"Welcome to the second day of the Grand Magic Games! I'm your emcee, Chapati Rola, joined by Yajima-san, owner of 8-Island café, as well as today's guest speaker: Warrod Seekin!"
"Thank you, Rola-san," Warrod replied.
"Now for the rankings so far: in eighth place, we have Lamia Scale with zero points. In seventh place: Crime Sorcier with one point. In sixth place, with ten points, we have Sabertooth A Team. In fifth place, with eleven points: Dragon King. In fourth place, with twelve points: Fairy Tail B Team. Tied in second place, with thirteen points each, we have Hallowguard and Sabertooth B Team. And in first place, with fourteen points: Fairy Tail A Team!"
"Akane!" Torden greeted. "Nice of you to join me up here!"
Akane shrugged. "You seemed kind of lonely up on this statue. And you're a Fairy Tail member now, so alone is the last thing you should be."
"Well, that is part of what is nice about being in a guild," Torden replied. He looked out at the arena. "So Hisoka decided to be in today's competition, did he?"
Akane nodded. "Personally, I'm quite curious."
"Today's contest is called… Unstable!"
Hisoka almost immediately stepped out into the arena.
"And we already have a contestant. From Dragon King: Hisoka Dreyar!"
A few people cheered – a bit more than yesterday, but still not very many.
"From Hallowguard: Tolla Osimer!"
This time, the cheering was much louder. Of course, Hisoka thought to himself. Utkarsh was quite impressive yesterday, fighting one of Sabertooth's strongest wizards with no magic. Hallowguard would be popular at this point. He watched as someone from Sabertooth whom he didn't recognize entered the arena.
"From Sabertooth B Team, Jonah Fiore!"
"Fiore?!" Hisoka went over to the kid. She had short, jade-green hair and eyes. "Does that mean you're the queen's daughter?"
Jonah shot a dirty look at Hisoka. "Son," he corrected.
"But you smell female…"
"And that's why I don't like dragonslayers," Jonah complained. "I don't care if I smell like a girl. I'm not a girl. Think about the name. Does that sound like a girl's name to you?"
"Uh… I hadn't really thought about it, I guess, but we have a girl in our guild named William, so…"
Jonah sighed. "Okay, fine. You've met girls with guy's names and I smell female. However, I don't identify by the way I smell, and you shouldn't identify me like that either."
"So… you're trans, then?"
"And?!"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I just haven't met a lot of you guys, so…"
Jonah put up a hand to stop him. "Apology accepted. That doesn't mean I like you, though."
Hisoka shrugged. "I can work with that."
"From Sabertooth A Team, Minerva Orlando!"
"Just out of curiosity, though," Hisoka continued as Minerva entered the battlefield. "What's royalty doing in a wizard guild?"
Jonah shrugged. "I felt like it, and my mom agreed that it could be an enriching experience, so… here I am."
"From Lamia Scale: Marlo Akatsuki! From Fairy Tail B Team: Mirajane Strauss!"
Hisoka's eyes widened. "This is gonna be tough."
"From Crime Sorcier: Macbeth! From Fairy Tail A Team: Gray Fullbuster!"
"I rest my case," Hisoka concluded.
Suddenly, the ground beneath them jolted, and the entire arena rose away from the stadium – a disc-shaped patch of ground, Hisoka dropped to his knees, trying to get ahold of himself on the moving object. He began to feel nauseous as the arena rose faster and faster.
Finally, the arena slowed to a stop, and Hisoka took a few moments to collect himself. He ran over to the edge to see that they were about a kilometer above the ground. He began walking back towards the center, when suddenly, embedded in the ground, seven lacrima crystals appeared, forming a ring of six about halfway from the center, with the seventh one at the center.
"The goal: knock each of your opponents off the edge for more than ten seconds. That means that if you have flying magic and can't get back into the arena's space quickly enough, you are eliminated. Also, for every lacrima you break, the arena becomes less stable. Break all seven, and it's floating freely, with only your weight to balance it. Begin!"
