Wishfull-star: (o´▽`o)
"Now, who will join from Fairy Tail for today's event?! We all know who's desired!"
"Ace! Ace! Ace!" He was totally a fan favorite. He did what they wanted to make Fairy Tail look good. Gajeel was ashamed of his performance from the day and didn't want to do it at all. Ace wasn't nervous this time, just sort of empty. He didn't want to fail, but he was also not intentionally making sure there was no illusion to catch him in.
He stood next to Erza, who quietly asked him how he was doing. "Okay. I'm doing okay," Ace said back. She nodded. The name of the activity was Pandemonium. It had to do with fighting different monsters of varying strength. They would take turns picking how many monsters to fight in a specific room. The more monsters you took, randomized by points, the higher ranked you'll be by the end of the day.
Ace didn't like this, but he didn't show that. When they drew sticks, Ace was in last place. Erza was first. When she had a determined expression on, Ace wasn't one bit surprised when she announced that she'd battle all 100 monsters during her turn. It shocked the others, but Ace just smiled lightly, knowing she could do it. And thankful he didn't have to fight any, too.
It took a good hour for her to get rid of all of them, but she did. Though she lost multiple sets of armor and weapons in the process. By the end, she was victorious, but injured. Everyone was impressed, and those who were supposed to take part were shocked. Erza got all ten points. Ace was happy for her, and really appreciated her taking them all.
But with her defeating all of them, the others had nothing to do. So a new competition was made. It was to measure their magic power by unleashing magic on a device that measured magic output. The blood drained out of Ace's face. He had no magic attacks, and was unable to send his own magic flying out as a weapon or attack.
He was able to slowly feed his magic into other people, but that wasn't what this contest was. He glanced up to his team, and heard Mira just tell him to do his best. Mystogan was a no show today. Ace didn't know where he went. Everyone else got pretty good scores. But for those from the newly named Quatro Puppy after they lost to Eflman and had to change their name for the rest of the tournament.
Finally, Ace was last. The crowd was cheering for him, and he closed his eyes, trying to gather magic in his fist. He took a deep breath, and punched it as hard as he could, arm turned into dragon form. Jura had gotten into the 8,000s and the guy from Raven Tail had barely tried and got a four. Ace's punch registered, and he didn't open his eyes for a moment before he saw a big, fat zero. He was unable to output any.
The crowd was silent, and Ace couldn't help but hang his head.
"Don't mind!"
"You'll do better next time!"
"It was just a fluke!"
"Let him try again!"
Ace was shocked by the crowd's reaction to his utter failure. While they seemed to mock the Raven Tail guy who got a four, while it was clear he didn't try, Ace really did, and his score was the worst it could possibly be. Why were they cheering for him after failing?
"And it seems little Ace has charmed the crowd, even with a terrible score!" Ace winced at the brutal honesty in the commentator's words. Olga smirked at him, and Ace let his face turn blank. They walked out of the stadium, Ace finally letting out embarrassed tears when nobody was around to watch.
His confidence was shattered. He didn't want to take part in any other events. Erza followed after him, heading to the infirmary. That's right, Ace wasn't supposed to be by himself anywhere. "Fairy Tail is still not last," she said firmly. Ace didn't reply, face hung and tears down his face. "At least the audience really likes you."
"That doesn't matter if we don't do well," Ace mumbled in response. As they walked through the hall to the staircase back to the stadium, Ace didn't want to face his team members. If Laxus had done it, he'd have scored a lot higher. When they were near the stairs, Sting and Rogue were there.
He didn't want to see them now. "Nice job, little Ace. You'll hand us the victory." The boy couldn't help but start crying about it, feeling humiliated and like a disappointment. Again. Sting looked shocked by this. Rogue said, "Sting, he's still just a kid." Ace was embarrassed to cry in front of them, but he said the terrible thoughts in Ace's head. He'd failed everyone.
Sting said nothing more, looking really surprised that his words actually hurt Ace's feelings. He hoped the guy would leave him alone now, even if it was just because he thought Ace was terribly weak and not worth it.
Ace and Erza took a break while Ace calmed himself down. When he turned to go up the stairs, the illusion was there, but he heard nobody, smelled nobody, in the vicinity. He looked away, clasping his hands tightly. He had to go back up to his team, and had his head down, not making eye contact.
They said nothing until Mira kindly told him it had nothing to do with him not trying. He just was unable to do it with no direct control over aiming his magic towards something. Ace was surprised when Cana came in to their space. Ace wondered why she was there. "I'm replacing Mystogan. He's busy," she said simply.
