Chapter Nine:
Koree squinted as a cold wind whipped against her, blowing snow in her face, nearly blinding her. She put a hand up to shield her eyes as she began to take a step forward.
Alright, so I've gotta find some relics before-
"Whoa!" Koree waved her arms about as her foot slipped and she lost her balance.
"Uh-oh, and it looks like Fairy Tail's Koree Redfox nearly lost her footing on the icy ground there," Yajima called.
"Looks like the little cutie's caught herself, though," Bob said. "Careful out there, munchkin!"
Koree took in a deep breath as she got her footing back.
That was close. I can't be falling down within the first few minutes of the-
"OUCH!" Koree yelped as she felt a sudden shock of pain at her right arm. She ducked out of the way of whatever was attacking her and nearly slipped again.
"Oh! And it looks like Phoenix Grave's Tierra Novella has set her sights on Fairy Tail's Koree Redfox.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Koree waved her arms as she skidded along the ice, but she still managed to stay on her feet. She looked over her shoulder to see a small tower of earth where she had been standing. Tierra appeared out of the snow and waved her hand, causing the earth to disappear.
"Huh, earth magic," Koree noted just as Tierra launched a circle of earth at her and hit her in the stomach. Koree wheezed but didn't fall over.
"Okay, enough of that," she grumbled. "Iron Dragon, Scales!"
The crowd cheered as Koree's skin changed to a metallic gray and hardened.
Tierra only smirked, though. "And how is that supposed to help you stay on your feet. Isn't iron just going to make the ice even slicker."
Koree only grinned before saying: "Iron Dragon, Greaves!"
Thicker iron appeared first on Koree's shins, materializing down her legs before reaching her feet. On the soles of her feet appeared a series of tiny spikes. On her heels appeared thin, two-sided knives. And around her ankles and knees appeared a circle long spikes.
"Oh my, I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before!" Bob exclaimed.
"Me either!" Chapati cheered. "Those things look like they are part combat boot, part cleat, part stiletto heel, and fully dangerous!"
Koree smiled as the spikes along her sole made it much easier for her to stand on the ice. Tierra frowned and waved her hand, tossing another chunk of earth at her. Koree kicked it, breaking it to dust in a milisecond.
"Oof! Those things can pack a punch! Or...erm...kick…" Chapati murmured.
Fwoom!
The sound was soft, but Koree picked up on it, none-the-less.
"Oh, and the first relics have appeared!" Chapati called.
Oh, so they make a little sound when they pop up. Good to know, and good for me. I bet no one else in this globe can hear them! Koree smirked as she kicked and destroyed another one of Tierra's earth chunks.
Now I've just gotta get rid of her.
Koree held her hand out. "Iron Dragon, club!"
Her hand turned into a massive pole that shot out and struck Tierra in the stomach. Tierra stumbled back, trying desperately not to fall as Koree ran off towards where she'd heard the sound. Just then she heard a rumbling and the globe began to move.
"Uh-oh," she squeaked as she looked about for something to hold onto. Find nothing else she jumped as high as she could…
...right into the ceiling of the globe. Her fingers, covered in think iron scales, pierced straight through it, as did her knife-clad heels.
"Oh, interesting strategy on Ms. Redfox's part," Yajima called.
"Well, let's see if it works for her because around and around they go!" Yajima cheered.
"I'm gonna puke!" Koree whined as she held on for dear life and the globe spun and trembled uncontrollably.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Nashi and Carmen stared at one another, hands raised but neither making the first move.
"What do you think you're doing on our turf, Fairy?" Carmen finally asked.
Nashi's eyes narrowed as a fiery scythe appeared in her hand once again. "You hurt Roman," she answered.
Carmen arched an eyebrow. "Who?"
Nashi gritted her teeth and charged at Carmen, scythe raised.
Carmen didn't move. He just stood there, calmly. Just as Nashi's Scythe was about to come down on him, though, he raised his hand and a translucent blue sword appeared to block it.
