A/N: Thanks for returning to this story, which I am having an absolute ball writing, and double-thanks to the guys that have put up reviews! They play a major part in why I do this, and I have recently completed filming my responses to the reviews put up for chapters 4 through 6, so go check out my YouTube channel if you left one up!
Now, back into the action, with Super Saiyan Gorun versus Wizard Saint Jura!
OP Song: Let Me Try by Nathan Sharp
Magic Battle Nexus Arc: Chapter 4
Golden Soul vs. Stone Will
"I must say, I wasn't expecting this," Jura admitted as he looked the transformed warrior up and down. "Here I thought you only practiced light magic."
"That what most people think?" Gorun chuckled in amusement. "My magic is so much more than that. Here- I'll show you." The next instant, he was nothing more than a blur of golden light, moving too fast for even Jura to keep track of him.
The Wizard Saint's eyes were wide in shock- the only other person he'd seen move that fast was Siegrain when he had put on a display of his Heavenly Body Magic some time before revealing himself to the world as Jellal. Even still, this boy had to be faster than the treasonous wizard saint had ever been, and for the first time in years, Jura felt the rush of adrenaline that comes from uncertainty.
Noticing that the golden light was headed right for him, Jura acted as quickly as he could. "Iron Rock Wall!" he shouted, a solid barrier coming to stand between him and his opponent. At this speed, there's no way he can avoid running into-
His thoughts were cut off as Gorun sped around the wall without even slowing down and struck Jura solidly across the back, causing the older man to stumble from the force behind the blow. He grunted in surprise but recovered quickly as Gorun took to the sky, cross-crossing, weaving this way and that, almost as if daring Jura to try and hit him from where he was. The Wizard Saint was only too happy to oblige.
With another jab from his fingers, the stone bricks that made up the wall broke apart and scattered into the air, each one trying to take down the rapidly moving boy at the behest of their master. It took a moment, but Jura's keen eyes finally saw a pattern that allowed him to predict where he should send his next attack.
"There you are!" he muttered with fierce satisfaction as one of the bricks slammed into Gorun's back.
He had no way of knowing how lucky that shot was. Normally, Gorun could have shrugged it off like it were nothing, especially in his Super Saiyan form. However, the stone projectile had struck him where his tail lay hidden below his waist- his one great physical weakness. He cried out in agony as he was robbed of his energy and will to move, and he began to fall while his aura fizzled out, much to the horror of his guild mates.
Still, it wasn't anything he hadn't faced before. Forcing himself through blinding, mind-clouding pain, he managed to turn the last few meters of his fall into a controlled descent, where he rolled in the sand to come shakily to his feet. He winced in pain as he continued forcing his body to move, but it was getting easier as the seconds crawled by. "You're a pretty good shot," he panted as he faced Jura again. Despite the intense pain and near-blackout, he had managed to stay in his ascended state.
"Do you wish to concede?" Jura asked as he inclined his head in acknowledgement of the compliment. "I have no wish to harm you any more than necessary."
"Hey, I said you were a good shot," Gorun smirked as he rubbed his backside painfully, trying to massage the aching pain away. "I'm better." He pointed upwards, to the area where he had been flying about before Jura had shot him down.
Naturally, everyone's gaze was drawn upward, whereupon a majority of the stadium's jaws dropped. Hovering there were hundreds and hundreds of small magic circles, each one buzzing with energy, and all of them pointed at the Wizard Saint. The man looked back at his opponent, whose aura flared brightly again as he reached upwards with open palms before shouting, "Hellzone Grenade!" His fists clenched tightly, and the magic circles went ballistic, spamming Jura with highly explosive energy blasts with enough force to bring down a castle.
"Rock Tor!" Jura countered, summoning the massive body of an iron-hard stone samurai that shielded him from the destructive force. The resulting explosion sent shockwaves through the arena that threw all of the viewer's hair and clothing into disarray, even all the way back to the nosebleed sections.
"Think that can protect you?!" Gorun laughed wildly, his power surging to heights he had never visited before as he continued to push his new limits. "I'll turn that golem of yours into a rock garden! Kienzan!" He conjured the energy disk in the time it takes to blink and sent it whirling at the guardian that Jura had summoned.
The mighty stone ward, weakened by the vicious pounding the Hellzone Grenade had given it, finally met its match as Krillin's signature technique collided with its chest, slicing it clean in two, then crumbling into pieces. Jura's eyes widened again as one of his strongest defense spells was rendered useless. Truly, to think that this boy held such potential… he mused, a genuine smile lighting up his face.
