The Three Dark Angels

"I wasn't being funny, I was being quite literal, especially since it wouldn't be the first time."

Now it was Azreal who grumbled. "Cock blocking bitch."

"You have no right to complain to begin with, since you got the lucky draw and got the Element of Chaos fight. On top of that, your first opponent is Barka. You don't deserve any sympathy."

Azreal grumbled a little more, but no audible words came from his mouth.



The remaining fights that had hit the time limit had ended in the same way they had begun, with fireworks cracking in the sky. Of the top ten, with the exception of Wartron, all others had made it to the second round, where this time, none of the top ten were pitted against each other. To most, the second round was a slew of boring fights, and all were waiting for the third round. And, to the excitement of all, all of the top ten seeds (aside from Wartron, who had lost in the first round) had made it to the third round.

The third round was perhaps one of the best rounds in Graduate Tournament history. In ring one, the number one seed, Aegis, was going up against Haschel, the number nine seed. Ring two was playing host to the number ten seed, Johannas, and the number seven seed, Fortuna.

Ring three had the most interesting fight by far, for a number of different reasons. For those on the outside, it was the closest match of all of the fights in the third round. For those who knew the two fighting, they knew that this had a very large potential of going bad very quickly, for the number four seed Zaeco was going up against the number five seed, Hothead, Angelus. Many, especially Dragoons, were going to keep a close eye on this particular fight.

Ring four also had a close match, for the number six seed, Scorpia, was going up against the number eight seed, Krieger.

And lastly, the least interesting match, though by no means something to be completely ignored, was the number three seed, Beasly, who was fighting the number thirteen seed in the semifinals of the Element of Chaos division. Azreal, the number eleventh seed, would fight the winner of this fight in the finals to determine the winner of the Element of Chaos division, and go on to the true semifinals.

Angelus cracked his knuckles as soon as he found out that he and Zaeco would be fighting, as he had expected from the start. "I'm sooo going to enjoy this." Angelus said with an evil grin.

"You'd better play it cool Angelus. Not only are you going to owe me fifty money if you fuck up, but our lives will be even more miserable than it already potentially is." Azreal warned.

"Oh for...would you relax? Actually, I've thought about it, and figured that it would be better to do as little as possible to win this fight."

Azreal blinked, and even Aegis gave Angelus a slightly perplexed look.

"Here's the way I figure it, if we fight an even battle and I come out on top, then that means that he would be considered at my level, and the thought of that pisses me off. But, if I just do as little as possible and just knock him out with one blow or something, then he'll be that much more humiliated. And perhaps, most of all, I can't get in trouble for doing something like that because, hey, strange things happens in fights, especially if I get a clean hit right to his face." Angelus explained.

Aegis raised an eyebrow. "That's...surprisingly well thought out. Congratulations Angelus, you used your brain, and by doing so you will stick by the rules and still get what you want. Now, after all of these years of not using it, how hard was that to do?"

"You're such a dick!"



"This 'Angelus' you are about to fight, he is the one you are having trouble with yes?" Governor Gregor asked his son, Zaeco.

Governor Tiberius Gregor was a very tall, large, and rather mean looking man to most, representing the current epitome of the Gregor family. His black hair was kept straight, shiny, and neatly combed back. His hard green eyes always somehow seemed to narrow in disapproval regardless of his mood, nor does the naturally angry frown ever seem to fade away, along with the natural echo of a sneer in his voice.

Yet, somehow, he could sweet talk to almost anyone who was important that he wanted, for Tiberius discovered that people were easier to control when they are in awe of you rather than in fear, and his sweet words make people safe and in awe of such a large and prestigious Magi as himself. It was this and many other, somewhat darker traits that allowed him to rise to become the Governor of the capitol of the Magi world, Skytown. Such details, however, were not important.

"I'm not having trouble with him father! He is just a rat whose very existence pisses me off!" Zaeco replied indignantly. He refused to allow anyone to compare that rat to himself as though they were equals.

"Your reaction says otherwise. A rat he may be, but what is more important tonight is that you do not embarrass me. Do you understand? You are free to put him in his place, but only if you abide by the rules. If you get disqualified because you let a rat get into your head, I promise my son, you will answer for it."