Another of the sword appeared and swung towards Nashi's middle, but she jumped out of the way, calling: "EROS!" as she did so.
A pair of fiery wings appeared on her shoulders. With one flap she rose above Carmen's head and shouted:
"Thea's Fury!"
A rain of glowing, crimson, helix flames began to charge towards Carmen, but he quickly dodged them, backflipping his way to safety. On his final flip, he pushed off with extra strength and landed on one of the ceiling rafters at Nashi's eye level.
"Oh, I think I know who you're talking about now," Carmen smirked. "Is it that little purple-headed bimbo that I squashed?"
Nashi gritted her teeth, growling in anger as she dove towards him, scythe raised again, but Carmen sommer saulted out of the way again.
"Yeah, it took me a little while," Carmen chuckled. "The floozy wouldn't sit still. Made it really hard to focus in on his nerves."
"Ergh!" Nashi seethed as she dove towards him again. This time she didn't have a scythe in her hand, but a burning, black bullwhip that she snapped in Carmen's direction. The whip wrapped around him, cinging his skin, but somehow he didn't cry out in pain. Nashi gasped as his skin burned and yet he seemed completely unbothered.
"Oh, come on," Carmen scoffed. "You didn't think I'd be able to dull my own pain?"
He jerked his arms, breaking the whip. Nashi couldn't help but cringe as she saw the burns along his arms.
"It would only make sense. If I can amplify pain, I can shrink it," he smirked. "So you can't hurt me."
"I don't need to hurt you," Nashi replied, igniting two crimson flames in each flame. "I just need to do some damage!"
She jumped in the air and dove towards him, ready to punch his lights out. He side-stepped her last minute, and she hit the ground.
"Oof!"
"Hm, you don't like to sit still either, do you?" Carmen grumbled. "But I was able to focus in on your friend's nerves, and now I've focused in on yours."
Nashi jumped to her feet and whirled about to face Carmen once again.
She raised a fist once more, but then stopped as she felt an intense tingling spread all over her body.
"Maguilty Nerve Attack," Carmen grinned as Nashi felt her entire body pulsate with pain.
"AAAAUUUUUGGGHHHHH!"
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
This spinning finally stopped. Koree groaned as she let herself drop to the ground, putting a hand to her mouth to keep herself from puking.
"Ugh, this was a horrible idea!" she mumbled as she tried to shake the motion sickness off and stumbled towards where she'd heard the sound...she thought. Heck, she was so turned around she didn't know where she was anymore.
"Oh, and it looks like Blue Pegasus' Eve has scored the first point."
"Ugh, great," Koree grumbled.
Fwoom!
The sound came again and Koree raced towards it. So what if Eve got the first point, she was going to get the second, and the one after that, and the next one, until she won. As she charged through the snow until she saw a glowing magic seal in front of her.
"A relic!"
Koree ran forward and stretched out her hand. The relic changed into Fairy Tail's emblem before disappearing.
"And now Blue Pegasus and Fairy Tail are tied for first place!" Chapati cheered.
"Yes," Koree fist-bumped…
...before a force knocked her off her feet and onto her stomach.
"Oh, and Tierra Novella has knocked Koree Redfox off her feet. Koree will be stuck in place for twenty seconds!"
Koree, despite Chapati's announcement, tried to move but found she couldn't.
Crap! How did Tierra find me?
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Ah-AAAAAHHHH! OOOOOWWWWW!" Nashi wailed as Carmen loomed menacingly over her.
"Look at you, the great Titan Fairy reduced to a squabbling baby!"
Despite her trembling Nashi managed to push herself up onto her hands and knees.
"Fight it all you want," Carmen smirked. "It didn't work for your friend, and it won't work for you."
Nashi trembled once more before quietly calling: "A...Atlas…"
A yellow magic circle appeared beneath her, catching Carmen off guard.
