Back with the continuation
"speaking"
""thinking""
On with the story
In Domus Flau
At the Hidden event
Gray walked the streets of the magical cityscape. Clones of Juvia, Lyon, and the other team's representatives were walking around him.
""What have I gotten myself into?"" He thought.
The Hidden, the first event of the 7th annual Grand Magic Games. Gray and his fellow participants were thrown into a magically created city for what was basically an advanced game of hide and seek.
Each competitor was transported to a different area in the city, their goal was to find their real opponents among the clones. When someone is found, each hit landed on them by their opponent results in one point for the attacker, and a negative point for the victim.
"Gray-sama is all around me!" Juvia squealed as she looked at all of the Gray clones. "Surely taking one won't hurt." She hugged one from behind and a buzzing sound echoed through the city. "Huh?" she looked confused before the clone she hugged disappeared and zapped her, sending Juvia colliding to the ground.
"As Juvia just demonstrated, when a clone is attacked the attacker loses a point and restarts the event ten seconds later in another part of the city." Lola explained. "Not a good way to start the competition."
"Idiot." Gajeel grumbled.
"I guess Juvia just couldn't help herself." Mira giggled. Laxus looked at the screen in disbelief.
"Damn, it's harder to find anyone than it is to hide from them." Gray complained as walked the streets.
"I don't believe that." A voice said, causing Gray to turn around. He saw a man much shorter than himself with purple skin and blonde hair. He sported a conniving grin on his lips, which was almost as noticeable as his rather bulbous chin. "I think it's best to know the rules early on, see?" He said.
"Who're you?" Gray asked on guard.
"Name's Nullpudding..." The man answered. "From Raven Tail."
"Looks like Raven Tail found us first." Elfman grimaced.
"Take down that guy down, Gray!" Ur cheered for her student.
"I wasn't expecting you to find me first." Gray said to Nullpudding who laughed at the remark. "But that's fine." Gray smirked as he slammed his fist into his open palm. Frozen air surrounded his hands. "Save's me the trouble of finding you!" he shouted.
"Ice! Hammer!"
Gray creates a giant ice hammer, crushing Nullpudding under his frozen might. Everyone in Fairy Tail's cheering section looked at the screen in shock.
"That's not his normal maker magic!" Jet shouted with widened eyes.
"This is the result of his training." Ur said with a proud smile
"Gotcha." Gray smirked. He then heard a buzzing sound, confusing him as Nullpudding disappeared. "What the…?"
"Sorry, looks like you attacked a copy, see?" Nullpudding said as he walked towards Gray, his grin only serving to mock the ice make wizard.
Gray winced in pain as he felt a shock run through his body. He soon reappeared in another part of the city. The negative score he received from attacking Nullpudding's copy reflecting on the screen outside of the city for all others to see.
"Oh my," Lola commented. "It looks like Gray Fullbuster from Fairy Tail A fell victim to a slight of hand by Nullpudding from Raven Tail. Will he be able to bounce back?"
"That was some trick." Yajima said nodding.
""Damn, that was a dumb move."" Gray curses.
He stood up and brushed himself off before walking out into the streets again. He chose to blend himself in with the copies.
""I think I'm getting the hang of this now. You use your copies to get close to your opponents. So, you can attack them before they know what hit them. So, if I act like a copy no one will notice me.""
Everyone outside the city watched the screens in anticipation, eager to find out which wizard would make a move for their team.
"They've all blended in with the copies." Lucy stated as she and the rest of her team looked on.
"How's Gray supposed to find anyone to hit?" Natsu asked as he watch the screen
"Man, I'm glad I didn't go." Elfman said. "I definitely couldn't have done this."
""This is more intense than I first thought."" Erza thought to herself.
""The slightest mistake could reveal yourself to your enemies.""
Gray continued following the crowd of doppelgangers, his eyes shifting ever so slightly in order to find his opponents.
""Who's real and whose not? Which one of these are human?""
"Gray." A voice said in a sing-song tone.
"Found you!"
