Chapter 106: A Dragon's Determination
"I'm telling you guys! It needs to be Laxus vs. Grace! They need a rematch!" Penny shouted.
"But you're talking Laxus, versus a little girl. It'd be a curb stomp. That's not cool!" Jason, also on the game maker committee, pointed out. Not that he expected it to convince his colleague. This was, after all, the sixth time they'd had this conversation.
"Trust me, this needs to happen!" Penny protested.
"Fine!" the head of the table shouted. "Laxus vs Grace, if only so you'll shut up about it!"
-[CoT]-
Mystogan felt his communication lacrima vibrate, and he picked it up. "Ultear?"
"We've detected a magical signature that matches Zeref's in Domus Flau. It matches that of the person you encountered yesterday," Ultear told him.
"Don't go!" Merudy immediately shouted across the link. "That council guy's still there. If he catches you, you're in deep trouble!"
"It's worth the risk," Jellal told his fellow members of Crime Sorciere. "We need to find out what's going to happen. And this man from Edolas is our best chance at that,"
-[CoT]-
"Welcome back to Day 3 of the X791 Grand Magic Games! I'm Chapati, here with my colleague, the esteemed Mr. Yajima and today's special guest, Lahar from the Magic Council's Custody Enforcement Unit!"
"Let's have a good, clean fight this afternoon," Lahar provided, still annoyed about how Orga had eliminated Tyria in the morning's events.
"I'm very excited for this afternoon's fights! I'm sure everyone's noticed that throughout the games, two teams have dominating everyone else. One of them, you all know and love, the reigning champs Sabretooth! And the other, the unexpected front runners who placed third in the prelims, Team Black Eye Pirates! Now, the organisers thought it was about time to see which of these two teams is superior. So without further ado, I'll announce the first matchup of the day! It's Team Sabretooth's Minerva Orland versus Team Black Eye Pirates' Black "The Succubus" Kenzie!"
"Awesome, I'm finally up!" Kenzie beamed, bursting out of the bay, before pausing. "Hey! It's Kenzie Black, not Black Kenzie! Stupid cross-cultural . ." On the Grand Line, people put their surnames before their first names. So when Kenzie had first gone there and introduced herself as "Kenzie Black", people had assumed that her given name was Black and called her as such. In the intervening years, the Phoenix had gotten quite accustomed to introducing and signing herself as Black Kenzie . . and apparently she had automatically, accidentally put that on the paperwork for the Grand Magic Games. Damn.
A thought struck the pirate, and she skipped over to Phoenix's Eye A's group. "Hey, smart guy? What can you tell me about this chick?" she addressed Sarph, as, directly adjacent to her own team's area, Minerva emerged from Sabretooth's group.
Sarph immediately produced an Archive screen and frowned. "Well . ."
"Come on. Magic? Fighting style? Sexual orientation? Dom or sub? Anything?" the pirate captain pressed.
In response, the knight swivelled the screen to face her, which had two words printed in block capitals; 'NO DATA'. "I have no idea at all what she's capable of," he admitted.
". . Well, crap. Guess I'm going in blind. Eh, hardly the first time. I'll work it out," Kenzie arrogantly declared, wheeling and turning to face her opponent.
"If you're both ready; let's begin!" Chapati exclaimed.
Kenzie didn't even have enough time for a quip before Minerva was in front of her, delivering a crippling blow that knocked her straight across the stadium. She hit the wall with a crash, her captain's hat falling from her brow and dropping to the ground. "No time to warm up?" she questioned in disbelief, while frowning and thinking. 'So she uses her magic power to bolster her physical strength. But that can't be her only skill. What's the true nature of her magic?'
Suddenly a circle appeared in Minerva's hands, and she cast a spell - and in an instant, Kenzie had been teleported into the air, high above Minerva. "What the -" the pirate spluttered as she started to fall, and the witch prepared a blow aimed straight upwards.
Looking down, Kenzie immediately realised her game, and growled. "Shadowmake: Dinghy!" she declared, creating a small boat under her feet out of shadows. Whilst Minerva had accurately guessed that she had no attacks designed to hit someone below her, no one had ever said that Black Kenzie was unable to improvise. Minerva' eyes widened and in a flash, she teleported out of the way before Kenzie's blow could (literally) land.
