Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, the anime, manga, or any of its characters. I also do not own anything referencing Pokémon, either.
Lucy's POV
Sting, Lector, Wendy, and I had decided to get some breakfast from the WcDonalds in Crocus for our final day of the Grand Magic Games. This was the day of the survival tournament, and this would be my participating in the event since I had been arrested last year to help Arcadios with the Eclipse Project. Thank goodness that it was stopped indefinitely after all the chaos that occurred as a result of it, and now the Grand Magic Games could go smoothly for me.
Just like in the tag-team battle with Sting, I had planned to use all the elemental stones. I know that the Shadow Stone taking over my body and mind would be really malicious to me and everyone else, but what if it would be used by a clone? Sting hadn't taught me Clone Magic for nothing, since it allowed me and my replications to use multiple stones without draining much power from me.
"Lucy-san, how do you plan to start the event today? Which person do you hope to battle first?" Wendy asked me with a smile on her face while she ate some strawberry pancakes on the plate in front of her.
"Minerva wants us to go by some strategy to take out Fairy Tail, and she told us to avoid people like Jura Neekis and Kagura Mikazuchi. She really should know that will give Fairy Tail their windows of opportunity to gain some points, but I guess Minerva's the leader of our team today." I replied kindly to Wendy, still being unsure of Minerva's intentions.
Wendy asked a really good question, one that had me thinking for a bit. Who would me and my clones go after first? Everyone on Team Natsu seemed pretty much like a first choice, but what about the other Fairy Tail members? I'd still have people like Laxus, Jellal, and Gajeel to deal with. They were certainly tough, and I needed a good strategy for dealing with them if we crossed paths.
Sting added while sitting next to me, giving me an encouraging look, "Knowing Lucy, she can beat people like Jura and Kagura. I just hope Fairy Tail doesn't have the idea of taking you out first, or that'll be pretty bad. However, they may also want to battle the rest of us. We have to do our best today, and I know we'll win."
I knew that we had to win today for Sabertooth, and Fairy Tail obviously had help from Mavis Vermilion for a strategy today. Even though she was a very skilled tactician, every great plan had a small crack. I would find the weaknesses of her plans, since that was the only way to counter Fairy Tail, and I had to make my guild proud. In fact, I didn't even think I gained Minerva's respect yet.
On top of that, Furea was in this event with the rest of Team Flare. We were rivals as well, and I would definitely take her down. Winning for Sabertooth was important, and I began to form an idea. If I couldn't start the correct battles, why not interrupt some? I know it sounded like a cheap move, but some battles had to be interrupted. We would also need the points, too.
I gave Sting a kiss on the lips, admiring his positive attitude, before my violet eyes noticed the clock on the wall. It was 8:50 a.m., and the final day's event was starting in 10 minutes. We all began to eat more of the food we were having for breakfast, as I hurriedly ate my blueberry pancakes while Sting ate his eggs, and then we quickly ran out of the shop to reach the park where our teammates were waiting.
How would this event go down, really? Would it be all-out war? From seeing the rankings on a Lacrima Vision yesterday, after Wendy got her sky blue Sabertooth guild mark on the back of her right hand from Minerva, we were in first place with 80 points. Team Fairy Tail A had 58 points in 2nd place, Team Fairy Tail B was tied with them for second, giving third place to Team Flare with 56 points, and Lamia Scale had 42 points while being in fourth place. Mermaid Heel was in 5th place with 14 points, Blue Pegasus was in sixth place with eight points, and Quatro Cerberus was in last place with no points whatsoever.
In the park... (Minerva's POV)
Sting and Serena had shown up just before the event would start, as usual, and I really didn't plan on losing here. I also refused to let Serena show me up again, so I would take people out pretty quickly. Unlike her stupid belief of being so flashy with power, I believed that a nice one-hit KO was just as effective. Still, my biggest competition was Erza Scarlet. That Nakagami Armor of hers had completely overwhelmed me last year, and I couldn't face something like that.
Remembering how Sting made us lose last year, I had to pick up the slack. He obviously was pathetic like Serena, and her little display of darkness on the fourth day of the Grand Magic Games was probably just her being so theatrical. I doubted those spells actually made her vicious, and I punished Orga for telling me how I had been trembling. I was not scared of Serena being evil, and Orga wasn't competing today because he wanted to see Serena "electrify the town with golden lightning" as he put it.
The survival tournament required five members of a team to compete in this event, so Orga couldn't compete with us. I honestly couldn't believe my thoughts last night, but something told me that Serena would be able to take a hit from Jura and not be knocked out swiftly. She wasn't as good as me in battles, nowhere near my level, so maybe she would be a little useful.
