Nearby the GMG on a statue, Ultear and Meredy are sitting upon the statue's head as they watch the screaming and cheering filled Domus flau.
"It looks like the games are finally underway," said Ultear as she and Meredy turns to look down upon her crystal ball that gave the two a better view of the action going on inside the stadium.
"Jellal really entered the tournament." Meredy sighed. "Was there even a point in meeting with Erza and Fairy Tail beforehand?"
"Well from Jellal's point of view there was." Said Ultear in reply while smiling. "Besides, with him there he can investigate the two disturbances up close."
"Is that really a good idea?" asked Meredy.
"We'll just have to wait and see," answered Ultear while smiling in seeing Gray with Natsu appearing in the image by her crystal ball.
Within Domus Flau, the rest of the guild's team went back to their stand while the participating mages stayed on the arena where they were with each other and the pumpkin man judge.
"I do wonder what kind of contest 'Hidden' will be?" commented Lola with a curious voice before adding. "Yajima-san, is there anyone we should be looking out for?"
"hmmm, if anything Rufus-kun would be the big star…but better keep an eye out for Gray-kun and Natsu-kun. Those two are very strong" replied Yajima with a chuckle.
"what about you, Jenny-san?" asked Lola to the guest judge.
"the two are strong, but so is our Eve! Look out for him!" replied Jenny.
Natsu and the other participants waited for 'Hidden' event to start when Nullpudding struck a conversation.
"Excuse me just a moment, please" said Nullpudding as everyone turned their attention to him. "we still haven't been informed about what kind of contests we're going to be taking part in today. In fact, al the contests are being kept secret. Regardless there's two team for Fairy Tail, doesn't that seems a bit unfair? Especially when one of them is a former guild master"
"what?" said Gray as the Raven Tail's participant got him and Natsu's direct attention.
"t-that's just how it goes, this is the first time that a guild's two teams have ever passed the preliminary in the first place-kabo" replied the Pumpkin man. "and the rules only states to current guild master not the former"
"I'm fine with it" stated Rufus while having a smile. "a little tune from the banks of my memory, I guarantee that having two people from the same guild competing, will not be called advantageous at all"
"it makes no difference to me" added Yeager.
"I think it's okay too" said Beth with a head nod.
Not liking the agreeing members, Nullpudding clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"he seems rather full of himself" said Gray while looking at Rufus before he hears 'be cautious of the Raven Tail participant, Gray' in his mind. Gray looks around before to Natsu who just stands in silence. 'what was that about?'
"now then! It's time to start the event!" said the pumpkin man who snaps his fingers into the air. "FIELD OPEN!"
As he stated the words, every participant was gone from the field and a city appeared and materialized out of nowhere.
"a city!?" exclaimed Lucy in surprise.
"it materialized out of nowhere!" said Juvia with a surprised look.
"unbelievable" said Erza as she is baffled that a city can just appear upon the Domus Flau arena.
"how the heck can the games make such a thing?!" added Elfman as he was almost speechless.
Several magic screens appeared around the crowd as it showed live images of every participant appearing at certain parts of the town.
"the rule of the event is simple! The objective is to find another participant and take him/her out! Resulting in a one point for the attacker and a minus for the victim! Any magic is allowed!" Lola explained on the mic as everyone watch the magic screens that showed the participants either staying at where they are or walking around.
"if this is a game of tag, it's a damn wrong one" said Yeager as he looks around at the part of the city where he is. "there's no one who is 'it'"
Gray walks around by his area before he sees transparent magic images appearing all around him.
"what the?" said Gray before he saw dozens of Lyon and the other participants everywhere around him. "what the heck is going on here!?"
The crowds and the other guild participants were all surprised to see so many people in the magic city as they were all copies of each other.
"copies?!" said Mira in surprise while in her stand with Fairy Tail B Team.
"that many copies…" added Laxus while having his arms crossed. "finding other participants, huh? Might be good for Natsu, the guy got the sharpest nose out of all of us after all"
"sucks for ice princess and the other participants" added Gajeel while Mystogan stayed quiet.
"these are all copies of all of you! If you attack a copy by mistake you will lose a point!" stated Lola as the event got harder for the participants. "vanish into the stillness! Stalk like black cats under the night! Hidden has begun!"