The pirate jumped clear, and eyed her opponent warily from across the arena. "Fine. I'll get serious," Kenzie hissed, and with a roll of her muscles, her skin burst out in silver lupine fur, a short tail emerging from her breeches and lupine ears crowning her the growing red mane.
"Ooh! I didn't know that Kenzie was also a master of Take Over Magic!" Chapati exclaimed.
"It's a Devil Fruit, dumbass!" the transformee turned and hollered - and that gave Minerva an opening to kick her in the back of the head, sending her crashing to the ground. "Stay on the ground where you belong, you dog," the black-haired Sabretooth hissed.
"I really hate it when people use dog puns to insult me," Kenzie growled, before leaping high into the air, flipping, and landing in a crouch, facing Minerva. Her tail hung low, and her lips were pulled back in a feral grimace. "I'm a wolf, damnit!"
"What's the difference?" Minerva huffed, unimpressed.
"Shadowmake: Ocean!" Like a rolling mist, black shadows spread out from Kenzie's claws in every direction, spreading around her until they covered the entire arena. "You may know your Games," the captain hissed, "but I know something you never have. What it's like to be out there, surviving by any means necessary. I'm one of the only people in the world who can combine Devil Fruit powers with Magic. I didn't learn that to win Games," Suddenly she leapt forwards, long, shadowy claws outstretched to cut Minerva to ribbons.
With a grimace, the Spatial witch flickered away - but almost before she appeared some feet away, Kenzie had retargeted and was attacking her again. Not expecting such a rapid follow-up, Minerva was unable to dodge in time and took the blow, being knocked to the ground, where Kenzie pinned her. With a frenzied thrust Minerva knocked the hybrid away, but the Phoenix landed perfectly and flew at her again.
"How are you doing this?" Minerva demanded, teleporting directly behind Kenzie, but in an instant the S-Class caught herself on her hand/claws and kicked backwards, catching Minerva in the chest and knocking her to the ground again, amidst the ocean of shadows.
"This spell is attuned to my nervous system!" Kenzie roared, whirling and pouncing on her again, opening her mouth wide and manifesting a massive set of shadowy teeth. "As long as you're in my ocean of shadows, I know where you are down to the centimetre!"
"Wha - aargh!" Briefly stricken by this realisation, Minerva screamed as the shadowy teeth sunk into her right arm. She shook, trying to dislodge the feral wizard, but Kenzie held fast, using her free hands to pummel her.
"Fine. If that's how it is," And, suddenly, Minerva took off, running at full speed and dragging the pirate along the ground behind her. Kenzie hastily released the Spell and watched as the Sabretooth pelted away. "I see. If you keep moving, you think you can outpace me," she murmured, before dropping to all fours. Quiet cricks and clacks sounded, and her body's proportions changed, Kenzie becoming more bestial by the second as her clothing melted away, her modesty protected by a thick coat of silver-grey fur.
"What's she doing?" Eve questioned, and Shelley explained; "Zoan-Type Devil Fruit Users normally have three forms, see. All human, all animal, and a hybrid. She's going full wolf, see,"
Kenzie howled, before launching herself in Minerva's direction like a spring, the transformation having drastically boosted her speed. Her opponent gritted her teeth and poured on her own speed, narrowly dodging the animalistic witch and wading through the shadows, which suddenly seemed to become thicker, impeding her movement more. Even so, she kept ahead of her pursuer, and the two became blurs that leapt around the arena and occasionally clashed, Kenzie biting or cuffing, Minerva punching or kicking.
But Minerva had one crucial advantage; agility. And it only took a minute of this back-and-forth to realise this.
The crowd watched as the Spatial Mage vanished from the arena. "Huh? Where'd Minerva go?" Chapati frowned.
"I'm not sure, but if she's not back inside the arena in thirty seconds I'm going to have to count this match as a ring out and give the win to Kenzie," Yajima frowned.
"We really have to wait that long?" Lahar quietly muttered.
"Don't worry!" Everyone looked up as Minerva's voice echoed from above. Like Ooba on the previous day, she was perched atop one of the great statues that crowned Domus Flau, looking down at Kenzie below. The commentators craned their necks to look up at her. "Technically that is still within the arena, if only because we never imposed an upwards limit. Carry on," Yajima admitted.