Cana was one of those acknowledged enough to be a S-class wizard, so Ace didn't think she wasn't fitted to be there. "Sorry about your match, Ace," she said. He wanted them to stop talking about it. Laxus told them to, and Ace was thankful for that.
He knew that he hadn't had his magic nullified by a cheater. It was just him being a failure. He sat in silence, worried about the illusion making him look even worse. Making him look weaker even more than he already seemed. How terrible he felt. He definitely wouldn't take part in any more events, no matter how the crowd wanted him to.
When the battle for his group went next, it was Alexi of Raven Tail and Laxus. He looked unbothered and not a bit nervous, completely the opposite of Ace. He stood up to watch more from the edge, leaning his forearms on the stone, hunched over a bit. When Laxus began, Bisca was on the highest point of the stadium's walls, aiming her magic gun at Raven Tail, watching them closely with the sniper, making sure they did nothing.
Ace was paying attention too, but was glad someone else was as well. He kept his hearing on them, and Bisca kept her sight. Hopefully nothing else bad would happen. He didn't see the illusion but when it was right behind him. Cana saw him tense completely, his whole body going rigid.
Everyone in the guild knew about the illusion haunting Ace. "Nothing is here," she said firmly. That did not mean it didn't still scare Ace a lot. He just nodded, and crossed his arms tightly, wanting to be with both of his best friends.
The moment the match started, Laxus started to get beaten up. But Ace could tell it was an illusion since both of them had no scent. They were fakes. Laxus was being made to look terrible when it wasn't even him. Ace glanced at the Raven Tail people, and paid attention deeply. They also didn't have scents. He didn't know where they were, though.
They were totally cheating. What low lives. Threatening Asuka like scum, trying to cheat against Lucy, and now this. Makarov's son was a disgrace to him. Ace didn't say anything about the illusion, knowing Laxus would hate if he took pity on him and reported the cheating. If it were anyone else, he'd say something, but here, he didn't.
Maybe that was wrong, he didn't know. But his mind was made up to say not a thing. He couldn't hear, see or smell the original Laxus, so it was a strong illusion to hide him, even if the fakes were clearly not real to him.
It didn't take long for Laxus to reappear and take out all of Raven Tail, all of their fakes disappearing, with one of the members being the guild Master. Which was totally cheating. With all of them out regardless of their bad sportsmanship, they were immediately disqualified. Laxus looked perfectly fine, like he hadn't broken a sweat.
He was so strong and cool. Ace could actually admire him now that he wasn't an asshole. Leaving Fairy Tail had really done him good. "They were all illusions?" Cana asked in shock. Ace nodded, saying he knew that. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"Do you think Laxus would have wanted my interference by reporting them?" Ace replied. Mira said it was a very good point. Laxus would have been annoyed or angry if Ace stopped the match because of cheating. When asked how he knew, Ace said that the fakes had no scents. "They looked very real, but they didn't smell that way."
"Well, now that they're disqualified, they probably will be removed from the city or put behind bars during the remainder of the competitions. I don't think you should worry too much. The illusion will most likely stop, too," Mira said nicely. Ace hoped she was right. He didn't want to be reminded of his past anymore.
The last match was Wendy against Shelia. They were both around the same age and height. It seemed Shelia was a bit older. Both older than Ace. He hoped Wendy did well, showing even the children were strong. Ace didn't think he was enough. He could be an anomaly. Hopefully Wendy would prove that wrong.
While her match was going on, Ace felt the hands wrap around his neck, but he didn't choke. He was frustrated. The illusion was not gone. Was it not Raven Tail who'd done that to him? Who was it then? Who wanted to target him? Was it Sabertooth? Part of him thought they wouldn't do something so lazy and weak to him. They'd try to make a mockery of him. Sting was very good at that already.
Ace took a deep breath. He ignored the hands, knowing they weren't there. They were an illusion, or all in his head. Maybe the stress was getting to him and old issues were popping up. It wouldn't surprise him.
Paying back attention to Wendy's match, he saw it would be a tough one. A god slayer of air against a dragon slayer of air. Ace had been against a god slayer, but he also was immune to the magic. He had been. Lucky he was. Wendy was having a lot of trouble, and Shelia was a tough opponent given that she could heal her own wounds, while Wendy mostly was able to heal others besides herself.
Ace was disgusted with the commentator and how he spoke about the two young girls. Mira looked displeased as well. Gajeel muttered, "What a creep." They all agreed. Laxus wasn't back up yet, but when he did, he had food with him. Ace was hungry, too, now that he saw and smelled food up close.
He turned back to Wendy, really hoping she could win. She was determined and smart, so hopefully she overcame Shelia's ultimate power of healing her own wounds. Ace was glad he wasn't easily hurt, but when he was, it didn't heal quickly. Like what happened to his arm those years ago.
