'Chew on this!' yelled Reaper as he fired a hellfire rocket directly at the man, who attempted to dodge it but failed. His eyes glowed fiercely as he fired a barrage of skull bolts at the man, who desperately tried to escape. Upon getting shot at his legs, the man fell onto the ground and turned around to see Reaper walking straight towards him with his fist charged up.

'No.. Reaper don't do it!' yelled Hisui, seconds before Reaper was about to shoot him.

'It's not over yet Reaper, I will be back!' yelled the man as he stood up, right after which Reaper shot a bolt at his legs.

'Call off your clones' ordered Reaper. Arcadios, who was in the other room fighting off the clones, breathed a sigh of relief as the clones disappeared.

'Princess? are you alright?' exclaimed the guards as the banged the doors of the hall .

'I better get going princess, I'll catch up with you later' said Reaper as he opened a window.

'Wait!' exclaimed Hisui. Reaper just waived his hand and leapt, making Hisui sprint towards the window and look outside, to see Reaper use his lightning tether to travel across the buildings. 'Reaper..' she mumbled right after which the guards entered.

'Princess, are you alright?' asked Arcadios along with the guards that barged into the room.

'I'm fine.. thanks to Re.. Crimson' she replied.

'Well well, I shouldn't have known it was you.. Nightshade' said Arcadios as he looked at the unconscious man.

'You know who he is?' she asked curiously.

'As a matter of fact I do, he's one of the most wanted criminals in Crocus, if not.. Fiore.' replied Arcadios right after which the guards held Nightshade.

'The penalty of attacking the palace is execution' he added.

'No' said Hisui.

'Princess?' asked Arcadios with a slight hesitant tone.

'Lock him in the dungeon' she said as she started to walk away.

'But..' interrupted Arcadios.

'That's an order, Arcadios' replied Hisui as she turned around.

'As you wish' he replied.

'Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time for Day 3 of the Grand Magic Games! My word, this year has seen some serious competition, let's see how the score board adds up shall we?' said the announcer, right after which the scoreboard of the teams popped up, indicating each and everyone's points scored

Sabertooth : 38

Raven Tail : 38

Fairy Tail B: 29

Blue Pegasus : 19

Fairy Tail A :15

Mermaid Heel :14

Lamia Scale : 13

Quatro Cerberus :13

'Sabertooth have been dominating throughout, and who would have thought that Team Raven tail would be giving them a tough fight, both of these teams are with 38 points!' he added. 'And ofcourse, with Team Fairy Tail B sealing the 3rd spot, they sure have turned things around' he said. 'Most of the credits however can go to one man himself, Cole McGrath!' he said, right after which the crowd began chanting his name.

'Getting a hang of this crowd?' asked Laxus as he stood beside Cole.

'Heh, haven't got anything like this back at my place' replied Cole with a smirk on his face.

'Well you definitely cannot count any team out of this contest, as there are 3 more days of excitement to come!' he announced, right after which a giant screen popped up.

'Alright, let's see what today's game is gonna be about' Cole and the others stared at the screen patiently, right after which a word popped up. 'HUNT' read out the screen.

'So it's either gonna be a pray and predator game, or more likely a scavenger hunt' said Laxus as he looked at the screen.

'You're right' replied Cole. ' Laxus and Gajeel both are dragon slayers, their sense of smell could be the key factor in this one, but that's what they'll expect us, this game isn't gonna be about instinct, it's gonna be about how you plan out your moves' Cole kept thinking, right after which he turned his attention to Ursa.

'You think you can handle it?' asked Cole.

'I...I'll do my best' replied Ursa.

'Ursa DeVitt from Team Fairy Tail B!'.

'I'll go' said Erza, speaking out for her team.

'No way! It clearly says hunt, and I'm a Dragon Slayer!' yelled out Natsu.

'Pipe down, I'm going into this round and that's final!' replied Erza, staring at him.

'Yes ma'am' replied Natsu in a low tone.

'Erza Scarlet from Team Fairy Tail A.

'This kitty never fails in a hunt!' said Millianna.

'Millianna from Team Mermaid Heel. '

I'll handle this one' said Jura as he stepped out.

'Jura from team Lamia Scale.

'The girl is involved in this one, keep a low profile' said Alexei, after which Obra was called out for Team Raven Tail.

'It's my time to shine' said Hibiki, right after which the crowd cheered loud for him. 'Hibiki for Team Blue Pegasus.

'If it's a hunt they want, it's a hunt they'll get, it's time for the best dragon slayer to slay' said Sting, right after which his name was announced for Team Sabertooth.

As the contestants stepped into the ring, Mato appeared at the center with a bag.

