Back with the next chapter!
"Speaking"
""thinking""
On with the story
The next day
At Domus Flau
The crowds were cheering and screaming like crazy as the first day of the GMG has begun
"Sounds like we have a full house" Gray commented while in their break room where they were preparing themselves up
"kinda feeling nervous a bit," Lucy said while gulping nervously
They all were wearing matching clothing as Erza, Lucy and Gray (who just stripped) wore the same purple type attire, except for Natsu and Elfman
Natsu wore the matching outfit but as soon as he puts it on, he summons Enryuo no Yoroi on him and was now sitting a few feet away from them as he was silent in the conversation
"This is not my clothes, right?" Elfman said as he holds up a little dress that was Wendy's size
"that's for Wendy, alright," Lucy said
"you've been getting bigger since last time" Gray added in
"I guess I could just wear what I had on earlier until I get something made," Elfman grumbled
"So, do you guys think Wendy is alright?" Elfman asked suddenly making everyone think about the incident a few hours earlier
They had just passed the elimination round with ease, thanks to Natsu. But they then found Wendy and Charla at the palace's gardens, passed out and drained of their magic
"she will be fine," Natsu said while standing up from his seat
"Porlyusica can heal her in time"
He then started walking towards the door as he looks back at them
"Coming?" he asked them before he heads out
Erza and the others nodded to each other before heading out
"Well it's that time of year again folks!" an excited voice announced over the stadium intercom. "It's time for the greatest magic spectacle in all of Fiore, the Grand Magic Games!" The crowd roared with excitement.
"I'm your commentator, Lola Chapati and joining me is a former member of the Magic Council and the current owner of the 8island restaurant: Mr. Yajima! Thank you for joining us Mr. Yajima." Chapati announced.
"It's nice to be here," Yajima said over his microphone.
"And our guest commentator for the day is none other than Ms. Fiore herself, from the Blue Pegasus guild, Jenny Realight!"
"Thank you for having me." The blonde smiled. "This is going to be Blue Pegasus' year." she declared determined.
"We can only wait and see," Lola said. "With the level of this year's teams, it's anyone's ball game. Speaking of, let's get on to announcing our competitors, shall we?"
The crowd continued to show their anticipation for the competition as the teams began to exit from their respective tunnels.
"First up, they placed eighth in the preliminary round, but they're looking to reclaim some of that former glory. It's the rowdy guild with the dainty name, Fairy Tail!" Lola announced as Erza and the others stepped out of the tunnel first and were met with the boos from the crowds
"What?!" Gray shouted in shock.
"They're booing us?"
"What's their problem?" Elfman asked irritated.
But the booing stopped when Natsu came into the picture, as this made the crowds instantly cheered for him
""so annoying"" Natsu thought while crossing his arms
"Fairy Tail has come in the last place at every Grand Magic Games, but this year they've cleared the preliminaries. And with the unexpected return of the famous Salamander Dragov, things could be looking up for the former top guild." Lola said.
Yajima smiled and gave Natsu's team a thumbs up. "Congratulations Fairy Tail."
"Papa! Mama" two little voices called out, catching team Fairy Tail's attention. They looked over to see Rose and Mary, along with the rest of the guild sitting in the stands. They cheered them on, even bringing a banner to drape over the railing.
"Let's hear it for Fairy Tail!" Makarov shouted, standing on the railing of the seats. The other guild members followed his example.
"Yes, let's all hear it for Fairy Tail." A familiar voice said happily. All of Fairy Tail looked to the side, all of their eyes, except Rose's and Mary's, widening in surprise.
"Is that…?" Erza began.
"I-I think so." Lucy nodded.
"What the…?" Gray said.
Natsu looks at the stand before he looks away
"What are you doing here, First Master?" Makarov asked with widened eyes.
"I wanted to cheer you all on, so here I am." She said with a smile.
""so here I am"?" Makarov said with a sweat drop
"yay, miss Mavis is here!" Rose cheered with Mary joining in
Mavis smiled to the twins before looking back at Makarov
"Don't worry, only those with the Fairy Tail mark can see me. So, you don't have anything to worry about"
"That's not the issue here." Makarov sighed.
"But it's so boring staying on Tenrou Island all the time. I deserve some fun every once in a while, too." Mavis whined as Makarov sighed again
"Now, our seventh-place team." Lola resumed. "It's that vicious pack of hellhounds, Quatro Cerberus!"
"Oh yeah!" one of their team members yelled.
"Wild!" Another proclaimed.
"Heh, heh. We're gonna win it this year." Goldmine, the Quatro Cerberus guild master, smirked.
"Coming in sixth place we have an all-female guild." Lola said intrigued. "It's the beautiful dancers of the deep, Mermaid Heel!"
