Gray clenched his teeth together out of pure frustration. The cocky brat was easily dodging his every attack and throwing him around like a rag doll. He was already covered in bruises and panting heavily, and yet the kid hadn't broken a sweat.
"Ready to give up, ice boy?" Ray smirked, letting the lights return to their original positions in the lamp posts, as if he felt he no longer had a need to hide himself.
Gray was grateful that finally he could see the brat, but he snarled, "Who are you calling a boy?"
"Losers don't deserve respect. Lesson one in the book," Ray replied, licking his lips with an evil smile.
"Wrong," Gray said, getting into another fighting stance. "The first lesson you learn from fighting is that you only lose when you give up, and that's something I'll never do!"
"Hmm, you don't get the point, do you? Giving up when you're facing someone you can't beat will save your life," Ray said in an annoyed tone, nimbly sidestepping the ice cannonball.
"Giving up also means you'll never know if you could've beaten the enemy if you had tried," Gray argued back, charging at Ray with a sword of ice.
"Fine then, don't give up. Don't regret it when I kill you twice over!" Ray shouted, ducking under his blade and kicking Gray right in the stomach.
As Gray wiped the blood from his mouth, the sky started rumbling in the distance, lit up by flashes of lightning. Ray glanced over and said, "Looks like Emi's on the loose. One of your friends is going to die."
Gray felt a tingle of fear run down his spine. By now, he was pretty sure everyone had been singled out, left to fight their own opponent. If either Juvia or Lucy was fighting over there⦠He had to go help them, but he couldn't leave his battle either. He wasn't walking away without a victory over the brat.
"Why don't you go and help your poor friend?" Ray taunted. "You're going to lose anyways."
"I didn't waste my breath to give up. I'm not going anywhere until you see that those who never give up will end up victorious!" Gray shouted. He knew his only shot was to somehow get a lucky hit at Ray, but that would only happen if there weren't any lights blinding him.
"Ice Make Lance!" he shouted, charging at Ray. Ice lances flew in all directions again, just like they had in the start.
Ray smirked and leapt out of the way easily. He raised his hand into the air and laughed, "Did you actually think that would work, ice boy?"
"I wasn't aiming for you," Gray said, his head still lowered. Ray narrowed his eyes in confusion. For some reason, it was harder to see his enemy. He suddenly realized he hadn't been able to pull any lights towards him either. He glanced around the street, slightly alarmed. The lances that he'd been so sure were meant to attack him had instead shattered every lamp post in sight, pulling the street into complete darkness.
"Y-you, you cheater!" Ray shouted, unable to think of anything else. Fear was already starting to settle in. The dark reminded Ray of all the bad things in life. The bullying, the abandonment, the hate, the blindness.
Ray clenched his teeth together and took in a deep breath in an effort to calm himself. Light. He had to find some light.
"Cheating is your specialty, isn't it?" Gray asked. He could tell he had successfully put Ray on edge. The only bad part was that he couldn't see much either in the dark. If only he'd planned it out more, he would've spared one lamp post. One bulb of light wouldn't blind him.
Suddenly, Ray pulled out a lighter and flipped it on. He threw it into the air and the fire stretched out into a furious dragon that cast all the darkness away. Ray could see Gray's shocked look and smirked, "Exactly. No one said I didn't have any more tricks up my sleeve. You're no match for me!"
The dragon let out a roar and spat a huge ball of fire at Gray, who just barely managed to leap out of the way. The heat scorched his bare skin, causing him to cringe in pain.
Ray sped towards Gray and lashed the dragon at him like a whip, sending Gray flying into the air. The dragon opened its jaws and swallowed Gray in one bite. He cried out in pain as the flames licked his body, burning him with their intense heat.
"Give up already, ice boy! I can let you out if you do. Otherwise, you'll die in just minutes!" Gray heard Ray call out, a sneer in a voice.
Gray struggled against the flames. Sweat was trickling down his body in buckets, his throat hoarse and dry. His vision was already beginning to blur as he tried to fight the heat. He wondered if this was actually one time when giving up would save his life. The heat was too intense for him. Already, his consciousness was starting to go black. Ray's words kept ringing in his head, telling him to give up, saying he couldn't win.
From somewhere faraway, Gray thought he heard the sound of thunder. Probably it was that person Ray had mentioned. Someone fighting one of his friends.
He suddenly remembered his teammates, his friends. They were all out there as well, risking their lives, fighting to the bitter end. What was he doing, thinking about giving up? There were friends in danger. People who he had to help. If he gave up now, what would there be left to go back to? Natsu would never let him live with the fact that he gave up on a fight. He had to fight back. He would win. He had to.
Gray shut his eyes tight and concentrated on gathering all the magic he could muster. He took in a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes again, the determination returning to his eyes. He let out a roar and released the magic inside him in a furious frenzy. Ray stumbled backwards, startled as he watched his dragon turn into a frozen statue that burst into a million pieces as Gray freed himself.
"That's impossible! There's no way you can freeze fire!" Ray shouted as the ice shards fell to the floor, glistening under the moonlight.
Gray picked himself up and fixed Ray with a glare. He replied, "Friends never abandon their friends. As long as I have comrades to protect, anything is possible. I'd rather die trying to beat you than give up!"
Ray clenched his teeth together and burst into a sprint at lightning speed towards Gray. Frustrated, he slammed his fist right into his face.
"OW!" Ray shouted, clutching his hand in pain. He glared up at Gray, wondering what had happened. He wasn't moving at all, even though half his face was crushed, sparkling. People couldn't sparkle. Only ice could.
"Caught you," Gray said, grabbing onto Ray's collar just as realization began to settle in. Ray tried to shake him off but Gray held on tight, wrestling Ray into a tighter hold. He said, "You have a hard time seeing in the dark, don't you? As long as I have you in this grip, you won't be able to escape."
"Shut up!" Ray shouted, crashing through the streets and slamming into walls. So maybe he couldn't see in the dark. So what if he couldn't get Gray to let go? He would just crush him by running into buildings. The debris might hurt them both, but Gray had taken more damage. He'd definitely go down first.
But even after Ray was bruised and battered, Gray still held on, both of them panting for breath. Ray struggled to pry himself from his grip, hissing, "Why aren't you down? Why are you still here?"
"I've suffered worse fights than this," Gray rasped. "Without lights, you're nothing but a kid who can run fast. And if I can't beat a brat like you, I'm not a Fairy Tail mage!"
With that, he summoned an ice hammer and sent it crashing down on the two of them.
When the hammer vanished, Gray finally let go of Ray, staggering to stay on his two feet. He wondered if it had been a bad idea to use the move on both of them, but there was no way he could've hit Ray without attacking himself. He dropped to his knees, gasping for breath, watching Ray, whose back was still facing him.
"Are your friends really worth sacrificing yourself?" Ray asked, his tone dull.
Gray prepared himself for the worst. He replied, "For my friends, I will continue to fight to protect them, no matter what happens."
Ray fell silent. Thinking of his own past brought a sad smile onto his face. He gave a snort and said "Then I wish you the best of luck" before he closed his eyes and collapsed onto the ground.
A/N: I never actually decided on what kind of magic these guys know, so I started making things up. Unfortunately, creativity isn't something I'm good at.
I think I'll mess around in the next few chapters. Or I might not. I almost never do what I say.
Thanks again for reading! Hopefully my future battles will be better.