"Gaack!" Gray coughed as Nullpudding struck him from behind, the Raven Tail wizard's arm having needle like spikes on them.
"Gray!" Lucy shouted in concern.
"How did he find him?" Erza asked with widened eyes.
"Uncle Gray!" Aya yelled as she and the rest of Fairy Tail looked on worriedly.
"Once again Gray finds himself the victim of Nullpudding, who has now chosen to go on the offensive!" Lola commentated.
"He found me…again?" Gray groaned.
"You're just easy prey." Nullpudding smirked. Gray grimaced as he was once again teleported to a different part of the city.
"With that attack Nullpudding has quickly moved into first place." Lola announced. "But how can anyone find their real opponents in a city full of copies, Mr. Yajima?"
"There are several ways to do it." Yajima explained. "For example, you could search for your opponent's magic."
"I think Eve may have a different method in mind." Jenny grinned.
"Searching magic could work." Erza pondered, having heard the commentator's conversation. "But even if it pointed you in the right direction, you would have to find the source on your own."
"What are you doing, Gray?!" Ur yelled angrily on the stand while Jet and Droy were holding her back.
"Kick that Raven jerk's ass!"
"for an old lady, she has some strength!" Jet said with Droy agreeing before the two were frozen in ice by Ur
"You can't let the same guy hit you twice!" Elfman chimed in.
Lucy looked over to the rest of Raven Tail, who stood a small distance away from her team.
The girl with long, braided red hair looked back at Lucy. A sadistic look was in her eye as she and the celestial wizard's gazes met. "What are you staring at, blondie?" she asked creepily.
""Why are they so deadest on eliminating us?"" Lucy wondered.
"Blondie…" the redhead said again.
"Stop it, Flare." The armored man in Raven Tail commanded. Flare relented.
"Come on Gray, you can do it!" Ur shouted from the stands.
""Ok, I need to calm down and regroup."" Gray thought as he walked the streets again. He saw a small spot in the ground rise up ahead of him. "Huh…?" he questioned. Suddenly a barrage of carrots flew his way.
"CARROT MISSLE!"
"Crap!" Gray dodged to the right as the attack missed.
He looked ahead and saw Beth from the Mermaid Heel team kneeling down, her hands on the ground.
"Shucks, I missed." She chastised herself with an innocent look in her eye before a plant pod rose from the ground and struck her, sending her flying back. "Aiieee!" she squealed before disappearing.
"What the hell is that?!" Gray exclaimed with widened eyes.
"Ha!" Yeager from Quatro Cerberus shouted as he emerged from the alleyway. "Caught ya using magic." his celebration was cut short however when he was attacked by a ball of ice that effectively knocked him out.
"And I saw you." From the dust emerged Lyon, a confident look in his eye as he approached Gray. "I've finally found you, Gray."
"Graaaaayyy!" a familiar voice shouted from the rooftop above the two ice wizards. Gray and Lyon looked up, their eyes widening when they saw who was falling towards them
"Juvia?" Gray said in surprise
"P-Panties?!" Lyon said nervously, a light blush on his face from seeing the rain woman's panties.
Juvia landed a double kick on Lyon's head, knocking him out and breaking her fall, and scoring a point for her team at the same time.
Lyon began disappearing, much to Gray's chagrin. "So…beautiful." Lyon said dreamily before completely fading away.
Yuka shook his head in disapproval, while Jura chuckled. "She is quite the spirited one." Jura said.
"Come on, Lyon!" Cheria shouted.
"I didn't need your help you know." Gray said to Juvia.
"I know." Juvia replied, a look of fierce determination in her eyes. "I'm going to defeat you." she declared. "I made a deal with Master Makarov."
"A deal with Gramps?" Gray inquired.
"Yes." Juvia nodded.
Juvia explained to Gray that unbeknownst to Fairy Tail A, Master Makarov promised the participants of Fairy Tail B that if they won the Grand Magic Games the members of Fairy Tail A would have to do their bidding for an entire day. This intrigued the haphazardly assembled team as they each had their own wishes: Laxus wished to make Natsu his personal slave for the day, Gajeel wished for Lucy to dance around in a bunny costume for some reason while he did his jazz sessions, Mirajane wished for Erza to be her maid, and of course Juvia wished for a date with Gray; complete with a love confession and kiss.