Mirajane went straight for Hisoka, grappling him around the stomach.
"Oi, why are you going after me first?!"
"You're closer to the edge, and therefore easier to knock off," Mirajane replied.
"I… also… have… wings!" He sprouted his wings and pushed back towards the center.
"Me, too!" Mirajane sprouted her own demonic wings, as well as a tail, as she activated her Satan Soul. The two pushed against one another.
"Pick… somebody… else… Kawatatsu no… Kagizume!" A water-propelled foot slammed into Mirajane's stomach, flipping her over Hisoka and causing her to lose her grip. "Pick somebody else!" He flew over to Macbeth, who seemed to have the strange compulsion to just stand there.
"You want to fight me?" inquired Macbeth.
"Kawatatsu no Houkou!" Hisoka unleashed his breath weapon at Macbeth, but all on its own, the magic swerved around the target, hitting Marlo by accident. "Crap… I forgot."
Macbeth turned as Marlo went flying off the arena, then turned back to Hisoka. "Magic can't hit me, remember?"
Hisoka charged Macbeth, landing an open-palm strike squarely in the middle of Macbeth's chest and knocking him to the ground. "People, on the other hand…"
"Careful, there…" Macbeth held up his hands, and a greenish energy started forming.
"Oh, no you don't! Kawatatsu no Tekken!" He swung at Macbeth, expecting that his hand would be unaffected. However, Macbeth simply bent the water, which took the hand with it. "I misjudged…"
Suddenly, Mirajane came in from behind and slammed into Macbeth, sending him over the edge.
"I hope they're safe," Hisoka speculated. "It's a rather long way to the ground."
"They probably use the same magic as in the Labyrinth," Mirajane replied.
Suddenly, Hisoka sensed distortions in space. He leaped out of the way, while an explosion sent Mirajane out of the arena.
"Crap…" Mira started to fly back in, but was met by another explosion that sent her further away. Hisoka turned to see Minerva looking at Mira.
"I win this one, Mirajane."
Hisoka took this opportunity to sneak out of sight, aware that he wouldn't be able to take Minerva head-on. He snuck around behind Minerva, making sure he couldn't even hear his footsteps over the sound of his own brainwaves. He inhaled, magic welling up in his stomach, then blasted Minerva from behind with his breath weapon, knocking her straight into the Fairy Tail mage she was trying to take out and sending them both tumbling. "Lucky," he commented to himself. Suddenly, he was struck from behind by something cold. He tried flying, but huge ice crystals had already formed where his wings should have been able to materialize.
"That was clever," Gray praised. "However, you must always be ready for your opponents to pull the same trick on you."
"You should know…" Hisoka grunted. "I can work… with water… in any state…" He arched his back, shattering the ice crystals, then picked one up and ate it. "Thanks for the meal."
"Icemake: Lance!" Gray shot several icy skewers at Hisoka. He dodged most of them, but the last one formed a gash in his side on the way past. He dropped to his knees, clutching the wound. "Not mine, you can't."
Just then, a white streak of energy shot to the ground, then dissipated, revealing Jonah. "I wonder if any of you have a good sense of balance like me," he wondered.
Hisoka, Gray and Tolla looked up to see a constellation of magic circles in the sky, forming the shape of the Big Dipper. "That's Elkhart's…"
"Grand Chariot!" Jonah pointed one hand at the ground and one at the sky. The constellation started glowing, and a barrage of meteorites rained down on the arena.