Ace felt like biting his nails as Wendy got more damaged and injured, but still didn't give up. When the two younger girls were both going in for a big attack, the timer rang, and it ended in a draw. It had felt so much longer than thirty minutes, and Ace was glad Wendy could get medical treatment now. She was really banged up.
He was grateful when Shelia healed Wendy of her wounds, and smiled when he heard them agree to become friends. Though he couldn't say he was surprised. Neither had a truly aggressive aura on them as they fought. They just did their absolute best to each win.
Their match was the last one, and Ace gladly got up with the others to meet up with the rest of the guild. Ace went to Marco and Sabo, and took their hands. "I saw more illusions of him," Ace said quietly. "Even after Raven Tail left the stadium." The two frowned deeply, and gripped his hands tighter.
"I'm thinking it's possible it's all in my head." They were surprised, but let him continue without interrupting. "What if the stress is bringing back scary things? It feels so real, but of course it would if I'm imagining it being real," he explained. "I hope it's all in my head and nobody is manipulating me. That would be embarrassing and make me feel sad."
Marco asked if there was pattern of when he saw him. Ace shook his head. It was random, it seemed. Even when he was focused completely on something else, he would come back. Was his ghost possibly haunting Ace? He didn't want to think that. It was creepy. They all went to a bar, where the kids couldn't drink.
It was noisy. Everyone in a good mood after the multiple wins for the day for Fairy Tail, both teams. Ace was sad that he failed when Erza did spectacular. Ace felt weak. His confidence was fizzled away. It sucked big time.
He saw the man in the corner of the bar, watching him. Ace sighed, wondering what was wrong with him, or if someone was tormenting him, showing him what he feared the most in the world. If someone else's magic was doing this, then their skill was high level. To have it feel like he was being hurt or grabbed by him... it felt so real.
He'd try to ignore it and not have his time in the games ruined.
-x-
"It's too bad Juvia isn't here," Ace said. The next contest involved water. A sphere of water with the contestants inside. The one who stayed in the longest won. Those that were out of the water sphere lost and got lower scores. With Juvia, she would have done very well with it, being made of water and all.
None of them were very good with this. Ace was terrible at swimming in dragon form, being heavy with his wings also being annoying. "Mira, do you have any water satan soul forms?" Laxus asked. He might do well in the water, electrocuting everyone inside. Ace had been gone for the matches for when he passed out about the illusion, so he missed some of the rounds.
One of Sabertooth's members was replaced after losing. She seemed like a nasty person, just by the look on her face. Rude and cruel in a way. Cocky. He didn't like her at all.
"I do, but it's hard to keep going. It drains my magic very quickly. Laxus could go inside and electrocute everyone with his lightning," she suggested. "Gajeel and Ace wouldn't do well. Cana's magic would not to well either, cards in water not being a good idea."
"So it's between Laxus and Mira, then?" Cana said. The two looked at one another before Mira finally volunteered to do it. Everyone in the water were already women. Ace commented that the girls were all wearing skimpy things.
"You should have seen Mira's match. It was ridiculous," Gajeel said, chewing on some metal pipes he brought, like popcorn, to watch. The others who saw it nodded in agreement with his words. So, Mira went out in her bathing suit, transforming into it easily. Ace did wonder if all the women prepared swimsuits for this. If they did, they sure were thinking ahead. Ace hadn't brought any swimming shorts.
When everyone was in the water, Mira changed into a satan soul that Ace had never seen before, and she went after everyone. She knocked all the girls but Lucy and Minerva, the new Sabertooth woman, out quickly. But Minerva's power was strange, and Mira was nearly sent out of the sphere, but shot back inside, even though her legs were out.
Lucy used aquarius to battle both of them. Ace hadn't even noticed one of the men from Quatro Puppy was there, but he was out instantly. How did their team make it at all? So far they'd done terribly, losing every match and contest. It was miracle they were there at all, and Ace wondered just how many guilds had been so weak to have not beaten this guild.
It was surprisingly quick that Mira ran out of magic for this form, and changed just into her swimsuit. But Minerva transported her out of the sphere, and she landed on her feet. She didn't look ashamed, she got third place, which was pretty good. Better than Ace had done, getting last place in the his last contest.
Ace grew angry, along with everyone else from the guild, when Minerva started to torture Lucy inside the water sphere. Ace couldn't do anything to help her this time, and was clenching his hands tightly. He hated Minerva with all his heart, hurting his guild mate for fun. She was clearly enjoying it.
