Disclaimer : I don't own FT or DGM.
Chapter Ten
"Good Lord! Never in all my times being an emcee of the Games have I seen a participating team pull that kind of stunt!" Chapati Lola yelled as the audience whispered and gasped.
"THOSE IDIOTS!" Makarov burst out, looking furious. "ARE THEY TRYING TO GET US DISQUALIFIED?!"
"It wasn't a very smart move..." Mavis began, "but they looked badass!" she said brightly, giving Makarov a thumbs-up. "Good choice on selecting those four, 3rd Master!"
"Are you serious, 1st Masterrrr?!"
Natsu and the others were busily talking to the guards, who were looking highly displeased.
"C'mon! You can't disqualify us!" The Dragon Slayer was saying to the first guard; he looked at the beat-up Allen on the ground. "They're stronger than us! They were fifth place while we were last!"
"I have to agree. It may looked like we've beat the crap out of them but they're much stronger. A punch like this" — Erza whacked Lavi in the head again — "won't even hurt them!"
"Won't even hurt them?! For God's sake, he has a nosebleed!" The second guard cried as a trail of blood flowed out of Lavi's nostrils.
"No. He's just having a nosebleed because I turn him on," Erza said firmly as the second guard looked incredulous.
"Please say something!" The first guard turned to Kanda and Marie. Lenalee was paralyzed with shock. "They attacked your teammates, surely you want them to be disqualified?!"
Kanda shrugged. "Those two can rot to death for all I care," he replied, and the guard looked stupefied.
Natsu let out a gleeful exclaim. "HAH! See? Even he doesn't care! So you can't disqualify us 'cause he doesn't want you to!"
"That's not what he said!" The guard cried.
"C'mon, mister!" cried Lucy, "we came this far; you can't eliminate us! We can't let our guild down!"
"Then please explain why you attacked them!"
Team Fairy Tail looked stumped, but to their surprise, Allen and Lavi interrupted.
"You can't disqualify them. They didn't seriously harm us," Allen said firmly, rubbing his head as he and Lavi got up.
"Yeah, it's just their way of a friendly prank. Plus, she's right" — Lavi grinned at Erza, wiping his nose — "she does turn me on."
The Fairy Tail group was lost for words as the guards looked at each other and nodded.
"All right. We're going to resume the inauguration. However, do any more of these pranks again and you will be disqualified," they said sternly to Natsu and the others, who nodded at once.
The guards left.
"Allen, Gravy — thanks!" Natsu gave the exorcists a toothy grin. "You really saved our asses."
"Yeah, we owe you," Gray added. "But why are you guys here?" he asked.
"No time for that now!" Elfman suddenly appeared. "Sorry to interrupt, but we have to get back into our positions," he told his teammates, "the rest of the other teams are coming out."
"All righty! Tell us everything later!" Natsu called to the two exorcists as he and the others trotted back to their places.
Lavi and Allen grinned.
"That was a very painful greeting." Lavi winced a bit.
"This isn't how I planned our reunion," said Allen. He was still rubbing his head. "Thank goodness Lucy-san and Natsu-san didn't go all out on me."
"Luckyyyyy...Why did I get Erza and Gray? They went hardcore on me." Lavi's nose was still bleeding.
The red-haired boy noticed his friend cautiously scanning the hundred thousands of people.
"No akuma?"
"Nope. And I just realized something... where's Wendy-san? She's not participating?" Allen was looking at Team Fairy Tail. The little Dragon Slayer was replaced by Elfman.
"Change of plans, maybe?" said Lavi.
They walked back to Kanda and the rest.
"Allen-kun... Lavi... that was horrifying..." Lenalee was still shocked. "Are you two okay?"
Kanda scowled. "You two are lucky they didn't use any magic... then you could've rotten to death..."
"Yuu, you really do think lowly of us..."
"WALKERRRRR! LAVI! ARE YOU OKAY?!" Bak yelled from the audience, where many of the people turned around, annoyed.
"We're all right!" Allen informed him.
"WHAAAAT?!"
"We're fine!"
"WHAAAAAAAT?!
"I said we're fine!"
"YOU'RE BLIND?!"
"WE'RE FINE!"
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
"For fuck's sake!" Kanda took out the golem from his pocket and yelled, "THEY'RE FINE! NOW CAN YOU FUCKING HEAR?!"
Bak cringed on the other line. "Kanda, watch your language. You didn't have to yell..." They could see Bak wincing in pain in the audience.
"If you want to talk, use the damn golem!"
"— men! Look who it is!"
The exorcists whipped around to see Team Blue Pegasus glaring at them.
"Oh, hey! It's you guys! Thanks for the maps!" Lavi said cheerfully, as Ren scowled at Hibiki.
"I thought I dropped that tube... however, it seems that my efforts failed, men!" Ichiya sobbed.
"Wait, what?! You were the one that dropped that tube?! Hey, thanks to you mister, this guy here" — Allen pointed angrily at Kanda — "had to chop off half of my hair and the dress!" he snapped at Ichiya.
"And you should be grateful, you damn moyashi," Kanda muttered. "I have to polish Mugen later; it's full of your ugly hair strands."
"Was my Magical Girl perfume too much for you?" Ichiya did a dramatic pose.
"Yes," Lavi retorted. He pointed at Allen. "You converted this guy into a girl. I nearly had a nosebleed. Thank you." Lavi grinned as Allen cast him a death glare.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Chapati Lola's voice echoed all around the stadium. "Forgive us for the delay! I have just spoken with the guards here and it seems that Team Fairy Tail will NOT be getting disqualified!"
"THANK GOD!" The entire Fairy Tail guild in the audience let out a sigh.
"So I'm still in the running for the 30 million jewels..." Makarov said in a low voice, careful not to let Mavis hear him.
"Since everything is sorted out, let us continue on! In fourth place, the goddess of love and war, the holy destroyer, LAMIA SCALEEEEEEEEEEE!" The spectators let out wild cheers as multi-colored clouds puffed out of nowhere to reveal the said team with their flag waved around.
"Why did you come in fourth, you idiots!" The Lamia Scale Master, an elderly woman, shrieked. "Were you holding back?!"
"That's quite a surprise," said Allen. "Weren't they in second place last year?"
"So they dropped down to 4th, huh?" Lavi said, placing his hands behind his head.
"I'm sorry, Obaba-san!" A pink-haired girl in twin tails called to the elderly woman. "Sorry for letting everyon — KYA!" She tripped onto the ground.
"Who's she?" Natsu asked.
"What happened to her usual 'love' thing?" said Gray.
