Alright, the big fights start next chapter! So aside with all the fun messing around bits and into those intense battle sequences that I LOVE to write! As always, thanks for reading!
Chapter 36: Naval Battle
"It's here! The fourth day of the Grand Magic Games! The competition for today, Naval Battle, is about to begin!"
The crowd in the Domus Flau cheered excitedly at Chapati's announcement, then gasped in amazement as a huge magic seal appeared on arena floor and created a massive sphere of water in midair.
/
Mato started explaining, "Each team will send out one person as usual to compete, then those people will battle it out in the water! Players who are kicked out of the sphere of water will lose, and the last remaining person will be declared the winner! But there's a twist! Should only two people remain in the sphere, a special rule will be added! This is called the five minute rule! If one of the last two leave the sphere during those five minutes, that person will go straight to last place!"
/
Chapati carried on for him, "It's like a water sumo match! Day four's special guest judge is the Sherzad Theater Chairman, Rabian! What do you think so far, Mr. Rabian?"
"It looks fun, thank you very much!" the man replied.
/
"My turn!" Lucy chirped, having already changed into a swimsuit.
Erza nodded, "You can use Aquarius here. Good luck!"
"Win it for us!" Gray encouraged.
Sting grinned, "You'll do great!" She smiled in response, a little mischievously, "Where's my good luck-mpf!"
He already knew where she was going and caught her by surprise with a kiss. Lucy pulled back after a few moments and gasped, "What did I tell you about warning me?"
"Oh yeah, you did mention something like that." Sting answered innocently.
She stuck her tongue out playfully and walked off to the field.
/
"Fairy Tail A is sending in Lucy Heartfilia!"
/
Mira also changed into a swimsuit, "I'm going in!"
Natsu grinned, "Mira, eh? No way we're losing with her competing!"
"I almost feel sorry for the other teams. Gee-hee!" Gajeel cackled.
Ur smirked, "Don't hold back just because they're all weaker."
Mira smiled fiercely, "I won't. Except maybe Lucy. I'll just drop her out of the water and not hit her."
Laxus chuckled, "Either way, do your best."
Her smile got wider, "Of course I will." With that, she headed out to join Lucy.
/
"Fairy Tail B goes with Mirajane Strauss!"
/
"Shall I go in? If it's water, I can shock them all." Orga offered.
Rustyrose shook his head with a dramatic hand motion, "That wouldn't be the most beautiful of victories!"
"No. Beauty aside, this isn't your fight, Orga." Sabertooth's team glanced at Minerva as she smiled, "It's mine. There's something..I want to see."
/
"It's her! The daughter of Sabertooth's Master! Minerva is here!"
/
Alexei grunted, "Flare, you're turn."
"Yes sir." she replied obediently.
Kurohebi sniggered, "No help, this time. Too many people in one place."
Flare gave him an angry look, "I don't need help. Just shut up and watch."
/
"Raven Tail sends in Flare Corona!"
/
The girls all jumped into the water, quickly followed by the members of the other guilds.
"Lamia Scale is going with Chelia Blendy! Jenny Realight, a reserve member for Blue Pegasus, also joins the fray! From Mermaid Heel, Risley is here as well! Quite the beautiful picture! A girl from every team has come in!"
Needless to say, the crowd was definitely pleased at the new development, even though Rocker, the competitor from Quatro Puppy, was completely ignored.
"The rules are simple! If you fall out, you lose! Naval Battle, START!" The bell gonged and the huge underwater fight began.
/
Lucy immediately whipped out her gold key, "Right off the bat, here I come! Gate of the water bearer, I open thee! Aquarius!"
The mermaid spirit appeared with an angry yell, creating a vortex in the water, "Take this! The sea is my playground!"
While most of the girls looked slightly intimidated by the fierce mermaid, Minerva just appraised her calmly, while Mira smirked, "Not happening, Lucy! I know that trick!"
