One's Road to Remembrance

by Insane Dominator

For 4 years, a lone guy has been suffering from memory-loss, and can only remember his name: Craig Crius. The 4 years have been very unfriendly, and in turn has become rather desolate. With the help of Cana Alberona and from Fairy Tail, Craig will endure horrific hardships, take on dangerous tasks, and unleash power he never knew he had in order to understand who he was. OCxCana.

56. This Isn't A Game Anymore

Night was as crisp as it always was. Everything was as it should be in terms of routine…if another bar being jacked up by loud cheers and bodies flying meant anything. Just another day of Fairy Tail, with Day 3 all wrapped up and the competition beginning to settle down.

"Cheers!" Macao and Wakaba clashed their mugs together in a boisterous toast. Down the hatch the contents went, much to Romeo's shock, counting five down already.

"Dad, I think you're overdoing it again." He warned, but the drunken happy man was hearing none of it.

"Well that was definitely something today." Alzack said.

"You mean the match or the contest?" Bisca asked.

He shrugged. "I guess both. My heart was racing the whole time." He looked down at his lap as he saw Asuka eating her macaroni; she also looked content.

"Man, today was a letdown! We only got like 7 points!" Natsu complained as he bit into a tender chicken leg, ripping off almost all the meat.

"Well don't forget, there's still plenty of time left." Happy noted.

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, you're right. We may only have 5th place so far, but if we pull through tomorrow…"

"Then we'll only be a hop, skip, and a jump away from Fallen Prometheus." Gray continued. "Man, even now, those guys still gives the creeps, and I don't mean the easy going kind. I'm serious when we really need to worry about them."

Natsu shot Gray a look. "Where's this 'we' talk coming from ya?" he sank his teeth into the meat slab. "You got your shot today, so Craig's gonna wreck it tomorrow."

"I really don't think either one matters." Lucy sighed.

A cup of fine tea was rippling from the laughter and cheers, and in the green reflection was Erza as she contemplated. "This isn't the time to be lavishing in such luxuries, for now at least. Yes, we may have a better chance with him acting in, but this is a team competition, and that means we all have to worry about the other's condition." Her eyes adverted towards Laxus, who sat at the bar with his Thunder God Tribe. They were all praising him as he looked to be conscious for the time being, but she knew he was just as exhausted as anyone else would.

"Laxus should rest up for now." She continued. "That means if by circumstances, we should have the other four of us troop this next upcoming contest."

Natsu raised a fist. "And I say it's gonna be me this time!" he declared.

"Hey, don't go calling dibs before we all get a say this time, Salamander!" Gajeel shouted from the other side of the pub. He sighed as he looked away and sighed on the stool.

"You alright for tomorrow?" Pantherlily asked.

"Huh? What kind of a question is that?"

"I'm just saying that you're looking out of it. Is something the matter?"

Gajeel sat back in his seat, arms folding. "Nothing too out there, just…thinking."

"Thinking?" Even Pantherlily was caught surprised by this revelation. He knew full well Gajeel wasn't thinking kind of guy, but neither was Natsu – although Gajeel was the more practical thinker of the two. It's rare to see Gajeel genuinely smile, but him thinking was as rare as a blue moon. He knew something drastic was on his mind.

Gajeel's eyes stared towards the ceiling, his attention drawn towards the light bulb over his head. "Just wondering…" For a brief moment, his mind flashed back to the black animal that attacked him. "Have you realized that aside from me, those Raven Tail bastards haven't pulled any fast ones on us?"

Pantherlily put a tiny paw to his chin. "Now that you mention it, that is a keen observation. You think they're lying low?"

"Nah, couldn't be. C'mon, Lily, we know Raven Tail has it in for us, but ever since the start, they've been pulling sneak attacks and getting their hands dirty with the fights…but you know, something seemed off about them. It's like they've been drawn away from us for some reason. Like they were focused more on the competition itself."

"I think I understand where you're getting at." Pantherlily thought back to earlier, during Day 3 when Flare was pacing slightly ahead of Gates. "I was sure they'd be much faster, but it's like today, they went from cheap tactics to broad showoff, and right in front of Fallen Prometheus perhaps."

Gajeel's eyes widened. "So you think they're drawn towards those cloaked freaks now?"

Pantherlily looked at Gajeel with an affirmative leer. "That seems likely, but what I want to know is why? Then again, maybe they could be planning something like expect us to draw all attention to that guild and not them, and use that for cover to strike when our guard is down."

Gajeel slouched in his seat with arms folding. "I don't like this." From the side of his head, a projectile flew in. Before Lily could warn him, he was already decked in the head and fell off the stool and onto the wooden floor.

Not far, Natsu was the one on the table, smirking. "Hah! I'll fight ya if you think you can take that spot from me, metalface!"

A hand breached up and grabbed the stool. Slowly rising up was Gajeel as he gritted his teeth in anger. "You…DUNCE!" He lunged at Natsu as his left arm morphed into an Iron Dragon's Club. "Alright, now you're screwed!"

"Now that's more like it!" Natsu pounced at Gajeel, eager to get a round going.

Gildarts laughed as he watched the boys tussle along. "Man, Natsu sure does have the energy, huh."

Makarov sighed heavily as he sat his mug down. "These kids are gonna drive me to an early grave."

"C'mon, if you'd wished that sooner, you wouldn't have made it passed your first week as master, right?" Gildarts teased.

Makarov incoherently grumbled as he closed his eyes to imagine something else crossing his mind. "We're in quite the bind, aren't we? The guilds have all been distracted if you ask me, but that is just my opinion." He resumed his beverage that went down his throat.

Gildarts' expression turned to a frown as well. The atmosphere around them was starting to get serious now. "I know what you mean. Even I feel a little uneased about all this Magic Power emanating from them; that one guild in particular. I think you know who I'm talking about."

Gulp after gulp, it all went down, and after a long sigh, it settled in Makarov's gut. He put the mug down and continued to evaluate. "…hmph. I've felt many different kinds of Magic Power before; I have seen things in my youth that I wished that I could forget; but that level, when it's just that compressed and still so high…should we be worried?"

"Well why not?"

The voice came from the shocking reveal of some surprising guests. Looking over, Gildarts and Makarov saw Craig, and Cana with a cold beer in hand, standing close by. To say they were surprised would be an understatement.

"Craig. Cana." Makarov greeted, admittedly surprised.

"Oh~, I was wondering where you two were all day. Just what were you doing?" he mischievously smirked.

Craig kept a stone face as he looked at them both, but he had to provide leeway for Gildarts perhaps. "Well we were coming here to find something to eat." He pointed a thumb at Cana. "Her treat this time."

Cana shot Craig a look. "Really now?"

Craig shrugged. "Hey, I paid all day today. I only carry so much jewel on me to get by." He leered at her buxom. "Unless you got something in those airbags that could spell out 'paid meal'."

The lush lowered her head and a tick mark appeared. "Well, thank you for being such a gentlemen for only 12 hours!"

Craig folded his arms and smirked. "And that's 11 hours and 59 minutes over my pay roll."

"You don't even know what a pay roll is."

"I know what a roll is, and I'm hankering to shove it in that pothole of yours."

Cana glared daggers at Craig next. "And I'm wanting to a cucumber and stick it right up your-"

"A~nyways…" Gildarts hummed to get the two to look at him. By the way they sharply glared at him almost a split second later, it worked. Of course it did make him sweatdrop nervously. "Well, say, why don't you guys tell us why you're here instead of doing your 'usual' stuff? Whatever it may be."

"Just shut up." Cana berated.

Gildarts raised his hands in defense. "Fine, don't kill the messenger."

"You all suck." Craig said.

"We know, Craig." Makarov responded. "But enlighten us on something, why should be really be worried about them?"

Craig frowned; it looked like he was getting serious. "Well think about it this way; there's all these guilds that are participating, and in total, when you think about those odds, having everyone turn on Fallen Prometheus is 35 to 5, and when you consider that, think about it this way: If you want to defeat your true enemy, you'll be so caught up in wanting to defeat them that you'll forget the rest of the competition is there."

Makarov and Gildarts looked at each other, sharing confused looks. They blinked, and they looked at Craig for further explanation.

"I'm not saying worry about our status. I never said we should worry about Fallen Prometheus' power to begin with. I'm saying worry about your team, and how to approach the competition from there. Ganging up on a common enemy is like making allies on the battlefield, but if you guys really do want to win, then why not pick them off while their guard is down."

Makarov raised a brow at Craig's tactical advice. "Defeating our enemy's enemies first…"

"I'm not dumb. I know what war is, and I'd rather not say anymore than that. But if you take a second and take notice, you saw how Sabertooth and Raven Tail have been."

Cana's eyes widened. 'He's been paying attention to that?'

"They're actively shifting their attention towards the larger threat first. If you watched, you saw how that Sting guy acted, and how your little feathered friends over at Raven Tail have been falling back today." He shook his head. "Don't be like them. Don't jump at the big threat head on like they are. You need to take this battle one person at a time. That simple."

Even in the background's humungous brawl, Makarov was left deeply shocked, but at the same time considering Craig's wise saying. In a way, he wasn't wrong. When the competition started at first, they were focused on beating Lamia Scale and Sabertooth. But now this strange guild is all the rage, and it's overshadowing what was their main objective to prove their own power.

"Flexing your muscles is one thing, but don't forget your main reason. Improvise if you have to, but stick through with what you have until you have to make do with what you got." Craig turned and started for the entrance, but the others were left confused.

"But…hey! Wait, hold on! We don't understand!" Gildarts shouted. "What do you mean by all that?"

"If we remind everyone we're still here, then we have a shot? Is that what you mean?!" Makarov exclaimed.

Craig shrugged. "Whatever floats your boats. Catch ya later."

With that, Craig left the pub; in and out just like that. The two men were left a little perplexed of what philosophy Craig was going by, but that didn't solve their questions. They looked towards Cana for answers, but all she did was wave them off and sipped from fine wine.

She sighed. "Finally, some time away from that guy." While she did seem relieved, she looked out the window to watch Craig go. She stared in a glaring manner as she watched him go on his way.

Walking on, Craig thought back to the conversation, and how Gildarts and Makarov didn't understand what he meant. 'I didn't want them to understand, I doubt they ever could. I got so caught up in beating so bad that I lost sight of what was important to me…' His very mind dawdled to familiar faces of people who he recalled, who he also remembered perishing when he made vengeful mistakes and went for the fray and not the job itself. His eyes began to sting from thinking of a young woman who he imagined with long gray hair and red eyes. And beside her a few other guys and girls, he recounted their dying words and wisdom that defogged what vengeful poison derived him of what the job is and what sacrifices are made...then there were the many other lives he saved because he focused on the true goal, and that was taking other lives into consideration. Even those instances when he disobeyed conducts and earned a few good scars out of it, he help nothing short of helping others and get them out of danger first. It's others before him – that's the one conduct he always knew followed. 'God damnit. Now I'm all confused…guess I got my priorities ahead of me. There's Fallen Prometheus – I have to make sure, even if it does makes us look bad, can't let them slaughter everyone else before me. They want me, and me alone. They know that, and I know it, too.' He kept himself moving along, his feet slowly shuffling in the shadows that he prowled in. 'I know what I have to do, but if I'm going to do that, I'm going to need to keep mastering the art of chi. There's no need to second guess myself. I'll do what I must – no will do, and that's make sure that as long as it's just between Fallen Prometheus and I…I'll take everyone else out before they do.'

He kept walking, his brow raising. 'Unless they get in my way first, then we have issues…'

---

Even though it was pretty dumb, by his usual dumb luck, Craig managed to get to the inn in one piece. Sure he didn't get anything to eat at the pub, but he wasn't hungry anyway. He needed to think. He was inside his inn, inside the room that had a lamp. With a single light and curtains shading him, he saw cross-legged on the floor, staying passively still as he breathed in and out as he focused his chi.

He said nothing. Thought nothing. His mind was but an empty solace. Despite the rage that's been going on with the competitors, he cared, but he won't get reckless as the endanger them. For that, he needed to get himself in check…if possible.

His mind, as he drew into the embodiment of chi…it all was going into white silence. His mental figment drew silent, and slowly, the energy around him was starting to evolve. Change. And with every breath taken, the more he began to feel the essence sink into his marrow. Head down, silence, and drowning out the whole world and listening at the same time. It was a strange feeling, but in a good way.