'Alright everyone, the rules of this game are simple' he said, right after which he opened a bag and let go of a bird. 'This is a bird, not found commonly around here' he said, soon after which he snapped his finger and made a clone out of the bird. 'I bet you can't tell the difference between these two huh. Likewise..' he added, right after which he let go of a crab, a rabbit, a cat and a firefly'

'Damn what are those animals all about?' asked Lector as he looked curiously.

'I think this game is gonna be a lot more than just hunting' replied Rogue.

'So these are the creatures you'll be looking to hunt, but wait, it doesn't end here. There will be 1 real animal among 100 fakes. You'll have to capture the animal and put it in a basket placed at the point of where you start. Capture the wrong one and you'll lose points!. Each animal has it's own points. The crab gets 10 points, while the rabbit and cat both give 25 points each. The bird gives a total of 50 points and lastly, you'll get 100 points from the firefly!' said Mato, as he briefed the instructions.'Also, each animal has it's own guardian, which will prevent you from putting it into the basket'. he finished, right after which he snapped his fingers and a large arena with 5 different paths opened up. 'Now then, each team will have 15 minutes to gather as much points as they can!' exclaimed Mato, surprising everyone.

'Just 15 minutes? So you're kind of stuck up with which animal you'd go for'

'Alright, the first team to contest will be decided based on a fan poll, however, the highest scorer can chose which team can get the head start' said Mato, right after which Sting interrupted.

'It has got to be me, let's go!' he yelled out, right after which the crowd began cheering out loud for him.

'Well he's all pumped up' said Frosh.

'Of course he'd be, he's been waiting a long time to go out there' replied Lector.

'Should have reminded him not to get cocky' interrupted Reaper.

'What do you mean?' asked Lector curiously.

'You'll see' replied Reaper as he looked at Ursa and gave a smile.

'Alright, I'm going in!' yelled out Sting, soon after which 5 baskets of the animals appeared. A timer started right after Sting rushed towards path 5.

'So he's going straight for the fireflies' said Laxus.

'What the?!' exclaimed Sting, soon as he entered into a giant grassland with hundreds of fireflies moving around. Sting tried to smell out the real one but failed. 'My senses, they're not working' he said, right after which he caught hold of a fly out of frustration.

'Ooo.. that's a bad start for Sabertooth, it's going to be -5' said the announcer.

'What? Minus 5!?' exclaimed Sting.

'High risk high reward' said Cole as he folded his arms and watched.

'Something tells me you knew us dragon slayers won't be able to use our sense of smell' mumbled Gajeel as he stood beside him.

'Probably getting a hang of this game, let's just hope Ursa does her best in this one' replied Cole.

'I see, so taking path 5 is pretty much suicidal, unless you know what you're doing' said Master Mavis with a keen eye over the game.

'Damn it, I have 10 minutes left' said Sting out of frustration as he sprinted around the field in a failed attempt to find the real firefly. He grabbed another one, which turned out to be a clone, resulting in another deduction of points. 'Things aren't going so smooth for Sabertooth folks, that's -10 for Sting, and he has got 10 minutes left into this competition, he better start raking up some points sooner or later' said the announcer. Sting punched the ground in anger and sprinted out.

'He's leaving?' said Lector as he looked surprised.

'I got to get some points, and fast!' said Sting as he desperately entered into path 1.

'So he's aiming for the crab now, easy 10 points I guess' said Gray as he watched.

Sting entered into a coastal area where he saw hundreds of crabs walking across the shoreline.'Come on, how hard can this be?' he mumbled as he looked around, and then spotted an unusual looking crab. 'Must be' he said as he went and grabbed it, soon after which all the other clones disappeared. 'I did it!' he said, right after which the earth began to shake, as a giant crab emerged from the sands.

'Must be the guardian' said Cole.

'I get it now, it definitely is a high risk- high reward kind of situation' said Laxus.

'But it's no big deal, the others can learn by looking at the mistakes Sting made right?' asked Gajeel.

' You're right, but I'm pretty sure there might be something going on down there, something we don't know' replied Cole, right after which he looked at the contestants.

'They're all looking at the giant screen' he said, right after which he too looked at it. Sting dodged the attacks of the guardian, and used his white dragon roar to knock him away. 'Just two minutes left for Sting' said the announcer. 'Crap, gotta get this in the bag quick!' he exclaimed as he sprinted towards the exit, with the guardian regaining consciousness. He immediately placed the crab onto the basket, right after which path 1 faded away. 'Times up for Sting and Team Sabertooth, they've managed to score 0 points!' said the announcer.

'Sting can't lose, I'm sure the others will probably go below -50 or something, right guys?' said Lector.

'I just hope we don't turn out to be at the last' replied Frosh.