"This feels right," Minerva spoke aloud, looking down at Kenzie, a tiny grey shape amidst the lingering blackness that covered the arena floor. "You're so far below me that I can barely even see you. Not just you, either, dog girl. All of you pathetic little wizards, in your weak little guilds," There wasn't a single wizard in the arena who was smiling when these words were broadcast throughout the bays and stands. Everyone outside of Sabretooth felt their blood boil. "You should all just bow down before our might - or, even better?" A wicked smile plastered itself across Minerva's lips. "Just lie down and die,"
Kenzie growled, shifting back to her hybrid form and raising her hands. "Shadowmake: Cannonball!"
Minerva watched as the projectile reached the apex of its arc, just too short to hit her. "How pathetic," she hissed. "But I suppose I should finish this fight. Feel honoured, whelp. You'll get to see a taste of my real power. Before you die, that is," She spread her palms upwards, and suddenly purple lightning crackled around her as she chanted; "Niel Wielg Mion,"
Masquerade stiffened. "What is this power?" he questioned, feeling intense negative energy that resonated with his core as Minerva continued; "Terse Elcantaeus,"
"Kenzie! Take cover!" the Darkus Brawler shouted, realising this went beyond the game and feeling honestly scared for his guildmate's life. He would have switched out with Alice - no doubt she knew something about what was coming - but there wasn't enough time.
"This magic," Sarph mumbled, gulping. "It's one of the Eighteen War God magics,"
But before anyone could ask what that meant, Minerva finished her incantation. "Yagdo Rigora!"
A massive pillar of golden light raced up into the sky, enveloping the arena and burning away Kenzie's shadows. And then a gigantic statue, a divine-looking white effigy, appeared in the sky above, before plummeting downwards and crashing into the ground, crushing Kenzie's comparatively tiny form into the ground beneath it. The impact sent cracks spreading through the statue, from which golden light began to spill.
"What is this?" Chapati questioned, looking horror-stricken. "Minerva! This is a bit too much, don't you think?"
But the witch just smiled as her attack prepared to detonate, heedless of the destruction it would cause. She didn't care. As long as she won. And with this final blow, there was no doubt that -
"NO." Suddenly, the light stopped, and the statue crumbled to dust before their eyes.
"What is this?" Chapati questioned. "Did Kenzie -" But the sight of Phoenix's Eye's S-Class pirate crushed into the ground, clearly unconscious, forestalled him.
Instead, from the Phoenix's Eye stand, Hephaestus was standing on the guard rail, his blond beard and hair crackling with energy. His hands were raised and he had obviously just cancelled Minerva's spell. "This goes no further," he growled, his voice resonating throughout the arena.
There was a moment of silence.
"Um . . unfortunately, I now have to officially call the match in favour of Sabretooth because of outside intervention. Normally this should mean Phoenix's Eye is disqualified from the entire Games, but given the circumstances I don't think that's necessary," Chapati stammered, still looking shell-shocked.
As Phoenix's Eye charged onto the field to rescue Kenzie, Minerva landed before her team's bay and strode back inside with a small smile. Behind her, the scoreboard dinged, Sabretooth's total increasing from 26 points to 36, and the entry rolled upwards, landing them in first place, just ahead of Black Eye Pirates' 35 points.
The pirate hung limp as Sarph picked her up, and Lance and Shelley watched in concern as the knight carefully carried her back to her team's bay, which was the fastest route to the medical facilities.
"Sabretooth!" About to vanish into the changing rooms, Minerva paused and turned. Sting, Rogue, Orga and Rufus all followed her gaze.
Lync, his face full of righteous anger, glared them down, the other seven available members of the two Phoenix's Eye teams standing behind him. "That was too far!" he hollered.
No one could say that Lync was the strongest of the wizards in Phoenix's Eye. Indeed, as a Vestal he was reliant on the magic-boosting abilities of his Gauntlet to hold his own among the Fioreans. But by the same token, no one could deny that Lync was the most vocal of the wizards in Phoenix's Eye. And he was giving voice to the sentiments that all of them shared.
"You're going to pay for that! You hear me?" Lync roared. "We're gonna take you down!"