"Well, well, well. No one's ever been able to focus through the pain enough to cast a spell before. Not that it matters, it won't do you any-"
Carmen stopped as yellow flames began climbing over Nashi's body. Bits of pure, magic energy dropped off her skin and into the magic circle, which grew steadily brighter by the minute.
"She…" Carmen gasped. "She's burning away my spell? But how? No fire should be that strong!"
The last of Carmen's spell dissolved and all the power shot into Nashi. Nashi took a deep breath as she stood to her feet. Carmen gulped as he sensed that her magic power had just taken a major boost.
"Well…" he said in a nervous voice. "Color me impressed. Mother did warn me about you, but I gotta say I wasn't expecting that."
"You should have," Nashi glared. "And you should have taken your mom's advice and stayed away from me and my friends. You're just lucky I got to you before you could do anything to my brother and sisters."
Nashi's fist ignited into flame and she punched Carmen in the jaw.
"BECAUSE I REALLY WOULD HAVE BEEN PISSED THEN!"
Carmen stumbled backward, rubbing at his jaw.
"Your siblings?"
Nashi grabbed him by the scruff the shirt. "So what exactly did you did you have in mind for my siblings?"
Carmen's eyebrows lifted and he smiled horrifically. "Oh...I see…"
Nashi threw him to the ground and took a step backward, placing her hands together. "Rhea, Titaness of Protection…" she began the incantation.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Carmen smirked as he held his hand up. "Sensory link."
Nashi didn't notice the pink circle appearing around his wrist as she shouted: "WRATH OF RHEA!"
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Layla, Igneel, Kyri, and Luna watched on intently as Koree scored yet another point. It had taken her a little while to get back in the groove of things after her time frozen. Now, however, she and Eve were still neck-in-neck for first place.
"I really think Koree is going to win!" Layla cheered.
"You bet she is!" Igneel cheered. "She's doing great out there!"
Kyri giggled as another point went to Fairy Tail. Even Luna had stopped crying to watch the show with a smile on her face.
The four younger Dragneels cheered again as Koree scored yet another point.
The fun stopped, though, as a pink circle appeared around Luna's wrist.
"Huh," Layla asked as she noticed it.
"What's that?" Igneel asked.
"Lu-Lu?" Kyri asked as Luna stared at her glowing wrist.
Luna blinked at her hand, curious, before screaming out in pain.
Layla gasped as her stomach twisted in knots. Something was wrong and she could feel it. There was some bad power behind this. Layla looked about trying to pinpoint where the source of this spell was coming from as Luna continued to scream.
She finally found it, passed Luna to Igneel, and took off running.
"Hey, sh, sh, sh," Igneel bounced his little sister, trying to comfort her as she continued screaming.
"Hey, what's wrong with her?" Meeko asked as he drew closer, Juven on his hip.
"I don't know, she just started screaming!" Igneel shouted.
Meeko turned to the crowd of children gathering around the screaming little girl.
"Here," Meeko said as he passed Juven to Minette. "Hold him while I go get Storm," he said.
"Okay," Minette nodded as Meeko took off towards the healing ward.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Koree sighed as she tagged another relic. She and Eve now each had 10 points each. Of course, Eve being a snow wizard gave Blue Pegasus a huge advantage, but Koree couldn't let that get in the way of her scoring a win for Fairy Tail.
She began running towards what sounded like another relic appearing when a bit of dirt shot past her head.
"Dang it!" she grumbled as she turned to face Tierra. No matter how many times she lost her, Tierra always managed to find her again. It was like she knew where Koree was going to go next, but how?
The globe began shuddering and Korre gulped as she called: "Iron dragon sword!"
Both of her arms changed into long swords that she drove into the ground to keep herself in place. Tierra called up a tower of the earth to seal her lower body in as the globe began spinning and shaking once more.
Koree swallowed hard to keep herself from getting sick as she told herself to just wait it out.
