Cole jumped across the rooftops around the city as he used his ice jump. Master Mavis kept following Cole till he reached the place where Zeke had set up a space to live.
'You live at the rooftops?' asked Mavis curiously.
'No, not really, this is just a place where we hang out and relax' replied Cole soon after which he turned his attention towards Zeke, who was busy watching TV.
'Zeke.. Zeke?' yelled Cole soon after which Zeke turned around while he was sipping a bottle of vodka.
'Ugh, yea? What's up brother?' asked Zeke soon after which Cole got surprised a bit.
'See the girl standing right beside me?' asked Cole curiously.
'I'm half drunk and can't see a thing, and you're already seeing things' replied Zeke with a smile as he looked around.
'What's going on? Am I seeing things?'
'Don't worry, only someone who bears the Fairy Tail emblem can see me' replied Mavis as she pointed at Cole's shoulder.
'Oh, that makes perfect sense' replied Cole soon after which he walked towards Zeke.
'Zeke, listen, I'll be gone for I don't know how long, so don't worry about me alright?' he said as he put his hand on Zeke's shoulder. Zeke turned around and stood up. He shook Cole's hand and smiled as Cole turned around.
'Good luck brother' said Zeke as Cole left the building.
'Where should we go now?' asked Cole as he jumped across the rooftops while talking to Mavis.
'Somewhere safe! Other people shouldn't see you disappear or they'll freak out' she replied, to which Cole smiled.
'People actually freak out when they see me, rather than seeing me disappear you know' he said soon after which he landed on a rooftop and looked at her.
'That's really strange' she replied, soon after which she walked forward and stood still.
'Hold my hand' she said as she extended her arm towards him. Cole nodded and held her hand, soon after which a magic circle appeared beneath them. 'Don't freak out, this trip is going to be a bit bumpy' she said with a smile, soon after which a portal sucked in both of them. The two were falling down in an endless void. Cole opened his eyes and looked around to see Mavis looking straight down and holding his hand. She then turned around and gave a smile,
'We're here!' she said as a rift within the void opened up, to which the two got sucked out.
The two had a comfortable landing in front of the Fairy Tail guild hall.
'Is this the guild hall? No way, this place looks like it got deserted'
'What happened here? This doesn't look like the guild hall I knew' said Cole as he looked around.
'Don't worry, I'll explain everything once we're done with something important' she replied.
'And what's that?' Cole asked as he looked around, being a bit surprised.
'Wait here, and when I give the signal, come inside' she said as she smiled at him and went inside the guild hall.
'This is so strange, I remember the guild hall being better than what I'm seeing here. Something bad must have happened here, I hope everyone is alright. Even though Master Mavis seems to be surprised about all this, I'm still a bit worried'
'It's been more than an hour and she hasn't told us who the volunteer is' said Gajeel who was a bit impatient about what was going on.
'All I'm saying is we go through with our plans and get on with it, or else we'll be late for the party!' he added with a slightly louder tone.
'Hmm, maybe you're right, but, I can't disagree on what our Master Mavis has to say, the consequences will be severe if we don't listen to her' replied Master Makarov.
'Oh come on, we've been waiting here for how long? If she wanted this guy to participate so badly she would have been here with him right now!' said Laxus, who grew a bit impatient.
'Guys, let's just wait a bit more, I'm sure she'll be on her way at any moment' said Ursa, soon after which everyone took a deep breath. Suddenly, the doors of the guild hall opened on their own and Master Mavis stepped in.
'Welcome back Master Mavis!' said Mira, soon after which she smiled and turned around, signaling Cole to walk towards her.
'Alright, I know you have set a team of your own, but I would like to see an inclusion' she said soon after which Master Makarov interrupted.
'But.. Where's the volunteer?' he asked curiously. Master Mavis smiled and moved away, soon after which Cole stepped in.
Everyone at the guild hall were stunned over what they saw. Cole, standing right in front of them, alive and well.
'Hey, I know this guy..' said Laxus as he looked at him carefully.
'Cole!?' exclaimed Master Makarov.
'He's alive..' mumbled Mira as she stared at him.
'C..Cole? Is that really you?' said Macao as he looked at him in awe.
'I can tell by the looks on these guy's faces that they missed me, heck I don't blame them, I missed them too'
Cole looked around and then raised his hand as his way of greeting everyone at the guild.
'Hey, where's Natsu and.. Wendy?'
Cole's emotions changed all of the sudden, as he felt the absence of the other members. He then turned towards his right to see a girl with silver hair standing right in front of him.
'Hey, what's up?' asked Cole as he looked at her. Ursa didn't respond, she had tears in her eyes as she kept staring at him for a while. Cole looked at her for a while till an image of Ursa when she was a small kid flashed right in front of him.
'Ursa?' mumbled Cole as he looked at her, soon after which she hugged him.
'Wow, I mean, just look at her, she's grown quite a bit'
As she let go of him, she wiped her tears and gave a smile.
'It's good to see you again' said Cole with a smile.
'I really can't believe you're here, Cole' replied Ursa, soon after which, Cole turned his attention towards Master Mavis, who was seemingly excited about something he didn't know.
'So Makarov, what do you think?' asked Master Mavis, soon after which Laxus interrupted them.
'I'd hate to break it to you guys, but don't you think having 3 lightning users in one team is kind of a risk? I mean come on, Me, Ursa and now Cole?' asked Laxus, soon after which Makarov interrupted.