"Excellent work, young Gorun," he said respectfully. "It's been many a year since anyone has managed to make their way past my giant. I commend you for doing so well against me."
"You're talking like you're in control of the situation," Gorun said with a confident grin. "While I appreciate the compliment, I feel like I oughta tell you that you're not."
"Which would put you in command by proxy, I take it?" Jura laughed. "You are quite skilled, with a level of strength that I've rarely seen, even seeing how far Lyon has come in his training. However, you are dangerously close to believing that simply because you have not felt the sting of defeat in some time that you yourself cannot be beaten." He paused before his power level spiked considerably and he added, "In this world, there's always somebody above you."
"That doesn't mean…" Gorun grinned brighter, a fierce delight in his eyes as he put two fingers to his forehead. In the next instant, he had appeared behind Jura and kicked him in the small of his back, sending him sliding through the sand with an audible grunt as he finished, "…that I'm the one below you, Wizard Saint!"
"Rumbling Crescendo!" Jura bellowed, his brow bent downward in concentration.
"Big Bang Attack!"
The fight continued to shake the coliseum violently as the match went on, causing many of the viewers with children to leave early and view the match safely outside with lachryma-vision. Those that did stay were pelted with wind, dirt, and even pieces of stone from time to time. For the next twenty-odd minutes, Jura and Gorun unleashed a combination of blows both physical and magical that were too fast for the average eye to keep track of.
Even the S-class wizards in the stands, those with the natural-born reflexes that set them apart from the rank and file of other wizards in the country, found themselves at a loss as to what happened from time to time. Most of the competitors in Sabertooth feigned boredom, but you could bet that if you asked them later on, they'd be eager to recount every detail that they managed to keep track of. Quatro Kerberos howled about how 'wild' the fight was, Mermaid Heel and Blue Pegasus observed both sides curiously while Raven Tail's attention was fixated solely on the golden-haired fighter that had rarely been in the public spotlight until now. Both Fairy Tail teams seemed to have forgotten their animosity towards one another in favor of cheering on their comrade, urging to him to beat the pride of Lamia Scale.
Speaking of said guild, their silver-haired resident Ice-make Wizard was at a loss for words. While Sherry and the others shouted words of encouragement to their comrade, he found himself speechless at the display of power that Gorun was putting on. Jura is the greatest wizard in all of Fiore! He thought with a slight panic. Fairy Tail may have been able to keep up with us back in the day, but how can this boy, from out of virtually nowhere, go toe-to-toe with Jura?! He felt as though his guild master had spun his head around a few times- what his eyes were telling him simply didn't register with his brain.
Of course, he tried to rationalize, Jura can't go all-out in this enclosed space without endangering the spectators. Yes, that must be it! Letting a small breath of relief, Lyon felt that he could relax a bit now. Your friend may have a wealth of magic power, but I'm certain that Jura has a plan to remove him from the contest soon, Gray.
"I think it's about time we finish this, isn't it?" Jura announced, his formerly white clothing now dirt-and-sweat-stained. "We only have thirty minutes, after all."
"You're quite brave to call the end of your hopes closer," Gorun laughed, rising slowly into the air. "Let's see how long your courage holds up!" He spread his arms wide, his power level rising so high that the lachryma screens outside the stadium began to shake and fill with static. His aura tripled in its intensity, and those that were even remotely close to him flinched from the heat.
Jura, it has to be admitted, paled slightly and began to sweat as he sensed an enormous amount of magic being gathered in preparation to be cast directly at him. "What has he done…?" he gasped to himself.
Off to the side, Kinana was in a panic. "This is bad!" she shouted as soon as she saw him begin to rise into the air.
"Why?" Natsu laughed. "He looks like he's finally gunning to take down the old man!"
"And half of Crocus with him!" Kinana said, her eyes wide. "I keep telling you, that form reduces his ability to reason, and right now he's only focusing on defeating Jura!"
"You can't possibly think that he'll destroy the capital, do you?" Erza chuckled lightly. She had been greatly interested in the fight, since it was the first time she'd seen Super Saiyan in action.
This was when they began to feel the heat from his aura, and Fairy Tail's Titania paled to the color of snow. "He is going to destroy the capital," she concluded.
"But there are people living here!" Lucy cried.
"Hraaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Gorun screamed, slamming his hands together so that his wrists met while his palms faced towards Jura, lightning jettisoning out from the mere friction of the energy that was gathering in response to his command. "Think you're brave enough to take this one?!" he demanded, all caution thrown to the wind.
Jura knew that there was no way he could conjure a defense spell to block the energy his opponent was about to unleash. His only hope was to beat him to the punch and knock him out before he used whatever spell he was gearing up for.
"Gorun!" Kinana screamed at her boyfriend, trying desperately to get his attention. "This match isn't worth destroying the city, come on!"
"I think we've gone past the bargaining stage here!" Gray said nervously, preparing to throw up an ice shield if this whole thing went south.
Gorun let the energy build to an almost unbearable level, then conjured the necessary magic circle in his mind. At the same instant, Jura finished his own preparations, slamming his palms together as he prepared to channel the direct energy of the tectonic plates far beneath the surface of the earth.
"Final-!"
"Rumbling-!"
GONG! The bell sounded, just loud enough to be heard over the buildup of power taking place between the two insanely strong wizards. Much to the relief of everyone in the crowd, both combatants were able to cease using their magic immediately, and the air soon became free of magic energy, save for the residues of the spells already cast. Even Gorun's combat-fueled Saiyan mind knew that to strike now would mean forfeiting the match- maybe even getting his guild ejected from the event.
So it ends in a draw, he thought as he released his hold on his Super Saiyan form. As his hair settled down and his muscles returned to their more compact appearance, he thought that he should feel upset or angry at the fact that he hadn't managed to secure a win. Instead, all he felt was a fierce satisfaction that he had done his best on behalf of his guild- even if he had gotten a little carried away at the end.
It took an enormous amount of self-control and willpower to force his body to hold in the power he had been preparing to unleash in order to take down Jura. From what he could see, the Wizard Saint was also taking a moment to recompose himself, even as the younger man landed on his feet in the sand.
"That was…" he breathed, a huge grin on his face.
"A rush unlike any I have felt in years," Jura finished for him as he dusted himself off. "Truly, that was a spectacular battle."
"I agree," Gorun laughed. "Though I can't help but feel that things are a little unfinished, seeing as we've ended in a draw."
"I feel much the same," Jura said with a wry grin. "I have an idea, however, seeing as this is only the first day of the games."
"I'm listening," the ex-time patroller said eagerly.
"Since our teams get to elect which members partake in the first events of the day, I suggest that we settle things at one of these competitions," Jura told him.
"So if one of us sees the other volunteering, take the chance to jump in, yeah?" Gorun asked.
"Precisely. Whichever of us takes the higher score in the competition will be the winner and the score shall be settled," Jura nodded.
"I like it," Gorun agreed as he reached out a hand. "Thank you for a great battle, Wizard Saint."
"Likewise, young Fairy," Jura laughed as they shook hands, much to the surprise and interest of the crowd.
"Would you look at that?" they could hear Chapati saying from the commentator's box. "After all the hard feelings we've seen between some guilds today, it's nice to see such a firm display of sportsmanship."
"I have to agree," Yajima added.
Hearing this, Gorun released Jura's hand and said, "I've been told that Fairy Tail and Lamia Scale have long been allies. I'd be glad to call upon a wizard such as yourself should the need arise."
"Likewise," the Iron Rock Wizard Saint said before they turned on their heels and walked away from one another.
"Good job out there!" Mirajane said excitedly as Gorun walked back among his teammates. "I never thought I'd see someone keeping Jura on his toes like that!"
"Normally I'd be mad, cos ya didn't win, but seeing as he's a Saint and all that, I guess I'll let it slide this time," Gajeel shrugged. "We did manage to get some points out of it."
"That's his way of saying you did a fine job," said Juvia, surprising Gorun as she approached him. "I have to agree- not many could match the strength of that man."
"Er, thanks?" he answered, wondering when the trap was going to spring. "I, uh… appreciate that, Juvia."
"Besides, since you managed to score us some points, we're that much closer to making my darling Gray into the most handsome groom the world has ever seen!" she exclaimed, walking away as she began to hum a merry tune.
"There it is," he sighed. "I thought I told her off about that?"
"I think it'd be better coming from Gray," Mira grinned at him.
"That's what I said," he groaned. "Why does no one listen to me? I have good ideas!"
"Such as taking my place on this team," Jellal said quietly as he stepped out of the shadows. "Jura was much stronger than I expected him to be- had I faced him in combat, I know I would have not been able to beat him with someone else's magic."