Zaeco's head sank. "Yes father."

"Remember this as well, there will be a great reward if you win. Prove to everyone here that our bloodline is the strongest by soundly beating the competition. You are a representative of the Gregor family, after all. Prove that they were wrong to not place you on the top of the list, though they were correct in putting the heir of the Solomon family below you."

Zaeco did smile at that. Although he and Solomon had been from rival families, the two mainly avoided each other during their time as Candidates, and only spoke when they had to. Though, when times of competition came on during the training, they carefully monitored each other, and Zaeco walked away with plenty of smiles. He had soundly beat Kreiger during their time as Candidates.

"Still, it's frustrating that they would put a bunch of nobodies above me. It doesn't matter though. You're right father, I should prove them all wrong by winning." Zaeco finished with a smile as he turned to face the direction of his ring.

Tiberius smiled. "Good. Now go, and do enjoy your sweet revenge, just don't overdo it."

"Yes father, I understand." Zaeco said as he began walking off to his fight with Angelus, a fight he was very much looking forward to since the first day he had met the NoName rat.



It had been a tough first day for the Candidates, as they had been marched out here together to the training grounds, followed by paperwork and getting settled in. That was no reason, however, for any of the Instructors to let up. Once all of the Candidates were present at sunrise, the Instructors emerged, and the orders, shouting, and beatings began. Even Zaeco himself had to take a punch in the gut for apparently giving one of the Instructors a 'dirty' look during the initial few moments of their arrival.

While Zaeco may not like his situation, he did understand it. During his time here, he understood that his family name would mean nothing, and that he was going to suffer a brutal regiment. He himself had chosen this path, regardless of the fact that his father could protect him from the Declaration.

Zaeco strove to outshine his father, the Governor of Skytown, and becoming a hero in the Dragoons certainly would do the trick. He was a Gregor, and proud and strong family, surely his strength would shine on the battlefield against the Weak-Bloods.

And so, he made sure to keep himself in line, put on his mask, and just follow orders which lasted until some time after sunset. How much time though, Zaeco wasn't quite sure, for it had been a far too busy, crazy, and painful day to bother measuring the passage of time.

At last, deep into the night, the Instructors withdrew for now, though they were carefully watching the Candidates during their 'personal' time, a period of thirty minutes for the Graduates to slowly get to know one another during their time here, after which would be bed time.

Zaeco noticed that the guy with the white hair was approaching him, and Zaeco took a guess on who he was. Since now they were officially Candidates, they are no longer know by their bloodline names, but by their ranks and individual names, since they were now a part of what in a way was by far the strongest family in the Magi world, the Dragoons.

So at the moment, Zaeco could only guess on who the guy with the white hair was, and knew he was about to find out.

"I am Kreiger Solomon, and you are Zaeco Gregor, correct?" Kreiger asked in an even tone, proving Zaeco correct at his guess.

Zaeco nodded. "Yes. What is your purpose?" Zaeco responded in an even tone. Although there wasn't any sort of outward or strong rivalry between the two families, it didn't necessarily mean that they were on friendly terms either. That meant that for now, Zaeco had to play diplomat and avoid any sort of confrontation for two reasons. One, it would cause Zaeco a lot of trouble, and two, regardless of his cold feelings towards the Solomon family, it didn't change the fact that they were a strong family, and Kreiger could potentially be just as strong as himself.

"I don't expect us to get along, so I'll simply ask that we stay out of each other's way. No comments, no rubbing it in each other's faces during competitive moments, nothing. We simply acknowledge that we exist, and keep to ourselves. Agreed?" Kreiger asked, offering a hand, which Zaeco took.

"What the fuck are you two, world leaders? 'We of the Solomon family, hereby wish to avoid you, the Gregor family, from here unto this day.' So fucking retarded." A mocking voice suddenly cut in, causing both Zaeco and Kreiger to turn in the individual's direction with wide and angry eyes as the voice continued.

"Seriously, people who try to act high and mighty just because of their names are just plain fucking retarded. Names don't mean shit in the end." And Zaeco saw the fucking asshole who was about to get smashed into the dirt, some fucking NoName rat loser with red hair.