Slowly, the white around him faded, and his eyes opened. His mind was once again gone, sitting cross-legged in front of Sama. It was once again that the old master had found himself cross-legged on a low-level rock.

One eye opened for the old man, a frown on his face. "Craig, my boy."

Craig stayed completely silent.

"…welcome back~!" Sama's eyes opened, a grin on his face showing.

"Well you sure know how to pick other's nerves when they're busy." He exasperated.

"Well, I wouldn't say 'busy' when you're sitting alone in your room and on the floor like a dog waiting for his master." Sama joked.

Craig gave him a deep sulking groan. "And you can even trace my essence and watch over me, what are you, a perverted hermit?"

Sama chuckled at his student's lack of boisterous humor. "Well it's not like I have anything better to do."

"Yeah, you eat, sleep, and now you trace people with chi? What's not to love about that." With an eye roll, Sama knew Craig wasn't in the mood, but he knew it was pretty much what he is capable of, for the most part at least.

Sama giggled, albeit meekly.

The tension around them began to tickle their skins. The time had come for Sama to start explaining some more.

"…have you been able to gather chi around you?" Sama asked.

Craig lowered his head. "I've been able to get deeper into sensing and using it. I hardly feel pain or cold when I'm meditating." He wasn't wrong. When he woke up, he knew earlier today he was out like a light. But nevertheless, the red mark on his forehead was an indication that he was flicked in the head by Cana when she tried to wake him, only that didn't work.

"Well then you must be a heavy sleeper!" Sama laughed.

"Not funny." Craig growled.

"Oh relax. But really though, that's good. That's what you are wanting to feel. The spirit of the mind is at peace, and the physical body is but your temple. With you and the temple as one, the mind's flow can manipulate the body and chi that flows." He slowly raised his hands overhead, joining them at the pinnacle and slowly coming slowly down. Once down, it was pointed out at Craig, then back in. Then up. Then back down. Then out, then in. Up, down. Out, in.

"Breathe."

Craig grew contorted with what his master advised, or what he was doing, but it looked relaxing. He didn't fight it. He knew it would help, and he would do what it takes to learn to do and be the best that he could be. He, too, slowly aligned his fingers and palms. He breathed in, and brought it down. Out, it went up. In, and it went down. This time, went out, it went out; breathing in, it went in.

The two; synchronized in the harmony of the magical chi in all embodiments. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. The pattern flowed like water, nothing – not even the cool mountain air – surprisingly, had no effect on him. It was like he felt…nothing. He felt nothing, but heard and saw the flow in which wind hit his face. He breathed in life, and he could hear the very grass grow.

"The very air…" Sama mumbled. "You breathe it in. You take in the nature's beauty…you feel and breathe fresh and tranquility, purified by the soul…and courses from negativity…to neutrality…"

"…and that…is a concept of chi?" Craig slowly asked.

"…as is Primal Force."

Craig was curious about such a force, but he knew to not dare to go through with it. There's a saying, 'give them an inch and they'll tale a mile', and Craig exhibited this factor before, and he's crossed lines. With something like this, it was best to do something he is really good at – not thinking.

In, and out. For minutes on end, and Craig's mind was reaching out to the force that was all around. He was hearing the nearby howling of winds, yet he didn't feel it. He could feel elements in the air, and up here was but little Ethernano, so no magical elements in the air it seemed.

Same as before, his calm center saw the wavelengths of blue chi that was in the atmosphere. He knew what came next, but instead of barge in, he just stared.

"Don't fight, and don't waver." Sama spoke, his voice inside Craig's own head.

Even Craig didn't question. He knew, given this was his teacher after all. He just looked up, slowly watching as the wavelengths were brimming to bloody red. The exotic power that he was feeling was pouring in, but as much as it was, he didn't stray. So much power, and he kept himself composed and breathed normally. He breathed. That's all he did. His soul allowed the energy waves to circle around him, as though they were…curious.

Even this chi itself was living, and it was observing Craig. The bloody waves of energy around Slayos slowly traced the sides of Craig, his cheeks being tickled by this sensation. No fighting, even if it was like an itch. He still pictured it, and just breathed.

Slowly, the blood red circuits evaporated around the mental image of Craig, yet the primordial essence he was feeling was heavy. It was like a world of new power, and he breathed in evaporated essence, and that's what drew him back to opening his eyes.

Slowly, very slowly, he came about. His mind went back to the spiritual reality in which Sama looked at him, and he in turn looked at his master.

There were no words, nothing to be said as the two stared at him. They could see that the other knew what they felt, and saw. Craig was either very lucky, or very unfortunate, but to both mentor and student, they knew the answer.

With a slight bow of his head, Sama nodded. "You wait for the energy to come to you. Well done."

Craig meekly grinned back. "Patience is a virtue." His gaze softened. "Something I've realized a long time ago."

Sama chuckled. "Well, let's just hope you can think on your feet when you're in a scuffle. Finding your chi at a peak to ensure Primal Force, that's what shall win you this battle."

Craig looked at his mentor, but the grin he had turned to a frown. "I understand that Primal Force is a very ancient form of essence that exists to this day…but you know…" He looked down at the ground, his brow furrowing as he contemplated. "If that's true, and if it's in magic as well, you'd think people could see it and use it as I do."

Sama gave Craig a soft look. "I understand your confusion. The world's gone and adapted to an era where they forgot where true strength lied. Their bodies were designed to naturally draw in Ethernano, which is magic. However, with you having no Ethernano, your body is starting to naturally draw in chi as a substitute. What you did with catching Slayos' energy is just one example, but just let it come naturally. Trust your instincts once more."

Craig breathed out, taking a long, deep sigh. He understood, and rather than hope and pray for the best, he knew and was aware such prayers would keep him away from seeing the true picture.

With that lesson in Primal Force, Craig's mind slowly began to go white once more. It was time to head back.

"I'll see you soon. Remember, reach out, but do not seek…" Sama's voice grew hollow as Craig's spiritual essence shrunk backwards, as though pulled away and heading into the white norm. Moments later, he was met with the sound of a door slowly opening.

He breathed in and out, taking a deep breath before slowly opening his eyes. Back in his inn he was, and he slowly got up to meet Cana as she walked on in.

"Yo." She greeted. "Cranky, you there?"

Craig was seen stretching overhead, with one arm up and the over bent at 90 degrees. He stayed that way for a few good seconds. "Yeah, I'm here." He switched up his arms, stretching the other one up this time. "Are you here, Brownie?"

Cana craned her head as she raised a brow. "Get some glasses."

"Why's that?" he asked amused.

"Because I'm pretty sure I'm right here in front of your face." She walked passed him towards the bathroom. Inside, Craig could here the sound of running water.

Crag shifted towards the wall of the bathroom, where he turned and leaned on it with arms crossed. He smirked ahead, quite knowingly at that. "Funny, all I would see with those things are those jugs and that oversized ass. You sure you'd want that?"

Cana smirked as she undid her bra inside the bathroom. "Well it's hard to tell, you gonna get glasses and find out?"

"Only if you stop smelling like a case of beer for~ever."

"Dream on."

Craig smirked. "I thought so."

Cana began to sink her thick legs into the bathwater, her body soaking rather comfortably into the hot liquid. She gave a long sigh that was heard from the other side of the door.

Craig knew not to bother her this time around. Relieving himself of Cana, he slowly turned and jumped onto the bed, letting out his own sigh as he faced the ceiling. He continued to look up, his breathing stable, as it should be.

His mind went wayward as he began to picture Slayos once more. It wasn't very long, but at the same time, it felt like the black dragon had features that were recognizable. It was tough to explain, but he was aware that thinking would lead to stress. He knew what he and Sama spoke of, and he knew risks of not having a clear mind would very much weaken the potency of chi. Though Craig is in fact an emotional human being, it was a rough call to make, though how rough is another story. 'People can use magic because their bodies were adapted to absorbing Ethernano. But at the same time, my body can't draw Ethernano, so I have a wide range of drawing in chi from the life around me. Need to…' His mentality wasn't a all trailing off after that, but rather, it was dropping the stress of it all completely. He looked at the ceiling rather tiredly, focusing and quelling the storm that was to be eroding in his mind.

The door to the bathroom eventually opened, and the image any man would've wanted to see would be to die for. Craig didn't bother looking though, and it was too bad for him, because what came out was Cana…her brown hair all slick and her immensely curvy figure hugged by a yellow, fluffy towel.

She flashed Craig a smirk. "Okay, Cranky, you up?"

Though he did look, it was only while he got up from bed. He turned on his heels and glanced up. He looked at Cana with a rather blank expression, not even bothering to raise a brow. He didn't even blush. Being with nude people in concentration murder camps really does a number in his you view someone.

Cana simply took it in stride. "You up? Made sure to save some hot water."

Craig slowly walked pass the lush. "Cool."

He closed the door behind, allowing Cana to grin as she began to change again.

---

"Welcome, one and all, to the Grand Magic Games' riveting start of it's 4th day in!" Lola's boisterous announcement was brought on by the many cheers of its patrons and fans. They all were getting very anxious for what was to be a most exciting turnaround for the season, at least that's what they hoped for. "We're getting very deep into the gamers and what they represent, and from where we stand, it looks like we're going to get quite a show as to how they intend to make this day mark their climb to the top of this heaping hill!"

Yajima was right beside him, smiling. "Hoping for more good sporting from the lot of you, understand?"

The audience cheered for the few who have been making their marks in the competition. They were rather shocked from seeing in Fairy Tail's corner how Craig was having hands in pockets while looking so casual. Although from him aside, the competition was looking ecstatic when they veered towards the mysterious Fallen Prometheus. The way even they looked, they seemed a little amused with the competition.

Scythe smirked beneath his hood. "Heh. These weaklings are really getting excited over us?"

"You can't blame them. These low lives don't understand." Navice voiced. "Let them mingle in their own amusement…for now."

"Agreed." Gates concurred.

Monarch lipped a lock hanging out from the hood. "I must admit, this praise is rather pleasing to my ears."

Shinigami could be seeing smirking beneath his hood. "It's good to see not everyone is against us after all."

Over by Sabertooth's balcony, they were all fixated on either the arena or their archrivals, which happened to be the main objective Minerva and Sting had in mind. The two in particular were staring with half-grins, much to the chagrin of the other Sabertooth members.

"Alright! This time, you thugs are going down! Sabertooth's gonna show you just who you're messing with today!" Lector taunted.

Frosch jumped and skipped for joy in place. "Fro thinks so, too!"

"It looks like we have quite a bit to look out for today." Lyon commented.

Jura nodded. "That it seems."

Chelia flashed a perky grin. "Don't worry, this time, I'll make sure we get climbing back up there again, just you wait!"

"You better, otherwise the old hag's gonna spin you until you throw up." Yuka nervously shivered as he glanced over towards the master, who was having a menacing aura as she glared at them. Even the fellow guild members around her were shrinking away in fright.

In Quatro Cerberus' domain, Bacchus raised his head and smirked down at the arena. "Well what do you know. Looks like we're gonna have a wild ride now that I'm back up to speed." He had but little scrapes and bruises now, thanks to the medics and their magic. Despite the few bite marks by a certain someone, he didn't seem to be hampered. "Alright, let's make some noise, boys!" he yelled.

"WI~LD!" they followed.

"Men! Today, we stake our claim in this rightful hour of ours." Ichiya pointed ahead. "Shall we proceed?!"

"Aye-aye!" The Trimens saluted.

Alexei and the rest of Raven Tail were all glaring at Fallen Prometheus as well. They looked very much intrigued with all this, at least for what was intended by Ivan's wishes. They glared at their cloaked foes, their power making them yearn.

"Our chance shall come yet." The armored figure slowly clutched his gauntlets.

"Look out everyone, because Mermaid Heel's gonna rock your house!" Millianna cheered.

Lola looked down at his sheet, ready to kick off Day 4. "Now then, let's take a moment to reca; what we've seen so far. Still in the lead with a whopping 47 points, Fallen Prometheus takes everything and everyone by storm, but not far behind is Sabertooth with 35 points. It looks like the tigers are going to be hunting today, folks, but not too far behind are the crows cawing the midnight struggle, with Raven Tail sitting at 29 points. That leaves the mermaids, the fairies, the lamias, the Pegasus, and the Cerberus all to lag in that order. If all goes to what many presumed to be strategy and wits, then one team could come up with 20 points, so even the last place contestants could bump all the way to 3rd or 4th place. Now, let's get this competition started!"

