Chapter 9: The Rumble

Kagome really tried to cheer for them, but after seeing how Laxus got with motion sickness, she could only pity both Gajeel and Natsu. The other competitors had taken off onto the race, but the two dragons of Fairy Tail were not doing great. She could see on the screen their faces sweaty and going from pale to a sickening green. It was torture for them as they tried to walk in the chariots. She still was trying to comprehend how they had volunteered for such an event. The name itself spoke volumes on what most likely was going to be about.

When Mira asked Laxus if he suffered from motion sickness and he reluctantly answered, she couldn't help but snicker at that. That quickly earned her a glare from him. She would've never believed that the 'all powerful Laxus' had motion sickness. Kagome tried suppressing her own laughter, which he quickly caught on and glared at her.

She grinned at him, then turning her head back to the lacrima screen.

Sabertooth's dragon slayer, Sting, wasn't faring any better and outright gave up.

At the end, it was Natsu's speech that showed her really how much the guild loved each other and that stole the show that day.

It was bittersweet, because as much as she was loving everyone in the guild and was developing a relationship with Laxus, she was missing her own friends deeply. They were a strange bunch. A half demon, a fox demon, a monk, a demon slayer, a cat demon, and a priestess. Probably the most random team that could have ever ended up together. But they worked well with one another. Three years they have given to each one another. A part of their lives.

She could only wonder if they thought of her dead.

There was always that possibility that her world's time moved different than Earthland's, like the Celestial World. If that was the case, what if it had been three months for her but a week for them? Or worst, what if years had passed?

She knew deep in her heart that they could never count fully on Kikyo to help them get rid of Naraku. Although she was a powerful priestess, which she still felt she couldn't compete against, she only had half a soul.

If more time had gone by in the Feudal Era, she couldn't imagine the power Naraku now possessed. It would be a disaster and multiple people would be hurt. Just thinking of him was making her stomach churn and she could taste faint traces of vile rising in her throat.

As evil as Raven Tail seemed to be or whatever else they told her about Hades or the Black Wizard Zeref, they were still amateurs compared to Naraku. At least in her head. She had heard that Zeref was extremely powerful, but she highly doubted that he was as sick as Naraku was.

He was a manipulator. Someone that loved playing with people's heads and hearts. He was powerful, but it was his sick twisted nature that made him the deadliest being that could have ever lived.

Laxus had taken notice of her sudden mood change. She had gone from cheering, to looking sympathetic to what Natsu said, to looking utterly disgusted. He could only wonder if maybe she was thinking of her world.

She had told him about Naraku and he could only guess that he was the one on why she had such a dark look in her face. He knew she had a duty to fulfill, specially by what Bickslow told him once after a training session.

"She only has half of her soul."

He wasn't sure how a person could function or be as powerful as Kagome with just half a soul. It made him think, what if she had her full soul? Her power would be incredible.

He knew she has never gone into full details of her life in her world. He noticed she had censored parts of her tale and by her expressions, she had skipped certain events too. He only wanted to know how she lost half of her soul, but he was going to leave it up to her to decide when it was the right time.

As the event ended, she knew Natsu was going to be okay. He just needed some rest so there was no point in trying to make him feel better.

The battles were interesting to say the least, but the one she deeply was proud and impressed had been Elfman's. The giant muscle of a man faced off the dangerous drunk from Quatro Cerberus and it had been one deadly fight. Power of the wills, she called it.

She found Bacchus to be even more of a pervert than Miroku, claiming that if he won he would have Lisanna and Mirajane for the night. Seeing him fall, defeated to the ground by exhaustion because he couldn't penetrate Elfman's scales of his take over, it was beyond satisfying. Fairy Tail team A was now at 21 points thanks to that. She saw them, running to the arena to help Elfman to the infirmary where he was going to be needing lots of rest. She was pretty sure she caught Evergreen leaving the guild's balcony as well.

But as they were taking him, the commentators called upon the next battle so the competitors would get ready.

"And now folks! For the third battle of the day we will see Jenny from Blue Pegasus facing off— oh wow! This is new! Jenny will be facing off against Fairy Tail's newest member, Kagome Higurashi!"

Kagome gawked at the announcement, "I'm not here to compete!" She frantically look at Laxus, "I can't go there and fight!"

There was some deliberation from the judges, but apparently she had been put in replacement for 'Mystogan' that day. Which made no sense since he was there.

He growled as he felt the fight must have been rigged. Although Jenny wasn't an extremely tough competitor, him knowing full well Mirajane could defeat her if it was the case, she was still a take over mage. Facing Jenny, the better candidate would have been Mira. Kagome didn't necessarily have magic powers. Her own power was purification, a kind that no one in Fiore or the rest of Earthland had ever seen before.

Gajeel took her very nervous form but he went up and placed a hand on her head, "You'll be fine. Didn't you say you spent three months with the lightbulb? He must have taught you somethin'."

"I'll just start heading there," she quietly said. She saw Laxus moving but she shook her head, "I need to be alone. I'm sorry."

