Hello readers! I would like to thank Sefirosa and yukino76 for reviewing the previous chapter plus KatyStalk for favoriting as well as following Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità! Thank you very much! I really appreciate it!
Thanks yukino76! (:
Disclaimer: I do not own any aspect of Naruto or Fairy Tail. They belong to their respective owners. I only own this and every other story I have.
"The Grand Magic Game's Preliminary Event!" All teams were on their marks, getting ready... "Sky Labyrinth has begun!" ...And gone ahead with the race. Everything starts now.
All 113 teams rushed forward at the exact same time, scampering on ahead. Each was searching for the finish line, but not with the same results; some were more successful than others. And from what the three could see on the gigantic hologram broadcasting everything, Fairy Tail was definitely in the latter group...the others. Gulp.
Naruto cupped his mouth, screaming at the top of his lungs. "YOU CAN DO IT!"
"Watch it dobe!" Sasuke was forced to cover his ears or risk having his eardrums burst. "You want to make people deaf?!"
Blue eyes narrowed at the offender. "Oh shut up teme!"
"Don't take your eyes off of the screen." Itachi's words broke their argument.
A stalemate was reached as both harrumphed, doing as the eldest told. Fairy Tail had went deep into the warren surrounded on all sides by contraptions and structures of all sorts. The three could see just how confused the five were; Natsu's eyes literally became swirls as Gray scanned their surroundings. "The inside is a giant 3D maze."
"GAAAHH! I'm awful at things like this!" And said swirls were not going away any time soon.
Yet despite the dilemma, the Heartfilia beamed confidently as she reached to her side, pulling out one of her silver keys. "Open! A door to the compass constellation, Pyxis!"
"PIKUUU!" A red bird bearing beady eyes, small wings, an orange beak, a tubby body figure, and small yellow feet as well as triangle-shaped patches located mostly on its torso region in addition to a large blackish-grey compass on its head appeared out of nowhere in an instant.
The Uzumaki gaped. "Whoa! Her power is summoning?!"
"She must be utilizing her keys to do so." The elder Uchiha scratched his chin.
The younger seemed he couldn't care less. Seemed... "Hn."
"PIKUU!" The fowl landed on the ground, the needle upon its crown spinning for several seconds before finally stopping, pinions pointing in the same direction.
As had its caller's. "East is that way."
"Thanks, Lucy." Erza grunted. However, what was seen in the Scarlet's hand erased all notions of sincerity.
The pair cowered in a nearby corner. "So, you brought a compass." Yep. Definitely sarcastic.
"We should take notes while we go. We'll make a map." The new voices halted Fairy Tail's advance in their tracks, expressions wary as they scanned the area for the sources.
The redhead scowled. "Someone is here!"
"Hmm..." Wendy scratched her chin. "So that means people from other guilds will be here in the labyrinth."
The sudden appearance of five men who did not appear entirely human, goblinesque features set into rough scowls had the blonde crying out. "Twilight Ogre?! They're participating in this too?!"
"I never expected we'd bump into someone this soon! Take 'em out!" And said cry attracted definitely unwanted attention. "We've got a score to settle with you!"
Yep. Definitely unwanted attention indeed. "BUZZ OFF!" Not that that stopped the Fullbuster and Dragneel from charging head-on, their respective elements forming in their hands. And the five men were sent blasting off.
"What?!" But there was no time to celebrate.
Naruto gasped at the horrific events unfolding. "What's happening?!"
"The floor...no...THE ENTIRE LABYRINTH IS SPINNING!" The Heartfilia shrieked.
The rotation only increased in speed. "It's spinning vertically! Everyone, head for the other side!"
"UWAAAAH!" A certain pair suddenly slipped, having lost their footing.
The Marvell lunged towards them. "Natsu! Lucy!" She was able to latch onto one of their hands each with Erza grabbing onto her ankles who was in turn supported by Gray, the pair hanging on. Whew.
"Thank goodness!" Tears of relief flew from Naruto's eyes. He didn't want to think of what would have happened if Wendy hadn't caught them in time...
Luckily, everything went back to normal within the next few seconds. The Fullbuster sighed. "It stopped."
"Crap...what a labyrinth." The pyro groaned.
The blonde smiled up at the other three. "Thanks guys."
"Phew..." And the two were then lugged back onto a stable surface. Thank goodness indeed.
But not all were so fortunate though. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Twilight Ogre abruptly came crashing down, streams overflowing from their eyes as they thudded harshly onto the floor. What appeared to be a chart drifted to a stop next to the raven member.