"May each team bring forth one contestant this time." Mato announced.

Erza crossed her arms. "So today, it looks like we're going individually rather than tag teaming."

"Looks like it." Laxus answered.

Natsu pointed a thumb at himself. "And I say let me take us to 1st. I'll have us right up there with those cloaked showoffs and then we'll nail them."

Craig kept his arms folded and staring outwards. He did little but leer at the competition that was beginning to select their competitors. They didn't have a lot of time, but as Chelia was picked for Lamia Scale, Jenny was picked for Blue Pegasus. He took a glance over, seeing Natsu interrupted by Gajeel.

"Dream on. If anyone's going out there, it's me." The Iron Dragon Slayer warned. "I still gotta pick up the pieces that I lost that day."

"And I didn't get a chance since the 1st day. That's way too long." Natsu said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Besides, I thought we settled this when I punched your teeth in yesterday."

"And I say I know how we can pull through. Just let this one slide and you can have cracks at another bozo in a fight, kapeesh?"

Natsu beamed with pride. "Looks who's bargaining. Tell you what, admit I'm the strongest and I might let you have this one to prove yourself."

Gajeel grew a tick mark on his forehead. "Okay, now even I'm not that overconfident."

"Then too bad, I say-!" Natsu didn't get a chance to finish before he picked up the sound of someone stepping away. He was, once again, losing momentum. "Huh? Wait a sec…" his eyes adverted towards the spot beside them, all of whom were surprised to see his sot vacant. Natsu's eyes widened. "Where's Craig?!"

"Craig?" Erza looked over her shoulder, startled by the absence of him. "He's gone?"

Natsu looked left and right, observing all his surroundings with shock. "Hey, don't tell us he bailed on us again! He should at least see how I handle this round!"

Gajeel blinked. "Man, the guy sure was quiet about…hey, wait!" He turned towards Natsu. "I said I'm going!"

"Guys." Laxus said.

Everyone turned towards him to get where he was going with this. They saw him looking relaxed as he watched the arena. The three turned towards the colosseum grounds, where in the dirt, Craig was casually walking out.

Natsu and Gajeel paled completely.

"The guy knows how to react." Laxus commented.

Shaking his head, Natsu snapped and leaned over the balcony. "Hey! What are you doing?! Get back here! We haven't even decided yet!" he yelled.

Craig casually waved back at him and the group while walking forward. He gave no damn apparently.

Before Natsu could jump down, an armored hand catered by Erza grabbed hold of his shoulder. "Let it go."

Natsu looked back at her shocked. "Huh? But why?"

Erza's attention was fixed on Craig's back. "Whatever is happening, he knows. I'm sure there's a reason, but I'm also certain that not explaining it isn't his strong point. He'll instead show."

Natsu began to relax, though he felt a slight dejected from getting back out there.

As Craig took his subtle march down towards the arena center, he caught the attention of the many spectators, who were starting to recall him. A few scattered cheers and some silence, but it mattered not. What really mattered was how he grasped the attention of Fallen Prometheus as all eyes went towards Craig. To say they were…well, anything, it wouldn't be wrong.

"Well, this is something." Monarch hummed.

Shinigami smirked. "Well, it looks like Craig came out to test the waters then. Honestly, I'm surprised he's putting himself in the open for us."

"It's probably bait. He's wanting us to prove that we could really do it." Navice speculated.

"That's likely. We might be overestimating here, but if there's a shot, then who's to say even gods can't jump for them?" Shinigami mused. "Now then…"

A shimmer sound was followed by a slow arch of a large 8-shaped axe. Held out and blocking everyone's path, the "guild" turned to look over at who was holding out the menacing weapon.

"Back off. This one's mine." Scythe snarled.

Shinigami raised a brow. "You want to do this?" he sounded so surprised, though his tone sounded so rhetorical.

Scythe looked back at him, an irritated look arising. "Yeah." He looked back at Craig. "I was the one to deliver that message after all…" his eyes narrowed. "And I sure as hell ain't gonna shy away from something when I mean it."

Monarch sighed beneath her hood. "Really, I'd much prefer to have a little group effort, but if you're really insisting, at least give us a show out there."

"If you're fortunate, do leave us with him half-alive." Navice said.

Scythe smirked. He withdrew his weapon over his shoulder for the time being. "…if I'm in a giving mood, sure." He started for the tunnel, leaving all his comrades to watch him take off. As he approached the darkness, he was looking ready. His face lost the smirk that was replaced by dead seriousness. 'I've had it with my patience with this guy. That little nuisance has been a crawling bug that infected what we've been bringing…'

His mind flashed back to a cloudy paradise, or rather what could've been a paradise. There were many tall gods and deities, and some were either dead or perhaps incapacitated. The palace was crumbling as soldiers from the army and gods alike were either kneeling or fallen by the anarchists. Many bowed before a horde of armored deities with many shaped armored attributes, ranging from devil horns to dragons to even hybrid insects and accents. Within all that glory of what could be labeled as Ragnarok, there was an image of someone with his own army of black armored amorphous creatures, of humanoid and animalistic mutants. As bizarre as they were, someone leading them had black armor of his own with gold edging unlike all gold that the God destroyers had.

His brow furrowed. 'Taking away victory and Valhala when it should've been ours. This isn't just revenge, Craig Crius, this is retribution!'

Walking with an extra sway in her hips, Minerva readied for combat. "Our prey has come. Shall we begin the feasting with an appetizer?"

Bacchus kept walking, but his eyes went towards Craig. He recognized him almost immediately, and a smirk went on his face. "Well, what do you know. That guy…this should be nice."

"Meow! Look out, because I'm ready!" Millianna boasted.

Kurohebi made way out towards the battlefield, silent as they could come. He kept his gaze forward, making sure to not allow misdirects.

"It looks like we've got our teams all set up for the contest part of today's games." Lola announced. "Representing Fallen Prometheus, we have the sinister but also desolate decimator; the axe that'll give you the axe – Scythe! And following him for Sabertooth is Sabertooth's Minerva! And slithering into the fray would happen to be Raven Tail's Kurohebi, and Mermaid Heel's Millianna is all in once again. What a spunky kitten!"

"Meow!" she winked.

"Man, she's hogging all the fun." Beth huffed. "This is her 3rd time competing in a contest."

Lola continued. "And after taking a small rest, it looks like Craig of Fairy Tail is ready to sink his teeth and roar out his dominance once more! And finally, the little miss Cheli-welli – oh what an adorable contestant!"

Some of the patrons nervously laughed at Lola's demeanor flaring up for Chelia, although she didn't seem to mind at all.

"Get a hold of yourself." Yajima said.

Finally stammering along, he got focused again. "Er, right! Anyways, for the Blue Pegasus, we have the bombshell ready to drop a bomb on today's contest, we have Jenny Realight! And lastly, the falcon once brought down now rising up again, Bacchus~!"

"It looks like we have a good competition set up today." Mato evaluated. "Alrighty, let's begin, shall we?"

The competitors were all gathered towards the center. With everyone centered and accounted for, the free time used was for staring. Craig was seen acting all nonchalant, craning his head towards a chuckling Bacchus. The smirking drunkard didn't look ill-will, but his lesson was learned after the apology. With a nod of respect, Craig wished for the best, and Bacchus raised his head for a nod of respect of his own. Then Craig looked at the many other faces, although they all seemed indifferent, for the most part that is. That's when his attention was noticed by Scythe.

At long last, the two were only so far apart. They were within arm's reach, but nether made a move. They both deeply frowned at one another. They could see and feel it coming from the other – the resentment; the contorting feelings the other had. While one was full of ambition, the other was resolve. One way or another, the promise Scythe made still rang in Craig's head like a gong, but his facial expression didn't change. He was stone-cold, but in a good way.

Although, he still had to give some form of respect to the enemy. With a simple nod, Craig acknowledged the competitor, fairly. Underneath his hood, Scythe caught the notion and darkly smirked. His head meekly nodded as well, the little "sporting" game the two shared was on.

Minerva and Kurohebi were giving definite glares at Scythe. They were so anxious to see what kind of power he possessed, but to their shock, he wasn't paying attention to them at all. To their horror, he was staring at Craig, who looked as calm as possible. Their amusement was short-lived as their guts boiled for their prey to acknowledge them.

One way or another, that was going to happen.

"Okay, pumpkins! Let's get ready for the competition – Rift Raft! Allow me to explain the rules. You all will be on an octagon-shaped platform, where once started, it'll be an 8-way battle. Your task is to knock the other off the platform as it bumps and sways you, so think of it as a roller coaster with a fighting twist. Trying to stay on is hard enough, but with attacks knocking you off, well that's bad news for you. You will receive points in the order in which you were knocked over. You have to be hitting the water for it to count, otherwise they won't be taken as points."

At the mention of that one word, Craig's heart skipped a beat. '…water?'

"Water?" Cana repeated. She took a second glance at Craig, seeing the slight worry in his eyes. "Oh no."

"What's the matter?" Gildarts asked.

"Oh, huh?" she looked at him, a little shocked. "It's nothing." She looked back at the arena, her expression not fooling Gildarts apparently. 'Hope it's not deep.'

"When there are only two of you left on the platform, there'll be a special rule." Mato added. "In addition, there shall be a 5-minute range in which if either one of those two competitors is knocked off, the loser will receive 0 points, while the winner walks off with 10!"

"Well, that's pretty interesting." Jenny smirked.

"Is everyone ready?" Mato raised his hands, summoning power. Beneath everyone's feet, the ground began to glow. All eight were in an octagonal formation, and far enough to where they were all set. As the glow shimmered, it illuminated the fire in Craig's eyes. It's what made Scythe smirk beneath his hood.

'There it is.'

On the ground, everyone was standing on a monstrous, wooden, octagonal raft. They were all set on the eight corners. Evenly spread as the wooden piece of equipment was at least fifty-feet in diameter to each end. All over the arena, several massive pillars of rock formed, stalagmites that arose to everyone's wonder.

"What are those rock pillars for?" Beth wondered.

"I reckon we're gonna find out." Risley said.

Materialized were massive holes on the sides of the arena, massive enough to fit a tree trunk. They were in a number ranging from fifty to a hundred and instantly began to pump out water. The entire stadium shuddered with the pressure from the water cannons gushing out the tons of water per second. In less time than what it felt like, the water came in contact with the raft, and Craig looked over his shoulder as the water level began to rise.

"Well, aren't I just plain lucky." He grimaced.

Slowly, the raft began to sway all around, with everyone swaying with it in order to stay on. They all did their best to keep the balance as the water began to make large waves that rocked the raft. It went off, as though taken into a storm. With the water level high enough, and the rocking beginning, the raft began to set sail.

"Alright, then by all means, let the Rift Raft competition…begin!" Mato screamed.

The gong went off, and the standoff contest was on.

The water swayed left and right, making waves that rock the wooden octagon all around. The whole thing began to move from its original position, carrying the other passengers on it. As the waves sprayed the sides of the large domain, many got startled – especially Millianna as she began to scowl across the area.

"Meo~~w!" the feline woman panicked as she got to her knees and fuddled in the center. "Kitty no like water!"

Chelia did what she could to hold her own sense of balance. She remained as passive as possible as she moved inwards towards Millianna. "This is really a challenge, but no hard feelings!" She approached the feline woman with a foot brought back to kick, and all Millianna did was look up shocked as she was off guard.

Out of the blue, Chelia's kick was intervened as another heel planted in her side. The girl thudded on the wooden platform as Jenny landed with a hand to her hip.

"So sorry about that, but no hard feelings." She smirked.

"Oh! What a sneaky display there! Jenny had struck the first blow!" Lola exclaimed.

Bacchus couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, well, looks like these chicks are getting my blood boiling already. Okay then…" he took an offensive stance and leaned forward. "Then hope you don't mind me cutting into the party!" Without a second thought, he went blitzing across the wood, making a dash right for Kurohebi. The gap was closed remarkably fast, and the latter felt time slow down as he eyed Bacchus.

Bacchus brought his arm back to strike, smirking rather maliciously. "Alright then, let's get to it! Hi~ya!" he thrust forward, but Kurohebi ducked at the last second. With Bacchus close, he elbowed the man's face, causing him to stumble back. Another wave rocked the entire platform once more, which caused Bacchus to lose balance and timber on his side.

"Oof!"