"Are you serious?!" Gray shouted, he then pointed to one of the cameras floating overhead. "Hey gramps, this better apply to my team too!"
"O-of course." Makarov said nervously.
"That's quite the devious trick, Makarov." Mavis smiled.
"Please don't say that, first master." Makarov sulked.
"for a day?" Natsu said as he thought of the idea of having Laxus and Gajeel work in his field
"I'd make everyone acknowledge just how manly I really am." Elfman said with a grin
"I'm not going to lose you, Gray-sama!" Juvia proclaimed, readying herself for battle.
"Fine." Gray accepted her challenge. "Let's do this."
"Gotcha!" Nullpudding shouted as he suddenly attacked both Gray and Juvia. "Two fairies for the price of one."
"Dammit!" Gray cursed. While Juvia shouted in pain.
"Again Nullpudding strikes members of the Fairy Tail teams!" Lola shouted.
"That jerk went after Gray again." Lucy said with irritation while Erza gritted her teeth.
"What's this guy's problem?" Gray asked himself before disappearing yet another time.
Beth sat on the ground in her new location in the city. Feeling a tad cold she looked up, surprisingly seeing snow falling from the sky. "Snow?" she thought aloud.
"What's this?" Lola questioned. "It looks like it's now snowing in the city! What's going on?!"
"That would be Eve." Jenny grinned once again.
"I almost forgot to take into account wizards who could handle low temperatures." Eve said looking down as he focused on his attack.
"However," Ichiya shouted. "When humans feel cold they shiver and their breaths can be seen."
"That's not true for copies though." Ren smirked.
"Right." Hibiki nodded.
Eve looked up, his eyes focused and a smirk on his lips. "I see you." He swung his arms around and torrent of snow attacked Beth, Yeager, and Nullpudding simultaneously.
"And just like that Eve Tearm of Blue Pegasus scores three points!" Lola shouted. "But it looks like Lyon Vastia from Lamia Scale isn't too impressed by Eve's tactics and goes on the attack!"
"Sorry, but the cold doesn't work on me." Lyon said to Eve as he tried to attack the snow wizard with ice eagles, which the blonde dodged.
The competitors continued to go after one another, gaining points and losing them in rapid succession as the time passed. "Things are certainly heating up as the time begins winding down!" Lola said, "Which one of these teams is going take first place?"
"Found you." Nullpudding grinned as he once again spotted Gray.
"Can't you bother someone else, chin face?" Gray retorted as he tried to escape.
"Even with all of the action going on it seems that Rufus from Team Sabertooth has yet to make a move." Lola observed. "Could he have some secret plan in the works?"
"This contest is lacking in excitement." Rufus declared loudly. Everyone looked up, seeing the masked man standing atop a tower in the middle of the city.
"What's this?" Lola asked.
"What's he doing?" Natsu asked.
"I remember everything." Rufus said. "Every individual pulse, every individual footstep, each magical attribute is engrained in my memory." He smirked.
"What is that guy talking about?" Max asked.
"Why would put himself out in the open like that?" Lucy questioned.
"Get him, Gray! He's up there!" Ur shouted.
"It's like he wants everyone to find him." Elfman said with narrowed eyes.
Rufus touched his temples with the index and middle fingers of his hands. A swirl of unfamiliar energy began to converge around his head.
"Memory Make"
"He uses maker magic?!" Erza gasped.
"Hoshi Furu Yoru ni"
Beams of light fell from the sky, striking all of Rufus' competition. All except for Nullpudding, who avoided the attack at the last second. The Raven Tail wizard jumped into the air from a nearby roof, swinging his fist at Rufus; but to his and everyone's surprise he hit a mere illusion.
"What?" Nullpudding said with widened eyes, his ever-present grin giving way to a frown.
"did I hit a copy?"
"Not quite." Rufus said with a sly smile, now behind the confused Nullpudding.
