The final day of the Grand Magic Games was a cluster of tension, excitement, and joy for everyone participating. Tension, because most of Fiore would be watching and this day would decide the winner, the new number one guild. It had been Sabertooth for years now, but from everything that had been happening there was a good chance someone else would take that title for the year.

Excitement, because those who hadn't had a chance to shine could do so brilliantly today. Of course, there were those who were just excited to test their skills and have a good time with their fellow mages. Joy, because not only would they hear the cheers of the crowd, they would hear the cheers of their guild mates and friends. The support would be overwhelming and that was enough to bring joy to anyone.

For a few certain people though, things were tense for a different reason.

"What?!" Ultear had a look of pure panic despite trying to remain composed. Meredy didn't try, she just stared wide-eyed at Jellal who had momentarily pulled down his bandana disguising him as Mystogan. "Iroh Dokura, and Jace Storm-Strider, confronted you?! How are you not in chains right now?"

"Listen to me Ultear." Jellal held up his hands in an attempt to placate her. "I wasn't finished yet." Honestly, he was convinced he was done the second the two cornered him. Iroh was considered a one man army with his ranking in the Rune Knights, and Jace was a Wizard Saint. Jellal was powerful of course, and could take on one of them, but both? Besides, they were in the city and there was no way he was going to start a fight with so many civilians around.

However the news the two shared with him…

"The king declared not so long ago that Crime Sorcerie's members would be cleared of past crimes because of the work they've been doing for the past several years." Jellal repeated Jace's words, still in disbelief himself and waited for the reaction.

"WHAT?!"

The surprised yelp from both Ultear and Meredy would have been comical in any other situation. "You heard me."

"B-But why? Why all of a sudden?" Meredy spoke up as Ultear looked torn. A part of her wanted to slap sanity back into Jellal because there was no way what he was saying was true, and another part of her wanted to pass out.

Jellal sighed and ran a hand through his shaggy blue hair. "They said that with the things going on recently, that taking out a band of former dark wizards currently hunting other dark wizards, was the least of their worries. On top of being pardoned, we're expected to help when the time comes."

"I can only imagine how bad things must be if they're pardoning us. Us." Ultear emphasized with a furrowed brow. This didn't make a bit of sense to her. "Did they tell you what was going on?" They themselves only knew that with the Balam Alliance crippled, the dark guilds left were scrambling together for a last stand of sorts.

"They…" Jellal trailed off before looking up at the sky, as if trying to figure out how to say this, before looking at back Ultear. "They said that Tartarus is planning something big. They haven't figured it out yet, but it's something major. I'm willing to bet it has something to do with Zeref." Ultear cringed at that. "But that's not all, they said there are rising reports of dragon sightings."

"Acnologia?"

"I don't know." Jellal sighed again and tugged back on his bandana to play his role as Mystogan again. He would compete on the final day for Fairy Tail, as Iroh and Jace joked they wanted a finished fight between him and Jura, before heading to the capital with Ultear and Meredy for their official pardon.

"It's the final day! At last at last, it's here! Today is the day the winner will be decided!" The announcement had everyone going wild. Various signs throughout the crowd showed support for every guild out there.

As usual, Chapaty and Yajima would be reporting as commentators for the games. Today's special guest however was the pumpkin mascot of the games, Matoh. While everyone still wondered the identity of the pumpkin, everyone was more focused on who was coming out of the tunnels. Seven teams, five members each. Thirty-five mages in one area will be fighting among each other, and that was enough to cause plenty of excitement.

It was strange that it would take place in the city, but it was the grand finale after all. When the gong rang, it was safe to say all hell was going to break loose.

Freya and Eve stayed within range of each other as planned, while Ren went solo. Hibiki stayed for a moment at the starting spot, powering up his Archive and quickly gathering his team's location. A map of the city was pulled up in front of him, and Lia peeked over his shoulder. He flashed an assuring smile at her as he overlooked it.

