Disclaimer : The usual. Don't own FT or DGM.


Chapter Nine


As the hologram of the pumpkin disappeared, cheers and yells erupted all over Crocus. Participants from their inns took off towards the gigantic labyrinth, shouting out battle cries as the townspeople from below cheered them on.

Natsu Dragneel grinned cockily. He cracked his knuckles.

"It's now or never!" he called to Erza, Lucy, and Gray, "let's get through this giant thing so we can kick Sabertooth's ass!"

"If this is a race, we better get going," Gray agreed.

"Hold on just a second!" Erza interrupted. "He said 'All five participants must arrive together.' We're missing Wendy."

Natsu gaped like an idiot. "Noooooooo, Wendy!"

"Wait!" A large figure stepped forward. "You have me!"

"E-Elfman!"


"If this is a race, we better get going," said Lavi, bouncing forward towards the pathway that was formed a mere seconds ago. Streaks of multi-colored magic flashed around the labyrinth; some of the 114 guilds had already entered.

"Hold on just a second," Bak cut in, "I have something to tell all of you."

"What is it?" Allen asked.

"While you're all in there, I don't want you getting into fights with any other guilds," Bak told them, although he was looking pointedly at Kanda. "Best avoid it if you can. You don't know how dangerous the magic is in this dimension." He paused. "It could be more powerful than your Innocence."

"Don't worry, Bak-san, we won't go over the top," Lavi promised.

"We'll just focus on getting to the goal," Lenalee piped in.

Bak still didn't look convinced.

"Walker?" he asked, turning to Allen, who nodded at once.

"It's just as Lavi and Lenalee say. You have our word."

"All right. But to be on the safe side... Kanda, you have your golem with you, right?" Kanda nodded. Bak turned back to Allen. "If anything goes wrong, or if you need advice or help or whatever it is, contact me. Is that clear?"

"Yes."

"All right then. Go out there and put my creativity to use! The name 'Apostles' must not go to waste! You better make it into the top eight!" Bak cried, as Allen, Lavi, and Lenalee burst out laughing and Kanda scowled.

The Chinese man watched as the five exorcists took off towards the labyrinth ahead, all of them running at a fast pace with Lenalee in the lead. He could even hear Lavi yelling "Team Apostles!" and grinned.

There was a sudden vibration in one of his jacket pockets and a few moments later, a black golem ascended out into the air. There was the usual static sound and a voice on the other line spoke.

"Bak?" Komui sounded worn out.

"About time, Komui."

Komui sighed. "Sorry. I just had a long talk with someone from the Vatican... How's it going on your side? Where's Lenalee and the rest?"

The Head of the Asian Branch smirked.

"They went to kick some ass."


It was like an odd twist of Wonderland — in the sky. Inside the labyrinth were thousands of strange-like objects of irregular shape hovering in mid-air, long heavy staircases that were the size of gigantic rectangles, moving floors that, if you weren't careful, could slip through and fall, doors that took you to another world, and huge metal-like gears that could cut you if you got close.

But the bizarreness didn't stop there. The worst part about the labyrinth was the fact that it was also upside down. You could be walking up a staircase and suddenly fall down out of nowhere.

In this labyrinth, things like "the inside of a machine", "crazy wonderland", and "bizarre world" come to mind. To put it simply, this labyrinth is —

"A three-dimensional maze," Allen muttered, the second they stepped foot into the labyrinth and the exorcists looked around bewilderingly. There was no sight of another guild yet.

Lavi rubbed his eye wearily. "The – the inside looks so complicated..."

"It's going to be hard navigating our way to the goal," Lenalee added worriedly. She looked at Lavi. "The event grounds are in the east, right?"

"Yeah, but we can't just head east straight-on, I mean, look at the place" — Lavi waved his hands around — "you'd have to know a lot of geography in situations like these..."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Allen asked nervously, as there was a battle-like cry echoing somewhere in the maze.

There was a gleam in Lavi's eye. "Make a map," he announced.