"Not to mention if you accidentally used your Heavenly Body Magic, it'd be a dead giveaway to anyone who knew you from before," Gorun smirked. The smile faded slightly as he added, "Sense anything out of the ordinary yet?"
"No, but I'll keep looking," the masked man said gravely.
Final Score of the Grand Magic Games Day 1
Sabertooth: 20 pts.
Raven Tail: 18 pts.
Blue Pegasus: 14 pts.
Lamia Scale: 11 pts.
Fairy Tail Team B: 6 pts.
Mermaid Heel: 3 pts.
Quatro Kerberos: 2 pts.
Fairy Tail Team A: 0 pts.
"All right everyone, drink up!" Makarov shouted across the bar. "We've got a defeat to celebrate!"
"Yeah!" most of his guild cheered before taking a drink of a stiff beverage.
Gorun narrowed his eyes slightly as he muttered, "Uh, hello? I didn't actually lose."
"Yeah, but you didn't win, either," Cana slurred as she grinned at him from where she was seated, surrounded by empty shot glasses. "So drink up, buttercup. We need to kick into high gear tomorrow…"
"You're not even on the team!" Gorun protested ineffectually. Turning to his girlfriend, he groaned in mock distress, "All my hard work, gone."
"I didn't realize you did this for the attention." she teased him lightly. "I thought this was about representing our guild well."
"It is about representing our guild," he said as he dropped an arm around her shoulders. "And yours is the only attention I want- you know that."
Kinana reddened rapidly as she muttered, "Dork. You can be really sappy."
"A-yep," he chuckled.
He nodded a greeting to Lucy and Gray as they walked in, both of them wearing their casual attire. "Hey guys," he said as they came closer. "Feeling all right?"
"We'll be fine," Gray nodded. "I saw the tail end of your match with Jura, by the way. That was crazy."
"Yeah, well, probably not one of my finer moments," he winced as he remembered how close he had been to blowing away a good chunk of Crocus. Pushing the thought aside, he added, "Besides, I didn't even secure the win."
"At least you managed to score points at all," Lucy pointed out.
Seeing the pain on her face as she remembered her fight with Flare, Gorun frowned slightly and said, "That wasn't your fault. You had her in your sights, and they cheated you out of the win. Simple as that. Far as I'm concerned, you did the guild's name good today."
"Master said he's going to be having some of those of us that aren't competing keep a closer eye on them during any more matches we have with them," Kinana added in a lowered tone. "He was really mad about it."
"I can tell," Gray said dryly as he pointed at the elderly man, who was inebriated to the point of being incoherent. "The only time I see him drink that much is when flame-brain torches an entire city."
"I think you mean when you freeze it over, Ice Princess!" Natsu shouted, suddenly invading their circle.
"What'd you call me?" Gray snapped, the air around him lowering a few degrees.
Before either of them could get into it, Gorun's hair shot up and turned yellow while he fixed a fierce glare on them both with emerald orbs. "If you're gonna fight, take it outside," he said sternly. "We don't need to be footing the repair bill because you two got out of hand!"
"Wow," Mirajane commented to Erza as the two boys quickly backed away from the Saiyan teenager while babbling excuses. "And here I thought only you and Lucy could make those two freak out like that."
"I can startle Gray and Natsu, certainly," Erza said with the faintest hint of a grin. "But I don't think Lucy's wrath frightens our ice wizard as much as it does the Salamander."
"True," Mirajane giggled.
"Hey, Gorun!" Cana called with an exaggerated wave of her arms. "Come here!"
"Why…?" he asked slowly.
"Chance to bury the hatchet!" she grinned lazily. Raising a shot glass, she hiccupped and said, "If you can beat me at a drinking contest… I'll call it cool between us… hiccup. Sound good?"
Glancing quickly at Kinana, Gorun shook his head in the negative. "I'd rather we find some other way to do this," he answered. "I don't drink."
"Aw, no wonder you're no fun…" she pouted. Belligerently, she tried again, waving him over. "C'mon, blondie! You even have a head start!" She indicated the empty shot glasses and bottles around her with a sweep of her arm, knocking some of them to the floor.
"Yeah, I'm still inclined to say 'no', especially since I don't know what you get out of it if I lose," the young man said with a slight grimace.
"Scared?" Cana smirked.
"Of a drinking contest?" Gorun shrugged. "Honestly, not really. Of your intentions? Absolutely."
"I'm not gonna make you do anything bad…" she whined.
