A/n A little late, sorry. I was a bit out of it yesterday.

Lucy stretched as she woke up. It was time for the final day of the Grand Magic Games. And the event was basically an all out war between the fourteen teams! They had stayed up a bit late discussing strategies and who each would fight and who they would avoid. Mavis had wanted to offer input but they told her that it felt like cheating, and it wasn't like there was lives at stake here. She pouted at them but accepted that answer and went off to find someone else to talk to about strategy.

They at least were able to sleep in a little, but knowing that the shops were going to all be closed so their war could take place, they were planning on grabbing food to eat along the way to their assigned spot and then eating so that they didn't have to worry. It would be a big breakfast and each of them would be carrying snacks to get them through the day, since it didn't sound like they'd otherwise get to eat. Having something to eat could be the difference between winning a fight and losing. Fighting on an empty stomach was hard, after all.

Before long the team had gathered and were off to grab their food. They got some hot meals to go and made it to their starting spot. They were in the park. It was a good place to start. They got comfortable and packed away their snacks, including the ones that Mira put together. Then they ate their breakfasts.

After that they had to wait until 10am hit so they could start. There were a few plans. But the most important one was the start: Conserve as much magic as possible early on and try to avoid the heavy hitters or they could risk being picked off too soon in the event. And if they had to fight any of the stronger opponents, then it wouldn't be too bad as they'd be mostly at full strength. They'd even be avoiding using magic if possible. They might be able to pull it off against some of the members of the teams in the last four spots.

They took their time cleaning up and making sure they were ready before finally... the countdown started. They stood up and waited. And the Game had begun.

Lucy quickly called out Lupus, as he would be good at tracking. A silver key to start would help. She waited patiently as he sniffed out which direction other teams were. She had made sure to have him learn the other scents of at least the teams that were the best so that she could better avoid everyone.

"We'll meet back up here in an hour," she reminded everyone. They nodded. That was so they could all split up to start with but later on more easily choose to pair up to better cover weaknesses and be able to fight. And, between Phoenix and Wendy, they could heal everyone to a more doable state if necessary.

Lucy followed Lupus to the scents he was picking up of weaker teams. No one was in any real hurry. They knew this could take hours. The fastest run of this Game in the last six years was three hours. The slowest was ten hours. There would be plenty of time later to run around finding opponents. Conserving energy was always the best strategy in a Game that showcases so many skills, including endurance and stamina.

There wasn't really anything of note in the first hour or so. Lucy met up and beat one of the members of Noble Centaur quickly just with her whip, impressing Lupus. Lupus was still a bit... flirty at times, but he knew better than to push too hard on her or anyone else now. Loke made sure to impress that on him, and Lucy's skills (and power) had him convinced to stay in line.

She found almost everyone already there. No one was winded. Not even a single sign of a bruise. She glanced at the scores, since there was one of the many screens right there. They only had six points out of that hour, but that was okay. Some of the other teams had gotten more, and it looked like Noble Centaur was now completely out of the fight with no additional points.

"It looks like a lot of teams are close to being out of contention. We need to step it up." Laxus crossed his arms. "What did everyone see?"

"It's hard to track people down." Lucy frowned. "Even with a superior sense of smell. Crocus is big."

"Um, I saw some I could have fought, but they were in pairs, so I didn't want to," Wendy volunteered quietly.

"Phoenix Feather was mostly grouped together when I saw them," Mira added. "I'm surprised they didn't defeat more people."

Freed crossed his arms. "We will have to resort to pairs I believe. We are tied with the other Fairy Tail team and Sabertooth got more points than the rest of us."

"So we need to try to track down as many as we can." Gajeel grunted, glancing at Wendy. They had decided on pairs to be Freed and Mira, Wendy and Gajeel, and Laxus and Lucy. Two of the pairs already worked well together, and Wendy was mostly support anyways. This also gave each pair someone with some sort of healing capability, even if Freed rarely used those runes.

"I noticed that Phoenix Feather is mostly sticking together, that's probably why they're one of the teams that hasn't had a defeat yet." Mira smiled. "But I think a pair of us can take them down if we come across them."

