Chapter 97: Bitter Encounters

"IN FIRST PLACE, ITS TWILIGHT ZONE! ONLY EIGHT SPOTS REMAIN NOW. GOOD LUCK TO ALL!"

"Hurry up Lance!" Evelyn shouted nervously, shaking his shoulders as he flipped through the lacrima screen channels to find Reiss and the others. "I'm trying, I'm trying you know! There's so many teams out there, I could be going the wrong way! But what if I'm not and get paranoid that I am!"

"Just find them, water boy." Riley reaffirmed, filing her nails with her feet resting in Lance's lap. "Please." Saraya begged, hands clasped in front of her. Ramman stood behind them all, hands crossed over his sternum, but off to the side of all of them, were the veteran members of White Eclipse, looking on with different outlooks. Some with disapproval, some confusion, and some with a welcoming smile as they listened to them chatter before turning back to their own team of Reve and the others.

"Hey, I found the big Kahuna Reve Volver and the gang." Lance waved the remote as if he accomplished what he was searching for.

"He's hot, so leave it here." Riley stated, causing Evelyn to puff out her cheeks with balled up petite fists. "No! Find Reiss!"

"I'm sure they're just one over now. But do I go up or down? Lets go up. Ah! There they are..."

Lance's heart sunk as he saw who Tyson was standing before. He suddenly grew quiet to concerning levels, causing Riley to raise a brow before turning to the screen. She then turned back to Lance with a smirk. "Skull Milione, huh? Those the guys that refused to let you in their guild, right? Now I'm interested. Lets see how this plays out."

"Lance." Evelyn said his name with such a concerning tone, keeping her hands on his shoulder with a gentle touch. Lance was speechless, and as he kept his visage upon the tv, the number of emotions rushing through him could only be quelled by results, which he anxiously waited for. "Come on...

"Reve." Skye called out to him. He already knew just like everyone else. "Nothing's changed. There was nothing we could do to prevent that, and we didn't know they had such an advanced speedster on their team. Stay focused on the task at hand. We already only have three corner left to go. Cygnus!"

"You know it!" He shouted back to the captain's command, leaping forward and then slamming a fist hard into the ground, into a crowd of random mages. The impact imbued with his magic caused the immediate area to crumble into the ground — a plethora of teams falling into the abyss he created.

"It's White Eclipse! Stop them before they get to us first!" A random mage yelled, but before any of them could advance, Skye herself zipped past everyone, zigzagging through with her blade and slicing past each and every one of them until she reached the end.

As they all fell like dominoes, her final slash was met by another blade. A somewhat familiar one as Kagura Mikazuchi clashed with Skye, sheathed blade to the assassin's own weapon. Pulling away, the two female warriors skidded away, and Mermaid Heel stayed cautiously waiting for White Eclipse to attack. But, Skye didn't bat an eye as she kept running, catching right up to her guild as they ran off towards their next corner. "I guess she didn't want any of Kagura." Milliana guessed, shrugging. "That's not it at all." Kagura corrected, watching them run off. "Come on. Lets go. We can't afford to fall behind."

The stand off between the White Eclipse rookies and Skull Milione continued, the latter grinning evilly while standing before the group of kids. "Your death bed, kiddos. In fact, I hope that annoying runt is watching, because then maybe he'll get the memo!" As he spoke the supposed ring leader of them all lunged forward. Tyson kept his glare while taking his maker's stance, two different colors radiating from his hands. "Fusion Make: Flame-Iron Maiden!"

From behind his target, Tyson created a large, tortuous contraption that would set ablaze. It remained open, and inside a plethora of tiny spikes were shown. The leader of Skull Milione looked back, eyebrows raised before turning back to the rookie, disturbed yet angry. "Are you trying the scare me, runt? You think that you're going to put me in that?"

"I want to..." Tyson admitted as his hands emitted two more colors that represented their respective elements — lightning and iron. "Because your face pisses me off, and to have the audacity to turn Lance down when you're not that great yourself really gets me to a boiling point. Fusion Make: Ark Flash Cannon!"

