Innocence at the Grand Magic Games Adopted

by ChaTime

Lavi and Allen journey to Magnolia Town on a job for Komui. However, they see how unusual the town is full of magic and guilds. They decide that it must be Innocence. But while they investigate, they get involved with Fairy Tail.

11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer : I don't own FT or DGM, yeah?

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Chapter Eleven

---

Mercurius, also properly known as the 'Flower Light Palace', towered over the many hundreds of buildings in Crocus. It was an extremely large and tall castle adorned by a huge number of flowers.

And deep inside...

"Your Majesty, the first day of the Grand Magic Games ended just as we've planned."

There was a hearty laugh.

"Not bad!"

"For the battles on the second day, do you have any instructions?"

"Hmmm. Oh! That guy from the new guild, Apostles! I want to see him out on the field."

"Which team would you like him to be competing against?"

"Fairy Tail... The one that knows how to requip!"

"I see. I'll arrange that then."

Back at the Bar Sun, at one particular table, Natsu Dragneel stopped chomping on his meat. He stared at Erza, setting his food down.

"Why suspect Allen and Gravy?" he demanded, licking his fingers.

"It doesn't make sense," Gray added, looking bewildered.

"Exactly," said Erza, "it doesn't make sense. They suddenly appear in the Games as a new guild? Not to mention the fact that they've disappeared, too."

"Well, I suppose you're right... But like what Natsu said before, they must have a reason," said Lucy.

"Yes, but until they give us a real reason, they're on my suspect list," said Erza. "Don't get me wrong," she added, noticing the frowns on her teammates' faces, "I think they're nice people, but something is a bit off."

"I don't see what they have to do with this tournament." Gray frowned as Natsu bobbled his head up and down in agreement.

"If my memory serves right, didn't Allen and Lavi say they were travelers?" Erza asked.

"They were travelers?! Wooooow. I didn't know that!" The fire mage looked awed.

"What did you think they were?" Gray said exasperatedly. "And you don't need to answer that," he hasten to add, as Natsu opened his mouth dumbly to respond.

"Anyway, I don't see how a traveler can suddenly participate in a competition that requires magic — unless of course, they're mages," Erza continued.

"So you think everything they told us is a lie?" Gray asked her.

"Nah, I don't think so," Natsu piped up before Erza could respond, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "I don't think they're lyin' or anythin'. They never told us whether or not they were mages."

"That's right! We've never directly asked them whether they were mages or not," Lucy agreed.

"True..." Gray looked thoughtful as Erza spoke again.

"That all may be very well, but if they are travelers, why are they participating in a magic tournament? And if they are mages... Well, I've never heard of a mage who doesn't know what a Mage is, a Guild is, or Magic is." The female mage pointed out.

"Oh... you're right." Three voices replied.

---

Lavi and Allen had entered their inn room and were busily searching for the jewels.

At first, Allen could've sworn he remembered the jewels being on the table near the couch, but he was sadly mistaken, for he was staring at the said table, where nothing was on its surface.

"That's weird," he said bewilderingly, searching the floor, hoping that the money must've fallen somewhere.

Lavi frowned, watching his fruitless efforts.

"Allen, you have a really bad memory."

"Thanks. I do believe it's much inferior to yours," Allen replied sardonically, earning a smile from his red-haired friend.

After searching every inch of the main, the washroom and the bedroom, they gave up.

"Well... What are we gonna do now?"

"Eat and run — I was just joking! Oh yeah, I told Bak-san and the others to meet us outside at the Bar Sun," Lavi informed him as they exited the room.

"Bar Sun?" Allen repeated, locking the door. "We're eating at an actual bar?"

"It's a bar? Wait, I don't think so... It might be just the name," said Lavi.

"Nope. It's a bar." Allen spoke as if it settled the matter.

"Huh, well, you sure are confident."

Allen gave the redhead a somewhat wicked smile.

"I've been going to bars with Master most of my life. I can tell."

"No wonder..."

The two made their way down below to the lobby. However, to their great surprise, Bak and the rest were waiting for them, along with another familiar-looking man who was wearing a large backpack.

"Komui-san!"

Komui Lee beamed.

"Allen-kun. Lavi. You two look well," he greeted them brightly.

"Oh, you too... but Komui-san, what are you doing here?" Allen asked, looking perplexed, giving Bak a you-didn't-tell-me-Komui-was-coming look.

Bak smiled (rather smugly) as Komui rounded on Lenalee.

"I came here to see my adorable Lenalee-chan, of course!"

Everyone tried not to roll their eyes as they watched Komui hugging his sister.

"Ahem. Bak, you didn't touch Lenalee, did you?" Komui asked as Lenalee sighed in exasperation, trying to snatch free of his grasp.

"Of course not," Bak replied darkly. He looked like he wanted to give Komui a good kick up the —

"Anyway, on a serious note, I came through from the Ark, and took the train from Magnolia Town. I heard about the Games on the way. You're off to a great start. I'm pleased." Komui smiled at the exorcists.

"I'm also here to give you shots." The European Head straighten up and took out an item from his backpack.

"Shots? What's that?" Allen said curiously, examining the object in Komui's hand. It looked like a syringe.

"Exactly what it looks like. A syringe. I'm going to be doing a blood test."

"Eh? What do you mean?" The white-haired exorcist asked, eyeing the syringe with great concentration. It looked like a normal tool to him, but if it was one of Komui's inventions...

"Let me demonstrate. Roll up your sleeve."

Allen grimaced as he obeyed, Lavi and Lenalee giving him an over-sympathetic look. Really. The kind of look that people would give you at a funeral.

Komui suddenly stabbed him in the shoulder with the tool without warning, causing everyone around them to wince, but he strangely didn't feel any pain (which was saying something). He watched as Komui pulled the barrel back so that blood was sucked inside.

"Wow, Komui-san, for once that didn't hurt," Allen admitted happily, as Komui poured the blood into a small container.

Komui looked pleased.

"All right! Lavi, you're next!"

"Wait, we're all getting a blood test?"

"It's the flu season back in HQ," Komui explained. "I have to check if your blood's clean."

Lavi stepped forward a bit cautiously. Allen knew Lavi wasn't a big fan of needles. He remembered the one time when Bookman was healing his cursed eye with his acupuncture needles; the apprentice wasn't in the room at the time, no doubt having being unable to stand the revolting scene.

"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt," Allen assured the anxious redhead, placing a bandage on his shoulder.

Kanda, sitting on an armchair, made a 'tch' sound.

"You still scared of little needles, usagi?"

"I am not!" Lavi retorted back bravely as Komui straighten his glasses.

"Okay, Lavi, roll up your sleeve and stand still."

"Sur — HOLD ON, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! That thing is still full of Allen's blood!" The redhead cried, as Komui nearly went and stabbed him with the needle.

"Oh... but you and Allen have the same blood type anyway."

"I don't care — just change the syringe! Do you know how dangerous it is to inject a used syringe like that?! Gramps told me so!" Lavi cried as Allen sniggered.

"Hm... But I don't think I have any extras..."

"WHAT?!"

"Komui-niisan, you don't have any more syringes!?" Lenalee asked worriedly.

"Do not fear, Lenalee! I was actually prepared for this kind of situation! You see, I actually invented a syringe for this purpose — it could clean itself, you know. I think it's in my bag..." To Lavi's enormous relief, Komui abandoned the plastic syringe and started rummaging around in his bag.

"A-ha!" he let out a cry a few moments later, taking out a gigantic metal syringe half the size of the lobby. It strangely had two black holes on the side.

"WHAAAAT is that?!" Lavi cried, his headband nearly flying off in alarm as he took several steps back.

"And just when I thought Komui-san got over his weird invention hobby..." Allen groaned.

"C'mon! This one is totally different from the Komlin robots! This is a syringe I invented! It's called the Komuswinge! Nice, isn't it? If I press this button here" — Komui pressed a random button — "it comes to life!"

"WHAAAAAAT!? WAIT, HOW THE HELL CAN SOMETHING THAT HUGE FIT IN YOUR BAG?!"

There was a loud beeping noise, and the black holes, apparently meant to be the eyes, sprang to life and started darting around.

"All right, Lavi! Stand still so Komuswinge can scan you!"

"ARE YOU CRAZY?! THAT NEEDLE IS FREAKIN' HUGE! YUUUU, SAVE MEEE!" Lavi hastily took cover behind Kanda, who was deeply irritated by this.

"Get the hell away from me!"

"Target Locked : #1471 and #3486." A robotic voice suddenly announced out of nowhere.

Allen, Bak, and Lenalee immediately scurried out of the way as the giant syringe suddenly rolled towards its two targets at an unbelievable pace, its humongous metal sharp needle pointing outwards.

Lavi and Kanda screamed.

---

"Komui, get over it," Bak told the European Head briskly, watching Komui sobbing over Komuswinge's defeated body parts. "The most important thing is that you have to pay the repairs for the lobby."

"My Komuswinge..." Komui sniffed. "Kanda... how could you?!"

"That damn thing shouldn't be allowed to live for even three seconds!" Kanda snarled in response, sheathing his Mugen as Komui painfully threw the body parts into the garbage bin (which was quite large).

"He's right, nii-san!" Lenalee scolded her brother. "That thing was dangerous!"

Komui sighed dramatically.

"Well, there's no point in continuing the blood test now..."

"By the way, where did Lavi and Walker go?" Bak looked around the lobby; there was no sight of the mentioned exorcists.

"I heard them leave. Said something about the Bar Sun. They left us jewels, too," Marie answered.

Kanda looked livid.

"That retarded rabbit... I'm going to send him to his grave..."

Komui rubbed his hands together.

"Okay! My lovely Lenalee-chaaaan! Let's go have some dinner~!"

"But weren't we suppose to eat at the Bar Sun with Allen-kun and Lavi, Bak-san?" Lenalee asked the Asian Director.

Bak waved around an airy hand.

"It's fine. We'll catch up with them later. Since Komui is here, we should show him around."

"Actually, Bak," Komui whispered as Lenalee, Kanda, and Marie left the lobby to the streets outside, "I'm going to need your help tonight."

Bak blinked.

"What?"

---

"Th-that was seriously close." Lavi panted heavily, after he and Allen passed the hospital and the inn was no longer in sight. They had just left the building in between the chaos between Kanda and Komuswinge. "Kanda's going to beat the crap out of me if I come back." Lavi shivered dramatically.

There was a loud noise coming from Allen's stomach.

"Ugh, I'm hungry..."

Lavi grinned mischievously, causing the younger boy to look skeptical. He had seen enough of Lavi's freakish smiles.

"I have the jewels," the redhead admitted.

What.

"What?!" Allen cried in disbelief.

Lavi pulled out the money.

"You were right; it was on the table."

"Lavi, you jerk! You made me search everywhere for nothing!"

"Hey, hey, I was gonna tell you but Komui came."

"Shouldn't we give Bak-san the money? They were suppose to eat with us, weren't they?"

"Don't worry, I remembered to toss Marie half of the jewels. And anyway, I am not eating with Yu at the moment; he's going to murder me."