A gong rang as the event starts and the crowds cheered.
Gray walked the streets of the magical cityscape. Clones of Juvia, Lyon, and the other team's representatives were all around him.
"talk about a real pain" said Gray as he runs around trying to find anyone to take out and get a point on. "if anything, Natsu would be winning this easy with his sharp nose and all"
"man, Gray is going to have a hard time trying to find anyone in there" said Elfman in seeing just how many copies of the other participants in the magic screen.
"this type of event would be best for anyone who have sharp senses like Natsu" added Erza as only one participant would have the advantage over the others and that is Natsu.
"hope Natsu be kind enough to leave Gray alone" said Lucy, afraid that Natsu might take out Gray just to get a point. "I mean, we're in the same guild and all"
"there's so many Gray-sama! Juvia wanted to be there!" squealed Juvia with hearts for her eyes.
"man, does she not realize the situation for our team?" said Elfman with a sweatdrop.
"this is Juvia, after all" added Lucy with an awkward smile before the group hears a loud buzzer and turns to the magic screen in which they see Gray on the ground with Nullpudding a few feet away from him.
Gray winced in pain as he felt a shock run through his body. He soon reappeared in another part of the city. His score getting a negative point from the attack of Nullpudding.
"Oh my," Lola commented. "It looks like Gray Fullbuster from Fairy Tail A fell victim to a sleight of hand by Nullpudding from Raven Tail. Will he be able to bounce back?"
"That was some trick." Yajima said nodding.
"eh? What just happened?" said Lucy, not seeing how Gray got hit by Nullpudding.
"that Raven Tail member used a copy of his own self to bait Gray and attack him" stated Erza as she watched the action and saw it all. "that was a clever trick too.."
"and Gray fell for it!?" said Elfman before he looks at the screen. "come on, Gray! Be a man and give the guy payback!"
"Damn, that was a dumb move." Said Gray while standing up and brushed himself off before walking out into the streets again. 'I think I'm getting the hang of this now. You use your copies to get close to your opponents. So, you can attack them before they know what hit them. So, if I act like a copy no one will notice me.'
Everyone outside the city watched the screens in anticipation, eager to find out which wizard would make a move for their team.
"How's Gray-sama supposed to find anyone like this?" asked Juvia as she couldn't even tell where Gray is now.
"Man, I'm glad I didn't go." Elfman said. "I definitely couldn't have done this."
'This is more intense than I first thought.' Erza thought to herself. 'The slightest mistake could reveal yourself to your enemies.'
"hey, guys. I just realized that Natsu just disappeared the moment the copies appeared" said Lucy as this got the others' attention, they also realized that they saw no sight of any movement of Natsu or any of his copies.
"he must've blended in as soon as the copies appeared" said Juvia, thinking that Natsu hid himself when the gong rang.
"but that quick?" asked Elfman
In the city, Gray continued to try and find any other participants while slowly walking in the crowd of doppelgangers, his eyes shifting ever so slightly in order to find his opponents.
'Who's real and who's not? Which one of these are human?' thought Gray as he needs to get a point no matter what.
"Gray-san" A voice said in a sing-song tone as Gray glance behind and sees Nullpudding. "Found you!"
"what?!" said Gray in surprise as Nullpudding lunges at him, his body spiked up and was about to swing a needle filled fist at the ice make wizard when Natsu appeared on the scene. Natsu placed a hand on Gray's head as he pushed him down before swinging a kick right at Nullpudding's face and sends the man flying away.
"gaahh!" screams Nullpudding as he crashed to a building, the raven tail mage soon disappeared after ten seconds as he reappeared at another part of the city.
"Natsu?!" said Gray as Natsu had just saved him from being attacked by Nullpudding.
"ooh! Seems like even with different teams, Natsu-kun had just saved Gray-kun from Nullpudding! What friendship!" commented Lola as everyone saw what just happened.
"very kind of him" added Yajima with a head nod and a smile.
Gray looks at Natsu as he just got saved by him.
"I told you to be careful of Raven Tail" said Natsu to Gray before he turns and started walking away.
"what? Hey!" said Gray as he tried to ask on what Natsu meant but the salmon haired mage disappears into thin air. "damnit…just what he was talking about?"