"I said no," he said firmly. "And I don't need a drinking match for there to be peace between us. I'm perfectly willing to let bygones be bygones."
"No!" Cana said stubbornly, pouting like a child. "I wanna beat you!"
"Why?" he asked curiously, cocking his head to one side.
"Cos you're givin' it all you got for our guild instead of me!" she shouted, drawing everyone's attention to them. "I've trained for years and years to become S-class, and you just get it handed to you on a silver platter! By my loser of an old man, too!"
Suddenly, Gorun had an insight to her bitterness. He knew that out of the younger generation of wizards, she had been there the longest, and had failed the most times to advance her position in the guild's ranks. It couldn't have been easy, especially given that as soon as she returned with the others to find him, someone they barely knew, as the next up-and-coming star of the guild, be that his intent or not. Finally, to add insult to those injuries, the father she had pursued silently for her entire life seemed to favor him over her with his promotion to S-class.
In that moment, he knew that he could not let things stand as they were between them. "All right," he said slowly as he stood up. "You wanna compete with me? I'll drink to it." He gave Kinana a quick look and squeezed her hand to reassure her before moving to sit across from Cana, who was grinning devilishly.
"So you do have some spine after all," she slurred.
"There is a catch," he said swiftly and sternly enough to make her pause. "If you're setting the stage, I'm setting the conditions of loss. If I lose, you can have my spot on Team B. I'd offer you my S-class rank, but I don't think that'd sit well with master."
"Oh…?" she grinned. "I like this so far. It's not a bad offer."
"However," he said as he grabbed the bottle from her hand faster than the eye can follow and filled a shot glass with the brown liquid inside, "if I win, you will cease this destructive habit of yours."
"Huh?" she blinked uncomprehendingly.
"You'll give up drinking," he said as he set the bottle down with an echoing thud in the ensuing silence. Everyone in the guild was awestruck. Half of them thought that she would refuse to challenge him right then and there. The other half wondered how she was going to flip on him for even suggesting that she give up her vice.
Much to the shock of everyone present, however, she grabbed the bottle, poured herself a shot, the downed it swift as you please before sneering at the young man and saying, "You're on, flashlight. No one can outdrink me."
Gorun raised both of his eyebrows in surprise but snatched up the glass and held it in a toast to his opponent as he said, "May the best wizard win." Then he too downed the drink without flinching. He noticed Cana's eyes widen slightly as the heavy drink appeared to have no effect on him. He grinned slightly and said, "My family has a history of a high tolerance for alcohol."
"You said you don't drink," she said as she poured two more shots. "This takes practice."
"No it doesn't," he smirked as he raised the little glass in her direction again. "You've met your match, Cana. I suggest you savor this night- tomorrow's the last hangover you'll have as long as we're in the same guild."
"That's what you think!" she shot back, but those that were observing her more closely noticed that despite the flush of alcohol on her face, she was paling slightly. Evidently, she had thought that Gorun would be easy prey once he entered her arena of choice.
Off to the side, as the bottle was quickly depleted, Gray said in an undertone to Natsu, "You don't think Gorun can actually beat her, do you?"
"I dunno, but either way it's gonna be awesome, so shut up and let's watch," his comrade grinned excitedly.
They were ten or twelve bottles in when there was an unarguable winner. Gorun watched with detached interest as Cana's eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped backwards, passed out. While everyone that was still sober or awake gaped at him, he made a face at the little glass in his hand and muttered, "Never understood why people get addicted to this stuff. It tastes nasty."
"Y-You drank Cana under the table?!" Lucy cried, voicing everyone else's thoughts. "Literally, under the table!"
"Yeah, really not that hard," he shrugged as he reverted back to his base form, his black hair falling to frame his face once again. "Alcohol has almost no effect on my Super Saiyan form. My metabolism is accelerated along with the rest of my abilities, so I basically can't get drunk because of how fast my system processes the stuff."
"Isn't that cheating?" Gray asked.
"Hey, she could have used a charm to reinforce herself," Gorun shrugged nonchalantly as he stood up. "Neither one of us said that magic was against the rules."
"Does this mean you're actually gonna make her quit drinking?" Lucy asked worriedly. "She gets pretty cranky whenever she doesn't get her fill."
"Her fault for making a crap bet," Gorun shrugged again. "Besides, it's not like this is going to kill her- if anything, it might improve her lot in life. Maybe she'll have a better shot at making S-class if she spends less time boozing out and more time honing her magic."