"You merely attacked your memory of my standing there." He swiped his hand and a bolt of light struck Nullpudding. "I have no need for such decoys."
The crowd roared in excitement as the fan favorite Rufus had taken control of the entire event.
"What a display of power!" Lola shouted with an open stare. "Rufus has taken the lead in the blink of an eye! This is the power of Sabertooth, folks!"
The other teams looked on in both amazement and slight fright at Rufus' masterful skill with his magic. All except for Rogue and Sting, who merely saw it as par for the course for their guild.
"It looks like Sabertooth isn't all talk after all." Makarov said.
"We tried to tell you, Master." Macao reminded.
"It looks like their even stronger than last year." Wakaba said with a frown on his face
"Dearest sponsors," Rufus mused from his rooftop vantage point.
"I apologize in advance for my candor but, this contest is utterly dull. As you can you clearly see I have no reason to hide, because even if my fellow competitors could find me, they could never touch me."
"So he's unbeatable?" Lily inquired.
"That's our Rufus!" Lecter shouted happily. "But he's still not as strong as Sting!"
"Yaaay!" Frosch exclaimed.
"Guy sure loves to hear himself talk." Sting smirked.
"He uses maker magic, huh?" Gray said.
"I had heard rumors, but I had no idea he was this powerful." Lyon said. "He'll be a tough opponent to take down."
"Quit screwing around and follow the rules!" Gray shouted as he ran towards Rufus. "The game's called the Hidden!" Gray dashed but he was soon stopped by Nullpudding who once again attacked him
"Dammit, you again!"
"You should really pay more attention, Gray." Nullpudding mocked.
"Doesn't this guy know when to quit?" Lucy asked, biting her lower lip. "There's someone else right in front of him, but he keeps going after us."
"What game is Raven Tail playing at?" Erza pondered, her gaze narrowing.
The crowd continued to roar as the timer neared its limit. A loud buzzer sounded and the city began to disappear.
"Annnd times up!" Lola shouted. "Here are the current rankings." Lola directed everyone's attention to a screen on the opposite side of the stadium. The leader board read:
Sabertooth – 10
Raven Tail – 8
Lamia Scale – 6
Blue Pegasus – 4
Mermaid Heel – 3
Quatro Cerberus – 2
Fairy Tail B – 1
Fairy Tail A – 0
"Since this is first contest, the current board reflects the overall rankings in the games." Lola explained.
"3rd Place?!" Obaba yelled angrily from the Lamia Scale section. "What are you doing out there, Lyon?!"
"Calm down, Master Obaba." One of the guild members said.
"Not that bad of a start, I guess." Ren said.
"Indeed." Hibiki nodded.
"Well this isn't looking too good." Arana Webb, the green haired wizard of Mermaid Heel, sighed.
"Hahahaha, don't be like that." Risley Law, laughed. "Beth did good out there."
"To absolutely no one's surprise, Sabertooth has taken first place." Lola said with a hint of bias.
"That was an amazing showing." Yajima commented.
"Both Fairy Tail A and B put forth good efforts but unfortunately, they fell a little short." Lola said.
Gray walked back to his team with his head down, ashamed of his failure. The laughter and ridicule from the crowd didn't serve to lighten his mood.
That soon all stopped when Natsu burst into flames and glared at them
"Silence" he said and the laughter all stopped as they knew better to never enrage the man who is proclaimed to be a monster
"Sorry." Gray apologized as he walked past Lucy.
"Don't worry about it." She tried to reassure him. "You tried your best, and besides it's only the first round. We'll bounce back in no time."
Gray said nothing, he simply nodded and walked back to the stadium tunnel.
He entered the tunnel, slamming his hand in anger against the wall as he thought about the humiliation he suffered.
""Maker Wizard."" An image of Rufus popped into his mind.
""Raven Tail.""
"You'll pay for this." He growled.
"Now, on to the battle portion of day one!" Lola announced.
"Here's how the fights will be broken down. Each team will fight in a one on one battle against another team. This is not a tournament style format." Lola explained.