Managing to keep balance within the rocking, Kurohebi jumped right over Bacchus and went right for the fray.

Chelia was already back on her feet, but that last wave knocked her up pretty bad. "Oh man, that was harsh…" Her attention slowly trailed towards a black suited person as he blitzed in front of her, heading for Scythe. Instantly, she recognized the opportunity.

'Wait! Now's my chance!' the God Slayer spread her arms out and black whirlwinds started to swirl.

"Sky God's Boreas!"

A spiraling black whirlwind generated in her hands, where she reached out and unleashed a spiraling black funnel that raced right for Kurohebi and Scythe alike. 'This will kill two birds with only one stone! If this hits, they'll surely fall into the water!'

The attack went on, the winding sound catching Kurohebi's ears. He looked back to see the funnel racing towards him, his reaction being him hitting the platform and spreading. His body became flat as the whirlwind instead carried him like paper crazily around.

"What?!" Chelia gasped.

"Well that's innovation in a nutshell! Kurohebi successfully used Chelia's attack to his complete advantage by using Mimic Magic!" Lola exclaimed.

Yajima nodded. "Yep, looks like the fella's recognized Flattening Magic when he sees it."

With the whirlwind propelling him, Kurohebi spun with the whirlwind as it flowed. He undid the magic and he was at the base, shot forward at Scythe with black winds acting as a tailwind. He closed the gap with a fist reeled back, a large, wicked smile on his face shown.

Scythe did absolutely nothing as he instead held his own ground, waiting like a stone statue.

Kurohebi closed in mere meters to strike, but before contact, an explosion erupted between the two. The loud explosion caught whim of the other competitors and spectators as it took the small fraction of the wooden platform, including Kurohebi with it.

"Oh my! What was that?" Lola yelled, his voice crackling with shock.

The explosion subsided, and coming out of it was Kurohebi as he sailed towards the center. He fell on top of a stiff Millianna, causing both to stay down as in the smoke, a silhouette could be seen.

"So sorry about that intrusion." A factitious tone came from the voice. The clouds of smoke evaporated, revealing the sultry, but also deadly, Minerva with a hand to her hip. "I do believe that I call this meal, if that's suitable for you." She smirked.

The crowd cheered as Minerva had finally entered battle. They've been waiting for this moment, and they wouldn't miss it for the world, at least to how hysterical they sounded.

"And it looks like Minerva Orland had just intercepted that attack! Folks, it looks like it's a fight to the finish to see who can keep the top dog away from these rabbits!" Lola turned towards Yajima. "What do you think about all this?"

Yajima crossed his arms as he hummed. "Hm, if you ask me, there's quite a competition to talk about."

Lola looked down at the action once more. "Well that's putting it mildly there, but indeed you are right. Minerva's looking like she's making a border for herself and Scythe, with Kurohebi still down, and the little kitty struggling beneath is finally worming her way back to her feet!"

"Hiya!" Jenny rushed at a startled Chelia, but the younger girl leaned away and narrowly dodged a heel.

"Look at that now! Jenny's making sure Chelly-welly is on her toes, this model isn't a pushover as the Pegasus are all in for it today! And poor Bacchus looks like he's finally backup…" Lola's eyes went all over the platform, but his interests were caught by something amidst. "Huh?"

The audience and everyone were looking rather wondrous of what was having with one person in particular. Within the rocking, the sprays of water were shooting far up, making it all look like rain. It was sprinkling down, and through it, two swords were shimmering like gloss; one blood red and the other dark red. They were evenly spread as someone held onto them tight while on a knee. From the look on his face, he looked unamused.

Natsu's eyes were wide as he saw the culprit. "The heck?!"

"Is this a joke?" Gajeel questioned.

Erza said nothing as she and Laxus investigated the spectacle.

There he was, Craig Crius, on a knee and trying to keep his balance by anchoring himself with his swords. On one end, he looked unamused, but the other was…hard to tell why.

"Well ladies and gentlemen, it looks like Scythe isn't the only one who's stiff as stone out there." Lola evaluated. "It looks like Craig is enjoying the ride."

Craig kept a blank, unemotional face as he was rocked by the waves, but not at all budged. "Water…it just had to be water." He grumbled. "It could've been a sea of earthworms, or maybe chocolate pudding, but no~, it just had to be something that I can't seem to breathe in!" He rolled his eyes with a long sigh. "These people really know how to piss me off."

"Uh, what's Craig doing?" Lisanna worried.

Cana sighed. "Oh no."

"What? You know something?" Gildarts questioned.

Cana put a hand beneath her chin, staring out in a rather distasteful manner. "…" As fun as it would've been to tell them, she'd rather save Craig his own embarrassment and blame the soon-to-come realization that was dawning.

"Hold on…" Lucy's eyes slowly widened. "Don't tell me…"

"That he can't swim." Levy deduced.

For the second time now, Cana was annoyed. She pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned. "Good grief."

Gray chuckled. "Well, this will be something."

"Gray, darling, perhaps we should worry about how Craig will handle this round." Juvia advised. Clearly she was on a more sympathetic note, thankfully. Gray, however, didn't seem to be the case.

"Yeah, I got that…but you gotta admit, it is nice to see Craig in something like this."

Natsu laughed aloud. Thanks to his Dragon Slayer hearing, even the likes of Gajeel was pitying Craig. "The freak can't even swim?!" he almost fell over from his laughter.

Unlike Natsu, however, Gajeel sighed. "Well this bites." He grimaced.

"Can't say I saw this coming." Laxus said.

Wendy leaned over the balcony, giving Craig worried eyes. "You think he'll be okay?"

"Well, given the circumstances, it's hard for even myself to tell." Carla answered. "As long as Craig doesn't hit water of course."

"Yeah, if that happens." Gray snorted.

"What kind of a man doesn't know how to take water?" Elfman berated.

"The same one whose had to go through all of Erath Land and other places perhaps." Lisanna answered.

Mirajane put a hand to her own cheek. "Aw, I think it's adorable."

Gray smirked. "Yeah right. If Craig blows this, we'll be seeing him struggle luck a guppy." If Gray was being personal, he wanted to see Craig struggle for once. It would've been entertaining to say the least, but admitting that out loud would make him feel like the bad guy in this story.

"Guess we finally know Craig's little weakness." Natsu chimed slyly. "Boy I can't wait to rub it in his face after this."

Over his shoulder, a glaring redhead made a shiver go down the Dragon Slayer's spine. Instantly he silenced. "Natsu, you should try to take Craig's feelings into consideration."

"What? But c'mon, Erza! Don't you have anything against Craig after all the hating he's got on us?"

Erza gave Natsu another disapproving look. "And maybe you've forgot how sensitive Craig is. I know you two have your differences, but even he wouldn't want to see you on a vehicle just for his own twisted ambition."

"I'm with Titania here. Even you can't stomach what Craig's on right now." Gajeel retorted.

Natsu would've enjoyed to retort, but a wave crashed against the side of the wall, making him turn to see the rough waters move the humungous platform around. Just looking at it was starting to make him slightly dizzy. Shaking himself out of it, he instead looked at everyone else. "But…"

"Just save it." Laxus intervened. "If you really mean it, then we'll just sit by as he rips your throat out."

"You wouldn't…" Natsu trailed off when he saw how focused Laxus was on the battle. The Dragon Slayer – and maybe half of the guild for that matter – may indeed feel pity and slight taste of justification coming along, but there was also the other half who just pitied and worried. Someone like Natsu and Gray would love to see comeuppance for Craig of all people after all the stuff he's put them through, but he had to excuse himself for the time being. Sure it was wrong, but deep down, he did mean it as a joke…but at the same time, he wanted to make sure there was some point he could make to Craig about himself. There were ways to beat Craig after all and prove his worth.

Cana was hearing it all from just a few meters away. She could hear a few worried guild members on one side; the ones who actually did care about Craig's well-being. Then there was Natsu and Gray; the ones who want to see Craig make a fool of himself. Normally, she'd be joking about the matter and laughing about his lack of well swimming maneuvers, but with Craig, she wasn't that harsh. After all the hell and the tears spent, the nights she held him like a baby, she's teased him about a lot of things, but she never went that personal. She was aware and actually cared about Craig's sensitivity. But with Natsu and Gray and the half who were just disapproving,

The brunette gave a blank face as she looked out at Craig, while Gildarts just frowned at Craig in his own way.

The platform's one end struck a rock sticking out of the water. It went in another direction, causing the contestants on board to shift. Jenny shifted and almost lost footing, giving Chelia the chance to kick her in the face and send her stumbling away.

Millianna was able to balance herself once more, successful with legs apart and balance upright. "Okay then! Let's get this pumped up kitty some time to play!" She looked around. "Now…" She put her bare hand over her eyes to shield from the sun, looking at the competition for anyone open. On the one end, she was seeing Kurohebi blocked off by Minerva, while Scythe was doing nothing. And on the other, she saw Jenny and Chelia trying to dodge and parry. Then her eyes went towards another individual on the ground. "Oh! There's an opening!"

The waves rocked the huge bumpy platform, and Craig kept himself anchored. Even now, he could see water in the curved edging of the wood beneath. "Well this is just great. I just took a shower."

"Kitten Blast!"

A pink blast of Magic Power went shooting across the platform, directed right for Craig. When he looked up at the sound, it was too late as a projectile hit him square in the face. It wasn't strong enough to make him recoil, but it did shive his face towards the side.

"Oh yeah!" the feline woman pumped a fist.

As the steam around Craig's face sizzled out, his head was once again lifted. Millianna's cheery expression began to sour into one of fear as she took notice if how slowly, and how wily Craig's face turned to face her. At the sight of his glare, she paled.

"Uh…" she began to sweat bullets as her body stiffened up again. "N-nice…kitty?"

"Uh, I don't think that was wise of Millianna to do." Beth said.

Kagura sighed heavily. "Good grief. She needs to be more observing of which opponents are on her level."

Slowly, Craig arose and pulled both swords out of the wood. The rocking and swaying was startling many once again, but he was completely balanced, like it wasn't affecting him. He cracked his own neck in one direction, and the way he glared sent shivers up and down Millianna's petrified spine.

The frightened kitty found herself stumbling backwards as Craig took his Jurassic stature. One heavy yet passive step in front of the other, he looked like he was going to eat Millianna alive. The girl knew that she had to act fast, so she rushed her arms forward.

"Kitten Blast!"

One volley after another, Millianna unleashed a barrage of pink projectiles at Craig. However, Craig kept a straight face as he casually swung just his blood red sword. One simple swing after another, he didn't try as the attacks were either spliced, or even deflected into the water. Millianna only felt her insecurities grow as Craig drew closer.

"Nekosuku Tube!"

A pink magic seal appeared in front of the cat woman, which had several bright lights inside. Shooting from them were ranging from ten to maybe twelve orange tubes. They all snaked towards Craig, but he simply kept walking.

Within mere inches, Craig casually swiped his sword once more. He took one step in front of the other, prompting nothing less than the tubes to stop behind him when they should've constricted him. As he kept walking, they suddenly split, every last one of them. Once again, Millianna was startled.

"MEOW!"

Craig stopped only five feet in front, two swords in hand as he glared down the frightened mage. He looked unamused while Millianna was shaking in her boots. Her heart was racing as her opponent only glared at her, but his swords slowly turned to make her even more rapid in blood pressure.

As a second passed, she feared for the worst, but then she saw Craig holding his ground as he instead leered at her. "Huh…?" She didn't know why Craig didn't attack, but the answer she received was from a palm strike to the side of her face.

The feline mage went flying as Bacchus swooped in out of nowhere and took her spot. "Better watch your step there!"

The impact sent Millianna into the swaying water, a splash from her completely dispersed into the raging tide. Mermaid Heel grimaced as their hopes were all washed up, just like Millianna.

"Mermaid Heel is out, meaning that in this competition, they get 0 points!" Lola exclaimed. "It looks like we're just down to 7 competitors now!"

"Well, well…" Bacchus looked at Craig. "Looks like you showed up at just the right time."

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Craig got into another fighting stance as he sheathed his blades once more. His anchorage was lifted as he was now to fight bare-handed, like Bacchus.

The drunkard smirked at his nemesis. "No hard feelings about the other day, okay buddy?"

Craig narrowed his eyes. "Less talking, more hurting."

On the other end of the raft, Scythe didn't seem to care in the slightest. He kept his sights on Craig the whole time while Minerva was duking it out with an evasive Kurohebi. "Tch, well isn't he a team player." He scoffed.