However he understood and let her go. Mira and Cana , who had joined their balcony during the Bacchus fight, cheered Kagome on. Juvia gave her an encouraging smile and Jellal nodded his head at her. It made her feel a bit better seeing how they had so much faith in her.

And that was exactly the issue. If she lost, Team B wouldn't get any points. They would still be at the bottom. There was so much at stake that she felt her shoulders heavy as she continued to walk.

As the entrance to the arena came into view, she took a deep breath.

I can do this!

The moment she walked onto the stage, cheers were loudly heard. Some of the audience had been shifting their views on both Fairy Tail teams that they were gaining a fan base again. She could hear the guild loudly cheering her on and so was Team A.

She was finally in front of the tall busty blonde woman that Kagome was sure she was a model. She was simply beautiful.

Jenny took in her opponent. She definitely had not seen her before. She was petite but with a great body, as she took it in Kagome's simple jean shorts, black boots, and dark red shirt. By her posture, she didn't look like a fighter either.

She could feel a strange power from her, something she had never felt before but she wasn't letting that judge her energy of winning the match.

She had been hoping for Mirajane but clearly she didn't get her wish.

As the gong sounded off, Jenny wasted no time. She sprinted at Kagome and just as she raised her fist to knock her back, Kagome had impressively jumped backwards to get out of the way. As her legs were in mid air because of the jump, she kicked Jenny, right on the side of her head.

The audience lost it and more cheers were heard. Laxus was smirking with pride as he crossed his arms and watched her. She was taking in everything he taught her for the last three months. He could see the challenging glare in her dark blue eyes.

If I can't win this, how can I hope to face off against Naraku? Kagome thought as she rose her arms to cover as Jenny was on her again.

Lucy was beyond impressed as Kagome went into the offensive, throwing kicks and punches, catching Jenny at times.

"I didn't know she could fight like that! She's giving Jenny a hard time!"

Erza nodded in agreement, "It seems Laxus did trained her."

Wendy looked at Erza, "How do you know it was him?"

"Some of the stances she's doing and some of her moves. It screams Laxus all over."

"Kagome did say back in her world there's a dangerous demon that her and her friends have to defeat," Gray said as he leaned more to watch the fight, "She's probably pushing herself to win."

"Come on Kagome keep kicking her butt!" Natsu shouted with intense enthusiasm.

There was a moment that Jenny caught her right on the stomach and sent her flying through the air. She landed roughly, but as she was getting up, she could feel Jenny's aura shifting.

Jenny had done a machinery take over. Kagome found herself having difficulties avoiding the blasts since the woman immediately started to attack her once her take over ended. She couldn't put up a shield, at least not fast enough to defend herself. She cried out in a few occasions when the blasts had been on her or near her.

Laxus started to growl. She was at a huge disadvantage now.

Jenny kept toying with her, and as she sent her painfully to the concrete wall of the arena, she stopped.

"I think it's time to do the grand finale! You were good, but you weren't good enough!"

Laxus' eyes became serious as Jenny did another take over, onto her Battle Form and something no one would have expected from the woman.

Mira's eyes widened as she saw it, "Wait a minute, that's a demon form!"

Jenny heard her as she stood now in her newly transformed body, "I didn't slack off these past seven years you were gone Mira. I learned to master a powerful demonic form. It's a shame you're not down here to get a taste of it!"

Laxus looked at Kagome and he chuckled as he shook his head, "She's an idiot. It's game over."

Gajeel gave him a look. Kagome could barely stand. How was she about to win?

Over on the Fairy Tail balcony, Bickslow and Freed were cheering loudly.

"Why are you guys more excited that she's in a demonic take over form?" Lisanna asked confused.

However, Levy put the pieces together, "Kagome is a priestess! She purifies demons!"

Jenny was gone in a flash, something that the regular eye would have difficulties catching. She raised her fist and went to attack Kagome with a demonic blast. There was smoke everywhere and almost everyone were expecting to see the raven haired girl on the ground after such an attack.

But as the smoke started to clear out, they heard Jenny scream in pain. She was holding her hand and she was staring wide eyed at Kagome who had a shield around her.

"Kagome go! Don't let her change forms! This is your chance!"

Laxus loud shouting was very easy to spot alongside all the insane cheering from the crowd.

She removed an arrow from her back and fired it. And then another one and another one. Anyone would think she was randomly firing arrows or she had horrible aim. Mavis' eyes were so wide as she realized what she was doing.

This won't kill Jenny but she's going to have to find another demon to use!

Kagome then used her last arrow and stabbed the ground with it, raising her left hand in prayer form as her body started to glow.

Purifying energy crackled from the arrow in the ground and it immediately connected to all the arrows that were around Jenny, leaving her with no escape. She was still pitifully grabbing her hand, which was now back to normal as she could feel a hot sensation from it.

Kagome didn't say anything as she let go of the arrow in the ground and connected her both hands, forming a triangle with her fingers, where a huge shot of purification energy was sent directly to Jenny in the box she was currently trapped in.

This was an attack she had seen in one of Levy's books that she had peeked through, but she twisted it into forming it solely for her purification energy. It had to work. She noticed the increase of her powers while being there. This was just a test of the spell, to see if maybe she could use it against Naraku. While such a blast could seriously damage him and hopefully destroy him, it was just going to purify the demon out of Jenny's body.

