Chapter 28 - The Lion vs. Meerkat 

"Oh, who allowed you to fight without me? How about somebody fights me next?" Said the newcomer, while looking around for a fight.

Every single Gold-ranked adventurer gradually moved away, seemingly trying to hide from the ferocious-looking lady.

The few Platinum-ranked hesitated. On one side they wanted to step forward, but something told them to step down. Like the Lion King telling the savannah to behave.

"Pick me, pick me, I will fight you!" Marc can be seen jumping up and down behind the crowd with his hand in the air, just like a first-grader would do to get picked. His height isn't much, so he had to do this. The lady's arrival made him the background character somehow.

"Good, you have guts!! But I won't be holding back so be prepared." The battle crazed lady yelled while releasing her Magic Power, making the surroundings hot. The Platinum-ranked adventurer could easily take it, but the Gold-ranked began to have problems with breathing. Their lungs felt like they are getting cooked, so they quickly made some distance between them and the lady.

"Leona, hold on a second. I have to heal that guy before he dies." Lisa stopped the battle maniac called Leona, wanting to heal the ice mage that was close to dying after Marc forgot about him and went on fighting other people before knowing it. Lisa felt the man was about to leave this world and no matter what, she couldn't leave people dying in her guild. That would ruin the good view people have on the Heartfilia family.

She took out a silver key and said, "Gate of the Racoon Dog, Tony, open." A blue light shone and a toddler-sized humanoid began materializing with antlers on its head and a big blue hat with a sideways medical cross on, light-brown fur, a yellow striped shirt, and maroon pair of shorts. It turned around and showed a blue backpack that has the same sideways medical cross as the hat.

"Lisaaaaa!!" As soon as it saw Lisa it jumped into her arms with a happy expression.

"Hi, Tony. Can you heal him before he dies?" Lisa asked her summoned Celestial Spirit she just summoned while looking at the bleeding man.

Tony jumped down from her arms and ran over to him. He took out some tools from his bag and diagnosed the patient. "He has lost a lot of blood, but I can save him. This doesn't look like a wound you would make, so who did it?" The little adorable Celestial Spirit flexed its medical expertise while multitasking by talking to Lisa.

Lisa bent down and whispered something to Tony, that almost made him open the newly stitched wound again and yell, but Lisa stopped him. After calming down, Tony couldn't help confirm "!? Did you get a boyfriend? Who is it?" He exclaimed with disbelief and wondered who was so brave.

Lisa didn't say anything more and just pointed at Marc, who's trying to sneak attack Leona while she's checking out Tony. Basically, they were looking in a triangle at this moment.

"He...looks rather young? And he's way weaker than you!" Tony didn't find anything special about Marc and wanted to 'wake' Lisa up, but he stopped after she glared at him.

"Guess the sickness is already deeply rooted. Lovesickness is such a pain to deal with..." The Racoon Dog, Tony, though.

----

"Lisa only told her to stop, not me." Marc thought as he slowly sneaked around the crowd, wanting to do a sneak attack.

When Leona was about 10 meters away, he used *Bear Sprint* to repel himself forward in a straight line with a fairly high speed. Fast enough so Leona only managed to tilt her head a little, barely dodging his hand that was about to touch her head.

Marc saw her narrowly dodge. He didn't want to give her any chance to breathe, so he lunged at Leona and clung to her waist with his legs while he thrust his other hand in her face, stopping only right before touching.

"Guess I won the first round, tiger lady!" Marc said with a big grin to Leona.

"Don't you have any honor? Using such despicable sneak attacks." She asked unbothered by being called a tiger lady.

"What can I say? A win is a win!" Marc shrugged off the question.

"True, Meerkats are crafty creatures. To go against a lion, they will have to use every opportunity available just like you... But this lion didn't lose this round yet!!"

Marc instantly felt her body heating up to a degree where his legs felt like being roasted. He quickly released his leg grip around her waist and wanted to touch her face.

He has been training his control of the force used when he repels, so he's able to tone it up and down as he wanted now. Marc didn't intend to break her neck as he did to the assassin in Maqquarry City, only send her flying with a bump on her forehead. But alas this lion lady didn't care and stood her ground as he touched her head. She didn't get sent flying at all, and just tanked the force straight on with a battle crazed expression. Marc was gobsmacked, and before he realized it, a very hot fist landed on his cheek, sending him to the ground head first.

