Wishfull-star: (ᵔ◡ᵔ)

"You're the best, Ace!" Natsu hugged him. Ace had flown them to the capital, and Natsu didn't get sick at all the whole way. Ace pat his back, amused. "I'm so happy I wasn't sick! You should fly me everywhere." Ace rolled his eyes.

The day before, they'd gone over everything the guild knew about these games. They were different every year. The rules and competition were only announced when they happened. There was no knowing ahead of time. The only people to participate had to have the guild mark. It was a must. Also, Masters couldn't join in. There was nothing prohibiting S-Class wizards.

One rule that wasn't there the year before was to be in their hotel room before midnight. The rest of the rules would be announced when it was time. The whole encyclopedia Erza read had only a few main points to remember.

Ace was nervous, but an excited nervous. Lucy was a fearful nervous. So he held her hand when they looked around the city as a group. She felt more relaxed this way. When they saw the rest of the guild, Ace didn't feel the need to comfort Lucy anymore. They were surrounded by family.

The teen hugged his boyfriend. "You better do good or I'll be a bit rougher," Marco whispered in Ace's ear.

"That just makes me want to lose," Ace said back with wiggling eyebrows. Marco grinned. They split off, going on their own. Ace knew where the inn was, and could get there fast if he needed. Either by flying or zooming on fire.

They ran into a crowd of onlookers, and wanted to see what it was. It was a bunch of men laying on the ground, beaten up. Sting and Rogue were behind it, and asked if anyone else wanted to challenge them. Seemed a lot more cocky now than at the inn or when they spoke near the pond.

Though both groups were now advertising their guilds. Marco's shirt was open, and Ace had nothing covering his wrist. They were jeered at, but honestly didn't give a shit, and continued their exploration of the capital. They didn't blow up at any others when they were rude. They'd just look bad that way.

"Are you guys participating?" Ace asked, getting their attention.

Sting narrowed his eyes. "Are you?"

"I am. Marco isn't," Ace replied honestly. "I assume you would both participate, though, being some of the strongest of Saber Tooth." His tone was conversational, and everyone looked shocked.

"Fro thinks so, too!" the frog cat said. He was adorable.

"Then you have the right opinion, don't you?" The cat repeated the words. "Well, no hard feelings if we fight against each other." Sting and Rogue said they'd win. "I don't know. We have four dragon slayers in our guild, and two are participating." The Saber Tooth dragon slayers rose their eyebrows. "Well, see you later, I guess."

He and Marco moved on, not looking back. "That cat is adorable, isn't it?" Ace asked. Marco agreed, and wondered why it wore a frog costume. "Who knows?"

Ace returned on time, not tired at all. Even after flying for hours, he felt completely rested, which was nice. He didn't sit on the bed, but on the floor against the wall. Erza and Gray were the only ones there. "I talked to Sting and Rogue," Ace stated. "They seem to be really hostile when we're competing. I unnerved them, though. Saying we have four dragon slayers now, and two would participate."

"They probably expect Gajeel to be the second," Gray responded. Lucy and Natsu came in with Happy. They looked angry, and Erza wondered what happened. Apparently, Sting wasn't so polite to them, and had been a downright douchebag. Looked like they weren't on all good terms. Beng polite and friendly really was good for you in life.

"Did you take their bait?"

"They said they were true dragon slayers because they killed their parents! How horrible! They also claimed to be strong enough to beat Acnologia," Lucy raged. Happy said the cats they had were really rude. Ace hadn't heard a thing from the brown one, but the frog one didn't seem mean. He didn't comment.

Ace also didn't say they met them and were more civil - it wasn't necessary. And neither did the other two who knew about the encounter. "Well, we'll get back at them in the games," Ace said lightly.

Elfman and Lisanna brought them some soda with caffeine to stay awake the next day if they didn't sleep well. "We'll do anything to help!" Erza thanked them. Ace commented on Elfman's serious muscle gain, and Natsu was irritated still about not improving on his own, without "cheating" to get better. By using Ultear's magic to allow them to use more magic stored inside of them. She, Jellal and Medly had encountered Erza's team after they left the spirit world. But Ace didn't think it was cheating, because that meant his seven years were cheating, and they weren't.

Elfman said he'd hoped to be chosen, so he buffed up. He could also use his take-overs more safely. "But I'm not surprised you were all chosen. Though Sabo would have been a good addition."

