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.

59. The Blind Leading the Blind

The entire Fairy Tail guild was left completely speechless, for as they looked up at the monitors of the Domus Flau colosseum, they were witnessing something that never crossed them, nor anyone for that matter. They were so confident before, but now it was like everything froze, including their chances for victory.

"No way…" Lisanna muttered. "You mean we're only down to one?"

"That's seriously messed up." Elfman said.

"Oh my." Mirajane gasped.

Lucy glanced up with shock. "Wait, you mean we're just down to one guy?!"

"Craig…" Wendy murmured.

Up on the monitor, the folk could see Craig looking left and right nonchalantly, his serious gaze having looking either hide shock…or indifference. "I am at a total loss here, ladies and gentlemen. It seems that Fairy Tail's team has somehow been incapacitated in one fell swoop by something completely off the radar. We can't even use our monitors to track from whom used that even; it's as if its ID is unknown!"

"An attack from out of nowhere?" Happy repeated.

"Well that certainly hampers our operations." Carla stated.

Pantherlily crossed both arms. "It does. And what makes this more disturbing was that it must've had a selective view in mind."

"Care to explain?" Carla said.

Pantherlily pointed towards the screen. "Take a look at the screen." Happy and Carla turned as told. "This magic didn't just teleport and incapacitate all of our teammates, but rather it singled out Craig. I'm just throwing guesses, but whatever has done this, they didn't want anyone standing in their way."

"Well…I can't say that isn't wrong to say." Carla looked down at the stadium where the others were trapped like caged mice. She saw Natsu recoiling with every punch he threw, only to fall onto his back. "This isn't by coincidence. It can't be."

"Sounds like sabotage if you ask me." Bickslow said, sending a glare up at the monitor.

"The gaud of whoever did this. They should know better than to sucker punch Laxus of all people." Evergreen huffed.

Freed was shaking in place, his fists balled and a vein popping out of the backhand. "This farce…it's unspeakable!" he snapped loudly. "The nerve o even thinking of pulling our great Laxus from down beneath his very own feet is unforgiveable! I swear, this will not go unpunished!"

Bickslow looked towards him with a sweatdrop expression. "Uh, right…" he looked towards the caged group. "But I don't think those guys will be getting out unless we find the source."

"And how are we supposed to do that? We don't even know who or where that came from." Evergreen reminded.

"It doesn't matter now." The voice got the Thunder God Tribe's attention, getting them to look towards Master Makarov in wonder. "I'm afraid this is where we lie in wait until we get to the bottom of this."

Romeo appeared in shock. "Then what do we do? We can't just sit around like this forever! Craig's out there all by himself! You can't really expect him to win this whole thing without Natsu and the others, can you?"

"I don't know about that." Gildarts rebuffed. "The kid's more than just some punk wannabe, that's for sure."

Cana looked on with everyone, crossing her arms with a quizzical brow. "This can't be coincidence. Someone's got a target out for him, and it looks like they're singling out our best chances from square one." However true it was, Cana had already a pretty good idea of who or what did this. She looked up towards Craig's vision to see him stare in one direction, her purplish eyes showing signs of worrying.

"Then…what now?" Macao asked in a grimaced tone.

"Guess we just gotta pin all our hopes on that guy…for now." Wakaba said.

"That doesn't sound too promising." Bisca argued.

"Yeah, I just hope we hold on long enough." Alzack hoped.

---

Craig looked left and right with a mild look on his face. It wasn't easy to tell if he was looking satisfied or not, but at the same time, he looked like he wasn't surprised in the slightest. He craned his head up and took in a deep breath. "Why's this keep happening to me?" he sighed angrily. "I swear, these dipshits just keep getting more and more persistent."

His attention drew towards a monitor that focused on another part of the city. There, he was seeing the other guild members already on the move. Toby and Yuka were in a group with each other, while Beth was running off somewhere. In another monitor, it showed a bird's eye view of Chelia hurrying down another segment of the city.

He turned away from the screen, but his eyes were still glued on it. He knew this wasn't going to end well, but despite knowing that, he still wasn't going to let all their hopes and dreams get crushed. "Guess I don't have a choice then. Better get going while the going's good."

