As the weird pumpkin mascot explained the rules of the group game Pandemonium, Sting surveyed the Fairy Tail mages in the stands. His breath caught a little when he saw Yukino sitting next to a girl who could have been her twin sister. It was weird, but seeing her there, it looked like she really did belong with them. He caught Rogue's attention and discreetly directed his eyes in their former guildmate's direction. Rogue froze. Anyone else wouldn't have noticed as the shadow slayer always seemed statuesque, but Sting had been with him for a very long time.
"I hope that they treat her better than we did," Rogue whispered so low that only a dragon slayer could hear him.
"I'm sure they will," Sting replied just as quietly. With Minerva breathing down their necks they couldn't risk drawing further attention to their conversation. Of course, she seemed more intrigued by the fact that Titania had just declared that she would take on all 100 monsters within the castle thing.
Even Sting blanched a bit at that. If Titania really could pull this off… Maybe Sunshine had been right about her guild. No! He mentally slapped himself. He had given up too much for Sabertooth to start thinking that maybe it wasn't the greatest guild in Fiore after all.
As Titania took out monster after monster, Sting tried to keep his focus on her in case he had to fight her later in the games, but his gaze kept wandering back to the Fairy Tail booth. Or worse, he found himself seeking out Lucy in the team balcony. Which just irritated him more because each time he found that ice mage glued to her side. Which led to further irritation as he couldn't figure out why he was so irritated that another guy was so close to her. He had already decided he couldn't pursue her anymore, hadn't he?
Sting scowled at his train of thought and brought his attention back to the game in time to see Titania take out the S-class monster.
"Holy shit, she did it," he muttered. "That woman's a monster."
"Well, she just proved that even monsters can be defeated," Minerva said with a sadistic smile.
A few minutes later as the remaining contestants displayed their strength levels with the Magic Power Finder, Sting was floored again by the brunette from Fairy Tail B crashing the machine with the force of her attack.
"I bet the mighty Sting could have done the same thing," Lector scoffed.
"Fro thinks so, too!" The green Exceed agreed. But then, Frosch agreed with everything.
Lucy's voice was hoarse from cheering for her team. First Erza, and then Cana, two of her best friends pulling out all the stops to show the world that Fairy Tail really was back in action. She was pumped for the one-on-one matches. Of course, that excitement was dampened when they found out that Laxus was fighting the Raven Tail member in the giant gold mask. There was no way that Raven Tail would give the son of their guildmaster a clean fight. Laxus had chosen Fairy Tail, after all.
Lucy knew that the lightning dragon slayer could handle himself. He was one of the strongest members of the guild. She wasn't worried at all. Nope. Not one bit. Well, then again, Raven Tail was a bunch of dirty cheats who had nearly stolen her victory.
Gray noticed her nervousness and gave her a nudge. She glanced up to see his half-smile. She liked that look on him; just one corner turned up. On anyone else it would have been a smirk, but with Gray, that was just the genuine article. She smiled brightly back at him before returning her attention to the field where the fight had begun.
Something was wrong. Lucy couldn't put her finger on it, but something felt off about the fight. For one thing, Laxus was getting his ass handed to him. But that wasn't the real problem. The fight felt… staged. Like someone had mapped out the movements ahead of time. Both Laxus and Alexei's movements were too perfectly ordered. There were no random actions.
Lucy quietly stepped away from the balcony so that she stood in the shadows. Her team was too invested in the fight and shouting at Laxus to get his act together to notice her slipping away.
"Open gate of the twins, Gemini," Lucy said softly. The two little blue creatures, Gemi and Mini, appeared beside her.
"Lucy! Piri, piri!" They squealed happily.
"Hey guys, can you turn into Laxus for me?" The words had barely left her mouth before the imposing dragon slayer stood before her.
"What is he thinking right now?"
"Laxus is speaking with his father," Gemini/Laxus said. He scowled. "The other members of Raven Tail are there, as well."
Lucy stepped back to the balcony long enough to glance at the Raven Tail viewing area. All four team members appeared to be there, but… something was wrong with them, too. As if reading her thoughts, Gemini provided the answer.
"The fight is an illusion."
Lucy whirled back to watch the arena. It was a good illusion. But now that she knew what to look for, she could see it flicker. She couldn't imagine the amount of power it took to cast the illusion of the fight as well as that of the four Raven Tail members standing in their balcony. But what could she do about it?
Dismissing Gemini with a quick thanks, Lucy sprinted through the halls of the stadium to her guild's box. She jumped over a few benches to reach the master and gain everyone's attention.
"The fight is an illusion. One of the Raven Tail members is casting it. All five members of their team are down there with Laxus." Everyone looked at her confused, but then, when they turned their attention back to the arena, the weight of so many knowing eyes on the spell caused it to shatter.
Laxus faced off against five members of the former dark guild, including his father. The crowd gasped, but the six people in the arena were too focused on their argument to notice.
"Just tell me what I want to know!" Ivan yelled. "Where's your loyalty to your family?" With that, he launched a vicious attack at the lightning slayer. When the smoke cleared, Laxus wasn't hurt in the least, and he hadn't moved an inch.
"Ha! Testing the limits of my power?" Ivan asked. "Or is it that you just can't bear to strike your dear old father? What a good boy you are, my little Laxus."
"Laxus!" Master Makarov yelled as he hopped up on the railing and raised his hand up high in the Fairy Tail symbol of solidarity. Every member of the guild followed suit so that in both team balconies and the main guild box every hand was raised with one finger pointed to the sky. Laxus nodded at the old man before springing into action.
For each Raven Tail member that he took out, Laxus had a message.
"Next time you pick on a little girl, you better hope I don't hear about it," Laxus said as he sent Obra flying with a fist to the face. He dodged Nalpudding's spiky fist attack and uppercut him out of the way as well, giving him Gray's regards.
Flare tried to scorch him, but he zapped her with his lightning, saying "That's for threatening a child, bitch."
Kurohebi attempted to sneak up behind him, but Laxus took him out just as easily as the others muttering that the guy was a creep.
Finally, it was just Laxus and Ivan in the middle of the arena. Ivan stared at his son in disbelief at how easily he had taken his elite team down.
"Laxus, I am still your father. I'm your own flesh and blood," Ivan yelled.
"A stupid pyro once told me that flesh and blood doesn't mean squat. And he was right. Fairy Tail is the only family I have. Threaten them, and all you'll get is pain. I don't car who you are." Laxus released his lightning through his fist, sending his father crashing into the stadium wall, where he crumpled into a heap.
"He didn't even really use his slayer abilities," Lucy murmured. Laxus wasn't always the easiest person in the guild to get along with, but in that moment, Lucy was proud to call him family.
Everyone cheered wildly. Natsu grabbed Lucy's arms and spun her around laughing; she hadn't even noticed him follow her from their team balcony. Then, he suddenly stopped and stared at her. Lucy felt her breath catch in her throat as he looked down at her intently. Then, he turned to the railing and yelled, "Who are you calling a stupid pyro, you freaking lightning rod!"
Lucy shook her head at him fondly before throwing her head back to laugh with all she had.
A/N: I kind of took some liberties with Gemini's abilities. Pretty sure there's more limitations than that, but I really wanted the guild to actually be able to see Laxus fighting Raven Tail.