"Right. Remember, try to avoid the stronger fights," Lucy said. "We want to make sure we can take down the strongest of our opponents without trouble. That seems to be Kagura of Mermaid Heel, all of Sabertooth A, Bacchus of Quatro Cerberus A, Jura, Lyon, and Cheria of Lamia Scale, Ichiya of Blue Pegasus, and the other Fairy Tail team."

Everyone nodded and they split off into their pairs to head into Crocus. Gajeel and Wendy went towards the markets. Mira and Freed flew off to get a better vantage point. Lucy looked at Laxus.

"Let's track down Phoenix Feather, I think between us and my spirits we can take down the five of them."

Laxus smirked. "I believe you're right. Let's get going." He breathed in the air. "Yeah, they're this way." He shot off, knowing Lucy would follow and keep up.

Lucy grinned, already mentally working out what spirit was best. If there was water nearby she could summon Aquarius, and they would be in for a shock. Otherwise... Scorpio and Gemini would be good. Gemini to mimic Juvia. Water was the obvious counter to all their fire magic, aside from the one who had that weird water and fire combination, but it wasn't just the spirits fighting. Easy enough to handle on her own.

It took them about five minutes but they came across Phoenix Feather near a water fountain. Perfect. Lucy poked Laxus and nodded to it. He nodded back and walked forward to get their attention.

"Seems a bit of a weird move to all stick together. Sure you're not likely to all get defeated then, but how do you defeat others?" he asked loudly, drawing their attention. They jumped up.

"It gives us a better chance to defeat them," one of them said defensively. "And against a single person, it's an easy win."

Laxus laughed. "Are you so sure I'll be easy to defeat?" He saw Lucy pull out the key and dip it into the water. "Besides, who said I was alone?"

A wave crashed into them, knocking them off balance. It stopped before it reached him. He quickly added a lightning dragon roar to the mix, and two were instantly out. That left three between him, Lucy, and Aquarius. That would be an easy enough battle.

He went up against the fire to ice mage, keeping his distance at first to better block the ice from getting to him. Lucy faced the rainbow fire mage, while Aquarius frustrated the fireworks mage by constantly putting out the fireworks. She seemed to be enjoying herself.

The battle only lasted a further ten minutes, and it would have been faster if they hadn't been conserving their magic. Once they all lay there knocked out, he and Lucy exchanged smirks. That was nine points for them. That would catch them up with Sabertooth, if Sabertooth had not gotten any other wins.

Now they were free to lay low and keep an eye on the scores and who was still in the game at all before they hunted down Jura and Ichiya, if they were still in the game. Everyone had a different target. Wendy's was Cheria, Mira's was Orga, Gajeel's was Rogue, and Freed's was Rufus. Anyone else they beat would be a bonus.

.

Gajeel and Wendy came across Lyon and Cheria shortly after they left everyone else. Lyon seemed put out that it wasn't Gray he was fighting, but he tossed aside his shirt anyways. Cheria sighed and exchanged a look with Wendy and then the fight was on.

Cheria and Wendy fought each other while occasionally offering support to their teammates, usually just by hitting them with healing so they could keep going more easily. Gajeel had the edge over Lyon, but he was used to fighting Gray's static ice makes, rather than the ones that could move that Lyon made, which drew the fight out, especially when coupled with how quickly Cheria was able to heal him during her own fight.

Wendy knew she had to pull out a win. Cheria was good, and it wouldn't be easy to get a win. But she had been working on some good techniques that would come in handy. But first... she had to wait for the perfect opportunity. Cheria was winding up for her next attack. Perfect.

Wendy took in a deep breath and expelled a dragon's roar with all of her enhancement magic in it. Cheria's attack went right by and she crashed into a tree, looking dazed. The little dragon slayer grinned, but she wasn't done. She took in some more air then started spinning in place.

Gajeel looked up and ducked behind a building before Lyon's next attack could land. She had warned him about her new technique, and it was clear it would cause a lot of damage from the way the wind was spinning with her, growing thicker with each spin.

Wendy came to a stop and released all the wind. It spun off in all directions, sharp and powerful after being so tightly spun around her. She staggered for a moment then saw that she had gotten Lyon down, and Cheria looked dazed. A success, even if it caused a lot more damage to their surroundings than she had planned.