"You said earlier that sponsors are deciding the match ups, right?" Jenny asked.
"That is correct." Lola nodded.
"This should prove to be quite interesting." Yajima said.
"I have just received the line ups for today." Lola said as he was handed a piece of paper. "Please step forward when I call your name." He cleared his throat. "For the first match of day one it will be…Lucy Heartfilia of Fairy Tail A…"
"Ok, I'm up." Lucy nodded as she stepped forward.
"Versus Flare Corona of Raven Tail!" Lola finished.
The red haired girl from earlier stepped forward, her eyes fixed on Lucy. "Blondie…" she said eerily.
"good luck" Natsu said to her
"If Lucy wins, we should be doing well overall." Erza said.
"Show them what it's like to be a real man!" Elfman yelled.
A small smile appeared on Lucy's face as she listened to her team's encouragements.
The smile soon turned into a frown when she began thinking of the damage Raven Tail had done to her team.
""These guys hurt Wendy and Charla. They went out of their way to humiliate Gray in the last event.""
She clenched her fist tightly. "Leave it to me!" Lucy declared to her guild mates. "I'm gonna win no matter what!"
"Oho!" Lily raised an eyebrow "Lucy looks ready to go."
"Tear her to pieces, Lucy!" Makarov yelled, making a cutting motion across his throat with his thumb.
"Show that idiot Ivan that Fairy Tail is not a guild to be messed with!"
"You can do it, Aunt Lucy!" Aya encouraged.
"Go, Lucy!" Asuka shouted.
Romeo looked over to Mavis, noticing the serious look on the ghost's face. "What's wrong, Master Mavis?" Romeo asked.
"What do you think this Raven Tail is really after?" she asked.
"They just wanna make fools of us!" Makarov angrily answered. "They're nothing but a nuisance."
"I hope that's all it is." Mavis said, her tone a bit wary.
"Mr. Yajima," Lola began. "I understand that the masters of Fairy Tail and Raven Tail are father and son, correct?"
Yajima nodded in agreement.
"I thought so, although that really doesn't mean much if you're wearing different guild marks."
"Then why did you ask the question?" Jenny inquired.
"I was just trying to give our listeners some insight." Lola defended.
"Competitors, step forward!" Mato, the pumpkin headed creature who previously explained the rules of the Hidden, shouted. Flare and Lucy complied.
"Will all non-combatants please return to your dressing rooms." Lola said. "We are now turning the arena floor into a battle zone." Once the floor was clear of everyone save Lucy and Flare, Lola explained the rules of the fight.
"You have 30 minutes, the first one to knock out their opponent or make them surrender in that time will be declared the winner and receives 10 points for their team, the loser receives none. If both combatants are still standing by the end of the round, both teams will be awarded 5 points.
"Blondie…blondie…" Flare muttered repeatedly.
""I have to win this."" Lucy thought determined.
""I can't let her freak me out. Although, that's easier said than done.""
"Now if both combatants are ready, let the first match of day one…begin!" Lola shouted. A gong sounded, signifying the beginning of the match.
Everyone watches the fight with anxious look to see how the first fight of day one will end.
"Who do you think is going to win, Lyon?" Cheria asked.
"It's hard to say." Lyon replied to her.
"Lucy is a powerful Celestial Wizard, but there's still a lot of mystery behind Raven Tail."
He thought back to Nullpudding and how he humiliated Gray during the Hidden event.
Natsu, Elfman, and Erza looked on intently from the balcony.
"Ok, here we go." Lucy pulled out one of her keys.
"open the gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus!"
"Mooo!" Taurus came out of his gate, swinging his giant axe at Flare who jumped out of the way.
"And Lucy starts things off in a hurry!" Lola shouted. "Summoning one of her famous celestial spirits!"
"Oh?" Flare moaned intrigued.
"Scorpio!" Lucy yelled, summoning the Celestial sprit.
"We are!" Scorpio smirked before getting on all fours, his tail sticking out.
"Sand Buster!"
A sand twister flies towards Flare who whipped her head around, as her hair move around like it was alive before it moved in front and block's Scorpio's sand.