"Chelia, don't get flustered," Lyon Vastia said to the girl. He turned to Gray.
"Gray, I heard everything on the intercom." He smirked. "Did you really beat up a team? I'm surprised at you. You didn't get disqualified?"
Gray returned the smirk. "None of your business, bastard."
"Don't forget our promise. If we win, Juvia will join us."
"Hm... did we agree on something like that? But we won't lose to you!" Gray grinned.
"Aww, that Chelia girl is so cute," Lavi said brightly.
"When you say 'cute', I hope that means 'adorable cute'. If not... Lavi, please don't hit on a little girl... it looks wrong," Allen said exasperatedly.
"Hehe." The red-haired boy only smiled.
"That guy looks really strong though!" said Lenalee, eyeing Jura from Lamia Scale.
"Next up, finishing third in the elimination round... Oh, my! What a surprise! Another first-timer guild who made it into the top three! The midnight raider, RAVEN TAILLLLLLLLLL!" Five new participants took the field.
"RAVEN TAIL?!" Natsu cried, as the entire Fairy Tail guild gasped and Makarov was caught off guard.
"That's the guild of the Master's son, Ivan..." Erza murmured to Lucy.
"That's kinda suspicious, don't you think?" Allen whispered to Lavi, eyeing Natsu and the Raven Tail team. "Raven Tail...? Fairy Tail...?"
"Allen, we can all see that."
Back in the audience, Makarov was shaking with rage.
"A dark guild!" he spat. "YOU'RE LETTING A GUILD LIKE THAT PARTICIPATING IN THE GAMES?!" he cried out.
"Master, calm down!" said Macao, as he and Lisanna tried to restrain their Master.
"Indeed, I do feel a malicious force coming from them," Mavis said calmly, watching the backs of Raven Tail.
The audience let out worried murmurs.
"They said it was a dark guild..."
"What's a dark guild doing here..."
Bak Chang frowned. He, too, had a very suspicious feeling about the Raven Tail group.
"Well, according to the official record, Raven Tail has existed for more than seven years," said the emcee, reading a stack of papers. "Just like Apostles, it was recently approved as a legal guild."
"In other words, no longer a dark guild," added Yajima.
"Ivan... How the hell did you get in..." Makarov muttered.
There was a very tight tension between Fairy Tail and Raven Tail at the moment.
One of the members of Raven Tail who wore a gold mask spoke.
"Fairy Tail... This girl here was our way of saying hello."
A small, demon-like creature on one of the Raven Tail members suddenly transformed its head into Wendy's, mimicking her passing out.
Team Fairy Tail was shaking with rage.
"This doesn't look good," Lenalee whispered to her group, as Natsu spoke.
"You're the ones who hurt Wendy... We won't let you get away with this..."
The emcee's voice lighten the mood.
"Well, there are only two teams left!"
The audience began to look excited.
"Oh yeah, there are two teams left, right?" Happy asked Macao.
"Yeah. One of them's gotta be Sabertooth... And the other..."
"All the main teams are already out..."
"Was there a strong guild that kept itself hidden?" Gray asked Erza.
"A guild that probably has something to do with the mysterious power Jellal mentioned...?" Erza muttered back.
"All right! Now entering are the two teams from the preliminary event!"
There was a thunder of footsteps.
"Wow! What another surprise! Could this be another opportunity for the broken winged fairies to fly again?! Seriously?! Could that be — ?!"
Natsu's and Lucy's eyeballs were so wide they nearly fell off.
"WHA — !"
"FAIRY TAILLLLL, TEAM B!"
"WHAAAAAAAAAT?!"
"N-Nee-chan!" Elfman cried at Mirajane.
"Gajeel!"
"JUVIAAAAA?!"
"It's breaking the rules to have Laxus heeeeere!"
The audience was dumbstruck.
"Another Fairy Tail team?!"
Natsu suddenly caught sight of a covered man.
"Hey hey hey WHY IS MYSTOGAN HERE?!"
"Jellal!" Erza hissed under her breath.
Mystogan held up a finger to his lips.
"Seriously?!"
"That's Fairy Tail for you..." said Hibiki. "Two teams made the cut..."
The spectators were hissing out angry exclaims.
"Fairy Tail has two teams?" Allen voiced out, bemused.
"And to finish in second... when you compare them to Natsu's group..." Lavi added.
"Well, Yajima-san, looks like a lot of people are upset over the revision of the rules this time," said Chapati Lola.
"For this tournament, each guild can have one team, but they can also have two teams participating," Yajima explained.
"I didn't hear anything about that, Master!" Lucy cried.
Makarov stood up, although he was so short it didn't make much of a difference, and guffawed.
"YOU SEE THAT?! THAT'S FAIRY TAIL FOR YA!" he cried.
"Tch, can they shut up already!? So damn annoying!" Kanda growled.
"Don't be rude, Kanda." Lenalee scowled.
"But two Fairy Tail teams?! And damnnnnn, the girls are cute! And I mean 'cute' as in 'hot'," Lavi said to Allen, eyeing Mirajane and Juvia, causing the younger boy to roll his eyes.
"The final round will be a battle between all the teams, but will the same guild teams be able to fight each other?!"
"Whoa, hold on. A battle?" Lavi frowned at the emcee's words.
"That means... we're up against Natsu-san and the other guilds..." Allen said nervously.
Jenny Realight was dissatisfied.
"Isn't this a bit too unfair? Won't Fairy Tail be fighting as a pair? They have an advantage!"
"Out of over a 100 teams," Chapati Lola reminded her. "A very great advantage indeed."
Natsu nearly went Super Saiyan.
"ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING MEEEEE?!" he screeched. He pointed to Team Fairy Tail B.
"I don't care if we're from the same guild, I won't hesitate to kick your ass! We're rivals! We won't lose to you!"
"Says someone who nearly got disqualified for attacking two members of a guild earlier," Gajeel growled at Natsu. "And to finish in last place."
Mavis frowned at Mystogan, who was talking to Erza.
"That man isn't a guild member, isn't he?" she said quietly.
Caught! Makarov gulped.
"Okay, there's just one more team left!" The stadium suddenly shuddered with wild cheers.
"That's right! I'm sure you all already know! It's the best! The undefeated! THE ULTIMATE KING, SABERTOOOOOOOOOOOOTH!" The whole arena let out a resounding, ear-splitting roar as Sabertooth took the field, their insignia flashing around a hundred times more bigger and brighter.
"So that's Sabertooth..." Lavi stared at the blond-haired boy who took the lead.
"They do look strong," Allen said glumly. Even Kanda was showing a bit of interest in the number one guild.
