ant when compared to the mass that surrounded them. Angelus didn't even think that this many people existed in the entire world, and yet, so many were gathered here.

In the overall picture, though, they didn't matter. Angelus caught some comments, with many hoping that he will win, and had even caught a few shouts for him to lose. Again though, it didn't matter. Angelus planned to win, and he didn't care who was in the way or who wanted him to win or lose. So instead, he locked his eyes on Peter, ignoring the rest of the world that was present.



Azreal couldn't help but take a moment to enjoy the attention he was getting as he stood in the ring. He was smiling as his eyes scanned the masses around the ring, but when he saw Barka climb into the ring, he watched as Barka shrank slightly at all of the people around him as though they were going to attack him all at once.

'Well, being in the spotlight is tough for a lot of people, especially Barka. This kind of thing is definitely not him, and he's probably not alone.' Azreal thought to himself, feeling slightly bad for Barka.

"Yo, Barka!" Azreal called out to Barka as he approached, slightly startling Barka out of his scanning.

"Just relax man." Azreal said, placing both of his hands on Barka's shoulders. "Just focus on what we're going to be doing here, okay?"

"I-I'm trying, but...we have to wait until the signal. And I can't help but notice all of these people staring at me. And to make it worse, I just know this is going to go really bad for me." Barka replied in a shaky voice.

"But you're here, right? That's something to be proud of, you could have just as easily run away or give up, but you didn't. The fact that you're standing here right now in this ring wearing that robe is something that not a lot of people can compare to. You're a Dragoon, regardless of what happens here. Just try to keep your head held high, okay?"

"Yeah but...you're so much better than I am, I probably don't even have a chance of touching you. And don't say otherwise, I know my limits." Barka admitted.

Azreal sighed. "How about this? How about I play defensive? I won't attack you or anything, I'll just defend myself, and you try to beat me, okay?"

"Y-you'll do that?" Barka asked.

Azreal shrugged. "Sure, for a little while. To be honest, if I get beat here in the first round, then I don't have to fight any more fights. But, I won't wait forever. If you take too long, I'll fight back. But for a little while I'll give you a breather, deal?" Azreal asked, offering his hand.

"Thanks." Barka said with a smile, shaking Azreal's hand.

"Cool. And I'll give you the heads up before I start fighting back."

"Thanks." Barka repeated.

'Poor Barka.' Azreal thought to himself. While he did admit that he wouldn't mind throwing a fight to avoid moving on and fighting more fights, the embarrassment that he would suffer if he lost to Barka was even worse. No way was Azreal going to let that happen.

But he did see that Barka visibly relaxed, so, mission accomplished. Azreal's eyes returned to the crowd as they waited, conducting a brand new scan. He was sure he'd find plenty of fuckables that he could try to pick up once all of this was over. After all, Azreal had to make up for last night's loss, and he knew there were plenty of easy pick ups around here, having done that very thing every year at the New Years.

So far, his current record was only one miss, the year that Danica and he had split. Other than that, every year, he has come away from a New Years with a woman, and he needed to make sure that he didn't break his record, especially since he was fighting tonight.

This was a once in a lifetime chance for him to be able to land so many more than what is normally outside of his scope. Perhaps the only time in his life where he could just line all of the women up, and pick any one, or maybe even two, that he wanted.

Azreal grinned. Now that he thought about it, he should most definitely aim for a threesome. As he scanned the masses around the rings, he figured there would be at least two that would be up for it in this crowd. Especially once all of their drinks were in them.

Azreal's scans were interrupted by the quieting of the crowds by the Dragoons and Conscripts which took several minutes, which was followed the booming voice of the Grand Dragoon, who was now on stage along with several full drum sets on stage, including two very large drums.

"And now, let the two thousand and thirty first year of the Magi come to a successful close, and let us celebrate the coming of the two thousand and thirty second year of the Magi!"

On cue, the drummers began, and with the silence of the crowd, the drums echoed loudly into the open night. This was the trigger for the giant circle of Conscripts that were far outside the circle of crowds outside the rings to light their fireworks to signal the beginning of the matches.

The drum plays were short, and stopped almost in perfect sync with the fireworks as they began exploding, acting as the bells for all Graduates to begin their matches.