"What are you…?" Hisoka was cut off as a jolt overtook the arena. He looked over at the crystals to see that they were shattering one by one. "Stop! I can't… hoolp!" He doubled over and threw up as the arena shook, only three crystals remaining. Then one shattered, and the ground began to tilt. "Gaaaahhh!" Hisoka screamed as he struggled to muster up a tiny bit of power. He formed small water drills on his fingertips, drilling some small holes and then inserting his fingertips. He did the same with his boot tips. "I won't go down… that easily… gaaahh!" The last two lacrima shattered, and the ground tilted to a full ninety degrees. Hisoka fell further and grabbed the edge, holding on as if his life depended on it, while the arena floated freely, able to bounce up and down from any changes in weight. "Dammit… if I fall… in this state… I won't… be able… to form my wings… quickly enough…!" He let out another determined scream as he tightened his grip on the holes he had made.
"Incredible," Gray observed from where he had frozen himself to the ground. "I've never seen that sort of determination with the Grand Magic Games in twenty-one years."
"I… have… to be able… to take it…!" Hisoka strained. "I will take… anything… that you can throw… at me… huaaaagghhh!"
"Hisoka…" Merlin watched the LacrimaVision with concern. "How can you be so determined? It's just a game."
"I think for him, it's more than that," Henri explained. "I have an idea of it, but I honestly don't understand the full picture."
"It's like when I went after my parents," Nashi speculated. "That's the determination I see in him." She thought about what Hisoka had said yesterday, taking a casual glance down at her right arm. "I think he may be able to do this, if his emotions are reflected in his magic."
"What do you make of it?" Torden inquired.
"I'm honestly not sure," Akane admitted. "I mean, I've only ever seen him that determined once, when his sister went missing."
"He has a sister?"
"Last I knew," Akane replied. "Certainly the last time he visited. They're not technically related, but they treated each other like they are. I mean, from what I heard, Flumentia took him to Ishgar, but then stayed back on the Far West Continent with his sister."
"What was her name?"
"Avonaco, I believe."
"Avonaco… Avonaco…"
"Have you met her?"
"It's hard to say," Torden replied. "They don't do last names over there, so some people tend to have the same name. I met one young girl with that name… in the land of the Blue Grass, about two years ago, and another time seven years ago. She disappeared, back then, after Flumentia was executed. The most recent encounter was by accident, and she quickly got away."
"She would have been about eight that first time, and thirteen during the second encounter," Akane notified.
"That sounds right," Torden confirmed.
"That's definitely her. How is she?"
"Well, she doesn't like what's been going on recently, but she's not in any immediate danger."
Akane smiled. "That's good to know. Maybe I can cheer up Hisoka about what he heard from Soren." He looked back at the LacrimaVision, where Hisoka was still fighting to stay in the arena.
"And Tolla knocks Gray out of his ice boots!" Chapati announced. "Now the only contestants left are Tolla, Jonah and Hisoka."
"I… won't give in… dammit!" Hisoka's vision began to blur. The wound in his side had managed to close, but he had lost a lot of blood, and it still wasn't healed, and hurt like hell. "Focus… dammit!"
The arena tilted once more. Jonah ran towards the higher end, grabbing the edge and hanging on as the arena turned upside-down. Tolla used her wind magic to stick to the floor.
"Have… to muster… power! Haaaaauuuggh!" He tried focusing enough magic for his breath weapon, but his stomach was too upset by the constant tossing and turning of the arena.
"Motion," Jonah noted. "A dragonslayer's fatal weakness. Well, it won't kill you on its own, but it leaves you vulnerable to anything your opponent could possibly do."
"Come… over… here… and see… just how… vulnerable… gaaaaahhhh!" He felt his fingerholds cracking, and dug in deeper. "I just… need… some… power…" His muscles began to burn from the effort.
Jonah watched Hisoka's pathetic condition, and saw that Tolla was also standing and watching. He sighed and pulled himself up onto a certain point on the arena, being careful to maintain balance with the weight of the other two contestants. "This is more than just a game to you, isn't it?"
Hisoka looked up at both of them, sweat, frustration and determination all over his face.
"I'm also curious," Tolla chimed in. "Nobody treats something as just a game and behaves like that. Anyone else in your condition would have fallen a long time ago."
