AN: Hey, just a quick announcement. So...I really only had one entry in my art competition. But that's okay! The cover for "Born of END Darkness and Celestial Light" has now been updated. This art was done by the lovely Cara A. on Pinterest. Please go give her a shout out! If you still want to join the pinterest board I made for this fanfic universe and share or just enjoy art go add me on pinterest (EarthbendingRavenclaw) and I'll add you to it.
Chapter Four:
"Uh...these clothes don't exactly fit me…" Koree stated as she walked out of the changing room, Gajeel's gigantic uniform hanging off her like a blanket.
"Mine fits pretty well!" Persephone said, twirling as she wore the uniform that had been set aside for Levy. "A little longer than it was meant to be, but it still fits."
"How come you got to have Mommy's?" Koree grumbled.
"Because I got it first! Finders keepers!"
"Uh...you and I can swap," Cato suggested, holding out Mirajane's uniform.
"Doesn't matter, still gonna be too big for me," Koree sighed as she took Mirajane's uniform and shuffled back into the changing room.
"Well, my Mom's shirt kinda fits me," Roman said. It was a wrap around shirt that had to be wrapped a few more times than originally planned, but it got the job done. "I...um...I think I'll pass on the skirt though."
"Oh, can I have it!" Bianca, Storm's little sister who they recruited to be a reserve player asked.
"Sure," Roman shrugged as he tossed it to her.
"You're not even going to play!" Storm protested.
"You don't know that," Bianca winked.
"You are Persephone are just going to be reserve players," Storm said. "You're only going to be there to take one of our places if something happens."
"And something might happen," Bianca pointed out as she began tying the skirt around her waist, only realizing it was too long, and then began tying it off just under her arms, wearing it like a sundress. "Besides, Persephone gets a uniform!"
"Because it will be Persephone taking our place if we get hurt, not you! You're too little! We only picked you because we have to have two reserve players!" Storm insisted.
"But you still picked me, so I'm going in 100%, reserve player or not! Besides, you're too little to really be playing the games too, you know that, right?" Bianca pointed out.
"Because we have no choice!" Storm shouted. "All the adults are gone so who else is going to play!"
"Hey...um...Koree, have you put on Aunt Mira's uniform on yet?" Nashi asked from inside the changing room.
"No, why?" Koree asked.
"You think you can take Aunt Wendy's uniform? It's a bit too small for me," Nashi answered.
"Why is that?" Koree asked. "You're taller than me and Sephy."
"It's, uh...not that," Nashi nervously replied.
"Then what?" Koree asked.
"My...eh...nothing!"
Nashi quickly tossed the uniform over the top of her changing room and into Koree's, which was right next to hers.
After a short while Koree tossed Mirajane's over to Nashi.
"Yeah! Aunt Wendy's fits perfect. But how come it didn't fit on you?" Koree asked as she walked out of her changing room.
"No...no reason," Nashi said bashfully as she walked out. "Aunt Mira's is still a little too big for me, though."
Cato walked out of his changing room, dressed in Gajeel's uniform. "Well, so is Uncle Gajeel's on me."
"Hey, you didn't tell me Uncle Gajeel's had a shirt and vest!" Storm shouted. "Give one of those to me so I can have something to wear!"
Cato shrugged, took off the vest, and tossed it to Storm. "It's gonna be too big on you too, you know?"
"Hang on," Koree said as she hopped onto a crate to pull several sashes off the top of the clothes rack in the Fairy Tail locker room they'd all gone to to prepare for the games. "We'll just tie the uniforms tighter with these."
She tossed one to each of the boys and then skipped over to Nashi to help her tie up the loose uniform.
"Wait a minute…" Koree said as she finished helping Nashi with the sash.
"What?" Nashi asked.
"UH!" Koree gasped as she jumped back and pointed at Nashi. "NASHI DRAGNEEL, HOW COME YOU'VE GOT HIPS NOW AND I DON'T! THAT'S TOTALLY UNFAIR!"
"Wha-no I don't!" Nashi insisted as she tried to cover herself with her arms.
"Is that why Aunt Wendy's uniform didn't fit!?"
"Uh….maybe…"
"Hey," Persephone pitched in. "No fair! How come you're getting curves and not us!"
"I'm not, okay, and stop staring at me!" Nashi whined, shrinking into a corner.
"It's not a big deal, y'know," Bianca grumbled as she walked over to Nashi, who was blushing ear to ear. "It's gonna happen to all of us eventually."
"BUT SHE'S GETTING CURVES BEFORE US! AND THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Both the Redfox twins shouted.
"Yeah, because she's a year older than you," Bianca stated.