"And just how did you have time to do all that?"

The eyepatch boy looked smug. "Whaddya mean, how? I'm just awesome."

"I disagree."

"Mean! Well, whatever."

"Excuse me, can you please tell us where the Bar Sun is located?" Allen asked a young woman out on the street.

"Bar Sun? Oh my, you're a bit too young, aren't you?" The woman gave a kind laugh, eyeing the two boys.

"Miss, I can assure you, we're not drinkers," Allen replied, smiling and stepping firmly on Lavi's foot as the latter tried to hit on the woman.

"Haha, all right. If you pass Flowerbud Avenue down the road there by that sign and keep on going left, the Bar Sun is to your right, on the right side of the bridge near the river."

"Thank you very much."

"Ahhhh, such a beautiful woman," Lavi said dreamily, looking back at the lady who gave him a wave as they made their way to the bar. "The townspeople in this dimension are so kind and welcoming."

"It's probably because back in our world, there were always akumas attacking the towns. There was always chaos," said Allen. "So of course things are calmer and nicer here. People, unlike in our dimension, don't die everyday."

Lavi looked strained.

"You've brought up such a depressing topic," he muttered.

"I didn't mean to," the younger boy said hastily, "but back then, some people would kick us out of their town just because they were scared of us being exorcists." Allen gave a hollow laugh. "So really, I'm not used to this treatment either."

"It is nice." Lavi smiled as an elderly man down the block waved and congratulated them for being fifth in the Games.

They passed Flowerbud Avenue and went left. Sure enough, there it was to their right, the Bar Sun, its sign lit by the moonlight in the darkening evening. They could make out the bridge and the glistening water.

"Augh, you were right." Lavi grimaced as he caught a whiff of alcohol. "This is a bar..."

The younger boy looked up at the pub. It was two stories high, decoratively carved in wood, with two Sun-like symbols hovering over the entrance.

Lavi peered in one of the brightly lit windows.

"I can't see anything," he said impatiently, "the glass is too blurry."

"You know, I still don't understand why we actually came here to eat. Out of all the places in Crocus, you had to pick a bar?" Allen looked around the area. He could hear very loud voices of what seemed to be a crowd of people from inside and frowned.

"Aww, Allen, are the old days of General Cross haunting you?" Lavi teased.

"No, it's not that. I've just never heard a bar so noisy before."

"Anyway, let's go in. The noise from your stomach is driving me crazy."

"Well, at least I don't have to play poker for once," Allen said a bit more brightly as Lavi wrenched open the wooden door and they walked in.

"What the — ?!" Allen had a brief glimpse of an overcrowded bar before a huge, wooden barrel nearly struck him on the head; he managed to avoid it by ducking downwards, causing the barrel to fly over him.

"Whoops, my bad!" Someone dashed outside to retrieve the barrel.

Allen recognized the voice.

"N-Natsu-san?!" The white-haired boy looked baffled as Natsu turned around and blinked.

"Oh hey! You guys finally came! We've just started playing 'barrel-tobogganing'! Wanna join in?" Natsu held out the barrel invitingly.

"Oh, um, no thank you," Allen refused politely.

Natsu raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, Allen, your stomach is really noisy," he said conversationally, causing Allen to groan in embarrassment as Lavi sniggered. "Why don't you guys come in and eat? Party's on us!"

"I can't let you do that!" Allen exclaimed, as Natsu led the way inside, past his noisy guild where most of them were indeed playing barrel-tobogganing, to the bar counter, where a short elderly man was drinking with a young woman.

"Don't worry about it." A new voice spoke; Erza suddenly appeared. "Congratulations on being fifth in the Games," she told the exorcists.

Natsu, who was heaving the barrel, set it down and shouted at Makarov, who was chugging on his drink.

"Hey, Gramps! Food's on us, right?"

The 3rd Fairy Tail Master hiccuped.

"Of — hic— course! Help yourself, young lads!" he said to Allen and Lavi.

The young woman, who was quite a professional at drinking, set down her mug with triumph.

"Ahhhh, that felt good," she said, swaying a little. Noticing Allen, she turned around and asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Allen. Nice to meet you," he said formally, whipping out a hand for the female to shake. She did, drunkly.

"I'm Cana," she introduced herself drowsily, not noticing that she've been shaking his hand for more than ten seconds.

Allen was taken aback.

"I'm sorry, did you just say Mana?"

"It's Cana!" she replied loudly, making Allen wince.

I could've sworn she said Mana... Actually, what am I thinking? Mana's not even a woman. Allen tried to clear out his thoughts. He was obviously having a weird day. First he had that weird flashback, then Komui came with his Komuswinge, and now he've just mistaken a drunk lady for Mana.

Cana then suddenly collapsed head-first onto the counter, snoring loudly as she did so.

Erza shook her head as Allen and Lavi exchanged what-the-heck-just-happened looks.

"Don't bother," she told Allen, who was cautiously trying to prod Cana awake, "she's always like that."

"Allen! You gotta try this!" Natsu unexpectedly jumped into the conversation and led the white-haired boy to the buffet table. "That meat looks good, doesn't it?!"

"Whoa! Is that goose?!" Allen exclaimed excitedly. His mouth began to water as it always did when it came to food.

"By the way, Lavi." Allen heard Erza say to the redhead as he and Natsu quickly loaded up their arms with plates, "where's the rest of your team?"

"Ah, it's a rather long story," Lavi replied brightly, as he watched Allen carrying back eighty or so dishes to a table with Natsu, much to everyone's bewilderment.

"I see. Why don't you two join us?" Erza smiled at him. She was nodding her head towards a table that was occupied by Gray, Lucy, and Happy.

"Maaaaaaaaan, Allen, you can eat!" Natsu exclaimed gleefully, watching the white-haired exorcist gulping down his fifty-ninth dish.

"Like you're one to talk," Gray murmured from the next table, staring at the large number of plates beside the fire mage. Allen and Natsu brought so much food they practically had four whole tables to themselves.

"At this rate they're both going to empty the buffet table." Lucy sighed as Happy sniggered.

Erza turned to Lavi.

"So, I've been wondering for awhile," she began, her voice casual, "I didn't expect you to participate in the Games."

It was a statement rather than a question, and Lavi knew it.

"So you were wondering how you didn't expect us to participate in the Games?" he asked, sipping his soda.

Erza looked taken aback.

"That's right," she said slowly.

"We were worried when you both suddenly disappeared after the party in the Spirit World," Lucy suddenly chipped in.

"Oh... were you?" Lavi felt a guilty squirm. He tried to look at Allen for support, but the white-haired boy was busy stuffing himself with food and talking with Natsu to even notice.

Erza decided to cut to the chase.

"Where were you?" she asked curiously. "No, let me rephrase my question... What are you?"

Lavi blinked, noting the emphasis in the question as they all looked at him expectantly. To their surprise, he gave them a smile.

"We're travelers," he admitted. It wasn't like he was lying or anything; they were travelers. Technically.

He could see Erza, Gray, and Lucy exchanging meaningful looks and grimaced.

He knew what they were trying to ask him. But Bak had made him and the other exorcists swear that they were to steer clear of any suspicious questions that could blow their cover.

"Hey, look at this, everyone!" Mirajane Strauss suddenly appeared. She was holding up a newspaper. "Yajima-san made a commentary on all the guilds!" she told them excitedly.

The red-haired exorcist suddenly gagged on his drink, much to everyone's alarm.

"Sorry, can I borrow that — thanks!" He snatched the newspaper out of a bewildered Mirajane's hand and scanned the front cover feverishly, suddenly realizing something.

"Allen!" Lavi nearly tripped over his feet as he got up from his chair. Erza and the rest looked confused at his sudden outburst.

"'Ot 'ar 'ou 'ooing, 'Abi?" Allen asked (What are you doing, Lavi?).

"Allen! I just noticed! Look at this!" Lavi hissed, shoving the newspaper under Allen's nose.

Trying to swallow the alarming amount of food occupied in his mouth, the white-haired teen read the headline of the article Lavi was pointing to while Natsu watched them unconcernedly.

Grand Magic Games : Year X791 Commentary

Allen frowned and sipped his water, trying to wash down the food.

"What is it?"

"Look at the year!"

Allen nearly choked.

---

"Whaaaaaaaaat! You're leaving already?!" Natsu exclaimed, looking disappointed.

"Yeah, it's what? Nine?" Lavi peered at the clock hanging on the wall.

"Thank you very much for the refreshments." Allen bowed gratefully to the Fairy Tail mages.

"You don't have to bow," Gray muttered, although he looked pleased.

"We'll see you tomorrow at the Games," Lucy said cheerfully to them.

"I'm not gonna lose to you!" Natsu declared with a fiery passion.

The exorcists smiled and departed.

"Aw... I wish they could've stayed longer!" Natsu pouted, once the bar doors closed. "I was gonna have a food contest with Allen!"

Totally oblivious to the skeptical looks on his teammates' faces, Natsu and Happy rushed back to the buffet table, stuffing themselves once more.

"Erza..." Lucy began slowly, "you were right; something is off about them."

"What do you mean by 'off'?" Gray asked.

"Well... Allen seems more genuine, but Lavi's more..."

"Insightful." Erza nodded. "If this was a matter of asking who was the most suspicious, I would say Lavi. It's clear to me he's a quick-thinker and a lot more observant. So be careful around him. But don't drop your guard on Allen too," she said warningly.

"That Lavi... He didn't give a good enough answer... Actually you didn't ask him a specific enough question." Gray rounded on Erza.

"True, but it was all I could do to not sound suspicious," Erza replied calmly. "And anyway, I believe he said that answer on purpose."

Gray seemed to remember something.

"Do you remember what the emcee said at the inauguration?"

"Be a bit more specific, Gray," Erza told him wearily, "the emcee said a hundred things today."

"When Apostles came out. The those chosen by God part."

Erza's eyes widen.

"Of course." She smacked her head with her armored hand painfully, causing Lucy and Gray to wince. "'Those chosen by God'... That's definitely suspicious."

"So, you think they're connected to this mysterious power Jellal mentioned?" Lucy asked her.

"We haven't had any real leads, but I think it's likely. But let's not forget, it's not just them, there's also Raven Tail and Sabertooth."

"This feels weird," Lucy muttered. "Are they friends? Or are they enemies?"

Neither Gray or Erza replied.

Meanwhile, the barman just passed Makarov the bill.

"KYAAA! WHO'S THE IDIOT THAT ATE MORE THAN FIFTY DISHES?!"

"Wait," the barman interrupted, "this one too." He passed forward a larger bill.

Makarov paled.

"AND WHO'S THIS OTHER IDIOT THAT ATE MORE THAN A HUNDRED DISHES?!"

Natsu guffawed.

"Allen eats a loooooooot!"

---

"I can't believe this," Allen said in disbelief, as he and Lavi trotted their way back to the Great Caramel Inn, "we practically went back in time!"

"No, I don't think so," Lavi muttered. "I'm not sure we went back in time; for all we know, X791 could mean the 1800's... or it could refer to the 90's in this world..."

"I don't get it..."