"Hah. Beaten by a bunch of no-name nobodies. That'll be the day," Sting snorted.
"Who the hell are you calling a nobody?!" Suddenly, Hare was in front of them, looking livid. "I'll have you know that I'm a goddamn princ - argh!" Suddenly both Hare and Lync were being dragged back towards the Phoenix's Eye bays by Artorias, who was holding them by the ear.
"Control yourselves," the Blood Wizard hissed at them. "If we do anything now, we might get disqualified,"
"But aren't you angry?!" Lync demanded.
Artorias paused and looked at him - and the salmon-haired boy quivered, taking in the barely controlled rage that dominated the boy's features, his golden eyes looking bloodshot as he struggled to contain his magic. "There is a time. And a place. And, I assure you, it will come,"
Once the arena was cleared, Chapati decided to take back control of the situation. "Now that that's over with, it's time for our second matchup of the day! Let's hear it, for Mermaid Heel's Millianna . . another wizard with no surname! And she'll be fighting Blue Pegasus' Ren Akatsuki!"
While the fight was going on, much of Phoenix's Eye was clustered in the medical facilities, where Sensho was tending to Kenzie's wounds.
"How is she?" Lance questioned. The first mate of the Black Eye Pirates was understandably concerned about his captain.
"She'll live," Sensho assured them. "But, barring a miracle, I don't think she'll be able to compete in the Games again this year,"
The door swung open, and everyone turned to see an odd trio enter the room. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but would you mind if I tried to help?" Wendy Marvel, Fairy Tail wizard, meekly asked.
There was a moment of silence, before Phoenix's Eye stepped aside, allowing her and the white cat who followed her everywhere - Charle, Pierce thought - to look at Kenzie's battered body. "Think that qualifies?" Boomer whispered to Sensho. "Excuse me while I go buy a lottery ticket," the Tea wizard replied.
"Might I have a word with the leaders?" Lahar, having patiently waited for Wendy to say her piece, asked.
Master Feng immediately stepped forwards, and Pierce looked at Sarph, but the golden knight shook his head and pushed the Tamer forwards. After a moment's hesitation, Grace joined the pair. She was by no means a leader, but wanted to talk to Lahar regardless.
The councilman silently invited them both out to the corridor, where the veil of politeness vanished to unleash a stormy look on his countenance. "Sabretooth is far out of line," he declared.
"Tell me about it!" Pierce declared.
"I'm not certain that's all there is to it," Feng, clearly the most Level-headed person present, mused. "It seems to me that Orga and that new substitute member, Minerva, are the real problems. That Yukino girl who fought yesterday and the two Dragon Slayers seem benevolent enough, and Rufus from Day 1 acts rather indifferent from what I've observed,"
Lahar nodded. "You have a point. Unfortunately, we cannot legally disqualify either of them, or Sabretooth as a whole. Besides, their actions these Games might have eroded their fan base, but if we tried to disqualify them we still might have a riot on our hands,"
"No," Pierce frowned, his eyes dark. "I don't want them disqualified. I want them to stay in the Games and continue to compete against us,"
Lahar blinked. ". . Why?"
"Because that way, we get to kick their asses!" the blond snapped. "To hell with disqualifying them! That would be letting them off too easy. We are gonna make them pay,"
A reluctant smile tugged at the Councilman's lips as he took in Pierce's words. "Sometimes I envy you guild wizards," he mused with a smile. "Very well, I'll cancel any attempts to get them disqualified. But, do me a favour?" he requested, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh yeah?"
"Get a hit in for me," the councilman requested, before looking at Grace. "And I suspect that I already know what you're going to ask me about?"
"How's Erik's probation going?" Grace immediately confirmed Lahar's suspicions.
The man sighed, his smile drooping. "Not well. I'm afraid that there's a lot of people in the legislative system who aren't keen on seeing a member of the Oracion Och walk free. I'm working on it, but it's slow going," he bemoaned.
"Oh," Grace's face fell, and Lahar gazed at her with pity. "Don't worry, we'll get there. The 'use him as an example to show that anyone can reform' angle is a popular one. It's just a matter of time,"
"Okay," the young Dragon Slayer nodded with a small smile.
"In the meantime, I suggest that you prepare yourself," the councilman advised her, and Grace paused. "For what?"