"Make a map?" Allen's heart sank. He was absolutely terrible when it came to geography.

"Don't tell me we have to freakin' take notes," Kanda snapped at Lavi. "This place is confusing as hell."

Lavi laughed uneasily. "I'm not telling you guys to make a map! Let me do the honors."

Allen eyed him hopefully. "But can you really make a map out of this entire labyrinth?"

"Sure I can. Just gimme a — "

"Hold it," Marie suddenly cut in, raising a hand to silence Lavi. "I can hear someone coming..."

"A guild?" Kanda asked urgently. Allen could see his hands itching to unsheathe Mugen.

But Kanda's question was answered for him.

" — men! Behold the powerful smell of victory!" a man's voice nearby spoke.

There was a sudden patter of footsteps.

"Where're the voices coming from?" Lenalee whispered, as the footsteps echoed eerily around them and three new voices spoke, but no one appeared.

"Good job, Ichiya-san, Eve, Ren," said an excited voice. "With this, we'll surely make it into the top eight in no time."

"This is way too easy," a cool voice spoke, with a hint of a smirk in his voice. "I thought it would've been much more harder than this..."

Allen and Lavi looked at each other, bemused. Both of them jumped, however, when a door two blocks away opened and five new people trotted out : one was a very short man with orange hair and an unattractive face, the other three, beautiful and handsome young men, and for some very odd reason, there was a pink rabbit in the group.

They stopped at the sight of Allen and the others.

The short man let out an exclaim. "How lucky are we, men?! Go and take their maps!"

A dark-skinned boy behind the orange-haired man grinned, eyeing Lenalee. "Aw, c'mon, Ichiya-san... that girl is such a cutie though, I'd love to get lucky with her. Not that I'm interested in you or anything," he said cooly, much to everyone's confusion.

Allen, Lavi and even Kanda gulped uneasily, glancing over their shoulders at Lenalee, who cringed, looking disgusted.

A blond-haired boy stepped forward. "We'll be taking your maps!" he called.

"If you don't want to get hurt, I suggest you hand them over," a taller blond added, also giving Lenalee an admiring look.

Kanda smirked. "Sorry to disappoint you, but we don't have any. However" — he suddenly unsheathed Mugen, much to his teammates' surprise — "we'll be taking yours."

"Kanda..." Lavi now looked at Kanda with new respect.

"Wait, Kanda," Allen cut in sharply, "you heard Bak-san's orders. We can't fight in here."

Kanda ignored him.

The taller blond looked surprised, but he quickly recovered.

"I didn't want to hurt any of you..." he sighed, "but Blue Pegasus has to win. Eve!"

"Got it! White Fury!" A considerable amount of snowstorm suddenly erupted from Eve's right palm, firing it straight at the exorcists, where all of them managed to hastily dodge out of the way.

"What the hell?! Snow?!" Lavi cried, nearly tripping over his feet.

"Not bad. But see if you can dodge this!" Eve stepped backwards, and the snowstorm grew larger in size, engulfing the exorcists in an icy blast of snow.

"Waltz : Mist Wind!"

"What the — ?" Eve gasped as a huge tornado erupted out of nowhere, breaking the snowstorm and nearly sending him flying onto the ground.

"Nice, Lenalee!" Lavi cried out, as the tornado cleared.

The members of Blue Pegasus were staring at the exorcists in shock.

"Sh-she took out Eve's snowstorm... with just a kick..." The dark-skinned boy voiced out in an awed voice.

"What magic power, men!" The short man cried. "Men!" he exclaimed again, looking over his shoulders at his teammates, "let me handle this!" he fumbled around in his pockets and took out a tube. "Smell the power of defeat!"

"Like hell I'm gonna let you use that!" Kanda sprinted forwards. "I'm gonna slice up your — what the — ?!"

The samurai exorcist nearly slipped as the floor beneath him began to rotate. Everything was suddenly turning sideways, so that the exorcists and Blue Pegasus were clinging onto objects for dear life.

"W-what's going on?!" cried Allen. He would've fell out of the labyrinth if not for Marie saving him by the hand.