With that, he turned towards a random back alley that happened to be close by. He looked around once more to see if he was in the clear; up, down, left, right. Once he felt nothing, his glare hardened and reached for one of his swords. He crouched and slowly vanished into the alleyway.

---

In another part of Crocus, Minerva was looking up towards the lacrima-vision to see that Craig had finally vanished into the alleyways. Despite the surprise from before, her luscious smirk returned to her face. "Well, well, what an interesting turn of events." Her face darkened with a mischievous narrowing gaze. "How appropriately…delightful. Rufus, send word to the others; we'll be having a slight change in operations…"

"Of course, Milady." She heard his voice in a telepathic link, leaving her to chuckle in superiority.

---

In another part of the competition, Yuka and Toby were making way carefully through the streets. They looked around to see if anyone was following them, but saw no sign. "Aroof! I think we're clear!" Toby barked.

"Well we better, if not your loud shrieks will send a red flag in the air." Yuka deadpanned.

"I DO NOT BARK!"

A figure suddenly dropped from behind, coming down swiftly behind them. He crashed with a magnitude that made Toby and Yuka jump and turn around, seeing the familiar figure hunched over and slouching up.

"GAH! B-Bacchus?!" Toby exclaimed.

The drunkard adjusted his bodily position and gave them a leering look. "Well look who we have here? A couple of noobs pressing on like it's lala land." He spread his legs apart. "Alrighty, time to get my soul sha-!"

A sudden fist came down from directly above, the harsh impact sending Bacchus to the ground face first in a forceful blow. A crater the size of his head deepened in the ground, as time slowed down to reveal the bewildered faces of Toby and Yuka. They gawked in sheer disbelief as they saw an unemotional Sting down-fisting Bacchus in one blow.

"W-whoa! What a massive twist of events! The other teams are already engaging!" Lola's voice echoed throughout the speakers of the Crocus domain. "While Craig was cut off from the team for reasons apparent. Sting shot the first blow, downing Bacchus and earning Sabertooth 5 points, tying them with Fairy Tail, or rather Craig, with 46 points!"

Sting arose from Bacchus' body. He shot intense glares at Yuka and Toby, forcing them on their guard.

"Gngh…gwah…YOU WANNA GO NOW, PUNK?!" Toby bared his super long green nails.

Yuka readied his magic as well. "It's two against one. We'll have an advantage as long as we-"

A figure glinted from behind, zipping at lightning fast movements. Yuka and Toby's eyes suddenly widened as they felt a wind pass them, and for some reason, their bodies wouldn't move. In a blur reappearing, Kagura crouched down and had eyes closed, looking away as both contenders caught up to the shock and fell over, thudding in limp defeat.

"And now Kagura has struck in a surprising twist! That gives Mermaid Heel 2 points to add to their roster!"

In another part of the city, Millianna looked up at a monitor showing Kagura with admiration. "Meow~! That's our Kagura!"

"It's that chick from the other day." Lyon said. "Looks to me that she finally got Yuka."

"And now, would it appear that Kagura and Sting will enter battle…?"

Kagura opened her eyes and looked in the direction where Sting was. She was the crater where Bacchus was, but not Sting.

"What-?! I-it looks like Sting up and left! What's that got to prove?!" Lola stammered.

"On the positive note, that still gave him 5 points. Better preserve that strength needed for something else I suppose." Yajima guessed.

In another part of Crocus, Yeager and Semmes were both faced against Blue Pegasus' very own Ichiya, coupled by Eve.

Ichiya struck a pose as his eyes. "Now…let us use our divine power, and make our spirits soar." He spun in place, stopping once he was turned and posing at Semmes and Yeager. "Eve, if you would?"

Eve spread his legs apart. "No problem, boss!" A white magic seal appeared before him, facing both contenders at the ready. "White Fury!"

A blast of blizzard-like snow was unleashed towards the Quatro Cerberus mages. They covered up as the winds and freezing chills had a powerful force to them. Not only was it stopping them cold, literally, but also made them scoot back every few feet or so.

"Gngh! I can't…see!" Semmes shouted through the roaring snow.

"This kid…" Yeager growled within the recollection of him in the preliminary race, as well as the race in the Day 3 competition. "This guy's really getting on my nerves…!"