Suddenly, the speakers crackled above them and Chapati's voice boomed; "And after an intense battle, Millianna has claimed victory and ten points for Mermaid Heel! But we have no time to waste, folks, so let's prepare for the next rousing fight! We're gonna see Fairy Tail B's Laxus Dreyar versus Phoenix's Eye A's Grace Hystia!"
". . Oh," Grace murmured.
"Hey. You got this. Go show 'em what Phoenix's Eye is made of," Pierce immediately assured her.
"Remember, brat. You're a phoenix dragon," Feng smiled.
The young greenette grinned fiercely. "Yeah!"
-[CoT]-
However, while the Phoenixes were talking and healing, and the battle between Milliana and Ren was raging, Kynigós was still in the stands, watching.
Jellal, however, had seen that Lahar had stepped out, and knew he wouldn't get a better chance. So he emerged from the entrance to the stands and advanced towards Kynigós.
Of course, his finely tuned instincts immediately picked up on the approaching adversary, and Kynigós rose, stealing a glance at the masked man with his staves mounted on his back, before briskly striding through the stands towards the closest exit in the other direction.
Jellal, seeing this, quickened his pace, but not so much as to draw attention, just as Kynigós swept into the stairwell and, in a series of leaps, jumped from flight to flight until he reached the main atrium of Domus Flau. As most of the crowd was upstairs in the stands, only a few patrons were present.
With a burst of Heavenly Body Magic, Jellal pursued, flashing down the stairs and landing at the bottom. He looked through the doorway, but saw no one.
Cautiously, he advanced, looking around - and a shadow burst out from behind the doorway, pinning Jellal in the corner. The disguised wizard was mildly alarmed to find a rifle pointed at his chin and a pale face framed with blond hair and hazel eyes staring into his own. "I'm giving you one warning, Mystogan," Kynigós hissed. "In four days this world is going to end, and I'm the only one who can do anything about it. So yes, I killed Knightwalker, guilty as charged and all that crap, but I don't have time to go to Edolas jail or whatever. So back the hell off," he growled.
Jellal blinked. "What do you mean, the world is going to end?" he settled on. The blatant admission that he had killed this Knightwalker person rankled with him, but given the circumstances he had to prioritise.
"Ten thousand dragons are going to come from the moon and overrun the planet. I've been to the future, I've seen what happens to the world. I'm not going to lie down and let it die," Kynigós hissed.
The dark wizard stood, ignoring the gun in his face, and informed him; "In that case, we're on the same side,"
Kynigós blinked, and Jellal clarified. "I think you've made a mistake. I'm not King Mystogan, my name is Jellal Fernandez and I'm native to Earth Land. I'm the leader of an independent guild named Crime Sorciere, and for years we've been investigating traces of dark magic that always crop up at the Grand Magic Games. But from the sounds of things, this is far more serious than any of us thought,"
Kynigós quirked an eyebrow. "So you aren't here to arrest me?"
"I'm a wanted criminal. I have no grounds to do anything of the sort," Jellal dryly informed him.
"Pierce Kynigós. I go by my surname in this world, though, since there's already a 'Pierce' with my face running around," Kynigós explained, sheathing his gun. "He's right upstairs, actually,"
"I know. I saw him compete yesterday," Jellal nodded. "I've been looking for you because you're covered in dark magic that exactly matches the type we've been searching for. Do you have any idea why?"
Kynigós rolled his eyes and sniffed his jacket. Looking closely at it, Jellal noticed patches where it was darker than other places. Stains? . . Bloodstains? "First dragon blood, now dark magic . . nope, haven't a clue," he admitted.
Jellal frowned, but paused as he heard heavy footsteps approaching. He looked past Kynigós - and saw the armoured form of Colonel Arcadios approaching. The criminal went white, and hissed, "One of my friends will contact you later,"
"Huh?" Kynigós blinked, but in a flash of Heavenly Body magic, Jellal was gone.
"Who was that?" the hunter heard Arcadios question, and span to face the taller man. Recognising him as no threat, Kynigos relaxed and shrugged, "Some vigilante type. Called himself 'Jellal Fernandez'. Turns out, he's this world's version of King Mystogan, so that's a load off my back," the hunter grinned.