"The timeline must be different here. I mean, it is completely different from our world, yeah? We'll never know whether or not we traveled through time because this place has its own sequence of events."

"That makes sense..."

"But there's one more thing : the Gate number." Lavi frowned.

"What about it?"

"The Gate number is 777, and in this world, it's the year of 791... Considering the first numbers to be both seven, there has to be a connection between the Ark and this dimension, right?"

"You're right... I can't believe we didn't notice that before," Allen murmured, his panic subsiding. Now that he knew what timeline they were currently in, it suddenly made the situation seem so real to him; that he really was in a different dimension where there was magic, flying cats and other absurd things. He was even starting to doubt Innocence being the source of this all.

"And also... Yajima..." Lavi muttered under his breath.

"Eh? Did you say something, Lavi?"

"What? Oh, no, I didn't say anything."

"Lavi. Allen-kun." A voice in the dark suddenly startled the two exorcists.

Allen saw the outline of Lenalee and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Lenalee, you scared us for a second..."

"Sorry. You guys aren't used to seeing me in the dark, huh? Anyway, I've been waiting for you two."

"Aren't you always?" Allen smiled as Lenalee sighed in amusement.

"Is this about the investigation thing?" Lavi asked, readjusting his headband.

"Yep. Kanda and Marie-san already took off towards the arena."

"Oh... Where's Bak-san?"

Lenalee shrugged. "Komui-niisan needed him for something."

"But about the arena — how will we get in?" Lavi asked as the older girl took the lead, walking at a fast pace.

"Actually, I heard that we're allowed inside the arena, but not on the field. You do know the arena is practically a two-story building, right?" said Lenalee.

"Really?" said Allen, interested by this piece of news.

"They have an infirmary for the injured, and there are a bunch of rooms. But for the most part, the levels are filled with long hallways."

"Hm..." Allen looked thoughtful, wondering how Lenalee knew so much.

"And have you two heard of Mercurius, the Flower Light Palace?" Lenalee asked as they turned a corner. She was walking so fast, the two boys were practically jogging after her.

"No," puffed Lavi, "what about it? And could you slow down a bit, Lena?"

"Sorry, you know how impatient Kanda can get; Bak-san said we can only start searching for the Innocence when we're all together. I don't know why — security reasons or something. And Mercurius is the castle in which the King of Fiore lives in." Lenalee all said this very quickly.

"They have a castle here?" Allen exclaimed incredulously.

"Uh-huh. Can you see it?" The Chinese girl stopped in her tracks and stuck out a finger, pointing to the right.

Allen could see it. Faraway, amid the hundreds of houses and shops, Mercurius was easily the most largest and tallest structure in Crocus, possibly even surpassing the arena for the Games. Even in the dark, he could make out the castle.

"And the King lives in there?"

Lavi let out a low whistle.

"Not bad... But I think Kro-chan's castle was bigger."

Lenalee's diamond-shaped golem suddenly ascended out of nowhere.

"Did you find them yet?!" Kanda's angry voice spoke through the night.

"I did!" Lenalee answered back hastily, as Allen rolled his eyes at Kanda's tone.

"Good. Tell the rabbit I'm going to slice him up when he comes." Lavi winced as the line went off, apparently having forgotten that Kanda was after his head.

"Let's hurry!" Lenalee said anxiously, activating the bangles around her boots. She burst off at an extremely quick pace, much to her teammates' displeasure.

"Lenalee! That's cheating!"

---

The entrance at the arena was empty except for two people when they finally arrived. Sure enough, a glowering Kanda was glaring at them.

"You, get over here so I can quickly send you to your death," he barked at Lavi, who cowered a little.

"Kanda, is this really the time to end Lavi's life? At least let him live for an hour or so, so that he can help with the investigation," Lenalee chipped in wearily.

"You think lowly of me too, huh, Lena?"

Bak's voice suddenly went on from Kanda's golem, luckily extending Lavi's lifespan.

"Are Walker and Lavi present yet?"

"Present," Allen and Lavi replied in unison.

"Good job. All right, before you begin, you should have a golem with you. Who doesn't have one?"

"I don't," said Lavi and Allen, and Bak sighed.

"You both don't have a golem...? It's a miracle that Lenalee found you. Okay, so how many golems do we currently have?"

"Three," Lenalee responded. "Mine, Kanda's, and Marie-san's."

"All right, spilt yourselves up into three teams. Two teams of two, and one team of one."

"But isn't that risky? The odd person will be left out," Allen interjected.

"It's the best we can do for now," Bak replied.

The exorcists positioned themselves up : Allen and Lenalee, Kanda and Marie, and Lavi was by himself.

"Are you all good to go? All right. Now, I want you look around carefully for any strange phenomenon, but try to get to the field as close as you can," Bak ordered. "Actually, pick a station accordingly too. I don't want all of you searching around the field all at once."

It was settled; Kanda and Marie would search around the field while Allen and Lenalee would look around the entrance, the bridge connected to the town, and the back. Lavi would search inside the arena.

"Contact me if any of you have managed to find a lead. Is that clear?"

"Yes," they all replied, and shot off towards their stations.

---

No one said getting close to the field was an easy job at first. Kanda and Marie nearly went and showed themselves to two Fiore guards, who were blocking the entrance to the field.

"Tch, how the hell can we look for the Innocence when they're here?" Kanda said impatiently, watching the first guard picking his nose. "Marie, is there another route?"

"Only the way we came in."

"Tch," Kanda said again, "this is a pain in the ass... cover me if anyone comes by."

Quickly and silently, Kanda sprinted up towards the two guards, who both only had a bewildered glimpse of him before sinking to the ground, apparently unconscious.

"Let's go, Marie," Kanda called, making his way smoothly out onto the field.

---

"Can you feel anything weird, Allen-kun?"

"Nope."

Allen and Lenalee looked up and down at the stone bridge they were standing on.

"If only we had an Innocence detector," Allen said glumly, walking around.

"You know, what if the Innocence took another form? You told me about Lala, the doll who had the Innocence as her heart, right? What if there's someone like that here?" Lenalee asked.

"True..." But the only image that popped into Allen's mind was the talking pumpkin.

The Chinese girl suddenly blinked.

"Hey, Allen-kun?"

"Hm?"

"Do you see something weird over there?"

Allen spun around, looking at one of the arena statutes Lenalee was pointing at.

"Nothing's there, Lenalee," he said, turning back to her disappointedly.

She blinked.

"But I could've sworn I saw a black shape..."

"Must've been your imagination?"

---

Walking in the hallways at night wasn't Lavi's cup of tea. He hated dark and eerie areas; specifically places like Krory's old castle.

Thankfully, the lights were on in the arena, and Lavi could distantly hear people in some of the rooms he passed by.

So he walked down the hallway quite cheerfully, keeping an eye out for any strange presence.

That is, until he felt a weird sensation like someone was following him.

The redhead turned around abruptly. The hallway was deserted, but still Lavi couldn't brush off that ominous feeling.

I can't get sidetracked, he scolded himself, and continued walking, I have to focus on locating the Innocence first. Besides, it's not like some mad person is walking behind me...

"You!" A sudden voice from behind nearly made him piss his pants. Lavi nearly yelped as he whipped around, his hand clutching onto his deactivated Innocence like a lifeline.

An elderly pink-haired woman was giving him a glowering look that could rival Kanda's.

Holy shit, there really IS a mad person walking behind me!

He gulped noisily as she took in his appearance.

"You're that Apostles boy," she interjected coldly before he could say anything. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing."

"You came to the arena just to do nothing?"

"I —"

He was interrupted by a weak voice calling out from somewhere down the hallway.

"Porlyusica-san?"

Wendy? Lavi vaguely thought, recognizing the speaker.

"You, come with me." The woman, apparently named Porlyusica, took off down the hall, a bemused Lavi trotting in her footsteps. He felt like he was just caught red-handed, which was weird, because all he had been doing was just walking.

He stared at the elderly woman's pink-colored hair.

Is she Natsu's mom? No... She's way too old... His grandma maybe? Nah... There's a lot of pink-haired people in this world...

Porlyusica came to an abrupt stop just in front of a half-opened door labeled Infirmary. She opened it all the way, beckoning Lavi to get inside.

Lavi squeezed past her, and was surprised to see Lucy in the room, Carla in her arms.

"Lavi?"

"Lucy?"

---

Happy the Exceed sneezed.

"Hey, Natsu, I think I'm getting sick," he told his partner groggily.

"Want my scarf? You can cover yourself up."

"Oh yeah! I have a scarf in my bag. Thanks, Natsu." Happy opened his mini backpack and took out an Exceed-sized blue scarf, covering himself up like a ninja.

"I can't wait till tomorrow!" Natsu said excitedly, walking down the stone bridge to the entrance of the arena.

"Will Wendy get better?" Ninja-Happy asked hopefully.

"Let's go see! Lucy's already in the infirmary." The fire mage took two huge leaps before noticing something.

"Hey... There's people at the entrance..."

He sniffed.

"This smell... It's Allen!"

---

Lucy stared in confusion as Porlyusica shut the door, immediately tending to a weak Wendy while Lavi stood awkwardly in one corner. She didn't understand; what was Lavi doing here?

"You're squishing me too hard!" The white Exceed in her arms hissed, turning blue.

"Oh, sorry, Carla!"

"Um... Is Wendy okay?" The redhead asked timidly, watching Porlyusica conjuring up some complicated-looking potion.

"Her fever is going up," the elderly woman replied harshly.

Wendy, who was looking very sick indeed, moved her head to look at the exorcist.

"Oh, Lavi-san... So you didn't disappear after all..." she said weakly, giving him a smile.

"Nope." Lavi smiled back. It looked strangely real to Lucy.

"I'm glad..." Wendy coughed multiple times. Carla flew out of Lucy's arms and scolded her.

"Don't talk so much! Just rest!" she said crossly, and Wendy nodded, closing her eyes.

"You," Porlyusica barked at Lavi, making him jump, "I don't usually ask humans for favors, but I need you to head to the storage room and pick up this list of supplies. It's for the girl." She threw a piece of parchment at him.

"Uh?" said Lavi, a bit dazed.

"Since you've got nothing better to do, make yourself useful," Porlyusica snapped. "And you, tag along with him," she added coldly to Lucy, who looked startled, "there's no point in just waiting for the girl to get better."

---

"Maaaan, Allen, we sure meet up in unexpected places, huh?" Natsu gave a toothy grin as Allen smiled.

The fire mage nearly gave him a heart attack. Allen was checking the flower beds when Natsu suddenly bounced on him out of nowhere, making him shriek like a girl.

"It's a small world," he agreed. "By the way, this is Lenalee" — the Chinese exorcist bowed politely to Natsu — "my friend."

"Whoa! You're that girl Lucy bumped into!" Natsu and Happy burst out excitedly, now recognizing Lenalee.

"Ah! So her name was Lucy!" Lenalee snapped her fingers in realization. "Ohhhhh wait, now that I've thought about it, this Lucy must be the same Lucy you've mentioned, right, Allen-kun?"

"Lenalee, you sure are slow..."