"Sabo doesn't get along well with Gray and Natsu. It wouldn't have worked well," Erza stated. "They're jealous over who gets to spend more time with Ace." Natsu wasn't embarrassed by this, and said it was annoying that Ace turned part-time for them.

"He is his brother, you know?" Lucy said. Natsu was still irritated about it. Ace wasn't, since he'd know this for a long time. Gray and Natsu also disliked Sabo long before Ace showed up due to their age being the same, but Sabo making it to S-Class at eleven and passing the first time. Ace had hoped that animosity would die down after Tenrou, but it didn't really.

Well, he wasn't out to solve his friends' and brother's problems for them. When the clock struck midnight, there was a loud, echoing gong throughout the city.

A projection was made outside of the balcony of their hotel room. It was a short man with a pumpkin head! "To all the guilds that have gathered for the Grand Magic Games! Good morning!" Ace would still consider this night, but didn't say anything about that. "We will now winnow down the 113 teams to eight!" Only eight?! Ace grew excited and nervous.

"To do that, we will start our preliminary competition! There are more and more guilds participating every year, and we don't want to spread the fun too thin! So this year, the competition will only be between eight teams!"

The pumpkin continued, claiming that the rules weren't too complicated. "We wish to engage you all in a race! Your goal will be the stadium the fun will take place in! The first eight teams there will take part in the official tournament!" They were given permission to use whatever magic they wanted. Since all five of them were gathered, they were qualified to take part. That's why they were all in the same place at the same time. Because the competition started now.

"If any of you should lose your lives in the labyrinth, the organizers bear no responsibility!"

"We're going to die?" Ace wondered.

"Of course not," Gray said.

A path was formed form their balcony to a sphere of all different shapes. It didn't look like an ordinary maze, since it was three dimensional.

"Let the preliminary contest to the Grand Magic Games, the sky labyrinth, begin!" the pumpkin man shouted, and then the projection disappeared. The five of them got moving immediately. Lucy asked Ace if he cloud get them to the exit. But he didn't know what direction it was in. If he did, then he could fly them all.

"That's boring!" Natsu claimed. Lucy insisted this was the preliminaries, and they had nothing to prove to anyone. "Still! Flying there would be the easy way out!" Erza said she was all for flying. Getting to the top eight mattered greatly. But Gray was against it, too. It was weird not having Happy with them in a way.

Erza suggested they then use magic to get where they needed to be quickly. "How?" Ace asked.

"This place seems controlled by gravity in some way. If we're careful, we won't fall off. Blasting an ethernano roar could work, and we could just follow that path to the goal." Ace thought it was a good idea, but didn't know which way it was. "I do have a compass," Erza said. "We should first map out way to which direction it's in. We'll head forward and mark as we go."

Ace thought that would take forever. "I could just destroy half of the place. I won't be upset about the mess," he said. Natsu would be annoyed at that, and said they should just start already. So they started. They ran into many guild groups, and ended up stealing their papers they'd mapped out.

The fourth generation dragon slayer did his best to read and match them, but that was useless when the whole thing rotated, and they had to hold on for dear life as more and more people fell, screaming.

Ace would be fine, bring made of fire and everything. But the others wouldn't. So they hung on, and managed to not fall and lose so fast. They got back up, but now the map were useless. Ace burnt them up in his hands in annoyance.

But they found more people with maps, and took this opportunity to use them before the place rotated again. They made their way there with Lucy's smarts, not Ace's. When they got to the floating dorway with the words "Congratulations! Goal!" on it, they were all beaming proudly when a person with a pumpkin head showed up and greeted them.

"Surly we made first place," Erza said confidently.

"No, you barely made it to 8th place." They were embarrassed, but Ace stayed positive. At least they made it. He didn't mutter that it would have been faster to fly. They were in last place already, but this round didn't really count.

He returned to the hotel, and saw Marco had snuck in, and was sleeping on Ace's bed already. Nobody said a thing, but Lucy and Erza had faces on that showed they thought it was adorable. Marco didn't wake up when Ace climbed in after him, and just automatically wrapped his arm around him. I made him less nervous about being in last place already.

When they woke up, they headed to the stadium, which was very fancy and all made of carved stone. Easily a hundred thousand people fit into the stands. It was crazy, and was also being broadcasted all over the kingdom. A huge audience. Lucy was pacing back and forth. They all had purple outfits on. They were to match.