"There, found everyone." He smiled seeing his team and how they were moving throughout the city. He also saw other opponents located and predicted it wouldn't be long until contact was made. "Lia, you know what to do?" At her nod, he patted her shoulder. "Alright, head towards the park. We'll all meet up with each other soon hopefully."

"Alright, good luck Hibiki!" She turned and headed off. Hibiki watched her leave for a moment before looking up, knowing the viewing lacrima was watching everyone right now. He couldn't resist sending a wink, before disappearing with a shimmer of data.

Mavis looked confused as she shared glances with Makarov. "I thought he only used Archive magic?"

"He-He must have advanced it. Data manipulation, it goes hand in hand with Archive."

In truth, the legal guilds banding together in an alliance to defeat the Oracion Seis all those years ago was a wake up call for the Trimen. They had been easily taken out, and their pride as mages was wounded. In order for that not to happen again, they furthered their training. Of course, they didn't go all out and learn a completely new magic style, they only enhanced the current magic they wielded.

Mavis frowned realizing she didn't calculate that into her strategy. She was so focused on Freya from Blue Pegasus that she didn't regard the other Blue Pegasus wizards as much as she should have. Still, she had confidence her strategy would work. Seeing as Fairy Tail still had their two teams, a part of her planning involved the two teams not fighting each other until they were the only ones left. Natsu especially had to be told this, as he wanted to fight Laxus, and he'd also never pass up an opportunity to rough house with Gajeel.

Speaking of which…

Both Fairy Tail teams were currently standing there joined together, not even moving an inch. It was baffling to everyone else, including Makarov who cried about potential loss of points. As they stood there, people were getting eliminated left and right.

Orga had stayed close to Rufus initially before eventually parting, deciding he would track down Laxus as a fellow lightning user. However this plan was postponed when he came to an empty field. He made a move to continue on through it, but the next thing he knew he was surrounded by Quatro Puppy mages.

"We remember what you did to Warcry!" Rocker said as he, Novally, Semmes, and Yaeger all kept a circle formation around the Sabertooth mage.

"We got to avenge his WILD spirit!"

"Yeah!"

"Wild!"

Orga tried not to sweat-drop but he got into a battle stance anyways, black lightning crackling around his hands. His eyes scanned his four opponents, seeing who would make the first move, before Semmes went for him. "Wild Spin!" He proceeded to starting spinning around and headed towards him, like a tornado of sorts. Orga simply cast his hand out which unleashed a black bolt of lightning. Semmes somehow managed to evade it, giving a hoot of victory, but it short lived when another bolt of lightning struck him down.

Orga turned to deal with another Quatro Puppy member, but was surprised to see that plants shot out of the ground and gripped out at his legs. Yaeger gave a triumphant grin as Novally's hands started to gather smoke. "Flash Bomb!" he threw two large bombs straight at Orga. The Sabertooth mage had just enough time to cover his head as the bombs landed close to him. An explosion of light went off, temporarily blinding him, as he felt something slam into his side.

Rocker's Drill Magic was at work and there were many astonished gasps from the crowd seeing Sabertooth's strongest (in terms of power) get ambushed so effectively. The smoke and light cleared eventually to reveal a very displeased Orga, who had black lightning crackling around his arms. The Quatro Puppy mages gulped and quickly dodged when various lightning strikes came right at them. Orga gritted his teeth and held his hands close together, eyes locking onto Novally. "120mm Black Lightning Cannon!" Everyone saw how much damage it did to the MPF, so it was only reasonable that everyone winced. Novally, knowing if that attack hit him he would be out, quickly formed more magic bombs in his hands.

"Scatter Bombs!" he hurled them at Orga at a side angle so that when the lightning struck him down, the bombs landed right on Orga knocking the Sabertooth mage down.

With both Semmes and Novally out, Rocker and Yaeger exchanged looks and quickly charged right at Orga. The latter was struggling to get up, vision distorted due to the bombs, and looked up just in time to see Yaeger summon a flytrap to attack Orga from below. The lightning mage managed to jump in the air to avoid it but was open to Rocker's Drill attack, the man slamming into him at high speed. Orga's back collided with the ground harshly and so did his head, but he had no time to recover as vines shot up and wrapped around his wrists and legs.