The fire mage introduced himself to Lenalee cheerfully.

"I'm Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail! The soon-to-be number one guild in Fiore!" Natsu and Ninja-Happy struck a heroic pose that made Allen and Lenalee laugh.

"So, what're ya doin' here?" Natsu asked, scratching his nose.

"Just looking around," Allen replied, somewhat strained. Although he was rather pleased to see Natsu, how on earth can they resume searching for the Innocence with the fire mage hanging around?

---

This is awkward... Lucy thought to herself as she and Lavi made their way silently to the storage room. When she'd first met Lavi, he was totally head over heels for her, but now, the air in between them was like ice. It was strange, indeed.

"So..." Lucy began, trying to break up the tension, "where are you from?"

Lavi didn't reply right away. He was staring down at Porlyusica's list of supplies.

Crap. Did I say something wrong? Wait, all I did was ask a simple question... But wait, he didn't answer me... Augh, this is so awkward... Allen was easier to talk to...

"London."

"Eh?" Lucy blinked; did he just answer her?

"I come from London," Lavi repeated.

"London? That's interesting..." There was a London in Fiore? She had never heard of it, but then again, she was asleep for seven years; London might've been one of those newly constructed towns.

Ah, the world is so strange, Lucy shook her head in amusement.

Lavi, who caught her expression, smiled. To her surprise, it was one of those genuine ones, as opposed to the somewhat forced smile he gave her, Erza, and Gray in the bar.

Seizing the chance to keep up this friendly atmosphere, she noticed his uniform and said, "You changed your coat, right? It looks cool! Red suits you better. And I just noticed, you wear a scarf just like Natsu does!"

Lavi smiled again.

"Natsu's scarf is cooler. A scarf given by a dragon; that's pretty awesome."

"Nice eyepatch, too. Are you a pirate wannabe?"

"Am not!" Lavi cried, and Lucy laughed. She noticed that they turned left into another corridor.

"Lavi? The storage room is suppose to be in the other direction," she told him bemusedly.

"Oh, I just want to take a quick look around first. Is that okay?" The redhead asked, once again offering her a smile.

"Sure."

Well, in any case, looks like I kinda broke the ice... Lucy thought as Lavi readjusted his eyepatch.

"I saw your fight with Flare. That was really unexpected. I thought you were going to win for sure."

Lucy stopped a bit in her tracks. Some of the terrible weight she had been carrying ever since her battle with Flare seemed to have lifted a bit.

"Really?" she asked, sounding both surprised and pleased as they walked down a flight of stairs.

"Really." Lavi gave another smile.

"Hey, can I ask you something? Apostles are people who were messengers of God, right?" Lucy asked excitedly, much to Lavi's surprise. "I used to read stories about them."

"Stories?"

"Usually fairy tale versions that a four-year-old me back then could understand."

Lavi laughed, the first time Lucy had seen him do so. It was strangely refreshing.

"Oh, we're here," she said, coming to a halt in front of the storage room.

Lavi blinked. "The heck? That was fast."

"Well, there are only two floors in this arena after all," The Fairy Tail mage grinned as the exorcist made an "ahhh" sound.

"So what's on the list?"

"Xenotassium, Innocilim, and some gibberish thing I can't pronounce," Lavi replied. He hesitated. "Can I look for the Innocilim?"

"Innocilim...? Sure, no problem," said Lucy.

Lavi wrenched open the door just as Lucy suddenly remembered something.

"Ah! Lavi! I forgot to mention that the potions will fall out if you open the door too fast!"

"Y'know, you could've said that like, five seconds ago," the exorcist muttered. He was now completely drenched in some gooey formula from a bottle that fell when the door was opened.

Lucy couldn't help it. She burst out laughing.

Her laughter was contagious; even Lavi joined in.

---

"— and so, I was like, bam! bam! wham! Ya know what I mean, Allen?"

"What? Oh— hic— yes."

Allen groaned. Natsu had been talking about his battles in the labyrinth for the umpteenth time. He and Lenalee had searched every centimeter of the entrance, the bridge and the back (with Natsu and Happy blabbering on beside them, completely unaware of what the exorcists were doing), and to his disappointment, they haven't found any leads. The only mysterious thing he managed to find was a glowing flower that made him hiccup.

Natsu yawned widely.

"Man, I'm tired!" he said. "I was gonna met up with Luce, but I guess I'll call it a night."

"Luce?" Allen blinked. "You mean Lucy-san?"

"Yeah. She's in the infirmary. Anyway, if you see her, tell her I said good night. See ya guys tomorrow! I'm not gonna lose!"

"Eh? In the infirmary? Just a minute, Natsu-san, I'm not a messenger b..." Allen trailed off as the fire mage and the Exceed took off towards the bridge drowsily.

Lenalee sighed.

"He's a really talkative one."

"Yeah... But he's a good person. Anyway, we should contact Bak-san." Allen took out Lenalee's golem.

"This is Bak Chang."

"Bak-san, it's Allen and Lenalee. We've searched the entrance, the bridge, and the back, but so far, no luck on our side."

There was a pause on the other line.

"I see... That's too bad then. Well, you two can head back."

"Without informing the others?"

"I'll let them know."

"All right."

---

"This is damn disgusting," Kanda growled, eyeing the littered floor that was full of trash, spoiled food, and empty cups. He and Marie were checking the audience seats.

"In a way, I'm rather glad we weren't in the audience," Marie murmured as he cautiously stepped around a large bit of stinky cheese.

"There's no way the Innocence is here. It's full of garbage." Kanda scanned the large number of seats.

"It's also nowhere near the field too," Marie added.

Going back into the hallway, Kanda summoned his golem.

"Bak speaking."

"This was all a waste of time. There's no Innocence here," Kanda snarled.

"Really...? I was so sure it was around the field..."

"If you're so sure, why don't you fucking search yourself?"

Bak winced.

"Kanda, watch your language and calm down. I guess I was wrong. You and Marie can head back to the inn now."

Bak's line went off, and Marie was about to walk out of the field when he realized that Kanda hadn't moved an inch.

"Kanda?"

"Did you hear that?" Kanda suddenly asked sharply.

Marie listened. There was a rustling noise nearby for a second or so, and then the sound stopped.

Kanda glanced around.

"Anything there?" Marie asked.

"No."

"Must've been the wind."

---

Porlyusica stared in bewilderment as a gooey Lavi trotted back to the infirmary, along with Lucy who was grinning widely.

"What happened?" she asked briskly, covering her nostrils with her hands; Lavi reeked strongly of cabbage. "Did you break one of my bottles, boy?"

"Yes," the exorcist mumbled, and the elderly woman looked displeased.

"I send you off to do a simple task and you can't even accomplish it properly?" she said icily.

"We got the supplies though," Lucy chipped in hurriedly, pushing the three bottles into Porlyusica's arms before the woman could do something like murder Lavi.

"The least you could very do..." The elderly woman turned her back on them, already mixing up the formulas.

"What?"

"Get out. Your job is done, and the little girl needs to rest." She gave them a glowering look and both Lavi and Lucy hurried out of the room.

"She's scary," Lavi muttered as they walked away from the infirmary a good ten feet or so. "Ew. I hate this gooey stuff." He tried scraping off the sticky substance but it wouldn't budge.

Although she felt sorry for the red-haired boy, Lucy couldn't help but laugh.

He grinned at her.

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Of course! Did I ever tell you that when I was a little girl, I stuck my hand into a pot of sticky rice and accidentally fell face-first into it? The cook was so angry at me!" Lucy laughed again, no doubt remembering the memory.

Lavi chuckled. "You stuck your hand into a pot of rice? Who does that?"

Lucy pouted. "I was trying to make onigiri!"

Lavi shook his head and smiled.

"Oh yeah, do you know what time it is?"

"It's eleven."

"Crap! I gotta get back!" Lavi readjusted his eyepatch one last time.

Lucy looked slightly disappointed. "Where are you staying at?"

"Hm? Oh, the Great Caramel Inn. Anyway, I gotta rush. See you tomorrow!"

The stellar spirit mage smiled as she watched Lavi tripping every few steps down the hallway. Somehow, the terrible weight she seemed to be carrying around was gone.

---

"Whaaaaat?! They all went back without me?! Those traitors!" Lavi cried at Marie's golem once he was outside.

"Yes. You sure took a long time though, Lavi. Did you find any leads?" Bak asked hopefully.

"Sadly, no," Lavi replied glumly, as goo kept dripping down from his hair.

"You too? Well, at least we know the Innocence isn't around the arena... Anyway, you can head back. Komui and I are taking room 281, you'll be in room 294 with the others."

"Sure."

Lavi sighed as the golem went back into his pocket. He had accomplished nothing during his search, unless you count breaking one of the potion bottles. His heart had leapt at the word 'Innocilim' when he'd first saw it, but to his disappointment it turned out to be some medicine.

He suddenly frowned.

There it was again, the ominous feeling, like someone was watching him.

He turned around casually, and heard a noise. It was a rustle, really, like an animal hidden in the bushes.

---

There was a knock on the door of room 294. Allen opened it and jumped back in alarm as Lavi entered, torturing his nostrils with the smell of spoiled cabbage.

"Lavi, what on earth happened?" Allen asked, covering his nose as Lenalee joined them at the front to see what the commotion was about. She giggled.

"Augh, you need to take a bath, Lavi!"

"Obviously," Bookman's apprentice muttered. "How'd it go with you guys?"

"We didn't find a thing. Well, I found this flower that made me hiccup. You?"

Lavi grimaced. "I had to look for this thing called Innocilim. I thought it was Innocence at first, but it turned out to be some medicine."

He groaned when they both doubled up in laughter.

---

Bak sighed for the umpteenth time that night.

"Still feeling down?" said Komui, who was observing something through his microscope at the table.

"I can't believe the investigation was an utter waste of time." Bak groaned, sitting down in a chair and putting his head in his hands.

"Maybe they didn't search properly. You did say you could feel a strange source around the arena."

"No." Bak grimaced. "When I first came here, I met this lady who said that she could feel a strange presence around the arena."

Komui pushed his glasses further up his nose.

"And you took her word for it?" he asked, bemused.

"It was the only lead I had." Bak sighed.

"Hm... Bak, take a look at this." Komui beckoned the Asian Head to come forward. He was holding up a test tube that was full of red liquid with black splotches.

"What's that?" Bak asked curiously.

"Allen's blood."

The Asian Head was stunned. He turned to face Komui.

"No... that can't be..."

"Unfortunately, it is," Komui said calmly, a bit of bitterness in his tone. "If you look closely, those black spots are dark matter."

"Dark matter?" Bak asked sharply. "Komui... you're not telling me that...?"

"That dark matter is inside Allen? I'm serious."

"No... no, it can't be... that's impossible..." Bak looked lost. "There's no way something like that can enter Walker's bloodstream."

"Bak, this is proof enough," Komui said wearily. "I'm not sure how it got inside Allen; in fact, I don't think Allen even knows about this. But here's the worst part : the dark matter will continue to spread over his body. It's the type of substance that strengthens over time."

"Can't you remove it?!"