"What's this?!" Lola said. "It looks like Flare has a few tricks of her own!"
"That was quite the interesting manoeuvre." Yajima nodded.
"It has to be murder on her hair though." Jenny commented.
"her hair blocked the attack!?" Elfman exclaimed
"I've never seen magic like that." Erza said.
"Taurus! Get inside Scorpio's sand!" Lucy commanded.
"Sure thing, Miss Lucy." Taurus agreed. He stood in the sand whirlwind, absorbing the sand into his axe.
Flare's eyes widened as Taurus swung his axe once more, this time his attack amplified by Scorpio's sand.
"Sandstorm Axe! Aldebaran!"
"aaaaaaaaaaahhhh!"
Flare cried out in pain as the attack flung her into the air.
"What a move!" Lola shouted. "That last attack sent Flare flying!"
"Nice one!" Natsu said with a smile to her improvement in battle.
"She's improved." Erza grinned.
"Nnngh, Blondie…!" Flare grimaced, her hair once again moving on its own before she landed on the ground.
"Kami kakushi! Rouga!"
"Her hair turned into a wolf?!" Lola exclaimed, nearly falling out of his seat. Lucy grabbed another one of her keys.
"open! The gate of the crab! CANCER!
"Another celestial spirit?" Lola commentated. "This one looks to be some sort of half-crab, half-hair dresser."
Cancer stood his ground as Flare's hair wolf rushed him. He pulled out his trusty scissors, effectively cutting up the creation.
"If you need a haircut, I'm your crab, Ebi." Cancer said once his work was finished.
"M-my hair…" Flare stammered. "Why you!" she stuck her hair into the ground, it soon emerging below Lucy's feet and grabbing her ankles.
"What?!" Lucy yelled as Flare flipped her around and picked her up.
"My red hair does whatever I tell it to." Flare smirked. "How's this, blondie?!" she slammed Lucy into the ground, the blonde grunting in pain from the impact.
"You're not the only one with tricks up her sleeve." Lucy said. She grabbed her Fleuve d'etoiles whip from her waist and used it to grab Flare's arm.
"What are you doing?" Flare shouted as both she and Lucy spun each other around. They both hit the ground with a loud thud, the force causing them to let each other go.
Lucy sat up on her knees, giving Flare a defiant look.
The crowd roared with excitement. "These two are giving it their all in what is a very exciting match!" Lola said. "Father and Son guilds battling to show which is superior!"
"Although, I think Fairy Tail has more of an advantage in this match." Jenny grinned.
"Lucy's doing really well out there." Mira smiled.
"Yeah, didn't expect her to be this good." Laxus said.
"Show her what for, Lucy!" Makarov shouted.
Lucy grimaced in pain, her body still sore. She looked behind her, seeing her tattered boots.
""Is that where her hair grabbed me?"" She questioned as she stood up to remove the damaged clothing.
""I gotta be more careful.""
"and I like these boots" Lucy said as she took off her burned boots
Flare looked at Lucy in disbelief. "My hair? My burning red hair?" Flare said. "T-that's all it did?"
"She's starting to lose it." Alexei said.
"Blondie!" Flare yelled, once again sticking her hair in the ground.
Lucy readied herself.
She looked down at her feet, surprised that none of Flare's hair had appeared.
"Where did it go?" she asked aloud.
"Blondie…" Flare murmured, catching Lucy's attention. Lucy looked up, noticing a sadistic smile on the redhead's face. Flare pointed towards the stands and Lucy's eyes followed. The blonde looked at the stands in shock, noticing a strand of Flare's hair next to a smiling Aya and Asuka.
"Aya, As-!" Lucy shouted before Flare used more of her hair to cover the blonde's mouth, flinging her to the ground. "Agh!" Lucy gasped.
Natsu raise an eyebrow as he could've swore that he heard her calling to Aya
""what was she trying to say?"" Natsu thought as he look over to Fairy Tail stand and his eye went into rage
Flare stood over the downed celestial wizard, an evil look in her eye. "Don't make a sound." Flare ordered.
