Family 36
Part two of the anniversary update!
Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.
The teams all sprang into action the moment the gong sounded to start the match. Some guilds split into groups of two or three, while others split up individually to cover more ground. The A team didn't move an inch, per the first master's orders, in order to allow the other teams to move into position. Finally, five minutes after the match began, they initiated the first master's plan..
Gray turned around immediately and took his stance, "Ice Make: Pillar!"
His blue circle appeared on the ground beneath Lisanna, and seconds later, she was rocketed into the sky.
"Alright." She said, taking a deep breath, "Hawk Eyes."
Using her partial takeover, she quickly took in the entire city of Crocus. Ordinarily, she would have an easy time targeting just about every non-leader in the game from her current position, but first and foremost she had to stick to the First Master's plan.
Spotting her target, she took another deep breath and shot out a ball of fire into the sky above. The ball exploded like a firework, clearly marking the location. Immediately, a figure was launched from across the city, destroying everything that stood in her way of reaching the targeted location.
Laki's head snapped up when she heard an explosion in the air. High above her head, crimson fire filled the air. Before she could even react to the attack, a building beside her was reduced to rubble.
"Laki!" Cana shouted, stepping out of the rubble. Her right hand was glowing with white magic.
"Cana." She answered, preparing to fight. But Cana was too quick for her.
"Wake Up!" Cana roared, blasting her through the city with a brutal punch. The attack held much more power than anything Cana should have been capable of. Even while slowing her fall with Wood Make, she still flew a considerable distance and destroyed numerous buildings in the process.
When she finally managed to get back to her feet, Cana was walking towards her again.
"It's just me and you now." Cana said, taking out a deck of her cards, "I'm going to save you, Laki."
"Don't get involved, Cana." Laki shook her head. She could already hear Zeref's orders echoing in her mind, urging her to attack, "I don't want to hurt you or anyone else!"
"I know." Cana smiled sadly before she took a step forward, "I don't want to either, but if I have to hurt you to save you, I will!"
Unable to stop herself any more, Laki struck, "Wood Make: Spears!"
The wooden spears shot out of her hand towards Cana, but all of them disintegrated before hitting her.
"Sun's Strength!" Cana roared, tossing a half dozen cards that caught fire, but they were deflected by a wooden wall.
"You really are his daughter, aren't you?" Laki whispered, wiping away a tear before lashing out again.
"That's my girl down there." Gildarts said while Cana and Laki fought. Though her Crash magic wasn't perfected, she could still maintain a defensive layer around her and use it to give herself a much needed finishing blow. Against a physical Maker Mage like Laki, it was her worst nightmare.
"Maybe so, but why did they target her out of everyone?" Chapati asked, "It seems like there would be better targets to defeat early on."
"The point isn't to defeat her, is it?" Yajima asked shrewdly, turning away from the mic so that the conversation wasn't announced to the stadium, "Fairy Tail wizards don't turn their back on a friend."
"Ivan has been quite adamant about keeping me away from Laki." Gildarts replied, blocking his own, "However, Guild Masters can't get involved in this round. We were caught off guard with Lucy. We won't make that mistake again."
"And if she doesn't want your help?" The former councilmen asked.
"...Then she can tell us herself after the games." He answered, and Yajima nodded in approval.
While the battle between Cana and Laki rages on one of the Lacrima vision screens, the other screens showed several more clashes. With the opening stages of the games already underway, the remaining members of the two Fairy Tail teams were already splitting up according to the first master's plan, with A team attacking the enemy while B team prevented anyone from interrupting Cana's battle.
Yuka and Tobi of Lamia Scale cornered and defeated Nobarly with minimal effort, scoring a point for their team. On another screen, Eve of the Tri-mens broke off from the rest to corner the nearby Levy.
"Hello, beautiful." He smiled, and it started to snow, "I'm sorry that we have to fight, but I'll make it up to you after the games."
"Why on earth did I agree to do this...?" Levy sighed, dodging a few streams of snow. Then she remembered the master's decision and the fact that Gajeel was on B team while she had taken over Lucy's slot on A team. So if they win, then…
Perking up immediately, she drew her lightpen, "Sorry, Eve, but I can't let my guild down. So I'm going to have to defeat you." Quickly, she wrote 'heat' in the air, and the letters caught fire. The heat melted down all the snow around them.