"Krory can suck the matter out... But he's currently on a mission with Miranda... However, this all doesn't make sense."

"W-what are you talking about?"

"If dark matter enters someone's flesh, the person will solidify and break," Komui explained. "However, for some reason, this isn't happening to Allen."

"W-why not? He's human, isn't he?"

"All right. Let me explain it again. If dark matter enters a non-akuma or non-Noah flesh, they will solidify and break. In other words, dark matter does not negatively effect akumas or Noahs. It actually strengthens their powers."

Bak was lost for words.

"So... Walker's... Walker's a...?"

Komui nodded.

Bak's legs were oddly feeling like jelly, and he shakily sat back down.

"What the hell are we suppose to do now?" he croaked.

---

Back at the infirmary, Porlyusica frowned.

"What did you see?" she asked Carla.

"Er... Well, you know... Some fragments..." The Exceed was panting rather quickly. "The White Knights... A giant magic array..."

"Anything else?"

Carla hesitated.

"Mercurius collapsing... And Lucy... Lucy singing..."

---

Second Day : July 2nd, X791

---

"Welcome, everyone, to the Grand Magic Games' second day game portion : Chariot!" Chapati Lola announced to the cheering crowd. "The game consists of reaching the goal without falling off of the interconnected vehicles!"

"COOOOOOOOOLLLL!" The Games' Day Two guest, Sorcerer Magazine's reporter, Jason, yelled wildly.

"But this isn't just some regular race!" Yajima added.

"That's right! Because the vehicles are always moving, just one step of carelessness can lead to a misstep!" Chapati explained. "The participants are just passing through Crocus right now! Which team will be the first to arrive here at Domus Flau?! We'll be transmitting images from the race to everyone here via Lacrima Vision."

Everyone in the stadium stared at the screens, dumbstruck.

"Well, Yajima-san, who could've predicted this turn of events!?"

"Why did Natsu sign up for this... that idiot..." Gray muttered, nearly face-palming.

"You'd think he'd be able to tell what the event would be from the name 'Chariot'!" Lucy groaned.

"It's Natsu. Once he makes up his mind, he won't listen," said Erza.

"Oh my, ladies and gentlemen! Trailing at the back, far from the lead, Fairy Tail A's Natsu is in a groggy state!"

"Aughhhhh I-I-I don't feel so g-g-good..." Natsu looked like he was going to vomit. Or pass out. Or maybe both.

"And right next to him, Fairy Tail B's Gajeel and EVEN SABERTOOTH'S Sting are in the same condition..."

"WHAAAAAT?!" Many of the spectators cried. "Even Sting?!"

"W-W-Why did I..." Gajeel hastily held up a hand to his mouth.

"G-Get away from m-me, G-Gajeel, I don't wanna s-step in your b-barf..." Natsu nearly wobbled out of the chariot.

"S-Shut up! The one with b-bad transportation should b-be you..."

"Just what on earth is going on?" The emcee cried as everyone in the arena stared up at the Lacrimas in shock.

"Those three seem to have something in common," mused Yajima.

"COOOOOOLLL!"

"Shut up please, Jason-san..."

"What's wrong with Gajeel?!" Lily the Exceed cried, watching his partner wobbling on the chariot.

"Motion sickness is suppose to be Natsu's trademaaaaaaaark!" Happy bawled. "Don't steal it from him!"

"Ooooh, is this what it means to be 'all fired up'?" Orga of Sabertooth sniggered at the three Dragon Slayers.

"This is so 'basic', huh?" Rufus smirked at Rogue, who didn't reply.

"Er, well then... Let's take a look at those who are up ahead... Wow, it's a dead heat here! In the lead is Raven Tail's Kurohebi with Apostles' Lenalee right behind him!"

"GO, MY LENALEE-CHAAAAAAAAAAAN!" Komui yelled out from the audience, while Bak looked annoyed.

"W-W-What?! Allen and Gravy's team are in the lead?!" Natsu suddenly clutched at his mouth.

"Salamander! If you're going to vomit, vomit on the newbie!" Gajeel growled.

"What did you say?!" Sting yelled back.

"I can't believe Lenalee's in the lead..." Allen stared at the screen in shock.

"She won't be able to keep it up any longer," said Lavi, "her crystal-type Dark Boots are already activated at level two."

"Yeah... she's sweating really bad..." said Allen worriedly.

"Right behind Apostles' Lenalee are Lamia Scale's Yuka and Mermaid Heel's Risley! And further behind is Blue Pegasus's Ichiya..."

"Men!" Ichiya cried, "I can't keep up!"

Hibiki and Ren groaned. "One of us should've went instead..."

"This is hopeless..." Lucy muttered, watching the fire mage trying not to retch.

"It's too late now..." Erza said glumly. She looked at Lenalee in the other screen.

"That girl from Apostles... I'm amazed she can keep up with Raven Tail..." Gray commented as the chariot turned a sharp corner and Natsu, Gajeel, and Sting nearly toppled off.

"She's even wearing heels!" Elfman cried.

"But what type of magic is that?" Lucy asked curiously, as a massive energy of light was unfurling from the heels of Lenalee's boots.

"Team Apostles are full of mysteries, aren't they?" said Elfman.

Erza frowned in Allen and Lavi's direction.

"Indeed."

---

Lenalee was sweating, trying to match Kurohebi's pace.

W-What's up with this guy?! He's not even breaking a sweat! She gritted her teeth and balanced herself as the chariot made another sharp turn. She heard Yuka yell out an attack from behind.

"Wave Boost!"

"Oh no!" she yelled as Yuka passed her, unfolding a swirling impact of wind that caused her to slow down.

"Ah! Lamia Scale's Yuka has just overtaken Apostles' Lenalee! Meanwhile, Mermaid Heel's Risley has just dodged Yuka's attack and is now running on the side of the chariot due to her gravity transformation!" The emcee cried to roaring cheers and yells.

"I'm not going to lose!" Ichiya exclaimed. "A wave that nullifies magic... In that case" — he stuck two tubes into his nostrils — "Fleet-Foot Perfume : Zero Distance Inhalation!"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Lenalee cried as Ichiya burst past her.

"What a turn of events! Apostles' Lenalee was just overtaken three times!"

"THREEEEEEE TIMES?!" Komui and Bak burst out, looking hysterical.

If I can't keep up with their pace... All right! I got this! Lenalee stopped in her tracks.

"Falling Technique : Iron Shackles!" With a huge bang that made everyone cry out, Lenalee jumped up and stomped down on the chariot with such impact that it caused everyone else who were still connected to it to be tossed into the air.

"G-Good lord! Lenalee Lee has just destroyed the chariot! A-And now she's overtaking the other leads!" Chapati cried, as everyone gasped.

"WHAT KIND OF STRENGTH IS THAAAAAAT?!" Gray and Lucy cried.

"She destroyed the chariot?!" Erza gasped.

"Well, it's a good thing they're nearly at the goal! If the chariot has stopped moving, Natsu can still make it!" Elfman pointed out.

"GAHHHHHHH NOW I REALLY DON'T FEEL SO GOOD!" Natsu bellowed, flying back down into the chariot and smashing face-first.

"That Lenalee..." Lavi cringed a little as Yuka and Ichiya fell down from the sky.

"Looks like we have another competitive one who doesn't like to lose," Allen muttered, after looking in Kanda's direction.

"Hm?" Kurohebi looked behind him just for a second — and blinked when Lenalee went whizzing past him, heading straight towards the goal.

"I WINNN!" Lenalee cried as she crossed the goal to defeatening roars.

"AMAZINNNG! APOSTLES RECEIVES TEN POINTS!"

"YES! YES! YES! MY LENALEEEEEEE!" Komui was sobbing on a handkerchief while Bak waved around the team flag.

Lavi and Allen were dumbstruck.

"I didn't really expect her to win..."

"Ouchburnsizzle, man..."

"There was someone like that in Apostles...?" Makarov was stunned.

"They must be very strong..." Mavis glanced at Lenalee as the exorcist trotted her way back to her team triumphantly.

"First place!" she burst out excitedly to Lavi and Allen.

"That was great. I can't believe you won, Lenalee." Allen smiled at her.

"By using a dirty tactic..." Lavi muttered in a low voice, so that Lenalee did not hear him.

"And coming in second is Raven Tail's Kurohebi! Third, Mermaid Heel's Risley! Fourth, Lamia Scale's Yuka and fifth, Blue Pegasus' Ichiya!"

"All the other teams already made it!" Gray cried.

Chapati scratched his head as the Lacrimas directed themselves onto the three lagging Dragon Slayers.

"And er... The remaining three are pathetically battling it out..."

"Y-You gotta be serious... Allen and G-Gravy's team is in first?!" Natsu wobbled, bumping into Gajeel.

"I'm fine with transportation, I'm fine with transportation," Gajeel keep muttering, "I'm suppose to be fine with transportation..."

"Heh," said Sting, at an attempt to look smug even though he looked like he was going to vomit, "t-this is a real Dragon Slayer, you know... Looks like you finally got a-accustomed to it... Congratulations..."

"Shut up you newbie!" Gajeel purposefully lunged himself sideways at Natsu and Sting, attempting to throw them off the vehicle.

"Whaaaaaaaaat are you doing?!" Natsu cried, as Sting lunged at Gajeel, squishing him in the process. "I'm still in the middle, you bastards!"

The audience began to laugh out loud.

"They're laughing again..." Allen said in disgust, scanning the audience.

"But what's wrong with them?" Lavi asked, bemused.

"Well, Natsu-san said he was a Dragon Slayer, so maybe that's why he's so unbalanced?" Allen replied uncertainly.

"THAT'S IT! I'M GOING FORWARD!" Natsu pushed himself out of the tight gap between Sting and Gajeel and mustered every bit of energy he had left to walk forward towards the goal.

"Don't get there before me, Salamander!" Gajeel followed after the fire mage.

Sting watched, still rooted to the spot as Natsu and Gajeel, sweating profusely, walked towards the goal, each step they took looking painful and pathetic.

"Can I ask you just one thing? Why did you guys enter the Games?"

The whole stadium was suddenly silent.

"This would've been unthinkable for the Fairy Tail in the past," Sting went on. "Why? Aren't you afraid of ruining your reputation?"

"Why? It's for our comrades," Natsu replied, as he took another painful step. "For seven years while we were gone, they were always waiting for us... No matter how tough it was, no matter how sad they were... Even though they were made fools out of, they endured and endured and protected the guild... For seven years... Fairy Tail is still here... So for the sake of our comrades, we'll show you —"

Sting looked startled as Natsu and Gajeel both took gigantic leaps.

"— THE PROOF THAT FAIRY TAIL HAS KEPT GOING! AND THAT'S WHY WE'LL KEEP MOVING FORWARD!" Natsu bellowed, crossing the goal with Gajeel.

"GOAAAAAL! FAIRY TAIL A'S NATSU, SIXTH PLACE, 2 POINTS! FAIRY TAIL B'S GAJEEL, SEVENTH PLACE, 1 POINT! SABERTOOTH'S STING GIVES UP! ZERO POINTS!"