"All right, everyone. Rufus is the key member in our strategy, and he can memorize everyone's positions in this game. He can track movements as well, making it easy for us to win. Anyway, we should just stay in five different areas of Crocus. That will easily assist us with winning the game. Don't try any vengeful maneuvers, Serena. They'll only slow us down." I informed everyone with a focused facial expression, sternly glaring at Serena while hoping she wouldn't stray from the plan.
Chapati announced from the judges' booth in the Domus Flau while sounding excited, "Since it's a new year with new things transpiring, here's how this survival game will work! When a member of a team is defeated, their opponent gets five points for their team! When the last person on a team is knocked out, the opponent's team gets 10 points! That totals up to 30 points, meaning that an extremely fast and strong person could earn 210 points overall for their team by defeating everybody else!"
Yajima commented while folding his arms and looking calm as always, "We shall see who can be the very best, indeed."
A green-haired man wearing a black hat also added while happily smiling, "Greetings, mages. My name is Natural Harmonia Gropius, but you may call me N. I am the guest judge for the final day of the Grand Magic Games. I hope we see some enjoyable battles, and I will be seeing what your magic says about you to me."
I could only grin in satisfaction at this shocking rule change, and I knew there was more than a slight chance for the other teams to finally move up from their losses or keep ascending in wins for their respective guilds. Upon hearing the gong be struck for the event to begin, many of the mages probably began to split up into solos, duos, and trios. The members of Team Sabertooth diverged into five different directions, since we had confidence, each person going on their own. Before I walked away from Serena, I noticed that her violet eyes were filled with determination. Seriously, she better not be like a hooligan and strike down Fairy Tail to show off.
We all walked away from the park bench, but I turned back around to see Serena standing in the same spot where she was. What was she planning to do, be idiotic? I really didn't care what she did while being motionless, since it wouldn't interfere with my strategy. I just had to stay away from Jura, Kagura, and mainly Erza. She probably wanted to destroy me as payback for Serena's actions, so I had to steer clear of her.
My green eyes had noticed Lucy wearing a white shirt and a red miniskirt with some scarlet red flat shoes, but something awkward caught my attention. Serena suddenly ran past me while wearing a light pink T-shirt, a normal pink miniskirt, and some strawberry pink flat shoes. How did she change clothes out here like this, and why did she suddenly appear to be running off somewhere else when I turned my head back to the park bench?
In Fairy Tail's booth... (Makarov's POV)
After seeing that Serena girl use what appeared to be fusion spells, I looked pretty tense from knowing her abnormal spells came from the legendary elemental stones. Erza had told me how that girl could make unorthodox spells, and those stones were no laughing matter. Her spells were similar to the ones used by a dark queen who ruled when the First Master started Fairy Tail, and the history books say that those spells were nothing to sneeze at. Natsu and Lisanna had both fully recovered for today, making things even better.
"First Master, have you come up with a strategy for defeating Serena Fennekin? Is her level of power as dangerous as you sensed it to be?" I curiously asked her with a smile, hoping Laxus would be able to defeat Serena since Natsu had been overwhelmed by her strength.
"I can't seem to find a way to defeat her yet. That dark power has me really concerned, but her other types of magic are of light. They respectfully represent the great eight creatures, from going in rainbow order, Delphox, Golem, Electivire, Sceptile, Blastoise, Gengar, Clefable, and Darkrai. From what history says, these were the eight servants of a dark queen that wielded nearly unstoppable magic. All that we can do is hope that Fairy Tail can win against eight threats in one." Mavis told me with a calm smile on her face while we looked at the Lacrima Vision screen showing Serena in different areas of Crocus.
Wait, what on earth?! Why or how in the world was Serena in eight different parts of the city right now, and why was she wielding a different elemental stone with each screen change? This could not be good, and I think the First Master's comment about her being eight threats in one had really jinxed itself back on our guild. This did not look good, especially since even one of those elemental stones on their own would be really dangerous to go up against.
On a street of fashion stores... (Shadow Serena's POV)
I saw on a nearby Lacrima Vision screen that Lyon and Jura from Lamia Scale took down Rocker and Bacchus from Quatro Cerberus, bringing them up to 52 points. Toby and Yuka were also quick to eliminate Nobarly from the event, giving Lamia Scale five more points. Eve and Ren from Blue Pegasus managed to defeat Semmes and Yaeger, giving Blue Pegasus 10 more points to reach a total of 23. Quatro Cerberus was now out of the event, leaving them in eighth place with zero points.