Though there were crowds that were watching every single match, none got more attention than ring number one, where the number one seed Aegis was fighting the number two seed Wartron, which got off to an extremely fast start.

Upon the first crack, Wartron raised his fists and charged at Aegis, but instead of a punch, Wartron spun for kick to Aegis' chest with his right foot. Aegis caught the foot at his chest, gripping it firmly as he lifted Wartron's foot and turned to throw Wartron out of the ring, only to be forced to release Wartron when he quickly retaliated with his left foot which struck Aegis' shoulder.

Wartron sprang up to his feet as quickly as he had fallen to the ground only to find Aegis directly in front of him. Wartron barely avoided the right hook aiming for his face, only for his feet to get swept by Aegis' right leg, who followed with a kick with his left foot.

Wartron brought his arms up in time to block the kick, but it was a futile effort, for Aegis had hit him with enough force to knock Wartron out of the ring, who had not realized how close to the edge they had gotten during their brief but intense scuffle.

Wartron blinked in surprise as it dawned on him that just like that, the fight was over.

Wartron looked up to the ring and saw that one of the judges had joined Aegis in the ring, declaring him the winner as he held Aegis' hand high, to the cheers and boos of the crowd that had been watching.

Wartron growled in frustration, and he gripped his fists tightly as his eyes lowered, but he accepted that Aegis had bested him here with some impressive moves and a good sense of awareness.

Wartron raised his head as he heard footsteps next to him, and found Aegis standing there, offering him a hand. Wartron took it and stood with Aegis' help, and gave Aegis' hand a good shake.

"No hard feelings, and congratulations. You were number one after all." Wartron said as he turned and departed to continue the night as a spectator.

Aegis gave Wartron a silent moment of respect as he watched Wartron depart before moving on to watch Angelus' fight at ring twelve. However, the fight was over when Aegis got there, and Angelus had just gotten out of the ring after being declared the winner when he spotted Aegis.

"Yo! How did your fight go?" Angelus called out to Aegis with a single wave.

"I won." Aegis said as he approached Angelus.

"No shit? You know, I feel like your fight should still be going, how did it end so quickly?"

Aegis shrugged. "It happens."

Angelus raised an eyebrow, then shook his head. "Never mind, that's probably all I'll get out of you. Let's go check out Azreal, he should be finished with his fight by now since he's up against Barka."

Azreal's fight, however, was still dragging when Aegis and Angelus had arrived to watch.

Azreal was wiping his chin with his fist. "Damn Barka, that was a good shot. I told you that you still got fight in you yet." He said to Barka, who was on his hands and knees, breathing heavily.

While it was true that Barka got a good clean shot at Azreal's jaw, Azreal had kneed Barka in the gut in retaliation. (Azreal had called of the deal just a few moments ago.)

Barka rose to his feet once more, though based on how long it had taken him to do so, it would be his last time.

"I gotta give you this Barka, you fought pretty well, with some good moves. I told you that it wouldn't be that bad, didn't I?" Azreal asked Barka, who nodded.

"Yeah, but you've still beaten me." Barka admitted.

Azreal shrugged. "Don't worry about it, you'll get better as time goes on. It's like they say, now you've got something to aim for. Alright, once last time. You ready?" Azreal asked.

Barka nodded, his face serious. "Yeah, let's do it."

Azreal ran at Barka, who threw one last punch at Azreal, only to miss and get knocked out of the ring by Azreal, who threw a small streak of successive hits.

Even if his victory was over Barka, Azreal still cheered for his victory once Barka had landed outside the ring, soaking in the attention he was getting as he was joined by one of the judges to officially declare him the winner to the cheers of the crowd.

Aegis and Angelus approached Azreal as he jumped out of the ring.

"Hey guys, you win?" Azreal asked.

"Yeah, Peter was out in seconds, and as for Aegis...he didn't explain it to me."

"It was brief, but intense. I happened to make the right move at the right time." Aegis explained.

Azreal stretched. "Well, I better get my fat ass ready to sit down for a while. Not only did I finish the fight early, but now I gotta sit out a few rounds. You know what? I definitely have enough time for a little fun before the next round-" Azreal drifted with a grin.

"You stop right there Azreal. Just because Angelus is the one who got us into trouble doesn't mean that you can't make things worse. The last thing we need is someone catching you with your pants down."

"Ha, ha, ha Aegis. That was lame."