"Ogre must have made this map. How lucky." Gray smirked. "If we put this together with the map we made, we should get a much clearer picture of this place."
An evil glint suddenly entered the Scarlet's eye. "AHAAAH! I think we've figured out another way to deal with this Preliminary Event." And that evil glint proceeded to spread to all but Lucy's and Wendy's orbs.
"You guys look scary..." Shivers of fear ran past the pair.
The nefarious three subsequently spontaneously rushed ahead, beating up whoever was nearby all with not-so-nice smiles on their faces. They looked like the Devil himself right then. I wonder why? "Let's go take everyone else's maps!" Now we know. The Fullbuster's malevolent smirk could have fooled anyone.
"We might have made acquaintance with some villainous folk." Sasuke sighed.
The Uzumaki gave a rapid shake of his head. "You're wrong!" The blood-thirsty grin stretched across the pyro's face seemed to prove him wrong. Where's the Natsu Naruto came to know and care about?!
"After all, competition means battle! A manly map taking battle!" Who knows?
Sweat flew from Naruto's brow. "You're wrong..."
"BATTLES ARE MY SPECIALTY!" Is Sasuke the one who's wrong? Maybe, or maybe not...
Erza's armor—which had mysteriously appeared at some point—magically vanished, replaced by garments fit for the most fatal of femme fatales. "I'll take that." Not that the poor guy seemed to mind as he—along with several hapless others—were far too infatuated to care.
"Next!" That blood-thirsty grin had yet to get less blood-thirsty.
The much nicer two apologetically bowed to the unfortunate individuals their friends had beaten—and were beating—up. "SORRY!"
"It's working! IT'S WORKING!" Piles of poor people were mowed out of the way as Fairy Tail advanced. "We've got this Preliminary Event!"
Even the normally optimistic Naruto was beginning to doubt their morals. "Uh..." His jaw may or may not be broken with how it couldn't seem to close.
"Usuratonkachi?!" Even that insulting nickname, nor a hand rapidly waving in front of the flaxen's face, could reanimate him.
Smug smirks spread across three of the five—guess who—member's faces as they passed through the finish line at last.
"YES!" And Naruto unfroze, wildly cheering for Fairy Tail. Sasuke was confused—what's going on?!
Mato appeared in front of the crossers, applauding them. "Congratulations on completing the Preliminary Event."
"ALRIGHT!" Lucy and Wendy exchanged high-fives as they squealed.
Natsu beamed. "Of course! It totally worked out for us..."
"So, I'll bet we got first place, right?" Gray was the epitome of a smug snake as he spoke.
It was the host's turn to smirk. "Nope. You barely made 8th place."
Cue the five's eyes bugging beyond belief. In addition to Naruto's jaw dropping to the very bottom of the universe.
The 20th of December
"It's okay! Don't beat yourselves up!"
The rest of the previous day after the prelims consisted of Naruto trying to cheer the hardly qualified up to no avail while Sasuke pointedly minded his own business as Itachi also attempted to lift the sullen spirits by treating the pentad to both lunch and dinner. But no amount of strawberry-flavored foods, full racks of barbecue ribs, Crab Cake Burgers, Shrimp Tempura Rolls, or Super Spicy Chicken Curry with extra, extra, extra, extra, extra, extra, extra, extra, extra, extra, extra, extra, extra, extra, extra, extra spices could lift said sullen spirits. Not even Naruto guzzling down twenty huge bowls of miso ramen with extra pork piqued anyone's interest. Not the glum guild. Not a certain someone far too busy looking the other way. Not the eldest of them all who was trapped in his mind as he analyzed the situation at hand. Twenty. Huge. Bowls.
Due to Natsu being too depressed, he had no trouble following his friends back to their place of stay. Blue eyes were unable to unglue from the gloomy cloud hanging above each one of their heads. Which was why as soon as Naruto got back to his own hotel room, he instantly called the best person he knew for advice...Shikamaru.
And there they were the next morning, the miserable members pretty much having to drag themselves out of bed, keeping the three waiting for almost an hour. Thank goodness Naruto incessantly insisted on staying or else they would have left—or more like Sasuke would have forced them to leave.
"Why shouldn't we?" The Dragneel snorted, nowhere near as cheerful as he usually is. "We're supposed to be the best yet here we are, barely being kicked out of the competition before the Grand Magic Games truly started!"