"Smiling Smash!"

"HUH?" In a gasp, both contenders saw a muscular blur with a large fist shoot through the winds. A fist went in a massive uppercut, sending both flying and spiraling comically by the one and only Ichiya. Sparkles dazzled his face as he gave a "dazzling" awe.

"Oh! Now that's gotta hurt! That gives Blue Pegasus 2 points!" Lola shouted.

Ichiya turned towards Eve, still upholding a great deal of muscular power. "Bravo, Eve. Thank you for the assist. You are of great debt that I shall repay, my dear friend."

Eve grew bashful at the praise his boss was giving. "No worries, boss. It's the least that I can…" suddenly, something long and sticky like thread reached his back. He was then yanked hard and pulled away. "Dooooo~!" he finished as he was pulled through midair out of sight.

"Eve?!" Ichiya panicked. "EVE-!" Before he could get a start at running, he felt an incredulous force get him from the side. Ichiya gagged as the wind was knocked from the side of his face as he went sundering inti the pavement by a palm.

As he laid there, the culprit revealed Jura smirking. "You let your guard down." He said to the unconscious ace of Blue Pegasus.

As the audience cheered on for the Wizard Saint, they watched as Lamia Scale earned 5 points. This put a bright smile on their faces, especially the Lamia Scale members. "THATTA BOY, JURA! KICK THEM ALL TO THE CURB!" Obaba shouted as she spun at an alarming rate.

"Oh wow! Jura really nailed him! We just might win this!" Sherry cheered.

Makarov had arms folded and tightened his grip. A growl came from beneath his throat. "What is Craig doing? Does he not know there's a competition going on?"

"Maybe he's laying low until some of the stronger competitors are weak and out in the open." Droy guessed.

"I doubt it. I don't think Craig's the kind of guy to prey on the weak when they can't fight back…I hope." Jet rebuffed.

"Well I doubt it matters at this point." Gildarts intervened. "You know Natsu is one thing, and Erza is another, but we honestly don't even know what goes on in that guy's head. Maybe he is, maybe he isn't…but if I had to put my eggs into a basket…I think he's playing his cards where they lie."

"Yeah, sounds more like him." Cana stated.

"Well whatever the heck he's doing, he better come up with a plan, because we're gonna fall behind." Macao grimaced.

Wendy looked down at the caged Team Fairy Tail, a frown fixed upon her face. 'I sure hope things will we okay.'

---

Eve gagged as he slammed into a wall. His body felt a large shock run through and rendered him stiff. He grunted as he began to fall forward, but several volleys of webs shot from ahead. He yelped as he was slammed into the wall again, this time his limbs and body stuck to it by four mini webs and a large one netting his being.

As he struggled to break free, a pair of heels tapped against the ground. The figure's hips swayed left and right, revealing herself to be Arana Webb. She smirked flirtatiously as she approached the startled Eve. She upheld herself quite likely, and with every step, she drew towards the object that's been on her case throughout the entire games. As she saw the once flirtatious Eve now nervously looking at her, she knew she had the gameboard flipped to her side.

Once close enough, she had a hand to her hip and gave him a raised brow. "So tell me, lover-boy, you intend on sticking around all day?"

Eve struggled to move, but at this point proved fruitless. "Well, that's up for debate, sweetheart." He flirted for his life, but even something like that wasn't going to get him free.

Arana chuckled at his expense. "Well, cutie…" she closed in a few more steps. She reached out and pulled Eve's head towards her with her finger beneath his chin. She was a few inches from his face as she mischievously smirked. "This Chica has a little business to take care of. So be a dear and wait por little ol me, okay?"

Eve, once again, felt a tingly sensation up his spine at the innuendo the flirty Mermaid Heel mage gave him.

She saw his expression and gave him a wink. "I'll be back…after the competition that is. Ciao~." With a swift turn on her heels, she took off towards another street, leaving Eve to stay stuck to the wall. As he was left with a dumbfounded face, Arana's smirk never left hers. The spider could always jump the playboy later, but for now there was a game to win.

"And it looks like the arachnid toughed out the winter. Mermaid Heel scores another point for themselves!" Lola stated.