As he hung back, Minerva continued her staring contest with Kurohebi. "I'm so sorry, but I'm afraid that this one is spoiled to me. If you'd like, you could take that one over there."

Kurohebi looked to where Minerva was pointing to, which just so happened to be a nonchalant Craig dodging a swift and eager Bacchus' palm strikes. He looked back at her, showing disinterest. "Sorry, but I feel more inclined to that one behind you."

Minerva's glare hardened. "Is that so? Then it seems we have reached an impasse. How should we settle this?"

His body craned about like a drunkard, yet nimble like Bacchus; Kurohebi dashed after Minerva with lightning fast speed, closing the gap swiftly. He hissed as he swooped in for her, but just as she dodged, Kurohebi didn't pivot to turn on her. Instead, much to her surprise, Kurohebi darted for Scythe with a large smirk.

"Woah! Kurohebi completely faked out Minerva! Instead of settling their rivalry for the prize, he's going straight for it!" Lola exclaimed.

"Is he nuts?!" Macao exclaimed.

"He's gonna go head on with that guy?!" Wakaba gasped.

Nobody tried to stop him, nor could they. He was already so close to Scythe that it didn't seem to matter. To the cloaked man with the huge 8-shaoed axe, his opponent was just drawing into a feeble charge.

Kurohebi drew a palm back. "Like I said, I'm taking shots at this one!"

Once again, another sphere of spatial energy came between him and his prey. With his momentum, Kurohebi was unable to pull his arm back in time as the palm struck the sphere. The blast wave enveloped him, causing another eruption of magical energy to stir up smoke.

As the ashes, bellowed, Kurohebi's body went flying out from the top of it. He grunted in pain as he processed the attack, but a shadow appeared in front that cut him off. When he looked up, Minerva smirked at him, before she roundhouse kicked him across the face.

The harsh blow sent Kurohebi downwards, his body heading right for the water. As he descended, he attempted the straight out, but several spherical spatial energies formed within his area.

"What was that you said?" Minerva reached down, detonating the magic. Explosions erupted in a massive array around Kurohebi, his screams of pain going hoarse within the magnitude.

Scythe looked at Minerva and Kurohebi's fight, but he turned away soon in disinterest.

Minerva landed on the wooden octagon, while Kurohebi's body fell head first into the water. She balanced herself as the next rock made it bump and stir. "This is all my territory, and those who trespass within my space, they shall soon see the error in their ways."

Alexei clutched his fists, his anger starting to rise. "Damnit. Sabertooth…"

Sting smirked. "Looks like Milady means business if she had done that."

"Certainly she didn't have to use her magic in midair like that, but I suppose we are going all out for a reason." Rufus said.

"And Minerva knocks Raven Tail into the water, leaving the team with but 1 mere point to spare this time." Lola announced. "Let's see how the rest of the competitors get out of this one."

Minerva smirked as she faced away from Scythe. "I hope you understand now that escaping me is inevitable. I have to admit, though. You have impressive Magic Power, as does your whole team for that matter, but let me ask you…" she looked over her shoulder. "Are you really willing to hold back against the likes of Sabertooth's finest?"

Unfortunately, her attention was disowned. Scythe was looking away and adverted towards Craig as he continued to nonchalantly evade Bacchus' attacks. He looked raptured in the battle; more specifically the contender in that fight. It only served to annoy Minerva.

Bacchus brought his arm out to palm strike Craig, but for the umpteenth time, Craig leaned towards his left. Bacchus fell forward and twisted, sending a sidekick that Craig ducked. With him lower in position, Craig swept his leg across, knocking Bacchus forward and over. With him over, Bacchus lost balance and slipped, and Craig stayed beneath on all fours for him to trip over.

"GAH!" Bacchus fell on his back first, tumbling aside and laying on his side. He tried to get up, but there was another rock in the wooden octagon, creating a large bump that pushed him overboard. He splashed loudly, receiving only 2 points for Quatro Cerberus.

Without having to do any kind of offense back, Craig kept his ground as he looked at the water where Bacchus fell in. He was very much familiar with fighting on ships and things that move, and in this instance, all he really had to do was just flow with it. Wildly punching and kicking would throw him off balance; a lesson much needed in his life.

With his balance returning, Craig stood on his two feet and looked leveled. All that lack of balance he had before, it was all gone, replaced by what could be described as his balance.

"Hey, no fair! Craig didn't even throw that many punches against the guy!" Natsu argued.

"Last I checked, wasn't the point to knock your opponent into the water?" Gajeel questioned.

"Yeah, but it only works if you get a few good knuckles to the face, right?"

Within Natsu's argument of approach, Erza sighed. "Idiot."

"At least he's playing it safe for now." Laxus said.

Jenny raised a heel and went for another kick at Chelia, but the Sky God used both arms to block. The attack made her bounce back a few feet inwards, but she came out unscathed. She showed readiness as her bodily wounds started to heal, much to Jenny's shock.

"Looks to me that they forgot that Chelia has the power to heal her injuries." Lyon smirked.

Yuka looked amused. "They don't have a chance, not while she's able to hold herself up."

"Yes, but let's not forget. This contest is all about balance, not durability." Jura explained. "As long as she stays aware of distractions, she should be alright."

Jenny adjusted as a wave crashed near the edge, rocking the raft once more. She had one heel ahead to keep her position, but knew this was her shot. With a smirk, she readied.

Chelia returned her own smirk. "Sorry, not gonna fly!" She got into a runner's position and began to generate black winds at her heels. They burst beneath her feet, sending her at Jenny with such velocity.

The model gasped in shock of the gap closed.

"Sky God's Dance!"

Chelia spiraled and had hands out in a manner similar to Natsu's Fire Dragon's Wing Attack. Black funnels spun around her as Jenny went soaring overhead. The whirlwinds even stirred her dress, causing her to hold down certain parts as she began to descend to the waters down below.

Chelia pumped her fists as she watched Jenny make a splash in the water, giving Blue Pegasus but a mere 3 points. "Alright!"

"And that goes to show how speed works to one's advantage." Yajima said. "It looks like there's only half as many now as before."

"That indeed, Mr. Yajima. Now, let's see who's to hit the waves next, shall we?" Lola watched the action, staying careful to keep his eyes out for the competitors.

"So it's down to Lamia Scale, Sabertooth, Fallen Prometheus, and us." Erza evaluated. "It looks like Craig will have his hands full handling them, especially with Minerva." She began to dawdle back to the contest she competed in with Gray yesterday. She remembered the magic she used and how she ended up falling behind. Even now, it messed with her some.

"Yeah, the chick's got some pretty weird spatial magic." Gajeel said. "But who knows?"

Cana stayed quiet and observing as she narrowed her eyes on the remaining competition.

The octagonal wooden raft sailed right over a wave, rocking the remaining competitors onboard. Once it landed, everyone lightly bounced.

Minerva adjusted her footing once more, looking over at Chelia with squinted vision. "Well now…seems that we have someone else to swat down." She shot a glance at Scythe next. "So tell me, are you going to be inclined as to accept my challenge, or should I protest your defiance and-!"

She was cut off when Scythe suddenly vanished from his spot. Minerva's heart hitched as he wasn't gone in even a blink's time. Slowly, time began to decrease as her eyes traced towards Chelia.

The magenta-haired female looked over towards Craig, seeing him look rather wayward in terms of how he seemed to be just holding onto his ground. 'That Fairy Tail guy isn't moving from his position. Doesn't he know that he's open?'

Craig unexpectedly shoots a glance towards Chelia, getting her attention.

'Alright, looks like I got him! Now-!'

With a flick of his thumb, Craig unsheathed his dark red sword. He blitzed towards Chelia in speeds that startled her. Suddenly, her attention went towards something sharp that was coming down on Craig. She was much too slow to react as Craig blitzed in front of her and swung his sword skyward.

CLANG!

A massive, echoing boom rattled and spliced the airspace surrounding Craig as he intercepted a downward chop of an 8-shaped axe. The sparks went wild, followed by an immense shockwave that spouted wind. Craig frowned and growled, while appearing out of the blue, Scythe met him, giving his own revealed frowning lips and wide teeth.

The shockwaves generated from their attack was a lot, and even enough for Chelia behind to be shot away. "Ah!" With a loud squeal, she fell into the water, but thankfully wasn't cleaved in half. Better washed up than leaving a red sea.

The shockwaves between Craig and Scythe ceased, and both tried to force the other away. However, they were balanced and cancelled out. The two slid backwards on the raft, until they met a halt at the exact same time and glared.

Blue, intense eyes met shrouded dark ones. Even in the shadows of the hood, Craig could see them crystal clearly. Being able to see in the dark had benefits, but the way they looked was very familiar; so familiar that it was scary.

Scythe's smirk widened. "Finally, some space."

Craig didn't share a smirk, but he was looking as annoyed. "Yeah, a little cramped for my liking."

"What a surprise attack right there!" Lola screamed. "It looks like Craig and Scythe's sudden clash has completely toppled Chelia out of the contest! What a show of force and speed indeed!"

"Now it looks to me that there's only 3 left." Yajima said.

"Yeah, and in those 3 is Milady." Lector smirked. "Those bozos don't know what's coming to them."

"Yeah, go, go, go!" Frosch happily bounced.

Orga scoffed as he relaxed his chin over his hand. "Heh, those guys really don't know what's coming in for them, do they?"

"Indeed." Rufus nodded. "This should be over rather quickly."

Craig and Scythe glared menacing daggers at the other, their individual sense of dominance starting to whelm them. Craig could feel the rise of Magic Power, one that even the likes of Jura in the balconies was beginning to feel palpitate his insides. The Wizard Saint showed an uneasy expression, as opposed to Makarov, who was starting to show shock from the change.

Gildarts leaned forward, his eyes widened. 'Wait, hold on…'

"Master…?" Mirajane swiftly turned to Makarov to see his startled body. He looked like he was shivering from the cold.

His eyes were shuddering from the pressure that was broiling. The level of Magic Power he was feeling was rising, even though not by much, it was making everyone in the stands go silent. Everyone.

"Do you feel that?" Lola asked, his voice hinting nervousness.

"Yes…" Yajima's eyes were wide open as a glare was cast upon the cloaked man.

It wasn't just them, but all the guild masters, their top ranked mages; they were all feeling it. Jiemma was glaring down at the rise of pulsating magic, and it was making his heart race, much to his own disbelief. He couldn't accept this. Veins appeared before his face, his very dim pupils showing.

Natsu, Erza, even the likes of Kagura were all glaring with uneased expressions. The weaker mages were feeling pale, and even the water level around Craig and Scythe was raging harder than before.

"I've been waiting for this chance since that night." Scythe commented. "For too long, we've been just huddling like a pack of yetis in the dead of winter, just waiting for a storm to pass over. Now…" he reached out, holding his gargantuan axe out. "Are you ready to do this, fool?!"

Craig's eyelids showed displeasure, yet his lips showed the opposite. "Funny, considering I'm not the one who's been hiding like hermits." His blade was adjusted. "Maybe hiding in a cave made you a little foggy."

Scythe tilted his head. "Uuuuuugh, it was a figurative expression, dunce!"

"Tell someone who cares." Craig readied.

The smirk on Scythe returned. "Well…if that's how it is…" he vanished, zooming after Craig. "Then let's skip to the good part!"

With another swing of his axe, he met Craig's sword once more. The two blades collided in the center, one arm for Craig as he used the other to anchor to the rocking wood. Once again, shockwaves bypassed both, chipping off skin of the wooden raft beneath them. The shockwaves had sparks as the metal grinded against the other relentlessly. The nearby rock had a fragment of it chipped off and fall into the water behind Craig.

Holding his ground, Craig smirked at Scythe. "…what do you know." He paused. "You took the words right out of my mouth!"

Both pulled their weapons away and swung again, making sparks flare between their attacks. Both competitors recoiled and went swiping again, parrying and generating another pulse of wind, but briefly. They continued to clash about, with Craig advancing and swiping against the hinges of the 8-shaped blade that swung remarkably fast. Each clash was but a force that ignited sparks, and Magic Power was in every one of the strikes by Scythe.

Scythe brought the blade on its axis and down overhead. Craig crouched and bunted using his dark red blade. It parried and held the blade where the two circles met. However, the sparks and shockwaves made the raft rock some more, so much that more chips beneath them dented in and flew about, and the waves crashed in all directions from the impress. The whole thing rocked up and down, and Craig half-grinned as a low growl went underneath his throat.