She entered her Satan Soul and with one swipe, dissipated the powerful vortex of water.
Aquarius gaped, "What the-?!"
Lucy whined, "Mira!"
"Sorry!" she said innocently.
Jenny grinned, "And while Mira's busy with her…See ya puppy!" She delivered a powerful kick to Rocker, who promptly fell out of the sphere.
/
"Too bad! Quatro Puppy has dropped out already!"
/
Chelia went on the offensive and used her magic to swim fast after Risley, sending a burst of black wind that seemed to lose effectiveness in the water, "Sky God's Boreas!"
Risley used her Gravity Change to slim down and easily dodged the attack, "Don't underestimate the chubby!"
The men in the crowd drooled over her transformation, to the disgust of the women also watching.
Aquarius sparred with Mira's power for a bit, then tch'd, "This won't end well, so I'm getting out."
Lucy froze, "Wh-what?!"
"I've got a date." the mermaid sighed, then vanished despite her master's protest.
Red hair wrapped around her ankles and yanked her down, hurling her towards the bottom. She stared up as Flare turned away, her hair already going after Minerva next.
Lucy whipped out her next key, "Virgo!" The Maid Spirit appeared beneath her and stopped her from falling, then pushed her back up into the fray. She sighed in relief, "Phew, that was close…"
/
Sting yelled, "You're doing great!"
"Shaddup, that much is obvious." Gray muttered.
Erza nodded, "Even if Aquarius is out of action, Lucy's in good shape. Mira won't go after her immediately, at least until there are only three people left. It's almost certain that'll come down to Mira and Minerva as the last two, so it'd be best for Lucy to exit as third. And if Mira manages to knock Minerva out within five minutes, she automatically gets second place."
"The ideal scenario, is it?" Rogue murmured.
/
Minerva blocked Flare's attack and simply stayed in place, watching the match play out from above the others.
The Raven Tail mage tch'd and grunted, "I'm getting bored! Try this on for size!" Her hair extended to extraordinary lengths until she could reach every other competitor.
Mira shot forward and pulled Lucy away as the hair tried to catch them, but Flare got Jenny, Risley, and Chelia in her grip and hurled all three out in one go.
/
"Amazing! Flare's Red Hair managed to knock out almost half of the competition with one go!" Chapati exclaimed.
/
Mira spoke quietly to Lucy, "I'll knock her out, then I'm going to drop you out, too. Leave Minerva to me, okay? I'll get you in second."
"Don't count me out just yet! I can still go on!" Lucy said determinedly.
Mira smiled and nodded, "Well, if you think you can handle it…Huh?!"
Suddenly, Mira was no longer next to Lucy.
She dropped from the air and landed hard on the ground with a squeal of surprise. Lucy shouted, "Mira! What just-?"
She stopped as she caught sight of Minerva with her hand facing Mira, smirking with success. It was her? Did she teleport Mira out of the sphere?!
/
"Too bad! Even though Fairy Tail had both members in the sphere, Mira has fallen out! Well, fourth place isn't too bad!" Chapati said.
Yajima nodded, "Now it's just Fairy Tail A, Sabertooth, and Raven Tail left. By power, it's fairly safe to say Minerva has the advantage here."
"Amazing, thank you very much!" Rabian exclaimed.
/
"Well, this complicates things." Erza muttered.
Rogue narrowed his eyes, "Without Aquarius, does Lucy even have a chance against Minerva? Flare, maybe, but that woman…"
"She can tough it out. Lucy's strong." Gray argued.
Sting said nothing, sharp blue eyes fixed on the Celestial mage in the water sphere. Lucy…
/
"We take her together."
Lucy jumped and spun around as Flare swam up behind her. She gaped at the Raven Tail mage, "Wh-what?!"
"Don't stutter, blondie. You know as well as I do we can't beat that woman on our own." She admitted grudgingly, "We team up and throw her out, then settle our fight from the first day."