By the time the referees stopped this beating, Lucy was bruised almost everywhere after being constantly hit by Minerva's magic. Spatial magic. She held Lucy out of the sphere, grinning, before dropping her. Natsu and Gray acted before Ace could, and caught her before she hit the ground hard.
She had to be in a lot of pain. Ace was absolutely determined to finish this event strong, and beat Sabertooth. Humiliate them and dethrone them, knocking them off of their undeserved pedestal. They were terrible people. Just like Raven Tail, but they were more well known than the disqualified team.
Erza glared at Minerva hatefully as Lucy was hurried to the infirmary for Wendy to heal her wounds as soon as possible. Ace wanted to go down there and cut Minerva's face up, giving her scars from the twelve year old with his claws. But he didn't know if he'd be disqualified for it. For just a moment of rage and recklessness.
He held back, though. But he was secreting magic so much that the nearest guild to them looked at him. Lamia Scale. His magic seeped into the stone and melted it. It hadn't happened in a long time, so it looked like it reacted to complete and utter rage. Not even the anger or hate at Sting for the things he'd done, things he'd said, had made him this furious.
But he took some calming breaths, and slowed the production until it was under control. But the stone ground was scorched, and a small dent was in it from where Ace had dripped it. His teammates said nothing of it, no doubt knowing his rage triggered it. It didn't hurt any of them, thank goodness.
Once the day was announced done, the team B hurried to the infirmary to see if Lucy was okay. She was asleep in a bed, bandages all over her. She was badly hurt, and it made Ace so mad. He had helped her before, in her battle, but had been unable to do anything this time. Nobody had. They were helpless against Minerva, who technically followed the rules, even though she went overboard, and everyone knew.
Those in the crowd that had been cheering for Fairy Tail had not booed, and Ace heard them sounding afraid of her. Some guild they were, scaring the public as if they were a dark guild. Weren't guilds supposed to help people, taking jobs to assist them as wizards? With the public afraid of them, it seemed to defeat the purpose of being a guild in the first place.
"Did Wendy heal her okay?"
"Her life isn't in danger," Porlyusica said in a hard voice.
"It was mostly Shelia's healing that saved her. I- I wasn't enough. I'm sorry," she said in shame. Lucy woke up, and looked to be in pain. She apologized for losing, even though she got eight points and made second place. She still didn't feel good about it, having been humiliated and looking weak and helpless. Which she had been.
Ace said, "That Minerva… she's scary. Her magic is super strong."
"We'll beat them!" Natus said angrily. "Don't be afraid of trash like them!" Ace nodded, thinking he shouldn't have said anything.
While they were in the infirmary, the Master came in, looking angry under the surface. He informed them that things had changed. Team A and B would be combined. Having Raven Tail disqualified left an odd number of teams, which would not work for the battles. So there needed to be six teams.
They decided easily then and there. Laxus walked in just in time to hear the news. The participants for the last two days would be Laxus, Erza, Gray, Natsu and Gajeel. Ace was both disappointed and relieved to not be part of the combined team. He was sad his last performance was such a bomb, but was also glad he was spared anymore stress. He could watch with his friends now.
The others weren't disappointed in the change. It was what it was. And they proceeded with 35 points from team A.
When the former team B left, minute Laxus, they went to get food. They found Sabertooth eating at the restaurant they were heading, and Gajeel refused to run. So they went inside to eat, not acknowledging their presence. While they were all angry, they wouldn't shame the guild. Apparently Natsu already broke into their hotel and beat some of them up.
Luckily, they didn't report it, so he wasn't in any trouble with the games. Ace sat with his back to them, and ordered a ton of food. They got free food, which was awesome. "You sure have a big appetite," Mira said pleasantly.
"Stress makes me eat more," Ace said honestly. For the whole dinner, the guilds ignored one another, which was nice. Ace didn't want to get in an altercation, he just wanted to eat. The food was delicious, and being free made it even better. Though Ace had a heavy pouch of money in his pocket from his large stash.
Gray saw them on their way back to their new hotel, while the new Fairy Tail team would share a hotel, the members who were no longer part of the games were now going to stay in the hotel with the rest of the guild members. Ace got to spend time with his friends!
He was fine to share a room with them, a new bed being moved inside. "So, you're not playing anymore?" Marco asked, eating some candy he'd bought. Ace nodded. "Are you upset?"
"A little bit. I wish my final performance had been good, but it wasn't. I was just unlucky. I'm glad Erza did so well, but I probably would have done better fighting monsters than the little contest that gave me a big, fat zero. But I'm glad I don't gotta stress about it. Maybe I won't have to interact with Sabertooth anymore."
Sabo brightly said he could stay with them now, too. Ace smiled and nodded, looking forward to that.