Scythe's smirk was evident through his ghastly hood. "Come on, don't tell me that's all you got."

Rather than speak in mere words, Craig's glare hardened to a territorial animal. His eyes narrowed, and he adjusted the axis of his blade. He completely slipped his blade and body pass the blade entirely out of pure momentum and closed the gap beneath him and Scythe.

"Smash!"

With his free hand, it clutched and went at Scythe. The bewildered cloaked man hurried and jumped backwards to dodge, giving space between him and Craig. Though he did back off, Craig advanced remarkably fast, his blade's tip outwards.

"Humming Pointer!"

The tip of the blood red sword went spearing at Scythe, who parried using the sharp edge of his odd-shaped axe. Both points completely clanged like metal bells, screeching through the air as they forced both contenders to recoil again.

Another wave rocked the whole raft, causing both to fall right into momentum. They fumbled down the one end, catching themselves on their heels and Scythe advancing at blinding speeds. The cloak slashed horizontally, which Craig ducked to dodge. He did it again, only Craig ducked once more. The third time was in a jab, but rather than duck, Craig jumped and landed on the flat part of the weapon. With a foothold, Craig landed a hard kick right into the hood, causing Scythe to recoil a single step back as he landed on a knee.

Craig looked up, frowning in dead seriousness as he saw that not even a hand had left the staff part of the weapon.

"Tch, the hell was that?" Scythe raised his weapon again. "Like that did anything against me!"

Craig dodged to the side as the axe came down, but the force on this swing was so potent that it went straight through the wooden material. A straight line of shockwaves went outwards, barreling from the raft to the nearest large rock. An open wave revealed an abyss-like path that lead to a stalagmite, which bisected completely upon impact.

Craig looked back at Scythe, his eyes showing shock at the man's brutal strength. "What power…"

The rest of the competitors and patrons were left without words. Even Kagura, a mastered swordswoman, was completely lost for words at the raw power she saw in that one swing.

Lola was standing up in his excitement, his fist clenching. "I-I can't believe this! A fraction of the raft was just sliced! And on top of that, it looks like the power unleashed reached so far that you could've seen the trench made in the water! What fun is this?!"

"Man, that was a pretty damned swing right there." Gildarts said.

"Yeah, no kidding." Cana said. 'I wonder of Craig could've blocked that.'

Looking at the open slit on the raft, Craig's attention went back towards Scythe as he grew rather weary. "Alright, now that pissed me off."

Scythe looked at him with his axe raised. "Is that so? Well then, welcome to my world."

Craig suddenly advanced with a sharp swing downwards, in which Scythe blocked by using the blade again. The two were met with a stalemate, and sparks made the looks in their eyes all the more rambunctious.

"HRAH!" Scythe swung his blade, forcing Craig to fly skyward from the excessive breach. The winds carried him rather high, almost to where he was over the water.

As he descended, the audience and everyone watched him fall with adrenaline. They saw him draw closer to the water, and Fairy Tail looked in utter shock. "Crap! He's gonna fall in!" Jet panicked.

However, something else was beneath Craig, something that he caught wind of…a stalagmite. As he was falling, he used quick thinking to prod the blade sideways. It pierced the rock, and Craig's momentum made him curl and swing mere inches over the water, leaving only the cuffs of his jacket around his waist to get waterlogged. He swung up and perched himself on the stalagmite. Everyone looked very ecstatic to have seen that display right there.

"Alright! Yeah!" Happy cheered.

"Phew, that scared me." Lisanna sighed.

"Could've fooled me." Evergreen huffed.

"Still, that was a pretty close one." Bickslow said. "The dude's gotta stay out of the water to stay in this, right?"

"True, but staying on a broken raft with someone like that can be…disturbing." Freed commented with a hesitant notion. "That Scythe character has tremendous power, and that word alone is an understatement even I cannot wrap me head around."

The waves crashed against the base of the stalagmite, forcing Craig to claw towards the top and perch on the rugged tip. He looked like a gargoyle hat watched the raft sway and move closer towards him. Onboard, Scythe wasn't budge din the slightest. "Not half-bad. I see you still have your little tricks up your sleeve."

Craig used a hand to hold him back as he pulled his sword out of the rock, all while keeping a sharp eye out for Scythe if he made any moves. "You mean literal or metaphorical?" he asked through the raging waters.

The axe was reached out towards Craig as the waves rocked. "I see you got a tongue still. You've become a comedian, haven't you?" He slowly started to move his arm down the staff towards the end, raising the axe up and around. "Then let's see you try and laugh me to death then!"

Before successful in making his swing that would've sliced clean through the waves and elements, explosions went off all around Scythe in thin air. One blow after another, the raft shuddered and waves rippled beneath. Craig was away enough to not at all be hindered. He held his position as the shockwaves pulsated, and the explosions continued on.

After several minutes of bombarding, the explosions finally settled, revealing Minerva with a sassy expression with her hand reached out. She chuckled as the bit of smoke settled around her.

"Woah! It looks like the lady cat herself doesn't want out of this fight apparently!" Lola announced. "Minerva unleashed what was a shocking surprise attack on Scythe, did that do anything?!"

Sting smirked. "That's Milady."

"This is too easy." Orga sneered. "That guy was complete unguarded."

On the bumpy raft, a wave of water made the whole thing tilt in another direction, but Minerva kept balance as she smirked at her foe in the smoke. "So sorry for the interruption. Hope you didn't forget about me."

The smoke cloud began to fade away, slowly showing the results of her attack. The first sign as the massive axe, which was hanging over someone's shoulder. To the utter shock rising for Minerva, she saw that the cloak around Scythe wasn't even tattered by the assault.

The Sabertooth woman's eyes dilated with extreme shock, while Scythe calmly looked over his shoulder to glance at her.

"What are you looking at?" he asked.

"A…am I seeing things?!" Lola exasperated. "Minerva's attack didn't even faze that cloaked mage!"

Sting's eyes were wide with shock. As his nerves crawl, a similar sensation went through the Sabertooth guild. They were dead silent as Minerva's bombardment wasn't even scratching him up.

Scythe shot a menacing glare, his pressure beginning to make Minerva slowly step back. The Fallen Prometheus member turned to face her entirely, having a deep frown plastered. "I asked, what are you looking at?" he repeated. "Well?"

Minerva's teeth gritted, but her frustration soon changed into a smirk. She composed herself as she kept balance and stood a ways away from her competitor. "My, that's quite the power you have there. Don't suppose you intend do you wrong against someone who's merely playing within ground rules." She chimed.

Out of disinterest, Scythe turned back towards Nic. "I don't have time for a wannabe weakling like you." He bluntly said.

Minerva's eyes narrowed. "Weakling?"

"Yeah, now get lost, I'm busy." He used the chain connecting the staff to the cloak and swung it overhead, gathering momentum. When ready, he flung it at Craig, who held his…foothold, and used a single dark red sword to swing like a hammer. He clashed with the incoming axe, making the airspace shudder and splice around the two. Both contenders were unwavering as they could see their intention on a common factor: bloodlust.

The waves rocked the raft once more, moving Scythe up and down. With his momentum gone, he withdrew the chain and yanked the axe and staff back into his claws. He didn't budge as he saw Craig ready to strike.

"I don't think so!" Minerva stretched out again, making the airspace around Scythe distort. Once again, explosions bombarded him in rapid spurts, these ones having larger energy pulses that even made chips beneath and water in the crevices rush away.

With the explosion as cover, Craig snarled as he sprung high up into the air. Sailing over the raft, he drew his blood red sword and held it like a dagger. With a grunt, he came down, while at the same time, Scythe went shooting up through the dissipating explosions. Even from a professional standpoint, he had no wounds or tattered bits on his cloak still.

"HRAH!" Scythe met Craig in midair, the downwards swords striking the 8-shaped weapon once more. Another shockwave bellowed out, slicing clean through some waves and the few rock formations nearby. The pieces diced up and fell into the water.

Both landed once more on the raft bellow, spread a few good feet apart from each other. With the distance, their growing adrenaline was starting to drive them forward. As they readied their weapons, Minerva saw the deep, animalistic look Craig gave, but she was having none of it.

Her hands glowed in the spatial orbs that were her magic. "Don't ignore me!" the Sabertooth woman bellowed as she reached out, the whole raft shaking upon her mincing wake as she unleashed another blast of spatial combustion. Another vicious explosion came between Craig and Scythe, raging like a tempest that extended shockwaves over the raft again.

Even in the explosion, two metals clashed in a show of sparks. The energy immediately dissipated as another blast of wind came from Craig and Scythe colliding in the center, both completely unfazed by the blockade, like it wasn't even there.

Minerva looked ahead, completely dumbfounded by the blockade sliced like a cake.

"My goodness." Lola gasped. "Could it be, but Craig and Scythe are so raptured in trying to attack one another, that Minerva's attacks aren't doing anything less than get swatted like flies! It's like the bad cat is clawing at the mighty apexes on this bumpy ride!"

"Man, Craig's really tearing it up out there." Gray remarked.

"I'll say." Lucy nodded. "But…isn't there something a little off here?"

"Like what?"

"Take a look at Craig." Levy pointed out, seeing him used both swords to swing viciously, in which Scythe parried with a simple swing. The blades crossed and the two were at another stalemate. "He seems…different."

Craig slashed both blades, forcing Scythe to back off and land several feet away. Without a second's hesitation, Craig dove in for the kill, howling like a dinosaur as he swung the left arm up, blocking the downwards axe. That left his right arm to swing in the same direction up, causing Scythe to get alarmed. At the last second, he pulled away from the sharp blade and Craig alike, the slash wave didn't miss its mark. A piece of the cloak on the left elbow was cut off, revealing a piece of what looked like shimmering gold.

Time slowed down as Craig saw the small graze he left on the gold elbow material, but the shock on Scythe's face also was subtle.

Both slid backwards, before coming to a halt, the waves again rocking the messed-up raft. The waves continued to splash against the sides, only serving to make the wooden raft all the more slippery. Still, they maintained footholds and glared daggers at one another.

"Say, you're pretty damn good with those swords." Scythe smirked.

Craig kept his position firm. "And your weapon isn't a slouch either."

"It's too bad. As much as you use those toothpicks, it sucks knowing that even now, I can't be cut by a mere mortal."

The word rang in Craig's ear like a bell. "Mortal?"

Scythe's smirk served to widen. "Come on, surely you're catching on." He moved the huge axe in front of him. "Does this any sort of bell? Or perhaps this?" He moved his elbow to reveal the gold that was beneath. It looked like armor almost. "You cut through this before, but last I checked, only a God Sword like Excalibur did that."

The name definitely rung a few bells in Craig. The look on his face said it all. When he pictured a shadow cast blade that was fairly thick with golden accents. He recalled how at one moment, the blade was slashed, and it literally cut rows of men in half, and recounted how it transformed into a ¾ shield. There was only one place where he knew he had used it; the realm in which he crossed that no man could've fathomed.

The startled look on Craig's face slowly turned t a glare, making Scythe all the more pleased. "So you caught on. Good."

Two were glaring daggers at one another, the waves nothing short of deaf to their liking. They were seeing eye to eye, as to where a spatial orb slowly formed between the two. Two lines of spatial energy went beaming, grabbing hold of both their waists; their faces still stone cold.

Slowly, the sphere expanded between, soon to reveal Minerva as she was smirking. Her feet landed between, her status clear as both Craig and Scythe held their positions.

"And it looks like Minerva has taken the bulls by their horns!" Lola exclaimed. "This feline just isn't going to be cut out of the fight! She's in it to keep Sabertooth's game on!"

Yajima stare quietly at the battle.

"Man, Milady sure looks anxious, isn't she?" Lector said in his shock.

"Yeah." Frosch nodded.

"Their both caught in her Territory. This should be easy for her." Rufus said. "…hopefully."

Minerva looked back and forth, between Craig and Scythe with a menacing glare. "You both are very troublesome indeed. Look any harder and you might just get me shaking in my heels." She made sure the embodiments around Craig and Scythe tightened. "You both make fine prey for-!"

Nonchalantly, both Craig and Scythe raised their blades at the same time. With one swing downwards by Craig, and a single side swing by Scythe, the spatial connection between both was severed, like scissors to lose wire. Once again, Minerva was found flabbergasted. Sabertooth was at another loss for words.

