Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
June 16, x791.
*Clap!*
"Alright, let's call it a day." Alfonzo said while loudly clapping his hands, the crisp sound drawing Elicia's, Marin's, Sun's, and Ur's attention. "The Grand Magic Games are only two weeks away and we don't' wanna burn ourselves out before we even get started."
Hearing that, the four ladies stopped their current training routines. Then, after nodding to Alfonzo's advice, they all started their cooldown routines.
"This still feels weird." Ur muttered to herself as she started stretching. "I mean, I'm the former guild master, right? So, why aren't I the leader of this team?
"Besides the fact that you were only Gramps' second choice?" Elicia pointed out playfully.
"What did you say, Brat?" Ur shot back.
"Lici's right, you know?" Marin added with a smile. "I mean, he did want Fonzie to succeed him originally, remember?"
"Yeah, but since Alfonzo rejected so adamantly, he chose you." Sun said, her innocent tone making it hard for Ur to get mad at her.
Though, that did not stop Ur from glaring at both Elicia and Marin, who did not seem to be bothered by the glare.
"Plus, isn't Alfonzo stronger than you, Ur?" Sun asked, tilting her head cutely. "So, doesn't it make sense that he's the leader of our team?"
Those words made Ur feel as if an arrow had pierced her heart, causing her to stumble back a few steps before regaining her balance.
"Sun really hits the critical spot, doesn't she?" Marin said with a smile.
"Alright, you four, focus on your cooldown.' Alfonzo said, trying to defuse the situation.
'If I don't step in now, I'm afraid that this training room might turn into an absolute zero deep freezer.' Alfonzo thought to himself after seeing Ur's expression.
With Alfonzo's order, Elicia, Marin, and Sun got back to cooling down. Ur, on the other hand, glared at everyone in the room. Though, since she did not have anything to say about Sun's statement, she, too, returned to cooling down.
About half an hour later, the five members of Team Steel Threads all made their way down to the guild hall's ground floor, stepping out of the elevator into the main hall.
"Okay, I'm gonna get going.' Alfonzo said after everyone was out of the elevator.
"What have you been doing, anyway?" Ur asked curiously. "I mean, every day after training, you disappear for a few hours."
"Nothing special." Alfonzo replied with a smile while waving off Ur's question. "Just a little experimenting."
Though Ur was skeptical of Alfonzo's answer. Over the years, just like his lovers, she had found that getting Alfonzo to tell you something he did not want to talk about was nearly impossible. Plus, after the incident on Tenrou Island, she knew that Alfonzo would not do anything to hurt them.
'Maybe he's working on another safety measure like back then.' Ur thought to herself. 'If that's the case, it's probably better to just let him do his thing.'
With that, Alfonzo hugged and kissed Elicia, Marin, and Sun before leaving the guild hall. He did have to turn down a few requests to cook, though. But since the Grand Magic Games was so close at hand, no one bothered him about it too much.
Then, as soon as Alfonzo left the guild hall, he was covered in arcs of violet electricity before kicking the ground a total of forty-seven times in the blink of an eye and shooting up into the sky.
*Boom!*
The sonic boom from Alfonzo's departure was deafening. Though, it did not physically affect any nearby structures, as the guild hall was the only building close enough to be affected.
About an hour later, Alfonzo landed on an uninhabited island off the coast of Fiore. In fact, this was the same island where Junko had been building the school for her crazy, despair inducing plan.
"Okay, let's try again." Alfonzo said as he flared his magic power.
In the next instant, as if his body was a door, two figures walked out of Alfonzo's body. Naturally, those two figures belonged to Riot and Bedlam, Alfonzo's [Armament Spirits].
"I like coming out like this." Bedlam said as he stretched his arms over his head. He then turned to look back at Alfonzo. "You know, you should really turn that thing on in your house more often. I like interacting with the outside world."
"I'll think about it." Alfonzo said as he started to loosen up.
"Hmph! Aren't you tired of getting your ass kicked yet?" Riot asked while crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Or is this how you indulge your inner masochist since you can't show it to Irene?"
"Quiet, Simp." Alfonzo said without even looking in Riot's direction.
"I guess that means you want your beating to be even worse than usual, huh?" Riot shouted as he materialized his weapon form in his right hand and charged towards Alfonzo angrily.
In response, Alfonzo dropped into his fighting stance, pulling Riot's true weapon form from the strap on his lower back with his right hand. Then, with the long side of the tonfa running along his forearm, he raised his right arm to block Riot's incoming attack.
*Bang!*
The force behind the collision caused a shockwave that blew any loose pebbles outwards in all directions.
"Jeez, can't you two at least let me enjoy the view for a little bit?" Bedlam asked while materializing a copy of his own weapon form in his left hand. "Whatever, I'm just not going back right after this is over."
With that, Bedlam also charged into the fray, swinging the long side of his tonfa at Alfonzo's waist.