"good thing Natsu was there to save Gray" said Lucy, in seeing Natsu's action.
"must be nice having a sharp nose for this type of event" added Elfman as Juvia nodded in agreement while Erza has a sceptic look from hearing the short conversation that Natsu and Gray had.
"be careful of Raven Tail? Does Natsu know something?" thought Erza while furrowing her eyebrows as she continued watching the event with the others.
Gray continued on lurking in the crowd of copies as he still needs a point to get rid of the minus that he has on him.
"got to find anyone!" Gray thought as he walked the streets before he saw a small spot in the ground rise up ahead of him. "Huh…?" he questioned. Suddenly a barrage of carrots flew his way.
"CARROT MISSLE!"
"Crap!" exclaimed Gray as he dodged to the right as the attack missed. He looked ahead and saw Beth from the Mermaid Heel team coming out of the ground.
"eh? I missed?" said Beth before she got sent flying into the air by a giant plant pod that came out of the hole bellow her. "areee?!"
Beth soon disappears as she got a minus point from the plant attack.
"What the hell?!" Gray exclaimed with widened eyes.
"Ha!" Yeager from Quatro Cerberus shouted as he emerged from the alleyway. "Caught ya using magic."
Before Yeager could attack Gray, he got attacked by a blast of ice from Lyon who was behind him.
"And I saw you." Said Lyon with a confident smirk as he approached Gray. "I've finally found you, Gray."
"you just saved me the trouble of finding you" replied Gray as the two sibling disciples of Ur were about to brawl when Nullpudding came flying in.
"I got you this time!" exclaimed Nullpudding above Gray as he was about to land his attack when a blast of flames came out of nowhere and sends the Raven Tail Wizard flying away. "aaaahhh!"
Gray and Lyon looks at Nullpudding who crashed to the street and disappears after ten seconds before they turn and sees Natsu standing a few feet away from them, the man having a hand reached out that has steam coming from it.
"looks like Gray-kun got saved by Natsu-kun once again, Fairy Tail B team got another point!" commented Lola.
"Natsu…you" said Gray before seeing Natsu glance at Lyon who blinked twice before he got an uppercut to the chin by the salmon haired mage who appeared bellow him.
"aaggh!" shouted Lyon in pain as he flies in the air before disappearing.
"seems like Natsu-kun didn't spare a second to take out Lyon-kun! He got another point!" stated Lola as Oba baba, the guild master of Lamia Scale furiously spins her finger, two of her guild members were spinning around as well.
Natsu stood up straight before he glanced at Gray who saw him take out Lyon.
"don't get the wrong idea, Gray" said Natsu to the ice mage wizard as the man's eyes glows red. "I'm not taking you out before and right now is because I owe you a lot for taking care of Haruka, Haruo, and Ikki in the past. If I ever battle you or any of the other members of your team…." Natsu's pupils went reptilian as it showed pure hostility. "….don't think I would show you mercy"
"i-isn't that reassuring?" said Gray with a hint of sarcasm in his voice that is also mixed with fear. Before another conversation could be commenced by the two, they look up and sees snow falling from the sky. "snow?"
The snow rains down upon the magic city as all the participants sees that the weather suddenly changed.
"What's this?" Lola questioned. "It looks like it's now snowing in the city! What's going on?!"
"snow!" cheered Haruka and Haruo in seeing the snow.
"Gray or Lyon could conjure this up, right?" said Droy as Jet nodded.
"but Pegasus also got that Eve guy who also use ice based magic!" said Jet as the one who conjured up the snow is Eve himself.
"as expected of Eve-kun" commented Jenny in seeing her guild member using his magic.
"I almost forgot to take into account wizards who could handle low temperatures," Eve said looking down as he focused on his attack.
"I see" said Ichiya while looking at the magic screen that showed Eve. "When humans feel cold, they shiver and their breaths can be seen."
"That's not true for copies though." Added Ren as Hibiki nodded in agreement.
Eve looked up, his eyes focused and a smirk on his lips. "I see you." He swung his arms around and torrent of snow attacked Beth, Yeager, and Nullpudding simultaneously.