Suddenly, over the shaking of the globe, the whistling of the snow, and the cheering of the crowd, a loud pitched scream sounded out. Koree gasped. It sounded like Luna. What was going on? She turned towards the sound as Luna continued crying out.
The globe stopped spinning. Koree shook her head. There was nothing she could do to help Luna now. All she could do was win the game and go check on her later. Koree turned to face Tierra but noticed that her opponent was looking up towards the sound as well.
Wait, Koree thought. That makes no sense. She shouldn't be able to hear Luna over all this noise.
Koree gasped as a thought popped in her mind.
Unless…
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Nashi smirked in victory as Carmen crumpled to the floor, Rhea's flames dancing over him. To her surprise though, he didn't cry out but laughed.
"Wow!" he chuckled. "You may be powerful but you're really stupid!"
Nashi glared as she held out her hand. "Iapetus!"
I large, spiked club made of black flames appeared in her hand and she stepped towards Carmen. She raised her club as he kept laughing, but stopped when she heard someone scream.
"NASHI, NO!
Nashi turned and looked behind her.
"Layla?"
Layla raced and stood in between Carmen and Nashi.
Nashi frowned in confusion. "Layla, what are-"
"He put a spell on Luna!" Layla exclaimed. "Every time you hurt him you're hurting her!"
Nashi's eyes widened. "What?"
"Yup," Carmen chuckled, still covered in pink flames as he held up his wrist. "I cast a sensory link on your little sister, so you wanna keep beating me up go ahead, but she's gonna feel every bit of it."
Nashi gasped and snapped her fingers. The spell over Carmen vanished and he smiled.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"You're a dragon slayer!" Koree shouted as she pointed at Tierra. Tierra only stared at her.
"That's how you're able to follow me! You've been following the sound too!"
"No," Tierra answered, stamping her foot, causing towers of earth to shoot straight up under Koree's feet. "Just following your scent."
"Yikes!" Korre shouted as she somersaulted and jumped off the towers before they smashed her against the ceiling of the globe. She landed nimbly on her feet and turned to face Tierra, who just smiled.
"Well, since you've let my secret out I guess there's no reason to hold back," she said as her pupils and the white of her eyes turned bright green. Her teeth sharpened, and bumpy scales appeared on her skin. Koree gasped as she took a step back.
"D...dragon force?"
"Earth Dragon…" Tierra took in a deep breath before screaming. "ROAR!"
A burst of earth shot towards Koree, sending her flying and skidding across the globe.
"Yikes!" she screamed as she bounced off the ground. "Ow. Ow! OW! OOOWWW!"
When she finally stopped she felt her body freeze once again.
"Oof! And Koree Redfox is down once again!" Chapati called. "Allowing Eve to take the lead with twelve points!"
Crap! This is really bad! Koree grumbled.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Nashi just stared at Carmen who smirked at her, still holding his glowing wrist up. She didn't move, she was too scared to. Had he really linked himself to Luna? But how?
Carmen's smile widened as he jumped to his feet and threw his arms around Layla's neck. Layla gasped as he pulled her close against her and shouted:
"Sensory Link!"
"You get your hands off her!" Nashi shouted as she rushed to save Layla, only to stop when Carmen held his wrist up again.
"Ah, ah, ah! Don't want to hurt your baby sister now, do you?" he asked.
Nashi stopped, staring as a pink circle appeared around Layla's wrist.
"Now, I was going to stop your little dragon slayer friend to the same way I did the purple bimbo," Carmen said as he tightened his grip around Layla's neck. "But I think this'll be more fun. I've now set a link between her and blondie here," he said as he patted Layla's head. "So now whatever I do to her, your little friend in the arena will feel."
Nashi gritted her teeth. "Don't you dare-"
"And what are you going to do?" Carmen challenged. "Hurt me, you hurt your baby sister. Don't hurt me, and this sister gets beat up. So no matter what happens now," he grinned evilly as Nashi shuddered. "You lose."
And with that, he summoned a blue, translucent sword and stabbed it into Layla's thigh.