Reacting quickly, Alfonzo drew Bedlam's true weapon form from his lower back, as well. Then, he swung it at the incoming attack, deflecting it away from his body. However, as soon as he did so, he was forced to duck to evade a left hook from Riot.
After dropping low, Alfonzo spun on his left foot, lashing his right leg outwards, aiming to sweep both his [Armament Spirits] off their feet. Yet, they both reacted just as quickly, stepping back to avoid the sweep.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Spark Cannon]." Alfonzo chanted once he had a bit of breathing room while pointing the long ends of each tonfa at their [Armament Spirit].
With Alfonzo's chant, a ball of violet electricity formed on the tip of each of his tonfa before they were fired at Riot and Bedlam.
Though they reacted differently, both Riot and Bedlam managed to defend against Alfonzo's spells with little difficulty.
While Riot created a large metal steak that he left to sink into the ground to act as a lightning rod, Bedlam let a few arcs of electricity flow from the tonfa in his left hand. A moment later, the electricity took the form of several sigils that floated in front of him in the air.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Reflection Barrier]." Riot chanted as the [Barrier] formed in front of him.
Then, to no one's surprise, Alfonzo's two spells were dealt with. While one [Spark Cannon] was grounded, the other hit the [Reflection Barrier] before being returned to sender.
What did surprise the two [Armament Spirits], however, was when Alfonzo put the tonfa representing Riot back in the strap on his lower back and used his free hand to catch the [Spark Cannon]. Even more so, Riot and Bedlam were surprised when the magic power making up the spell began to spin in all directions.
"Damn, did he just turn that into a [Rasengan]?" Riot asked as he raised his weapon in preparation for Alfonzo's attack.
"That's what it looks like." Bedlam replied as he two prepared for Alfonzo's attack. "Just be careful, we don't know what that thing will do."
Had Riot and Bedlam still been in Alfonzo's inner world, they would have known what this spell could do. In fact, if he had not thought it up on the fly after seeing the [Spark Cannon] shooting back in his direction, they would have already known how to deal with it, too.
In the next instant, Alfonzo, without saying a word, charged forward, aiming to end up between Riot and Bedlam. Yet, despite the fact that Alfonzo was not aiming at either of them, both [Armament Spirits] moved to create distance.
However, that did not deter Alfonzo. Instead, when he reached the point that was in the middle of Riot and Bedlam's previous positions, he stopped and slammed the whirling ball of electricity into the ground.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Gravity Ball Rasengan]." Alfonzo chanted.
*Zap !* *Hum!*
As soon as the spinning orb of electricity hit the ground, it defused outwards, creating an electromagnetic field. And as the name of the spell suggested, that field altered the gravitational field in a localized area.
As a result, Riot and bedlam, who were still airborne after leaping away from their previous positions, came to an abrupt stop midair. Then, they found themselves being drawn back to where they stood.
No, not just back to where they stood originally. Instead, as they flew through the air, they found themselves increasing in speed… at an alarming rate. And from what they could tell, their end point was exactly where Alfonzo stood, right over the [Gravity Ball Rasengan].
"So, you want us to come to you?" Riot asked loudly as he drew back his tonfa. "Fine, then bring it on, Shithead!"
Instead of readying himself to receive Riot's attack, Alfonzo only smiled. Meanwhile, Bedlam, the calmer of Alfonzo's [Armament Spirits] noticed this smile and had a bad premonition about what was coming next.
"No, stop it you idiot!" Bedlam shouted, trying to get Riot to calm down.
Unfortunately, Riot's switch had already been flipped, still angry that Alfonzo had called him a simp, as true as it may have been. So, he was in no mood to listen to Bedlam's advice.
Understanding what Alfonzo would do next, Bedlam also raised his tonfa preparing to defend himself. Unfortunately, Bedlam had misread Alfonzo's intentions.
"[Run Wild with Destruction on Your Fingertips. Usher in Pandemonium with Creation in Your Hands. Riot, Bedlam]." Alfonzo chanted, releasing the seal on part of his [Soul Armament's] power.
In the next instant, Alfonzo's magic power spiked to nearly ten times his usual amount while both the tonfa in his left hand and the one strapped to his lower back melted down into liquid metal that flowed to his arms, coating Alfonzo's hands, wrists, and forearms. Then, with his hands coated in the liquid metal making up Riot and Bedlam, he reached out at lightning speed and grabbed both Riot and Bedlam's tonfa.
"Shit!" Riot exclaimed in panic.
"Well, this isn't good." Bedlam said while smiling wryly. "We fell for it."
"Sure as fuck did." Alfonzo said excitedly. "[Electromagnetism Magic: Spider Lightning]."
*Zap~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
With Alfonzo releasing his spell empowered by his partial release state, the light from the lightning could be seen from miles around the island. Meanwhile, the sound of the lightning drowned out any sounds.
Shortly afterwards, to anyone with strong enough magic power focused in their eyes, shadows of three figures flashing back and forth in the flash could be vaguely seen while shockwaves would intermittently rock the entire island.