'I was planning on making Mira the fifth member of the team, but as luck has it, we have Cole by our side. Laxus, Cole isn't just skilled with lightning magic, he has mastered ice magic along with his expertise in battle tactics' replied Makarov in a justified tone.
'But, can't we just keep Mira instead of Ursa, I mean why leave Mira out of this, and Ursa is just a rookie' added Gajeel as he joined in.
'As much as I want Fairy Tail to win this competition, I want it to be a learning experience for you wizards as well. Ursa is a budding wizard who has a bright future ahead of herself, I'm giving her a chance to represent Fairy Tail not just because of this, she has earned it from the hard work she has done' he added.
'I won't let you down Master' said Ursa as she gave a fistpump.
'Woah, hold on, Ursa can use lightning magic? Is this for real?'
'Alright, I believe we're done here, see you at the games Cole!' said Master Mavis soon after which she disappeared.
'Games?'
'It's good to see you again Cole' said Master Makarov soon after which Cole shook his hand.
'The pleasure is all mine' replied Cole, soon after which he turned his attention to Juvia, who was standing right in front of him.
'You must be the one named Cole McGrath, My dear Gray told me all about you and how you saved this town from someone named Reaper' she said, soon after which Cole got a flashback of him and his fight with Reaper.
'Reaper... (Cole flashes back to his old fight against Reaper) Damn, a long time has passed since then'
'Yeah, It's a pretty long story..' replied Cole.
'You don't need to go through the details, we all know what happened that day, me and Gajeel were gone for a mission which lasted over a month, and by the time we arrived, you were already gone' she replied.
'Gajeel..' he said as he looked around.
'She's talking about me pal' said Gajeel with a grumpy voice.
'Yeah, I heard about you, Flame Breath couldn't stop talking about you when I arrived here' he added as he ate a bunch of bolts. Cole then turned his attention towards Panther Lily and was surprised for a moment.
'So...you're an exceed too?' he asked.
'That's right, I heard about your battle with your alter ego, it's nice to be meeting a warrior like you Cole' Lily replied.
'Ofcourse there would be more talking cats'
'Alright, now that we've assembled team 2, let's head out for the registrations shall we?' said Makarov, soon after which everyone cheered. While Fairy Tail's first team had already arrived, Fairy Tail's second team was still on it's way to the city of Crocus, where the grand magic games were going to be held. At the train station, as the members waited, Cole was looking around, seeing people pass by, and couldn't help but give a smile. 'Hey, where exactly are we going?' asked Cole.
'Let me see if I remember the place' he added soon after which Laxus replied.
'We're going to the city of Crocus, the grand magic games will be held over there'.
'Oh yeah, The games they keep talking about, I'm not exactly sure what's going on, but these guys don't look tensed at all, I don't know what's going on in their heads'.
'I remember the place, it was there I got my job as the Viceroy's bodyguard' replied Cole.
'Is that so?' asked Laxus, soon after which Cole further asked.
'Hey, I don't know what exactly is going on, but mind telling me where Natsu and the others are?' asked Cole curiously.
'Oh, for crying out loud, somebody please explain him what the games are about' yelled out Laxus as he felt a bit irritated over his questions. Ursa nodded and stood up from her seat to sit beside Cole. She began to explain the tournament, and why Fairy Tail were taking part in it.
'So that's why the Guild hall is deserted'
'But, what about Natsu and Erza?' asked Cole curiously.
'They're Fairy Tail's first team, we are the second team to enter' she replied.
'Oh, so a guild can send two teams in the preliminary round huh? Sounds interesting' said Cole.
'Indeed, I'm looking forward to it' said Ursa with a smile.
The train had arrived, after the team sat down, the train set off towards it's destination. The city of Crocus, known for it's beautiful flowers and architecture. After a long journey, the team had quickly proceeded towards the hotel where everyone agreed not to reveal themselves till the day of the preliminary round. While Team one had been roaming around the city during the festival, team 2 had kept a low profile. While being in their hotel room, Master Makarov along with Mira had come to announce that their names had been registered and they were told to assemble at their given dorms at 12 AM sharp.
'Good luck Gajeel' said Lily as he stood beside Mira.
'We're counting on all of you, perform your best, and win this, for Fairy Tail!' exclaimed Makarov, 6 hours before midnight.
'Alright!' yelled the others, after which the other members who were there to wish the team, had left, leaving the members on their own.
'So we have 6 hours before an important announcement, should be interesting' said Laxus.
'Right, and I think it would be best if we stay together and don't lose track of one another' said Juvia.
'Meh, we're not going anywhere anyways, so relax' added Gajeel.
'What if someone wants to go to the bathroom at 11:59?' asked Cole curiously, with a faint smile on his face.
'Ugh, and make sure you're all ready as well' added Laxus after Cole's remark.
'I really thought something bad had happened here, but it turns out there's a lot I don't know, the tournament seems interesting, and there's a reason Mavis put her faith in me'
Cole holds his right shoulder 'I won't let them down, if I'm gonna enter this tournament, I better not underestimate anyone, and give everything I got!' Cole's body got surrounded with blue lightning as he kept thinking. Laxus looked at him and gave a smile, while the others gave a determined look.
'Let's take care of this' mumbled Cole as he looked out of the window to see the stadium where the games will be held.