"Oh, yeah," both the twins remembered.
"And her mom's a little more, well, shall we say blessed than your mom is," Bianca added.
"HEY!"
"Could we please stop talking about this?" Roman asked in a bit of a high pitched voice. "I'm starting to feel a bit weird…"
"Me too," Cato grumbled.
"Oh, come on! It's not weird!" Bianca scoffed. "We're just talking about growing up is all! Something you boys should probably start thinking about doing…"
"We are grown up!" Storm insisted.
"You cried for two hours straight last week because Meeko beat you in a sparring match."
"I did not!" Storm sputtered. "Also, he totally cheated!"
Loud cheering came from outside the locker room and all the children looked up at the ceiling that had begun to shake a little bit. They were all aware just above them were stands full of fans and spectators waiting to watch them compete. Well, not them exactly. They were still under the impression that the adults were going to come play.
"Guess they'll be disappointed when they see us," Storm said.
"Maybe not," Cato replied hopefully.
"Just try not to get too beat up out there, okay," Persephone said. "I want to try and use my archive to spy around and see if I find any signs of our parents and what happened to them. And I can't do that if I have to take one of you guys' place."
"Right," Nashi nodded before taking a deep breath. "Alright, let's go guys."
The other children nodded their heads and together they began to head towards the arena.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Cheers rang out through the arena as a fanfare of music began playing.
"Welcome everyone, to the 25th annual Grand Magic Games!" Chapati announced as more cheers rang out across the arena. "My name is Chapati Lola and I will be your announcer! Joining me in commentating are not one, but two wizard Saints! Please welcome our old friend, Mr. Yajima, and our guest announcer Jura Neekis!"
"How-dee-do, folks!" Yajima called.
"Thank you for welcoming me," Jura smiled.
"Now, let's get on with meeting our competitors!" Chapati cheered as shouts and applause rang out through the arena.
"Let's start with the team to come in eighth place in the preliminary trials! This is a guild that has never competed in the Grand Magic Games before. But there is a first time for everything, and if they can make it into our top eight then they've surely got a lot of gumption in 'em. Let's give it up for, Phoenix Grave!"
Confetti popped out above one of the eight doors leading to the arena and five wizards came walking out. In the lead was Mace Orlando, smiling wickedly as he led his team out. Behind him was a woman with short, silver hair. A teenage girl who looked to be about Farrah's age and had a scar over her left eye. A man who had a strangely rat-like appearance. And a blond-headed boy who looked strangely familiar to the Redfox girls…
"CARMEN!?" Koree screeched.
"Isn't that the kid we ran into at the fair?" Persephone asked.
"Yeah! He's in Phoenix Grave?"
"I knew I didn't like him…" Persephone grumbled.
"And in seventh place," Chapati began.
"Good luck guys," Bianca wished her older brother and his friends as they began to walk out.
"The guild with the most wins under their belt, they didn't do as well as expected in the preliminaries, but they made it nonetheless and are sure to give us a show! Give it up for Fairy Tail!"
Cheers rang out, then the entire arena fell silent as Nashi, Storm, Cato, Roman, and Koree walked out.
The silence continued.
"Um...hi?" Nashi waved.
Laughs and mutters of confusion murmured through the crowd, making all the children cringed.
"Is this for real?"
"This has to be a joke, right?"
"They're just squishy little kids!"
"Where the heck are the adults!"
"I can't tell if this is funny or sad."
"Erm…" Chapati muttered. "I...uh...Yajima, can you help me? I'm not sure what's happening…"
"It seems that the original Fairy Tail team has been replaced by...children?"
"Hm," Jura stroked his beard. "Most strange indeed. Is this even legal?"
"The rules state that anyone bearing the guild's mark who isn't a guild master can compete," Chapati nodded. "And children have competed in the games before, but never have we had an entire team comprised of younglings before."
The children all glanced at each other.
"I had a feeling this wasn't gonna go over well," Storm grumbled.
"Uh...hiya pumpkins," Mato called as he pranced over to the children. "What are little seedlings like you doing out here? And where our your parents?"
"We're here to compete," Roman answered. "And our parents...well...they…"
"Are out of commission," Cato cut in.
"Uh-oh, that doesn't sound good. What happened to them, pumpkin?" Mato asked.
"Well...they…" Cato rubbed at the back of his head.
"Got food poisoning!" Nashi blabbered out. "From, uh, bad fish and chips!"
"Yikes! Sounds gross!" Mato cringed.
"Yeah, so, we're here to compete for them," Roman answered.
"That's really sweet and all, but I'm not sure you seedlings are up to the task," Mato said. "These are the Grand Magic Games, after all. And they can get pretty intense."