"And just like that Eve Tearm of Blue Pegasus scores three points!" Lola shouted before he gasped and added "But it looks like Lyon Vastia from Lamia Scale isn't too impressed by Eve's tactics and goes on the attack!"
"Sorry, but the cold doesn't work on me." Lyon said to Eve as the Blue Pegasus mage got hit by his attack.
"right about that" said Eve before he disappears.
The competitors continued to go after one another, gaining points and losing them in rapid succession as the time passed.
"Things are certainly heating up as the time begins winding down!" Lola said, "Which one of these teams is going take first place?"
"this time for sure!" shouted Nullpuding as he goes after Natsu who caught a thrown needle fist by the raven tail mage. "wha!?"
"I don't know what your guild and your master aim is." Said Natsu before he swung Nullpudding by his hand around in a large circle then throws the short purple skinned man into the air. "but you won't be taking out Fairy Tail that easy!"
Nullpudding flies in the air before he got blasted with ice from Gray who was holding up an ice sculpted cannon.
"that's for last time!" said Gray with a grin as he got a point from hitting Nullpudding.
"Even with all of the action going on it seems that Rufus from Team Sabertooth has yet to make a move." Lola observed. "Could he have some secret plan in the works?"
"This contest is too simple," Rufus said while standing atop a tower in the middle of the city.
"What's this?" commented Lola in seeing the masked man standing on top of the tower. "why is Rufus-kun standing in plain sight! He's giving himself away as an easy target!"
"I remember everything," said Rufus with a smirk. "Every individual pulse, every individual footstep, each magical attribute is engrained in my memory."
"Why would put himself out in the open like that?" Lucy questioned.
"It's like he wants everyone to find him," Elfman said with narrowed eyes.
"look" said Juvia as Rufus touched his temples and a magic circle appeared behind him. "a magic circle?"
Natsu and the others glowed yellow as this gives Rufus sight of all their locations
"Memory Make" chanted Rufus as this got some attention
"Memory make? He uses maker magic?!" Erza said a bit bewildered
"Hoshi Furu Yoru ni" as Rufus finished his chant, beams of light rains down on everyone as they strike upon all the participants with the exception of Natsu who had dodged the attack in the last second.
The crowd roared in excitement as the fan-favorite Rufus had taken control of the entire event.
"What a display of power!" Lola shouted with an open stare. "Rufus has taken the lead in the blink of an eye! This is the power of Sabertooth, folks!"
The other teams looked on in both amazement and slight fright at Rufus' masterful skill with his magic.
"Dearest sponsors," Rufus mused from his rooftop vantage point. "I apologize in advance for my candor but, this contest is utterly dull. As you can you clearly see I have no reason to hide because even if my fellow competitors could find me, they could never touch me."
"That's our Rufus!" Lecter shouted happily. "But he's still not as strong as Sting!"
"Yaaay!" Frosch exclaimed.
"Guy sure loves to hear himself talk." Sting smirked.
"that guy uses Maker Magic? And with his memories?" said Gray in surprise to hear such magic.
Rufus stayed upon his spot before his eyes widen and he jumps off the tower that he was standing on as it suddenly got cut in half and crumbles into pieces. The masked man landed on a house's top roof where he has an encounter with Monkey King: Enra and Black Raven: Tengu, both spirits appearing out of nowhere.
"what's this?! A moment after Rufus-kun claimed his points, the tower he was on suddenly crumbles to pieces and he is encountered by two…..individuals?" said Lola in seeing Enra and Tengu.
"hmmm, seems that a participant has Celestial Spirit magic" commented Yajima in seeing the two Lingyue Celestial Spirit.
"who are those two?" said Makarov, never seeing the spirits before.
"Monkey King: Enra? Black Raven: Tengu? Why are two of Lingyue's 8 Celestial Guardians here?" said Lily, thinking that the 8 Lingyue Celestial spirits remained upon Lingyue.
Rufus looks at the two spirits before he turns behind and sees Natsu coming into view.
"you and your guild seem rather full of yourselves," said Natsu while having his arms crossed.
"and look at that! Seems like the two individuals are with Natsu-kun! This must be the truth of the rumor of the Salamander being able to use Celestial Spirit Magic!" commented Lola as the crowds went wild in cheers.
Rufus looks around him as he is surrounded by the three.
