Nope, dont own it. Dont ever think I will.

Lucy could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

I can do this. I won't fail again. I promise. She told herself as she walked the few remaining steps to the arenas metal door. For Fairy Tail. Her resolve strengthened as she walked into the bright sunlight.

Down on the concrete ground of the coliseums stage, the cheers of the spectators were louder and more pronounced. All of her fellow competitors were already in the area, each one tense and determined to make it to first place.

Lucy stood in her designated area, doing her best to calm herself down. Looking up, she saw Mirajane smiling at her from across her. "Good luck." Mirajane voiced to her.

Lucy smiled back, giving a small nod in response. "You too."

Lucy looked up at the stands, towards the Fairy Tail guilds side. A loud "Go Lu-chan!" could be faintly heard from that area. Lucy smiled as the blue hair of her petite friend registered in her thoughts. Bringing her gaze down, she stiffened as Flare stared at her from the side, a manic smile forming on her lips. Lucy glared at her in response.

She turned as the announcer's loud voice boomed from the speakers. "We have all our contestants accounted for! Let's begin!"

Lucy gasped in surprise as a tingle passed through her spine at that moment. She saw her hands glow and she closed her eyes at the feeling of weightlessness that passed over her. The feeling died down a second later as she opened her brown eyes to register that everything was white. She shivered.

"It's snowing…" She murmured as she wrapped her arms around herself. Taking in her surroundings, she faintly registered her opponents also standing side by side. They were in front of what appeared to be a large lake of water that spanned both sides. The cold snow was ankle high and causing her boots to sink in slightly.

Gray would have been right at home here. She told herself as she listened to the announcer's further instructions.

"Contestants must cross two extreme terrains with extreme conditions to reach the finish line, right here in this very coliseum! Is everyone ready?" Lucy tensed.

"Then… START!"

Stumbling a bit as her boots caught in the thick snow, she rushed to the side of the lake. In her peripheral vision, she noted that those standing closest to her were the red head from Lamia Scale and Hibiki from Blue Pegasus. Before she reached the ice, a bright flash of blue light appeared in the middle of the lake.

Wow, she's pretty. The lady looked at each of them in turn as she spoke. When her warnings registered in her ear, Lucy took to examining the ice. She could barely see it, but the looming darkness underneath the water was visible if she looked hard enough.

That looks just like where a monster would lurk. Lucy frowned. The lake was big enough that she worried about the size of the monster. Dropping into the water was a bad idea, as she had no advantage underneath. Mind you, she knew how to swim, but looking into the far off distance, she wasn't confident she could swim that far. In freezing water nonetheless, Lucy cringed at the thought.

As soon as the lady disappeared, the eight mages were slow to respond. It was obvious each one was wary of the dangers that the once normal lake now presented.

Lucy deduced her observations quietly to herself. Thin ice, cold water and a monster. The thin ice should be easy so long as we move along slowly and balance our weight evenly. The water won't be a problem so long as I can keep it from getting cracked. The monster is the most obvious problem. I'd say it could be anything, big or small but I don't see the point in keeping a small monster in such a large lake either. The monster will come for one of us, it just depends on which one, if we're lucky, it might not come out at all, but one misstep could change that.

Sensing movement to her right, she looked over just as Hibiki took out a pair of leather gloves and slipping it over his hands. Getting onto his knees, he put his hands on the cold ice and very slowly, crawled forward.

Staring at him, Lucy scanned his figure from head to toe. Her eyes alighted upon his black leather shoes. I get it. It'll be hard for him to walk on those shoes, so he's using his pants and hands to keep from slipping and sliding everywhere.

Soon enough, as though Hibiki's movements had broken the lull, the other competitors soon started moving as well. In the distance, Lucy could see Mirajane transform into her Satan Soul persona, her eyes now slanted in determination. She used her magic to hover and glide across the ice. "Lucky Mira." Lucy murmured.

The mage from Mermaid Heel was stepping slowly on the ice, her webs sticking her feet firmly to the ground for each step she took. The man from Quatro was crawling slowly, his feet shivering for each step he took while the other mage from Sabertooth walked calmly and slowly across the ice.

That left just three on the snow. Lucy looked to her far left as Flare used her hair to hold her up in the air. Her long strands of red moved lightly across the ice, bringing Flare along with it.

Lucy looked right next to her and saw the petite mage from Lamia Scale shivering. "Hey, are you okay?" She asked in concern.

The mage looked at her, her grey eyes wide. "O-oh. Y-yes. I'm fine." She nodded in response.

"Are you sure?" Lucy wasn't convinced.

"Y-yeah. I'm okay." The petite nodded, her eyes burning with determination. But Lucy noted the small spark if fear in her eyes.

Lucy nodded. "Okay. I'll be going now then. Good luck. "Lucy smiled at her before walking to the edge and slowly, very slowly, put one boot on the ice. Luc was pleasantly surprised to feel that despite the thin ice, the surface was rough enough that it gripped her boots steadily.

Feeling more confident, she moved slowly but surely with each step forward. After a few meters from the ice, she looked back to see the mage (Chelia if she remembered right) step slowly on the ice.

Satisfied that she was at least moving albeit slowly, Lucy focused on getting herself off the ice. "In any case, Mira will probably get to the finish line faster." She muttered to herself.

For the next few minutes, the mages moved at their own pace across the lake. There was no chance to sabotage another competitor as the thin ice proved to need concentration for each mage. One wrong move would cause the thin layer to collapse under their feet.