"I didn't even know there was an all-female guild." Macao drooled.
"I know right." Wakaba agreed. "Think they need a man to join?"
"I think it's an all-female guild for a reason." Lisanna said.
"In fifth place, the sapphire wings that sparkle in the night, Blue Pegasus!" Lola announced.
Out from the tunnel emerged Ichiya and the Tri-Mens, along with a person in a giant rabbit costume. All of them struck a pose.
"You can do it, boys!" Jenny cheered over the mic.
"In fourth place, the holy destroyers, Lamia Scale!" Lola announced next.
Lyon emerged from tunnel; Jura, Yuka, Toby, and a young girl with dark pink hair following behind him.
"Is that Jura of the ten wizards saints?" a spectator asked.
"No way!" another shouted.
"Fourth place?!" Obaba, the Lamia Scale guild master, shouted angrily as she shook her fist in the air. "Were you idiots even trying?!"
"Sorry, Master Obaba." The young girl nervously apologized. "It's because I'm so clumsy." Then as if on cue, the girl tripped on fell on her face.
"Try and keep it together Cheria." Lyon said helping her to her feet.
"Sorry, Lyon." Cheria apologized.
"What happened to that chick who kept going on about love?" Gray questioned, referring to Sherry Blendy.
"Yeah I've never seen her before." Lucy said referring to Cheria. Her eyes slowly drew towards Blue Pegasus' mystery member. "Or that rabbit!"
"Cheria is Sherry's cousin." Yuka explained.
"Cheria's super strong." Toby grinned.
"Oh no, I don't have nearly enough love as my cousin." Cheria denied innocently.
Toby instantly turned his attention to the nervous Cheria. "Can't you take a compliment?!" he yelled, frightening the young girl.
"Calm down." Yuka said.
"Don't forget Gray…" Lyon said, glaring at his rival. "If we win, Juvia joins Lamia Scale."
"I don't remember agreeing to that, but I'm not gonna lose to you." Gray retorted with a smirk.
"If we're trading members, I'll be glad to take Erza." Ichiya said as he slid over towards the requip wizard.
"don't talk so casually about that!" Erza shouted while backing away from him before Reiter no Yoroi appears in front of her and flicks Ichiya away
"Meeen!" Ichiya was sent flying up before he crashed to the ground
Erza looks at the armor as it disappears into flames before looking at Natsu whose back is to her
"I'll take you then," Ren said, wrapping his arm around a surprised Lucy. "But's it's not because I like you or anything." He looked away, a small blush on his cheeks in typical tsundere fashion.
"Still the same, huh?" Lucy sweatdropped.
"Then I'll take Wendy," Eve said dreamily as he walks towards who he thought was Wendy but it turns out he was face to face with Elfman, who had quite the scary look on his face.
"you've grown big, Wendy" Eve said with an awkward smile on his face
"Are you some kind of idiot?" Elfman asked.
"I'll just join Mermaid Heel then," Hibiki said happily as he walked towards the uninterested female wizards.
"Ahem." Lola cleared his throat, somewhat calming down the commotion among the teams. "Moving on, in third place...well this is something!" he said surprised. "This is this team's first time in the games, but they managed to take third in the preliminary."
The team in question walked out of the tunnel and every Fairy Tail member's eyes widened in shock.
"It's the midnight Marauders, Raven Tail!" Lola announced.
"Raven Tail?!" Gray shouted, having quickly risen from his spot on the floor.
"That's Ivan's guild." Erza said.
"But aren't they…?" Lucy began.
"They're a dark guild!" Makarov shouted from the stands. "What are they doing here?! Are they letting dark guilds in the games now?!"
"Calm down Master." Macao said as he, Wakaba, and Lisanna tried to restrain from the old man from jumping onto the arena floor.
"I do sense an evil from them." Mavis said.
"Well according to the info guide, Raven Tail has been around for more than seven years; but they've only just become an official guild," Lola explained.
"Then they are no longer a dark guild if the league has recognized them," Yajima said.
"Damn you Ivan." Makarov cursed under his breath. "How did you do pull this off?"
"Fairy Tail." The armored man who led the team said.
"that little girl has greeted us before"
Next to the armored man stood a figure with a top hat and a long nose, a small black creature on his shoulder. The creature snickered, transforming its head to mimic Wendy's. It hit itself and fell over.
Gray glared angrily, clenching his teeth. "Then it was you." He growled. "You guys hurt Wendy. You're gonna pay for that."
The armored man turned around, his team following him. "Let's enjoy the festival." He said smugly.
"Ivan…" Makarov said in a low angered voice.
"Alright, we're down to the final two teams who passed the preliminary round," Lola said.