Jenny screamed in agony as she could feel the power of her take over leave her body, permanently. Like if someone ripped stitches from her body.

She had no idea the woman before her was someone capable of purifying a demon soul. She smiled gently, as Fairy Tail always seemed to find a way to win. She felt the soul leaving and she knew it was over. Removing forcefully a take over soul seemed to drain the magic of her body.

The moment Jenny fell face first on the ground, the amount of cheering was having the ground shake. No one had ever been successful in removing a demonic soul out of a take over mage. It was unheard of. The commentators were going crazy, excited shouting as they had never seen anything like it.

Jenny had signed her loss the moment she did a demon soul.

Kagome smiled tiredly as she gave her Team the ten points for her victory. Whoever had tried making her a fool out of herself by rigging the fight and placing her in the arena, she hoped that they realized they made a huge mistake. It was a good practice, but she needed to get stronger as now all her energy was gone and she could feel blood coming out of her nose.

If Ivan had rigged the fight to hurt Laxus and do damage to the woman that interfered with his plan during the Flare fight, it backfired on him.

When she woke up, she was laying in one of the beds from the infirmary. She looked around in confusion. She had no recollection of passing out.

Wendy was the first one by her side and her hands glowed as she placed them on Kagome's head, "Let me help you with your headache!"

And it was true. She had a horrible headache. She groaned as she sat up, taking notice of a few bandages on her arms from where Jenny got her a few times.

She heard a snort at the foot of her bed and she saw Laxus casually sitting on a chair, "You passed out on the field. You kind of freaked out Wendy since she got to you faster since you were right by their balcony."

Kagome apologetically looked at the small girl, "I'm sorry Wendy."

Wendy shook her head, "It's no worries. I'm just glad you're okay. Your nose bled a lot."

"That was amazing Kagome," Erza praised, "I have never seen that being possible."

Mira giggled, "Remind me to not be on your bad side. All of my forms are demonic."

Kagome blushed as she shook her head, "No it's okay! Don't worry!"

"How's Jenny?"

Gajeel snickered, "She's still passed out. You sure did a number on her."

"Well I didn't have much of a choice. Once she started transforming she had the upper hand. Until she decided to go demon."

"You did so good!" Levy said as she went up to her and hugged her, "You twisted the 'Holy Rail' to your advantage!"

She smiled as she looked at everyone, "How was the rest of the fights?"

"Well the last one was intense. Mermaid Heel won," Lucy filled her in, "Sabertooth also has a Celestial Wizard."

Kagome made a face, "I'm sure they're not too happy. Both Fairy Tail teams are doing really good."

And so they stayed until night time hit. They bid her goodnight since the old witch wanted her to get proper rest for the amount of energy she used. However, the only ones that didn't leave were Wendy, Carla, and Laxus.

Wendy nudged Carla, "You need to tell her."

Laxus was looking at the female exceed with an eyebrow raised. What did she want to say to Kagome?

"Something wrong?"

But Carla still kept silent.

Wendy sighed, "In Edolas we found out that Carla randomly has moments of seeing predictions."

Kagome's eyebrows furrowed, "The future?"

Carla cautiously nodded.

Laxus grunted, "Out with it already."

Kagome threw her pillow at him, "Don't be an ass," she turned to the white exceed, "What is it?"

"I'm just worried that you won't believe me."

Kagome snorted, "I traveled back and forth in time for three years. Anything is possible."

Carla slightly smiled at that. She looked at Wendy again, who was giving her an encouraging look, and then at Laxus, and finally Kagome.

"I had a vision. I saw Mercurius Castle crumbling down. I saw a glimpse of you, you were screaming. The last image… it's the one that leaves me confused."

Kagome could feel her heart beating in her ears, "What?"

Carla's wise eyes looked at her again, "I saw flesh… flesh burned in the shape of a spider."

Kagome gasped as a shiver went down her spine.

No, there's no way!

"How accurate are your visions?" Kagome asked, her voice small as she tried comprehending what Carla said.

Wendy answered for her, "They're pretty accurate. We just never know when it's going to happen."

"I've been trying to have control over them but it's still very difficult," Carla said apologetically.

Kagome shook her head as a strained smile appeared on her face, "No. It's okay. You've told me enough."

Wendy decided that it was best to leave Kagome to rest after telling her the news. She could tell Kagome knew what the spider meant, but she didn't want to push it further. Neither did Carla.

Laxus closed the door after walking them out and his gaze landed on her. She was gripping the sheets tightly and she was visibly shaking. He looked over, glad to see that Elfman was completely asleep.

He went over to her and gripped her hand, "What's wrong?" He asked quietly.

She didn't answer yet.

"You know what the spider means?"

And she finally raised her head. Her eyes were filled with fear and worry. He could almost taste the anxiety from her. It was coming out of her in waves. He had never seen her so shaken up. Not this way at least. It was different than when she first realized she was in another world.

"Naraku," she whispered as her voice shook, "He has a burn on his back— in the shape of a spider."