"The labyrinth is spinning on its axis!" Lavi, having being rescued by Lenalee, stared down below, watching as the labyrinth continued to spin, then came to an abrupt stop.

"It – it stopped," said Allen, sounding relieved. Marie pulled him up.

"Thank you, Marie-san."

Kanda, who had stabbed the floor firmly with his Mugen and held onto it, got up, looking disgruntled.

"Tch, they're gone," he said sourly.

Allen looked around. Sure enough, the Blue Pegasus party had disappeared.

"Hey!" Lavi cried out excitedly; a pack of somewhat crumbled papers were in his hands. "They left the maps!"

"How lucky for us!" squealed Lenalee, as Lavi feverishly shuffled through the maps.

The red-haired boy looked up. "I've got a great idea..." His eye was shining.

"Hey, what's this?" Allen picked up a familiar-looking tube that was left on the floor.

"Wait! Allen, that's — !" Lavi and Lenalee let out a bloodcurdling shriek as a pink cloud of perfume exploded right in the white-haired boy's face.

The tube fell to the floor with a clank and Allen coughed.

"W-what happened?" Allen's weak voice cried out. He glanced at Lavi and Lenalee. Both of their mouths were open. Even Kanda looked startled.

"W-what? What's the matter?" The cursed boy was seriously alarmed by the gaping.

"Allen..." Lavi began weakly, "your... your..."

"My...?"

"Your hair... and er, your clothes..."

Bewildered, Allen felt his hair. He frowned. It didn't feel any different... except the fact that it was a bit long... wait... too long...

"OH MY GOD!" He let out a shriek; his hair was now longer than Lenalee's — no, even longer than Kanda's. To add to Allen's mortification, he was wearing a long blue and white dress over his exorcist coat.

Lenalee was trying her hardest not to giggle, and even Kanda couldn't refrain from smirking.

"How do you feel about your new hairstyle now, moyashi? You actually look like a girl in that dress."

"Yeah, I would actually hit on you." Lavi grinned.

"S-shut up!" Allen kept feeling his long, white locks and flimsy dress. "This is bad! Seriously bad!" he cried, looking panicky. He tried taking out the dress but soon realized it was somehow magically sewn to his coat.

"I – I can't take it off!"

Lavi burst out laughing. "Would you look at that? It's Allen in Wonderland!"

"S-stop laughing!" Poor Allen cried, as his teammates guffawed.


"Heh, heh, heh..." Erza had a wicked grin on her face. "This is the 57th map." She passed them over to Gray and Elfman. "Try to combine them with the rest," she ordered.

"Piece of cake," said Gray, after he and Elfman looked through the papers. "We figured out the next route!" he called excitedly.

"Then let's go let's go let's goooo! I wanna get to the goal before Sabertooth does!" Natsu cried.


"How's this~?"

"M-More! Harder!"

"Like this~?"

There was a disturbing scream and blood gushed out of a man's head. "Y-Yes!"

"Then, I'll take the map now."

"G-Go ahead~"

"That guy is totally a masochist," Lavi muttered under his breath. He and Allen watched as Lenalee came bouncing back, a huge smile plastered on her face.

"This is the 84th one I've got so far!" she announced happily, passing the map to Lavi.

"Meaning that you've beaten the shit out of 84 men," Lavi murmured, eyeing Lenalee's sharp boots.

Allen wondered what Komui's reaction would be if he ever found out that Lenalee had somewhat sadistically beaten up 84 men, and decided to never mention it to him.

Lenalee grinned. "It's not my fault my boots are so heavy..."

Kanda grunted. "Can we move on? Did you figure out the next route, usagi?" he glared at Lavi.

"Yep. We're nearly at the goal." Lavi turned to Allen. There was a mischievous smile playing on his lips.

"You wanna beat up the next guy and get the map, Allen-chan~?"

The air was suddenly full of Lavi's screams.


A small tiny figure with a giant pumpkin head stood at the goal, yawning widely.