Lola was completely speechless, as was Yajima. All that could be heard were some "Oooh" and "aaah" about, but for the most part, it was deafening shock as Minerva was brushed off. Craig and Scythe were in another deadlock as they glared at Minerva this time, the Spatial Mage completely startled.

"Whoa! Did you see that?" Natsu questioned.

"They both cut right through her magic." Gajeel examined. "Man."

Craig brushed his blade off to the side as a wave came from the side, rocking the raft. Together, he and Scythe were like feral animals that were focused on the other, but at the same time, they both knew how Minerva was getting to be annoying. They raised their blades, aiming for her.

"Stay out of this, bitch!" they roared.

At the same time, Craig and Scythe swung one armed weapons down; Craig's blood red blade and Scythe's axe barreling right over the wood, both attacks going clean through towards Minerva so fats and so sharp that as she reacted using her magic, the slash waves tore right through, much to her immense terror.

'Impossible!'

She didn't have time to realize before the two slash waves collided centerfield beside her. She was unable to avoid the recoil as the sharp waves tore up her dress and skin. Blood flailed as her body was repulsed far out as the raft rocked deeply in the waves generated. Even the waves themselves were cut horizontally as the slashes repulsed their offenses all around. Waves were rocked away, and the nearby stalagmites were all decimated with no less than a swipe in their pointed bits.

Everyone watched in deep and horrified disbelief as the wounded Minerva was shot backwards into a stalagmite nearby. She, as well as the many all about, were plunged into water, only serving 6 points for Sabertooth. The guild mentioned had looks on their faces that looked as though they had seen ghosts, because what happened defied what they had envision.

What was to be their victory in getting Fallen Prometheus' attention was only but an illusion. The axe carrier found a more interesting target when it came to the psychologically corrupted Craig. The waves wobbled, as did their conscience.

"T0this is complete warped! Minerva has been taken out by both of them at the same time!" Lola shouted. "And…and…"

Both Craig and Scythe landed on opposite side of the raft – what was left of it of course. Their attack completely spread all throughout the raft and area. Not only was it sliced in complete half, but into fragments, almost like a pizza. The individual slices were floating atop the water, with Craig and Scythe on the longer boards still intact.

"…the raft is…just gone!" Lola finished.

Natsu and Gajeel gawked over the balcony, while Erza and Laxus were completely lost for words. Gildarts, Makarov, even an unnerved Jura were all staring down at the scene with utter disbelief rising up. Every person watching, lacrima-vision or up in the stands, not a single person was screaming out of joy and amusement.

Mato was nervously spectating the fight. "Uhhh, t-that wood was supposed to be coated with magic repellent to keep it from stuff like that." He mumbled. "How…?"

Cana glared down at Craig, seeing a look as serious as the ones she's seen in the past; the kind that a predator gives to competition before destroying. Just like Bacchus, but this wicked demeanor she was feeling, it was unsettling; like she knew this was a match to the death.

"This battle is going overboard!" Beth worried.

"I'll say." Risley said.

Kagura's eyes were shooting daggers, deep glares as her folded arms were holding the sleeves that much tighter.

The water swayed about violently, carrying chunks of the wood to where they were beginning to separate and drift within the waves. However, Craig and Scythe both glared harshly at the other, looking rather…focused.

The cloaked man adjusted his hold on his weapon. "Say, is that all you got?"

Craig held up both his swords, poised and ready to strike.

Scythe's eyes narrowed beneath his hood, his anger beginning to boil. The grip he had tightened. "Guess not then." The smirk on his face returned. "Alright, then prepare to die, you fool!" He lunged at Craig, who in turn rushed towards the end of the sliced plank and jumped up like it were a diving board.

For the umpteenth time, it was immeasurable magic in a blade against two different red swords. They crossed and clashed in midair, the sparks all around again distributing shockwaves. They all surged and the water beneath again decompressed. Ripples of waves went everywhere, but the momentum in which both attackers dealt was more directed onto Craig.

Scythe's swing went through, sending Craig below. However, he landed in a crouched position on a small piece of severed wood. He kept balance as it swayed front and back continuously.

Up overhead, Scythe reached down at Craig and fired his weapon once more. The huge staff went slipping through the fingertips as it dove down for Craig. Looking up, Craig saw the attack and crossed both his blades once more. The axe struck the swords, generating a powerful spark between the two, but not one powerful enough to push anything away. Craig held the stronghold, and Scythe pulled back on the chain to reel it in again upon landing on another small island.

Evergreen inspected the battle, her eyes narrowing. "Something's wrong here."

"Yeah, I see it, too." Bickslow said.

"What?" Happy questioned. "What do you mean?"

"Take a closer look." Freed said. Happy followed his gaze, looking down as Craig and Scythe jumped on the longboard that floated between them. They went charging right for the other with blades ready to cross again. "That isn't face of someone who is trying to knock your opponent in the water. This is something much more…in depth."

"You mean they're both on instinct?" Laki gasped.

"No, I'm saying that they both are looking to be completely deprived of the competition. The objective for both contestants was to knock the other in the water, am I wrong?"

"Oui, that is correct." Reedus said.

Wendy looked out with a worried expression. "Really? Because it looks like they're both barely hanging on."

"Maybe, but to anyone's good eye, it looks obvious to me what their intentions are." Carla said.

With another swing at Craig from the side, Scythe was intercepted when Craig used his blood red sword in one arm to block. The opening for Craig was visible as day, and she shifted hi footing to get his right foot in front. There, he jabbed forward like before, only for his fie to lean towards the side and miss. He recoiled back, only to strike again, but Scythe used his spare hand to reach and snag the blade.

It was now that both contestants were at a stalemate, completely.

The intensity in the air served to thicken, leaving everyone watching completely bewildered. Not many words were spoken expect by Lola, who was at a loss for even the right words. "This…this fight is completely off the rails, folks! Forget about the other falling in, but from these two clashing, just what kind of mad game is this?!"

"Are they trying to kill the other out there?" Jenny exclaimed.

"It's hard to tell, but it looks that way." Ren said.

"Men…"

In the stalemate, Scythe was doing his best to push Craig's sword back, while Craig was doing the same with the axe. Both were pushing the other's force away, but no one stopped, nor did they get close.

"You're pretty strong." Scythe glared. "And this blade…it's pretty sharp."

Craig pushed harder on both end. "Sharper than your tongue, that's for sure!"

Scythe was almost repulsed by the force, but the suppose being pushed back. The cloak he had shifted as Magic Power was constantly seeping, leaving a booming force that leaves even the contestants to be startled. It only did so much to them, but to Craig, it was nothing more than a gravity to his ears.

"Now what are you gonna do?" Scythe challenged.

Craig knew he had no other choice. He brought a foot behind, getting the heel right underneath a golden sheath. Scythe's eyes followed his foot, as did Kagura.

"This…"

Craig kicked the golden sheath right out of place and up into the air above. All eyes followed the golden stick as it unlocked in midair at the highest kinetic energy. The two ends unfolded as it went twirling down onto Craig. To everyone's complete shock, the mutation craned his head and perfectly time the bite that caught the golden middle. He turned his head in the blink of an eye, unleashing a massive slash across that deflected the axe back.

Recoiling from the shock, Scythe was rendered wide-eyed in utter surprise over the surprise attack Craig unleashed. To everyone else, it was a complete game changer.

Kagura's eyes widened at the sight.

"What a shocker! Craig suddenly pulled out another sword he's been hiding!" Lola yelled. "And it looks like since it has nowhere to go, it's settling in those treacherous jaws of his!"

"A multi-bladed technique; that's pretty rare." Yajima commented.

"Wait, is that like four swords right there or three?" Lector stammered as he pointed at Craig.

"It doesn't matter now, I suppose." Rufus said. "I just recalled that there was something we overlooked."

At the note, Lola announced once more. "And the 5-minute interval between these competitors is up, but they are seriously going at it still!"

With a maniacal shout, Scythe closed the gap and jabbed, only for Craig to block with the mouth blade. Below, he swung up to deflect the back skyward and closed the gap for an elbow strike to the chest. Even there, armor was felt beneath the cloak. The brute force made Scythe lurch, but otherwise didn't fall back.

Still below, Craig balled a fist.

"Soaring Pain!"

He went for a complete uppercut that got Scythe square in his chin. The impact was brutal, and it would've sent a normal man flying, but all it really did was make Scythe stumble back, closing in on the edge. Once catching his breath, the cloaked being raised his axe and again jabbed. Craig only swung downwards with a sharp but harsh breath, his power and spirit bound to drive the blade to intercept. Once again, Scythe found his blade to be repulsed. 'This guy…' he leaped to another piece of wood that was nearby. 'He's this strong?'

Craig took a deep breath and looked like he was calming down. When his eyes opened, he raised his hand blades and moved them back and forth and about in a few circles to gather chi. With large wheel-like strikes, the blades going up and making complete grazes in the water. The chi waves traveled like invisible crescents that ran so deep that everyone could've sworn the stadium shuddered as its ground beneath the water was torn into as well. The two open trenches went for Scythe, but out of shock, he jumped far enough to the side to dodge. He watched in horror as the trenched=s connected and erupted a fountain of water that diced into actual vapor.

'Where is that strength coming from?!'

He landed on another piece of the wood, and looking at Craig again, the 18-year-old slowly retracted his blades from the water's edge, where the liquid seeped into the deep earthly trenches created. His wooden plank started to shift inwards, turning him to face Scythe once more. The glare given was as heavy as lead. Craig meant business.

He knew what had to be done to defeat him for good. His eyes twitched beneath his hood, his temper starting to escalate. 'There's no way…that this punk…is stronger than before!' The enraged man couldn't take it. He was having patience wear thin as he spread his legs out. Once more, his position and change in pressure was what made everyone's hearts skip beats.

Craig's eyes sharpened as he watched the posture and crouch Scythe took.

"Alright, now my patience is running thin!" he sniped. "You wanna die so badly?! Then bring it!" For some odd reason, there was another wave of invisible pressure coming from Scythe. It sounded very much like thunder, and the water all around him was shifting in correspondence. The waves were rising up as the plank he was on settled, while Craig kept a straight face as his heart palpitated. The cloak around Scythe was shifting while some dark yellow kind of energy was pouring out. The power was so thick that the entire colosseum was beginning to literally shudder with a soft magnitude.

For all those mages that were high leveled, Gildarts and the many who were elderly, the energy spiked beyond what they felt those brief times during the usual matches. The Magic Power was making even the likes of Sting, Jiemma, and all of Sabertooth paralyzed. Lucy and many other mages were completely shocked to where some were nervously sweating. Never in their wildest dreams were they able to sense such prestige magic that it would be making the area shudder.

"Does everyone…feel that?" Lola's microphone had brief static from pressure overload.

Yajima was completely wide-eyed, arms folded as he was incapable of speech.

The aura around Scythe was so thick, and so very potent that it looked like his cloak was going to come off any moment. The energy between Craig and Scythe was so heavy that it was actually making water continue to slowly sink into the trenches Craig made, yet the planks weren't moving, as though gravity wasn't binding them to laws.

The concentration of yellow energy was beginning to swirl around Scythe's weapon. The 8-shaped axe was pressurizing so much force that it was beginning to make even more water nearby depress.

Despite the heavy pressure, the palpitating force was something Craig knew all too well. He's fought people with such Magic Power before, a few times in fact, and after all that time, he's grown to do the one thing he knew best: defy.

"I'm ending this here and now." Scythe raised his blade. "Get ready."

Craig took a deep breath and began to envision the chi. With his eyes open this time, envisioning the chi was coming clearly. He started to slowly move his rams and swords about, gathering the chi and converging every fragment into his swords.

As the air palpitated, Ivan was sensing all the magic being felt. His smirk was so wide that it was making him all too happy.

"This isn't good." Gates explained. "He's going to blow our cover."

"You idiot! What are you doing?!" Monarch shouted.

"How…unfortunate." Navice muttered.

Shinigami was the only to have kept quiet, but his curious grin was instead a frown. He didn't seem at all amused, but nevertheless intrigued.

The wooden pieces were starting to glisten in the water. The force generated by Scythe was starting to rise up as the dark yellow around his blade was complete. He smirked. "Her I come!" He leaped right for Craig.