Lucy stared at her, then nodded, "Fine with me…"
Minerva smirked, "Two on one? How dirty…Not that it matters. Very well, then. Come."
Flare's hair extended and shot through the water like a mass of crimson eels, trying to wrap around Minerva, but the other woman blocked with her wave magic easily.
Lucy reached for her keys to follow up, but suddenly they were gone. She glanced around, trying to see if she had dropped them, but then Flare hissed, "Shit, she's got your keys!"
Lucy's head whipped up at Minerva, who held the keys up with a confident sneer. When did she do that?!
/
"What a surprise! An unlikely alliance seems to have been formed between Fairy Tail and Raven Tail!" Chapati exclaimed.
"Hmm..though it seems like Lucy has lost access to her gate keys. That's quite a disadvantage." Yajima analyzed.
/
Lucy pulled out her Fleuve d'etoiles and lashed out with the whip, trying to catch Minerva and retrieve her keys while Flare's hair gathered and turned into two huge, crimson snakes that hissed and snapped at the Sabertooth mage.
Minerva gathered wave magic in her hands and destroyed the snakes, at the same time repelling the sparkling whip. She then hurled multiple spheres of the wave matter at the two girls, who cried out as they made contact and exploded. Flare lashed out again, but suddenly, Minerva wasn't above them anymore.
"Here, little raven."
Flare spun around and shrieked as Minerva enveloped her in the wave matter and generated a large underwater explosion.
Lucy called out, "Flare!"
The red head was stunned, sinking fast to the bottom. Minerva disappeared, then appeared in front of Lucy with the same attack ready to fire. The mass of wave matter launched, but overshot when Lucy was yanked down towards the bottom. Flare's hair released her as she fell out and collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.
The Celestial mage stared down at the Raven Tail mage with slight disbelief. She…She saved me...
/
"Flare's out! Raven Tail ends in third place! Can Lucy hold her own against Minerva?! The five minute rule starts now!" Chapati announced.
The timer started ticking.
/
Minerva smiled, "Now then…it's just us, at last…"
Lucy narrowed her eyes, "What does that mean?"
The Sabertooth mage continued to smile and shook her head, "With my magic power, I could throw you out just like I did to the Demon, but…I have an experiment I want to try out. Let's see how long you can last, Fairy Tail."
She launched a small amount of the wave matter, which disappeared, then reappeared next to Lucy and exploded.
Minerva fired a couple more as Lucy staggered underwater from the force of the blows. Ow..that stuff just keeps hitting me everywhere…What IS it?
She cried out as Minerva hit her with a larger mass of the explosive wave matter, hurling her towards the outside, but another blast in her back kept the Celestial mage from falling out.
/
Lector shifted uneasily, "She can't do anything like this…Not without her keys!"
"Judging by Minerva's power, I'd say whether she has her keys or not is irrelevant." Lily remarked.
Happy shook his head, "Maybe, but at least she'd have her magic…"
/
Lucy tch'd as another stinging blast scorched her leg. I'll show this woman I can take everything she throws at me!
The timer ticked down to the one minute point as Lucy took blow after blow without a hint of surrendering.
Once the clock hit fifty-nine seconds, Minerva sighed, "It's about time I send you flying."
Lucy glared at her fiercely, "If I lose here..I'd never be able to face everyone who's tried so hard! I'm not betraying their feelings! I'm not just giving up so easily!"
Minerva stared at her, stopping the flow of magic around her hand. There were thirty seconds left now.
/
"Wh-what is this?! Minerva stopped attacking! If she waits much longer, the clock will pass five minutes!"
/
Gray smirked, "Alright, maybe she's too tired to keep attacking Lucy!"
Rogue narrowed his eyes, "You think…?"
/
Orga sniggered, "Here comes the devil."
Zancrow tch'd and walked off, "Her big finish, huh? Who cares."