"Aw, c'mon! Give us a chance!" Koree begged. She frowned and pointed to Carmen. "That boy's about our age and he's competing!"
Carmen looked a bit surprised at being called out, even pointing to himself for clarification as his team mates snickered around him.
"That's true, but he's got adults with him, pumkin. You little ones don't," Mato said.
"The rules say anyone with the guild's mark can compete, and we all have it," Storm said as he lifted his shirt and turned around to show the mark on his left shoulder blade. Cato lifted his shirt to show the mark on his abdomen. Roman opened his to show the mark on his chest. Nashi held up her wrist, and Koree pointed to her shoulder.
As the children and Mato talked the crowd began to grow louder.
"They're not actually going to let a team of all kids compete, right?"
"Little fools will get themselves killed!"
"Well…" Mato tapped his foot then gasped. "Oh, I know!"
He danced over to the middle of the arena. "I need Fairy Tail's team, reserve players, and Phoenix Grave's Carmen Toro to come forward.
Carmen seemed surprised at getting called out again, but walked towards Mato along with the Fairy Tail kids as a device appeared behind the mascot.
"Before we can let you kids compete with good conscious, we need to know you're strong enough to handle it. Since Carmen is surrounded by adults we can trust his guildmates judgement on his abilities, but for you Fairy Tail kids we'll need a little test."
Mato gestured to the device behind him. "This is the Magic Power Finder, or MPF for short. We use it to measure a wizard's power. So we're going to have Carmen here cast a spell on the MPF first to get a base score. The rest of you Fairy Tail seedlings will have to score just as high or higher than him in order to compete! Sound fair?"
The children all glanced at each other, then all nodded.
"Alright," Roman said.
"Okay, then!" Mato cheered as he turned around to Carmen. "Whenever you're ready, Pumpkin."
Carmen smirked as he popped his knuckles. "You Fairies have no idea what you've just gotten into." He raised his hands and took a deep breath before shouting: "SENSORY SCATTER!"
A pink, scrambled-looking jet of light burst from his palms and struck the MPF. It beeped a few times before displaying a score of 358.
"358! My goodness! That's high enough to qualify as a squad captain for the Rune Knights, if I'm not mistaken," Chapati said.
"You are not," Jura smiled. "Most impressive, especially for one so young. Now the Fairy Tail team and reserve players just have to meet that score in order to compete."
"Ah, I wouldn't worry too much if I were them," Yajime chuckled.
Back in the arena, Carmen was bragging about his score. "Top that, Fairy Farts."
"Wow, so original," Persephone dead-panned before turning to her friends. "So, how we gonna do this? Youngest to oldest?"
"Works for me," Cato shrugs.
"Okay, Bianca, you're up," Persephone said, patting the younger girls on the back.
"Be careful!" Storm called, clearly worried.
"About what, I'm fighting a ball!" Bianca snapped back before taking a deep breath and placing her palms together.
"Take Over Magic, Angelic Soul: Raguel Form!" A white magic circle appeared above her. Her jet black hair changed to white, her eyes began to glow, her uniform changed into heavenly robes. Two pairs of wings sprouted from her back and a horn appeared in her hand. The crowd oohed-and aahed at the sight as she flapped her wings and took off into the air. She flew up for a little ways before diving towards the MPF and calling:
"Heavenly Judgement!"
She blew into her horn. A loud blast of music burst out of the end and struck the MPF. Bianca landed back on the ground, gracefully upon her feet and then transformed back to normal as the MPF beeped for a bit and gave out a score of:
"OH MY GOODNESS!" Chapati shouted. "1,157!"
"I always knew Fairy Tail was strong, but wowzers!" Yajima agreed.
"Hold on now," Jura smiled. "There are still six other children who have to place before the team will be allowed to compete."
Still, the crowd gasped at the score.
"No way!" Carmen shooted. "That pipsqueak is nearly 4 times as strong as me!?"
"Who you calling pipsqueak?" Bianca asked, arms crossed. "And I'm just a reserve player."
"Okay, your turn little sis," Persephone smirked as she pinched Koree's cheek.
"By 15 minutes!" Koree shouted back as she stepped up to the MPF and planted her feet. She took a deep breath then shouted:
"Iron Dragon ROAR!"
A burst of iron exploded from Koree's mouth and struck the MPF that dinged about until it coughed up the score:
"1,985! That's almost 2,000!" Chapati shouted as the crowd gasped.
"Most wizards can work their whole lives and never make it to the thousand range," Jura mused. "And yet these two little ones have already achieved that elusive goal."