IIIIIIIIIIIII
Koree's twenty seconds were up and she was back on her feet.
Fwoom!
Koree sighed as she heard another relic appear and ran towards it.
Okay. It's fine! So what if Tierra's a dragon slayer. And can access dragon force. And just served you on a silver platter. You still got this!
Koree tried to hype herself up as a pink band appeared around her wrist.
"Huh?" she wondered out loud as she stopped to look at it. "What is-AUGH!"
A sharp pain erupted through her right thigh, causing her legs to buckle. Her body froze again.
"And looks like it's going to be another twenty seconds of stillness for Koree Redfox!" Yajima called.
Crap, what was that!?
IIIIIIIIIIIII
"AUGH!" Layla cried as Carmen twisted the blade in her leg.
"Stop it!" Nashi shouted.
"Gonna have to make me!" Carmen taunted as he whirled Layla around and punched her square in the face, bloodying her nose. Layla covered her face as Carmen grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the ground.
"Get away from her!" Nashi charged towards them.
"No, Nashi, don't!" Layla shouted.
"But-" Nashi protested.
"If you hurt him you'll hurt Luna," Layla reminded her as she pushed herself up onto her hands and knees.
"But what about you?" Nashi asked.
"It's okay," Layla said as she lifted her head, smiling softly. "I'll be okay. I can take it."
Nashi felt tears sting her eyes. How could Layla be smiling at a time like this?
"Sounds like a challenge," Carmen smirked as he kicked Layla in the stomach and sent her skidding across the floor.
"Layla!" Nashi shouted as she began to run towards her, hoping to at least be able to stand between her and Carmen. She dove across the ground, scooping Layla into her arms and turning her back to Carmen, trying to shield Layla with her body.
"You really think that'll stop me," Carmen asked as Nashi tightened her arms around her sister.
"Nashi, you have to let me go," Layla whispered as Carmen kicked Nashi in the back.
"No," Nashi answered.
"He'll just beat you up too," Layla said. "No use in both of us being hurt."
Carmen kicked Nashi in the back again.
"But what about you!?" Nashi asked through gritted teeth as bruises began forming over her ribs.
"It's alright, I'll be fine," Layla tried to assure her.
"No you won't," Nashi said as Carmen kicked her in the back of the head. Her vision doubled but she still held onto Layla.
Layla reached up and grabbed Nashi's face, staring her right in the eye. "Nashi, trust me."
Something in Layla's eye caught Nashi's attention and, in spite of herself, she felt her grip around Layla loosening. Layla gave Nashi a firm nod then stood to her feet and walked to face Carmen. Carmen smirked as he struck Layla across the face again and grabbed her hair.
"Now what-" Carmen began, but was cut off as Layla roughly poked him in the chest with two fingers.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
The twenty seconds were up. Koree stood to her feet shaking her head. Her leg still hurt, but she couldn't figure out why. Still, she made up her mind to power through it, and began to walk onward when she stumbled back, a sharp pain pulsating across her face. Something warm trickled down from her nose and she tasted blood.
"What on-" Koree sputtered before her scalp began to sting as if someone was pulling her hair. She rubbed her hands viciously over her hair before a sharp pain across her back knocked her onto her stomach. She froze in the spot again.
"And...Koree Redfox is down again…" Chapati muttered.
"Something's seemed to have gotten into the little darling," Bob mused.
"Yes," Yajima's eyes narrowed. "Something indeed."
Koree panted as she lay motionless. What the heck was happening to her? Was this what had happened to Roman? Was someone now attacking her from the stands?
Her twenty seconds were up. She wiped the blood off her face, only to feel a sharp slap across her face, and a pull on her hair, again!
And then it stopped.
As soon as it had started it stopped.
"Huh?" Koree wondered as she looked down at her wrist. The pink band was gone.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Sh, sh, sh," Igneel continued bouncing Luna, trying to comfort her, but the little girl kept screaming.