Zaeco immediately marched over in the jackass' direction, who was accompanied by Solomon. The arrogant fuck face, however, instead of backing down, rose to the challenge with a smile. This fucking jerk off rat was about to get a major lesson in reality.

"Awesome, time for a chance to show you that your names mean dick." The rat responded, followed by cracking his knuckles. This guy was so dead, whatever he was.

Unfortunately, it was not meant to be, for the Instructors immediately barged in, and began punishing Zaeco, Kreiger, and the rat. From that moment on, Zaeco swore an undying hatred to that rat, Angelus, and would take the first opportunity to pay him back for what he had said and what had happened.



Over the course of their time as Candidates, Zaeco had learned to hate Angelus even more, if that was possible. At almost every single chance, Angelus crossed Zaeco in multiple manners, and the two of them had constantly gotten into fights. That was why it had been so surprising when they had not fought during the final test.

But now, Zaeco thought with a smile, nothing would hold him back this time. Angelus may have gotten lucky a few times, but it was time to put an end to Angelus' lucky streaks and put him in his place, at Zaeco's feet.

Zaeco saw that Angelus was already in the ring, ready to go, and Zaeco wasn't surprised to find Angelus wearing a confident smirk as though he had been declared the victor already. The sight infuriated Zaeco, but he didn't show as he stepped into the ring with Angelus. Instead, he returned a smirk of his own.

'We'll see who will be smiling at the end of this, rat.'

Zaeco's eyes glanced over to the VIP boxes, and although he could not pin his father from here, he felt the Governor's eyes bearing down upon him. It didn't matter, he, Zaeco Gregor, will not lose to a street rat.

The drum rolls began, and Zaeco braced himself. It would be best if he got this over with as quickly as possible, Zaeco quickly decided on the spot. Best not to give Angelus the chance to get lucky. Even a rat can make a miracle happen when mistakes are made, but not here.

Angelus had also braced himself, showing his rare side of complete concentration and focus, the side of Angelus that puzzled and infuriated Zaeco most of all. Zaeco didn't know why, but for some reason, it felt like there was two sides to Angelus. Over the course of many scuffles, each side had their wins and losses, but Zaeco had noted to himself that whenever this side of Angelus showed up, when he is not his normal Hothead self, Zaeco had lost every single time.

In an odd way, it was as though Angelus had a split personality, his normal asshole self, then, there was another hidden side, a side that for some reason, gave him a touch of fear.

Zaeco had suppressed the idea out of his mind when he had come to that conclusion long ago, yet for some reason, it had never left the back of his mind. It was perhaps the most infuriating element of all concerning Angelus. What was it about this rat that made Zaeco secretly fear him?

Nothing, that's what he was about to prove once and for all. There was nothing to fear at all.

The fireworks exploded in the sky, and on cue, both Angelus and Zaeco dashed at one another. To most of the spectators, it was difficult to follow the flurry of fists and movements that had followed, but one thing was certain, this fight would not be over anytime soon.

The crowds cheered in joy at the instant competitive nature of the fight. Both fighters were going all out, and it was a near dead lock. Fists and legs flew back and forth, and each took their share of hits, but no strategic strike could be made by either side regardless of how much they danced around the ring or how many punches were thrown.

Zaeco found it almost intolerable the way he and Angelus were currently confined with both the edges of the ring as well as the rules being enforced upon them. Zaeco almost wished this fight was taking place in the fields of the finals just so Zaeco could shut down Angelus completely, rather than having his hands tied the way they currently were. To make it worse, Zaeco knew in the back of his mind that this handicap was holding both of them down, and not just himself. That, however, was just a quiet voice that Zaeco could not hear. Instead, all he could hear was the screams of the crowds on all sides, and the movements of himself and Angelus in their seemingly eternal struggle.

As the fight dragged on, and having Angelus match him blow after blow, Zaeco became more and more frustrated until it reached a boiling point, making the first big mistake of the fight.

Zaeco never saw it coming, and Angelus' face never showed it, but it was a short ranged blow to Zaeco's left side near his liver. Zaeco winced in pain, but wasn't given much time to dwell as Angelus followed up with a left hook to Zaeco's jaw, knocking him down.

