Here's the next chapter! I hope you all enjoy!

The first of the day's battles was about to begin; Fairy Tail Team A's Lucy versus Raven Tail's Flare Corona.

"Yay, Lucy!" Amber cutely cheered.

"It sounds to me that Amber's taken quite a liking to Lucy." Zale said. "Wait, how does she know Lucy, anyway?"

"Remember how you suggested us to go to an art gallery?" Flynn asked. "Well, after our date…"

(Begin Flashback)

It was sunset and Flynn and Lucy were walking through the streets of Onibus.

"Well that was… certainly interesting." Flynn said. "About half of those paintings f really spoke to me… but then there was that clown. What was up with that?"

"Never bring that up again." Lucy shivered at the thought of that particular painting. "Did you hear that group of guys laughing at it?"

"I normally can't stand people who laugh at someone's artistic vision… but I can't defend that painting. It had that ridicule coming. Anyway, my place is on the way to the station."

"Do you mind if we stop there for a quick drink? I'm feeling a little thirsty."

"Of course."

The two of them approached Flynn's home and he opened the door for him and Lucy.

"Bis Sis, Zale!" Flynn called out. "I'm back!"

"Uncle Flynn!"

Amber came running from the kitchen to Flynn and he happily picked her up.

"Amber, what are you doing up so late?" Flynn asked. "Mommy should have tucked you in by now."

"Mommy's asleep." Amber answered. "Uncle Zale's not here."

Flynn sighed in exasperation. "Sis must've drank too much."

"Is she your niece?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah." Flynn nodded before looking at Amber in his arms. "Amber, this is Lucy."

"Hey there, Amber." Lucy waved to Amber in a soft voice.

"She's pretty." Amber said.

"Aaaww, thank you, Amber." Lucy smiled cheerfully. "Hearing that makes Lucy very happy."

Amber then yawned.

"Lucy, I'll get you your drink after I put Amber to bed." Flynn said.

After tucking Amber in for the night, Flynn went back downstairs, made Lucy a cup of hot tea and sat on the couch on with her.

"She's such a sweet girl." Lucy said before flipping her ponytail. "Though I don't blame her for calling me pretty."

"I bet you get compliments like a lot, huh?" Flynn said.

"I wish…" Lucy slightly lowered her head in dejection.

"Can I be honest with you about something?"

"Hm?" Lucy perked up.

"I don't know if Zale told you, but none of us know who Amber's father is… But the way Amber looks at me… I'm probably more than an uncle to her; I'm the closest to thing to a father figure she has. Whenever Sis doesn't have time for mercenary work, she tries to spend as much time as possible with Amber, but I'm around far more than her."

"Why would you need to keep that a secret? Doesn't sound like something to be ashamed of."

"That's not the secret…" Flynn had to take a long, deep breath before speaking again. "When I saw how well Zale and Amber got along the other day, I felt a little jealous. My whole life, I never felt like I had much worth to anyone with anything; I'm not super smart, super strong, nothing. Based on everything Sis told me, Zale outclasses me in both strength and brains. So I've been worried that Amber will look up to him as her father figure and I'll go back to being just an uncle to her."

Just as Flynn was about to say something else, he noticed that Lucy now had a genuinely depressed look on her face.

"Lucy, did I say something wrong?"

"Oh… no… I'm sorry…"

"… Is there something on your mind, too?"

"… It's… My father..."

Flynn just remained quiet for a few seconds. "… Yeah… Zale told me about him… Everything, partly because, as he put it, if it weren't for him hiring Phantom Lord, he wouldn't have met Juvia."

Lucy clenched her hands together. "When Mom died, Dad changed… It's like we weren't family anymore… Sending Phantom Lord to destroy Fairy Tail was the last straw, and I severed our tie completely… But a couple months later, he came back… to apologize… And tried to make amends, not for his business, but for his daughter. Everything else after that, I'm sure Zale told you."

"It sounds like you still loved him, despite how strained your relationship was."

"Probably…" Lucy gave a half-hearted smile before looking back at Flynn with a normal expression. "Anyway, I don't think you should be worried about Zale replacing you."

"Huh?"

"You've been taking care of Amber since she was born, right? As long as you raise her right, I doubt she'd replace you."

"What if when Amber starts school, she asks Zale for help?"

"How about this? If she does need help with school, just call me and I'll come over."

"Are you sure? You wouldn't have a problem constantly taking the train?"

"I already take the train a lot simply doing jobs. And I won't mind if it's for her."

"Then I would greatly appreciate it, Lucy." Flynn nodded and smiled.

(End Flashback)

"… You know, you didn't need to go into that much detail, Lil' Bro." Callista said.