"You guys finally showed up..." Natsu said to the blond-haired boy, Sting Eucliffe, as the cheering still echoed.
"I hope you didn't attack the other team way too hard, Natsu-san." Sting smirked. "Otherwise, the Games wouldn't be fun if you've already went all out."
"Gajeel..." A black-haired boy was looking at the Iron Dragon Slayer.
"What're you looking at!?" Gajeel hissed at him.
"Go get them, Sting-kun!" A brown Exceed cried out from the audience.
"Fro is cheering you on too~!" A green Exceed dressed like a frog added.
Happy was looking pissed.
"Exceeds, huh?" said Gajeel's cat, Pantherlily.
"NATSUUU, GAJEEEL, you better win!" Happy exclaimed loudly.
"Flying cats are so nice... I want one..." Allen said sadly to Lavi, watching Happy.
"You have Tim."
"Timcanpy doesn't talk... And he eats my food..." Allen sighed as Lavi just grinned and Lenalee shook her head in amusement.
"Now that all the teams have arrived, I'm going to announce the Games' program!"
There was a huge earth-quaking sound and a few moments later, a huge stone board popped out of the ground, showing :
Day 1 : hidden + battle
Day 2 : ? + battle
Day 3 : ? + battle
Day 4 : ? + tag battle
Day 5 : ?
"A game and a battle right on the first day?" said Lavi.
"This is looking tough," Allen said worriedly.
The emcee was looking through his papers.
"For games, each team already has varying points according to their ranking in the elimination round, from 1st to 8th. Any team can select a member from their team to take part."
The words on the board magically changed.
Points in Games
1st - 10P
2nd - 8P
3rd - 6P
4th - 4P
5th - 3P
6th - 2P
7th - 1P
8th - 0P
"Now, for the battles part, the sponsor will have the right to make a decision by considering factors like fans' votes."
"What?" Erza muttered.
"They get to decide?" Gray said, caught off guard.
"That's bad," Lavi said to his teammates. "We might hafta go right into the battles after the games, and one of us might be picked twice... You'll be exhausting your energy just for the games part... You up for that, Yuu?" Lavi said jokingly to Kanda.
"Tch."
"The rules for the battles are simple. Teams fight against each other and the winning team gets 10P while the losing team gets none. If it's a tie, both get five."
Allen stared at the board.
Battles
Win - 10P
Lose - 0P
Draw - 5P
This program is so complicated... he thought.
"And now! The Grand Magic Games' opening game! Let's begin 'Hidden'!"
The whole stadium let out murmurs.
"Hidden?"
"What kind of game is that?"
"One person from each team will participate. I'll explain the rules of the game after all the players are on the field."
"Let me check out the first one!" A member of Mermaid Heel asked her team leader.
"You have my permission."
"All right, the first to step up is Mermaid Heel's Beth Vanderwood!"
"Nalpudding, you go."
"Sure thing."
"From Raven Tail, Nalpudding!"
"I'll do this one!"
"Eve-kun is our first person!" Blue Pegasus did some sort of weird dance.
"Eve has been called out! From Blue Pegasus, Eve Tearm!"
A man with a mask and feather hat stepped forward.
"I'll do it," he said to his teammates. "The singing of the birds is pleasant today."
"All eyes are on Sabertooth, and they go with the singing poet who sings to the crimson moon, Rufus Lore!"
Team Fairy Tail was still deciding.
"I'll go first!" Elfman volunteered. "I'll do it as a man!"
"Exactly what part of you is 'hidden'?" said Gray.
Lyon from Lamia Scale grinned.
"We must stay ahead from the first game. I'll go."
"From Lamia Scale, Lyon Vastia!"
"Huh," said Gray, "then count me in. You can show me what this tournament is like," he added to Lyon.
"From Fairy Tail Team A, Gray Fullbuster!"
Juvia swooned.
"Wahhhhhhh! If Gray-sama is going, then so is Juvia~!"
"Hey! If you lose on purpose, there'll be hell to pay!" Gajeel growled.
"From Fairy Tail Team B, Juvia Lockser!"
"So, who's going first?" Lavi said brightly, turning to Allen, Lenalee, Kanda, and Marie.
"The game is Hidden, right?" Allen asked. "It probably involves hiding... in that case..."
Everyone in the group turned to look at Marie.
"Me...?" The dark-skinned exorcist murmured.
"Why not?" Kanda snapped.
"You have excellent hearing. It'll be easier for you to detect people or something like that," Lavi agreed.
"All right."
"From Apostles, Noise Marie!"
The emcee cleared his throat.
"All right, all of the players from the eight participating teams are set! Now, for the rules of the opening game, 'Hidden'!"
A pumpkin suddenly appeared onto the field.
"Participants for 'Hidden', come forward!" he announced ecstatically.
"Good luck, Marie-san!" Lenalee called as Lavi and Allen gave Marie a thumbs-up.
They turned around to face Kanda.
"Kanda, aren't you going to say anything?"
The samurai exorcist merely grunted. "Go, Marie."
"Okay... now it sounds like you're kicking him out," Lavi muttered as Marie went to join the group at the front.
"We're about to begin!" Chapati Lola spoke to the arena. He turned around to the chef beside him. "Commentator Yajima-san, is there a player we should pay extra attention to?"
"Sabertooth's Rufus is the probably the crowd's favorite, but I'm going to be watching two people : Fairy Tail's Gray-kun and Apostles' Noise-kun."
"How about you, Miss Blue Pegasus' Jenny-san?!"
"Do I even need to ask that? It's our incredible Eve-kun!" she exclaimed.
The pumpkin eyed the eight participants.
"Um, I've been wondering this since the elimination round... What are you?" Gray asked the mascot.
"Well, as you can see, I'm a pumpkin~! My name is Mato!" The referee replied cheerfully.
Faraway, Marie could hear Allen and Lavi.
"See I told you it was a pumpkin!"
"I don't get it — what kind of mother did he have?!" Lavi cried.
Why do I have such sharp ears... Thanks to Lavi, Marie now had a disturbing image of a woman giving birth to a pumpkin.
The pumpkin cleared its throat.
"Let's begin!" he cried. "Field, open!...pum!"
Blue pixels suddenly appeared from the ground and stretched up wide to construct a large structure.
"W-what?!" Gray cried.
"It's a town!" Lucy cried, as Gray and the other players disappeared.
What is this? Marie wondered to himself. He was suddenly in a gigantic city.
"T-that thing is huge!" Allen cried. "Is Marie-san going to be okay?!"
"An ideal place for 'Hidden', it seems," Lavi said seriously. "How did they create a city like that...?"