In his hands, a large cannon formed, and without hesitation, Tyson took aim, gathering a plethora of lightning magic inside of his creation as his opponent took a step back, preparing himself to fight. "Hey now... it looks like you're going for the jugular there, kid! You sure you wanna do this?"

"Yo boss...you're not backing down from this kid, are you?" One of them asked. "Hell no!" He responded. "I'm trying to save him from embarrassment! Fine, you want to go!? Then let's make this quick! Your stupid little toy creation versus my Skull Magic! Floating Skull: Hayday!"

Before him, he conjured a giant, silver skull, floating between the two competitors. "We're wasting time here, so this is between me and you, runt! Loser's team has to drop out of the games! Ready!?"

Tyson didn't answer, because his eyes did it for him, staring directly back into the overconfidence Skull Milione member. That same guy grinned, leaning back like a pitcher before commanding his floating skull to soar forward into Tyson. "Die! Stupid kid!"

"Tyson!" Lluvi shouted.

"Tyson!" Micaiah also did in concern.

"Come on!" Ilaria added, and with his entire team on his back, Tyson Bryant let out a battle cry as he fired his makeshift cannon of iron and lightning. The nozzle showed a relentless spark of lightning, and just before the floating skull could connect with Tyson, the rookie fired his cannon, creating an explosion of lightning against iron, which caused a fiery substance to join the fray. As he fired, Tyson recoiled but kept his balance by digging his feet into the ground as finally the two techniques would collide with one another — a shockwave consuming the entire area as a mixture of dirt, smoke and debris clouded the area.

As the smoke cleared the rest of Skull Milione and White Eclipse were able to see again, blinking as they looked around to see Tyson standing tall, slightly panting as he brushed himself off.

"Then that means..." One of them whispered as they looked over to the contraption Tyson created earlier. The Iron Maiden was now cracked in numerous places, but closed shut with one of the cracks revealing their leader's unconscious eyes and the groaning noise he emitted.

"He did it!" Lance shouted as the others hugged around him. Tears of happiness fell down his eyes as he yelled at the tv, causing the veterans to look over; confused at first, but actually smiling to notice their young rookies defeating the opponent before them. Riley, who sat off to the side of the group hug, smiled a small smile at the tv before turning to Sophie, looking her way as she somehow made her way to the rookie's side of the lacrima screen watch. She didn't say anything, yet merely went back to watching — feigning an uninterested noise. "Good thing that's over. We shouldn't be beefing with such lowly guilds to begin with."

"Good job Tyson!" Micaiah exclaimed happily.

Tyson turned back to his team, giving a confident thumbs up before realizing they were missing a member. "Wait. Where's the bonehead?"

His question was quickly answered as Reiss went running back, signaling them to follow. "I got the color! We're on to the next on! Other side of the city!"

"You asshole!" Tyson shouted, noticing his wristband change from one color to the next. "You didn't stay to make sure I won!?"

That's when Reiss looked back with an ear to ear smile as they all ran behind him. "Of course not! I knew you would, dummy! We're the second strongest team here, and our only competition is our own guild! Now lets keep moving! We have five promises to keep, right!?"

Tyson then grinned to himself. "Even when he's not in the spotlight, the dumbass still hogs the attention. Still, he's absolutely right. Lets hit the finish line soon."

"Our first color is captured. The next one is in the Southwest corner." Reve pointed out as their wristbands switched colors. They wasted no time in running off, but instead of following the streets, Reve turned to Cygnus once more. "Can you get us there in a straight line, berserker?"

Cygnus laughed. "It's too late to be trying out nicknames, gunslinger, but your god will definitely give you what you requested. Everyone! Straight line! Get behind the Cygnus express!"

As they did what he demanded, Cygnus placed his bulky arms before him, grinning as he ran straight for the first building in their way. Jaxon then raised a brow, smirking with curiosity. "What? You going to float us over the city with your gravity? Won't that make us easy targets?"