"You're strong, but I'm stronger." Eve retorted, and snow fell anew. The heat of the flames was quickly doused by the chill, and the letters disappeared from the air. Levy changed tactics and blasted him with the word 'lightning', but the attack was blocked with a snow clone. The lightning strike split off and collided harmlessly against the nearby houses.
"Then this!" She shouted, repelling a one of his attacks with a 'whirlwind'. The two attacks canceled each other out, causing the snow to disperse harmless around them.
While the snow piled up, Eve smiled, "I can't believe you're really this good. This is starting to get good."
"No." Levy smiled, "I win."
"What?" Eve asked, then underneath the snow, something started to glow. The glow spread up the walls, revealing two strings of crimson letters one either side of him. The snow evaporated quickly, and the temperature skyrocketed.
"I might not be up to Freed's level with enchantments, but I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve." Levy smiled, writing out in large letters, 'Lava'. Eve tried to raise a wall of snow to defend himself, but it melted almost immediately, leaving him to simply sigh dejectedly as he was defeated.
His teammates didn't last much longer. Though Hibiki's strategy allowed Ren to overcome both Ariane and Beth of Mermaid Heel, a sneak attack from Rufus took him out of the running. Hibiki ran with all possible speed from Rufus, who moved to follow before suddenly stopping and disappearing as well. Hibiki turned a corner and froze utterly still.
"Hello, Hibiki." Lisanna smiled, walking towards him without a trace of aggression. He was already shaking in his boots, vividly flashing back to the last time the two of them met on his particular stage. Instead of attacking, she patted him on the shoulder, "Keep up the good work." She smiled and walked away, but Hibiki had already fainted from shock.
"...I think we still get the points from that, right?" Gildarts grinned while the crowd was still shocked, but the scoreboard awarded them the point regardless. With the first round of battles over, the only pair fighting was Cana and Laki.
Cana's punch blasted Laki's wall to splinters, and she was again forced to jump back to avoid being hit. Even after taking several huge hits, Laki didn't even seem to have taken any significant damage. Evidently, halfhearted attacks wouldn't be enough to end the fight. She needed to end the fight with one destructive blow.
"Then how about this!?" Cana roared, gathering her magic into her fist, but the moment she did, she collapsed to the ground. Her lungs were burning and she couldn't breathe. It wasn't just her lungs either. Her eyes were stinging so much, it hurt to even keep them open. She could barely see that up and down her arms, she had a number of large blisters forming that made it painful to actually move her arms.
"W-W-What the h-hell is this...?" She gasped, trying to ignore the pain and struggle back to her feet.
"You let your crash defenses slip." Laki answered, standing a foot or so in front of her, "It wasn't just protecting you from my wood make. It also disintegrated the pollen that destroying the wood released. In its current amount, breathing it in is worse than poison." Her expression darkened slightly and she shook her head, "Cana, stay down. Please."
"I won't!" Cana replied immediately, giving it one final push to return to a shaky standing position.
"Just forget about me and think about yourself!" Laki shouted, punching Cana with all her strength.
But it didn't work. Instead, Cana gritted her teeth and took the blow, swinging her arm upwards. Her fist collided with Laki's chin, blasting her into the air, "Crushing Evil, Spreading the Truth, Empyrean!"
The sheer power of Cana's blow leveled the nearby area, sending entire buildings flying into the rest of the battlefield. While the rest of the stadium watched in amazement, Gildarts with gripping the edge of his chair so hard he actually broke one of his finger along with the chair.
Empyrean wasn't something to just use casually. The strain it puts on the user is enormous. When he taught it to Cana, he'd made her promise not to use it for anything less than a life or death emergency. For her to be able to use it while under that kind of strain was unbelievable to say the least.
For her to survive would be a miracle.
While he watched the screen, looking for some sign of his daughter's fate, the other commentators looked at the other screens.
"It looks like Yuka and Tobi from Lamia Scale have cornered Bacchus!" Chapati said eagerly, "This could prove an exciting matchup."
"But they don't seem as eager for this fight as we do." Yajima said, keeping an eye on the dust covered battlefield along with Gildarts, "Not surprising, given who they're up against."
"Whether they like it or not, the battle's on!" Mato added happily.