"So, it's kinda like 'hide-and-seek', isn't it?" Lenalee said thoughtfully.
The entire audience was awestruck.
"This is mind-blowing!" Natsu shouted, seeing the large city before him.
"Everyone, please watch what happens in the town via Lacrima Vision."
"La creme de la what Vision?" Lavi clearly misheard.
"Lacrima Vision," the white-haired exorcist corrected him.
Eight huge rectangular Lacrimas appeared in the sky, each displaying a player and their location.
"Again, how did they do that?" Lavi demanded, as the emcee's voice rang around the stadium.
"The eight contestants won't be able to know where the others are. The rules of 'Hidden' are very simple : each person is the hider and seeker!"
"What do you mean?!" Natsu cried as the players in the town looked around the city.
"Find each other in this town! You can use any magic to deliver an attack! It doesn't matter if you do any damage; the person who attacks first gets one point."
Marie felt sudden movements.
"What's going on...?" he murmured, as blue pixels formed all around him, suddenly turning into clones of every player.
"W-WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" Gray cried, as he was surrounded by a bunch of Juvias, Eves, and Lyons.
"S-so many clones!" Allen exclaimed, watching Marie through the Lacrima.
"Augh, a bunch of Grays... I'm sick..." Natsu turned his gaze away from the Lacrimas.
"Damn... this is going to be hard for Marie..." Lavi looked strained.
"It'll be hard figuring out which one is the real Marie-san, too," Lenalee added.
"These are your clones," said the emcee. "If you make a mistake and attack a clone, you'll lose one point."
"This is bad — seriously bad. Marie can't see!" Lavi was now panicky.
"W-what should we do?! It's about to start!" Allen cried.
"Retards," Kanda snarled at them. "Calm the fuck down. Just trust Marie." He turned his glare back to the Lacrimas.
"He's right, you two," Lenalee told the two exorcists.
There was a huge, resounding gong noise.
"Start! Disappear in silence! Just like a black cat hidden in the dark night! Let 'Hidden' begin!"
Noise Marie may be blind, but he made up for it with his incredible hearing.
He quietly activated his Innocence and stared around at the many clones.
"Oh my! Juvia just attacked a copy and lost one point!" He heard the emcee cry out. "Under this situation, you should restart somewhere else after about ten seconds. You can restart as many times as you can, but the time limit is thirty minutes. The player with the most points by then will win."
So I only have 30 minutes to get the most points ... Marie grimaced. He carefully navigated his way through the hundreds of copies... listening very hard...
"He looks kinda stressed," Lenalee said concernedly, watching Marie.
"I'm rooting for you, Marie-san!" Both Allen and Lavi cried while constantly biting their fingernails in fear.
Lavi turned his attention to Gray, who had encountered Nalpudding. He watched as Gray cried "Ice Hammer!" and stared as sharp, everlasting ice pierced the enemy.
"Gray-san's magic improved..." mused Allen. "The ice form looks different from what I remembered."
"Yeah... it does..." Lavi agreed, remembering back when the ice mage had froze Allen's legs.
"Uh-oh! Gray hit a clone! That's minus one point!"
"WHAAAAAT?!" Team Fairy Tail A cried as Gray respawned.
"Dammit!" Gray cursed, when he appeared again. "Wait... I've got an idea..."
The whole stadium watched as the players walked around amongst the copies.
"They all walked into the crowd..." Lucy murmured.
"I – I can't find Marie-san... every Lacrima looks the same..." Allen stared anxiously around.
"It's amazing he hasn't gotten attacked yet," Lavi said, as Gray was hit again.
"Gray was attacked! Minus two points!"
"GRAAAAAAY! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" A pissed off Natsu screamed.
"Can't believe you got attacked by the same guy twice!" Elfman exclaimed angrily.
The board flashed new numbers.
Updates
1. RAVEN TAIL Nalpudding +1
2. SABERTOOTH Rufus
LAMIA SCALE Lyon
APOSTLES Noise
MERMAID HEEL Beth
BLUE PEGASUS Eve
7. FAIRY TAIL B Juvia -1
8. FAIRY TAIL A Gray -2
TIME : 27 MINS
Allen and Lavi sighed in relief.
"Marie-san didn't get attacked yet..."
"But he hasn't attacked anyone either..."
It's been three minutes, Marie thought to himself. For him, it was very easy to detect which copies were real and which were fake.
The copies didn't have heartbeats.
So when a Lyon Vastia passed him, he was prepared.
A piece of string cut into Lyon's shoulder blade, and a trail of blood gushed out.
"What the — ?!" The Lamia Scale member cried, as he vanished.
"Lyon got attacked! 1 point for Noise!"
"YESSSSSSS!" Bak cheered, waving around the Apostles flag.
"Whaaaat?!" Chelia cried as Lavi and Allen let out a whoop. Even Kanda looked slightly proud.
Something white was falling over the town.
"What is this?! Is it snowing?!" Gray looked up — and dodged out of the way as Eve suddenly jumped down from a tall building, hitting Beth, Marie, and Nalpudding.
"Eve's got a series of attacks!" The emcee cried as Lyon appeared with an ice eagle, attempting to attack Gray.
"Ahhhhhh Marie got hit..." Lavi muttered as the exorcist respawned.
Kanda was impatient.
"Tch... what is he doing?!" Kanda snapped, watching the many Maries.
"What are you talking about, Kanda? He just got attacked," Allen said in alarm.
"I don't care about that! Why isn't he attacking them all at once?!"
Lavi looked bewildered.
"Well, there's clones — what if he accidentally hits the copies?"
"That's not what I meant! Marie can hear who is real or fake," Kanda explained shortly, "it should be easy for him to land some points so why the hell isn't he attacking?!"
"Yuu's surprisingly competitive," Lavi whispered to the cursed boy as Kanda kept tapping his foot in irritation.
"Noel Organon!"
Five strings suddenly streaked through the air and pierced a small cut on Gray, Juvia, Nalpudding, Eve, Beth and Lyon.
"About damn time!" Kanda yelled as the arena erupted into gasps.
"Look at that! Apostles' Noise has earned 6 points! Impressive!" Chapati Lola cried.
"YESSSSS! WAY TO GO, MARIE!" Bak stood up and waved the flag around again.
"W-what kind of magic is that?!" Lucy looked flabbergasted.
"Strings?" Erza said curiously.
"Holy shit — six?!" Natsu's mouth was open.
"Noise Marie is now in the lead!" The emcee announced.
"Wow... First!" Allen grinned at his teammates.