"Float? Gravity? Oh no, Jaxon!" Cygnus replied as his body began to glow. "I won't be using Gravity at all. Wood God's Sacred Armor!"

As Jaxon looked on in surprise, he could only describe it as an entire tree wrapping itself around Cygnus's arms and body. And as the Gravity God dropped his head behind the trunks of wood, he crashed right through the first building, making a beeline directly for the next corner of the city where their color laid. Cygnus was literally bulldozing through anything that stood in his way; building and mages alike. Once they reached the middle of the city however, Reve slammed on the breaks, causing the others to look back but only just for a second as he yelled to them. "Grab that color! I'll be waiting for the third one to unlock! We're going to cut down the time and come in second!"

They all wanted to ask how he would even know where the next color would show, but a second look at Reve's eyes told the story, allowing them to move on without their captain. "Don't worry gunslinger!" Cygnus shouted. "I'll take over from here!"

"Rendezvous right back here in the middle!" Reve shouted once more, and as they waved him off, a large, cannon like firearm appeared in Reve's hands. Taking aim towards the southeast, Reve held the cannon by his waist-side and fired, releasing a massive blast that shook the entire city as he cleared himself a path to the corner of Crocus.

"That means three things." Skye spoke as they ran, catching their attention. "Hm?" What's that?" Luke asked. "Either the last color is in the middle of the city, or we're about to run into some adversity, but Reve believes we can handle it or at least hold off long enough to make a positive out of it all."

"So what's the third thing?" Jaxon asked. "The third option, is that both options are correct, which perplexes me. Does Niisan really have that much faith in us? What's happened to him over this year apart?"

"That's something we don't need to ponder about." Cygnus reiterated as he crashed through the latest scrum of mages. He grinned as they went flying. "Right now, lets just finish this thing! To the color, then the finish line!"

As they rushed on, Luke gave a look to the side and a sweat drop as he thought to himself. "Actually...if that's the case, then there might be a fourth option...and I'm not a fan of what I'm thinking of."

"Two down, two to go!" Cynthia shouted as their wristbands changed color. "The numbers are dwindling down too, so our chances are skyrocketing!" She was so excited, competing in her first Grand Magic Games with her guild. "Where to next?"

Erza looked over to the other side of the city. "Well, there's only three areas left, and it's known that the last one is the middle where we take the winding road. That's one thing I saw when Twilight Zone finished. I don't know if it was just for them though. But I want to take the risk to find out."

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked as Erza requipped into familiar armor. Her flight armor now dawned over her body. "I'm going to leave you guys behind for now, and head southeast to pick up the next color. I then want you guys to meet me in the middle of the city if it lights up. If not, then we'll all rush towards the northwest corner."

"I see..." Lucy noted, nodding once. Gray then grinned, raising his hands over his head before slamming them to the ground. From there, he created a path of ice. "Alright then! I believe in you, so your hunch must be correct. In that case, we'll meet you in the middle! In fact, we'll meet you at the finish line for second place! Lets go, everyone!"

"Right!" They shouted in unison, Erza dashing off in her Flight Armor as Gray and the others skated down the ice trail at full speed to race to the middle of Crocus.

It didn't take Erza long to get to where she was headed thanks to her high speed Flight Armor. When she arrived, she zoomed directly past him, gathering the color she sought for. As the two passed however, they locked eyes even if just for a second. And as Erza then turned to run past him again as if he wasn't a priority, something happened. A gun shot was heard, and immediately Erza's requip disappeared, causing her to trip over her own speed she could no longer control as she reverted back to her standard Heart Cruz armor.

"What the!?" She questioned, springing up the second her momentum halted from the tumble. She then turned back to the gunslinger himself, who held out a pistol with an abnormally large nozzle. "So you can cancel out my magic now!? Do you design your weapons just to come after Fairy Tail!?"