"That's two down, five to go," Yajima said as Persephone took her spot at the MPF.
She called up two screens and then shattered them on the ground.
"Uh...how is breaking her screens going to-" Chapati said before Persephone raised a hand and the shattered pieces lifted off the ground. "-oh, wait a minute."
"ARCHIVE CHAOS!" Persephone screamed as she sent the pieces flying at the MPF. It beeped for a little while under the raining of shattered screen pieces, and then coughed up the score:
1,851.
"My, my, my, also teetering close to the 2,000 mark!" Jura said, genuinely impressed.
"Holy, smokes! I can honestly say I did not expect this, folks! That's three down and four to go. Can this next contestant break the 2,000 mark?"
Roman took a deep breath as he took his place in front of the MPF. So far everyone else had passed the test. He had to do so as well. He supposed it was time to call out that new armor he'd been training with.
"Requip!" he called as a golden light engulfed him. He reappeared dressed in an all black ensembled: pants, shirt, arm bracers, head band, bandana covering his mouth, and boots. In his hands he held two black katanas. He took a deep breath, then jumped high into the air and called out:
"Stealth armor, sneaking DEATH!"
His katanas began to glow slightly as he began spinning mid air, rotating quickly in the air like a top, both katanas held out like deadly blades and he sliced against the MPF, then flipped over, landing squarely on his feet as the MPF gave out his score.
"OH MY GOODNESS! HE DID IT! HE ACTUALLY DID IT!" Chapati screeched. "2,156!"
"Incredible," Jura gasped.
"Not so much when you consider who that boy is," Yajima smiled. "Roman Fernandez. The son of Titania herself. He had the blood of a Fairy Tail legend in his veins, and it most certainly shows."
Cato smiled and slapped Roman on the back. "Not bad."
"Thanks," Roman smiled as he requipped back into his regular clothes. "And good luck!"
"Thanks," Cato said as he planted his feet in place and put a finger to his forehead. He took in a deep breath as he raised his other hand up and called: "Memory Make, Ice dance of CHAOS!"
A helix of icy swords exploded from his palm and struck the MPF. It beeped once again before giving out the score.
"OH MY GOODNESS! ANOTHER SCORE OVER 2,000! 2,007!" Chapati shouted.
"Not as high as Roman's, but impressive nonetheless," Yajima nodded.
"That's an understatement," Jura agreed.
"Guess you're the strongest of us," Cato said to Roman.
"I don't know. Storm and Nashi still have to go," Roman shrugged as Storm took his spot at the MPF.
He was feeling rather nervous. Roman and Cato had given quite the performances. Following those up was going to be a challenge.
Still, he took a deep breath and called: "Water GEYSER!"
A giant gush of water exploded from under the MPF. The device rocked back and forth for a little while before it beeped out a score, and Storm groaned in disappointment.
"1,862," Yajima said. "Most impressive even if it isn't as high as the last two."
"As you already stated, that's higher than most wizards will get their whole life," Jura agreed. "The fact that a 12-year-old boy can achieve that goal is astounding."
"ANd last but not least, Nashi Dragneel!" Chapati announced.
The minute her name was said, Nashi heard whispers through the crowd.
"Isn't that the wizard with the demi-god magic!"
"I heard she was dangerous. So dangerous that the magic council almost took her away!"
"Isn't she the titan-fire wizard?"
"Wasn't there a legend about the gods locking her magic up in a vault for thousands of years because it was so dangerous?"
"What's she even doing free on the streets if she's that powerful."
Nashi's hands began to shake as she looked about. Inevitably she spotted a few Rune Knights looking over the event. No doubt they were only there to work as security, but for some odd reason their presence only made Nashi feel even more unsafe.
"Don't listen to them."
Nashi gasped slightly as Storm's voice snapped her out of her frightened trance and she turned to them. He smiled comfortingly at her.
"Just knock 'em dead."
Nashi smiled and her brow furrowed in concentration.
"Titan Fire Seals," she said as she began her incantation. A fiery magic circle appeared over the MPF.
"I call upon the forge of Iapetus," Nashi recited. A black flame began burning along the edges of the magic circle.
"The wings of Eos," an orange flame began to burn.
"The sight of Thea," an crimson flame.
"The strength of Atlas," a yellow flame.
"The speed of Styx," a red flame.
"And the protection of Rhea," a pink flame.
"Lend me your power, and allow me to open up…" the flames began burning brighter and brighter so that they were almost white, just hints of color popping through them.
"THE SIX SEALS OF TARTARUS!"
The flames collected into one concentrated blast that exploded upon the MPF. The machine rocked back and forth and beeped with some great effort before finally giving out the score of:
"HOLY SMOKES!"