"I see," Arcadios frowned. The name vaguely rung a bell, but . . he shrugged, unable to place it. "Well, I've been looking for you, anyway,"
"Yeah? Why?"
Arcadios smiled. "Fancy a drink?"
Kynigós mulled over his request. It had been a very long time since he'd had any alcohol. And Zena was safe in the castle, hopefully. "You bet,"
-[CoT]-
Of course, Grace reflected, it was a lot easier to be confident when she wasn't staring down the mountain of fur-swarthed muscle that was Laxus Dreyar, grandson of their rival Guild Master, who was glaring at her as though daring her to attack him.
"Three, two, one, fight!" Chapati counted down, and the match timer started ticking.
But for a moment, neither wizard moved.
Grace feinted forwards, trying to provoke a reaction. Laxus didn't move and she skipped back to her starting spot.
'I can't try a sneak attack from behind. He's too fast,' Grace thought to herself. "But . . maybe if I . ." With a flick of her wrist, she tore a spatial distortion open before her and leapt through it, appearing right behind Laxus and already charging up; "Reality Dragon's . ."
Laxus immediately span and lunged for her - but his hand met an invisible barrier in mid-air, a second rift that Grace had opened leading into a nearby wall - functionally placing a displaced chunk of invisible stone before him - and Grace declared; "ROAR!" launching her attack through the original rift and into a third distortion that span it around and hit Laxus from behind. The impact threw the Fairy into the invisible wall, and Grace leapt back into the first rift, returning to the far side of the arena and dispelling the bent space.
Laxus picked himself up, frowning, before charging towards Grace, intent on ending the fight quickly. With a yell of; "Lightning Dragon's Breakdown Fist!" his fist crackled with a web of electricity, raising it to bring it down on Grace.
In an instant, Grace flashed back to her fight against Necrozma and leapt into the air, opening a rift beneath her feet leading into the ground. Her feet found solid matter in mid-air, and she jumped again, getting out of Laxus' reach.
"Go Grace! Now hit him from above!" Pierce cheered from their bay.
Laxus just frowned and leapt upwards.
"Argh!" Grace squeaked as the electrical fist flew towards her, and quickly exchanged the space she was occupying with an equal area across the arena, leaping out of the affected region before letting it snap back. "Reality Dragon's Roar!" she declared, launching another attack at her airborne opponent. It struck home, and Laxus fell to the ground in a crouch. "Stop moving," he grumbled, getting back up.
"No thanks!" Laxus dodged sideways as Grace rammed him from behind head-first, shouting "Reality Dragon's Pronged Plumage!" The blow narrowly grazed the man's hip, but before she could vanish into another rift, the blond grabbed the back of her dress and held her up. Their eyes met for a moment, Grace full of determination, whereas Laxus simply looked irritated. And then he threw her straight across the arena.
Spreading her arms wide, Grace caught herself in mid-air, popping up twenty feet above Laxus and, cloaking her still-outstretched arms in grey, reality-defying energy, plunged downwards at right angles to the ground, declaring; "Reality Dragon's Spiral Slash!"
Laxus had ample time to grab her and repeat the manoeuvre, but he realised that if he did, Grace would just attack again. So he back-pedalled, letting his enemy crash into the ground, before punting her across the arena with a "Lightning Dragon's Breakdown Fist!"
The electricity surged through Grace's body, triggering - the pain only stopped when she used her power - a massive burst of spatial magic from her mouth, but it was off-target, carving a furrow into the ground near Laxus' feet.
"Grace!" Pierce gasped, fighting the urge to rush out and aid his adopted sister as she crumpled to the ground in a heap.
"Oh! One solid hit and Grace goes down! A bit anticlimactic, but I guess that's ten points to - oh, no wait! Grace is getting back up!"
Sure enough, the young girl was struggling to her hands and knees, shaking off the trauma and preparing for another round.
"There's only one thing I can do to match him. But, do I have enough power?" she asked herself, scouring the inside of her body for every last drop of ethernano. "I need to eat," she resolved.
As the Reality Dragon Slayer, it was, of course, possible for Grace to eat reality to power herself up. Of course, biting holes in the fabric of space-time was inherently dangerous, so she tended to avoid it. But there was still one way that she could power up safely.