Ren looked up from his battle with Chelia. He saw Eve and Ichiya down, leaving him frowning. "Well this is just great. Guess we better step up our game huh?" he faced Chelia again, making a magic seal before him.

"Aerial Phose!"

With a swift motion of his arms, he summoned a powerful cyclone of air that surrounded Chelia. The whirlwinds were humming loudly to make it look like a barrier surrounded Chelia.

"So what did you think of that?" Ren asked rhetorically. There was silence for a moment, but he then heard the sounds of slurping. "Hm? What the…?" To his complete shock, all of the winds and cyclone generated to damage Chelia started to change shape. The winds dissipated; in fact, they were actually turning into a vacuum that went into a small mouth.

Chelia was gasping as she was sucking in as much wind as possible, the entire wind surging into her mouth.

"You're kidding me?!" Ren panicked.

The last remnants of air went into Chelia's mouth, a loud swallow heard. She gave Ren a perky smile like nothing happened. "Sorry bud, but air is my specialty."

"Crap! You mean my attacks can't hurt her?!" Ren stepped back in a panic, his mistakes realized.

"I'll be sure to make it as gentle as possible for Sherry's sake. She'll kill me if I knocked you for a concussion after all."

"W-wait!"

Chelia knelt forward and lunged at Ren. As she closed the gap, black whirlwinds of winding intensity surged in her arms and spiraled. "Sky God's Dance!" She swung pass Ren in a powerful display of black cyclones picking Ren up and into the air. He screamed loudly in pain as the horrendous winds made his entire world spin. The winds soon receded and Ren fell to the ground, with Chelia casually turning with a tilt and smiling hum.

"Oh, and the little Chelly-welly just went and made a meal out of Ren!" Lola cooed. "That gives Lamia Scale yet another point!"

"YEAH! WE'RE ON TOP NOW! IN YOUR FACES, BLUE PEGASUS!" Obaba madly cheered as her two fingers were spinning in the air in opposite directions.

"I sure hope Ren's okay. Did Chelia overdo it there?" Sherry worried.

"You! Stop talking such nonsense!" In anger, Obaba pointed a finger at Sherry, prompting her to spin in place. She wailed frantically as her eyes spiraled in dizziness.

"And it looks like Lamia Scale is starting to get on top of all this now. But it looks like the other guilds aren't too far behind. Whoever is able to make it even close to Sabertooth and Fairy Tail's level isn't too much of a stretch. This is yet another race, and I can't wait to see who gets knocked up next!"

Jenny kicked Nobarly in the face, making the Quatro Cerberus Mage gawk and fall over. The busty model brought her leg down and gave a smirk. "Sorry bub." She winked.

"And that's another point for Blue Pegasus!"

Jenny gave a thumbs up to her own delights. "And that's for underestimating someone who's at the top of her game-WHOA!" Suddenly, Jenny was struck from behind by a sudden lash of pinkish energy. It caused her to fall over, while the person revealed herself to be Millianna, giving off her own wink.

"Sorry, didn't mean to make it so hard."

"You…" Jenny growled. "That was a dirty trick!"

Millianna tilted her head and winked. "Oopsies."

As their battle began to unfold, Lyon was on another part of the town, his back turned as he froze Rocker and Beth in the same place. As he snickered, his team earned 2 points, while Quatro Cerberus' guild master was looking at the screens with deep despair. It took a few members to keep his body up as he went white from shock. "The battles are getting more and more intense, and it seems like everyone's having action one way or another. Quatro Cerberus had lost all its muscles, meaning they are now out of the running, but Blue Pegasus' Jenny is hanging on, and Risley is facing Lyon now in what's sure to be something to behold!"

As the said battles began to wage on, there was someone perched on a very high point of a church. Standing on top of the roof, the winds blew, but Rufus did not budge. His hat was down, his eyes closed as he concentrated. 'Now tell me, where are you, Craig Crius? You're sneaky as you are, but perhaps this will bring you out…'

He slowly reached his arm out, his body flaring a golden light. "Memory-Make: A Night of Falling Stars!" The atmosphere suddenly was ignited with several streams of shooting yellow energy beams that crossed high over the sky. There were so many, and they streamed like oceanic currents over the roofs.