"We can take him." Yuka muttered, taking a step back, "Tobi, I'll sap his magic. When I do, paralyze him."
"You got it!" Tobi howled, and Yuka charged.
'I should be able to avoid him as long as I keep a distance from hi-" He blinked and Bacchus struck, driving his palm into the back of Yuka's head. With one blow, thrown without magic, Yuka fell without even realizing it.
"Can't you guys do better than that?" Bacchus sighed, twirling his bottle of booze around his finger, "I ain't even had anything drink yet. I expected better from Lamia Scale."
"Don't look down on-!" Tobi shouted, running at Bacchus, but he was cut down from behind by Kagura.
"Oh boy!" Chapati cheered along with the rest of the stadium, "Bacchus and Kagura! It's a battle of the sexes! Who's going to come out on top?!"
"Now we're talking!" Bacchus grinned, putting the bottle to his lips, "I hope you can give me a good-" Bacchus was slammed into the ground with a light empowered punch to the back of the head compliments of Sting, and his bottle of booze shattered on the ground.
"Bacchus is down! Sabertooth earns five points!" The commentators roared, and the crowd cheered as Kagura and Sting face off, "Who will it be? Kagura or Sting? The battle's about to-"
A loud crash shook the arena, and a huge pillar of wood exploded out of the ground in the area of Cana and Laki's battle, and Gildarts' paled. The attack blasted away the dust from Cana's spell, and revealed Cana barely standing while Laki looked almost entirely unharmed.
"That's not possible…" Gildarts hissed while the other commentators bemoaned the fact that Sting fled in the confusion. "Cana…" He said, praying silently while he held himself back from charging onto the field.
Laki silently approached her friend, who couldn't believe her eyes. This time, she'd make sure that Cana couldn't get back up.
"Sorry, Cana." Laki whispered, and wooden vines wrapped themselves around Cana's arms and legs. She gasped in pain and struggled against the restraints, but she didn't have the strength to use crash magic anymore, and her cards had already been lost in the rubble. She couldn't defend this time. The battle was about to end.
'Kill her.' Laki heard the voice whisper in the back of her head, and she shook her head to remove the thought. High above her head, she conjured a large wooden hammer to finally end the fight.
'Kill her.' it repeated, and she shook her head again, but it kept repeating itself, despite her pleas. Against her will, massive spikes grew from the blunt hammer, turning a non-lethal weapon into a certain kill. She couldn't stop herself from lowering her arm, consigning her closest friend to certain death.
At that moment, a blinding light forced her to close her eyes. A sudden weight pushed against her and she could feel someone's labored breathing right against her ear.
"Finally…" Cana wheezed, gripping her tightly, "I finally got you."
"What are you-?" Laki asked, struggling against her grip, but to no avail
"Gather, oh River of lights that's guided by Fairies
Shine and Destroy the fangs of evil!" Cana said, gritting her teeth with each word, "Fairy Glitter!"
Directly over top of both of them, a large magic circle shone in the sky. The golden Fairy Tail emblem in the center marked it as one of the guild's Three Great Spells. The light engulfed them both, and Laki's nightmare finally ended.
The colossal pillar of light marked the end of the fight. No one doubted that for even a second. Gildarts leapt to his feet immediately, tapping his foot while he waited for the damn judges to hurry up and declare whatever the result was. The light faded before they did, and both girls were laying the ground, barely breathing.
"They're both down!" Mato shouted after receiving word from the judges, "Both teams will receive the points. So that's one point for Raven Tail and five for- Master Gildarts, what are you doing?!" He said immediately after Gildarts let out a loud whistle.
"Wendy, get up here!" He shouted, and the sky dragon slayer leapt into the box, "Make sure you land safely." He warned her and she nodded, taking a deep breath. At that exact moment, Gildarts unleashed a massive punch, blasting the back of the announcer's booth away and propelling Wendy onto the battlefield like a missile.
"W-What's the meaning of this!?" Chapati asked him as soon as he sat down.
"I am the guild master of Fairy Tail!" He roared back, "Under the rules, I can take any action required to secure the safety of my members! I held back until after the battle. Under tournament rules, both of them are no longer participants. As such, I sent Wendy to ensure that both of them keep breathing until they can get proper medical treatment! Is there a problem with that!?"