"YOWZERS!"
"MY, MY, MY!"
"2,955!" the entire arena screeched.
"That's almost 3,000!"
"That little girl can sure pack a punch!"
"That score can't be right! The machine must be broken!"
"Whoa," Persephone blinked. "I mean, I knew Nashi was strong, but dang!"
"YEAH!" four small voices called. All the children turned to look up and gasped.
The box that had been reserved for Fairy Tail to view the games from was actually filled. The children hadn't been expecting for anyone to be there because, well, the adults were gone. But all the other children were up there! And cheering!"
"WAY TO GO, NASHI!" Igneel shouted as he practically dangled over the railing. "SHOW 'EM WHO'S BOSS!"
"Yeah, you're the strongest!" Layla called.
"Nas-Nas! Nas-Nas!" Kyri waved from where she'd pulled herself up on the railing as Luna just clapped from where she was propped on Layla's hip.
"Meeko?" Both Storm and Bianca gasped as they watched the young boy wave, their infant brother, Juven, held up against his shoulder.
"Good job, guys!" he called.
"Ro-Ro!" the triplets all called as they hopped up and down in excitement.
"KICK EVERYONE'S BUTT, ROMAN!" Minette all but screamed.
"Hi, Cato!" July waved as he leaned over the railing. "Do your best!"
"They actually came to watch us?" Cato asked.
"Gotta admit, I feel a little better with someone cheering us on," Nashi smiled.
"Well, pumpkins," Mato said. "Looks like you all qualify!"
Cheers rang out through the crowd that had first been skeptical. Having seen how strong the kids were, though, they were now excited to watch them compete. Nashi smiled in relief as she looked about. Her eyes soon came glued to Carmen, though, who was looking up into the Fairy Tail box with a strange look in his eyes. Nashi followed his gaze and found that it seemed to be falling in the general area where her younger siblings were gathered. From the distance she couldn't tell which of the four he was looking at, but it didn't matter. She didn't like the idea of someone from Phoenix grave having an eye on any of her younger sisters or brother.
"Alright, continuing with the opening ceremony…" Chapati said as he continued to announce the other guilds that had qualified.
Cheers rang out for each of them and the children all clapped along from where they stood back at the Fairy Tail dug out.
"Alright, now let's explain how the games work," Chapati said as the last of the guilds had been announced. "Every day will start off with a competition. Every team will be assigned a score based upon their placement in the competition: 1st place getting 10, 2nd getting 8, 3rd getting 6, 4th getting 4, 5th getting 3, 6th getting 2, 7th getting 1, and 8th getting zero."
"The second event for each day will be a battle," Yajima said. "Each winner for a battle will win 10 points, and a draw will result in 5 points to each team."
"In the past the battles have been one on one in an empty arena, but since this is the 25th anniversary we've decided to take things up a notch," Chapati announced. "This year it will be two on two, and the arena will be magically transformed to different environments upon the beginning of the battle."
"Oh, great!" Persephone exclaimed. "Things just had to get more complicated for us!"
"At least we'll get to bring a partner to make things easier," Cato shrugged.
"Now, with that out of the way! Let the games begin!" Chapati announced.
The crowd cheered. Flags flew. Horns sounded.
"Alright, pumpkins, this first game is called 'gauntlet!'" Mato announced. "Now, choose you candidate!"
"Gauntlet? Like those arm bracer thingies?" Koree asked.
"More likely going to be like an obstacle course," Nashi answered.
"Obstacle course, huh?" Storm grinned. "Sounds like a job for a ninja."
"Alright, Roman, I think we all agree. You're up," Cato said as he patted Roman on the back.
"Okay," Roman nodded as he stepped out.
"And it looks like it's going to be Roman Fernandez for Fairy Tail!" Chapati announced.
"And from Saber Tooth we've got Olga Nanagear," Yajima called.
"From Mermaid Heel, Millianna!"
"From Lamia Scale, Lyon Vastia!"
"From Quatro Cerberus, Bacchus Groh!"
"From Blue Pegasus, Ren Akatsuki!"
"From Twilight Ogre, Mattan Ginger!"
"And last but not least, from Phoenix Grave, Georgianna Lyle!" The girl with the scar across her eye stepped out.
Roman, however, tried to ignore her as he focused on the task at hand. He wasn't sure what this "gauntlet" was going to entail, but he had to be prepared for whatever was ahead of him. His guild's honor was depending on him.
A bright light shimmered from the center of the arena and he gasped.
There was an obstacle course alright. But this was nothing like any other obstacle course he'd ever seen before.