"C'mon, Meeko, please hurry!" Igneel begged as he rubbed Luna's back.
Luna suddenly jumped, as if something had startled her, and then she grew silent.
"Huh?" Igneel pulled Luna back to get a better look at her. Luna was rubbing at her eyes, but no longer crying. And the pink band around her wrist was gone.
"What?"
IIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Carmen just laughed as he let go of Layla's hair, allowing her to collapse to the ground.
"You really think that little shove is going to-" He raised his hand, smirk still in place before it quickly faded. He lifted his hand again, but nothing happened.
"Huh?" He began repeating the motion over and over again, but nothing. "What? What's going on?"
A smile spread over Layla's face as she answered. "I blocked your magic."
"You what?" Carmen asked, confused.
"Don't worry," Layla said as she reached into her pocket. "It'll come back in about an hour or so. But that's long enough for my sister and I to take care of you! Open, gate of the Lamp! Misbah!"
A woman with red skin dressed in a belly dancer's outfit appeared and sent a pillar of smoke at Carmen's chest. The smoke stung his eyes, making it impossible to see Nashi charging towards him before she punched him in the stomach, sending him bouncing against the ground.
"Now, open gate of the Rose! Fyllo!" Layla called. A woman who appeared to be made entirely of plant life appeared. A series of vine sprouted from the ground and wrapped around Carmen, binding his arms to his body and holding him in place.
"That should hold him for a while," Fyllow said.
"Thanks," Layla smiled as she and Nashi began stomping towards him.
"Now, we've got some questions for you. And you're going to answer," Nashi said.
IIIIIIIIIIIIII
"Earth Dragon, Wing Attack!"
"Gah!" Koree barely dodged to attack as Tierra, once again, appeared from the cloud of snow to torment her.
Koree raised both arms to guard against another attack that came as quickly as the last.
It doesn't really matter that I can find relics quickly now! Unless I can even the playing field between me and Tierra somehow I won't stand a chance!
Koree somersaulted backward, disappearing into the snow so she could have cover to run.
How am I going to even the playing field when she can access dragon force and I can't, though? Koree wondered as she ran, in no particular direction. She wasn't looking to collect relics anymore, she was trying to get away from Tierra.
"And Guy Aleus scores a point!" Chapati cheered.
Wait, Guy Aleus was a wizard from Quatro Cerebus, right? Koree wondered. And his magic...I got it!
Koree took a big long whiff of air. Guy wasn't someone she was really that familiar with, but he and all the Quatro Cerebus wizards had similar scents so it didn't take her long to pinpoint his location. She took off running towards him. As she did so, she could hear someone following her. Tierra no doubt. She pumped her legs even faster. Just her luck, she found Guy in a battle against Kagura.
Guy raised his hand.
"Poison wave!"
Koree grinned. "Alright, come to mama!"
Guy, Kagura, and Tierra all watched in confused curiosity as Koree dove headlong into the attack. She, and the wave of poison bounced off to the side. Tierra just shrugged and followed after her.
"Did that really just-" Guy began to ask before Kagura ran up to him and knocked him out.
"Oh, and Guy Aleus is down!"
Tierra ignored the commentary as she followed after Koree. "You really think committing suicide will-"
A burst of magic power cut Tierra off, forcing her to take a step back.
"You may have dragon force," Koree called as she stepped out of the cloud of snow, her hair, nails, and edges of her scales now a deep, crimson red. "But I've got the power of two elements on my side!"
"Oh-ho-ho-ho!" Yajima called. "And it looks like Koree Redfox has accessed her second element! For those of you who don't know, folks, after reaching a certain level, dragon slayers have to ability to obtain a second element. Koree Redfox is one of only four wizards alive today to have achieved this feat, the other three being Natsu Dragneel, Sting Eucliffe, and Koree's own father, Gajeel Redfox."
"WHAT AN EXCITING TURN OF EVENTS!" Chapati screamed.