"You're a real mood killer, Sis." Flynn retorted.

"Competitors, step forward!" Mato commanded the two ladies that were about to fight.

"Will all other competitors please leave the arena?" Chapati requested of the other wizards. "The battle has a thirty minute time limit! If you can knock out your opponent before time expires, you win! Now let the first match… Begin!"

A loud gong rang and Lucy instantly reached for her Spirit Keys.

"Here goes!" Lucy said. "Open, Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!"

The Celestial Spirit Taurus appeared with a moo and swung his axe at Flare, who jumped into the air and dodged the strike while Lucy pulled out another key.

"Scorpio!"

Scorpio then appeared and aimed his mechanical tail at Flare. "Sand Buster!"

A tornado of sand was fired from Scorpio's tail and Flare's hair began squirming about on its own, expanding to the point where it blocked Scorpio's attack.

"Did her hair just grow?!" Flynn exclaimed.

"I'd hate to be her stylist." Callista commented.

"Taurus, get Scorpio's sand!" Lucy ordered.

"Absorb!" Taurus raised his axe and the Scorpio's sand began to swirl around the blades.

"Go, Taurus! Yeehah!" Scorpio said.

"She can now summon two spirits at once." Zale said. "Lucy's come a long way since she joined Fairy Tail."

"Lucy's so cool!" Amber cheered.

Taurus swung his axe at Flare again and several sand twisters formed around him.

"Sandstorm Axe: Aldebaran!"

The twisters sent Flare flying into the air and she glared at Lucy.

"Blondie…" Flare growled before expanding her hair again. "Hair Shower: Wolf Fang!"

The hair took the shape of a wolf and lunged at Lucy.

"Now I can confidently say I don't envy her stylist." Callista plainly said.

"Open, Gate of the Giant Crab! Cancer!"

"Ebi!" Cancer appeared and used his two scissors to cut the hair wolf with ease. "If you need a haircut, I'm your crab, ebi."

"My… my hair!" Flare looked on in shock before her face was contorted by anger. "You…"

Strands of Flare's hair were shot into the sandy ground and burrowed to underneath Lucy, wrapping around her legs.

"Huh?" Lucy gasped before the hair lifted her off the ground and spun her around. "EEEEEK!"

"My hair moves however I want it to." Flare stated before commanding her hair to slam Lucy to the ground. "Take that!"

Lucy reached for something on her belt. "Well my Fleuve d'Etoiles…" Upon activating her magic whip, it caught Flare by her wrist. "… moves how I want it to!"

The two women spun each other in the air for a few seconds until they were both fell back to the ground. While Flare was still on her bottom, Lucy managed to recover her footing.

"It's the very first match and we're already seeing an exciting back-and-forth without much time to breath!" Chapati announced. "Father and son guilds! A woman-on-woman battle! And neither one is giving in!"

"I would say Fairy Tail has just a bit of an advantage…" Jenny said.

"Ngh…" Lucy felt a twinge of pain and saw her boots had been singed to the point of becoming tattered. "My boots!"

As Lucy took off her boots, Flare stared in shock.

"My hair… My burning red hair…" Flare muttered to herself. "That's… all it did?!" Flare then stood back up and her hair dug into the ground again. "Blondie!"

Lucy kept her eye out for where her hair might appear next. When she looked at Flare again, she was tilting her head to her right crazily and pointed in that same direction. Lucy looked in the direction Flare was pointing and saw a strand of Flare's hair slithering right behind Amber.

"Amb-!" Lucy was about to shout until Flare used more of her hair to muzzle her and throw her to the ground again.

"Don't make a sound." Flare looked down at Lucy. "Don't move. Don't use your magic. That's an order. Even a dumb blonde like you can figure out what will happen if you disobey me."

Lucy glared at Flare and gritted her teeth before she was being repeatedly whipped by the magic hair.

"Lucy!" Flynn shouted.

"Why isn't she fighting back?" Zale questioned. "She was on a roll just a moment ago."

Lucy was knocked away again and raised her head to see Amber still cheering her on.

"You can do it, Lucy!" Amber continued her cheers, unaware of the hair that snuck behind her.

Lucy clenched up just before Flare whipped her again. Then she sat up with her body shaking.

"I… surre-" Lucy was about to say before being muzzled by Flare's hair again.

"Did I give you permission to talk, Blondie?!" Flare asked.

Four more strands grabbed Lucy's wrists and ankles, raised her up and stretched her out.

"You don't get to surrender." Flare said as she released her grip on Lucy's mouth. "I have so many games to play with you first. Remember, don't make a sound. Unless it's a scream! Ahahaha!"