Lucy looked at Flare defiantly, gritting her teeth.
""That's a cowardly trick."" She thought.
Flare tilted her head to side, continuing to look at Lucy as if she were a piece of meat.
"Don't make a sound. Don't use any magic. Don't move. You wouldn't want to disobey me now, would you, blondie?!" Flare whipped Lucy with her hair. The blonde crying out in pain.
Flare laughed maniacally as she committed her malicious assault on Lucy, who was helpless due to possibly endangering Aya and Asuka.
The violent whip like snaps of Flare's hair against Lucy's skin echoed throughout the arena, making those with weak stomachs cringe and mother to cover their children's ears.
"Lucy!" Erza shouted.
"Why isn't she fighting back?" Elfman questioned. "They were dead even just a second ago."
"The hell happened?" Gajeel asked.
"This isn't looking good." Mira said.
"Lu-chan." Levy said worriedly.
"What's wrong with her?" a spectator in the crowd asked.
"Come on, blondie." Another onlooker shouted. "Get your head in the game!"
Flare once again picked up Lucy with her hair. She smiled sadistically at her, before once again violently throwing the celestial wizard to the ground.
"What happened?" Lola questioned. "These two were evenly matched just a few moments ago,but now Flare has taken the offensive, with Lucy showing no signs of fighting back."
Lucy looked over to Aya and Asuka, watching the sliver of red hair next to them. "Don't give up, Aunt Lucy!" Aya shouted.
"You can do it!" Asuka yelled.
"Augh!" Lucy grunted as she was once again whipped in the back by Flare. She sat up on her knees again, thinking back to Wendy, Gray, and the rest of her guild mates.
""I'm sorry everyone." She apologized, clenching her fist in the sand. She wanted to continue, but she had to protect Asuka and Aura.
"I…" she stammered. "I surren-"she was caught off when Flare once again covered Lucy's mouth with her animate hair.
"I didn't give you permission to speak, blondie!" Flare shouted. She used more of her hair to wrap Lucy's wrists and ankles, hoisting her into the air.
"You don't get to take the easy way out. I'm not done playing with you yet. The only sound I want to hear from you is a scream." Flare grinned from ear to ear.
She removed the hair covering Lucy's mouth. "What game should we play first?" Flare asked rhetorically. "I could strip you naked in front of all of these people, that might be fun. Oh, I know." Flare realized. Part of her hair formed into the Raven Tail guild mark. Oddly enough it began to heat up. "I could brand you with Raven Tail's mark."
Lucy's eyes widened in horror at the suggestion. Her face turned pale.
"I like that look." Flare mused. "Where do you want it?" she moved the make shift brand closer. "Here?" she asked holding it close to Lucy's leg. The celestial wizard could feel the heat radiating from the brand. "Maybe on your face?" Flare looked over to Lucy's Fairy Tail mark and grinned wider. "I think, I'll put it over your Fairy Tail mark."
"No, please!" Lucy pleaded. "Anywhere but there!"
"I thought I told you not to speak, blondie." Flare angrily reminded her, the brand moving ever closer.
"Stop!" Lucy squirmed, desperately trying to break free.
"Oh crap, Lucy's in trouble!" Elfman said.
"If this keeps up she'll, wait…where's Natsu?" Erza asked, not seeing the Dragon Slayer next to her.
"What?" Elfman looked over, noticing the empty space. "He was here a minute ago."
"Papa?" Aya said in confusion as her father came into their stand as he had a furious look in his eye.
"Natsu? Why are you here?" Ultear asked her husband.
"What are you doing here?!" Makarov questioned.
"this" Natsu said as he burns the moving hair near his daughter
"What?!" Flare said, feeling her hair being destroyed. She looked over, a shiver running down her spine as her eyes met Natsu's, whose glare oozed with rage and malicious intent.
"Now, Lucy!" Natsu shouted.
Lucy smiled.
""Thanks Natsu!""
"Gemini!" she called out. The twin spirits appeared and attacked Flare, forcing her to drop Lucy. "Do it now!" Lucy ordered.