All at once, the guild members of Fairy Tail started to bawl.

"Natsu!"

"Wahhhhhhhh!" Makarov bawled, as Mavis smiled.

"That was a really — are you guys crying?!" Lavi stared at Allen and Lenalee in bewilderment.

"You didn't?" Lenalee sniffed, dabbing at her eyes.

"Well, no — "

"You're so heartless, Lavi..."

The audience now looked at Fairy Tail with new respect.

"Look at their determination..."

"I was a bit moved..."

"Fairy Tail is kinda cool... I'm gonna cheer for them!"

Natsu walked back weakly to his team to wild applause and cheers. He was grinning widely.

"Muahaha! T-two points!"

"It's a start." Erza smiled as Lucy, Gray, and Elfman nodded.

Natsu suddenly collapsed onto the ground.

"He needs the infirmary..."

"All right! Here are the updates and ranks!"

Final Rankings

1. RAVEN TAIL 16 + 8 = 24P

2. SABERTOOTH 20 + 0 = 20P

3. LAMIA SCALE 14 + 4 = 18P

4. APOSTLES 8 + 10 = 18P

5. BLUE PEGASUS 13 + 3 = 16P

6. MERMAID HEEL 2 + 6 = 8P

7. FAIRY TAIL B 1 + 1 = 2P

8. FAIRY TAIL A 0 + 2 = 2P

"Sabertooth's no longer first..." Lavi murmured.

"We went a rank up," said Allen.

"Thanks to me!" Lenalee grinned.

"Well then, everyone! It's time for the long-awaited battles! What sort of passionate battles will be shown today? The first battle will be Raven Tail's Kurohebi against Lamia Scale's Toby Horhorta!"

---

"Is he going to be all right?" Lucy asked Porlyusica when she dropped off the unconscious Natsu at the infirmary.

"It's just motion sickness, is it not?" The elderly pink-haired woman replied unconcernedly as she tucked Natsu into one of the beds.

"And Wendy?" Lucy added.

"She's almost recovered, thanks to the supplies you and that Apostles boy gave last night."

Lucy let out a sigh of relief.

"That's good to hear. Then, I'll be going now!" she left the room.

Porlyusica frowned at Carla, who was sitting on a stool.

"You're not going to tell her?"

"There's no way she'll believe me... A future like that... Anyway, I don't believe in it either!" Carla crossed her arms. "It was just a dream... Just a dream..."

---

To Lucy's surprise, Erza and Gray had been waiting and eavesdropping outside the infirmary.

"You two scared me!"

"What? We were just waiting for you," Gray told her.

"Lucy, what did Porlyusica meant by 'Apostles boy'?" Erza asked as they hurried down the hallway.

The stellar spirit mage looked puzzled for a moment.

"Oh! She meant Lavi."

"What?!" Gray said incredulously, "wait, he was here last night in the arena?"

"Yeah, I helped him get the supplies for Porlyusica."

Gray and Erza hastily exchanged looks.

"So?! Did you find any leads?!" They both exclaimed hopefully.

Lucy blinked. "Leads...?"

"They're on our suspect list!" Erza reminded her. "Did you manage to get any useful information out of him? Like how he ended up being in the Games for instance? His powers? Anything like that?"

"AH I didn't ask!"

"WHAT?! You had a perfect opportunity and you wasted it?!" Gray gaped at her.

"I'M SORRYYYY! You know I had a, well, a bad day yesterday, so we just had a friendly conversation. And besides, how could I ask something like that without sounding suspicious?" said Lucy, sighing.

"True..."

"Actually, he told me he was from London."

"London?" Gray and Erza cocked their heads to the side. "Where's that?"

"HOW SHOULD I KNOW?!"

---

"C'mon, doggish dude!" Romeo cried from the audience, cheering Toby on.

"Smash the guy from Ivan's guild, doggish dude!" A pissed off Makarov added.

Out on the field, Toby panted. "You're strong," he puffed. "Kurohebi's a cool name."

"You're tough too," said Kurohebi. "And it's not my real name."

"WHAAAAT?! It's not your real name!?"

"Why are you getting mad...?"

"YOUUUU!" The Lamia Scale player slashed an attack at his opponent, "if I win, you're going to tell me your real name!"

"That's not a big deal..." Kurohebi dodged the attack effortlessly. "And if I win?"

"I'll tell you my super secret!"

"Sounds interesting. All right."

"A wager, huh?" Lavi mused thoughtfully, watching the battle.

Allen was shaking his head. "They shouldn't do that. Wagers are risky... I know so."

"There's a huge difference between poker and a battle, Allen..."

"DOWNNNN! Toby is no longer standing! The match is over! The victor... Raven Tail's Kurohebi! That's 34 points for Raven Tail!"

"W-What?! Did I miss everything?!" Allen cried.

"Pretty much."

Down below, the Raven Tail player eyed Toby expectantly.

"Well? What's your secret?"

Toby's mouth trembled.

"My socks... I... I can't find one of them... Even though I've been searching for the past three months..."

Kurohebi tapped his chest. Toby, following this, looked down to see that he was wearing his sock around his neck like a necklace.

"WHA — IT WAS IN A PLACE LIKE THIS?!" Toby sat bolt upright and took off the necklace, eyeing his precious sock. He gaped at Kurohebi.

"You're such a good guy... Ooh, I finally found it!"

Lavi sniggered. "What the heck? He was wearing it around his neck the whole time."

Allen sniffed. "I'm so glad for you, Mr. Doggish dude..."

"Um, I can't believe you're getting touched over this..."

Kurohebi extended out a hand to the Lamia Scale player.

"Ohh, those two, who had just been battling, are now going to shake..." Chapati and a bunch of other spectators dabbed their eyes at this touching scene.

"Lavi, give me your scarf."

"You are not wiping your tears on this!"

But then everyone in the stadium gasped; the Raven Tail fighter had suddenly snatched Toby's precious sock and shredded it right in front of everyone's eyes.

"YOU BASTARD!" Lyon Vastia bellowed, as Toby gaped like a drowning fish.

"N-NO WAY! Th-that's just cruel! Too cruel!" The emcee exclaimed, as the audience suddenly let out angry hisses and Toby started bawling, trying to catch the torn pieces.

"What the hell?!" Allen and Lavi both shouted, looking furious as the Raven Tail team laughed hysterically at Toby, who was pounding the ground with his fist, tears falling from his face.

---

"Well, now that we've all composed ourselves, let's move onto the second match of the day..." Chapati announced, when everything had calmed down. "Next up, Apostles' Yu Kanda —"

"Kanda Yu, damn it!" Kanda snarled.

"Now, now, Yuu — I mean, Kanda —"

"— versus Fairy Tail A's —"

"Oh it's one of us."

"What will we do if it's Natsu?"

"Smack him awake."

"— Erza Scarlet!"

"Erza!" Lucy, Gray, and Elfman burst out, looking pleased.

"It's my turn, huh?" said Erza. "All right." She began to head down onto the field.

"Good luck, Erza!" Her teammates' called after her.

"Ouuuuch, I feel sorry for the Apostles," said Hibiki of Pegasus. "Against Erza..."

"Erza's going..." someone from Mermaid Heel informed their leader, Kagura Mikazuchi, who stared coldly at the Fairy Tail mage.

"Yuu! Do your best!" Lavi cheered the samurai on.

"Tch."

"So," Allen began, turning to Lavi, "Erza-san or Kanda?"

"Yuu... nah, Erza."

"Me too."

"Really, you two?" Lenalee sighed as the two boys grinned.

"So that's Apostles' Yu Kanda?" Lucy murmured as Kanda came onto the field below. "He looks scary..."

"Come to think of it, he never really stood out..." Gray frowned.

"But what we've seen of Apostles so far, he must be strong," Elfman pointed out.

Erza spoke first.

"I hope we can have a fair fight," she told Kanda.

Kanda unsheathed his sword.

"Can we get this started already?" he said impatiently, much to Erza's surprise.

"The battle hasn't even begun and he's already unsheathing Mugen..." Lavi winced.

The emcee cleared his throat.

"All right! Let's begin, shall we? The second match of the day — you have thirty minutes, start — oh my good lord that was fast!" Chapati Lola cried.

Kanda and Erza had already charged at each other, their swords raised. There was a sudden series of blows; the two opponents were attacking the other so fiercely, the emcee didn't even have time to keep up with the commentary.

"— it's Kan— Er—going back to Kanda— no, Erza— good lord this is unbelievable! They haven't even used their magic!" The audience went crazy.

"Amazing! He can actually keep up with Erza?!" Gray was baffled.

"Kagura-chan?" One of the girls in Mermaid Heel directed her words at her leader again; Kagura was eyeing both Kanda and Erza with immense concentration.

"WOOOOOT! SHOW THEM THE POWER OF MUGEN, KANDA!" Bak cried from his seat as Kanda effortlessly dodged Erza's strike and quickly sent in an attack of his own.

There was one last clang before Kanda and Erza broke apart from each other, both of them panting a bit.

"You're quite skilled," Erza commented.

"You ain't seen nothing yet," Kanda muttered. He raised his sword and began tracing his index and middle finger along the back of the blade, activating his Innocence.

Erza raised her eyebrows when the blade turned silver.

"Interesting. It's about time I got serious too." She requipped into her Black Wing Armor and whizzed past Kanda, slashing him in a cross-like pattern.

Kanda spat out a mouthful of blood as a huge wound appeared on his chest, to Erza's shock.

"You didn't block it?!" The Fairy Tail mage cried in disbelief, as the whole stadium let out gasps.

"K-Kanda has just been slashed! How can he still stand like that?!" Chapati cried.

"BaKanda, you idiot!" Kanda heard Allen and Lavi cry out.

Wiping his mouth, the exorcist smirked.

"That's all you got?"

This guy... I was expecting him to block... Erza grimaced. "Why didn't you block my attack? You could've died."

"What, is there a rule saying you can't kill? Besides"— Kanda positioned himself — "I don't go down that easily. First Illusion : Netherworld Insects!"

"W-what is this?!" Erza cried, as a swarm of creatures shot towards her way. She quickly tried to strike them down with her sword, but suddenly found that it was becoming harder to slash with every hit.

"These guys don't go away that easily." Kanda smirked, watching her struggle.

"Requip : Heaven's Wheel Armor! Dance, my blades!" More than two hundred swords spun rapidly towards Kanda's creatures and pierced them.

"WHAAAAAAT is that?!" Lavi cried out. "That was a hella lot of weapons!"

"This is Erza-san's magic?!" Allen looked shocked.

Lucy and Gray breathed a sigh of relief.

"I thought Erza had it for a second..."

Kanda narrowed his eyes as the last of his creatures vanished.

"Eight Flower Mantis!" He sprinted up close at the female mage and slit her multiple times.

What is this?! It's not some normal attack! Erza coughed; blood littered the ground as Kanda launched a fierce kick to her mid-area.

"W-what an intense battle! Fairy Tail A's Erza is suddenly on the ground!"

"Oi, did that last attack really do that much damage!?" Gray yelled as the spectators cheered.