The pumpkin was positively crying with delight.
"I knew I made the right choice!" he squeaked.
"Hey, how come Sabertooth's Rufus hasn't moved yet?!" Some of the people from the audience complained. "He hasn't attacked or gotten attacked!"
"This game is so lame and boring."
Everyone looked at the Lacrimas in alarm to see Rufus standing on top of a pointy building.
"I can remember everything... everyone's heartbeats, footsteps, and magics," said the Sabertooth member.
"Heartbeats?" said Allen.
"So he, like Marie-san, can hear everyone's heartbeats?" Lenalee looked stunned.
"Uh, he's standing in a totally obvious place..." Lavi stared at the Lacrima.
"What a show-off!" said Natsu. "GRAY, LOOK UP!"
Rufus half-smiled.
"I remember... everything. Memory-Make : Into A Night Of Stars!"
Everyone gasped as streaks of light directly landed on the other players, missing Nalpudding, who had jumped up towards Rufus and attacked him.
"Ha — crap, it's a clone?!" The Raven Tail player stared around bewilderingly as the Rufus copy vanished.
The real Rufus struck Nalpudding right in the face.
"I don't need a decoy to hide," he said. "In fact, I don't need to hide."
Chapati Lola looked shocked.
"A-ALL DOWWWWWN! First place in a blink of an eye! THIS IS RUFUS OF SABERTOOTH!"
"A-Amazing... I don't think I want to face him on the battlefield," Allen voiced out in an awed voice.
The whole stadium was erupting with cheers for Sabertooth.
"That's Rufus-kun for ya! Although he's not as strong as Sting-kun!" Lector the Exceed cheered.
Lavi now looked at the Sabertooth party with some apprehension.
"That's Fiore's number one..."
Gray looked frustrated, glaring at Rufus who was perched up again on the roof.
"He doesn't need to hide?! Why doesn't he follow the damn rules?!"
Lucy and Erza gasped when Nalpudding landed another hit on an angry Gray.
"What's he doing?!" Allen exclaimed, looking at Gray and Nalpudding on the screen. "Why does he keep on attacking Gray-san?!"
"Beats me... although that is weird..." Lavi frowned.
"TIME'S UP!" At last, the gigantic city began to vanish, and the players, a bit caught off guard, trotted their way back to their groups to loud applause.
"Please check your rankings! Since it's only the first game, these are just your current ranks!"
Everyone stared at the board.
Final Rankings
1. SABERTOOTH 10P
2. APOSTLES 8P
3. RAVEN TAIL 6P
4. LAMIA SCALE 4P
5. BLUE PEGASUS 3P
6. MERMAID HEEL 2P
7. FAIRY TAIL B 1P
8. FAIRY TAIL A 0P
"4TH?! What are you doing, Lyon?!" The elderly woman of Lamia Scale cried.
"3 points... We're just warming up," Ren said, as Hibiki nodded.
Mermaid Heel looked displeased.
"We're not doing so well," sighed one of the members.
Marie came back to applause from Lenalee, Lavi, and Allen and a nod from Kanda.
"Second place! Not bad!" Lenalee squealed as Bak was sobbing in the audience.
"We're not really here to win, though... I wish Fairy Tail could've gotten some points..." Allen gave the two Fairy Tail teams a worried look.
Sting was eyeing the Apostles group.
"They're a new guild yet they got second?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.
"They must be strong," said the boy beside Sting, Rogue Cheney.
"No way. We're the strongest. They just got lucky. We'll beat them for sure."
"Whatever you say..."
The audience was cheering for their favorite player.
"I knew it! Sabertooth is first!"
"That was a good game!"
The spectators started to laugh cruelly.
"HAH! Despite their efforts, the two teams from Fairy Tail didn't do so well!"
"FAIRY TAIL IS LAAAAAME!" A majority of the crowd laughed out, as Gray trotted back to his group, his eyes hooded from his bangs.
"They always come in last place! Hah, give it up! Your Era is over!" More people from their seats laughed.
"Hey, that's seriously rude..." Lavi said in disgust, as the whole stadium rang with laughter.
"Why are they trashing a guild just because they came in last?" Allen added, also sounding angry.
Gray was shaking. Even Natsu noticed.
"WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT, JERKS?!" he spat at the laughing spectators.
"WOW, lost your cool?!"
"Oooooh, I'm so scareddddd!"
"Bark all you want, lo~serrrrr!"
"Where are you two going?!" Kanda hissed, grabbing Lavi and Allen by the back of their coats; both boys were looking enraged.
Erza was also doing the same to Natsu.
"Let it go," she said, "ignore them."
"Sorry," Gray mumbled, avoiding his teammates' eyes.
"It's okay! It's just one game," Lucy said comfortingly.
The stellar spirit mage stared worriedly at Gray's retreating back as the ice mage left the field into the hallway.
"All right! Next, we have the battles! The contestants who are called, please step forward!"
Back inside, Gray angrily punched the stone wall, making a large dent.
"Raven Tail... Shaping-magic wizard... I swear I will settle this with you one day..."
"Is Gray-san okay?" Allen said quietly. He and Lavi had just watched the ice mage heading back inside.
"I would've beaten those trash bags to a pulp," Lavi said, looking at the people who had insulted Fairy Tail with loathing.
"Calm down! You're not the only one who feels the same!" Lenalee said sternly as the Games continued on.
"Now, let me confirm the system of the battles. Each team only has to fight in one battle. I heard that the host will be deciding which team vs which team. Interesting, right?! I've got the schedule!"
The emcee took out the papers.
"Day One First Battle! Lucy Heartfilia from Fairy Tail A versus Lenalee Lee from Apostles!"
"Me?" exclaimed Lucy.
"WOOT! GO LENALEE-CHAN~!" Bak cried out from the crowd.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Lavi and Allen were flabbergasted as Team Fairy Tail A looked surprised.
"Lenalee vs Lucy?! Crap, I'll go for Lucy 'cause she's hotter — " Lavi looked feverish.
"You're suppose to be cheering for Lenalee!" Allen told him.
"You say that Allen, but you're looking at Lucy too — !"
"WHOA, it's us versus Allen and Gravy!" Natsu looked excited.
"LENALEE YOU CAN'T GO!" Lavi and Allen had both thrown themselves at the older girl, who was about to head down onto the field. Lavi threw a hard kick at Lenalee's shin, making her collapse on the ground.
"OWWWW! — WHAT THE H— OWW!" Lenalee screamed as Allen kicked her other shin.
"Hey mister!" Lavi shouted to the emcee, "she's suddenly injured!"