---

Through an alleyway, Craig was nonchalantly making way pass a dumpster. He stayed to the side, peering out to see if anyone was on the opposite side. In the light of the streets, there was no one, and when he felt procured, he gave the dumpster a quizzical look. He got on his tiptoes and sprung up on its lid. With himself on top, he gave a swift yank and held up the lid from behind. When a few seconds passed, he peered from the side and saw nothing but aged garbage. The smell was a good indicator of the age, if moldy hotdog buns and stale bread was any inclination.

"Well no one's here." He said. Suddenly, a golden glow came from above, getting him to glance up. "Hm?" He peered up and saw various comets shoot across the sky. He watched them all stream in various directions, and from the looks of them, they had some targets in mind. While none of them were aimed for him, he furrowed his brow. "Ugh." He dropped the lid back on the dumpster. Which made a loud noise. He casually stepped off the dumpster and back onto the ground, where he turned in the direction from where all the stars were coming from. He found one target to start with.

---

Millianna blocked a punch from Jenny by crossing her arms. She however shot back on her heels, stopping just several feet away from her original position.

Jenny was still standing strong, her Machina Soul combat form up and raring to go around her. "You still wanna play, kitty?" she taunted.

Millianna grunted as she recovered. She had to find some way to get Jenny off guard. Being a fit model does have perks after all.

Both suddenly heard a whistling sound coming from the sky. It perked both their, ears, making them look up towards the open air to see fast-moving yellow projectiles spread across the sky.

"What are those?" Millianna wondered.

Two of the many projectiles arched down at fast paces. Millianna immediately freaked and made a jump for it, but Jenny wasn't so lucky. As she stepped back, one of the lights supposedly aimed for Millianna arched at the last second, hammering Jenny with a lot of light and electricity in one go. Her body crackled and squealed in pain.

As Millianna hid behind a trash can, the crackling stopped. She slowly peered from the side of the bin to see Jenny fall over in her normal form. Static continued surrounding her body as she twitched.

Risley looked up from her position. Hearing whistling, she and Lyon saw projectiles aimed for them. "Ya hear that?"

"Yes, I do." Lyon said. "There!"

Two more beams came down, heading right for them.

In swift thinking, Lyon put his hands together and slammed them into the ground. He summoned forth a spiked wall of ice that shield him, but Risley had no defense. The projectile aimed for Lyon struck the shield he made, causing bits to scatter everywhere, while the projectile struck aimed for Risley met its mark, hammering with great force that slammed her hard into a nearby wall and fell with a groan.

The shield before Lyon dissipated, but seeing Risley out cold left him with a certain impression. "What was that?"

Rufus snickered.

"And there you have it. Rufus Lore completely shut down two members at once." Lola announced. "That gives Sabertooth 2 points; and on top of that, Blue Pegasus has also been eliminated from the competition. That just leaves five teams to go for the gold now, but who's to win the rest now?"

"Well, we'll be sure to found out later on, I suppose." Yajima answered.

"Gngh! Get me out of here!" His anger and frustration rising, Natsu ignited a fist an made a dart for the cage side again. With an angered shout, he thrust forward, colliding with the barrier. Like the numerous times before, the Dragon Slayer's efforts didn't make it budge in fact, the flames dissipated almost the minute they touched the wall. He bounced off again, his fist stinging once again from agony.

"Geez, you idiot. Don't you know that doesn't work by now?" Gajeel retorted.

"Shut up! Why don't you try it then?!" Natsu barked back.

"Because I already tried that you moron! And this stupid thing ain't budging!"

"Yeah, this thing's got us in a tight spot." Laxus said, shooting a glance towards his side. "And besides, from the looks of it, it seems that magic is only neutralized by whatever this thing."

Natsu balled a fist. "Then I'll just have to force my way through. Come here!" Natsu went and grabbed two bars at the same time, but almost instantly upon contact, they were puncturing his skin with that same stinging sensation as before. The more he held on, the weaker he felt.

"Gnngh! GNGH!" Struggled as he might, his body was being drained of energy. Whatever flames he was trying to make, they didn't come. Eventually it was too much, and he fell on his bottom with a thud. "OW!" he whined.

