Lucy cringed and held back a shriek as she watched the two guys inside the ring hurl one punch after another toward their opponent. Lucy could tell they were both losing their stamina. This was the third and final round of the last bout. Even though this fight was just considered a friendly match, that didn't mean there would be holding back. She watched as her auburn-haired friend slipped to the right as his blonde opponent threw another forceful jab down the middle. He dodged it with ease, but Lucy still tensed at the close call. You'd think she'd be used to this sport having grown up around it.

She sighed, how could anyone enjoy this sport? Sure, it was exciting to watch, and she respected boxers wholeheartedly but, stuck in a confined space with one other person whose number one goal is attack you and bash your head in? Nah, Lucy thought to herself, I'll pass.

Lucy watched as the adroit fighter with auburn hair pivot to his right, catching his opponent off guard with a furious left hook. His opponent stumbled back and smacked hard into the corner post completely dazed.

Almost over…

As Lucy predicted, he wasted no time in moving to finish off the fight. The brave blonde didn't have time to catch his next move and counter, his opponent was too quick. The auburn-haired fighter didn't have to throw more than three straight punches until the blonde fell to the ground. Taking a few steps back, the fighter still standing gazed out across the audience as he panted from exhaustion.

Hoots and hollers bounced around the mini arena. The audience continued cheering as Lucy watched her dad, the Heartfilia Club's head coach step into the ring to check over the blonde. He was conscious but a bit stunned over but aware of his surroundings. The crowd, now standing, seemed to cheer not just for the winner, but for the tenacity of both boxers and the entertainment they'd just provided. The coach brought his hand up to the boy's forehead to lean it back to get a look at the boy's face. From where Lucy was sitting, she could vaguely make out a stretch of crimson near his left eye where he'd been struck. He leaned on the coach for support and stood up. Walking to the middle of the ring with help, the blonde looked at his auburn-haired opponent and flashed him a bright smile. Lucy stood as the rest of the crowd continued their cheers, keeping her eyes on the two fighters in the ring who exchanged a few words and then touched gloves as a sign of peace.

"ANNND, THERE YOU HAVE IT FOLKS! What an EXCITING fight from Heartfilia Club's, Loke the Lion, and from Sabertooth Boxing, Sting, The White Dragon!"

The crowd continued to clap, but their voices faded out as the announcer over the intercom continued.

"These two fighters are as fierce as they come! Both have been putting in those long hours of training day after day in efforts of gearing up for Fiore's Boxing Championship coming later this winter! You won't want to miss that, folks. Boxers all over Fiore will be represented including members from Heartfilia Club, Sabertooth, Lamia Scale, and Fairy Tail!"

The mention of the four, well-known boxing and martial arts establishments in Fiore erupted more cheers among the crowd. Lucy shifted on her feet as she waited for the announcer to continue. It was late, and she was tired. Ready to be home in bed. Though she usually didn't attend big events like these, she had decided it'd be good to come to one every now and then to support her friends. Some of which she'd known for as long as she could remember. Most members, including Loke, had been part of her dad's amateur team since she was 11.

Everyone in Fiore knew who her dad was. He was as intimidating as they come in the boxing community. Over the past five years, boxing had become a popular sport in all of Fiore, and the ambition for Heartfilia Club to be at the top was her dad's number one goal. Her dad's desire to be the best took priority over any and everything in their lives. As far as Lucy knew, Heartfilia's boxing team was reigning as number one. Their team had taken home that prestigious title the past two years in a row through the Fiore Championship.

"That's right! The Fiore Boxing Championship is the ultimate competition that will determine the number one team in all of Fiore! If you enjoyed tonight's matches, be sure to follow us for updates and tickets! I'm afraid this concludes tonight's events. On behalf of the Heartfilia Club, we want to thank you all for coming to our Sparring Wars tonight, and a very special thank you to our guests from Sabertooth! Drive safe and goodnight everyone!"

Heartfilia Club held the monthly "Sparring Wars" four times a year. It had started out as an open sparring practice, open to any aspiring boxers in the community. However, it soon grew to a big event. Boxers from both within and outside Magnolia could come take part in a friendly, public competition. The event eventually became open to the community, drawing in crowds. Over the past couple years, it had proved to be a way for competitors to see where their opponents stand skill wise.