Gajeel took the opportunity and knocked Cheria out. "That was a bit more than I expected," he said gruffly as he steadied her.

"Me too," she replied as the dizziness subsided. "I knew in theory it would work, I just... didn't think it could destroy so much."

"Good thing to have up your sleeve. Now, I want to find one of those Sabertooth dragon slayers and have a word with them." He cracked his knuckles.

Wendy sighed. "Alright, let me just heal your wounds first."

"Fine." Then he added as an afterthought. "Thanks."

.

Freed and Mira traveled together, keeping an eye out for anyone they could take down. The few people they encountered, they took down swiftly. It also seemed like their strategy was paying off. From their glimpses of the battles on the screens that were scattered throughout Crocus, it seemed that many of the big players were laying low after their first battles to rest and maybe eat. This meant there was a greater likelihood of picking off a leader and earning the five points.

Then came an actual challenge in the form of Cana and Juvia. Neither side hesitated. They saw each other and just started throwing attacks. Juvia and Cana knew that Mira was S-Class and dangerous, but they went ahead with their fight anyways. They were Fairy Tail after all.

Jokes and teasing were tossed around between the pairs, including Cana joking about Mira and Freed fighting each other. Cana had definitely improved her card magic skills. Higher level spells, new cards, and some geared specifically towards protection. And Juvia no longer relied as much on her water body as she did before, having learned that there were things that could affect it if she weren't careful.

This made for a far more even fight than one would expect, even with Freed using dragon slaying magic. Cana was proving why she was so consistently chosen to compete in the S-Class trials for so many years while Juvia proved why she had been so high ranked in Phantom Lord before it was disbanded.

On the other side, Freed was showing that dragon slayers did not have to get out of control or relish in a fight the way most did, while still doing a lot of good attacks. He had chosen against using enchantments in this fight as he did not want to win against guild members so cheaply.

Mira switched between demon souls smoothly, never losing control, and confusing Cana and Juvia in the process. She definitely had the edge over them, but they were ultimately putting on a show. Until...

"So are you two ever going to just get together, be lovers?" Cana teased, tossing out some cards. They landed on the ground underneath Mira, who had stopped flying in surprise at the topic coming up.

Freed noticed what the cards were far faster and darted to take the explosion for Mira. Since he did so at a closer range than they were intended it totally knocked him out instead of just disabling him.

Mira switched back to her original demon soul and smiled sweetly at the battered pair in front of her, now over her shock. "You just knocked out my boyfriend." Cana's eyes widened and she barely had time to consider running before the stronger than necessary blast knocked her and Juvia out.

Mira shook herself when she left her demon soul and took the time to ensure Freed was more comfortable. Then she took out some snacks and started eating because she was a bit tired from that excessive use of magic. Once she had refueled, she was ready to go looking for more fights.

.

Laxus and Lucy continued their hunt, but did not find too many to fight. Lucy periodically checked on the standings and fights. She saw that Erza was fighting Minerva and Kagura. Gray beat Rufus. Almost everyone was out, by then. It was just members of Fairy Tail A, B, Sabertooth A, and Kagura of Mermaid Heel, Ichiya of Blue Pegasus, and Jura of Lamia Scale.

"I suppose it's time for me to hunt down Jura." Laxus was also taking a look. "Not much else we can do, especially if everyone is taking the time to build up strength for the final fights. Going to be a close one between us and Sabertooth," he added. Sabertooth was only two points ahead of them in the overall totals while the other Fairy Tail team was just one point behind.

"All the more reason to take out Jura. There's a good chance he was a leader."

"That is very true," Laxus agreed. The hunt was on to find Jura. As they went, they learned that Sabertooth had put themselves ahead by another five points when Ichiya went down to Sting.

Laxus found Jura at the same time Orga did. Jura struck Orga down in one hit. Lucy blinked and stared. Well... that made their plan trickier, seeing the sheer power Jura had. Their initial plan didn't really take that into account. But they did have a back up plan, just in case they were second guessing.

Laxus nodded to her, so Lucy summoned Gemini in the form of Wendy to serve as his back up and mostly to give him support as needed while he did the rest of the fight on his own. He was rather confident he could do it. He just didn't want to risk losing. This fight was too important to lose.