'It's alright, you win some, you lose some' replied Reaper. 'Unlike you, we have to deal with our Guildmaster Jiemma as always' said Lector.

'Huh, took care of that bastard the last time, so you shouldn't be worried about him' replied Reaper.

'The thing is, he's still our Guildmaster, and we have to obey him' replied Frosh.

'I'm not sure that's what Guildmasters are for' replied Reaper.

'Next up, we have Obra for Team Raventail' said the announcer soon after which Obra stepped up and looked around the 5 different paths. He started walking towards path 1, right after which the timer started.

'So I guess these guys have thought about the risk of taking the firefly at first, you don't wanna lose time up front, so better start with whatever points you can collect up front.. but'

As soon as Obra stepped into the path, the landscape had changed from what it was before, this time it was a desert full of crabs.

'I knew it wouldn't be this easy, they probably change the guardian as well'.

Obra waited patiently as he sat and looked around, while time passed by. After a brief 10 minutes, he finally got up and picked a crab, after which all the clones disappeared, soon after which the ground began to shake, as something started approaching in fast. It was the same giant crab from before.

'Guess I was wrong about the guardian being changed' mumbled Cole, soon after which the crab attacked with it's claw. Obra jumped and dodged all the attacks, soon after which he sprinted towards the exit, dodging all the incoming attacks.

Obra placed the crab into the basket, right after which the path disappeared.

'I guess he wasn't even trying' thought Laxus as he looked at Obra walk away with a couple of minutes left.

'Raventail are probably happy with the 10 points they've scored in this round, nonetheless, it was a good performance by Obra, making Raventail ahead of Sabertooth by 10 points' said the announcer, after which the crowd cheered out loud for them.

'Our next contestant will be Millianna from Team Mermaid Heel!' said the announcer after which she stepped into the arena and posed, making the crowd cheer out loud for her.

'Interestingly, this girl looks like a cat, won't be surprised if she goes onto path 3 though'.

As she stepped onto the arena, she sprinted right towards path 3, soon as the timer started.

'Millianna is headed straight towards path 3, she's the first contestant to enter that path!' said the announcer, soon after which Millianna stepped into a city, where cats were running across the streets.

'Awwwweee those kitties! I just wanna play with them all!' she said as she ran towards a cat and caught it.

'That's -2 for Team Mermaid Heel' said the announcer as the cat disappeared from Millianna's hands.

'Urgh, Millianna has no focus' said Kagura as she watched.

'Okay okay, I got to focus, I need to find the real one, and I know how to do it' she said, soon after which she got on top of a building and closed her eyes.

'What is she even doing?' said Lector.

'Beats me, maybe she's gonna sit around and sense out the real one, like the last guy did' replied Sting.

'That's why there's a time limit, can't just afford to score one animal' said Reaper.

'10 minutes left for Millianna to score some crucial points for her team, will she succeed?!' exclaimed the announcer, right after which Millianna opened her eyes and stood up.

'I got you!' she yelled as she jumped across the rooftops and jumped into an alley, where a cat was resting on a dumpster bin.

'Come here you kitty, come to momma' she said as she took the cat in her arms. All the other cats disappeared, soon after which a giant cat with 2 heads appeared.

'So this is the cat guardian' said Cole.

'Oh poor kitty' said Millianna as she attempted to talk to the guardian, only to be attacked by the giant's paw.

'Opps, guess you don't like belly rubs' she said, soon after which she started running towards the exit. The guardian chased her and jumped, standing in between Millanna and the exit.

'5 minutes left, and this looks like trouble' said the announcer, right after which Millianna jumped, and rolled her body, avoiding the guardian's attacks. As she landed on the other side, she quickly ran towards the basket and placed the cat onto it.

'That's 25 points for Team Mermaid Heel, they still have 3 minutes to go, can Millianna score another 10 points for her team!?' exclaimed the announcer, right after which Millianna got pumped and ran towards path 1. As she entered into a shoreline, she got confused over seeing hundreds of crabs walking around. 'It's not worth it' she mumbled as she walked away.

'I guess that ends the round for Team Mermaid Heel, they stand at the top with 23 points!' said the announcer, after which the crowd cheered out loud.

'The time limit is pretty much the key factor here, there's now way you can get more than two animals in one turn, most would go for the crab the second time, considering the amount of time left' Cole looked at Ursa as she observed the contest. 'Ursa, what would you be thinking right now'. Cole looked at Erza, who was preparing herself to go into the arena.

'Good luck Erza'

A long break, and what seemed to have died out was brought back to life yet again. Yes, I decided to get rid of my old formatting and from now on the rest chapters will come up this way. So now any sentence under italics are Cole's thoughts. Also, thank you for your support