"Told you." Gajeel said.

Erza looked all around, inspecting the barriers. "Whoever is capable of this must have designed a barrier so complex that it actually repels or rather absorbs and neutralizes all forms of attacks. If he just use and attack, we'll just be bounced off. And what's more, the more we struggle, the more of our magic is taken from us."

"Then what are we supposed to do?!" Natsu angrily retorted. "I can't just let Craig have all the fun! This stupid barrier better come down or else I'm really gonna get mad!"

"Get mad all you want, but if you intend on cooking this contraption, just remember you'll be frying us as well." Laxus warned.

Erza looked up at the monitors, watching as the competition continued without them. 'There's no way in and there's no way out. All our magic is negated in and possibly outside the barrier. It's as if we are truly sealed inside, and Ethernano isn't ventilating. I've never seen nor felt a barrier that can seal and nullify any form of magic and bodies like this. This isn't something I think we'll be able to solve…not from here.'

"So you think those guys are okay down there?" Cana questioned quizzically.

"Who knows." Gray answered. "We all know Natsu isn't too thrilled here, but that barrier ain't shutting down anytime soon."

Cana sighed as she looked up at one of the few screens, revealing just one of them being of Rufus entering a small library. 'For all our sakes, let's just hope Craig hangs on out there.'

---

Inside a large library, there were high walls with rows upon rows of books, and there was a dome-like glass ceiling high above. There was a main entrance, which lead to the center of the lighted domain. It had a few pieces of furniture, including a leather chair Rufus sat in as he was enjoying a book.

Once he had finished a page, he heard the sounds of doors opening. The book shut by its binder and he glared up with a devious smirk. "Well now, seems this little act finally has an audience." He mused. "To whom this requiem doth honor thee for…?"

The doors closed, but to Rufus' surprise, he didn't see anyone entering. In fact, it was something entirely else. A quizzical frown came upon his face as he saw what was coming his way, and rest assured, he had no idea how or why the person heading his way was so quiet.

Heading his way…was Craig. He was absolutely quiet, with nothing short of a blank expression fixed on his face. The look on Rufus' face grew once more into a smirk.

'I found him.'

Craig looked around, looking at the commodities all about. He looked up at the ceiling and felt nothing short of a small comfort. "Gotta say, this is a nice place you got here." He said honestly.

"That so?" Rufus questioned. "And to you, the one who has been rather cumbersome to the competitors. Are you the one called…Craig Crius?"

Craig didn't bother to move from his spot. "What'd you think I'd be called? Pablo? It's not like holding a false identity does any good; if you wanna lie to someone, first learn to lie to yourself."

Rufus upheld a chuckle in his seat. "That so. Quite the philosophy there, however, where there lies false pretense, there is also a sense of truth behind fallacies. And because of that, I must tell you what I see as truth…your defeat."

Craig, as usual, was undeterred. "Well you're not the first one to say that to me this week. You'll have to get in line with the number of fucks that I give."

"A tongue you quite have, I'll keep that in memory."

Craig put his hands into his pockets and gave Rufus a nonchalant stare. If there was tension and if he were serious on killing him, he would've terrorized Rufus without him being sensed. But he was no fool.

"There's something else." Rufus continued. "Everyone here has a certain magic signature to them. I have quite the keen eye for such a thing in my mind…but, you just so happen to be the case. Tell me, how are you able to cloak your magic's signature so well? Surely someone of your caliber must have experience of he's about to-"

"You're just overthinking it." Craig interrupted. "Besides, I'm just naturally good at hiding."

Rufus looked shocked at the revelation. "…what?"

Craig shrugged. "That's the truth. I'm just good at hiding. It works a lot better when you actually try and do this thing called 'shut up'."

Taking light of this new information, Rufus was rendered startled for the umpteenth time. "Then why come to me of all people?"

"I think you and I know that answer to that. You're the one who has the good memory, right?" he shot a look at Rufus, who was once again bewitched by his attention. "And if you're here, that means you can keep tabs on your teammates, as well as your enemies. Aren't I right?"

Rufus feigned a nervous chuckle as he tipped his cap down, concealing his eyes. "So…you came to me because you knew I was essential in the network? That's not a bad move. You're rather sharp-minded on your opponents too, aren't you?"