Eventually, the light from Alfonzo's spell died down. When it did, three figures, Alfonzo, Riot, and Bedlam could be seen standing in a triangular formation. However, they did not look nearly as pristine as they did before the flash blinded the area.
Both Riot and Bedlam had numerous tears in their suits. On top of that, there were even more burn marks on their clothing. Though, they were less visible on Riot's black suit than on Bedlam's white one.
As for Alfonzo, his shirt was in tatters with more than a few bruises and cuts on his skin. Meanwhile, his pants were missing the right pant leg from the knee down. Even so, the light in Alfonzo's eyes was still as bright as ever.
"Looks like all that training was worth it." Bedlam said, his usual confident smile still on his face. "But the question is, can you bring it all home? Or will you stall right in front of the finish line?"
"Is that even a question?" Riot asked with a scoff. "If he doesn't manage to do it after making it this far, I'm gonna really kick his ass next time."
"Well, you don't have to worry about that." Alfonzo said with a smile. "I've been going through this shit for over a year. And I'm really tired of getting my ass kicked by you mother fuckers."
"Isn't that the same as calling yourself a mother fucker?' Bedlam asked with a grin. "I mean, we are part of you."
"Yeah, and I do fuck Lici, Mira, Irene, and Shizuka." Alfonzo said, a wide smile spreading across his lips. "So, I don't see your point."
Bedlam could not help laughing uproariously when he heard Alfonzo's response. Even Riot, who was usually all anger, all the time, found himself smiling slightly. A moment later, however, the smiles disappeared from all three of their faces.
"Well, I think we've been at this long enough." Alfonzo said in a solemn tone. "So, let's wrap this shit up."
With that said, Alfonzo dropped into his fighting stance once again. At the same time, both Riot and Bedlam raised their tonfa, ready to engage one last time.
*Swish!* x 3
Then, without any kind of starting signal, Alfonzo, Riot, and Bedlam vanished from where they stood in bursts of speed.
*Boom!* *Boom!*
In the next instant, they met in the center of their triangular formation with Riot and Bedlam both swinging their tonfa, Riot's aimed at Alfonzo's head while Bedlam aimed for his torso. On top of that, both weapons were sparking with electricity.
In response, Alfonzo, with arcs of lightning dancing across both of his arms and hands, raised his left hand to parry Riot's attack while slapping upwards with is left hand to divert Bedlam's strike over his head. He then took a step forward once both strikes were successfully parried, stepping past both [Armament Spirits].
Then, just as he stepped past his [Armament Spirits], Alfonzo created a metal sheath on his hip, which he held in his left hand. At the same time, he moved his right hand to the mouth of the sheath, curling his fingers around an invisible hilt.
*Zap~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
An instant later, a compressed sword of electricity appeared in the sheath, its hilt fitting perfectly into Alfonzo's right hand. He then spun in place. As he did, Alfonzo unsheathed the sword, taking a page out of Saeko's [Flying Heaven's Sword-Style] to perform a quick draw attack.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Electric Sword Execution]." Alfonzo chanted as the blade of his electric blade streaked towards Riot's and Bedlam's backs.
As Alfonzo unsheathed the blade, the island was once again bathed in bright light, blinding everything in a radius of a few miles.
"Mother fucker~~~~~!" Riot shouted as the blade of compressed blade of electricity sliced through his lower torso.
"Well done." Bedlam said with a laugh as he fell to the same attack.
With that, Alfonzo could feel Riot's and Bedlam's bodies breaking down into motes of magic power thanks to his [Magic Power Detection]. At the same time, those motes of magic power were being drawn into his arms, the current embodiments of Riot and Bedlam.
Once the last of the motes of magic power were absorbed into the liquid metal coating his arms, Alfonzo felt as if something had just been completed. Yet, thanks to the exertion, he was way too tired to explore that feeling. So, instead of celebrating his victory, Alfonzo fell to his knees, breathing raggedly as the blinding light faded.
["You finally did it."] Bedlam said from Alfonzo's inner world. "[So, how does it feel."]
'I'll tell you later.' Alfonzo replied groggily. 'Right now, I'm too fucking tired to tell.'
["Well, it took long e-fucking-nough." Riot said angrily. ["it's hard to believe that I came from your soul. How could my creator be so weak that it took over a year to beat us?"]
'I'll argue with you later.' Alfonzo replied weakly, his consciousness fading due to magic power exhaustion. 'For now, I need a nap… Simp.'
"What did you say, you bastard?" Riot shouted angrily as Alfonzo lost consciousness.
"Ahahahahaha!" Bedlam laughed uproariously.
And just like that, Alfonzo flopped over onto his side, Riot's words and Bedlam's laughter not even registering in his mind.
It would be sometime after 10 p.m. before Alfonzo woke up and felt just how much stronger he had gotten thanks to the upgrade in his power brought on by defeating Riot and Bedlam in the real world.