"This is for Warcry, Semmes, and Novally!" Rocker came down with his legs boosting him. He punched Orga from above and since it was enhanced by his Drill magic, it had enough force to cause large cracks in the ground.

It took a few moments, but when Rocker stumbled off Orga and Yaeger went to check, the lightning mage was knocked out cold with a large bump on his head.

Goldmine gave a toothy grin as his guild yelled out, "WILD!" for their team. Sure they only took down the Sabertooth mage due to all of them working together, but they made up for Warcry's humiliation on day one. Rocker and Yaeger high-fived each other, before parting ways.

"WILD!"

Bacchus, despite Yuuka sending his wave magic right at him while Toby charged, was able to maneuver around and knock Toby unconscious with rapid blows to the head. Yuuka sent another wave but he wasn't able to move in time to avoid a harsh palm strike to the chin. Lamia Scale had lost two members already, however Jura wasted little time in taking out Ariana and Risley. They put up a fight at least, but he was a Wizard Saint after all.

"No one can take out Jura!" Ooba Babasaama declared, spinning around one of her guild members out of excitement. It was a wonder why anyone still dared to stand so close to her during these events.

Suddenly, both of the Fairy Tail teams snapped to, and immediately they dispersed. "They're finally moving!" Mavis smiled as she remembered all of her carefully laid plans that would carry them to victory.

"There is a 97% chance Rufus will make his move." She stated waiting for the sign of the Memory-Make mage to make said move. Especially since Orga was taken out by the combined efforts of Quatro Puppy, Sabertooth had more initiative to get moving. Just like she said, Rufus from his hidden spot smirked as he held his fingers to his temples. As Fairy Tail had two teams, it was imperative they were taken care of as soon as possible.

Falling stars shot out and located every Fairy Tail member, but to his displeasure they seemed to have learned from the first day as they all dodged it just in time. Laxus of course just took it in stride, absorbing the lightning. Mavis murmured to herself that the chances of Rufus going after them again was lowered, tuning out the chattering of the other Fairy Tail members.

As she wanted, Natsu and Gajeel had formed a temporary truce as they encountered the Twin Dragons. Sting and Rogue both looked at the two. "Well, this is a dream come true, right Rogue?" Sting asked teasingly seeing their opponents.

"You better leave me Gajeel, you got to fight Freya." Rogue muttered as they both prepared themselves. Natsu let out a loud boisterous laugh as his fists flamed up.

"Alright, alright. Icy your point." Sting smirked ignoring his best friend's glare for making a pun.

"Lucy will defeat the enemy in the west." Mavis continued on, as Lucy with her whip caught a hold of Beth's ankle. While the young girl tried to shake her foot free, she was open to Loke's Regulus Blast. Lucy gave her spirit a thumbs up and continued on to meet up with Wendy, as the girl should be heading her way soon. However just as Lucy started moving, she heard a barely audible whistling sound. As if something was cutting through the air-

Suddenly she felt brief pain erupt on her back and she cried out, falling to the ground. Loke quickly faced who attacked her and noticed with surprise Kagura. "Wait, this didn't-" Mavis started as Loke attacked Kagura with a Regulus Impact. He moved fast, but he wasn't fast enough as Kagura moved her still sheathed sword just a bit faster. He crumbled into the ground too, before poof-ing away and returning to the spirit world.

"Lucy! Loke!" Makarov and Cana cried out as Mavis stared in disbelief. She did not think Kagura would appear so fast, and especially around Lucy. She sucked in a deep breath, shaking her head and forcing herself to move on. She felt terrible for this miscalculation, but she had to worry about everyone else still.

She checked in on everyone's status. Juvia was doing a logistical scout for enemies, Laxus was still on the prowl, Mira was good, Erza was heading west, Natsu and Gajeel were fighting their opponents, Wendy was still moving with Gray, and Mystogan was still good.

