Title: The Last One Standing
Genre: Humor, Friendship
Pairing: None.
Summary: Master thought of it. Laxus and Mira played along. And Lucy had the main role. Everyone's a spy, but there's only one true spy.
Note: Inspired by SBS Running Man, a Korean variety show. This was written two years ago but I put it on a temporary hiatus. You'll probably find a few mistakes but can you let them pass by? Thanks, please enjoy!
Disclaimer: Nope, still not Hiro Mashima :)
"The first mission of today's game is 'FT Flag'," Makarov announced, showing them a proud and confident grin. Some complained while others smiled. But the majority were complaints from the Fairy Tail hunters.
"Again?" Happy asked.
"Find a flag across the whole Magnolia City and reach it within thirty minutes. Freed will be using his runes to prevent you from using your powers. There will be fifteen flags. Two persons in one flag isn't allowed. Bring it back immediately when you find it," Makarov explained in one breath, feeling determined. He had planned through all of this carefully and he was sure that the hunters wouldn't be able to find the flags that easily like they did before.
"Gramps, who's participating in today's game?" Natsu asked casually, feeling excited to know who was playing. Of course, he was one of the regulars and that made him happy. Except for the fact that he had to play and have teamwork with the ice princess.
Makarov made a short sound as he looked at the paper he was holding. He suddenly hummed again as he listed, "Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Erza, Wendy, Levy, Gajeel, Bixlow, Evergreen..." he trailed off, briefly looking at the Mages to see what their reaction were. Some were suprised that he had added new members like Bixlow and Evergreen and didn't let Jet, Max, and Lisanna join in today. But the Master added, "Also Mira and Laxus."
"What?!" Almost half of the participants shouted in surprise. They all feared the two. Mira and Laxus were S-Class Mages and even without their powers, they were still the strongest of all Fairy Tail hunters.
Last time they were included in the participants' list, they both won. The game before that time that they also got listed on, Mira won. On their first game, Laxus won. Even Natsu didn't have a chance against them if they were talking about games in these races.
"Yes, we're joining today," Mira said as she suddenly showed up beside the Master.
While the members were arguing that the two joining at the same time was unfair, a thought came to Lucy's mind.
"What's the prize?" she asked amongst the noise and the insults she could hear from Natsu's talkative loud mouth.
"Okay, everyone, the prize is..." Just with that phrase, it got everyone's attention. The weekly prizes were so good and it could all be used to their benefits and that's part of the reason why they were trying hard to win these races. "Five million Jewels and an S-Class mission with an S-Class Mage you choose!"
Natsu and Gray cheered loudly simultaneously. Now that prize was the best bet of this game! They would really have to give their bests to win this game and go on that mission. But Laxus and Mira... they shuddered at the thought. Gajeel, on the inside, wanted to win really badly for that mission but didn't show it. Wendy and Erza's eyes sparkled at the thought of buying sweets while Levy and Lucy's eyes were bright, probably thinking of buying books and clothes. But the two guests didn't care about the prizes. They can go on any mission they want and they already have that much of an amount of money. They just needed the satisfactory of eliminating everyone from the game and winning. That was their goal.
"So the thirty minutes starts..." Immediately, they were all preparing to run away from the guild, wanting to win. Even if the old man didn't say it, there were always prizes for the first, second, and third place winners in every game. "Now!"
And they all ran off.
TLOS
In a random alleyway, Lucy was catching her breath. Her ears caught a random sound from behind. She turned around to look but didn't find any. There were no flags either in the alley. Then, she heard a familiar laugh from above. She looked at the direction and immediately saw Bixlow on top of the building.
"Gotta go, cosplayer queen!" she heard him say before the man was jumping to another building. 'Right. I can look above,' she thought, feeling a bit stupid that she hadn't thought of it earlier. 'But I won't be able to see the dark places.'
With a sigh, she exited the alley and went to the next alley after confirming there weren't any flags nearby. As soon as she went to the alley, she saw the white triangular flag with a gold outline of their guild sign. She felt proud when she saw it.
"Bring it back immediately when you find it."
Thinking about that quickly, Lucy rushed back to the guild, wanting to see who else had found the flag. She ran across the streets of Magnolia, turning on a few streets then she could see the guild in view already.
"Lucy!" She saw Erza standing in the middle of the guild next to the Master, also holding the same flag like she was holding. Just then, Gajeel showed up on the street to her right, running with a flag too.
"Bad luck, Bunny Girl. You're third place today." As she heard that, Gajeel was just next to her as they both ran to the guild at the same pace.
While running, she took a deep breath then she kicked Gajeel's leg, making him trip and fall. "What the hell!" she heard. Lucy looked over her shoulder and smirked, "Who's third place now, 'Shubidouba' freak?"
TLOS
Meanwhile, a particular two were arguing.
"I found it first!"
"I saw it first!"
"I got here first!"
"I took it first!"
"I did!"
"Just give it to me!"
Unknown to Natsu and Gray, there was another flag hidden further in the alleyway. But Evergreen suddenly appeared from above and grabbed it. She showed it to the two.
"What do you call this?" she asked, smirking before walking away from them.
They were both stunned that there was another flag there but they didn't see it. Feeling like an idiot, the two cooled down for a second, but they still weren't letting the flag go.
"Keep it! I'm looking for another one," Gray uttered, annoyed. He walked to the opposite side of the alley where he and Natsu came from and immediately, he saw another one.