"Erza..." Lucy placed a trembling hand to get mouth.

"I don't even think Kanda's holding back!" Lenalee winced as the scarlet-haired mage sprang steadily to her feet.

"I'm surprised," Erza huffed, "you're much stronger than I thought." His speed and movement... Even after I struck him with my Black Wing armor, he can still stand... No... His speed has increased...

"Had enough?"

She grimaced. "Of course not. I won't lose until I defeat you." Requipping into The Giant's Armor, she pointed the long pole-arm at Kanda invitingly. "Prepare yourself."

"What the —!" The samurai gasped when the spear came in contact with Mugen; there was a rattling sound and Kanda could actually hear his sword vibrating.

"This armor enhances my strength," Erza explained, "its power is so great, it could destroy a mountain. I'm rather surprised your blade hasn't shattered."

"Tch." There was a somewhat whooshing sound and Erza let out a cry; a long gash appeared on her cheek.

"Your body is fully armored, but your face isn't," Kanda said harshly.

Did he seriously just go for my face? People usually attack your body first... Erza was stunned.

"Only Kanda would think of attacking your face head-on..." Allen groaned.

"Yeah... He loves rearranging people's faces," Lavi added.

Erza stared at Kanda.

"Very well. Let's see how you can take it out on my Adamantine Armor." She requipped.

"Oh my! What a deadly-looking armor! What will Kanda do now?!"

"Tch, shut up! You're annoying me!" Kanda snarled at the emcee, who cowered. He then closed his eyes.

From the audience, Bak, noticing this stance, stood up in alarm.

"Don't tell me he's activating—! KANDA! IF YOU USE THAT —!"

"Forbidden Spell : Triple Illusion : Exploding Spirit Cut!"

Erza had one brief glimpse of Kanda snapping open his eyes before multiple huge explosions erupted before her, blinding her eyes, and she was suddenly slammed fiercely across the field, her armor nearly chipping off in the process.

"U-UNBELIEVABLE! WHAT STRENGTH!" The emcee cried as the members of the audience let out excited exclaims.

"THAT IDIOT!" Bak screeched, "is he trying to kill her?!"

"Don't tell me Kanda used —?" Komui gaped wordlessly as Erza shakily got up amid bits of debris.

"What was that?" She gritted her teeth as she felt her somewhat bleeding scalp.

"My power," Kanda answered simply.

"Is Erza all right?!" Lucy cried, biting her fingernails in fear.

"I told you, there's something about those Apostles," Elfman murmured.

"Erza's among the strongest in our guild... If she loses..." Gray looked strained.

Requipping back into The Giant Armor, Erza lunged her spear at the exorcist while striking with her fist.

She gasped when he actually took on both of her attacks with his sword, using his Mugen as a shield. She expected the sword to shatter, but amazingly, it did not even leave a scratch; it was hard as iron.

His sword's powers has increased? Impossible!

"Double Illusion Sword!"

Something impossibly sharp pierced right through her armor, and she clenched her teeth as she felt it sink right through her flesh. Kanda launched another kick into her gut after expertly releasing the blade and she went flying backwards again. She managed to steady herself to prevent collapsing.

"Erza...!" Makarov burst out, looking extremely worried as the audience whispered and muttered.

He nearly killed me... If I had been in that position for more than three seconds that blade would've sunk right through my intestines... He's no easy opponent...

Erza began to think hard.

What armor should I use? Fire wouldn't work... That explosion... Water won't cut it either... Purgatory? No, he'll defeat it easily... Seduction? No, what the hell am I thinking?! I'll just go with this one...

The Fairy Tail mage requipped into her Japanese-like clothes that consisted of a sarashi and red pants, causing Kanda to narrow his eyes.

"No armor?"

"You've just destroyed two of my most defensive armors," she replied shortly, "I'll just have to scrape through with this one. Prepare yourself! This will be my strongest attack!"

Collecting all of her strength into her Demon Blade Crimson Sakura, she charged at the samurai, and their swords met. There was a burst of red and blue light that lit the entire arena, dazzling everyone in the vicinity.

There was a gong-like sound.

"TIME'S UP! Ah!" The emcee cried as his wig nearly got blown away, "Oh my goodness that was some crazy battle! The second match has ended, who will be declared winner?!"

Everyone gasped as the light and dust begun to fade.

A battered Erza and Kanda were left standing, a good ten feet away from each other, both of them holding onto their swords as if they were lifelines.

There was silence. Then wild cheers shuddered all around the stadium.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! IT'S A TIEEEEEEEE! FAIRY TAIL A AND APOSTLES BOTH RECEIVE FIVE POINTS!"

"A-amazing... A tie!" Elfman cried, as the the spectators let out roars of delight.

"A tie, huh?" Lavi mused. "I thought Erza was going to win..."

"Liar. I saw your face when she fell. You thought she was done for." Allen grinned.

"Kanda looks pretty beat up though," Lenalee said worriedly.

"He can regenerate," Allen told her unconcernedly.

Down below, Erza straightened up and whipped out a hand to Kanda.

"That was a good battle."

Kanda eyed her hand for a brief moment before turning away.

"We don't need to shake hands."

Although surprised, she smiled at Kanda's retreating back.

---

"Yuu, you did awesome~!" Lavi said brightly when Kanda came back.

"Say my first name again and you'll see your own blood on my blade."

"Ha, ha... Scary as always..."

Allen stepped forward.

"Kanda —"

"— get lost."

"Wha — Why don't you get lost?!" Allen screamed, trying to charge at the samurai as Lenalee and Lavi restrained him.

"What is it, beansprout?"

"My name's Allen! Anyway, I only wanted to say good job..." Allen muttered in a low voice.

Kanda's ears perked up.

"Say that again, moyashi?"

"IT'S ALLEN, BAKANDA! YOU KNOW WHAT, I TAKE THAT BACK!"

"Stop arguing!" Lenalee stomped on both of Allen's and Kanda's feet, causing them to yelp and wince.

---

"Maaaaan, that was a good sleep!" Natsu woke up from his infirmary bed and stretched widely. He looked around and noticed the room and beds to be empty.

"Huh...? Wendy? Carla? Old lady?" Natsu sniffed. "What the heck? There's a scent in here that I don't recognize... " he bounced out of the bed and opened the door, sniffing the hallways.

---

"We should hurry!" A bunch of covered kidnappers hastily informed one another as they skidded out onto the roof.

"HEY! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"

They turned around bizarrely to see a pink-haired figure charging at them.

"WHERE ARE YOU TAKING WENDY AND THE OTHERS?!" he bellowed.

"S-shit! Run for it!" One guy cried out, holding a small blue-haired girl.

"Wait! Let me handle this — this gun works against magical oppon — ACK!" A fist went right into the speaker's face.

"Shit!" The first guy cried again, taking off at a run as the pink-haired mage screamed behind him.

"YOU BASTARDS! GIVE BACK WENDY AND THE OTHERS!"

"Hey hey hey this guy is scary! He's gonna catch up with us at this rate!" Another man cried out, carrying the Exceed. "Wait, weren't we just suppose to capture the girl that was in the infirmary!? Why did we bring the cat and old lady along?!"

"Hey." A dangerous voice met their ears, and they all turned around nervously.

"Who the hell is behind this?" Natsu snarled.

The air was suddenly full of torturing screams.

---

"Are you okay, Wendy?"

"Uh-huh! Thanks to Grandeeney!"

"Don't call me that! In any case... those guys just now..." Porlyusica trailed off.

Natsu nodded.

"Raven Tail," he muttered, remembering one of the kidnappers who had confessed.

"What did they meant by 'the girl that was in the infirmary?" Wendy asked.

"There was one, wasn't there? The one who dropped you off?" Porlyusica directed her words at the fire mage.

Carla's eyes widen.

"Lucy..."

---

"Here we are! The third match of the day!" The emcee announced brightly. "Fairy Tail B's Mirajane Strauss vs Blue Pegasus' reserve member, Jenny Realight!"

"Ahhhhh Jennnyyy! I'm so glad that Ichiya passed out from that Chariot event!" Hibiki swooned.

"I can't believe you..." Ren face palmed.

Meanwhile, Wendy had just entered the arena from the hallway with Natsu.

"Ah! Natsu! Wendy!" Lucy cried out in delight, as the two Dragon Slayers bounced towards her, Erza, Gray, and Elfman.

"Looks like you've got better." Erza smiled.

"Yes — Erza-san, are those bruises?!" Wendy anxiously eyed the bandages around Erza's head.

"Don't worry about it. I just had a battle."

"YOU WHAAAAT?!" Natsu's eyeballs nearly rolled off. "NOOO! I MISSED IT?!"

"You missed everything."

"AGAINST WHO? WHO WON? WHAT DID YOU USE —"

"Calm down..."

Wendy turned to Elfman and bowed.

"Elfman-san, thank you very much for filling in for me!"

The white-haired man ruffled her hair.

"Just doing my job. Since you're all better, there's no need for me to fill in anymore. Show them what you got, Wendy!"

"Yes!"

---

Allen was hopping around, holding his sore foot.

"Ugh, Lenalee, this really hurts you know..."

"That's what you get for fighting with Kanda!"

"But he's the one th — Wendy?" Allen suddenly blinked, looking across the arena.

"Wendy?" Lavi whipped around and noticed the little Dragon Slayer, who was grinning at them widely.

"Allen-saaaan! Lavi-saaaan! I'm so happy to see you two again!" she called.

They smiled.

"Us too!"

---

"School swimsuits!"

"WHOAAAAAAAA~"

"Cat ears!"

"YESSSSSSSSS~"

Team Apostles stared down at the battlefield.

"Allen... Pass me a tissue, my nose's bleeding."

"Use your scarf."

"What kind of battle is this?" Lenalee tried not to giggle as Mirajane, Jenny, and a bunch of other girls that had crashed the battle were halfway through showing off their beachwear and every guy in the audience roared and swooned again.

"Wow, I can't believe Fairy Tail joined in," said Lavi, watching Lucy and Erza.

"I'm still surprised they'd allowed this kind of thing..." Allen mused as the audience cat-whistled.

Kanda looked disgruntled.

"This is one retarded battle," he said sourly, turning to sit in a corner with Marie.

"All right! The next theme is 'wedding dress!' Prepare a partner and get into bridal gear!"

A bunch of wedding dresses and suits fell from the sky.

Lenalee's golem suddenly went on.

"Lenalee-chaaaaan, you must go out thereeee!" Komui suddenly shouted, "I will not allow those girls to hog your spotlight!"

"WHAAAT!? No waaay!"

"Allen-kun, Lavi, if you don't force her, I'll suspend your cafeteria privileges!"

This was apparently a huge deal for Allen.

"Here!" He stuffed a falling white wedding dress into her arms. "Get out there!"

"What?! No!"

"Lenalee, this may be your only chance to wear a wedding dress in your entire life! Komui-san won't let you get married!" Allen reminded her hastily.

She gasped and immediately sprinted off.

"Whew. That was close."

"You only care about the food." Lavi grinned.

"Also, all of you get out there. I'm not letting a stranger touch my Lenalee!"