Erza moved on ahead navigating through the alleyways until she heard a commotion. She paused and decided to pursue it and see what happened. Much to her surprise, she saw a knocked out Lucy. "Lucy!" she ran over to her and checked her, noting a large bruise already forming. She gritted her teeth but her eyes widened as she felt someone close by. She shot to her feet, equipped a blade, and turned around to see Kagura.

Hibiki stood over a knocked out Yaegar and quickly checked in on everyone, tapping into communications. "Lia, how are you doing? No I'm not laughing that you just tripped over a box, I promise. Ren, your position? Okay, keep doing what you're doing. Wait, are you sure? Alright but remember not to get too close to him." Hibiki thought about the probability of Ren winning against Bacchus, but decided that he would place faith in his friend. Ren wasn't stupid. Lia was still on the move even though he startled her with communications, making her trip over a box.

His fingers raced across the keys of his Archive, and he brought up another screen in the air. "Eve, Frey-" One of his screens blared red and he quickly ducked just in time to avoid Gray.

"Strategize all you want, we have someone who can outdo the calculations of your magic." Gray calmly stated with a hint of a smirk. Wendy wasn't so far back but she seemed to being staying back so Gray could take care of this. Hibiki saw the icy aura around Gray as he put his hands together. "Ice-Make: Lance!" Several lances shot out at Hibiki but then what looked like a tall spiky path of ice formed in front of Hibiki, shielding him, as a blur slid in and snagged one of the lances.

"Did that someone count on this?" Hibiki calmly stated as Freya bit into the lance, chewing it up. Gray cursed knowing he was told to stay away from Freya, but he held up his arm to shield his eyes as a flurry of snow crashed into him.

"We're here Hibiki. Sorry we're a bit late." Eve sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as he ran in.

"Freya!" Wendy greeted. The older dragon-slayer smiled warmly at the girl and waved.

"Hello Wendy, I hope this guy isn't hogging all the action." She gestured to Gray who was shaking his head to get snow out of his hair. "If he is, let me know. I'll knock him out for you." Gray stared in horror at the two girls who both laughed and wondered since when did he become the target of two dragon-slayers.

He swiftly turned his head however to see two more people enter the fray. "I see there's a gathering here." Lyon mused and looked at Gray, before looking at Eve. The three of them squared off in the Hidden event but didn't get a chance to settle things. Gray internally grumbled as he wanted to go confront Rufus. The plan was that him and Wendy would split up so that could happen, but it looked like the plans were changing.

Then again, he was a member of Fairy Tail. He should be used to things not going to plan.

"Wendy!" Shelia chirped as she approached her new friend. "We can go against each other again, our match was so much fun!"

"It really was, we can definitely do it again." Wendy gave a large smile. Eve overlooked everything, and then back at Freya and Hibiki.

"Freya, could you take Hibiki out of here? It's going to get messy."

She frowned and stepped forward. "Eve, you're outnumbered." She didn't like splitting up when that wasn't the strategy they had planned. Besides, he'd be surrounded by both Fairy Tail and Lamia Scale.

"I'll be fine." He flashed one of his charming smiles to assure her and looked back at his opponents. "I've got it handled."

Hibiki couldn't help but smile at his friend's confidence and put a hand on Freya's shoulder. "Eve has this. Come on." She sighed but complied anyways, turning to follow him.

She looked back. "Good luck Eve, you too Wendy!" she added making the girl grin and wave back. Freya and Hibiki then took off, heading out of the area.

Eve raised a playful eyebrow at Lyon and Gray. "Okay, let's do this." Gray smirked and put his hands together. Lyon chuckled and followed his example, assured that Shelia would be busy with Wendy.

Speaking of Rufus, he patiently waited inside the library, reading. He knew someone would come looking for him so all he had to do was wait. He heard the doors open and he shut his book in order to see who it was. He expected Gray, due to the ice mage's vendetta against him for the Hidden event. However, he did not expect to see a white haired young woman come in. He paled considerably recognizing her and quickly went through his memories.