Well, that was just pathetic. Oh, well. Weeding out the weaklings was important, and only the strong were the ones I wouldn't see as trash. Speaking of the garbage, I had just encountered Erza Scarlet on this street. She was the one who Serena hated for picking on Wendy and trying to hunt her down, and this would be fun. I was in a pretty dark mood right now, ready to kill and have some malicious fun.
"Hello, Serena. I'm going to come at you with everything I have today, since you keep interfering in Fairy Tail's matters. You're a really troublesome pest, almost like Minerva." Erza harshly told me, requipping into what appeared to be her Heaven's Wheel Armor while shooting a death glare at me. Well, this would be interesting. Having someone fighting against the ancient epitome of death... I would enjoy this.
"I guess that this might put me in the mood to enjoy the taste of your blood, Erza Scarlet. You don't look so tough, but I guess playing with you will be enjoyable. Let's see if you can fight against the clone of malice, the Shadow Stone in its sole grand power while not having any other types of magic sap it greatly. I'm in the mood to fight, pretty much ready." I responded evilly, maliciously smirking at the thought of annihilating Fairy Tail.
Erza was quick to use a move known as Blumenblatt, making 200 swords appear above her in midair, and she sent them all down towards me with the intention to end this fast. However, I could not be defeated by mere moves like that. With an obvious counterattack, I activated the eighth fusion spell that was known as Shadow Shatter. Erza's swords were creating shadows on the ground, perfect for 200 shadowy hands to emerge upward from the ground and grab her weapons. The swords turned black like my shadows, and all of their energy was transferred to me before they shattered into black dust.
This next spell went perfectly with Shadow Shatter, and the tenth fusion spell was known as Shadow Rend. This spell took all the energy from the 200 swords, and reflected it back at Erza in the form of 200 curved black beams of energy. She quickly requipped into what appeared to be her Adamantine Armor, but that wasn't enough to stop me. Shadow Rend was obviously an attack, but the shadows could explode and slice through any defenses. Many black blasts of energy occurred, damaging the street and the stores, and Erza's armor could be heard shattering into pieces while I inhaled the delicious black smoke clouds of malice.
She hastily changed into her Flame Empress Armor, having a Flame Sword, and she ran towards me rather quickly. She had stabbed me directly in the neck, but I simply sunk down into the shadows while reappearing behind her with no signs of damage. The shadows always healed their dark master quickly, and I activated my 9th fusion spell known as Shadow Dance.
The shadows around us began to turn into swords that I was able to pick up, and I slashed at the air with tremendous power. At first, nothing seemed to happen. However, the strike was actually coming towards Erza from the shadow in front of her. It made a black explosion occur, sending her rolling backwards while I kept evilly laughing. Modern morons couldn't handle the ancient aces, it seems.
My 10th spell was known as Shadowy Silence, and it made eight small spheres of black energy emit a large white light while they floated high in the air above us. While Erza was blinded, my dark balls struck her one by one and created many miniature black blasts of energy in the process. They were slamming themselves against her with brutal force, sending her crashing through a nearby building. She got up while being wounded and covered in blood, a look of rage on her face.
Wow, this battle was making her enraged. That was quite pathetic for someone who kicked out Lucy Heartfilia from Fairy Tail, and hurting Wendy was even crueler than what I would do. She charged at me while now being in her Black Wing Armor, flying down towards me like a fool. I simply used the 11th spell, Shadow Hole, and it was pretty clever. Right before Erza got to me, a black hole appeared in front of her. She looked shocked at its appearance, moving too fast to stop herself from going through it, and the black hole made her reappear from above with a black sphere of energy following her at high speeds. It struck her in the back, creating another large blast of black energy, and Erza was coughing up blood.
However, I showed no sympathy whatsoever. My next spell, Shadow Liquid, would definitely do the trick for sure. I spat out black liquid from my mouth, landing directly on Erza's left arm, and my lovely black liquid drilled through her arm while causing her great discomfort. It also had the side effect of making that arm melt with black liquid, but it would regenerate normally later as well as fully healing the target. After all, my future servants must be alive for manipulation.
I currently looked down at my black T-shirt and white miniskirt, and my black flat shoes were pretty comfortable. To show Erza that I wasn't only an expert with explosive moves, my 13th spell would really be slamming down that statement. With my red eyes looking at the rubble from the many damaged buildings, I simply took their shadows and formed an enormous shadowy hand with them. The hand was high in the air, obscuring the shining sun, and it came down upon Erza with immense power and speed. This attack nearly destroyed the entire street, and it made many cracks in the earth.