'And I even fought with Flame Brain.'
TLOS
Thirty minutes later, everyone arrived on time back to the guild with their own flags. Erza won first place, Lucy got second place and the third place to Gajeel.
After them, Mira and Laxus arrived at the same time, walking calmly. They were talking about something so they didn't really notice that they didn't win. But to the four's surprise, Makarov included, they didn't care if they lost.
Next was Evergreen, then Natsu, Gray after that, Bixlow next, Levy and Wendy at the same time. They had all found the flags and managed to arrive in thirty minutes.
Thankfully - or unfortunately - no one got eliminated from the start.
TLOS
"Return?" Erza asked the Master as he gave her a paper. On the back of the paper, it had the words 'Return' written.
"It means after you are eliminated, you just have to say it and you can go back to the whole race. This can only be used once," was Makarov's explanation.
Titania smiled. There was no way she was getting eliminated in the earlier games. If ever, she'd be out at the last mission and she'll just use it once she loses. That five million Jewels were at stake. And she heard that there was a new armor at Clover Town and new sweets around. She wanted the prize badly.
It was a great prize, if you ask her. If she'd just win the other games, then she'll have the most advantages for the last game.
"Thanks, Master." Erza handed him the envelope back with a smile. She went back to the other members as she bumped into Lucy on the way.
"Erza, what was the prize?" Natsu asked her.
She glared at him. "Get your own prize."
"H-Hai."
Mira smiled when she saw Erza glaring at Natsu. Truthfully, she also wanted to win but she was all right with losing. There were other games and she could get her advantages there. She promised an alliance with Laxus with him, they'd win this week's race together. They talked about it and they made a decision. They won't give anyone mercy.
"You think it's her?" She heard someone ask her. She turned around and saw Laxus eyeing Erza—not in a perverted way—but in a way like he was observing her actions.
"Erza?" She asked, more to herself like she was thinking about it very hard. Then, she suddenly shook her head. "I don't think it's her."
"Who are your guesses?"
"I think it's Gray or Bixlow," Mira answered as she observed the other participants. "Gray's unusually quiet today and Bixlow's acting weird."
Laxus shook his head. "It's not Bixlow. I asked him and Evergreen before the race. It's not them." He narrowed his eyes when he saw Levy pulling out a piece of paper from her pocket. The blue-haired girl was looking at it. He thought,'What's that paper?'
"Anyone could be it. Let's just watch them for now," Mira told him in a hushed voice. He nodded in agreement, his eyes still narrowed.
TLOS
The next mission was harder than they thought. Being the first place, Erza had been only watching them from the sides. But Master said that when the third mission takes place, she'd be back in the game.
The second mission was called 'Help Me'. They'll pick a paper from the box that the Master was holding. There are numbers written on the back of the papers. Whoever picks the same number as they picked, they'll be their teammate.
Lucy's partner was Gajeel while Levy was paired with Evergreen. Wendy was with Bixlow. Mira and Laxus were a pair. And unfortunately, Natsu and Gray picked the same number. And oh, they won last place.
The pair would have their backs facing each other while their hands were tied tightly with a rope and they'd have to untangle themselves within ten minutes.
First place was Laxus and Mira, second was Bixlow and Wendy, and third belonged to Levy and Evegreen.
The game made Erza, the Exceeds, and Makarov laugh at their frustration and annoyed calls. The others that were watching were also laughing at them, especially at Natsu and Gray.
TLOS
Wendy was panicking on the inside. When she and Bixlow went to the Master to get their prize, she knew that both Laxus and Mira were watching the two of them, making her nervous.
The Master handed the both of them a small envelope. She opened it for Bixlow and took out a paper from inside.
There was a 'Clones' written on it.
"What's this?" Bixlow asked, not familiar with the prize. Whenever he was included in the participants, the prizes he got were different. This was probably a new prize that the Master had thought of.
"At any mission, you can use this to make clones of yourself and they'll stay by your side and they'll be loyal to you." Makarov explained to them, smiling widely. He was proud that he thought of this by himself.
"All right." Bixlow grinned. Wendy knew it was because of the prize. For her, it was honestly advantageous for them. If they used the clones, they might be able to take out the other stronger members.
They have a chance in winning this. Wendy proudly thought, 'I'm winning this race today.'
They went back to the other members while Levy and Evergreen went to the Master. It wasn't allowed to tell the others what you got as a prize. Thankfully, no one asked them. After a couple of minutes, Levy and Evergreen went back.
Then, Master walked in front of them.
'What is Master going to announce?"
The Master grinned. "From now on, you have to figure out who's the spy."
"SPY?!"
"There's a spy?"
"Who?"
"Who's the spy?"
Wendy stayed quiet. But she was panicking. 'Master, why did you say it?'
Tantrum Zone: Mwahaha. I know everything's happening too soon in this chapter but I purposely made it like that. I'm focusing on their last mission, which is the whole point of the race. And everyone will know who's the spy. Oh, guess who it is!
There are reasons why I divided them like this and mostly everyone will have a part about them. And there's also a reason why I ended this chapter with Wendy. It was supposed to be Mira's part but I decided Wendy would be more fitting to the chapter :)
I haven't found any stories like these and since I have already written lots of these, I thought I might post them :) Ya like it?
FOLLOW! Promise, it'll be fun!
REVIEW! I accept anything.
FAVE! There'll be more!
- Annie