"N-N-No sir!" Chapati and Mato squeaked in fear, and Yajima chuckled softly beside him...
Wendy couldn't even open her eyes from the air pressure while she was soaring through the air. It wasn't until she was actually falling that she could squint enough to offset her fall with a sky dragon's roar, allowing her to land safely just a few yards from the battlefield. In person, the damage was even more devastating than it appeared from the stand. Laki's body was covered in huge burns and bruises and Cana's was even worse. Her entire arm was covered in blood, which was actually starting to pool under her.
"Hang on, Cana!" She shouted, running forward and activating her healing magic. The moment she touched her arm to try and close her wounds, Cana let out a shriek, trying to resist, but Wendy forced her back down so that she couldn't do even more damage. "Calm down, Cana!" Wendy pleaded, "It's me! Wendy!"
"L-Laki?" Cana groaned in pain, and Wendy glanced back over her shoulder. Master Mavis was already beside Laki, chanting softly while her eyes glowed green.
"She'll be okay.' Wendy replied, "Just hold on, okay? We'll get you patched up in no time."
"No." Cana grunted, "Take care of Laki first. I'll be fine-"
"You'll not be fine!" Wendy snapped, "Your wounds are serious, Cana!"
"Wendy, plea-" Cana started before hissing in pain again.
"Master Mavis is with her. "Wendy said in a whisper so that any nearby lacrima vision couldn't catch it, "And her injuries don't look like they're life threatening, but if I don't close this wound, you could-"
"Wendy?" Someone said from behind her, and she froze. It wasn't master Mavis' voice, or the voice of Laki. which could only mean that it was an enemy. If she was attacked now, then Cana woul-
Turning her head slowly, she sighed in relief, "Shelia! Thank god."
"What on earth happened here?" The sky god slayer asked, kneeling beside Cana, "These wounds are terrible!"
"Shouldn't you be fighting for Lamia Scale?" Wendy asked when she started to help healing Cana.
"I can't just let people die just to win some stupid tournament." She shook her head, "That's not what Lamia Scale stands for."
"But how did you get here? I thought that Fairy Tail was guarding the area."
"I attacked the little guy, but he just said I should come here." She replied, "I'm glad he did."
Wendy sighed, "Thank you, Shelia." She said honestly.
"What are friends for?" Shelia said with a smile.
For the first time since the final day of the games began, Gildarts was able to breathe a sigh of relief. Shelia and Wendy together would be more than able to keep them together.
'Warren.' He said to the mage who was keeping a telepathy link with him open.
"Yes sir." he responded immediately.
'Tell Mystogan to keep guard around the infirmary." He ordered, 'Ivan might try to make an attempt at Laki. If he does, I want him reduced to a smear on the floor.'
'Understood.' Mystogan answered himself, 'I'll go now.'
Leaning back in his chair, the guild master sighed and turned back to the games. Now that the dangerous part was completed, all that was left was to watch the fireworks.
The cheers of excitement in the arena could be heard even across the city at Mercurius, and though Mirajane didn't know what was going on, the fact that she'd been able to see Fairy Glitter being cast must have meant the operation was a success. With that heavy weight off her mind, she transformed herself into one of the many unimportant palace guards.
Slipping through the gates of the palace, she slowed her pace to avoid drawing suspicion of the other guards. As she passed by the first group, she caught some of their conversation.
"Sucks that we have to work on today of all days." One sighed, "I was hoping I'd get to see Sabertooth's comeback."
"Not a chance." His friend snorted, "Against Jura? There's no way."
"Maybe, but it's the points that matter, not the last man standing." He countered, "So if they can get enough points, they can win even if Jura wipes them out."
"I still doubt it." His friend shook his head, then grabbed her arm as she passed. She turned to attack, but stopped when she saw she hadn't been found out, "So, who do you think is going to win?"
"Isn't it obvious?" She replied with a smile, "Fairy Tail."
Leaving them both stunned speechless, she continued her search of the ground for Lucy and Yukino.
That's the end of the chapter. Now that the Laki situation has been dealt with, the only thing left is to win the games, and they'll start that plan in earnest next time. As always, reviews are welcome, along with all kinds of feedback.
The next chapter isn't done yet, but it's close, and I'll be sending it to the beta whenever it's done. Hopefully it won't be long, so until next time.