Year X794

"Welcome to the Grand Magic Games!" A loud and boisterous voice echoed throughout the massive stadium, followed by a thunderous applause and excited cheers. "I'm joined with by my good friend, Yajima. This year looks like it's going to be quite interesting, wouldn't you say?" An older, more dignified voice responded. "Yes. Not only do we have the long awaited return of Fairy Tail and Sabretooth; two champions of previous games, but we also have some new faces here as well."

The excited commentator takes over again. "You can say that again! I've never heard of their guild before yesterday, but Team Red Crown absolutely crushed it in the qualifiers. I can't wait to see what they're capable of in the games proper." Fairy Tail and the other well established guilds waited with bated breath as the newcomers entered onto the field. "...And speaking of Red Crown; here they are."

"Right in the middle we have Sora." {Name: Sora | Age: 17 | Magic: "Keyblade"? | Likes: Making friends | Dislikes: Unfriendly people} "One of the younger participants in this tournament. He comes from a small island outside of Fiore. Let's hope the competition won't be too much for him."

"Next to him we have Riku." {Name: Riku | Age: 18 | Magic: "Keyblade"? | Likes: Teasing | Dislikes: Darkness} "A close friend of Sora. The two of them grew up together and despite butting heads every now and then; they work well as a team." Yajima chuckles as he comments. "Sounds a lot like Natsu and Gray."

"Taking up the front we have Lea." {Name: Lea | Age: 25 | Magic: "Keyblade"? | Likes: Ice Cream | Dislikes: Being called Axel} "Apparently he used to be called Axel at one point but insists that we...commit it to memory." Upon hearing the commentators, Lea becomes aggravated and starts waving his arms around and yelling at them to get their attention. But they can't hear him, so he slumps in defeat as Riku pats his shoulder.

"Right behind Lea we have Terra." {Name: Terra | Age: 20 | Magic: "Keyblade"? | Likes: Push-ups | Dislikes: Old men} Yajima scoffs after reading his bio. "Hmph. He looks to be a disrespectful punk." He relents the mic back to his co-commentator.

"Uh...well. Finally, heading up the rear we have Aqua." {Name: Aqua | Age: 18 | Magic: "Keyblade"? | Likes: Arts and Crafts | Dislikes: ...Fruitball} "A polite and kind young woman who trained alongside Terra. She carries herself with a humble strength and seems to be regarded by the others as the team leader."

"And together, they make up Team Red Crown!" The other guilds look at them with varying degrees of curiosity. The pink haired boy asked his team how they felt. "They look strong. What do you guys think?" The red haired girl put a hand on his shoulder to hold him still. "Definitely. But save it for when you actually have to fight them, Natsu. We don't need a repeat of the incident with Sabretooth."

The boy with short black hair leaned over the banister to get a better look at Red Crown. "Hmm. That Aqua chick could be trouble. I doubt she's the team captain for nothing." Jealous of his attention being put on another blue haired girl, the woman behind him covered his eyes and yanked him away from the banister. "Don't look at her like that, Gray!" Gray tried to pull the woman's hands off of him as she held him close. "Juvia! Let go!"

A larger man with blonde spiky hair spoke up. "Will you two lovebirds get a room already? You're noisy." Gray finally gets Juvia to release him as he gets super defensive. "Shut up, Laxus! It's Mirajane's job to be matchmaker." Natsu offered his two cents. "She's not even that good at it." Laxus shrugged off their protests. "Anyways, these Red Crown guys might be tough. But that's not what concerns me." His teammates look at him with intrigue. "...Where's their guild master?"

"Isn't it weird how an up and coming guild makes it into the Games, but not even their master would show up?" Erza ponders his question. "I agree. It's suspicious. Plus, I've never heard of this 'Keyblade' magic that they all wield." Natsu glares at Lea. "I don't like that guy. Can't put my finger on why. Just. Don't. Like him. What do you think, Juvia?"

She pauses for moment as she considers Sora. "Juvia can't explain this feeling she has either. But it's not like yours, Natsu. For some reason, Juvia feels she can trust him." As she points at Sora, she gets an eyebrow raise from Gray followed by a smirk. She quickly tries to deflect suspicion as she gets flustered from Gray's implication. "B-but Juvia would never consider him a replacement for her affections towards her beloved Gray! Never!" Gray only sighs in disappointment as he grumbles under his breath. "Damn. Thought he could give me an out."

A strange little pumpkin man reveals himself in the arena and addressed the audience. "The seeding in the Grand Magic Games are going to be a little different this time around. The matchups will be deciding by popular vote. You; the audience will get to decide who fights who. Pumpkin." Fairy Tail and the other guilds look shocked by this new rule change. "This voting rule will also apply to the doubles matches, so keep that in mind. Pumpkin."

Sora whispers in Riku's ear. "Is this good for us or bad for us?" Riku pulled away, being weirded out to why Sora was whispering in a giant arena with no one else around. "Depends on how you look at it. We're unknown to the scene; which mean people don't know who we are or what we're capable of. So they will just be guessing on what a close match will be." Sora pumped himself up. "With any luck; they'll ALL be close matches. That's what we're here for. To find strong opponents to train with….and maybe have some fun along the way."

Aqua smiled at Sora's eagerness. "That's true. We may be here to train. But this is still a game." Sora slouched over and put on his best Boston accent. "Rule #6: It's all just a game. So, let loose and have fun with it!" Terra and Aqua recognized the satyr Sora was impersonating as Terra laughed, but Aqua shuttered as she was reminded of her experience with him.

Even at the distance they were at; Erza could tell what was bothering Aqua and felt a similar unease crawl up her spine. "Why am I suddenly reminded of Ichiya?" The commentators took over again. "And with that… The first day of the Grand Magic Games begins!"

*I made this story pretty much as a challenge. The Pumpkin wasn't kidding around though. I want to hear who you guys think should be matched up with who. Both for 1v1s and 2v2s. For the purposes of this story; it will only be between Fairy Tail(Natsu, Erza, Laxus, Gray, and Juvia) and Red Crown(Sora, Riku, Aqua, Terra, and Lea) Other fights will happen, but off screen. These two teams are the focus.*