Lucy then ran off, looking for Sting. With Orga down, there were three members left of Sabertooth, then Fairy Tail could have fun and brawl with the other team. Gajeel had called dibs on Rogue, so Lucy was going to steer clear of that fight. And she was not about to get in the middle of the Erza versus Minerva fight, not after that glimpse she saw of Minerva attempting to steal the knock out at the end of the fight with Kagura. She failed at it, but it was very close, and only Erza's honed reflexes secured her the five points.

So, that just left Sting. It didn't take her too long to pick up his scent. It was time to knock out a dragon slayer. As she ran through the streets, she saw snippets of Mira joining the fight, fighting both Erza and Minerva after Minerva initially expected it to become two against one. Fairy Tail just didn't work that way. They would happily fight each other, just not nearly as viciously as Sabertooth did. Lucy was even happier she left that fight alone. The Mira and Erza rivalry was legendary, and she did not want to see why up close.

Finally she skidded around a corner to find Sting. He jumped up. "I've been waiting."

Lucy huffed. "What, you wanted to fight me? Or just Fairy Tail?"

He narrowed his eyes at her and started tensing, though he wasn't quite to fighting yet. "Actually, I did want to fight you specifically. One of the big dragon slayers of Fairy Tail, and rumor has it that you were one of only two people who took out Raven Tail in a night."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Rumors, you don't know if it's real or false."

"Either way, you have been quite interesting to watch and I certainly wanted to fight you to see what you're made of."

"And I've been looking forward to a proper fight with a dragon slayer I haven't trained with." Lucy grinned, falling into a fighting stance. "I'll even save my spirits for later." Truthfully, she just wanted to save her magic a bit, with Gemini helping Laxus. And it would be a lot more fun throwing spirits and dragon magic against some of the Fairy Tail members anyways.

"Then let's get on with it before we're interrupted." Sting started off with the typical dragon's roar. Lucy jumped to the side and countered with her own. Then the fight was off in earnest.

It was easy to fall into a rhythm of attack, dodge, block, attack, and so on. She kept using more and more powerful techniques, and Sting kept matching the power. Their grins matched, both thrilled with the fight. Lucy knew she was gong to fall behind soon.

She would probably never completely match other dragon slayers in sheer strength, but she had other advantages. The next hit was a near miss and it left a faint burn on her arm from just how close it was. She grit her teeth, and ran through the options in her head. She could, and probably should, call out a spirit to finish the fight. But she didn't want to do that. She had another idea, a bit of a ridiculous idea. It was probably too soon, but... it could work and give her the edge she needed.

Over the next few exchanges, she went over the idea and liked it more and more. It wasn't her top choice out of all the dragon slayer magics she knew of, but it would work well, she thought. They exchanged blows of magic powered fists. She launched him away from her with a powered kick. He looked surprised by the strength as he flew into a building.

He decided to use the distance to go for one of his stronger distance attacks. Lucy smirked. Perfect. She rolled her shoulders and got into position.

She remembered all the tips for this that the book had. She coated her hands with her own magic and got ready. The hit landed. Only, not really. She used her hands to get it into her mouth more easily, as it was not very willing to do so. She ate the magic and then focused on making it a part of her own. The cloud of magic disappeared.

Sting looked surprised to see her unharmed. Lucy smirked.

"I didn't have to use a spirit." She activated her magic, now the golden light of celestial magic had streaks of pure white.

"What?" Sting stared.

The moment was ruined by Natsu jumping in. "Ha I found you Sting now you have to fi- LUCY!?" He stopped. He stared. Lucy raised an eyebrow.

Natsu smirked and activated his own double magic ability. "Now we can really fight!"

"What about me!" Sting yelped, stunned. And a bit horrified to see a new dragon slaying trick on two of the dragon slayers.

"A three way fight, then," Lucy replied, smirking.

Natsu laughed. "You're on!"

Sting looked a bit like he was starting to regret this as Natsu flung fire and lightning everywhere. Lucy countered with her own, similar attack.

They traded attacks for a bit, and then Sting finally joined in. Now the fight was really on. Lucy ducked and dodged, sending attacks back as quickly as they came. Natsu was cackling, thoroughly enjoying the chance to completely let loose. Sting was back to grinning, using dragon force to keep up with them and to better withstand their attacks.