"This is your gauntlet, pumpkins," Mato said. "And you're all going to run it at once!"
All at once? Roman shuddered. So not only am I going to have to complete this thing but I'm going to have to fight against all these other guys!?
"First you'll have to jump over our moat to get to the course!" Mato explained.
Okay, easy enough.
"Then you'll have to make it across our doorknob climb!"
Roman looked at the image of the obstacle on the screen Mato was showing him. It was a set of door knobs set on an upside down, V shape structure that was dangling over a pool of water. I'm going to have to climb door-knob to door-knob!? And don't door-knobs turn? How was that going to work!?
"After that, is the sweepers!"
Oh, that looks easy enough. It was just a balance beam...with five spinning propellers that would try to knock me off…
"Next is our jumping rock climbing!"
It looked like any other rock climbing course, except it was cut into sections! Across two walls. To pass it Roman would have to climb up one, jump to the other wall, climb some more, and then jump back to the wall!
I can rock climb. I can jump from wall to wall. But both at once!?
"Then it's our epic trapeze jump!"
Sure, it was just like any other trapeze jump. Only instead of jumping from one bar to another, you would have to do it five times over! And the bars kept getting smaller and smaller!
Honestly, on it's own that might not be so bad. But after everything else?
"And then the climbing cubes!"
There was no way. There was literally no way anyone could climb through three floating, smooth cubes…
There's nothing to hold onto. How am I supposed to climb across those!?
"And, finally, the 100 ft. rope climb!"
Just like it sounded, it was a giant, 100 ft. tall rope that one had to climb to hit the end button.
I've never done a rock climb that high! And I have to do all of this while fighting other, older, more experienced wizards who will try to knock me out?
Roman gulped. Yeah, he was a ninja, but could he really do this? Well, he didn't really have a choice.
Maybe he could play it smart. So far as he was allowed to-
"You can use your magic to help you."
Roman let out a sigh of relief. Maybe with his magic he would stand a chance.
"However, if you wipe-out at any point of the gauntlet you have to start back at the beginning."
Well, that was just super comforting! NOT!
"C'mon, Roman! You can do it!" Nashi shouted.
"Show 'em what Fairy Tail's made of!" Cato cheered.
Roman took a deep breath and then got into position, setting his weight against his hands so he could take off once the buzzer went off.
"Ready, wizards? Here we go!" Mato shouted.
Roman began trembling slightly, but willed himself to stay calm.
"Three, two, one! BEGIN!"
Roman took off running. He charged towards the moat, never stopping to look behind him to see if anyone was gaining on him.
"Requip!" he called. A bow staff appeared in his hands and he vaulted himself over the moat and landed safely on the other side.
"And Fairy Tail takes the lead with that impressive jump by Roman," Chapati said. "Oh, but Blue Pegasus and Mermaid Heel have already fallen behind as Ren and Millianna take a dip.
Both said wizards sputtered as they fell into the moat while the rest kept running. Roman raced until he reached the doorknob climb.
"But now Roman's hit the doorknob climb, can he-" Chapati was cut off as Roman called:
"Requip!" A whip appeared in his hand. Roman snapped it around a doorknob in the center of the V and then swung safely across.
"Ah, clever boy!" Jura smiled.
"That will certainly give him a head start," Chapati cheered. "Can he keep it, though?"
"Well, Bacchus won't be catching up to Roman soon, seeing as he just fell off the door knob climb and into the pool," Yajima stated.
"Lyon might gain on him though, as he's used an ice-eagle to fly across," Jura stated.
Roman tried to ignore them as he made his way to the next obstacle.
"And Roman Fernandez is reaching the sweepers!" Chapati cheered.
Roman stopped and stared at the spinning propellers. Now how was he going to walk through these on a tiny balance beam without-
-wait. Who said he had to walk through it.
"And Roman seems to taking his time getting started on this one," Chapati says.
"Maybe the poor boy is scared," Jura suggested as the first propeller made its way back to Roman, who then did something no one was expecting.
He jumped onto it and clung to it with both arms and legs.
"WHAT IN EARTHLAND!?" Yajima shouted.
"What is he doing?" Jura asked.
Roman rode along on the propeller until it came close to the second. He then slowly stood up on his hand and knees...and jumped to the next propeller.
"Oh, my goodness!" Chapati shouted. "Rather than walk through and dodge the propellers on the sweeper course, Roman Fernandez is just riding them across! I can't tell if this kid is insane or a genius!"
"Probably a little bit of both," Yajima chuckled.
"He's got one more jump before he can make it, though," Jura said. "And now Olga has gotten to the Sweepers."
"Oh, looks like he's going to try Roman's strategy...and fail," Yajima stated as Olga missed the propeller and fell into the water.