Zaeco quickly shook off the pain, slammed his fist on the ground, and was back up on his feet before Angelus could deliver the finishing blow, which was a very close roundhouse kick that nearly made contact with the side of Zaeco's head.

Zaeco had also noticed that he was perilously close to the edge of the ring when his eyes were averted from the close proximity of Angelus' foot, and Zaeco noticed that Angelus was aiming for another finishing blow with his left foot, trying to kick Zaeco out of the ring, in a similar way that his first master, Aegis, had defeated Wartron.

Zaeco, however, instead caught the foot and spun both it and Angelus to the ground, landing on his chest. Zaeco dashed away from the edge of the ring as Angelus sprung to his feet, sprinting directly as Zaeco.

Zaeco realized almost too late that Angelus had no intention of swinging at him as Angelus tucked his head in and was leading with his left shoulder. Zaeco found the best footing he could get within the second or two that he had and braced himself as Angelus rammed into him.

Astonishingly, with a mighty effort with every ounce of strength he could muster, he held his ground against Angelus' ram, who had managed to push him precariously close to the edge once more. Unfortunately for Zaeco, he never caught sign of the right uppercut into his jaw, the final blow which knocked him out of the ring.

Zaeco rose from the ground, and, ignoring the pain in his body, stared up at the ring from the ground in disbelief. Even worse, Angelus was looking down on him from the ring.

This standoff by far was the most tense one in the fight between these two yet as Zaeco's fists curled and he began growling through his teeth. Before anything further happened, a judge joined Angelus on stage to declare him the winner, to both the cheers and boos of the crowd around them.

That had snapped the tension, and Zaeco stood and disappeared into the crowds, ashamed at now having been forced to play the role of the spectator. A rat may have his day, but Zaeco would have his own someday.



Angelus sighed heavily as he got out of the ring, and was joined by Azreal and Aegis.

"Nice going Angelus. That was one hell of a fight to watch, probably the best one here, as well as the longest."

"What?" Angelus asked, somewhat out of breath. With his adrenaline fading, Angelus was now beginning to realize just how much his fight with Zaeco had drained him.

"You were five minutes away from the time limit, I was beginning to wonder whether or not the judges were going to have to come in, and what they were going to decide." Azreal explained.

"Really? It felt like it was either much shorter than that, or much longer. Which one I'm not really sure."

"Time is difficult to track when fully focused on something. And congratulations on your victory."

Angelus nodded. "Thanks Aegis. Whew, okay, who am I fighting next?"

Azreal shrugged. "I don't know, I was watching your fight the entire time."

"You'll be fighting Scorpia, Angelus. I'll be fighting Fortuna, and Azreal's got Beasley. And since we're in round four, we'll be moving to the larger set of rings."

"I got Beasley? Shit."

"I hope she kicks your ass because you sat out for two rounds. You get no sympathy from me." Angelus said.

"Thanks dick. And here I was, rooting for your ass for the past two rounds. You know what, fuck you, I hope Scorpia fucks you up."

Angelus rolled his eyes. "Right."

"Don't go getting carried away just because you beat Zaeco. Scorpia won't miss a single opportunity if you give it to her."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it, she's tough, but I have no intention of letting her beat me."

"And you got Fortuna?" Azreal said as he turned to Aegis, who nodded in response. "You suck, I wish I had gotten her, we could have flirted while we fought, and I might've gotten a good chance to tap that. I bet she's wearing nothing under her robe as we speak, just waiting for someone like me to come along. You know what, I just discovered my mission for tonight." Azreal said as he scouted for Fortuna, but could not see her among the masses.

"You're hopeless." Angelus said with a sigh. Aegis said nothing.

"But seriously, I have to say one thing though. Isn't it just a little bit weird that the three of us were each in our own bracket, and if we win, the three of us will be the semifinalists?" Azreal asked.

"Yeah, that is kind of weird, how did that happen?" Angelus wondered aloud.

"The luck of the draw, and nothing more. Don't make it out to be more than it is." Aegis answered.

The fireworks were launched at this point, officially ending the round, even though all of the fights had ended already. The fireworks triggered the beginning of the migration to the next set of rings. This migration, though massively huge and confusing, was not as legendary as The Walk due to it's relatively short time span, for it was normally over within the thirty minutes before the next round began.