"But we don't know if we can." Gemi said as he and his twin danced.
"We need more practice." Mini said.
"No time, just transform into me!" Lucy commanded, hurrying the twins before Flare regained her faculties.
"Yes ma'am!" the twins said in unison. They then transformed into Lucy. Much to the celestial wizard's shock, her doppelganger was only wearing a towel.
"Two Lucy's?!" Lola shouted in shock, powering through the clone's inappropriate state of dress. "What is the spunky Celestial Wizard planning to do?"
"Where are your clothes?!" Lucy shouted embarrassed at Gemini.
"We couldn't help it." Gemini Lucy replied "This is what you wore when we copied you."
"Oh yeah…" Lucy remembered. "You copied me when I got out of the bath yesterday. Probably should have waited until I was dressed first…" she trailed off.
All the men in the crowd ogled the barely clothed Gemini Lucy, including members of her own guild.
"Why didn't she have Gemini turn into someone strong like Laxus or Erza?" Jet asked Levy.
"They can't. Lu-chan told me that they can only copy someone the same magical level as her." Levy answered.
"Blondie…" Flare breathed out.
"Now, Gemini!" Lucy yelled.
"Right!" The twins nodded.
Lucy and Gemini stood next to one another, Lucy's left arm and the clones right outstretched with their palms touching. Magical energy began surrounding them.
"What's going on?!" Lola yelled.
"She's using a lot of magic." Ren said.
"So she made a copy of herself to raise her magical power." Eve surmised.
Hibiki smiled softly. "I see, she mastered the spell."
""It won't be as strong as when I first used it."" Lucy thought as the power continued to well up within her.
""But I can still show her, I can show everyone what Fairy Tail is made of."" Lucy and Gemini began reciting the spell in unison:
Ten wo hakari ten wo hiraki
Amaneku subete no hoshiboshi
Sono kagayaki wo motte
Ware ni sugata wo shimese
Flare sat on the ground in fear as she watched Lucy perform her attack. "W-what are you doing?!" she shouted.
Tetorabiburosu yo
Ware wa hoshiboshi no shihaisha
Asupekuto wa kanzen nari
Araburu mon wo kaihōseyo
Zenten hachijūhassei
The Gemini twins disappeared and the crowd looked around themselves in awe as the field around them looked as if it was in space. Flare continued to cower. The armored man of Raven Tail looked over to the tall, long nosed man and the small black creature to his right. The creature nodded and grinned,
Lucy finished her incantation, her eyes opening with a magical star seal in place of her pupils:
Hikaru!
Urano Metoria!
Celestial bodies appeared in the black space above Lucy and Flare, the redhead looking on in both fear and disbelief as they collided with her. Flare let out a shrill scream as she flew back, crashing to the ground.
The sky suddenly turned normal as Lucy slowly wobbled.
The crowd fell silent. Lucy looked around, slightly unnerved that all eyes were focused on her.
""what happened?...my magic…..""
"What happened?" Lola asked. "Lucy was ready to deal the finishing blow but suddenly stopped."
Yajima's face darkened with anger.
"Lucy!" Gray shouted.
'What happened?" Juvia asked.
"Lucy-neechan!" Aya exclaimed as she was worried for the Celestial Spirit mage
Natsu's face darkens as he looks over to Raven Tail and sends them the most angriest glare he could ever mustered
Lucy fell down as everyone didn't know what happened at all
Everyone started booing as they called Fairy Tail weak, lame and many more insult
Flare laughs at her as she mocks her weak self
She then left the arena before Natsu came in to the arena and help Lucy up
"you did well" Natsu said as Lucy cried in tears
"I didn't win" Lucy muttered out in tears as she failed everyone
"it doesn't matter if you win or not, the important thing is that you saved Aya and Asuka" Natsu said with a smile as he reached out to her
"come on, we can still win this" Natsu said as Lucy nodded and reached to his hand
He pulled her up and help her to come back to their stand before sending the most murderous glare at Raven Tail
That's a wrap!
Bye bye