"I'm bored..." he said to no one, scratching his huge head, looking lonely.

There was a loud clattering of footsteps. The mascot looked up eagerly to see five participants bursting towards the goal.

"Ooh, they're here!" The pumpkin jumped up and down ecstatically. "Congratulations!" he exclaimed at the smug-looking participants, "you've passed the preliminary event~!"

"YEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!" Natsu let out a whoop as he and Lucy high-fived.

"Everything's going smoothly," said Gray, grinning widely.

"Are we the first one?" Lucy asked the mascot, who was still hopping around joyfully.

"Not really. You're number 8. You just barely made it."


First Day : July 1st, X791


Balloons, confetti, magic fireworks and thousands of cheers erupted all over the Games' arena, Domus Flau. The atmosphere was just boiling with excitement.

"That's some cheering," Erza commented.

Team Fairy Tail were waiting inside the hallway that lead out to the arena. Since the entrance goes by from last place to first place, Fairy Tail had to make the first entrance, being last place.

"I didn't realize there were so much people here..." Lucy listened to the cheering of the hundreds of people. She and Gray peered around the edge of the giant entrance.

"Both including Fiore mages and regular spectators, it seems," Gray added.

Natsu was looking down distastefully at his purple Games outfit. "Y'know guys, I really don't like this outfit..."

"It's too late to whine about it now!" Lucy scolded. "Master said we had to wear matching team colors; it can't be helped."

Erza smirked. "I like mine. It's cute."

"Me too," Gray chipped in.

"Gray, say that after you put some clothes on..."

Elfman picked up Wendy's outfit. It was terribly tiny for him. "I – I have to wear this...?"

Natsu laughed gleefully. "That's greeeat!"

"Of course there's no way you'll fit into Wendy's outfit, your body has gotten bigger..." Gray looked Elfman up and down.

Elfman sighed. "I was really happy being able to fill in, but is Wendy alright?"

They were all silent, remembering the night before, when Wendy was taken into the infirmary.

"Is the person who attacked Wendy connected to this tournament?" Natsu asked.

"It's quite possible," Lucy replied.

"Is someone trying to weaken us? Or — ?"

"All we can do is focus on the Games!" Elfman cut in, after throwing on a purple shirt. "We gotta do our best, for Wendy's sake too!"


"All right, in just a few moments, the curtains will rise on the Grand Magic Games!" A man with shiny black hair and a black suit announced to the cheering audience. "I'm your emcee, Chapati Lola, and former Council member, Yajima-san, will provide the commentary!" An elderly man with a chef hat sat next to him.

Chapati Lola continued, "And I'd like to introduce our guest for Day One, the current Miss Fiore, Blue Pegasus' Jenny Realight!"

Jenny put on a winning smile to her fanboys in the crowd. "We're going to win this year!" she exclaimed.

Back in the hallway, Natsu Dragneel braced himself.

"All right," he said, "let's go!"

Team Fairy Tail slowly walked out into the arena.

"Okay, the players are about to take the field! Starting with the eighth-ranked team! Can they recapture their old glory?! Contrary to their name, let's welcome the rowdy FAIRY TAILLLLLLLLL!"

Natsu, Erza, Lucy, Gray, and Elfman stood proud and tall in the centre of the arena, their hands raised in triumph as the guild mark of Fairy Tail flashed around the arena.

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Many spectators exclaimed, most of them giving Natsu and the others a thumbs-down.

"Whaaaaat?!"

"Are they booing us?!" Gray cried.

"Fairy Tail has come in last place every year," the emcee began, "but they survived the elimination round, although they were still eighth place. Will the Tenrou-bunch help Fairy Tail become number No.1 in Fiore?!"

"Don't let it get to you," Erza told the others, as the booing still continued.

Yajima eagerly gave a thumbs-up. "I'm just glad they're back," he said.

"LET'S START CHEERING THEM ONNNNNNNNN!" The entire guild of Fairy Tail cheered as Makarov Dreyar let out an exclaim. "HOORAY, HOORAY, FAIRY TAIL~!"