"Don't flatter yourself, weakling. That was one of my weaknesses that I abolished — looking at your pathetic guild as a goal I needed to accomplish. I used to look at you the same way, but I've gained new eyes, and I see my true goals a lot more clearly now. You were never a goal. Defeating Fairy Tail was never a goal. You are simply hills I have to climb in order to achieve what I really want. Hills I gave way too much credit to, and this time around, Erza, I'll make sure not to make that same mistake."

"And what goal is that...?" Erza asked as she slowly raised to her feet, her body glowing to requip once more. The gun in Reve's hand vanished as he too summoned his next requip, another weapon within his grasp.

"Simple. To be the strongest mage, and for White Eclipse to be the strongest guild. I'll accomplish both of these things or I'll die trying. Now, seeing you here alone is just as I predicted—"

"Don't give me that predicted, nonsense." Erza said, cutting him off. "You used that same ocular magic back during my Avatar mission. You know exactly what each of them were capable of and what they could do, and that was because of your eyes. Foresight. You even knew that Gray was undercover and not really with Avatar. Don't try to play me for a fool, Volver."

Reve could only grin, but just slightly because the sight of Erza standing before him made him sick. When she finished her requip however, a brow raised as she stood in her Flame Empress armor. "You plan on escaping with those wings instead of fighting?" He asked, causing Erza to glare. "It's like you said, Reve. Neither you nor White Eclipse are my goals, but simply hurdles in the way of them. As confident as I am in my abilities, I know that fighting you here would only lessen Fairy Tail's chances of passing the preliminaries. Not because you'd win, but because at least I have the ability to admit that this wouldn't be a simple fight, but a time consuming one. And time is something I don't have right now."

"Heh, I was thinking the exact same thing." He kept to himself. But then, as he walked forward, he spoke aloud. "Unfortunately for you, Fairy, I can multitask. I'll defeat you here and cross the finish line with my guild within the same event! Its obvious that we've both figured out this event's end and that's why we're here right now. I told you at the beginning what my clear intentions were, and how you're not the endgame, so I don't care that you fall here! I won't care that Fairy Tail doesn't make it through, just as long as White Eclipse stands at the top when it's all said and done! This new age of mages belongs to White Eclipse!"

At the end of his declaration, Reve fired off two quick shots that Erza barely had time to deflect with her blade that complemented her armor. "Tch!" She sucked her teeth as she leapt away, taking to the air as Reve kept up with her on the ground. Baring her teeth, she gripped her sword with both hands prior to flipping through the air — plummeting towards the gunslinger before swinging her flaming blade in a downward motion. Reve manages to leap away without losing stride, giving an annoyed look. The miniature explosion pushed Reve away, but again he was able to keep balance and momentum. "Oh? Attacking me after admitting those things just a second ago? How hypocritical."

"Call me what you want, but every time you open your mouth, I gain more motivation to shut it!"

{Exactly thirty seconds before.}

Bursting through the last few buildings to reach their destination, Cygnus and the gang came to a stop as they entered the vicinity of their color. A downpour, and it caused Jaxon to raise a brow as the other became soaked. "Hey..." Skye started, but Jaxon stopped her. "This isn't natural." He said, snapping his fingers and causing the clouds above them to disperse. "Another weather mage?" Luke asked. "Maybe so." Jaxon replied, revealing the night sky once more. "But that rain had a lot more maliciousness to it. Though it didn't seem so just now. Oh well, did we get the color?"

Just as he asked, Skye stepped into the area, causing their wristbands to change colors. Seconds later, it changed once more. "Look! It changed twice!"

"That means Reve was right, and he has the third one!" Luke pumped his fist in celebration. Cygnus roared. "That means it's a direct line right back to Crocus's middle! Lets get moving!"

As they ran off, Jaxon looked back up to the now cloudless sky again, staring for another second before running off again.

Chapati: Just as we believed, each guild is finishing up in their run, and a lot of them are about to collide with one another. This has been an exhilarating race so far, but who will take the final eight spots and officially move on to the Grand Magic Games!