"Well, Mattan is right on his heels," Chapati said.
Roman was ignoring them, though, as he leapt for the next and final propeller. He made it! And then he yelped as he felt something burn his legs.
"Oh! And Roman made that landing but got burned by Mattan's fire attack!" Chapati shouted.
"Oof! OH!" Yajima shouted as Roman's legs lost their grip and he was left dangling by his fingertips. "Oh, oh! Looks like he's gonna fall!"
"Come on Roman, you can do it!" Eva shouted from Fairy Tail's box.
"Hang on, Big Brother!" Von cheered.
Roman clung to the propeller. He only had to hang on a little longer until he made it to the next platform. Mattan shot another fireball at him, but missed. He gritted his teeth. Just a few more seconds and…
"PHEW! He made it!" Chapati announced. The crowd went wild.
"Looks like he wore himself out on that last one, though. Can he make it all the way?" Jura asked.
Man, that was tougher than I thought. Roman thought to himself as he brushed himself off and ran to the next obstacle. I'm still in the lead, though, so I can't slow down.
"Next Roman will have to face the rock-climb," Jura said. "But after all the effort he put into the sweepers I don't know if he has the strength."
"He'll have to tough it out, though, because both Mattan and Lyon have also crossed the Sweepers. And Bacchus is quickly gaining ground after that blunder. Oh! Both Ren can't seem to make it past the first obstacle! Poor guy!" Chapati announced.
Roman took a deep breath as he began the rock climb.
"And there he goes," Yajima said. "This first part is easy peasy, lemon squeezy, though. It's those jumps he has to worry about."
Roman gasped for breath as he reached the top of the first climb. He was going to need a boost if he wanted to make it through this part.
"Requip."
"Wait, what's he doing?" Chapati asked as Roman requipped himself into a purple, kimono like robe.
"Seems to be some kind of agility enhancing armor," Yajima said as Roman made his jump. "Oh! And it seems to be working, because he made it! And he's flying up this next climb."
"Mattan is not though, as she just fell off the first climb and will have to go back to start," Jura said.
"And Ren...is still at phase one," Chapati sighed.
Roman made another jump. The crowd was going nuts!
"This kid is awesome!"
"Look at him go!"
"A regular little ninja!"
Roman finally made it through the rock climb and took a deep breath. So far, so good, he thought as he ran to the next obstacle.
"Woo-hoo! Go, Roman!" Nashi shouted as she began fist bumping the air.
"You're halfway there!" Storm cheered.
Roman stopped at the next step, the trapeze jump.
He knew some of the other wizards had to be gaining on him now. He'd have to get across. And quick. Though this obstacle was tough, it would be even harder with multiple people trying to get across at once. Roman rubbed his hands together and rolled his neck to loosen up before taking the leap. He gripped onto the first bar and pumped his legs to get it to swing.
"Alright, here he goes, he's starting to look a little tired can he-HOLY SMOKES!" Chapati jaw dropped as Roman didn't jump, but instead swung to the next bar, hooked his legs through it and then hung from his knees as he let go of the first bar. He used his momentum to swing forward and grab the third bar with his hands. He then repeated the same maneuver, hooking his legs through the fourth. He then grabbed the fifth bar and finally jumped to land safely on the next platform.
"What. Was. THAT!? I HAVE NEVER SEEN SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" Chapati shouted.
"I must tell you, this year's team Fairy Tail may be tiny, but they are mighty!" Jura smiled.
"Maybe, but now Sabertooth, Quatro Cerberus, Lamia Scale and Phoenix Grave are all neck in neck at second place," Yajima said. "And any of them could overtake Roman at any moment."
"Mermaid Heel is in third," Chapati said. "Twilight Ogre took a heavy hit on the rock climbing wall, but they are quickly regaining ground. And Blue Pegasus...is still at start."
Roman stopped in front of the climbing cubes. Now up close her could see there was a tiny bar around the top…
...but that was it. The rest was smooth glass.
"Now Roman Fernandez has hit the hardest pasrt of the course, the climbing cubes," Jura said.
"He's conquered everything else, but this might be his undoing," Yajima stated. "Can he do it?"
"Well, he at least has less competition as Lamia Scale's Lyon has wiped out on the trapeze swing and will have to start over," Yajima said.
"Not so," Jura said. "Because Twilight Ogre's Mattan has caught up!"
Roman took a deep breath before calling: "Requip!"
A set of brass knuckles with hooks upon them appeared on his hands. He took the jump and used his brass knuckles to get a better hold on the bars and he climbed along the first cub, trying to make it to the other side. He made it with pretty good speed. But now he faced the task of crossing from one cube to the other.