He went into the dark hallway where he wouldn't have to watch his guild mate. Of all the people in Sabertooth…
You're the one...I hate the most…
Minerva…
/
Minerva's eyes became sadistic. Sting's blood froze at the sight.
Lucy was blasted with a massive amount of energy that made her shriek.
The stadium watched in shock as Minerva increased her power and shouted at her opponent, "You're head's in the clouds, Fairy Tail! Who do you think we are?! We're the strongest guild in the world! We're Sabertooth!"
The massive energy exploded and sent Lucy flying, but she vanished right before she fell out of the water sphere. Minerva reached out and grabbed Lucy as she reappeared, crashing her knee into the helpless girl's back.
Lucy choked from the force, but Minerva started blasting her with countless spheres of energy.
/
"Lucy!" Natsu shouted.
Ur stared in shock, "Minerva stopped her from exiting…?"
"That bitch just wants to torture her…" Gajeel hissed, bristling with fury.
Laxus gritted his teeth, "The timer's run out...It's already obvious who won, so why isn't the match over?!"
/
"ENOUGH!" Sting screeched.
He was about to lose his mind. The water around Lucy was going red from her blood.
A faint laugh caught his attention and he whipped towards the source. Orga, Rufus, and Rustyrose smirked and sneered at him.
The White Dragon was spitting in fury, "SABERTOOTH!"
/
Minerva laughed with sadistic glee, still firing attacks out at Lucy. The blonde girl was unconscious by now, sinking as the Sabertooth mage kept the pressure up.
/
Arcadios paled at the sight of Lucy's too-still form and shouted at his soldiers, "Have her stop! The Celestial mage will be destroyed! End the match!"
/
Mato called for a ceasefire, but Minerva already had a mass of energy charged for the finishing blow, which she fired with a small, "Oops."
Sting hit the arena floor in a blur of speed and flew towards the water as Minerva shot the sphere at Lucy with a smirk. He roared again, "STOP IT!"
Suddenly, the sphere of magic was cut and dissipated.
Minerva's eyes widened as Natsu, Gajeel, and Rogue flashed onto the field.
Natsu had requipped and had Igneo blazing in his hands.
Gajeel's arm had turned into an iron blade.
Shadow Steel danced with darkness in Rogue's grasp.
The water sphere shimmered, then exploded from the force of the three simultaneous slash attacks.
/
"Wha- Th-the Dragon Slayers are here!" Chapati shouted.
/
Lucy dropped like a rock, but Minerva used the water as a cloak and fired off another shot at her.
This time, the sphere was intercepted by a lightning bolt.
The Sabertooth mage touched the ground safely a few meters away from Laxus, who crossed his arms and fixed her with a lethal glare.
Sting caught Lucy as she fell and skidded to a stop, dropping to the ground and staring at her wildly, "Lucy! Hang in there!"
She was completely unconscious, unable to respond in any way.
Sting whipped his head up and gave Minerva a look of absolute hatred.
The woman's eyes grew wide and she smirked, "So, that's what it looks like…Interesting…"
"You bitch!"
Sting almost rushed her, but Natsu put his arm out, having sent Igneo back and halted his brother, "Get her to the clinic."
The White Dragon hissed in fury, "Are you kidding?! I'm gonna kill the fu-"
"Get her to the clinic. We deal with this." Natsu growled, giving his brother a fierce look over the shoulder. Sting hissed again, but picked up Lucy and flew out of the stadium.
Natsu took a step towards Minerva, who smirked, but then Orga, Rufus, and Rustyrose were all there.
Gajeel, Rogue, and Laxus backed up Natsu as they confronted the tyrant guild.
Minerva sneered, "What are you four doing? I've put on a match to the letter of the rules. You should be thanking me…I made that useless girl second place."
Natsu's body lit up like an inferno as he released a guttural growl, "You're gonna regret that, you demented bitch."
Minerva immediately created a sphere of energy in her hands, which signaled to the other mages to charge their magic.