In the audience, Grant leered at Flare.

*No…* Grant thought. *This lady's nothing like her.*

"Hmmm…" Flare hummed. "What should I do with you first? It could be fun to strip you naked, especially in front of all these people."

Lucy looked like she was about to cry.

"That WAS a good idea, but I just got an even better one!" Flare grinned before another strand of hair turned into the Raven Tail crest. "I'm going to brand you with Raven Tail's mark, one that you will bear for the rest of your life. Where would you like it? Hmmm? Oh, I know! Right over your Fairy Tail brand!"

"Please! Anything put that!" Lucy pleaded.

"I told you to be quiet!" Flare yelled as her branding hair got closer to Lucy.

"No! Stop!"

Suddenly, Natsu was running through the audience until he reached Amber, grabbing the hair hiding behind her and burning it to cinders.

"That was there the whole time?!" Zale gasped.

"Amber!" Callista knelt down and held onto her daughter. "Are you all right, sweetie?"

"I-I'm fine, Mommy." Amber replied.

"What?!" Flare screamed.

"Lucy! Now!" Natsu yelled to her.

"Gemini!" Lucy called out.

One of the Gemini twins freed Lucy from the hair while the other bashed right into Flare's face, knocking her to the ground and releasing Lucy.

"Do it!" Lucy ordered her spirits.

"But we don't know if we can!" One of the Gemini twins said.

"We need more practice!" The other Gemini twin said.

"Whatever, just transform into me!" Lucy said.

"Yes, ma'am!" The two Gemini said before transforming into another Lucy.

However, this Lucy was wearing nothing but a bath towel, much to Lucy's embarrassment.

"Why aren't you dressed?!" Lucy screamed.

"It's not our fault." Gemini Lucy said. "This is what you were wearing when we copied you."

"Right…" Lucy sighed in exasperation. "We did this when I got out of the bath yesterday."

All of the men in the ground got really excited seeing an almost naked blonde bombshell in the arena.

"Choo!"

"Bless you, Flynn." Zale turned to Flynn and his face stared at him in awkwardness.

Flynn had his hand right underneath his nose and covering his mouth, with streams of blood dripping from it.

"Thank you." Flynn replied nasally.

Lucy and Gemini Lucy held hands and closed their eyes.

"Survey the skies, open the heavens, celestial bodies far and wide…" The two Lucys said in unison. "Show me your radiant countenance. O Tetrabiblos, I am ruler of the stars. The planets are aligned."

Flare became terrified and couldn't even stand up. "What… what are you doing?"

"Throw wide the raging gate!" Lucy continued. "All 88 constellations… SHINE!" She reopened her eyes and they were now glowing. "URANO METRIA!"

Before Lucy could unleash the attack, all of her magic power suddenly vanished. The audience was perplexed while Flare was still shaking in fear.

"My… my spell…" Lucy whispered. "What… It's gone…?"

Lucy could barely keep standing up and she eventually collapsed.

"LUCY!" Flynn and Natsu screamed.

"Lucy!" Amber called out to her.

"What could have possibly happened?!" Chapati wondered aloud. "Lucy's spell was a dud! What do you think, Mr. Yajima?"

Yajima was glaring at Raven Tail with one eye.

"M… Mr. Yajima?" Chapati asked again just before Lucy hit the ground. "And Lucy is down! The fight is over! The winner is Flare Corona of Raven Tail!"

Flare's tension lessened and she began giggling almost hysterically. "Ha… Haha…"

The majority of the audience cheered for the victor while all of the Fairy Tail members watched in shock, questioning whether someone interfered with the fight.

"I… I win!" Flare stood back up and laughed. "Serves you right, Blondie! You're pitiful! Pathetic! A loser! Ahahahaha!"

While the audience jeered at Fairy Tail again, Grant continued leering at Flare.

As Flare was walking through the stadium's halls to get back to her team when she saw someone approaching her.

"When they summoned you for the battle, your name sounded familiar." A voice spoke. "But the way you acted… was completely different from someone I knew. I've always been too curious for my own good, but I really have to know."

"Is this going to take long?" Flare asked. "I have to return to my guild."

"Let me just ask you one question…" The person walked closer to Flare until they were standing right in front of her, revealing themselves as Grant. "They said your name was Flare Corona. Are you by any chance from the Sun Village?"

A/N: That's the chapter! I hope you all enjoyed! The poll on my profile will continue on throughout the Grand Magic Games Arc, including the Dragon Invasion. So please keep the votes coming! I'm sure more will come after a certain part of the arc. Anyway, stay tuned for next time!