Allen, Marie, Kanda, and Lavi groaned.

---

"Oh my! Even Team Apostles joined the party!" Chapati cried as a bunch of spectators cheered.

"Whoaaaaaa!" Natsu exclaimed excitedly as the exorcists entered the field. "It's Allen and Gravy!"

"Uh, this is embarrassing..." Allen muttered as a bunch of girls eyed him in his white suit.

"Not as embarrassing as you guys practically being my guards," Lenalee murmured, her face heating up as the four exorcists surrounded her.

"Tch. What can we do? It's Komui's orders." Kanda cast Komui a sour look; the European Head was giving them an approving nod.

"Woooow, Allen! You look good in that! It's better than mine!" Natsu said gleefully as the exorcists approached the group.

"Um, Natsu-san, we're both wearing the same suits..."

"Nats— oops, sorry!" Lisanna accidentally bumped into Allen.

"It's quite all right..." Allen winced, rubbing his head.

"Woow! You actually do remind me of a young Elf-niichan!" Lisanna said excitedly, peering closely at Allen.

"Huh?" Allen looked confused as Natsu burst out guffawing.

Lucy was grinning at Lavi.

"Looks like you got the gooey stuff off then?" she asked, eyeing his hair.

"Yep. You look nice in that, by the way." Lavi smiled, looking at her dress.

"Thanks!" Lucy glanced around. "But who should be my partner?"

"Well, wanna—?" Lavi was cut off as Loki popped out of nowhere.

"Lucyyyyy! Let's take this opportunity to really get married!" Loki turned to Lavi. "You won't mind if I steal her for a second, do you?"

"No... not really," Lavi replied somewhat coldly, as Lucy scolded at Loki.

The red-haired exorcist suddenly noticed Kanda standing by himself and brightened.

"Hey, Yuu! Don't have a partner? You can be my manly bride!"

"Like hell I will!" Kanda whacked Lavi on the head, causing his headband to fall off.

Erza frowned at Lenalee's puffy dress.

"It's a bit too long... Here, let me fix it." There was a huge rip and Lenalee let out a cry.

"Now it's TOO short!"

---

"All right, since the wedding theme has ended, let's refocus on the battle between Jenny and Mirajane! Wow, would you look at that! Jenny has equipped into her battle form!"

"I'm not gonna hold back!" Mira declared. "Let's finish this off with a bang!"

"What?" Jenny blinked as the Fairy Tail mage transformed — and slashed her.

Everyone looked flabbergasted.

"J-Jenny is down! From a swimsuit contest to a battle of strength... Well, the original rules were like this anyway..." Chapati cleared his throat. "Victor : Mirajane!"

"D-Damn, she's scarier than Erza..." Lavi cowered in fear as the Demon-Mirajane fist-pumped into the air to crazy applause.

---

"All right, here it is! The last battle of the second day! Kagura Mikazuchi from Mermaid Heel vs Yukino Aguria from Sabertooth!"

"Oooh, another battle between girls?" Lavi readjusted his headband.

"I don't think it's going be something like the previous one..." Allen looked at Kagura's stoic demeanor.

"Who do you think will win?" Frosch the Exceed asked Lector.

"Yukino-san, of course! How could you ask something like that?!"

"Fro thinks so too!"

"Don't lose like Sting," Orga warned Yukino as Sting looked disgruntled.

"No, Sting-sama was just unlucky," Yukino said calmly. "If only we'd known the game had consisted of vehicles beforehand..."

Sting frowned. "Forget it... You know what failing will mean for us, right?"

"That's why I have to win. I won't humiliate the name of Sabertooth."

The players took the field.

"Sabertooth..." Gray muttered, watching Yukino.

"Watch the battle closely," Erza told her teammates' briskly.

The emcee cleared his throat.

"Just as we know, Kagura is the strongest mage of Mermaid Heel. She's quite experienced. Meanwhile, this is Yukino's first battle, but she's from Sabertooth, so I'm sure she'll give us quite a performance."

There was a ringing gong noise.

"You may begin!"

Yukino spoke.

"Nice to meet you," she said politely to Kagura, who looked slightly taken aback.

"Nice to meet you too."

"Well... Why don't we make a wager before we start?"

"Sorry. I'm not interested. I don't like casual bets."

"Then let's just make a big bet. Let's bet our lives on this battle," Yukino suggested, much to everyone's shock.

"Is she crazy?!" Allen stared at Yukino, flabbergasted as the whole arena let out murmurs.

"Uh, I don't think so, no." Lavi gaped at the Sabertooth player, who looked serious.

"Well?" Yukino asked her opponent.

"If that's your sincere determination, I'll accept. All right. Come on!" Kagura took out her sheathed sword.

"A sword-wielder!" Lenalee exclaimed, as Kanda merely scowled.

"W-what?! Isn't this going a bit too far?!" Chapati cried as Yukino made her move.

She whipped out a golden key.

"That's —!" Allen was even more flabbergasted.

"A key... Lucy's magic..." Lavi muttered.

Across the stadium, Lucy gasped.

"That's a zodiac key!" she cried.

"Gate of the Fish, I open thee : Pisces!" Two huge sea creatures were summoned, one black and one white, their faces taking on the face of a fish while their elongated bodies resembled an eel's.

"FISHHHHHHHH!" Happy cried out.

"THAT IS HUGE!" Lavi burst out, his mouth open.

"Oooh, if you cook the ears and dip them in sauce, they'll actually taste good!" Allen said excitedly.

"Seriously, Allen?!"

"Go forth, Pisces!" Yukino commanded, and the two creatures aimed themselves at Kagura, who managed to jump out of the way, dodging Pisces' attacks like it was nothing.

"A-amazing... she's seriously good!" Lenalee voiced out as Kagura jumped into the air and smoothly avoided another attack.

"Huh, she's not bad," Sting commented.

"Whoa, look at that, ladies and gentlemen! Kagura is expertly dodging all of Pisces' fierce attacks!"

Yukino looked displeased.

"What a waste. If you're so good at dodging, I'll just have to ground you." She whipped out another key.

"Gate of the Scales, I open thee : Libra!"

"OOOOOOOOH!" The guys in the audience swooned again as a curvaceous woman popped out.

"A-another stunningly beautiful Celestial spirit!"

"Libra, alter her gravity."

"As you wish!" The Libra spirit suddenly waved her scales around, and there was a heavy disturbance like a heat haze pushing down on Kagura.

"I see... That Yukino girl is trying to make her heavier..." Lavi murmured.

"Libra!" The sea creatures tried to directly attack the Mermaid Heel opponent, but missed when Kagura jumped up into the air to astonishing cries from the audience.

"So I see... You can also use Gravity Change..." Yukino frowned as Kagura once again dodged Pisces' attacks.

"Pisces, Libra, you may go." The Sabertooth player dismissed her spirits.

She glared at Kagura.

"You... Are you forcing me to open the '13th Gate'?"

Lucy gasped.

"Did she just say the '13th Gate'?!"

"I think so!" Wendy looked scared.

"You have no luck," Yukino told Kagura, taking out a dark key.

"What the heck?!" Allen and Lavi cried; the arena was eerily turning purple.

"I never rely on luck —" Kagura was sprinting towards the celestial spirit mage.

"Gate of the Serpent Bearer, I open thee —"

"— everything has unfolded itself through the choices I make!"

"— Ophiuchus!"

Kagura stopped in her tracks.

A gigantic half-alive, half-mechanic serpent appeared threateningly before her, hissing and slithering around its long, dark-scaled body.

Allen and Lavi both nearly pissed their pants.

"T-t-t-that thing is huge!" Allen squawked, as everyone in the arena let out horrified gasps.

"Don't seriously tell me she's going straight for it?!" Lavi yelled as down below, Kagura took off again at a sprint.

"Blade of Resentment : Archenemy —"

Erza and Kanda gasped.

"— Style of the Unsheathed Sword!" The giant serpent suddenly shattered into pieces.

Yukino gasped when Kagura suddenly appeared right in front of her.

"You made a cheap bet —"

There was a thud.

"— sometimes, mermaids eat tigers," Kagura finished, as a defeated Yukino laid sprawled on the ground.

There was a stunned silence.

"THE... THE WINNER IS MERMAID HEEL'S KAGURA MIKAZUCHI!" The entire stadium let out ear-spilting cheers. "UN-UNBELIEVABLE! SABERTOOTH GAINS ZERO POINTS FOR TODAY!"

"No way... Yukino..." Sting was lost for words.

"Kagura-chan rocks!"

"Don't you underestimate her!"

"Th... That was crazy... She didn't even unsheathe her sword!" Lavi was wide-eyed.

"I... I feel really bad for the Yukino girl..." Allen looked sadly at the Sabertooth member still sprawled on the ground.

"I... I lost..." Yukino's mouth trembled as she directed her words at a retreating Kagura's back. "S-Sabertooth lost..."

Kagura didn't even turn around to look at her.

"Your life... belongs to me now, right?"

Yukino's eyes were wet.

"Y-yes... I'll... obey you..."

Kagura suddenly looked up in Team Apostles' direction, giving Kanda and the others a glare.

Lavi noticed this.

"Hey hey hey Yuu, she's glaring at ussss! Did you piss her off or something?!"

"What are you talking about, dumbass?! I didn't do anything!" Kanda scowled as Kagura turned away.

"ALL RIGHT! Day two of the Grand Magic Games are finally over! Don't forget to check the rankings — we'll see you tomorrow!"

The stadium began to empty.

"We should check our ranks," Lavi told Allen as Lenalee and the others went to go look for Komui and Bak.

Second Day Results

1st Raven Tail 34P

2nd Apostles 23P

3rd Sabertooth 20P

4th Mermaid Heel 18P

5th Lamia Scale 18P

6th Blue Pegasus 16P

7th Fairy Tail B 12P

8th Fairy Tail A 7P

"Please tell me we're not second..."

"Okay, we're not second."

"We're SO second!" Allen cried. "I feel so bad! We're not suppose to surpass Fairy Tail! Heck, we even surpassed Sabertooth!"

"Yeah, it's all thanks to those three" — Lavi jerked a thumb over his shoulder at Lenalee, Kanda, and Marie — "can't be helped when we have such competitive teammates, y'know?"

"Ugh. I feel ashamed of myself..."

"You're such a good guy, Allen. Don't beat yourself up over it."

"Ugh..."

"Allen?" Lavi blinked; the white-haired boy was groaning in pain.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"I... I don't feel so good..."

Lavi eyed him concernedly.

"Do you need to go to the infirmary?"

"No... I think... I think I'm hungry."

Lavi rolled his eye.

"You had me worried for a second. Okay, let's go meet up with the others and eat."

"All right..."

As they walked out of the arena, Allen nearly blacked out, and the next thing he knew, he accidentally went smashing into the exit doors.

"OWWW! My head!"

"Dude, are you okay?!" Lavi now looked at him in alarm, as people passing by let out angry hisses.

"Yeah..." The white-haired boy groaned, feeling his head as he walked out of Domus Flau with Lavi, wondering what the hell was happening to him.