Orga's body crackled with black lightning as he grinned at Laxus, who sparked with electricity and glared at him calmly.
Rufus put his fingers to the sides of his head with a confident smile, while Gajeel's sword arm grew chainsaw blades and started buzzing hungrily for blood.
Rogue began emitting shadows from his body, the red eyes burning into Rustyrose's glasses, who pointed a finger gun at him with a confident smirk.
/
The crowd muttered tensely as the mages confronted each other. "O-o-oh my! Th-this is..a serious situation between these two guilds!" Chapati stammered.
/
Makarov was shaking with anger, but he kept his mind cool and fixed his gaze on the mages facing off. Brats…don't do anything I'll regret…
/
Natsu and Minerva glared at each other for several moments, but in the end, Natsu let the flames around his body burn out.
She smirked in response and nodded to her team mates, who one by one stopped their magic output. The Dragon Slayers did the same, but kept their rage sharpened to a starving point.
Natsu eventually broke the silence with a snarl, "I don't give a shit if you're the strongest in Fiore, or whatever, but..I'll tell you this."
"You have made an enemy of the WORST possible guild to piss off."
The woman smiled in satisfaction and tossed him Lucy's gate keys, which Natsu caught.
He glared at Minerva a moment more, then turned and walked off with a grunt, "Let's get the hell outta here."
Laxus, Gajeel, and Rogue followed him out, all three glaring daggers back at the too-cocky Sabertooth mages behind them.
/
They walked into the infirmary to find Lucy in the bed, covered in bandages. Happy and Lector were there, helping Wendy with anything she needed to heal the injured girl.
Sting was standing at the bedside, dark blue eyes fixed on Lucy's face.
Natsu watched him cautiously, "How is she?"
"…Thanks to Wendy and Porlysuca…her life isn't in danger." he answered slowly, then glanced at his brother, "Why did you butt in? We're not even in the same team…"
Natsu shook his head, "We're in the same guild, who gives a damn which team. Lucy's as much my family as she is yours…"
Porlysuca nodded, "At the end of the day, we're all in Fairy Tail. The best we can do for now is be grateful none of her injuries are permanent."
"Well, that's the only positive thing I've heard all day." Gajeel rumbled.
Rogue hissed, "Those bastards back there…"
Laxus nodded, eyes still stormy with anger, "I hear ya…I ain't been this pissed off in a long time."
Lucy suddenly coughed and spluttered awake. All eyes darted back to her as she opened her eyes with a weak groan, "Guys..sorry…I blew it..again…"
Rogue tried to look positive, "Don't be so hard on yourself…You got us second place. That's eight points for A Team."
Gajeel nodded, "You did damn good, Lucy."
She glanced around, "My keys…"
"Here."
Natsu brought them over and handed them to her, which she held close to her heart lovingly, "Thank you…" Lucy closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep again.
Laxus snorted, "Out cold again, huh…"
Natsu shook his head and clenched his fists, "I ain't just taking this one, guys. I'm so fired up, my blood's burning…"
"Leave some of those assholes for me, Salamander. My iron's begging to gut a tiger or two." Gajeel snarled.
"Get in line." Rogue growled in response.
"Here you are…"
Makarov walked in and got the group's attention, eyeing them carefully, "The administration was kind enough to grant us time to make sure Lucy's condition is stable, but that time's almost up. The double battles are starting soon…And I'm told we must leave her to Wendy and Porlysuca. The stadium cannot wait."
"Well, I can." Sting muttered stubbornly.
Makarov shook his head, "You have to leave her, Sting. I don't care what happens after, but you must come now. Think how Lucy would feel if A Team lost points because you wouldn't participate."
The White Dragon considered his words in silence, then sighed, "I'm coming…Just give me a minute, okay?"
Makarov figured that was the best he would get, so with a nod, he led the other Dragon Slayers out.
Sting looked over Lucy's sleeping face and reached up to touch her cheek, moving a strand of blonde hair aside.