The defendant was ready. With the chi and deep breathing, he felt as light as a feather as he sprung up towards Scythe. Both participants were in equal terms of distance and velocity, where the water around the axe wielder was separating and sundering straight down.

Both contestant pulled back their blades and roared.

"DDIIIIEE!"

"HRRAAAAH!"

The two attacks by both competitors connected. It all happened so fast and so forcefully that no one even had time to blink. Everything was enveloped in a massive explosion of yellow and water. It was erupted like a massive volcano that was equal to the size of the entire stadium. Everyone within the stadium covered up as shockwaves blistered pass them, but those too close were sprayed by water. Otherwise, from the ground up, dust, yellow, and liquid went so high up that it seemed almost endless. It wasn't a tower, nor was it a pillar, but a disaster of an eruption. All watched as the lacrima cameras were caught in the blast wave, obliterated within the tons of pressure. The walls to the stadium's perimeter were partially cracked, and the contestants were all paralyzed under sheer disbelief.

The massive cloud finally reached its peak, where almost two-hundred feet up from the pressure exerted, the water in the air and dust evaporated. The yellow energy resonating dissipated into nothing, just as the droplets turned to thin needles that went down onto the battlefield. Everyone looked in utter and sheer shock as all the energy unleashed dissipated. It was wiped out completely, replaced by one word – horror.

As rain fell, even Cana was in deep shock.

The stadium…was no longer a stadium. The entire ground was torn into several deep trenches that poured in all the water. The raft pieces were completely obliterated and left shattered ground to tread. In the midst of it all, everyone saw the two monsters' blades clashing still.

Craig and Scythe's heads connected in a powerful headbutt, the two glaring such harsh daggers that it was impossible to make them stop. Their blades were grinding bitterly over their heads as Craig still had the mouth blade while Scythe was blocking the assault. Even to his shock, Craig held on, but it looked like it did some damage.

The cloak around Scythe was a little tattered, and there was some blood on the sides of Craig's cheeks. His own shirt was torn up, but not enough to completely deduce the scars and tattoos he's ascertained.

"Im…possible…" Jura was completely overwhelmed by all the power that flowed.

Kagura was watching the two as it was a fight to the death. Even she couldn't speak.

"Whoa…" Sting murmured.

All the Exceeds, and all the people, they showed deep, frightening shock as the two, even though they had blasted the other full on, and all the water was evaporated, they were still trying to rip the other apart. Whatever kind of game this was, it was treacherous.

"The…the…THE WATER IS ALL GONE!" Lola panicked. "Craig and Scythe's attacks completely tore the stadium apart! The water drowned itself, leaving the two to continue their grim duel!"

Craig and Scythe finally recoiled, quick enough to recover and strike at the other with sheer swings. Scythe was roaring maniacally as that same Magic Power level shifted his cloak, but Craig didn't budge from the intense levels.

With an animalistic shout from the other, one blade collided with another, colliding in such astonishing force that everyone could've seen the shockwave repulse both Craig and Scythe back. The two slid back several feet in the wet dirt to a standstill. Finally broken apart, their breaths were labored as their glares were definite signs that the other was not done yet, not by a long shot.

Craig growled loudly as he kept his neck low. His throat vibrated loudly that the growls went through Scythe's system. The unknown creature's dissipated yellow energy still sparked within the glowing eyes. The sclera were like gold daggers.

In an effort to stop the bloodbath, Mato rushed between the two. "O-okay you guys! That's enough! The contest is over!" he shouted. "It's a draw! Enough!"

Craig and Scythe continued to glare at one another, catching breaths until they were back up to speed. They still looked like they were going to rip the other's throats out, mostly because theyw ere. Mato was sure he was going to have to call in officials, but the contest was still over, and Craig conceded to that.

With a huff, Craig backed off and held his ground. He still had swords in hand, but they were held off to the side. He swayed rather calmly.

Scythe was glaring daggers as his fists balled. "Damn you…!" Before he could attempt to advance, the rest of Fallen Prometheus suddenly appeared before him, cutting him off from his path to Craig.

Craig gave no audible sound, his glare speaking the volume of his own resolve. He glared down all of Fallen Prometheus right everyone's eyes, the five cloaked monstrosities staring solemnly at Craig as he dared to defy them.

The intensity in the air was as electric as could get. The energy was Scythe gave off was startling enough, but the whole guild gathered was cutting off any excitement that everyone would've wished for. Instead of entertainment, it looked like they were seeing a post-warzone.

"Craig…" Cana murmured.

"Damnit! I'm not through yet!" Scythe grabbed his staff and readied to fight. "I can still do this, c'mon!"

"That is enough." Gates' deep voice rang bells, deep enough to stop Scythe's advances.

"But-"

"Relax. We understand, but please try to contain yourself." Shinigami pointed out. "Look at what you've done." His head turned to point out the cracks in the walls, and the trenches that sapped the water dry. They ran so deep that there wasn't even a bottom.

"It's best that you withdraw…for now at least." He finished.

Scythe wanted to protest and finish the job. He wanted to just rip off his cloak and unleash all that power he was starting to loosen. But he began to quell, and the magic receded around his body to what low levels everyone was able to stomach. His angry glare was directed towards Craig, seeing him withdraw all his blades as his sign of withdrawal. Even he knew the score would be settled at another time.

Scythe pointed his axe at Craig. "This isn't over, ya hear me?!" he barked.

Craig's eyes narrowed at the cloaked people, but his calmed expression was towards his opponent. "…yeah." He looked towards the rest of Fallen Prometheus as they in turn looked at him once more. He took the time to take in all the features that were at the very least noticeable. From his standpoint, he saw the odd armor Shinigami wore, the tips of what looked like butterfly wings, the tattered scarf, the massive bulbous dome beneath a dark cloak, and through it all, what Scythe said before caught another notion.

"Does this any sort of bell? Or perhaps this?" He moved his elbow to reveal the gold that was beneath. It looked like armor almost. "You cut through this before, but last I checked, only a God Sword like Excalibur did that."

In silence, Craig observed, while Fallen Prometheus' leader gave a smirk back at Craig. "Our apologies. We didn't intend to get so hasty back there."

"We'll try and be more considerate when it comes to collateral damage." Navice said.

Craig's eyes went from the guild to everyone around. For the most part, other than shaken up, the audience looked to be in one piece. That's all that mattered. He looked back at them with a subtle nod of integrity. "Fine, but only because no one else suffered because of this."

Shinigami grinned. "Rest assured, Craig Crius, we'll be much more considerate of the population." He assured. "Besides, this score can't be settled with innocence being hurt…right?"

For the briefest of moments, Craig saw the smirk of Shinigami's darken. Little was he aware, or caring, Ivan and Jiemma were glaring at Fallen Prometheus like he was.

"Eh, okay then! Here's what we're gonna do!" Mato faced the startled crowd. "While they didn't exactly fall into the water, let's consider this one a draw, and give each of them 10 points! That means Fallen Prometheus can walk away with its 57 points, and Fairy Tail can get its 36 points! That's all there is to it!"

While it was bothersome to the losers that Fairy Tail got a freebee in this one, it wasn't in their lace to say; after all, after something like that, they couldn't exactly argue. Minerva was standing among the defeated competitors, her body having some cuts, and her head was throbbing, but compared nothing to her arrogance being ignored by Fallen Prometheus.

Her glare went towards Craig as he turned his back towards them. Her fists balled tightly in rising stress.

Jura had a nervous expression on his face through the whole ordeal. "That power…"

Gildarts's eyes narrowed. "Just what kind of messed up people did Craig get involved with now?"

"Whoever they were, they don't seem very friendly." Gray answered.

"That was frightening." Wendy admitted.

"Gratifying indeed. It looked like Fallen Prometheus was really wanting to murder him in that contest."

Cana was dead silent as she thought back to the threat Scythe made the other night. She would've believed it was a bluff, but judging from the actions she saw, she knew Craig was right. If somebody wanted you dead, they'd do it rather than tell you. And he proved it. 'Probably because they really were trying to murder him.'

Makarov gave the whole scene a very discerning look. The battle itself was leaving him staggering with little to say, he never felt so nervous before in his life. Whatever power flared, he knew it was disastrous. 'To think that even one mage has that kind of power.' His attention went to the retreating guild. 'And if there's four more, what if they're all holding back? This is most treacherous indeed. Just who are they?'

Having recovered from shock, Natsu continued to stare out at the disaster zone. "What was that out there…?" his questions were on told as an armored hand was put on his shoulder. He turned around to look at Erza. "Erza?"

"This causes an alarm indeed. We'll think this in another way, but for now, let's just meet up with Craig, alright?" she insisted with a serious face, but even with his lack of intelligence, even Natsu could've seen clear as day.

"Well that gave me heartburn." Gajeel said.

"That makes two of us." Laxus admitted.

Walking back to the balcony, all of Fallen Prometheus was looking ahead with straight faces. Not a single one looked back at Craig as he did the same. They got meters apart to stay out of range of the other's thoughts.

"I could've finished him there, you know." Scythe growled.

"There's a time and place for all that." Navice said. "There were too many obstacles this time around, certainly you know how taxing it is to deal with a crowd."

"There's no doubt in my mind, he has gotten much stronger." Gates evaluated.

"That indeed." Shinigami nodded. "Strong enough to stand against even one of us without Excalibur. Still, that's not without saying that he stalled when you were using only half your strength, correct?"

Scythe looked away, scoffing at the logic. "Maybe…" his smirk began to return. "But you know, the prick's gotten much feistier. This'll be a lot more entertaining than I thought."

Monarch sighed. "I guess we just kick back as usual."

"Admittedly so." Gates answered.

"Well, while the field is being repaired, we'll be taking a short intermission for the time being, folks." Lola said, addressing the crowd to move along. "Until the next segment, have a look at these updates scores."

Fallen Prometheus – 57

Sabertooth – 41

Fairy Tail – 36

Raven Tail - 30

Lamia Scale - 28

Mermaid Heel – 27

Blue Pegasus – 26

Quatro Cerberus - 13

"My, that's some impressive climb Fairy Tail has gotten." Yajima nodded.

"A jump to 3rd place does make for a good impression, but Sabertooth still is ahead by 5 points, but still way above the sky, h'oh boy, the guild that gave us quite the eye popper, Fallen Prometheus."

Quatro Cerberus was completely out of it. From the looks of it, they had little to no way of doubling their point to get out of last place. As Bacchus bumped his own back, his other teammates grimaced at how even Blue Pegasus was ahead of them. Kagura's glare was still fixed on Craig and those blades he used. The way he used them, and how ravenous of a style it was, it was distressing to say the least. Jura's eyes went towards Craig as well, and a majority of Sabertooth looked between Fallen Prometheus and Craig as they disappeared into the tunnels.

As blood went down his cheek, Craig's gaze was fixed forward. He had a serious look on his face, one that spelled distress and anticipation all the same. He thought back to those guys and the weapon Scythe used. Only the way he imagined, it didn't look like an 8. It looked more like a 4 with prongs. And the armor for that moment, he felt a similar, exotic sensation when he sliced through that anti-magic cloak. There weren't any doubts in his mind now.

'So they escaped the fall of Valhala after all. I didn't think they'd even consider getting back after Ragnarok.' His head sunk as he continued his fastened pace into the darkness. 'This is bad. This is very, very bad.'

---

Well almost 21K, but Happy Holidays to those who celebrated Christmas and soon-to-come New Years! Thought I would wrap up this year with a nice cliffhanger ion the story that's still kicking! So from last I checked, I roughly got about the rest of A Contender's Bonds done, which is 56 chapters – as long as this is currently – plus 5 chapters in From Depths We Rise, my new Bakugan fanfic, and plus 25 chapters on this story, plus my one-shot of Looney Tunes and Fairy Tail, and lastly 9 chapters of Kalos Vacation Training. So in total this entire 2017, I have made 96 chapters in total. Compared to last year – 120 – I downgraded due to length. Still, it was good considering my lengths per chapter have skyrocketed.

2015 was 96, 2016 was 120, and this year was 96 again. What are the odds? As of January 3rd, it'll be my 3 year anniversary joining FanFiction, and I ma so blessed to have made these 3 years so worth it! I've made stories that left impacts on so many people, and I can't be anymore grateful to share my imagination and combative writing with all of you! I hope you guys continue to support me all the way towards the end!

So on that note, I will do my best as ever and pray to have this story driving all the way through January. But until then, I hope to see you all in 2018!