Ace had shorts and boots on, with a fancy short sleeved shirt. He would probably lose it sometime later. His clothes were usually fine with his fire when he wanted them to be. They could hear the crowd screaming excitedly. Ace bluntly reminded them all that they were despised. They would get booing.

"Not by the end of this week," Natsu said with conviction. Ace smiled, and agreed. They were told when their time was, and headed out. They walked own the long hallway, hearing the crowd and also the commentator. He was introducing the game, and the guest commentator, as the second was someone from the magic counsel.

Ace was irked they were mentioned to be last place already, but it made sense. But when they came out, they were relentlessly booed. Ace just had a determined face on, looking around, seeing just how many people there were. People who wanted them to fail like they always had so far. This time was different, and the commentators (besides the beauty pageant one from Blue Pegasus) seemed positive for their return. At least someone didn't hate them.

Looking up at the loudest and only people cheering them on, they saw the entire guild waiting in the stands, cheering them on loudly. Ace was happy they were there, but then his eyes widened shock when Master Mavis appeared. He was shocked, and asked if they others could see her. They were dumbstruck as well, only having seen her once.

"She does look kind, like you said," Erza said. Ace nodded, happy to see her. She looked straight at his eyes and gave a bright thumbs up. Tears almost gathered in his eyes. She was the one to help him stay sane those lonely seven years.

His attention was drawn away from her and his thoughts as the other teams were announced and came out, getting cheers and not boos, though some were ore than others. In order from last to first, there was Quatro Cerberus, Mermaid Heel, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, Raven tail. Then, a surprise team came out.

Ace's eyes widened, just like his teammates, when they saw more of their guild members in another team, second place. Mira, Laxus, Gajeel, Sabo and Juvia. Ace grinned, and Sabo gave him a wave. Ace scratched his face to casually flip him off. But he was still smiling.

"They got second place, and we got last," Natsu moped. "That can't be allowed! Only one team! They cheated!" Ace asked why he wanted less of a chance for their guild to win.

"You always wanted to beat Laxus, right? And Gajeel, too. This is your chance, in public, in front of the world." Natsu's attitude changed instantly, now promising to beat their asses, since they were opponents, and Ace smiled at how easy it could be to manipulate Natsu. He was like an open book at all times. The commentator told everyone that two team were allowed to take place from each guild. That was why there were two Fairy Tail teams.

Then, the first place team came out, and Saber Tooth were met with ravenous cheers from everyone, it seemed. They were the complete opposite of how both Fairy Tail teams had been treated. Well, they would gain back the public opinion. Ace would do his best to be friendly and lighthearted.

He wouldn't be rough or cruel. He'd try to not prolong the battles he was in too long. Sting and Rogue looked over to them, and at Ace. They were no longer civil, and were glaring at him. It seemed to intensify their anger when Ace gave them a thumbs up. "What are you doing?" Gray asked.

"I want to look friendly. We don't just want to regain our standing in strength. We want public opinion of us to change, don't we?" Ace said calmly. Erza said that was true, and she hadn't thought about it much. Ace nodded. Natsu couldn't be friendly with the enemies, since he wasn't friendly with their own guild members.

Ace wanted his team to win, but would be happy if the other did instead. As long as Fairy Tail won, it would be fine.

While the crowd cheered, the commentator spoke. He pulled up the rules of the game. It was simple. One competition a day, and one match for each team after the competition was over. It was easy to understand. And the rules of each competition would be given only after the members were chosen so they had no way to assign perfect members for each activity.

The person who placed first got ten points, and the one last got zero points. If the preliminary thing mattered, Fairy Tail would be last already. They weren't on a roll yet, really. But they would get better. At least the other Fairy Tail team had done well, right behind Saber Tooth. Sting and Rogue kept glaring at him. Maybe they thought he was a liar, about four dragon slayers. And three were taking part from Fairy Tail. Five were in this competition from all teams.

Ace offered to take the first competition. The others were glad for him to take it. He'd be the starting point. If he failed, they'd be fucked already. If he won, it would be a good start. He went forward, joining the others. Rogue joined from Saber Tooth. Juvia was joining, and she and Ace high fived. Two elements battling in the same match.

Nalpudding joined from Raven Tail. He looked creepy, really. Then there was Beth from Mermaid Heel. Lyon and also Eve. He'd worked with three of their battle partners. Juvia, Lyon and Eve. Though he didn't interact much with Eve. Then there was the last guy from Quatro Cerberus, Jager.