The emcee gasped at the injured Lenalee on the ground.
"Yikes! Is that so?! Well, ladies and gentlemen, there's a change of plans! Apostles' Lenalee is unable to participate, so we'll draw the runner up!"
Natsu blinked. "What the hell?" he asked, bemused.
"Did they just injure their own team member?" said Elfman.
"Hey hey hey! FIGHT US FAIR AND SQUARE!" Natsu bellowed at Allen and Lavi.
"It's not what you think!" Lavi yelled back.
Kanda's golem was on.
"Lavi, Walker! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING, ATTACKING LENALEE?!" Bak screamed on the other line.
"I'm saving her beauty for another day! You should be glad, Lenalee-stalker!" Lavi shouted back.
Ren from Pegasus grinned at Eve.
"That Lenalee girl is strong. Lucy should be glad she's not going up against her."
Meanwhile, Lenalee was half-scowling at her two teammates, half-wincing in pain.
"Just what are you doing, Lavi, Allen-kun!?" she asked through gritted teeth, as two huge bruises appeared on her shins.
"Sorry, Lenalee," Allen apologized hastily.
"You can't go up against Lucy, said Lavi quickly.
The Chinese girl looked confused.
"Why?"
"We only need one hot girl out on the field," Lavi explained sheepishly, and Lenalee rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"Well, everyone! Sorry for the long wait! Here it is, the new revised schedule! Day One First Battle, Fairy Tail A's Lucy Heartfilia vs Raven Tail's Flare Corona!"
"Raven Tail..." Lucy said slowly.
"Against Blondie?" Flare looked highly satisfied.
"LUCYYYY! SHOW THEM YOUR ACHIEVEMENT FROM EXTREME TRAININNNNG!" Natsu bellowed as a prep talk.
"We can still catch up," Erza added.
"LET'S WIN AN IMPRESSIVE VICTORY!" Elfman roared.
"Lucy-san is going out..." Allen cocked his head to the side, staring at the stellar spirit mage, who came out onto the field with a determined expression on her face. "She looks so ... ready."
"Finallyyyyy. A battle between girls," Lavi mused. He leaned in forward a bit and rearranged his eyepatch. "I'm going for Lucy. That Flare girl looks weird."
"Agreed."
Behind them, Lenalee was rubbing her shins.
"You two are so horrible, doing this to me."
Allen and Lavi just grinned.
The last few minutes of the battle between Lucy and Flare was unbearable.
Lucy had fallen to the ground, in despair that her Urano Metria technique failed, as Flare laughed hysterically, trashing the blonde in front of her.
Everyone else was also laughing — the townspeople and regular spectators in the audience, it seemed. Once again trashing Fairy Tail.
"Can they fucking shut up?!" Kanda finally snapped as the booing, laughing and insulting continued.
Allen did not even realize his hands were balled up into fists. He stared down below as the emcee announced Flare as the winner, and watched as Natsu tried to console a sobbing Lucy, holding out a hand to her and leading her inside, past the sick laughs of the audience.
"She was so close!" gasped Lenalee, her hands to her mouth. "Why didn't her 'Urano Metria' technique worked?! It looked so powerful!"
"I really don't like Raven Tail," Allen muttered, glaring down at Flare, who was still disgustingly laughing.
"Is Lucy okay?" Erza asked as Natsu came back out.
"Yup! Taking a bath. What's going on?" The fire mage asked.
"You just missed the second round of the battles." Erza told him as Blue Pegasus' Ren was announced the victor against Mermaid Heel's Ariana Web.
"Shit noooooooo!" Natsu did an accurate impression of The Scream. "I wanted to see the fight!"
"It was kinda short, actually," Elfman assured him.
"So so so, what did Ren use as a finishing attack?!" Natsu asked hurriedly.
"A technique called Aerial Phose. He summoned a cyclone... Quite impressive. Blue Pegasus has improved over the seven years." Erza looked impressed.
"Wooooow. So does that mean that Ichiya from Pegasus also got stronger?"
"He's the strongest in Blue Pegasus, Natsu. He just has character flaws."
"HAHAHAHA... oh, you're serious..."
Elfman wrinkled his nose.
"Pegasus was 7th in the elimination round, though."
"Hmmmmm..." Natsu hummed thoughtfully as Erza opened her mouth.
"Yes, I was quite surprised about that..."
"Moving on! The third round of the battles! Noise Marie from Apostles vs Orga Nanagear from Sabertooth!"
"WHAAAAT?!" Lavi and Allen yelled again.
"Marie-san, you got picked... but you've just — ! " Lenalee trailed off.
"Tch. End it quick, will you? The audience is annoying as hell," Kanda snapped to Marie, who nodded.
"It's really not fair that Marie has to go twice..." Lavi frowned.
"He probably got selected because we were second in 'Hidden'," Allen said glumly. "And the fact that we kicked Lenalee," he added as Lenalee once again scowled, still upset.
"Well, yeah, but there's still three of us," Lavi pointed out.
"ALLEEEEEN! GRAVYYYYYY!"
The two boys turned around to see Natsu waving across the arena at them.
"WE'RE CHEERING FOR YOUR GUILDDDDD!" The fire mage bellowed, pointing unnecessarily at Marie, who was making his way out onto the field.
"Thank you very much!" Allen yelled back.
"LOVE YOU VERY MUCH?" Natsu shouted again. He suddenly went a bit red. "Uhhhh..."
Elfman and Erza were sniggering behind him.
"NOOOOO!" Allen said hastily, as Lavi and Lenalee burst out laughing and even Kanda coughed, "I SAID — THANK YOU VERY MUCH!"
"UMMMMM I DON'T FEEL THE SAME WAY, ALLEN!"
"What the hell?! No!" Allen cried, as Lavi coughed out "R-Rejected!"
"NATSU-SAN, I SAID THANK YOU!"
Across the arena, the fire mage blinked.
"OHHHHHH, 'THANK YOU'!"
"YES!" Allen cried, finally glad Natsu cottoned on.
"FOR WHAT?"
Oh my Good lord... Allen face-palmed as Lavi died of laughter.
"The third round — you have thirty minutes, start!"
Sabertooth was eyeing their team member.
"Orga will end this in a flash," Sting said confidently to Rufus.
Orga Nanagear was eyeing Marie suspiciously as the audience watched with bated breath.
There was a sudden black explosion and Marie was thrown off his feet.
The crowd went hysterical.
"THERE IT IS!" Lector cried, "Orga-kun's Black Lightning Sphere!"
"Shit!" Both Bak and Kanda had yelled.