"And I'm not anyone else!" Hisoka snapped, finally able to get a full sentence out. "Damn right this is important to me. The more you exploit my weaknesses, the more important it becomes that I overcome them…" He took a moment to catch his breath, then continued. "I have to get stronger, to protect my family, and my guild." He continued to dig his fingers deeper into the ground as he spoke. "One day… I will face… an enemy… more powerful… than you can ever imagine! I don't know whether this enemy is a single person, or a continent of dragons, I have to get stronger! Every failure I make… it's that much longer… that I am powerless… against that threat. I won't accept defeat… game or not!" He looked Jonah directly in the eye. "So don't just stand there and go easy on me, no matter how pathetic I look to you! Bring it all on!"
Team Dragon King watched from the stadium.
"I'm proud of you, Hisoka," Merlin praised. "That's what you taught me. To keep fighting."
Nashi just smiled at the screen, then raised her right thumb and forefinger high in the air, in the shape of a backwards L.
Emma sighed, then joined in, followed by Merlin, William and Henri. Thomas realized what was going on and followed suit, followed by all of Fairy Tail.
Gray and Mirajane sat on their magic circles, watching the fight above, and made the same hand sign as the rest of the guild.
Akane raised his thumb and forefinger, smiling at the LacrimaVision.
"What is that sign?" Torden asked.
"A gesture we like to do in Fairy Tail when reaching out to our friends," Akane explained. "It means that even if we're not there, or if we can't see you, we're always with you, always watching. You've been in the guild for barely over a week, so I'm not surprised you don't know about it."
"Well, now I do." Torden grinned and raised one of his clawed hands, making the same gesture as everyone else.
Akane smiled up at Torden, then turned back to the screens. "Welcome to Fairy Tail, Torden."
Hisoka slowly stood up, now that the weight of Jonah and Tolla were keeping the arena upright. He sprouted his wings. "I can't fly, but I can hold my ground. Huaaaaaggghh!" He shakily put one foot forward in the direction of Tolla.
"You know, I could blow you off with just one swipe," Tolla pointed out.
"Then do it!" Hisoka demanded. With all the strength he could muster, he forced the magic to condense in his stomach. "Kawatatsu no… Houkou!" He unleashed his breath weapon at Tolla, catching her off guard and sending her flying towards the edge. She skidded to a halt, and the arena suddenly tilted upward on Hisoka's side.
"Sometimes you should train more lightly rather than injure yourself," Jonah advised, grabbing the edge and hanging, while Hisoka flattened himself against the floor with the assistance of his wings.
"Look me in the eye and tell me whether you think I give a crap!" Hisoka asserted as he looked down at Jonah. "It's motion sickness. I can recover. In fact, I can come back stronger than before! I once spent two weeks on a ship. Kawatatsu no Houkou!" He forced more magic into his stomach and sent another torrent at Tolla, this time knocking her off. "You see that…? I just… defeated someone… while motion sick… gaaaahhh!" He stumbled over to a point opposite from where Jonah was, his head spinning.
"I saw that, and you're right. I shouldn't go easy on you." As the arena began to tilt back to normal, Jonah heaved himself up and ran towards the center, grabbing onto one of the shattered lacrima crystals.
Suddenly, Hisoka's weight was throwing the arena off balance. The ground tilted beneath him. "I will keep going… even when the entire deck is stacked against me. Because even when I'm not in the same official guild, I am a Fairy Tail wizard!" He slipped and swiped at the edge, but couldn't find purchase, and finally fell to join the others below. "Yeah…" he wavered as the magic circle caught him. "I lost… however… I tried my hardest, and I will continue to get stronger until it's enough…" He closed his eyes and felt his consciousness slip away, smiling as he heard the audience cheering.
The arena lowered itself to the ground, setting everyone down in a ring. Everyone in Dragon King ran out to check on Hisoka, who had finally passed out from the motion sickness and blood loss.
