Last One Standing (On Hold)

༄2.02༄

The next morning, Seraphina stood beside Meliodas, staring down at the path. The two were waiting for Ban to arrive— well, them and like half the kingdom. See, Hawk overheard the blonde's conversation with Ban and decided to profit off of it, so now there was a crowd waiting for the Sin. Ban makes his way up the mountain, spotting Meliodas and Seraphina. "Captain." He greets. Meliodas just grins. Ban continues towards the blonde with his hands in his pockets.

"Sorry to keep you—" "Hey, Ban!" Hawk interrupts him. "Eh? Huh?" Ban looks behind Meliodas and spots Hawk on Elizabeth's shoulder. "You're the only one who's late to this party." Hawk tells him. "Huh?!" Ban's eyes widen in shock. Behind the duo were the Sins, Elizabeth, Holy Knights, and some villagers eager to see the Dragon Sin and Fox Sin battle. "Been waiting for you, slowpoke." King tells him. "I just love a good festival." Diane beams. "These feelings, I don't know what to do. I have the chills." Gilthunder comments.

"Oh, yeah, that's right. You missed the last Fighting Festival, didn't you?" Howzer asks him. Ban's eyes twitch when he sees everyone. "Hey there, Ban. Long time, no see." Jericho greets him, blushing. "Damn it, Captain! Just what in the hell is going on here?! What's with all these freakin' spectators?!" Ban yells. "Don't ask me. I don't know. I mean, by the time Seraphina and I got out here, they were already gathering and getting hyped up." Meliodas shares. "How in the world could they--" Ban stops talking and turns to Hawk.

"Hey! Master!" Ban yells. "Hmm?" Hawk hums. "Is this your doing?! You were listening in on my conversation with the captain, weren't you?!" Ban asks. "Sure. It's a fight, after all. What could be better than having an audience cheering you on?" Hawk asks. "How dare you try and turn my fight into some kind of damn festival?" Ban growls. "Fox Sin of Greed, Ban, have you forgotten?" Merlin asks, walking forward. "As it clearly states in The Seven Deadly Sins' Seven Codes, Article Six. 'Any fight to the death between fellow sins must be stopped by the other Sins working in concert.' In other words, if you and the captain here are planning to fight to the death for real, then the four of us will have to use all our might to stop you." Merlin shares.

"So it's like that, huh? Hey, Merlin, I dare you to say that again." Ban tells her. "We'll stop you." Merlin repeats. "Sounds like fun." Ban says, and the crowd gasps. "Seven Deadly Sins' Seven Codes, Article Five." Ban says, and Diane and King sigh. "'Any bad blood existing between fellow Sins must be settled through a fight.' Huh. Very well, then. Now we won't do anything uncivilized." Merlin says. "Wow, who knew we had a code like that?" Meliodas asks. "You were the one who thought it up, Captain!" King yells, and Seraphina facepalms. "In that case, if you're going to fight, then do it no-holds-barred." Merlin says and makes a purple cube around them. "Perfect Cube!"

"Awesome! This thing is amazing." Meliodas says. The crowd gawks at the cube. "Ha! Now you can both brawl to your hearts' content without having to worry about collateral damage. Not to mention, we can sit back and watch with no fear." Merlin shares. "The Captain of The Seven Deadly Sins and his fellow sin going one-on-one? We might never get to see something like this in our lifetimes again." Gustaf says. "A brutal clash between the two heroes who saved the kingdom. Incredible." Griamore says. "Heh. I'm the one who saved the kingdom, but whatever." Hawk says. "Ban, you better not lose, or I'll never forgive you!" Jericho shouts. Seraphina looks over at the knight, confused. "This will be something we'll not soon forget." Gilthunder says.

"Eh, it's nothing new to someone like me." Howzer brags. "Come on. Don't say that." Gilthunder tells him and looks up at Meliodas and Ban. "Even among The Seven Deadly Sins, who graced the top echelon in the Holy Knights, those two are said to be exceptionally gifted fighters." He points out. "Not good." He gasps.

"Eh, what's wrong, Gil?" Howzer asks. "I can't stop my heart from pounding! It's so exciting!" Gilthunder shouts. "Okay. Whatever floats your boat man." Howzer looks away. Seraphina brings a hand up to her chest, staring at the sins with a worried expression. "All right, then. Come at me, Captain. Bring it on." Ban tells Meliodas. "All righty. I'm not holding back, okay?" Meliodas tells him, jumping in place. "Ready?" He asks. Meliodas charges at Ban, who tries to hit him, but the blonde ducks to dodge the attack. Ban tries punching Meliodas, but he jumps behind him, trying to punch him, but Ban dodges it. Ban once again tries punching Meliodas, and his attack gets blocked by the blonde, who lands upside down. Meliodas flips upright, and he and Ban throw punches and kicks at each other.

They both yell and go to punch each other, but Meliodas is the one who gets knocked into a wall and falls onto the floor. "No! Sir Meliodas!" Elizabeth calls. "Uh-oh!" Hawk says. "Ban got the better of him." Howzer says. "No. Look again." Gilthunder tells him. Ban's stomach caves in and he gags. "It's a draw." Gilthunder says. Ban coughs up blood. Meliodas flips upright. Both men chuckle as the crowd cheers. "Oh, man." A villager says. "Did you see that?" Another asks. "No! It happened so fast I couldn't see anything." A third man says. "So this is a Fighting Festival." Gilthunder tears up. "Wait. You're actually crying?" Howzer asks.

"Maybe a little." Gilthunder tells him, wiping his eyes. "Well, those two were your childhood idols. I guess I understand." Howzer says. "They're amazing. These guys are beyond anything I--" "What's with the fooling around, you two?!" King asks. "Yeah, he's right! If you're gonna settle the score, you might as well go at each other like there's no tomorrow!" Diane agrees with King. "From what I can tell, they're only fighting at 13% of their total strength." Gowther notes. "You mean they're not going all out?" A man asks. "Pretty amazing." Another man says. "Yeah. Seriously!" A third says. "I should probably stretch a little, or I'll end up getting hurt, you know?" Meliodas tells Ban, stretching.

"Oh, one more thing." Meliodas looks down at the spectators. "This fight is just between Ban and me. Got it? If you make too much of a ruckus and distract us, I'm gonna knock all of you into next week!" Meliodas threatens, and the crowd gasps. "Oh. I'm sorry." King apologizes. "Great. Now he's angry at us." Diane says. "But all I can do from here is worry." Seraphina mumbles, looking down. "That said, Seraphina is the only exception to the rule." Meliodas kneels to look at the princess. "Root for me like there's no tomorrow, okay?" Meliodas tells her. Seraphina blushes and nods. "Look out!" She warns the blonde. Meliodas looks back only to get punched by Ban in the cheek multiple times. With one final punch, Meliodas' blood splatters on the floor. "Meliodas!" Seraphina shouts, worried. Ban goes to punch Meliodas again, but he grabs his foot and spins him around before throwing him into the wall, which he slides across, leaving a blood trail in his path. Ban stops and uses the wall as a boost to lunge at Meliodas.