"Oh, man! If he wipes out here he's pretty much done for!" Chapati said.
"Come, now, boy!" Jura cheered. "Focus!"
"He'll need a precise jump to land-or not!"
"NO!"
Everyone gasped as, rather than jumping across, Roman reached out one foot and placed it against the glass wall of the second cube. Carefully, slowly, he applied equal pressure against each cube as he adjusted his weight.
"He is literally doing the splits between two cubes," Jura dead-panned form shock.
"Well, I'm signing up for his yoga class after this, because this is incredible!" Chapati said as Roman grabbed onto the second cube and took his foot off the first. He scooted around the second, performed the same maneuver to cross to the third, scooted around the third, and safely jumped to the platform.
"He's almost there, folks!" Chapati shouted. "One more obstacle and Roman Fernandez of Fairy Tail will take first place!"
"GO! YOU GOT IT!" Koree screamed.
"Way to start us off strong!" Cato cheered.
Roman gasped for breath as he made it to the last obstacle. The long rope climb. He took the rope in both hands, took one last deep breath, and then took off. He climbed hand over hand. All of his muscles were screaming with exhaustion and strain, but he didn't care. He was almost there!
"And there he goes, he's gonna do it!" Yajima cheered.
Roman's entire body was coated in sweat. His arms and legs burned. But he was almost there.
"Just a bit more, a bit more! AND HE'S DONE IT! FOLKS HE'S DONE IT!"
The arena erupted into cheers as Roman pulled himself up onto the last platform. He sighed in relief as he stood and walked to the final button. He reached out to push it-
And stopped.
At first he was numb.
In shock.
And then he screamed.
He felt as if his entire body was being ripped to shreds by burning bits of glass. Thousands of them. All at once.
Everything around him disappeared as he was blinded by the pain and fell to the ground trembling.
What...what just happened? He thought. The pain intensified and he screamed again.
What's happening to me! I've never felt this much pain before.
His whole body began to shake as he screamed yet again.
Gasps rang out through the crowd.
"R...Roman?" Eva's bottom lip began to tremble as she watched her older brother writhe in pain.
"Why didn't he push the button?" Igneel asked.
Layla suddenly gasped.
"Layla?" Igneel asked.
Layla clasped a hand to her mouth. Something felt off. Dark. There was something not right.
"Something's wrong," she whimpered. "Someone's doing this to him."
"For some odd reason Roman hasn't pushed the button," Chapati said. "He's not officially finished the course until he's pushed the button."
"Well, he better do it quick because Mattan is right behind him!"
Roman could vaguely hear the announcers through the haze of agony. He tried to move towards the button but each movement he made only made the pain worse. He cried out again.
"Oh, and just like that Twilight Ogre steals first place!"
Groans rang out through the arena as Roman continued trembling in pain.
No! I lost! But...I had it!
"And Phoenix Grave takes second!" Chapati announced. "And it looks like Sabertooth is going to nab third."
Olga reached out for the button. He'd almost pressed it when a tiny hand blocked him and pushed it first.
"And, no! Seems like Roman snapped out of whatever it was long enough to grab third!" Chapati called.
"Good boy!" Yajima cheered.
Roman didn't feel very good though. Tears streamed down his face.
I had first, though! I had first! And then this-
His thoughts were cut off as the pain erupted through him again and he collapsed once more, screaming and writhing in pain.
He wasn't sure how, or who, or what carried him from the final platform back to Fairy Tail's dug out. He was too lost in the pain to pay attention. He only snapped out of his agonizing trance when he heard his friends calling his name.
"Roman!"
He slowly opened his eyes to see Koree, Nashi, Cato, and Storm leaning over him.
"What happened up there?" Koree asked. "You were doing awesome and then you just stopped!"
Storm conjured up a ball of water and said: "Cleanse."
Roman immediately relaxed as he felt the spell working relief over him. Storm gapsed as the water began pulsating through Roman's body.
"Is it bad?" Nashi asked.
"Yeah, really bad," Storm shuttered. "Every nerve in his body is being attacked by a dark spell."
Nashi gasped. "Oh, you poor thing."
"Are you going to be able to help him?" Cato asked.
"Yeah, but it's going to take a while," Storm answered. "I probably won't be able to participate anymore today so I can help him."
"Guess we better call in Persephone and Bianca then," Koree sighed.
"Fine," Nashi said as she stood to her feet, fists clenched. "But I've gotta a bone to pick with somebody that was in that arena today because this was obviously no accident. Someone meant to hurt Roman. And I'm gonna make 'em pay!"