"Hey, isn't that...?" Team Fairy Tail gaped at their guild in the audience; a young woman with blonde hair was also cheering for them.

"HAHAHA, what a relief to see the 1st Master cheering us on!" Natsu laughed as Mavis was talking to a bewildered Makarov.

"Even if she is a ghost," Gray added.

Chapati Lola spoke again. "All right! Next, let's welcome the 7th-ranked team, the bright blue wings that sparkle in the dark, BLUE PEGASUSSSSSSSSSS!"

"What?!" Lucy and Erza cried, as the Blue Pegasus guild insignia was flashed around and the audience burst out angry exclaims, boos and murmurings.

"Blue Pegasus is 7th this year!?" Gray asked, as Hibiki, Ren, Eve, the mysterious rabbit and Ichiya came out and sheepishly struck their guild pose, earning more boos.

"Quite an unexpected fall," said the emcee, as Jenny looked dumbstruck, "but they survived the elimination round."

"Ugh. Jenny won't even look at me," Hibiki muttered.

"Men! My honey won't even look at me either!" Ichiya sobbed, as Erza carefully avoided his gaze.

"It's your fault for losing those maps when we fell through the door," Ren said to Hibiki sourly.

"Now, now, at least we made it..." Eve said consolingly.

"Moving on, in sixth place, the all-female guild, the dancers of the great deep, MERMAID HEEEEEEL!" The pink M insignia was waved all around the arena to loud cheers.

"HO~LYYYYYYY~!" Almost every adult male in the audience swooned as Mermaid Heel came out.

"I didn't know a guild like that existed!" Happy cried from the audience as catcalls were whistled around the stadium.

"Next up, let's welcome a first-timer guild! Fifth place, those chosen by God, the APOSTLESSSSSSSSS!"

"Those chosen by God?" Gray said suspiciously as a black A intertwined with a cross guild mark was flashed around to the roars of the audience.

"WALKERRRRRRRRR! LAVIIIII! LENALEE-CHANNNNNN, KANDAAAAA, MARIEEEEEEE! KICK THEIR ASSES!" Everyone turned around to see a blond-haired man in the audience wearing a beret and waving around a huge flag.

"Kick our asses?! Hah, he must be — wait, did he just say Lavi?" Natsu asked Gray, looking bemused.

"It can't be — we – we just misheard him, right?" Gray replied, as Team Apostles entered the field.

"Wow, would you look at that?! Matching team coats! That's some team spirit!" The emcee cried. "Apostles was a new guild that was formed this year and approved as a legal guild! To survive the elimination round in fifth place, quite impressive!" he announced, and the audience wildly cheered and applauded.

"That guild has matching team colors and coats!" said Elfman, eyeing the red and black coats. "So much more manly than ou — h-hey, where are you going!?" he asked Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Erza, who suddenly all charged at two boys that came out.

"N-Natsu-sa — ACK!"

"Gra — Erz — GAH!"

The whole arena was suddenly in an instant uproar.

"I – I don't believe it! I don't believe it! Team Fairy Tail is suddenly attacking two Apostles members!" The emcee cried, nearly flying out of his chair at the sudden attack.

"WHAT ARE YOU IDIOTS DOING?!" Makarov Dreyar and Bak Chang cried from their seats at the same time.

Erza was beating up Lavi with Gray's help while Natsu and Lucy were tackling Allen.

"ERZA! NATSU! GRAY! LUCY! STOOOOOP!" Makarov cried as Mavis gasped. Two Fiore guards had ran out into the field as the other guilds, Kanda, Marie and Lenalee watched in alarm.

"WALKER, LAVI, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! YOU'RE SUPPOSE TO KICK THEIR ASSES! NOT LET THEM KICK YOURS!" Bak yelled as the arena was full of Lavi and Allen's screams.

Team Fairy Tail suddenly stopped beating the two exorcists to a pulp when the guards came.

"That's payback." smirked Natsu, Gray, Erza and Lucy, "for ditching us."