"Marie-san!" Allen exclaimed; the dark-skinned exorcist was defeated on the ground below, having being struck.
"GAME OVERRRR! WHAT A STRIKE! APOSTLES' NOISE MARIE IS DOWN! SABERTOOTH GAINS 20 POINTS TODAY!"
"HE'S A MONSTER!" The crowd cheered.
"HE TOOK OUT THAT GUY IN JUST A FLASH!"
"N-No way! Marie-san didn't even get a chance to attack!" Lenalee cried, as the spectators began to chant out "Sabertooth! Sabertooth!"
"Sabertooth is really strong..." Lavi stared at Orga down in astonishment.
"Tch!" Kanda looked disgusted.
"Maaaaaaan, I feel bad for Allen's group!" Natsu said to his teammates as Marie limped back to his group.
"He needs the infirmary," Erza said, frowning as Allen and others made a fuss over their beat-up team member.
"Naaah, he looks fine!" Natsu grinned as he watched Marie shaking his head at his group, then sitting down and taking out a piece of string.
"To still be able to walk after an attack like that... He's Manly!" Elfman gave an approving nod as down below, Orga had suddenly took out a microphone.
"What's he doin'?" Natsu asked curiously, watching the Sabertooth member.
"It looks like he's going to sin — "
"THE STRONGEST NUMBER ONEEEEEEEEEEE!" Orga's horrible singing erupted all over the stadium, torturing Natsu and the others.
"WE'RE THE BEST IN THE WORLDDDDDDDDD~! DE NA DE NA DE NAAA~!"
"GAHHH!" Allen cried. "How can you call that singing — !"
"OH MY GOD MY EARDRUMMMMMMS!" Lavi bellowed, going on all fours on the ground, as the audience cheered.
"Wah! He sings like an angel!" One woman shouted from her seat.
"AN ANGEL MY ASS! I'M LOSING MY BRAIN CELLS HERE!" Kanda yelled, his fingers in his ears as Orga continued the chorus.
"YUU, PLEASE STAB MY EARS WITH YOUR MUGENNNNNNN!"
"And finally! The last round of the first day! The last two teams are Fairy Tail B and Lamia Scale! This'll be quite interesting! Up next, Mystogan from Fairy Tail B vs Jura Neekis from Lamia Scale!" The emcee announced loudly.
"OOOOH, it's him! The strong-looking guy!" Lenalee stared at Jura with fascination as the crowd let out exclaims.
"IT'S HIM! IRON ROCK JURA! He's fighting on the first day!"
"Fairy Tail B is going to lose for sure!"
"It's the real Jura!"
The emcee gave a bit of background info.
"Even in Fairy Tail, very few people know his true appearance. A very mysterious mage he is, Mystogan," said Chapati, as Mystogan entered the field.
"Wow, I didn't know Fairy Tail had someone like that..." Allen mused.
Lavi frowned. "I didn't see that Mystogan when I was by the Fairy Tail guild..."
"The rival is the strongest backup of this tournament who owns the title of one of the Ten Wizards Saints, Jura Neekis!" The arena was full of cheers and roars.
"No wonder he looks so strong!" exclaimed Lenalee.
"He has a nice beard." Lavi sniggered.
"Eh... I'm rooting for Fairy Tail B," said Allen, looking at Mystogan.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the arena...
"I can't believe Jellal's opponent is Jura," Erza muttered under her breath as she watched Laxus, Mira, and Gajeel trying to give the fake Mystogan a prep talk.
The fighters entered the field to ear-splitting cheers.
Jura spoke first.
"Personally speaking, I hope Fairy Tail can have a good show," he said to Mystogan. "Sorry, but I won't show any mercy."
"Me too," Mystogan muttered.
"All right! Today's final match... Time limit is thirty minutes — START!"
Almost immediately, Mystogan took off at a run, preparing to attack with his Five Magic Staves when —
"Gah!" He winced as multiple rock pillars suddenly erupted from the ground and blocked his path.
"WHOA!" Both Allen and Lavi looked much more awake now.
"Rocks... Incredible..." Lenalee was watching Jura's every move, as the latter kept constantly attacking the Fairy Tail opponent with pillars.
Mystogan, having hastily evading a gigantic pillar that was coming towards his way, threw his Five Staves around Jura, trapping the latter inside for a spell.
"Five Layered Magic Circle : Sacred Song!"
"HOLY– !" Lavi feverishly rubbed his eye and stared as Five Magic Seals appeared right on top of Jura, attacking the Wizard Saint with a concentrated beam of Magical Energy. The whole field was alight with magic, the seals reaching up into the heavens, dazzling everyone in the vicinity.
"This is Magic... How did he...?" Allen was now burning with curiosity.
"Did he get hit?!" Lenalee gasped as the seals disappeared, and an unharmed Jura came out, launching a giant rock fist at Mystogan.
"No way! That was the most sickest magic I've ever seen!" Lavi's mouth was open.
"It's obvious Jura's going to win!" Lyon exclaimed, as Mystogan tried attacking with another spell but failed when his attack was backfired.
"That Jura is amazing..." Lavi was leaning in forward, staring down below, watching the Wizard Saint sending back his opponent's attack. "Yuu, I don't think you're even a match for him!"
"Tch." Was all Kanda said, but Allen could see the samurai eyeing Jura with great concentration.
"Grand Chariot!"
"Rock Mountain!"
"DUDEEEEEEE THAT IS SOOOOO COOOL!" Natsu bellowed as a gigantic mountain sculpted into a giant warrior was formed.
"IS THAT THING ALIVE?!" Lavi and Allen cried, as bits of rock flew past their heads.
Mystogan seemed to be steeling himself for something. He made a motion towards the ground, pointing two of his fingers downward.
"True Heavenly Body Magic : Sema!"
The spell cast was instantaneous. Black swirling clouds suddenly appeared, hovering over the stadium so that they were cast in darkness.
"This is!" Jura stared up as the clouds began to swirl faster around Mystogan, forming a cyclone.
"WHAAAAAAT is that?!" Natsu yelled.
"What's going to happen?!" Lavi cried, his eye wide.
His question was answered for him.
Jellal suddenly coughed, and he seemed to be sweating.
"Augh – my mouth – it's ... it's..."
Everyone stared in confusion.
"Hey, what's wrong with him? He looked so cool for a second." Lavi looked dispirited.
Jellal was hissing like a snake.
"SPI — SPI — SPICYYYYYYYY~!"
"W-what on earth is going on?! Mystogan is suddenly in agony!"
"WHAAAAT?!" Everyone burst out, looking dumbstruck as the Fairy Tail fighter was itching to rip out his tongue. Then he started guffawing.