"She's tougher than you give her credit for," Levy argued.
Gorun turned a slightly pained eye on the bluenette and said, "Don't get me wrong, she has loads of potential. Imagine how much better she could be if she made better use of her time."
"That may be true, but that's not your decision to make for her," Erza said sternly, and Gorun turned to meet her gaze evenly.
"I didn't make it for her," he said in a reasonable tone. "She knew there was a chance she could lose, and agreed to accept the risks that came with challenging me before we began. This is her own doing."
"You didn't have to set such a condition to her loss," Erza tried to argue, though she had to concede that he was right about Cana knowing the risks. Even drunk, she was more aware of things around her than most people would be- she knew full well what her losing could mean.
"You're right, I didn't," he smiled. "But when you see a comrade in need, do you leave them to their own devices? Or do you at least try to help them along?"
Erza's frown deepened slightly before she answered, "While I see that your intentions were noble, you went about it in a less-than-honorable way."
"You really wanna argue semantics with me over this?" Gorun sighed. "I won. She lost. Not to mention in front of witnesses. The terms of the bet apply. She has to honor that, or her word as one of this guild's members means nothing."
That was the crux of the matter. The two comrades had, in full view of both the public- there were still a couple of patrons in the bar, even at the late hour- and their own guild members, struck a deal. They had to honor the terms of that deal, or else their promises were worthless. Fairy Tail wizards, reckless and chaos-loving as they might be, took their promises very seriously.
"Good night everyone," Gorun said abruptly as he turned to walk out the door where Kinana was waiting. Some of them called a response, but the couple was quickly out the door. As soon as they were, the Saiyan boy frowned as he looked up at the mostly-full moon.
"Kinana, did I do the right thing?" he asked quietly.
"I think you did the best with what the situation you were handed," she answered honestly. "Maybe you crossed a line, but no one can say that you started it. Cana wanted a confrontation with you, and she wasn't going to stop until she got one. She won't be happy with you, that's for sure, especially since you beat her at her own game. But even she won't be able to argue with the fact that she lost outright."
"I hope so," he muttered. "I also hope I haven't just alienated myself from everyone else by forcing her to change her lifestyle so drastically."
"I doubt it," Kinana smiled before pressing her lips against his neck for a brief moment. "Families fight from time to time, after all."
"Your majesty, have you any requests for the lineup tomorrow? I can make whatever arrangements you desire." The speaker was a tall, dark-skinned man in shining silver armor. He was bent on one knee before a massive throne, where a diminutive figure with white hair, otherwise known as the King of Fiore, sat comfortably as he pondered the question.
"Hmm…" he mused with his deep, commanding voice. Many that had seen him wondered how one so small could produce such a powerful sound as he did. "I'd like to see that Bacchus fellow fight."
"Yes, my lord, any suggestions as to whom should be his opponent?" the knight inquired obediently.
"I'd love it if he could fight that Fairy girl, the pretty one with tremendous amounts of strength," the king replied eagerly. "What was her name, what do they call her…? Umm, Queen Anna? Something like that." The king seemed tired- And no wonder, thought his servant.
The knight smiled to humor his master and replied, "Of course, my lord. I'll see that it happens."
"Thank you, Arcadios," the ruler said gratefully. "Be sure you get some rest yourself, understand? I don't need you collapsing on me one of these days."
"Yes, my lord."
The next day opened with a game called 'Chariots', which Gajeel partook in so that he could have a chance to compete against Natsu. Unfortunately for both of them, the event consisted of running a race on the backs of moving carts, which triggered their severe motion sickness. Apparently, fate was out to get the Fairy Tail guild that day, a fact that several of them remarked on as they watched the race through the lachryma screens hovering in the air above the arena.
Quatro Kerberos' reserve member, an S-class wizard by the name of Bacchus, took first place after demolishing half the line. Raven Tail's snake-like mage took second, followed by Mermaid Heel, then Lamia Scale, and Ichiya from Blue Pegasus taking fifth.
Which left Natsu, Gajeel, and surprisingly, one of the Sabertooth dragon slayers in a three-way scramble for last place. This prompted Gorun to mutter, "Okay, unless I'm mistaken, it looks like this motion sickness thing is exclusive to dragon slayers, right?"
"I've never seen Gajeel have this problem before," Juvia mused thoughtfully. "But if the Sabertooth wizard is also a dragon slayer with the same weakness, I suppose it's possible."