Gray grunted. "We the Fairy Tail guild are supposed to be the best of the best of all of the Legal Guilds who practice Magic."
"How are we supposed to be the best if we are so far from first place?" Erza sighed.
Wendy shook her head. "I hate to say this...but I can't disagree."
"Nor can I." Lucy was so close to bursting into tears. Aww...
This can't go on any longer. "'If you continue to submerge yourselves in what's currently making you miserable, you won't ever be happy; anger or anxiety will be the predominant emotions you'll experience.'" The pentad glanced up, shocked as Naruto spoke. "'Save it for when you are in that situation, not when you aren't. Believe me, that helps us get past our hardships.'" Blue eyes bore into the team. "Someone once told me this." Mamoru flashed through the flaxen's mind. "This guy from a place we visited a little while ago called Iwatodai told me this. He helped me and several friends I made there firm our resolve for what we had to accomplish at that time."
"But how would that help us if we keep on placing low?" The Dragneel shot back.
The Fullbuster nodded. "How well we do is not only dependent on our output, but our competition's output as well."
"We worked as hard as we could back at that Sky Labyrinth yesterday." Erza added. "We were trying our very best yet we barely made the cut."
Wendy quivered. "And we have to go up against 6 other guilds who placed higher than us."
"How are we supposed to do better?" Lucy sniffled. "Them being ahead of us means they must have found a way to traverse the maze faster than we did. That means they won't be easy to go up against."
Resolve blazed on in sapphire fires. "My mom and dad died shortly after I was born. I have no idea how but all I know is that I was the only one who survived and I got sent to an orphanage. Ever since I could remember, I had been sent from foster home to foster home until just last year; I had enough and simply started living on my own, paying rent and utilities by myself while working to pay the bills and going to school all at the same time...but not anymore." Mouths dropped as the blond continued with his story. "On the 2nd of this month, I received a notice of eviction because my landlord basically wants to get rid of me since I am 'scum' to him. To make things worse, that phone call caused me to be late to work, getting me fired." He had definitely caught their undivided attention. Seeing this, he only continued. "For the longest time, I've felt incompetent. I had no foster parents who loved me enough to want me to stay with them. The orphanages I was placed in always wanted to wash their hands of me. I struggled to juggle schoolwork with making barely enough money to pay for food and my bills. The eviction and firing were the last straws; I had never felt more dark and depressed then." Two sets of piercing ebon orbs narrowed at the last bit. However, they quickly widened as determination flared even stronger than before. "However, through this trip, I've learned that I'm not insignificant. That I can overcome what is thrown at me." Blue eyes scanned each of the five. "Even though I'm nowhere close to being the best of the best at anything, I've learned that by not giving up, I can find my own way. Even if I'm at my lowest, as long as I don't let my doubts and negativity consume me, I'll climb my way back up." Cerulean conflagrations nearly burned down everything with how intense they were. "You guys are the best of the best and if you really are, you should not let your defeats conquer you. To allow misery to worm its way into your hearts." A genuine smile graced his lips. "Don't compare yourselves to your competitors. Work to surpass them and keep trying, no matter how high the odds are stacked against you."
"Naruto-kun is right." Five pairs of stunned orbs flickered to Itachi as he at last decided to join in. "Keep your focus on your own capabilities and hone them to the best of your abilities and you will succeed, even if you don't win. You will grow stronger and learn from losses or gain from victory. Akiramenaide."
And Sasuke could no longer keep out. "Being depressed won't help in the slightest—"
"THANK YOU!" The younger Uchiha was abruptly cut off as Natsu barreled into Naruto, close to crushing bone as he held the blond tightly. The brightly beaming grin returned in full force. "You're right!"
The sullenness vaporized from Gray's features. "We won't let our near defeat put us down any longer."
"We will use this almost loss to grow stronger! To fuel our flames!" Erza declared.
Wendy smiled. "We won't come close to losing again!"
"We won't hold back and will take our competition by storm!" The fist pumping only proved how confident Lucy felt.
Naruto gave a sigh of relief as he stood, returning the embrace. "I'm glad!"
"Wait a second." The sudden statement coming from Sasuke ruined the moment as all attention went to him while he turned to face the Marvell. "You mentioned having to go up against 6 guilds before you, even though there are 8 guilds advancing to the main event." A black brow quirked. "That doesn't make sense."
Wendy shook her head at what the younger sibling said. "It does...because Team Fairy Tail has been split into two."
Translation: Akiramenaide=Do not give up
How was it?
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