When finally Lucy was at what appeared to be fifteen feet from the edge of the lake, she looked up only to see most of her opponents just a few metres further then her, almost on the white snow. Mira herself had just reached it. She'd moved slowly while gliding, although faster than the others so as not to attract the attention of any waiting monsters.

Soon after her to follow was Orga, his demeanour unchanging. Next was Hibiki, who stood up and stretched as he got onto the stable snow. He looked back and smiled at Lucy.

Lucy smiled back as took a step forward. The remaining mages on the ice stopped as what felt like a huge ripple rocked underneath them. Lucy froze, the mage from Mermaid Heel stiffened then moved the last three feet to reach the snow. The shivering mage from Quatro Puppy scrambled to reach the snow, his pale form shaking in fright. Flare shook as she tried to move faster across the ice, almost reaching it when a cracking sound registered in their minds.

Looking to the far right, Lucy paled as she saw a long red tentacle shoot from the ice. After one had reached the top, three more followed.

"Oh God! Giant Octopus!" Lucy squealed, her mind sending her into a panic. Lucy looked at what seemed to be the far off bank of snow. "You can do it Lucy, just run to the end." Lucy moved forward, adrenaline over taking her, clouding her fear. But she froze at the sound of a sharp shriek from behind.

Looking back, her eyes widened.

Chelia was still in the middle of the ice; her legs shaking, thirty feet from the snow. She was shivering as the octopus brought out two more of its arms and raised its head from the crack it had created. Two large black eyes stared at the petite mage.

Chelia shook in her place. "No, please no. I- I can't swim!" She screamed, tears streaming down her face.

The octopus moved forward, its long arms creating more cracks and holes in the ice, causing the ice cold water to overflow onto the remaining lake.

It was going after Chelia! Lucy vaguely understood that much, through the panic clouding her mind.

Back at the arena, Sherry screamed. "No! Chelia!" The red head whimpered, her eyes glued to the lacryma screen as Master Bob tried to calm her down.

"Oh no. That's Sherry-sans cousin isn't it?" Levy murmured, worried.

"What is Lucy still doing on the ice? She has to move!" Cana gritted her teeth.

Toby bit down on his fingers, worried about their team mate. "Chelia-chan!"

"This isn't good." Lyon spoke. Jura clenched his own fists in worry.

Erza stared worriedly at the screen as Natsu and Gray started to panic.

"She has to move, why she isn't moving?" Natsu roared.

Gray narrowed his eyes. "She's going to do something stupid. I can feel it."

Lucy couldn't help it. She had to do something.

Like what? This is a contest. You're not here to protect the others! Her logic reasoned out with her. You're already second to the last. At least this way, you won't be last. Your magic can't even work on this properly here.

I know that. But I can't just leave a kid crying. I'd never forgive myself.

Her logic scoffed. Your being an idiot. She's a mage. She knew what she was getting herself into. But fine. Do what you will. Can't convince you otherwise.

"Exactly." Lucy muttered.

When the octopus was a few feet away, Lucy looked at the red head. "Chelia!" She yelled. The mage looked at her, tears in her grey eyes. "Run to the snow as fast as you can."

"I can't! I'm scared. He'll get me!" The petite screamed in terror.

"He won't come after you! I promise!" Lucy yelled back.

"How!"

Lucy didn't answer. When the octopus was close, she stomped her foot into the ground, hard.

The ice cracked, spreading like webs around her.

Then, she fell.

Gray's fears proved to be true. They all watched in bated breath as Lucy stomped her boot into the ground before she was plunged feet first into the icy cold water.

"That idiot! Is she insane!" Cana screamed.

Sherry gasped. "What in the world…?"

Happy shook his head. "This cannot end well, aye."

The audience watched as the blond fell, as soon as she hit the water, the octopus stopped going after the petite mage. It stopped then instead plunged itself down as well and followed after the blond.

"Lu-chans trying to be the decoy!" Levy screamed in horror.

"Oh dear." Makarov fretted.

Luckily, it appeared Chelia knew what Lucy was doing, so she ran across the ice, uncaring of her crashing the already unstable ice. She landed face first in the snow bank.

Getting up, Chelia looked across the broken vestiges of the ice.

Hibiki gaped at the lake. "Lucy…"

Mira moved to help, but a barrier stopped her. "What in the world?" Mira glared as words appeared across the invisible barrier.

"None shall pass as soon as you have cleared this stage."

Mira punched at the wall, scratched at it and blasted it. No dent.

Her eyes narrowed in worry. "Lucy, do your best."

A.N:

So…. Hi? *dodges thrown fruits* I'M SORRY! I deserved them. This has actually been sitting on my computer for a while. My internet over loaded on itself so we couldn't connect the computer but we could connect the Ipod. Our computer doesn't have a wifi thingy.

And while this story now goes into AU due to the fact that Hibiki went into the contest with Erza, I'll do my best to finish this based on the original now. So yeah…

And I've noticed a lot of people are starting to find interest in my other unfinished!story about Lucy/Midnight…. That's another thing I feel bad about too.

I've noticed during my hiatus from writing that a lot of people do long challenges, i.e 100 chapters and stuff and I can't even finish my 12 chapters much less the 120 I promised all of my Seasons readers. I'm ashamed off myself, really. I'm sorry guys. I'll try to finish at least two more today. In the meantime, I hope you all would like this update.