Lucy weaved through the crowd out of the arena room to the main lobby. The lobby was covered in competition banners with names of top fighters on the Heartfilia team. To the right of the lobby a narrow hallway lead to her dad's office and the locker rooms, while the opposite side was an open fitness gym open to the public. Though it was open to the public, it was where the Heartfilia team did their training. It was fit with the highest quality of boxing equipment. Heavy bags, double-end bags, speed bags, treadmills, and other obscure fitness machines Lucy tried to avoid at all costs.

Lucy walked down the hallway and stopped at her dad's office to peek inside. He wasn't in there, as she could have guessed. He's probably in the locker room, she thought.

She continued down the hall toward the locker rooms. As she was getting close to the door, she heard a booming familiar voice.

"LOKE! GIVE ME BACK MY DAMN GLOVES RIGHT NOW OR I SWEAR I'LL-", the voice of Aquarius cut off abruptly and before Lucy could hear anything else she heard a large crashing sound followed by a heavy grunt.

Lucy snickered to herself, he probably deserved that.

Lucy warily approached the door and slipped in just in time to see Loke on the ground with the lean, light-blue haired girl towering over him. She was in white and dark blue sweats that bore the Heartfilia Boxing team logo. They hadn't seen her yet.

"OW! Jeez, Aquarius...was that really necessary?" Loke said rubbing his forehead which was turning red. "I was about to give them back!"

"DON'T. TAKE. MY. STUFF." She fumed as she emphasized each word.

Loke sighed, "Really. You couldn't even wait to finish your threat before throwing the damn trash can at me?" He shook his head as he slowly got back up, still pouting at his new bruise. He walked over to a locker nearby, opened it, and pulled out bright turquoise and gold boxing gloves. Walking back over to where Aquarius was standing, he dangled the gloves in her face. She whipped them out of his hands and snarled at him before turning around to go back to gathering her things at the opposite side of the room.

Lucy recognized most of the Heartfilia team members that were scattered about, as well as a few boxers from Sabertooth lingering through lockers and gym bags.

Lucy smirked as she walked forward and decided to make her presence known, "You know, you should know better by now than to mess with her or her stuff."

Hearing her voice, Loke turned around. He laughed gently and crossed his arms over his bare, muscular chest, he had on the Heartfilia Boxing sweatpants as well. "Ahh, don't worry. It's all part of the plan, sweetheart."

"Uhh…plan?", she chose to ignore the fact he called her sweetheart.

"Yep. Scorpio and I have just been trying to help her unlock a more feminine and gentle side."

Gentle? Aquarius? He had to be kidding. "By taking her stuff?"

"Well… more so just pulling little stunts like I just did to see how she reacts." He uncrossed his arms and grinned at her, "The funny thing is, whenever I mess with her, she just gets pissed. With Scorpio, however, she gets really shy…and flustered."

Lucy raised her eyebrows at him, "Wow. Never thought I'd hear that about Aquarius. Perhaps you're on to something." She couldn't hold back the smile she felt spreading across her face. The idea of her iron-willed and stubborn friend showing a boy so much as shynesswas too good. "But still, anyone that would choose to mess with her is out of their mind. Keep that up, you'll end up with far worse than a little bruise."

Loke rubbed his forehead, "Can't say I disagree with ya, there. I'll keep you updated on our little experiment. In the meantime, what are you doing here? I would have thought you headed home by the third bout."

"Hey, just because I'm not a huge fan of boxing doesn't mean I don't like to support you guys!" Lucy crossed her arms across her chest, "Besides, I was a little curious to see how those guys at Sabertooth have progressed. I mean, with the Fiore Championship coming up soon and all."

"Aww, isn't that sweet, you're worried for us." Loke reached his hand out to playfully pat her head, "No need to worry, those guys don't hold a candle to us."

"Wha…What-? Oh shut up, you make it sound like I know nothing about the team!"

"Calm down, Lucy" He smiled at her outburst. "I know how much you care. Actually…if you ask me, I'd say they still lack restraint in the ring." He almost sounded disappointed in his rivals.

Lucy began to say something when a familiar face with blonde, ruffled hair appeared next to Loke from behind. The blonde swung an arm over the broad shoulders of his former opponent. He had on navy blue sweatpants and wore a white athletic jacket. On the top right corner of his chest, the jacket displayed a white, triangular shape, Lucy knew it to be the Sabertooth boxing logo. His eye looked swollen where he had collided with Loke's punch, nevertheless both eyes shone bright at her with a wide grin on his face.