"Two?" a spectator questioned. "Sabertooth is obviously one of them, so who's the other one?"
"I don't know." The person next to them shrugged.
"Is there another powerful guild hiding around?" Gray asked Erza.
"I'm not sure." She replied. "But it might have to do with the warning Jellal and the others gave us."
"What do you think that guy meant by 'spoiling their welcome gift'?" Lucy asked Elfman.
"I don't know." He answered. "It might have to do with the girl that Lisanna and the others found with Wendy and Carla."
""Could this mystery guild be the irregularity that Crime Sorciere warned us about?"" Erza thought perplexed as she and everyone else in the stadium awaited Lola's next announcement.
"Now for the team who took second place in the preliminary round." Lola's eyes widened as he looked at the paper in front of him. "This is certainly a shocker." He said. "Perhaps with this they may have a chance after all!"
"Coming in second place, Team Fairy Tail B!" Everyone's jaws nearly dropped as they watched the second team from Magnolia's premiere guild enter the stage.
The team itself was stacked. It consisted of Juvia, Gajeel, Mirajane, Laxus, and a member thought long gone.
"Sis?!" Elfman exclaimed.
"J-Juvia?!" Gray and Lyon shouted in unison.
"Gajeel and Laxus are here too?!" Lucy asked with her mouth wide open. "That can't be allowed!"
"Another Fairy Tail?" the crowd was just as shocked as Gray and the team.
Natsu's eyes went red when he spotted the last member
""Jellal!"" Natsu thought in anger as his fangs grew
""not now, wait till the time is right"" END appeared beside him as he told to Natsu to holds down his anger
"Jellal, you wouldn't…" Erza grimaced. "Mystogan" put his finger over his lips and Erza instantly went silent.
Lyon blushed as he looked at Juvia. An irritated Cheria puffed out her cheeks.
"Why does Fairy Tail get two teams?" one of the spectators yelled.
"Yeah, what's the big idea?" another shouted.
"I believe it must be Master's handiwork, yes?" Ikaruga said while sitting on a seat as everyone looks at Makarov who coughed
"I see that everyone is confused about the revelation of Fairy Tail having two teams in the games," Lola announced. "However, there is nothing in the rule book against an event like this." Lola knew this as he was flipping through said rule book while he talked.
"But we didn't know this was happening," Lucy argued.
"I should have known Master was behind this." Erza sighed.
"But if Fairy Tail has two teams, won't they be able to switch out members at will?" Jenny pointed out.
"That's just an advantage they will have to utilize." Yajima nodded, giving Makarov a thumbs up.
"let's have a great game, Elfman." Mira told her little brother who sweated in fear
"I'm not gonna go easy on ya just because we're in the same guild." Gray said to Juvia.
The rain woman nodded in confirmation. "I know. I won't hold back either."
"Mystogan" swallowed hard as he watched a rather peeved Erza Scarlet approach him. "Je-Mystogan..."she said. "Why are you here?" her gaze narrowed, causing the mysterious wizard to sweat under his hood.
"Master Makarov is quite the reasonable man." He answered. "When I explained the situation to him he was glad to help.
"You said you weren't able to enter the arena." Erza reminded.
"I-I hadn't thought of this option yet." "Mystogan" stammered.
"It's against the rules. You're not in Fairy Tail." Erza countered.
"From what I've been told, this 'Mystogan' and I are nearly one and the same." He retorted.
"Come on Erza, no need to be all worked up. It's a festival." Laxus interrupted, draping his arm over "Mystogan's" shoulder. "Right, 'Mystogan'?"
"There you have it, Erza?" "Mystogan" said.
"That masked man isn't apart of Fairy Tail is he?" Mavis inquired. Makarov's jaw dropped in shock.
"He's not?" Rose and Mary asked looking up at the first master.
"I'm sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" Makarov apologized to Mavis over and over as the old man bangs his hand while sitting in a dogeza.
"I told ya not to do it." Macao scolded.
"He just wouldn't listen to us." Wakaba said to Mavis.
"He doesn't feel like an evil presence." Mavis said. "Even more strange is the fact that he feels like one of us."
"Ok." Mavis said.
"Ok?" Makarov repeated.
The first master nodded, a wide smile on her lips. "If it's to help Fairy Tail win then I approve." Her eyes sparkled.
"That's the first Master for you." Droy sighed.
"She fits our guild to a tee." Levy said with a nervous smile.
"Have you noticed anything odd?" Jellal whispered to Erza before she rejoined her team.
"Other than the fact that I don't trust Raven Tail…no, nothing." she answered.