"do it" said Natsu as Enra and Tengu went on the attack against Rufus.
"Saru Ninpou: Saru Hari Senbon no Jutsu!" exclaimed Enra while doing several hand signs before his fur spiked up and went flying towards Rufus who jumped up to dodge, only to encounter Tengu who swung his talon legs at the Sabertooth mage who turns into smoke and appeared on a different roof.
"that was just a memory of me being there" said Rufus with a smirk before his eyes widen when he sees a shadow coming above him. The masked man looks up and sees Natsu with Enra coming down with diving kicks.
Rufus jumped away as Natsu and Enra's attack went straight upon the roof and destroyed it. Thinking that he was in the clear, Rufus stands up before the ground bellow him shatters and tree roots rises out and entangles him.
"what!?" said Rufus in surprise before Tengu flies right towards him while weaving several hand signs and sharps claws appeared on both his arms. The Raven spirit swung his claws forward and spins into a black tornado while flying right towards the masked mage and right to his stomach. "gaaah!"
The tree breaks as Rufus' body breaks right through it because of the force of Tengu's spinning attack.
"unbelievable! What power! Just who are these Celestial Spirits?! Rufus-kun just got hit! Getting him a minus point while Natsu-kun get a plus!" commented Lola as this surprised everyone, especially the members of Sabertooth.
"are you kidding me!?" said Orga with wide eyes.
"Rufus is getting bullied!" said Frosch while holding up his hands.
"t-this is unforeseen, yes!" added Lector in a frantic voice
"what power" commented Rogue as he watches Rufus getting attacked from three sides. Sting was speechless with wide eyes as he couldn't believe Natsu's abilities in battle.
Natsu, Enra, and Tengu dives down in a three way attack on Rufus who did a barrel roll and dodged the attack before swiping his hands to the side, creating dozens of magic beams flying to the three.
Before the magic beams could hit, a wooden wall arises and blocks the attack as it is conjured up by Enra who placed a hand to the roof's tile before doing several hand signs and slammed his hands together. the wooden wall started to shake before dozens of wooden spheres went flying towards Rufus before exploding in a second.
A big dust explosion appeared as a short earth tremor shakes the entire Domus Flau.
"just that one attack caused the entire stadium to shake?!" said Gray, feeling the vibrations of Enra's attack.
The dust soon cleared as Rufus jumps out of the smoke and to a roof where he appeared to be unscathed by Enra's attack, but his hat had a burning hole on its edge.
"oooh! Seems like Rufus-kun didn't escape that attack fully unscathed!" said Lola before gasping. "and what is this?!"
On the field, Rufus looks wide eyes as a flaming vortex is turning up the heat in the magic city. Natsu had his right hand pulled back that was swirling up in the raging flame vortex.
"try dodging this" said Natsu as the raging flaming vortex went even wild to the point that the roof floor that he is standing is melting into goop.
Rufus tried to jump and ran from the attack, but he could not as he looks down and sees tree roots wrapped around his legs because of Enra who holds both hands in a hand sign.
"do it" said Enra with a grin as Natsu's flaming vortex became large before he swung his fist forward, but as soon as he swung it, a bell rang three times and Lola exclaimed "times up! The event is over!". this made Natsu's attack go upwards.
A raging stream of flames went right above Rufus as the masked man looks in shock as the attack barely missed up and went straight to the sky while causing one of the large four statues of Domus Flau to melt into hot goop. A hot gust blew from the stream of flames as this was felt by the entire people in the Domus Flau.
After a minute, the attack died down as one side of the Domus Flau arena is slowly melting into goop, making some people in the crowd move away from their seats. Every participant guild in the game were all wide eyes to the powerful raging flame stream that had caused a hole upon the clouds in the sky.
"u-unbelievable….." commented Lola as he is speechless in seeing what he had just saw. "i-if….the time didn't ran out….i'm sure that…R-Rufus-kun would've been disabled…for the…whole game…"
"it was a good thing that time had run out or Rufus-kun would've been burned to a crisp" commented Yajima with a smile, the old man looking normal to the scene.
"i-I'm starting to think…that the committee should ban N-Natsu-san from…participating n-next year" commented Jenny with a frightened look as anyone who would get hit with such a powerful attack won't even survive.