"Poison Iron Dragon, crushing talon!" Koree called. Tierra jumped back to try and dodge the blow but still took the attack straight to the face. Koree's heel cut across her face, the poison dripping from her blade only causing the cut to sting all the more.
"Ach!" Tierra huffed as she blinked in pain. And then blinked some more. And some more! "What...why can't I see?"
"Because you got poison in your eyes," Koree smirked. "Don't worry, it won't be permanent, but it will last long enough to get you off my tail."
Tierra growled. "You little-"
She dove towards Koree, who planted her heels in the ground and shouted: "POISON IRON DRAGON, ROAR!"
The blast shot Tierra into the air. She slammed against the ceiling of the globe and then fell straight back towards the ground.
"And Teirra Novella is down!"
Koree smirked in victory as a beeping began filling the air.
"Uh-oh, and it looks like there's only thirty seconds left in the game!"
"Already!?" Koree squeaked.
Fwoom! Fwoom! Fwoom!
Koree listened intently. That sounded like a lot of relics. And they were all appearing around the edges of the globe. Koree smiled as she called:
"Poison Iron Dragon, Saw!" One of her hands transformed into a circular saw with a chain attaching it to her wrist. She flung the saw so that it implanted itself into the ground at the very center of the globe. She then took a huge leap and shouted:
"Poison Iron Dragon, ROAR!" as the roar erupted from her mouth the momentum pushed her backward, sending her spinning around the globe. She held out one hand as the crowd began counting:
"Five!"
The first relic appeared and Koree touched it.
"Four!"
Several others followed, Koree kept her hand out tagging each of them as she sped around the globe.
"Three!"
The score next to Fairy Tail began to skyrocket.
"Two!"
Koree's roar began to lose steam as she tagged the last relic.
"One!"
Koree dropped to the ground, landing squarely on her feet.
"TIME!"
The crowd erupted into a deafening scream of applause as the snow and globe disappeared.
"And with that stunning last move, Fairy Tail's Koree Redfox wins with a staggering 87 points!"
The applause only grew louder as Koree grinned and began to bow. "Thank you! Thank you!"
"And Blue Pegasus is in second place with 37 points, followed by Sabertooth with 31. Mermaid Heel is in fourth with 28. Quatro Cerebus is in fifth with 21. Lamia Scale in sixth with 15. Twilight Ogre in seventh with 9. And finally, Phoenix Grave in last with 0."
"0?" Koree wondered. Tierra didn't get any points? She must have been so focused on attacking Koree that she didn't score anything. Koree turned and looked back at Tierra, who was glaring at her. Koree frowned. Why on earth would someone as powerful as her throw the game just to go after someone?
It made no sense.
IIIIIIIIIIIII
Nashi grabbed Carmen by the scruff of his shirt. "Alright, bub, I hope you're ready to talk because I've got a lot of questions for you."
Carmen panted as he stared at her, a look of genuine fear in his eyes. Before Nashi could ask any questions though, blue lights began flickering over him.
"What the-" Nashi asked, when suddenly Tate appeared, a hand on either of Carmen's shoulders.
"Don't worry, I'll get us to Mother, safe and sound!" Tate said as he and Carmen began to disappear.
"No, you don't!" Nashi shouted, throwing her arms around Carmen to keep him from leaving, or to at least try to.
Blue lights also began appearing around Nashi's body, and she began to disappear.
"Nashi!" Layla called as she grabbed her sister's arm. And then all four of them disappeared from the hall of the arena.
Nashi and Layla blinked as their surroundings changed from the bustling arena to the cold, damp walls of a darkened and musty room. Nashi glance around and then saw a set of magical bars.
"Are we in a jail!?" she shouted.
"N-N-Nashi…." Layla stuttered as she tugged on her sister's sleeve. Nashi turned to see what was wrong and saw Layla pointing at something. Nashi followed Layla's gaze and her heart sank.
There, standing right behind them was convicted mass murdered Elena Alteria.