"And now he's laughing!?"
Everyone stared at the laughing, hysterical Mystogan, who then suddenly collapsed dead on the ground.
There was a very confused silence.
"HE'S DOWN?!"
"HUHHHHH?!"
Chapati was scratching his head as Jura looked stupefied at the passed out Mystogan before him.
"I really don't get it, but Mystogan is down! Victor : Jura Neekis of Lamia Scale! And with that, the First Day of the Grand Magic Games draws to a close!"
"HAHAHA! Good show, Fairy Tail!"
"You should make a comedy gag!"
Makarov Dreyar was so astonished, he looked like the walking dead.
"And so, the First Day results are like this!"
The board flashed new rankings.
First Day Results
1st Sabertooth 20P
2nd Raven Tail 16P
3rd Lamia Scale 14P
4th Blue Pegasus 13P
5th Apostles 8P
6th Mermaid Heel 2P
7th Fairy Tail B 1P
8th Fairy Tail A 0P
"We're fifth," Allen announced to the others.
"Sabertooth has 20 points..." Lenalee frowned.
"Uh... that last battle was weird. Like, really weird." Lavi rubbed his eye wearily.
"At least it was a seriously cool bit of magic," said Allen, as the audience got up from their seats and made their way out to the entrance.
"Walkerrrrrrrrr! You guys!"
The exorcists turned around to find Bak sprinting towards them.
"Are you five okay?! Marie, you should head to the infirmary!"
Marie merely groaned.
"I'm fine," he assured them. "I just need to rest."
Bak looked up and down the exorcists proudly.
"Why don't we all get something to eat? I have money."
Everyone agreed.
"You're gonna have to eat a lot," Bak told them, searching around in his jacket pockets for jewels. He lowered his voice so that the people passing by did not hear. "We'll be doing an investigation tonight."
"In here? Won't we get caught?" Lavi asked bewilderingly.
"I have a plan." There was a maniac gleam in Bak's eye. He kept fiddling around in his pockets.
"That's strange... I can't find the jewels..."
Allen suddenly remembered.
"Actually, Bak-san, didn't you leave the jewels on the table in our inn room?"
Bak snapped his fingers.
"I did!" he sighed. "Great... I'll have to go back and get it..."
"I'll fetch it," Allen volunteered. "You and everyone else can head out to pick a place to eat first."
"All right." Bak gave Allen the room key and the white-haired boy took off.
"Bak-san, what do you think of the Games so far?" Lenalee asked as they walked out of the stadium.
"Weeeell Lenalee-chan, I thought it was really unfair that..."
"Gravy!"
"For the last time, my name is Lavi!" the red-haired boy said exasperatedly as Natsu came bouncing towards him.
The fire mage cocked his head to the side.
"Ummmmmm you look more like a Gravy to me... Anyways! Come join us at the Bar Sun!" Natsu grinned as the whole guild of Fairy Tail was behind him.
Lavi merely blinked. "Bar Sun?"
"Yeah. We gotta catch up!"
Lavi smiled.
"All right. Let me find Allen."
"Umm... what was our room number again..?" Allen said nervously as he walked on the second floor of the Great Caramel Inn.
"Was it 124?... No... 174?... Oh great, I can't remember..."
Why don't the keys have room numbers on them? Allen thought irritatingly, as he entered the elevator and pushed a button to level 3, so much more easier...
As the elevators doors shut together, the young exorcist closed his eyes, thinking of nothing but food at the moment...
But the thoughts that ran through his mind weren't food...
"Mana?"
"Hm?"
"Sometimes I feel like you're so far away, Mana."
"Really?"
"Do you love me, Mana?"
"I do, Nea."
Allen gasped, snapping his eyes open. The elevator door was open to level 3, but the white-haired exorcist was too much in shock to get out. He was breathing heavily, and cold sweat trickled down from his forehead. He hastily wiped them away.
That memory... wasn't mine.
Lavi walked down the hallway on the fourth level of the Great Caramel Inn. He made his way to room 281, humming a bit.
"Oh, yeah, Allen has the key..." Lavi said when he saw a lock on the door.
"Hey Allen, can you open the door?" The eye-patch boy called.
No reply.
Lavi scratched his head.
"Allen?"
...
"Allen? Uh, you there?"
...
"Allen-san?"
...
"I love Greece, you love cheese, Allen Walker can you hear me~?"
Weird, thought Lavi, as there was no answer, he's not here yet? Or does he just can't hear me?
"ALLEN!" Lavi yelled, pounding on the door. He was even about to activate his Innocence when someone spoke behind him.
"Lavi?"
The bewildered boy turned around to see Allen blinking at him.
"GEEZ! WHERE WERE YOU?!"
"I got lost..."
"This is humiliating..." Cana Alberona told her guild drunkly in the Bar Sun. "The famous Fairy Tail... What a bunch of losers you're all now!"
None of them were very offended, as most of them were chugging on drinks to celebrate their failure.
"What an awful day we had," said Erza, conversing with Mirajane.
"I'll say. We'll beat them for sure tomorrow!"
"I'm gonna go tomorrow!" Natsu's eyes were ablaze with fire. "I swear, I'll take them all down!"
"If Salamander's going, so am I," piped up Gajeel.
Lucy and Gray entered the bar just as Juvia was wrapping up her bizarre story.
"... And what if Gray-sama suddenly takes her to the bed and they ***********?! What if this kind of thing happens?!" Juvia let out a dramatic scream.
"Definitely not possible," the ice mage murmured.
"Classic Juvia... you have the most disturbing imaginations..." Lucy sighed.
"How do you feel, Lu-chan?" Levy asked the celestial spirit mage.
"Totally better!" Lucy replied with a grin. She and Gray made their way to the table which was occupied by Erza, Happy, and Natsu.
"Mucyyyyyyyy! I'm gonner ro ermorrow!" said Natsu, while chomping on his meat.
"Swallow before you speak, please..."
Erza set down her drink.
"I've been meaning to ask all of you..." she eyed her teammates seriously, "do you think that this mysterious power Jellal mentioned has anything to do with the guilds?"
Lucy tapped her chin thoughtfully.
"I'm obviously suspicious about Raven Tail," she told Erza, who nodded, "but... maybe Sabertooth?"
"That's understandable, after seeing what monsters they were today," Gray muttered.
"What do you think, Erza?" Lucy asked the female mage.
Erza took a deep breath.
"You might not like my answer, but I'm suspicious about three guilds."
Her teammates stared.
"Who?"
"Raven Tail, Sabertooth... and Apostles."