"Serena... You're so merciless... Fighting for the sake of Lucy and Wendy, people who shouldn't have even been any of your concern. Why does all your hatred come from there? Did Minerva tell you to come here and fight me like the coward she is? Is Lucy watching this, scared like the weakling she is?" Erza asked me in a rude tone, struggling to stand while coughing up more blood and breathing heavily.
Harshly glaring at her with vicious intentions in my red eyes, I responded darkly, "How dare you call Minerva a coward, seeing as you couldn't go find Lucy Heartfilia yourself. You are just dirty scum, Erza Scarlet, and I am now growing bored with you. Time for my fourteenth and final fusion spell of Darkrai Magic, Shadow Demon's Black Reign of the Dark World!"
In an instant, many black drill-like shadows rose up from the white light appearing underground. They went high into the air, surrounding Crocus, but they were all locked on Erza. With a simple melodic and haunting hum of the music that played in Lavender Town, the copious amount of black drills spun fast while charging down towards Erza at high speeds. They tore through her body while creating numerous black blasts of energy that filled the skies in a massive maelstrom of shadows, and Erza's screams were music to my ears. Of course, I hadn't used enough force to kill her. The melody of Lavender Town played through the shadows in the air, sounding rather chilling to the judges and audience, but I certainly loved how ghostly it sounded.
When the large tower of shadows faded away, leaving behind black smoke for me to inhale, Erza Scarlet was unconscious in a large crater. She had taken quite a lot of damage from my final move, and she was bleeding pretty badly from taking my attack at full force. I commanded my shadows to make a black aura surround her body, healing her completely, before I vanished into the shadows to check out other people's fights in this little game. I had also gained 5 points for Team Sabertooth, and my shadow blasts could also be warped elsewhere. They had eliminated all the members of Mermaid Heel, giving Team Sabertooth 30 more points. With my task done, I could only leave the next fights up to the others for a while...
Meanwhile... (Minerva's POV)
Upon seeing all those black explosions, I could only guess that Serena was showing off again. A Lacrima Vision screen appeared in the air to inform me that we now had 120 points while all the members of Team Mermaid Heel had also been wiped out from the event. They were now finished in 7th place with 14 points, and Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tail got defeated by Serena!
Honestly, straying from my perfect plan was a really bad move for her to pull. The crowd was cheering wildly for her, but nine members of Fairy Tail still remained. I couldn't beat Erza, yet Serena came along and nearly destroyed her! That did not happen. Serena could not be strong enough to do that, being so totally merciless while using one spell after another.
I was not jealous at all, knowing Rufus would defeat Gray. He had wanted to get even with that ice mage for a while now, and that would be something great to see. Surely he would win this time, and Serena's grudge against Fairy Tail probably wouldn't apply here. Besides, the library was far from the fashion stores of Crocus. By the time Serena would get there, she couldn't get any glory whatsoever.
At the library... (Gray's POV)
Rufus and I crossed paths once again the library where the First Master predicted he would be, and we were getting ready to do battle once again. I was definitely going to win for Fairy Tail, and Sabertooth would go down. However, the sound of the library's doors being blasted over by what appeared to be blue energy had put a halt to our rematch. I turned around, gasping in shock like Rufus shortly did after.
"Serena, why are you here and how did you change clothes so quickly? Weren't you just victorious over Erza near the fashion stores? You know I can handle this, right?" Rufus asked her in a calm tone while looking curious like me as to why she was here, of all places.
I had no problem with fighting two opponents at once, but the fierce look in Serena's violet eyes caused me to freeze up a bit. What did she want from us? I know that she was mad at Natsu for what happened with Wendy, but what did she need from the library? I still had to calm down and stay completely focused if I wanted to win, but her response to Rufus' question made my dark blue eyes widen in amazement.
"This doesn't concern you, Rufus, so leave or hide right now. I have some business to take care of with Gray, and let's just say that it's not water under the bridge. He can keep his cool, but on a past day... He froze me out, and this is going to be what's known as delivering payback." She replied sternly while frowning at me, the Water Stone emitting a blue glow in her hands.
How was the 25th chapter? The Grand Magic War Game has begun, and many fights shall take place in this three-part arc! Each of Lucy's clones has a different personality, since using Clone Magic like this divides Lucy's emotions as well. Will Gray come to a realization about something involving Serena? Will Lyon and Chelia have to deal with Serena as well? Will Mira and Elfman want revenge for Lisanna? Standby for the update!