Yajima, the former magic counsel guy commentating was heard saying Rogue was the one to watch, but nobody had heard of Ace, so he could possibly be interesting.

Nalpudding complained about two Fairy Tail members being there, but there was no point, as his grievances changed nothing and just made him look petty. The others had no problem either. Rogue said not a thing, but wasn't glaring at Ace at all.

Suddenly, there was a city spawned in the massive ring that could fit it all it was so large. It appeared out of nowhere by magic. Ace was impressed. Then they were all transported to different starting places while the commentator spoke the rules. Everyone was "it" and everyone was hiding. Contestants had to find one another in the city and attack. Even if it was an easy attack, they still got points.

Suddenly, clones of all types were there, all around him. They were still, but lifelike enough to be breathing. Hitting one of those would take one point. Ace was glad he'd Mastered his fire so much that it almost was living, and followed his commands. He went into an open area, the game declared to start, and released seven bits of flame that raced through the city, avoiding any clones and hitting all of the opponents at once, giving him seven points.

"Ah! And the unknown Ace strikes first! Seven points in one fell swoop!" Ace ran from the area, and became still once he heard someone else around. It was Napudding. He went to attack Ace with a bunch of spikes coming from his body, but Ace made his fire body hollow everywhere he hit. Instead, he nailed six different clones.

"Oops!" Ace said, and Nalpudding disappeared.

"And Ace loses six pints for Raven Tail! Just what is his fire!?" Ace grinned, knowing he was doing well. Looking at the score, Rogue was doing well, too. He was being praised, too, and Ace was hunting him. When his fire started to zoom away, it lead his straight to Rogue, and he just smacked him across the face with a bit of fire, making him transport somewhere else.

He… was being petty. Shit. Was the power going to his head? Juvia was behind him and doused him with water. Ace told her nice job before he disappeared. She had three points, Ace had eight. Rogue had six right now.

When Ace saw Nalpudding jump at him, he decided to show off. Nobody was expecting it. "Ethanano dragon roar!" and he let out a blast of blue bits of ethernon as he focused on making it seem that way. Nalpudding didn't die, but he was punted out of the ring, and the blast left a hole in the decorative part of the stands above the crowd.

"Another dragon slayer taking part?! Now we have five this year!" Ace grinned, and ran from that area. He found Mermaid Heel's member, and smacked her with fire as well. Suddenly Rogue was behind him, and set off a shot of black shadow at him. Ace grew wings suddenly and moved to the side, landing on the roof after seemingly smoothly transforming into his dragon form.

He would make his team look strong. Of course he wasn't showing his fire attacks or dragon force. Not to mention him being able to absorb ethernano. Rogue looked shocked, and Ace shot a beam at him, concentrated, leaving a deep hole in the ground. Rogue still looked shocked, and the bell rang while the commentator's were in shock. Ace flew out the ring and landed in human form.

The audience was quiet before it went wild with cheers. "And Fairy Tail team A finishes with eleven points! Saber Tooth with eight, Lamia Scale with five, Raven Tail with five, Mermaid Heel at three, and Quatro Cerberus and Fairy Tail Team B tied at two. Yikes. Well, this was the first day and first competition. They had time to climb to the top.

"What a unique dragon slayer! Able to turn into one at will?! What generation does this make him, Yajima-san?!"

The old man said what Ace already called himself. "I'd say he's fourth generation just based on his shown abilities. Using fire and ethernon blasts. I've never heard of or seen such a thing. I look forward to seeing his battle."

"I'd be more afraid." Ace looked up at his boyfriend who was grinning. His brother sent him a thumbs up from where he was waiting with the other team. Juvia did so badly that it was kind of sad. Ace wished they could have teamed up, but they couldn't, and they would also can cancel the other out.

Ace was still soaked in cheers as he went inside. All of Saber Tooth was scowling at him, but for Sting and Rogue, whose faces were pale and expressions shocked. Ace gave them a thumbs up. Maybe he couldn't be polite with them. Oops.

He returned to his place upstairs, and sat down on the bench, more like flopping down. "Nice, Ace!" Natsu cheered. Ace grinned. Erza was smiling, and said they'd gotten a good start. Even if they lost the battle spectacularly, at least they wouldn't be in the negatives.

Ace nodded. He saw, across the stadium, that Raven Tail was glaring at him, too. He hadn't gone after their member much, but he had gotten him three times, and dodged his attack easily. The next battle, the first one of the day and of the whole tournament was Lucy. Hard after coming in right after Ace's win.