"There! The winding road is open for us!" Cygnus shouted, pointing ahead. Luke looked over to the left, and right on cue, there he was. "And there's Reve! And...is that Erza!?"

Clouds of smoke created by explosive attacks made a trail towards them, and Luke and the others could only run forward as they internally shook their heads at the gunslinger. All but Skye, who made sense of the situation. "Option four. He knew that Erza and Fairy Tail were ahead of us, and we needed to split up in order to regain that lead, despite the fact they've split up as well. Look to your right..."

They did, and Jaxon pointed it out. "Yup, there they are! Fairy Tail! Lets shut them down—"

"Keep running!" Reve yelled, just breaking in front of Erza as she reverted back to her Heart Kruz Armor.

"Shit! You heard him! Push it!" Cygnus yelled, but before they could...

"Ice Wall!" Gray shouted, slamming his hands into the ground to create a giant wall in front of White Eclipse!

"Nice one!" Lucy exclaimed, but without a seconds passing, her happy expression changed as the ice wall sliced in half and slid off its own foundation before crumbling into the ground. Skye was then seen holding her follow through before sheathing her blade once again to bring up the rear of her team, save for Reve who was still yards away from catching up.

Halfway up, Cynthia came to the obvious conclusion. "We're not going to catch up to them like this!"

"I know." Gray admitted, causing her and Wendy to look back. Lucy already knew, and she nodded a determined visage as Gray gave them their only option. "It's up to Erza. It looks like we'll finish in the top three regardless, but Erza has to outrun Reve to do so. And I believe she will..."

Cynthia looked back to see the gunslinger and Titania just now begin their journey up the winding road, nodding once before turning back to the finish line White Eclipse just crossed. "Hang in there, Erza-san!"

"I can't let you win! I won't let you gain the momentum you desire!" Erza shouted, panting as she ran her hardest. With her flight armor cancelled for the time being she had to resort to her bare skills. Reve was the same, not really equipped with any speed boosting capabilities. "My fate isn't up to you, Titania. It's up to me and me alone!" He returned fire, hustling up the incline of the winding road just as Erza did the same. "Even such words like those coming from your mouth is putrid."

"I hate you too, don't worry. It's all mutual."

Erza bared her teeth, but Reve refused to look her way. "But one thing is clear, Erza. Though I've made up my mind in you being nothing more than a mere obstacle in my way, there's no avoiding that obstacle. I will defeat you, White Eclipse will defeat Fairy Tail, and you will recognize us as the best there is for the rest of your time as a guild mage. Your entire guild will, and I'll make sure of it!"

"You think I'd allow that on my guild's conscious!" She shouted back. "No matter what the task, my guild relies on each other to do what it takes to succeed! Just like those years ago when we vanished, our guild's hardships went on without us! And you think I'd ever forget that!? All the pain they went through being tossed around and buried in the dirt just because they didn't have us anymore!? Sorry, Reve, but Fairy Tail comes first, and we promised them that they would never feel that pain again, so I won't let them! We will win every year we compete, because anything else is a failure on my part, in my guild's name. I won't allow it!"

As she yelled, they both passed the finish line in a photo finish like ending.

"Erza!"

"Reve!"

That's when Chapati made the announcement given. "Ladies and Gentlemen we have our next two finishers! In third place it's...Fairy Tail, and in second, White Eclipse!"

Erza could do nothing but stare at the ground, panting to regain her breath as Reve then walked by her with some choice words.

"Get used to it. It's going to be a long week." He said, sliding his hands in his pockets as he walked off to join the celebrating White Eclipse team.

"Lets go they did it with ease!" Kuro shouted back at the inn as everyone else celebrated as well. There were cheers everywhere on the veteran side of White Eclipse, but Selene came to a halt with hers before turning to the rookies, watching them watch with uncertainty. Selene then turned her attention to the celebrating vets, quietly gaining their attention and signaling them to come join the rookies as they watched Reiss and the others attempt to do the same — secure a spot for their team.