"Hello there, is the library open?" Mira called out with a cheerful smile, but her aura practically screamed demon.

He certainly did not expect this.

Freya ran alongside Hibiki, her thoughts drifting to both Ren and Lia. She hadn't seen either of them, so she hoped they were both okay. Ren was no pushover, and neither was Lia, but they were surrounded by powerful opponents. "Freya, thanks for earlier."

She paused hearing Hibiki and waved a hand. "Oh, no problem. You're my teammate and friend, I'll always look out for you and everyone else."

For some reason, Hibiki's breath hitched at friend making her glance at him in concern. "Are you alright?" She slowed down a bit in running, worried he had been injured somehow.

"I'm fine…um, I think if my calculations are correct we should be running into someone soon." Hibiki was quick to change the subject though that did nothing to ward off Freya's concerns. She was about ready to make him tell her what was wrong when she felt it. Her eyes went wide and she skidded to a stop. Up ahead stood Laxus, arms crossed as if waiting for her. He probably picked up on her scent.

"No bunny suit this time?"

She was taken aback by the tease before she rolled her eyes, scoffing. "Really?" she gave a dry chuckle at both the tease and current situation. Well, a part of the reason why she joined the games this year was due to all the dragon-slayers participating, so she couldn't complain about fighting yet another one. However, she had a distinct feeling that Laxus would be very different from Natsu, Sting, and Rogue. "Should I say no leopard pants this time…?" she referred to his fashion choice years ago and Laxus only snorted in amusement.

He uncrossed his arms and took a few steps forward, meeting her in the middle of the field. "Touché. I've been wanting to test your strength out myself, but how about we make a wager first?" Freya tilted her head in interest, hands on her hips. "Now before you get the wrong idea…Erza wouldn't stop ranting about this until I promised her I'd do this." Freya's raised brow shot further up, wondering what on earth Titania was rambling about to the point Laxus had to make a deal with her.

"If I win…you have to wear a show girl bunny suit to the celebration they throw at the end of the games." Hibiki practically choked. Freya stared at Laxus blankly, trying to decide whether to laugh, slap him, or die of embarrassment. Or track down Erza to murder her, one of those four options. Still, she wouldn't be the daughter of Frosteria and student of Raul if she backed down from a challenge.

"Fine." Hibiki stared at her in what looked to be horror but it was hard to tell due to how red his face went. Freya, due to her hearing, could hear Jenny giggling up a storm in the stands as she knew Freya hated skimpy outfits. Lulu was most likely shrieking and shaking whoever was closest to her. "But if I win…" she put a hand on her chin to ponder what would be a suitable punishment. Much to her displeasure, she found she couldn't think of something. "You'll owe me a favor." She shrugged.

"Sounds good." Laxus smirked, a little bit of lightning sparking around him.

Hibiki overlooked the two and figured that this was where they separated. "Freya, I'll leave you to it. I'll meet up with Ren." She looked at him and nodded, seeing him turn and head off. She waited until she was sure he left the vicinity, not wanting him to get caught in the destruction about to occur. Then she looked Laxus right in the eye. "Alright. Before we get started…I want to try something out."

Laxus gave a curt nod, showing he was listening. Freya flexed her fingers. "We both have similarities. You utilized lightning magic before the big reveal you were a dragon-slayer years ago, right? Well I played the same game up until now." she looked him right in the eyes. "So…how about we fight without our dragon-slaying magic, and go just lightning against ice? I'm curious, as we're both masters of our respective elements."

He seemed to be taken aback by her suggestion, but soon a grin formed on his face. "I'm game."

Milliana gave out a hoot of victory, whipping Rocker down into the dirt. Instead of her rather revealing outfit, she swapped out the bikini for a slim fitting cat suit with no sleeves. It was the same color scheme, black with magenta trim, but it offered more protection than the bikini did. She still maintained her socks, boots, gloves, and cloak, but was dressed a bit more fittingly for a mermaid of Mermaid Heel.