So Grace bared her chest, a defiant look in her eyes. "Come on! Hit me with your best shot!" she challenged.
Laxus quirked an eyebrow, and nodded, raising his arms, which generated a massive charge of electricity that he shaped into a spear. "Lightning Dragon's Heavenward Halberd!" he yelled, launching the attack with all his might at Grace's prone body.
And, opening her mouth wide, Grace caused the attack to break down into grey particles that she sucked up, consuming the reality of Laxus' magic and dispersing the remainder into ethernano.
"Incredible! Grace appears to have tricked Laxus into powering her up!"
"You couldn't do that before," the Fairy observed, curious. "I suppose I was right, all those years ago. You do have potential,"
Ignoring him, Grace focused, clenching her fists and spreadeagled her limbs. A corona of reality-defying power enveloped her, and inside the scar on her chest, her control lacrima glowed, overwhelmed. With a fizzle, two of them burnt out and went dark - not that anyone could tell.
Shining, Grace's green hair paled until it was a shade of grey so light it was almost white. Her fingernails and toenails darkened and extended, sharpening into claws. A sudden pressure built at the back of her head, two grey semicircles emerging from it that formed four interconnected horns which fused at the tips. There was a dull, painless crunch as her spine extended, growing out into a lithe, thin tail, coated in grey scales, that ended with a wicked white blade. Matching scales rapidly coated her left arm, inlaid with streaks of blue. Grace's vampiric canines spread until her mouth was full of teeth like tiny daggers, and her orange eyes gleamed, glittering with power.
"A transformation has overcome Grace's body! Would this happen to be that legendary state that Dragon Slayers can achieve?"
Laxus seemed genuinely taken aback at this. "I thought Second Generation Dragon Slayers like us couldn't use Dragon Force," he murmured in surprise.
Baring her fangs, Grace lunged forwards and vanished. Laxus span, but she was too fast and couldn't dodge in time, declaring; "Reality Dragon's Pronged Plumage!" This time, the impact hit home, knocking Laxus backwards, and Grace vanished again, revelling in the power coursing through her.
Laxus frowned, immediately realising what he had to do. "She keeps moving, I'll never be able to hit her if I aim at her," he growled. "So . . I'll just have to use an attack that hits everywhere at once!" With that goal in mind, the man strode to the exact centre of the arena, closed his eyes, and focused.
Grace popped into existence above him, preparing to land a blow - but suddenly a fist crackling with electricity slammed into the ground, generating a massive shock wave of lightning, a hemisphere of pain that rapidly expanded. "Lightning Dragon's . . Storm Front!" Laxus yelled. Her eyes widening, Grace teleported away, appearing several metres to the left - but the frontier of sparks swelled towards her, and Grace twisted herself to the edge of the arena.
But, the assault seeming to speed up, she was struck from behind, the electricity causing her to spasm and triggering the ersatz magic circuits that had grown keyed to this sort of stimuli - feeling the irrepressible urge to roar, Grace frantically tore open a rift in front of her to prevent the crowd she was facing from getting hit.
However, her positioning was off.
Laxus was suddenly blindsided by a maelstrom of reality-bending magic that carried broken chunks of wall within it. Grace had accidentally opened her distortion inside the wall, and part of the masonry had been carried along with her attack.
"And an unexpected counterattack from Grace makes creative use of the arena itself!" Chapati narrated, and the crowd cheered.
"Uh, yeah. I meant to do that," Grace unconvincingly confirmed.
And suddenly a fist slammed into her back. Laxus, making a quick recovery but nursing a bruise on his chin, had realised that Grace was instinctively roaring every time she was electrocuted. Now that he thought about it, he remembered hearing something like that . . regardless, he could just pound her into the wall without magic.
He hadn't, however, counted on the distortion still being open. So, instead of Grace hitting the broken wall, she flew straight through it and landed where he had been standing a moment ago.
Wheeling, Laxus charged towards Grace, but the young powerhouse was already recovering. Her tail flicked through the air as she span, the curved blade arcing through space and opening a subtle distortion before Laxus, which the man plunged into, emerging behind her, his momentum keeping him going.
Her fingers splayed, Grace closed the rift once her opponent was clear of it, before clenching into a fist. With the added speed Dragon Force granted her, she'd come up with a new technique; one that it was time to test out. "Reality Dragon's Transcendental . ." she started, punching forwards into a tiny rift.