As Erza continued to catch her breath, the want to feel defeated was quickly overtaken as Lucy held out her hand before her. She looked up, noticing her team standing in front of her with smiles of pride and hope. "We've got a long way to go. This isn't about one victory against that jerk. It's about the guild, remember? You said it yourself, and we heard you loud and clear. So come on, Erza."

Seconds passing, she smiled, and took Lucy's hand before she raised them both in the air with the others. "Right. Lets do this."

"Number two!" Ilaria shouted, jumping up and down as the wristbands on their arms changed colors once more. Reiss looked around, smiling as he spotted the next color. "The next one is just across the way! We're in luck!"

"Do we actually have a chance!?" Micaiah exclaimed, actually liking the potential results. Tyson likes up to the board, smiling as he saw that White Eclipse finished their run, and before Fairy Tail too. "All signs are pointing to it! Only three teams have finished so far, and we're not far behind—"

Before he could finish, Chapati Lola would cut him off with another announcement. "Ladies and gentlemen! In fourth place, it's the team of Sabertooth! Behind them in fifth is Mermaid Heel!"

"Okay...there's still four spots left! Nothing to worry about—"

"WILD!"

"FOUR!" Bacchus and his crew shouted, passing the finish line for Chapati to announce their sixth place victory.

Despair hit the four of them, but as they stood there in shock, they noticed that their wristbands changed colors once more. With that, Reiss flew by his team, never looking back and never saying a word as they all quickly caught on — chasing after their captain as they raced towards the middle of the city. As he ran, Reiss looked up to the end of the winding road, and he could only see one person; Reve, staring back down with an unwavering visage. It was neither concerning nor hopeful. It didn't herald any encouragement nor pain, but simply a stare as those who already finished watched the final teams scrum for the finish and a place in this years games.

Reiss was way too focused on the situation at hand, and as Tyson and the others screamed out his name, it was too late for him to react as a group of ice sculpted eagles slammed into the second he reached the middle of Crocus. The winding road was open for the rookies, but they weren't the only ones who now had access.

"Ladies and Gentlemen it's coming down to the wire for these last few teams! Everyone has their colors, but who will reach the finish line! We see about six teams all sprinting to the finish, but only three spots remain!"

Chapati's foreboding announcement was all Reiss needed to stand up again, noticing the culprit behind his attack run off with his team. Lyon of Lamia Scale. Formidable opponents for the White Eclipse veterans now took the lead on the rookie team, yet just as Tyson and the others caught up to the captain, another ferocious downpour took place.

"Hm? There it is again." Jaxon murmured from the finish line, surveying the area in an attempt to find the mage who made it rain so viciously. But as seconds passed, the rain became so thick and blinding, that no one could see through it. Most importantly, it was the rookies who were blinded, now having to attempt to trail up a road they could no longer see.

They hesitated, and because of that, a spark of lightning passed right by them, and Reiss immediately accounted two teams in front of them in this home stretch — Lamia Scale and this mystery guild. "Reiss-kun..." Ilaria whimpered, shielding herself from the downpour. Everyone else did the same, feeling a bit hopeless when it came to this final task thanks to the magic induced rain. That's when Reiss took Ilaria's hand, and placed it to the back of his jacket. He then shouted out to the others. "Hey! Grab ahold of each other and don't let go no matter what! I kinda remember what the road looks like, so trust me, and I'm going to trust you guys to save me from my mistakes, okay!?"

Hesitation naturally hit, but then Tyson shouted. "Right! I'll take the rear then! Someone's gotta pull us up when we fall!"

Lluvi then chimed in. "My barriers can give us extra surfaces to hang on to! Lets not waste anymore time!"

"Right!" Micaiah nodded along. Reiss then took off with everyone attached to him with hopes of one final push to qualify. This was there last chance, and the determined rookies of White Eclipse weren't going to let it pass them by!

"Hang on! We have some catching up to do!"