"that b-brat…" said Makarov while shaking as he looks at the melting goop from Natsu's attack that is slowly cooling down. "t-the committee might send us a repair bill!"
"I don't think that's the main point, Master" said Macao with a sweatdrop.
"yeah, the Domus Flau's damage always get repaired as quick as possible" stated Wakaba with an obvious sound.
"I think any other guild who has to face Natsu would want to forfeit instantly" said Lisanna, certain that no one wants to face Natsu now.
"he's as strong as ever" added Levy with an awkward smile and laugh.
"yay! Papa!" cheered Haruka and Haruo in unison while Ikaruga smiles and Ikki is asleep in her arms with cat ear mufflers to prevent the loud sound from making the young boy cry.
Natsu looks at Rufus who seems to be speechless from the overwhelming flame attack that nearly hit him. The salmon haired pulls down his thrown fist that was steaming before he turns to look at Enra and Tengu, both Spirits nodded before they disappeared back to the Spirit world.
"seems that you are lucky" said Natsu to Rufus before he jumps down the roof as the magic city is slowly disappearing. "but next time, you won't be"
Every other participant appeared upon the arena together again as they were all speechless and not moving from their place because of the sight of power that Natsu unleashed.
"t-the ranks are as of now…." Commented Lola as everyone glance to a lacrima screen that showed the score board and Sabertooth is top with 10 points, followed by Fairy Tail B Team; 8 points, Lamia Scale; 6 points, Blue Pegasus; 4 points, Fairy Tail A team; 3 points, Mermaid Heel; 3 points, Quatro Cerberus; 2 points, and lastly Raven Tail who has 0 points. "Sabertooth is in first place with Fairy Tail B team..and followed by the other guilds with some matching points…"
The crowd was dead silence for a minute before they went crazy in cheers as to see Natsu's power that made them even more crazier.
Natsu cracks his right hand's knuckles a few times before he started walking out of the arena and head to his team stand as he got enough points for his team.
"c-can I forfeit if I got picked against Natsu?" asked Lucy while shaking as she is extremely afraid of facing the Fire Dragon Slayer in the battle round.
"m-m-me too" added Elfman as there are somethings that he doesn't want to do and that is fight against Natsu.
"that much power…." Said Juvia before she gulped nervously. "if we were to be fighting against Natsu-san….not one of us would survive.."
"agreed" added Erza who looks calm as she glances at Natsu who disappeared into a tunnel that leads him to his team's stand. "if I have to guess, he was still holding back nor was that even his magic"
"that wasn't even his magic power?!" said Lucy and the others in shock as to hear that the attack didn't came from Natsu's magic but something else.
"it might be his Chi or I might be wrong" replied Erza while shrugging her shoulders before looking to the field where Gray and the other participants went back to their team stand. "if anything, pray that we won't face Natsu in the battle round of today or any other"
Lucy and the others started praying as they still want to live.
By Fairy Tail B team's stand, Natsu came in as he got greeted by the others.
"show off" said Gajeel with a grin.
"guess you showed them who to be wary of, right?" added Mira as Natsu shrugs his shoulders before he sat down on a nearby seat.
"if anything, I can hear them asking their masters permission to forfeit if they match up against me" said Natsu as his sharp hearing can hear some pleading from some guild participants.
"yeah, but some got strong guts" said Laxus as he and Gajeel hears the voices too.
"Now, on to the battle portion of day one!" Lola announced out "Here's how the fights will be broken down. Each team will fight in a one on one battle against another team. This is not a tournament-style format!"
"You said earlier that sponsors are deciding the match ups, right?" asked Jenny as Lola nodded
"That is correct." Replied Lola
"This should prove to be quite interesting." Commented Yajima.
"I have just received the line ups for today." Lola said as he was handed a piece of paper. "Please step forward when I call your name. For the first match of day one it will be…Lucy Heartfilia of Fairy Tail A Versus Flare Corona of Raven Tail!"
The two called participants stands upon the arena field as they seize each other up.
"Blondie…" said Flare in an eerie voice.
'they're the ones who hurt Wendy and Charla' thought Lucy before she clenched her fists tight. 'I won't lose to the likes of you!'
That's a wrap!
Bye bye