Sting was caught up in a crumbling building after a while. Lucy kept track of it while blocking all of Natsu's fight. If she did this right, she could easily knock him out. He was the most battered between the three of them at this point. Double the elements meant double the attack, mostly.

Lucy remembered on of his attacks and grinned. She thought she could pull off a variation of one of those holy attacks. It should be wide range enough to get Natsu in the blast zone, which would give her time to call a spirit to support. She wanted to call Demeter, but she wasn't sure how well the plants would fare against fire and lightning. She decided that Loke and Scorpio would work well for this. Loke as her strongest spirit, and Scorpio's sand to dampen the effects of both lightning and fire.

She jumped back, just in time to avoid Natsu's latest attack. She lifted one hand, a ball of swirling holy magic and celestial magic mixing and growing. She held onto it until it was at the size she wanted. Then. She slammed it into the ground, sending a shockwave out around her followed by an explosion. She heard Sting yelp, then the announcer say he was out.

Perfect. While Natsu recovered, she called out Loke and Scorpio silently, and had them surround Natsu before Natsu recovered. That way they could take him by surprise. Lucy stretched.

"It's just you and me now, Natsu, ready to go?"

Natsu laughed, jumping up. "I've been waiting for this from the start!"

Lucy laughed. "Of course you have." He attacked. Lucy blocked and countered.

It wasn't quite the same rhythm as with Sting. She knew Natsu better, and even after two months of training he was predictable. She was keeping up with him, just because of that. But she wasn't making much of a dent against him for a while. Natsu finally landed an attack on her. Lucy staggered, but didn't quite fall. She gripped her arm that she had used to take most of the hit as it hurt. She considered her options, but had forgotten about her spirits.

Scorpio went into action, whipping up a sandstorm that smothered many of the flames around Natsu. It also made it harder for them to see, though both had the hearing and smell to go with it. Loke then attacked with his best attack twice in a row. Scorpio followed with his own best attack, while Lucy used her own best attack with the holy magic mixed in as it had been since she combined it with her own.

Natsu didn't actually stand much of a chance against the combined attacks. Lucy stared down at him. "Well... I did it." She huffed and turned, almost falling. Loke caught her.

"I'm pretty sure you got hit more than you realized at the time, princess."

Lucy blinked then assessed herself. "...yeah, you're right, I did." She sighed. "But it was worth it. Thank you both, I couldn't have done it without you."

Scorpio waved at her and faded out, but Loke stayed and supported her as they looked up at the screen. Erza had defeated Minerva, and then Mira and Erza had managed a double knock out, kind of. Erza went down. Mira wobbled for a bit, looking like she might stay conscious, then she passed out. They almost didn't give Fairy Tail A the point, but decided it counted. Laxus had indeed beat Jura, looking a bit beat up for it, though Gemini-Wendy had healed the worst of it before disappearing. Gajeel was just as beat up, having won his fight against Rogue. There was a hint of shadow swirling around his iron when she looked, the fight having ended around the same time. So he had kept what the book said in mind and used it as well. That made three dragon slayers with the ability.

"Just Gray left, then." Lucy smiled. "We should probably go find him and figure out how we want to do this."

"I would gladly fight him for you, if that's necessary. You all seem a bit beat up." Loke pointed out.

Lucy shrugged as they walked along, noting that she was limping a little. "Gray had to fight Rufus. He's probably just as beat up. This isn't going to be much of a fight." She chose not to look at the scores, wanting to wait until everyone was defeated.

They met up with Gajeel and Laxus, both of whom just grunted a greeting, though mentally, Laxus greeted Lucy with happy emotions. Gray met up with them just a minute later.

He stared at them. Then he looked at Loke. "...Can I just surrender. While maybe I have a chance with how beat up we all are... you're not, so... Yeah. I'm going to lose."

Lucy smiled at him. "If that's what you want. Not going to stop you."

Gray considered it again. Then nodded and sat down. "Yep, I surrender."

The Games were over.

A/n Hope you enjoyed! I have no idea when I'll be back with another update but I have not abandoned this story.