"And right now it's time for the second match of the Semi-finals! Meliodaf versus King!" The announcer yelled.

"Do your best out there Captain!" Diane rooted.

"Please be careful," Elizabeth added.

"Just leave it to me." Meliodas' voice was the definition of confidence.

"Promise you'll avenge me, okay?" King insisted.

"Do it yourself," The Captain answered back plainly. The crowd cheered, split between the two fighters. The two walked towards each other slowly.

"I have to say you really are the spitting image of him. I had my suspicions the second that I saw your face, but when I heard that your name was Meliodaf, I knew my hunch just had to be right," The old man stopped, "The truth is that your Meliodas' son, that's the case now, isn't it?"

"Actually, I'm Meliodas if you want to know." The man's eyes almost leaped out of his face.

"You're talking nonsense. there's no way Meliodas could be a whipper-snapper like you!" Meliodas leaned in close, shhing him.

"It's a long story but I'm using another name."

"If Meliodas were alive today he ought to be a young man. An adult in his thirties or so."

"Why doesn't anyone ever believe me?"

"The fact that you don't even remember me makes it hard to believe your story."

"Uh, yeah. Sorry about that," Meliodas said. He placed some fingers onto his temples. The old man let a shadow cast over his face.

"If it's true that you really are the same Meliodas I used to know all those years ago," The man was up in the air in an instant, sending kick after kick onto Meliodas, only to be blocked. He then used Meliodas' arm to jump back and away from the Captain. He ripped off his cloak to show some sort of symbol on his chest, "I swear I'll never forgive what you've done."

"That crest he's wearing," Captain muttered, "It's Danafor's. Old man are you-"

"What possessed you to destroy the whole kingdom?!" King yelled, throwing a fireball at Meliodas. He just let it hit him. I looked in surprise at Danafor's crest. No wonder this man was so angry.

"A direct hit!" The real King blurted.

"Captain!"

"What possessed you to kill all my people?!" Another fireball shot from the man at Meilodas, who still stood unmoving.

"Come on! What are you doing?! You've got to fight back now!" Diane yelled at the Captain in anger.

"He hasn't fully recovered from fighting Ban yet," Our King theorized.

"That isn't it," Ban said from behind us. But I don't turn. Instead I swallow, "It's all on purpose. He's always pulling stupid crap."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Diane's anger and confusion was obvious.

"How should I know?" By the sound of his voice, I'm guessing Diane is stretching out his face.

"Calm down," I commanded them, "He can handle it." You better have a plan Meliodas. Then again, plans are harder to complete when you just take hit after hit.

"What possessed you to kill Liz?! the woman you loved?! What possessed you to betray every one of us?!" The old man in the ring threw a giant fireball at Meliodas.

"It's huge." Worry threaded Diane's voice.

"Dodge it!" King cried, desperate.

"Captain," I muttered. Clearly something was going on, but what was he going to do about this thing?!

"I tried to save all of them. I wanted to protect everything. But I- I failed. And that's the sin I bear. So this time," Meliodas held up two fingers to the blast, "I won't let that happen!" The attack dissipated and I felt relief wash over me.

"The Counter Vanish technique. The ability that can nullify any offensive magic that's pointed in your direction. Without a doubt, your the same Meliodas I knew all right."

"And I remember you Cain Barzard, though it took me a while."

"You finally remember, huh?"

"Yeah, back when you were with the Holy Knights, you used to go by the name Barzard the Flame. You were always wearing a full suit of armor too."

"That so? I don't recall that," The old man came closer to the Captain, "Meliodas, can I really trust what you said before? You didn't betray us? You didn't betray all of Danafor?"

"No," The Captain confirmed, and I could see tears run from Cain's eyes. He hugged the Captain tight, crying aloud.

"I'm so glad that you didn't turn on us! I wanted to hear you say those exact words for so long!"

"Really?"

"When I came back to the kingdom after finishing my mission, everything was gone and there were these rumors flying around about you destroying Danafor! But somewhere deep down I always wanted to believe they were lies!" I felt my heart swell, letting a smirk lay on my face.

"What's going on here?" Diane questioned.

"Beats me," King answered.

"It's a reunion you two!" I told them, glancing back. I know something's up, but everyone's happy right now. Why mess with that?

"It really is a huge relief," Cain let go of the Captain, "I'm glad I ran into a comrade in arms from the old days who's still alive."

The announcer entered the ring, "Um, excuse me? What about the fight?"

"I'll be forfeiting the match," Cain answered plainly. Surprise rose around the ring. the announcer was quick to yell out that Meliodas was the winner, and I sighed in relief. We'd secured Diane's treasure. Mission accomplished.

"Are you sure?" Meliodas questioned.

"Of course I am. You're the same old softy as ever, aren't you? You could have reflected my techniques back at me whenever you wanted to."

"If I had and then you ended up dying, it would have all been for nothing."

"Hey, I'm not some frail old man," Cain replied as he turned around, waving, "But I suppose I'll just take things easy now and see what happens in the finals."

"It's time for the final round of the the Vaizel fighting festival!"