He started when she opened one eye and whispered, "Are they gone?"
The White Dragon smirked, "Cheeky girl. You were awake…"
"Yeah..picked up that trick yesterday, remember?" she asked.
He chuckled a little, but still watched her worriedly.
Lucy smiled, "I'm okay. It's not as bad as it looks…"
Sting shook his head, "Don't play tough with me, Lucy. I know better."
She frowned and sighed, "I'm just trying to cheer you up..You're cute when you're worried, but..I miss your smile…"
"Smiling isn't the first thing on my mind right now." he pointed out.
Lucy put her hand over the one at her cheek, "No, but it's always good for you…I think it makes people stronger."
Sting felt the corner of his mouth rise, then Lucy giggled as it lifted to a faint grin, "See? You look better already…"
"Can't help it. The way you philosophy at the weirdest times…It's just so..you." he said simply.
She smiled back at him, "You should go. I'll be okay, so go."
He stood up, then bent down and kissed her brow, pulling back slightly to look her in the eyes, "I'll be back before you know it."
Lucy nodded, then touched his cheek with a hand, "Just don't come back in a stretcher, okay?"
Sting laughed again and walked to the door, calling over his shoulder, "Of course, you'd say something like that Lucy. Watch the fight on the lacrima vision if you're not too tired."
He glanced over his shoulder with a fierce smile, "It's gonna be crazy…"
"Good luck." She replied, then the White Dragon left the room and closed the door behind him.
/
"Okay! It's been confirmed that Lucy is in a stable condition! That's very good news! With that behind us, it's time for the fourth day's battle portion- the double battles! The match-ups are now on screen!" Chapati's announcement brought sighs of relief and cheers of excitement.
/
Blue Pegasus vs Quatro Puppy
Mermaid Heel vs Lamia Scale
Sabertooth vs Fairy Tail A
Raven Tail vs Fairy Tail B
/
"All eyes are definitely on those explosive battles between Fairy Tail, Raven Tail, and Sabertooth, right?!"
Roars of excitement confirmed the high prestige of the awaited matches, but they quieted at Chapati's next announcement, "While Lucy is unable to be here, both Fairy Tail teams are now coming to the stadium to meet with the other teams!"
As the mages stepped onto the arena grounds, the cheering intensified to extreme levels.
"The arena is shaking! Unbelievable! Those boos from day one are just a joke now! Here they are! Fairy Tail has entered!"
/
Natsu and Sting led their teams out at the front, dark eyes of onyx and blue stormy with determination. Gajeel and Rogue followed, then Mira, Erza, and Gray. Laxus and Ur brought up the rear, the air becoming tense with power.
All the other teams eyed them warily, except for Sabertooth and Raven Tail, who met their rivals with sneers.
/
Up in the stands, Darton sweated nervously, "The Celestial mage is not present?"
"She's in the sick bay."
The old man jumped as Arcadios walked up behind him and crossed his arms, "Our last strategy was a failure, but we'll succeed next time. Let's enjoy the festival for now. Eclipse will begin in just three days…"
Darton shuddered, "Is there no way to stop it?!"
"Lord Zeref awaits us." Arcadios said.
/
Sting glared at Zancrow, who returned the grudging look.
Natsu met Kurohebi's gaze with dark eyes.
Gajeel bared his fangs at Rufus and Nullpuding.
Rogue hissed at Obra.
Mira stared at Flare with determination.
Gray faced Rustyrose, who smirked.
Ur's gaze found Alexei, frosty with calm.
Orga sneered at Laxus, who sparked in response.
Erza and Minerva judged each other with deceptive ease.
The White Dragon hissed in anticipation, "Get ready for a rumble…"
/
Darton walked away from the stadium to an ancient painting, biting his lip at Arcadios's words, "A festival? The Grand Magic Games..were not always named as such. Once, they were called something else…"
"Ryuuousai. The banquet of dragons, humans, and demons."