"Oh, my!" Chapati commented. "An unexpected performance from Dragon King's Hisoka Dreyar! Even through severe motion sickness, he pressed on, earning second place in the competition! And with that touching speech as well!"
Almost everyone in the stadium cheered in response to Chapati's commentary. "Hi-so-ka! Hi-so-ka! Hi-so-ka!"
"It is a splendid sight watching youngsters so determined," Warrod added. "I am proud to have been in the same guild as that boy."
Nashi looked up at the cheering crowd, then knelt next to Hisoka and took a look at him. There was still a bloodstain from when he had taken that spear to the side. She looked up at Thomas. "He'll be okay, right?"
Thomas drifted to the ground and examined the wound, then his heartbeat. "He'll be fine, though it would be a good idea to take him to Porlyusica."
Nashi smiled as she lifted Hisoka and carried him towards the exit. "Honestly, he's a bit reckless."
"And you're a bit hypocritical," Thomas retorted.
"And what do you mean by that?!" snapped Nashi.
"He means that Hisoka didn't try to go on the five hundred-year quest alone," Emma sneered.
Nashi sighed. "I would beat you to a pulp if I weren't busy carrying an unconscious person."
Emma chuckled to herself. "You've tried so many times and failed."
"Well, same to you, metal-head!"
Just as they were entering the hallway, Akane glided down to meet them. "How is he?"
"Not dying," Thomas replied. "We're still taking him to Porlyusica, though."
Porlyusica put a hand over her face out of disappointment. "He's just like his uncle, pushing through everything and not even taking care of his own body."
Nashi nodded. "Okay, well, um…"
"He'll be fine," Porlyusica reassured.
Nashi nodded. "I've seen him survive worse. That wasn't a worry for me."
"The first battle of the second day: Lamia Scale's Wally Buchanan versus Crime Sorcier's Meredy!"
"Woohoo!" Milliana cheered.
"You seem awfully cheerful for someone who didn't make it through the Labyrinth," Kagura mused.
"Well, my friends are in the Games, so the least I can do is cheer them on."
Kagura smiled, then leaned over and kissed Milliana on the cheek. "That's what makes you so nice to be around."
"Mm," Milliana responded to Kagura's affectionate gesture by leaning against the woman. "Well, I'm glad I was able to bring some light to your heart, though I was startled the first time I ever saw you smile out of joy."
Kagura watched as Meredy and Wally started fighting. "So what do you think of the new Fairy Tail mages?"
"I think that Dragon King guild is pretty cool," Milliana replied. "Especially Hisoka, with that speech he gave this morning."
"Yeah, it was pretty moving. It reminds me of that speech Natsu gave in his first contest."
"Oh, yeah," Milliana pondered. "It was kinda similar."
"And the winner is: Meredy!"
Milliana suddenly turned her attention back to the arena to see Wally lying on the ground. "Aww, come on! I wanted to see my friend win. And how did he go down so quickly?"
"Well, Crime Sorcier is made up of some powerful former criminals."
"But Wally-kun is powerful, too. Hmph!" She crossed her arms, and the cat ears in her hair flattened in annoyance.
"Hey, don't be like that." Kagura reached over and scratched her behind the cat ears, earning a few purrs. "He'll get his win. Just you wait."
Milliana smiled and snuggled up against Kagura.
Henri flew over to William. "Okay, I've told the referee."
"Alright!" William did a fist pump.
"Why are you so excited to be fighting? It's not going to be fun, you know."
"Wanna bet on that?" dared William. "I may be crippled, but I've practiced working around it, and I'm itching for a fight. Plus, ever since Merlin and I ate all those new metals, I've been itching to use them."
"Just be careful," Henri warned.
William nodded. "I will."
Yeah, I thought it might be cool if Hisoka gave a speech similar to the one Natsu gave. Maybe it would have been a better fit for Nashi, as a parallel to Natsu, but having Hisoka do it was more significant to the storyline I currently have in mind. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!