"Hope you haven't been listenin' to anything this clown says, Lucy. He's just trying to impress you by pretending to know what he's talking about." Sting said.

Loke gently shoved him off and leered at him, "Says the guy who got his sorry ass whooped tonight!"

"He's so touchy, isn't he?" Sting whispered toward Lucy.

Loke flashed up his hand to punch Sting in the arm, but Sting immediately caught his fist flat in his right hand.

"Now who's lacking restraint?" Sting laughed and Loke brought his hand down to his side.

"Pfft. You know good and well you guys are all bang and no box." Loke crossed his arms and smiled.

Lucy interrupted them, "Okay, okay guys! Save it for the next time you guys beat each other up."

They both looked at her and watched as she scanned the room, "Actually, I was looking for my dad to tell him I'm heading back to my apartment tonight instead of coming back to the house, have either of you guys seen him?"

Lucy had only recently moved out on her own. The Heartfilia Club gym was closer to her home where her dad still lived so she had debated just going back there instead of her apartment.

Both fighters looked around the room where a few other boxers from the night's event were gathering up loose clothing articles, boxing wraps, and other personal items that were scattered around.

"Umm… I thought I saw him talking to a someone just a few minutes ago… someone I didn't recognize, but he must have left the room with him." Sting told her.

Lucy gave a nod in reply, no telling how long he'd be. She rarely saw her dad because of his job. Her dad hadn't been crazy about moving out. She was 20 years old now and living at her father's overwhelming mansion had just become too much over the past year. With her father working late every night, she would find herself home alone in the elaborate, three-story house ready to be driven out of her mind. It wasn't too bad when she had things she needed to do for her work and she was able to keep herself busy, but over the summer she had decided to take advantage of her time and savings. She moved out.

"Well, I guess it doesn't matter. It should be fine. I just wanted to tell him I decided to go back to my apartment instead of the house."

Loke spoke, "Gotcha… I'd say he's going to be here a while. I think I recognized the man he was talking to. There's a new boxing team that will be competing in the Fiore Championship this year. Or at least, that's what the guy is trying to arrange. He's the owner of a new boxing gym called Raven Tail, his name is Ivan Dreyar."

"Ivan Dreyar? Wait a sec, isn't that the guy connected to Fairy Tail?" Sting asked.

"Sort of, I believe Ivan is the son of the Fairy Tail owner, Makarov. But as far as I understand, he's got nothing to do with Fairy Tail itself."

Lucy chimed in, "I've never heard of him or Raven Tail. How long have they been around?"

Loke responded, "I'm not entirely sure, I know they just transferred here to Magnolia, but I think they've been around for a while. I can't remember where they originated from. But unfortunately for us, I've heard some nasty things about them."

"Really? Like what?"

Loke shifted on his feet, "I've just heard they've pulled some nasty tricks in the ring. I heard a rumor they're big into what's known as rabbit punching and lacing. Rabbit punching is throwing quick punches to the back of the head and neck, which is illegal in boxing. And Lacing is when boxers use special laced-up gloves to their advantage by purposefully throwing a hit that causes the lace on the glove to drag across their opponent's face. It sounds silly but if done a certain way it can cause nasty cuts. If that happens close to your eyes…" Loke shook his head.

"Don't like the sound of that, you said they're going to be in the Championship this year too?" Sting's eyebrows knitted at the new information.

Loke shrugged, "I have a feeling that's what he is talking to Coach Heartfilia about." He turned his gaze to Lucy, "Your ole man's got a lot of influence on their participation."

Lucy furrowed her brow and took in what Loke said. She'd never heard of Raven Tail before but the way Loke talked about them and the way he had said Ivan's name unnerved her. If something or someone put Loke on edge, she thought that was reason enough to be concerned. Surely her dad wouldn't allow them to join with their hostile history…right?

Loke studied her expression and softened his face, "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about though. I doubt your dad would want them to participate. You should get home, if your dad comes back in here, I'll tell him you stopped by."

"Yeah…yeah, you're probably right. I guess I'll catch you two later then." She smiled as she turned back to the door and before walking out she looked over her shoulder to grab their attention once more. "Oh, and for the record, I thought you both put up an awesome fight." She grinned at both boys and they brightly returned her smile.

"Ahh just wait until next time Blondie, I'll slug out this bastard for sure." Sting winked at her as he slung his arm over Loke, much to his irritation.

Loke rolled his eyes but before he could say anything she laughed, "I'll hold you to that, Blondie."