"There is one way to know…" Gorun said slowly as he turned to Laxus with a question in his eyes.
The lightning mage shifted uncomfortably before he muttered, "Don't tell Natsu. I'd never live it down."
"Ha! Knew it!" Gorun laughed.
"I wouldn't have admitted that if I were you," Juvia sighed as Laxus shot the Saiyan an annoyed look.
"Hey, hey, I'm not one to go tellin' secrets that aren't mine to give out," Gorun said in a placating tone. "I won't say anything to Natsu- or Gajeel."
"Thanks," Laxus acknowledged.
It was in the closing moments of the event when Gorun's interest was piqued. The Sabertooth mage, Sting, seemed to have given up the sixth-place slot that Natsu and Gajeel were straining to reach. Instead, he seemed to be asking them something that the Saiyan warrior found to be of the utmost interest.
"Can you explain something to me?" the blond dragon slayer groaned through a wave of nausea as the fire and iron dragon slayers continued to crawl away. "Why'd you even bother entering this tournament?"
What's he talking about? Gorun wondered. Everyone and their cousin wants to win this thing.
"You're nothing like the Fairy Tail of my childhood," Sting grunted. "I wanna know what happened to the guild that did whatever the hell it wanted- whenever it wanted. You guys never cared what anyone thought of you, so why'd you become so obsessed with your image all of a sudden?"
This gave Gorun pause. This was a Fairy Tail he had never known, only heard about. The guild that he had come to had been good to him, sure, but it was all they could do to keep up their spirits daily. They couldn't afford to let their reputation slip any further, or else they faced disbanding altogether. What was it like to be a part of the Fairy Tail that raised Natsu and the others? He wondered for the first time.
Up until now, the Saiyan had never thought of his guild existing any other way than it already did. Now, he realized that what he had been living in was apparently the shadow of the original guild- an empty shell left behind by the Tenrou Team. How badly they must want to see their glory days returned, he thought sadly.
"The reason we're here… is for our friends!" Natsu shouted with all the meagre strength he had left. "The ones who waited for us… all the years we were gone!" He heaved himself forward, a few inches ahead of Gajeel as he groaned, "Who fought through the pain… and the heartache! They were humiliated!" He made a visible effort to control his stomach as he continued, both in the race and with his words, "But even so, they stayed strong! They kept our guild together! And we gotta win… for Gorun!"
The Saiyan gave a start of surprise at the mention of his name, even as everyone turned to look at him with the same look of shock on their faces.
Natsu pushed on, screaming, "He's never known the Fairy Tail that we remember- he never got the chance to see it! Even seeing us at our worst, he wanted to be one of us! So we're doing this for all of them! We want everyone to know that the Fairy Tail Guild never gave up, not for an instant! And there's no way I'm gonna give up now!"
Gorun felt a slight sting in his eyes as he grinned up at the lachryma screen bearing his friend's pained face. "Thanks, Natsu," he said quietly. Looking over to the box seats that held all the non-participants of his guild, the smile widened as he noticed that there was not one dry eye in the section.
Natsu scored sixth place, finally granting his team their first points since the games began. Gajeel came in seventh, which only got team B a single point, but strangely, none of them cared overmuch after Natsu's speech. Gorun supposed that the real crowd shocker was the fact that Sting dropped out, which meant that not only was it the first event that his guild hadn't completely dominated, it was the first time that they had received no points whatsoever.
He was destined to be surprised, though. Instead of hearing a cacophony of laments over Sting's loss, he heard a surprising number of people in the stands lending their praise to Natsu's heroic efforts in forcing himself through his weakness to finish as strong as he could. He even heard a few of the viewers mentioning that they might consider backing Fairy Tail in the upcoming events. Way to turn things around, Natsu, Gorun smiled to himself. Despite his own arguably impressive match with Jura, his actions had not inspired any of the watchers to lend their favoritism towards his guild. Then again, I suppose I didn't make a very good impression when I almost blew up half the city.
The first match was Raven Tail's 'Black Snake' versus Lamia Scale's Toby. The match went for a few minutes, with Gorun using his abilities to sense for any foul play from the ravens. He was half-hoping that they would try to use some underhanded trick so that he could blast them clear of the stadium, but either by fortune's favor or dismissal, the snake-eyed mage won the match fair and square, though Gorun did take note of the fact when Jellal mentioned that the man was using mimicry magic to copy Max's sand-make style exactly.