"Good luck," Ace said. She nodded, and said she wouldn't erase his score by losing. "Don't worry about it so much." Lucy nodded again, her face determined and set. Ace sat back in the chair but could still see over the side. "I hope they don't go after her harder because of my score," he said quietly.

"Don't feel pity for her," Natsu said. "She'll win. I know it." Ace wasn't so sure, but believed in her resolve. She'd fight until she could no longer move, and wouldn't give in to pain. She was tough, even if she wasn't physically strong. The best and most likely path here would be for them to have a draw.

There was no cheering for her. Nobody had cheered for Fairy Tail, only Ace himself. He clenched his hands together, worrying. He couldn't help it. The woman she was against looked unhinged, and came from a suspicious guild, too. Raven Tail seemed all around kind of creepy. Ace really hoped for the best. But nobody was really cheering for Raven Tail either. Both guilds seemed to be disliked.

Ace learned from the commentators that Ravel Tail's Master was Makarov's son. How cheesy, naming your guild like that after being excommunicated. He just wanted to mess with their guild, no doubt. He didn't think that Raven Tail would play clean, they'd play dirty. Everyone else standing with him thought this, too. But they said nothing, with their expressions being enough.

Lucy wasted no time before bringing out both Scorpio and Taurus to attack. Flare dodged a few attacks and guarded against another. It seemed her hair was what she used as magic. She moved it around as if it were a bendy limb coming from her head. It seemed strong as well. She looked sure of herself for winning this match. But Lucy did, too. Both of them thought they'd win.

When Cancer came out and cut up Flare's hair, she lost it. She wrapped her hair around Lucy's ankles and threw her around. But Lucy pulled out her whip she got from the celestial spirts, and grabbed Flare as well, throwing them both around, rolling hard. Must get some bruises after that. Flares hair had burnt apart Lucy's boots, so now she was barefoot.

But then both stopped fighting. They were speaking, and Lucy looked upset while Flare was confident and also looked a bit insane, but she'd been giving that vibe the whole time. Natsu disappeared, running off without an explanation. Flare started to whip her opponent with her burning hair, making Lucy cry out.

Ace's fingernails were digging into his palms, bringing out bits of fire, not blood. He had his teeth clenched tightly, very upset over Flare's excessive beating. Even cutting her hair should not retaliate like this. Humiliating and hurting Lucy. The commentator spoke about how Lucy had been doing well, but now she was powerless.

How embarrassing to be Lucy. Ace cheered for her to stay strong. She had hair wrapped around her face, and Ace couldn't hear what they were talking about, but Flare was clearly the one in control. Lucy was held up by all limbs, her wrists and ankles. Her underwear was shown to everyone, and her face was red in shame and embarrassment. He felt bad for her when the men were jeering about it. It made him angry.

But suddenly, Lucy's confidence came back, and she attacked with Gemini, the twin spirits she'd gotten from Oracion Seis seven years ago. She attacked Flare with them, throwing her off. Ace still couldn't hear a thing over the crowd. Real dragon slayers could, but not Ace. He traded that skill for being able to actually turn into a dragon.

Ace smiled as Lucy started an intense, powerful spell. The whole area changed as she chanted with a clone of herself from Gemini. Power was thrust out of her, and the whole stadium was engulfed in a starry sky, before it completely disappeared. Flare looked fearful of Lucy until she was clearly beaten down.

Gritting his teeth, Ace felt there had to have been cheating. Lucy hadn't been out of magic! The spell was hard, clearly. It took a ton of power, but it didn't make sense for her to suddenly lose it all. Erza and Gray seemed to have the same anger, and knew it as well. But they had no idea who'd done it.

Probably someone in Raven Tail, but the three had been focusing on the battle, not the other teams in their designated places. Lucy was mocked both by Flare and the entire audience. Ace wanted to get angry, but Erza stopped him. "Remember your own words. We'll get Raven Tail back for this," she said firmly. Ace lost the fire inside him.

"You go from that masterpiece and to this trash! Shameful!"

Ace heard all sorts of mean comparison insults about Ace being stronger and Lucy embarrassing herself. She cried, hiding her face as she laid on the ground. Natsu got to her first, and reassured her with a smile and kind words. Ace wished the crowd would be quieter so he could actually hear what was going on!

Kind of a weird place to end the chapter, but it was getting ridiculously long if I didn't. See you next week!