"Now for the moment you have all been waiting for!" Lola exclaimed on the mic. "The team who came in first in the preliminary round." The crowd began to roar excitedly as the number one team entered the arena.
"You know who I'm talking about!" Lola exclaimed.
"The reigning champions, the powerful, unrivaled, incomparable…Sabertooth!"
Sabertooth's team entered the stadium to deafening applause. Sting led his teammates through the cacophony, his hands raised in victory.
Natsu looks at Sabertooth as he sees Sting waving at him. "This should be fun, Natsu." He grinned.
Rogue's eyes however were glued to Gajeel. The Iron Dragon returned Rogue's gaze with an irritated look.
"The hell are you looking at?" Gajeel growled.
Rogue looked away. "Gajeel." He said under his breath.
"So that's Fiore's number one guild, huh?" Gray said, Lucy nodding in confirmation.
"The two guys in front are the dragon slayers," Lucy said, directing Gray's eyes towards Sting and Rogue.
"Now that all of the teams are present, what do you think of this year's competition, Mr. Yajima?" Lola asked.
"Ah, to be young again." Yajima reminisced.
"That's…not what I meant, Mr. Yajima." Lola sweatdropped. He cleared his throat and powered through. "Well folks, the time has come…" as Lola spoke a huge rock slab arose from the ground. "It's time to announce the rules for this year's Grand Magic Games!"
Surveying the slab, everyone saw that each successive day had a series of question marks followed by the word "battle".
"So, every day has a battle in it," Gray said.
Lola began to explain the logistics of the Grand Magic games.
"Each day started with an event wherein each team would be ranked and awarded points based on their performance. First place earned ten points, eighth place received zero points, and every ranking in between were awarded points on a specific scale. While teams could choose their representatives for events, battle match-ups were determined at random through sponsor's votes."
"What?" Erza said completely surprised.
"They pick who fights for us?" Gray asked irritated.
"That means we could be completely worn out by an event and then turn around and fight," Elfman said.
"That seems pretty harsh," Lucy commented.
Lola further explained that while a team may lose in an event, they could make up for it in the battle portion of the day. In battles, wins totaled ten points, loses resulted in zero points, and draws awarded five points per participating team.
"Now for our opening contest…the Hidden!" Lola announced. "Will each team pick a member and step forward." He instructed. "We will explain the rules of the contest once everyone has decided."
"I'll take this one!" Yeager, the representative of Quatro Cerberus, shouted as he stepped forward; his guildmates cheering him on.
"All we need is a win to start this off, right? Will ya let me take care of it?" Beth, Mermaid Heel's representative, asked.
The dark-haired swordswoman nodded. "Go."
"Go Nullpudding." The armored leader of Raven Tail instructed.
"Right, boss." The aforementioned Nullpudding stepped forward.
"I'll handle this." Eve Tearm of the Tri-Mens said as he stepped forward. Ichiya and the team cheered while dancing
"Looks like almost every team has their members chosen for the Hidden." Lola said. "But who will the reigning champs, Sabertooth, choose first?" All eyes fell upon Sabertooth as they stood together.
A blonde haired man in a red hat and mask stepped forward. "Allow me." He said. "It seems the birds are singing pleasantly in my ears on this day."
"There he is!" Lola shouted. "The Minstrel Who Sings To the Red Moon, Rufus!" The crowd went wild, most noticeably the women.
"I should go first since I'm a real man!" Elfman blurted out.
"And how does the word 'hidden' apply to you?" Gray asked curtly.
"Judging by the event's title, it must have to do with stealth." Erza pondered.
"I wish Wendy was here." Lucy lamented. "Since she's so little I bet she would do well."
"If you need to be small, maybe Yuka or I should go." Cheria said with a raised hand, catching wind of Fairy Tail A's conversation.
"Don't call me little." Yuka retorted.
"No need." Lyon smirked. "I'll start us off. We're gonna start things off quickly."
Lyon looked over to his rival. "So that's how you wanna play it, huh?" Gray said.
"Fine, show me what these games a-..!?" Gray was about to go in front to be Fairy Tail's A representative, but Natsu beat him to it as the Dragon Slayer stepped forward
"I'll be taking this one" Natsu said as he steps forward and was named the team's representative
"looks like we will be seeing Salamander Dragov's joining this event, folks!" Lola exclaimed on the mic as the crowd's cheered
"hey!" Gray retorted but Natsu turns his head and showed Gray his glowing red eyes that made him shut up
"looks like I'll be joining this one" Gajeel said as he was named Fairy Tail B's representative
"Are the teams set?!" Lola exclaimed, all the teams nodding in agreement.
"Then, let the 7th ANNUAL GRAND MAGIC GAMES….BEGIN!"
That's a wrap!
Bye bye