He more or less missed what happened after that, but the raven seemed to upset Toby a great deal when he tore up the sock that the dog-man had been wearing since Gorun had met him. Apparently, it meant something to him, and Black Snake had destroyed it just for kicks.
Gorun scowled and muttered, "Rotgut." The rest of the stadium seemed to agree, as many of the viewers were booing and jeering the strange man as he walked away from a sobbing Toby, laughing to himself.
"He didn't cheat though, so there's nothing we can do about it," Mirajane said, though her lovely face was marred by a frown.
The judges seemed eager to put the unpleasant incident behind them, so Toby was escorted off the field by the pumpkin mascot, who did his best to console the dog-man while the announcers brought up the lineup for the next combat round.
"This is certainly a matchup I didn't expect," Chapati said with some surprise. "It appears that Quatro Kerberos is going up against Fairy Tail Team A."
"Oh man, not good," Gorun winced. He glanced over at Gajeel, who was still nursing his stomach after the chariot race- unlike Natsu, who was still in the infirmary, trying not to heave his guts. If the fire wizard was called up now, Team A would have to either drag him out of bed, or forfeit the match to the 'wild' guild.
"First up, we have Bacchus, the 'wine god," Chapati announced, and Gorun relaxed a little.
"Okay, that's not so bad," he breathed.
"You do know he's one of their S-class wizards, right?" Mira asked him.
"Yeah, that's why I'm less worried now," Gorun grinned as he leaned over the railing while the lightly armored wizard walked out, holding a jug of some kind. "If the judges setting the lineup have any sense of how to give an audience a good fight, they'll send Erza at him. She'll kick his can and be done before we know it."
"I wouldn't count on that," Laxus frowned as Gorun glanced a question at him. "Erza's mentioned him a few times. They used to fight occasionally back in the day- according to her, there's never been a clear winner."
"Huh," Gorun muttered. "That's… slightly concerning. But I suppose worst case scenario, they end up in a draw, right?"
"I guess that could happen," Juvia agreed. "Erza is strong, but I can sense a power that rivals her coming from this Bacchus fellow." Gorun scanned the two wizards respectively and was surprised to find that they were speaking the truth.
"And from Fairy Tail Team A, we have…" Chapati paused to make sure he was reading the card right, then announced, "The lovely miss Kinana!"
Gorun froze in place, stock-still in the time it takes to blink. All the color had drained from his face, and he seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.
"What was that you were saying about the worst-case scenario?" Mira asked him nervously.
Gorun replied with a number of words that the other wizards were familiar with- and several that were new to them.
Closing Song: Bad Day by Daniel Powter
Gorun: Okay... I feel like you were trying to go somewhere with that scene involving Cana, but you lost me... and several of our readers, I think.
Mataras: It's easiest to get back to the surface of the water when you push off the bottom.
Gorun: ...What?
Victoria: Don't mind him. He's got a plan, is what he meant to say.
Mataras: Yeah, that. Also, I'm running on... I don't know how little sleep.
Gorun: Let's keep this brief, then. We hope everyone enjoyed the fight between me and Jura, and we look forward to seeing how you react to the next lineup!
Victoria: Next time- Kinana Rises!
Next time on Saiyan Tail...
"Like hell it ain't," Bacchus laughed again. "Tell you what- I gots me an idea to make this tournament a little more interesting." The gong signaling that the match was to begin had gone off, but they both ignored it. Kinana shuddered as Bacchus licked his lips hungrily and said, "Let's make a little bet, just like those other guys, huh? If I win this competition, you'll keep me company tonight- where I can pay you all the compliments I want."
Kinana blanched and had to struggle not to be sick. She was only partially able to refrain from doing so because both of them were drawn to the sight of Gorun's Super Saiyan aura blazing from the stands as he roared, "Touch her and you die!"
"Gorun, no!" Kinana begged him. She realized that since the match had begun, the sound lachrymas were active, and spoken words could be heard by the entire audience. "I can handle him!"
"Haha!" Bacchus laughed derisively. "I'd love to see you try, little missy!" Still, he made no hostile moves toward her- yet.
"Kill him!" Gorun demanded.
"Outside interference is not permitted in the games," Chapati reminded them, and Kinana thought for a moment that he was about get a Big Bang Attack to his face, but through an enormous show of self-control, Gorun switched back to his base form before a penalty could be called against him. Still, the purple-haired girl could practically feel his anger from where she stood.
I won't lose, she promised him silently. Not to this guy.