"Is that all you got little meerkat?" She said with a bump on her forehead where Marc touched while showing her fang-like teeth as she looked down on him. His head was half-buried in the ground.

He slowly pulled it out while complaining. "Damn that hurt. You really meant it when you said you wouldn't pull your punches."

His cheek was really swollen where she hit, making Marc look funny.

"You bet I did! Seems like I won round 1! Ready for round 2?"

Marc cracked his neck a little, as it was a little sore. "Sure round 1 is yours, but I won't be holding back anymore from now on. So don't go whimpering around with your tail between your legs!"

"Don't you worry about that and give me a decent fight!" Leona said before they engaged in closed combat.

Marc once again used *Bear Print* to boost himself forward her with a kick to her chest in midair that she blocked with a straightforward fist.

As Leona blocked the kick, he used the momentum to front flip in midair above her with a heel kick descending on her head.

She once again blocked it by raising her other arm in defense, making her feet sink into the ground a little.

Leona's blood boiled in anticipation and because of her magic. "Next!" She roared to Marc who's standing on her forearm she's raising in the air.

"Don't you worry too, I'm already on it?" Marc showed the hand he's been hiding after front flipping. And in it is a paw bubble at the size of his head that he has been charging up.

This is something he couldn't help trying to replicate after seeing Bartholomew Kuma do it.

*Ursus Shock*

Marc jumped backward while releasing the bubble in his hand toward Leona who had every intention of taking it head-on.

As it was about to hit her, she took one step forward the bubble with her usual feral smile. Before her foot touched the ground, Leona suddenly began radiating a terrifying heat and her hair began raising because the heat came flowing out of her body like a waterfall.

She pulled her fist back before punching forward the bubble before her leg touched the ground.

Just 2 seconds before her fist met Marc's *Ursus Shock*, her foot touched the ground, and for a split second all heat immediately vanished from her and her fist reached a few centimeters from touching the paw-shaped bubble, before the heat so suddenly as it vanished burst out like a dropped Mentos in a cola.

"Hooooo!!!" She growled while using her strongest attack.

"Holy fucking shit!!" Marc who felt the sudden spike in her Magic Power couldn't help saying as his eyes opened wide, but he didn't stop himself from backing off from the attack range, or so he thought.

When Leona hit the cute football-sized bubble, it suddenly expanded 13 meters in diameter by decompressing the air, making an explosion and sending shockwaves that even the spectators could feel, albeit not much.

And Leona who was in the middle of the explosion had used her own attack, sending a devastating heatwave forward that punched a hole in the expanding bubble and hit Marc right in the stomach, sending him flying with blood out of his mouth and a fully scolded body in the air.

Her attack lessened the violent shockwaves in her direction, though her whole body is still covered in blood after the *Ursus Shock* ended. Her battle crazed smile didn't lessen a bit.

Marc landed hard on the ground with his back while holding his stomach in pain.

"What's wrong? Done already?" Leona said while looking like somebody who just showered in blood.

"Ugh, I didn't really expect that. Never thought Heat Magic can pack such a punch... Round 3 it is then. I don't really know who won this round, but I honestly don't care right now." Marc said while forcing himself on his feet, ignoring the burning pain.

"Bring it on little meerkat!!" Leona could still yell with great intensity in her voice, but her body wasn't in a good condition at all.

"You don't have to tell me, lion girl." Marc honestly didn't know why they called each other animal names, but he just went on with it as it seemed appropriate for the occasion.

They proceeded to fight, but either of them had a drop of Magic Power left, so they just brawled it out. Marc mostly used jumps and kicks to counter her powerful punches while occasionally thrusting a palm in Leona's rips.

Leona punches sometimes hit Marc, but he lessened the force by leaping a little backward.

This happened until both fainted while standing, both refused to lose even while being unconscious.

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(A/N: First things first. Leona won't have the same abilities as in Black Clover or at least totally the same.)

(A/N: Oh, and I used Chopper as a reference for a Silver Key Celestial Spirit...)

(Words: 1729)