Laxus recognised the attack, Reality Dragon's Transcendental Fist, from the last time they had fought, and ducked, knowing she would target his head. And she did, a fist shooting out of midair, cloaked in reality.
And then a second one hit his back. And then a third hit his hip.
". . Gatling!" A rain of punches hit him from all around, Grace's fists whipping in every direction, each one passing through a new portal.
And then Laxus' fingers snapped out and caught one of her fists. Immediately the hail stopped - after all, Grace still only had two hands - and Laxus took her arm with both of his and pulled her through the rift, which Grace barely enlarged in time to prevent herself from getting caught.
Laxus stood tall, holding her up by an arm with a frown. For a moment, the two Second-Generation Dragon Slayers locked eyes, and Grace defiantly glared at him. "I'm not going to lose," she hissed.
The Fairy digested this for a moment, his unblinking gaze meeting her own. And then he smiled.
With a fluid motion, he threw Grace across the arena - but, with a wave of her hand that wasn't sore from being caught, the Reality Dragon Slayer switched the space in front of her with the sky twenty feet above her and flew into the air.
And then a burst of lightning arced up from below, striking Grace in the chest.
"You shouldn't always attack from above. It makes you predictable," Laxus declared - but then he realised his mistake.
A hurricane of grey energy crashed down around him, forcing him to the ground, followed by the lithe body of the Dragon Slayer.
"And, in a stunning reversal, both of our combatants hit each other at the same time! Is this how it ends - no!" One of the two was struggling to their feet. Laxus flexed his muscles, trying to rub away the aches that had blossomed on his arms and shoulders.
"Is this it? Has Laxus claimed victory?" Chapati questioned.
The Lightning Dragon Slayer slowly turned, intending to ensure that Grace was, in fact, out for the count.
But she was gone.
"Dragon Slayer's Secret Art!" Laxus looked up to see Grace hovering in mid-air, suspended by her bent gravity Spell. Reality rippled and bulged around her, and she looked frazzled. 'I'm gonna put every last drop of magic I have left into this spell,' Grace thought to herself. 'Neither of my existing Secret Art spells will work against Laxus, he's too fast. I guess it's time to try out the new one,' After watching Shelley and her ability to duplicate herself seemingly endlessly, Grace had been inspired to come up with a new technique.
Suddenly there was the sound of something cracking, and the Grace that everyone was watching turned green. "Dark Matter," she declared, and with flashes of colourful light, six more Graces flashed into existence, red, orange and yellow versions of herself to Laxus' right, and blue, indigo and violet duplicates on her left.
"Multidimensional Convergence!" the seven Graces commanded, each unleashing a full-powered Roar that buffeted Laxus from every direction, forcing him to the ground. Dazed, the Lightning Dragon Slayer hit the dirt.
With flashes of light, each Grace vanished until there was only one Grace remaining, the original green, who immediately became fully coloured once more and fell to the ground, eyes closed and a pained expression frozen on her face.
The crowd was silent for a moment. "I'm not going to call it early again," Chapati insistently declared.
A moment passed. There was no change in either fighter's condition.
"Well, I suppose that's all she wrote! After a stunning battle for the ages, the fight between Laxus and Grace has ended in a tie! Five points to both teams! That puts Phoenix's Eye A in third and Fairy Tail B in fourth!
Pierce was the only one who went to pick up Grace this time. As she shifted out of Dragon Force, he picked his adoptive sister up and stroked her hair, hugging her tightly. "You did good," he murmured.
A small smile played across her lips.
A/N
A/N
Spectacular match, and a spectacular scoreboard!
Sabertooth: 36
Black Eye Pirates: 35
Phoenix's Eye: 31
Fairy Tail A: 30
Mermaid Heel: 24
Fairy Tail B: 27
Blue Pegasus: 21
Lamia Scale: 23
Peace!
-[CoT]-
"Good show, Phoenix's Eye. Good show. I do so sincerely hope you win," a cloaked figure in the crowd murmured as Grace left the arena and Chapati announced the fourth and final match, Wendy vs. Sherria.
A wicked smile shone out from under the hood. "So sayeth the Assassin,"