She retracted her orange tubes, and looked around hearing something. Her nose twitched, and she suddenly became aware of a few dark red rose petals drifting through the air. Wait a minute…she whirled around and spotted Lia standing not so far away.

"Um…hi!"

Milliana smiled and waved, only to immediately shoot out her magic nullifying tubes. Lia narrowed her eyes and suddenly her body scattered in a burst of rose petals. The bunched petals flew through the air avoiding Milliana's attack until it went higher up in the air, forming Lia again, but this time she had something in her hand. "Cherry Bomb!" she threw what looked to be cute red cherries right at Milliana but just as they were about to touch her they exploded.

Milliana yelped as she was blown back as Lia landed on her feet. Quickly she held out her hand and a jade green magic circle formed on the ground. "Black Garden: Thorn Forest!" Several black vines launched out of the ground, forming a thick forest of sorts around Lia but she directed the vines right at Milliana. The cat girl lashed at them but there was too many, so several of the spiky vines wrapped around her and threw her around.

The Mermaid Heel mage gritted her teeth and yanked off her gloves to start slashing at the vines with her sharpened nails. Eventually she got to the point where she fell to the ground, fallen and cut up vines falling around her, but she barely got a chance to celebrate her victory when she heard-

"Blood Rose Dragon!"

The dragon made of nothing but dark rose petals came flying at Milliana and crashed into her, making her go flying into a wall.

One point went to Blue Pegasus as Milliana was out. Lia took a deep breath and scurried over to make sure she wasn't harmed too badly. Seeing the girl didn't have any injuries that were serious, she set out to find either one of her teammates or another opponent.

However, it didn't take her long to find another opponent, and her heeled boots skidded in the ground almost comically as she realized who was just a few feet away from her. She could hear Hibiki attempt to communicate with her, but she couldn't take her eyes off her new opponent.

"Uh…is there a panic button nearby Hibiki?"

"No, why?"

Bacchus gave a smirk upon seeing her. Flashbacks of him and Freya nearly fighting it out not so long ago (due to the slap on the ass) immediately went through her head, and she squeaked. Bacchus was S-class level, and was probably one of the best (if not the best) hand to hand combat mages in the country. Now Lia did have some knowledge of martial arts of course. However comparing her's to Bacchus was like comparing a match to the sun.

"Because I need one. STAT!"

Ren cursed, trying to locate Bacchus but he was having no luck. He continued running through the alleys and streets until he eventually came across the canal. He looked at the water, taking a quick rest from running, and looked around. He was disappointed he hadn't run into anyone just yet but that was quickly taken care of upon hearing footsteps. He turned but paled considerably, seeing Jura walking into his field of vision.

Now he had confidence he could fight it out with Bacchus, but this was a Wizard Saint just a few feet away from him.

Jura gave a polite nod and smile but that smile in a way also clearly said how much Ren was doomed. Still, he wouldn't go down easily. Ren made a fighting stance but the sound of running water caught both of their attention. From the canal, what appeared to be a waterspout formed and it eventually calmed into a steady flow of water that gathered on the walkway next to the canal. It morphed into Juvia, who strode forward with her chin up.

"Juvia will take you both on!"

Jellal adjusted the bandana hiding his face, carefully turning the corner of a building. He could tell several battles were going on and was waiting for one to eventually find its way towards him. Initially he had sought Jura out but he found that the earth mage was currently in a battle of elements with Juvia and Ren. Maybe he should go seek out-

"If it isn't the mysterious Mystogan."

He froze, before slowly turning to see Minerva smirking devilishly at him.

A/N: I know this is only the build up, but next chapter I'm only going to focus on a few of the fights started up this chapter. The chapter after the next one will obviously finish the event up! Let me know your thoughts please, and if you like the battles I set up. Also, does anyone have any theories on what's going with the Rune Knights? Hehe~