Craig cocked his brow. "It's the little details that matter."

"The little details to the big picture…quite the ensemble of words you are."

"Well if you're going to say that, say it to my face, rather than with that stupid hat hiding how you really feel."

Rufus, once again, found himself frowning. First Craig finds him with ease and deliberately, just so he could relay his message to the rest of Sabertooth, then he disowns him completely of his thoughts. His once subtle amusement had turned bittersweet, and he sighed. He sat the book down beside him and slowly got up from the chair. "And I suppose you find it so wrong to hide your motives from your opponent?" he retorted.

"When you make it painfully obvious like you are, sure, why not."

On his two feet in front of the seat, Rufus tipped his hat up to give Craig an arrogant smile. "Very well, then I'll show you the power memories hold! My Memory-Make, a magic that enables me to mold magics that I have seen into a new spell. So, care to show me what kinds of memories I could make of this day?"

Hearing him say such things did Craig in, internally. His body was stopped, but his brows furrowed and eyes sharpened. "…come again?" he asked, albeit slowly.

"I'll make it clear for your memory's sake. I'll show you the powers that memories hold." Rufus brought his arm around in a slow swiped. "Now…shall we test our wits?"

Craig said nothing as he glared coldly at Rufus. The mere mention of memories in such a way left Craig with a cold disposition.

"Memory-Make: Shrine of the Raging Wind Fang!"

Suddenly, several twisters began to circulate and form around Rufus. He glared ahead with a maniacal smile as the several twisters all closed in on Craig, whereas he stood still as a rock as they converged into one large twister. The turbulence surged all throughout the library, making a barrier that whipped up many hard-covered books from their shelves. Inside, Craig couldn't have been seen.

"He's hit!" Romeo panicked.

"This is bad." Warren muttered.

Max hit his fists against the balcony. "Crap, how's he able to do that?"

Rufus watched the turbulence whip books around let and right, with Craig invisible due to the winds. "As you can see, memories are but a very powerful tool. They are an essential component to one's need for victory. For those who are destined to win, they must think back on the elements of others and turn that against them. That is where Memory-Make molds those memories into an arsenal. Use what memories you'd like…but are you willing to make my day.

A metal clanged inside, sounding much like a sheathed being unleashed.

"Hm?" hearing the small whiff, Rufus looked at the tornado with wonder, before he saw a diagonal white line cross it. In just one foul flash, the entire thing completely fell apart. The winds dissipated, revealing Craig in a foul silhouette, one sword held out to his side. Rufus looked on with surprise as his barrier was broken with little to no effort.

"You know something…" Craig shot a glare up at Rufus, his sharp blue eyes looking like he wanted to rip his throat out. The look left Rufus paralyzed to where just looking at them was taking away all his arrogance.

As one of the many books feel from above, Craig caught it. He threw it with all his might, the book zipping straight ahead and into Rufus' nose, making a cracking sound. The harsh blow was enough to make Rufus stagger back and trip over his seat, causing it and him to fall over.

"Battle 101…knowledge is power." Craig said. "Lesson 1: Chapter 1…how to shut up someone the hard way."

"Well, he literally threw the book at him." Cana chuckled.

"Can't say I didn't see that coming." Gildarts said.

Rufus groaned as he was on the floor, but Craig gave no damn, he kept walking forward as he had his blood red sword out. "You are right, and I agree. Memories are precious to me. They're so precious that they're where my strength lies. But using them for weapons and abusing what has been given to you for sheer grated…that's a perfectionist's ambition. News flash; there's no such thing as perfect, not even the Perfect Magic itself is ever truly perfect."

Rufus groaned as he looked up at Craig advancing.

"You use memories for tools that you can mingle with, and with what memories aren't useful to you, you just forget. That's how your magic works, I've seen it before. And it's that kind of magic that can never compare to real memories that a person can have."

"'Real', you say?" Rufus got back up on his feet. "These memories I've made are real!"

"Can it, dipshit!" Craig intervened. "…are that all that memories are to you? Just instruments? Not something that makes you feel good, or make you tick?"

Rufus felt the bridge of his nose, which ached since the book broke it. He winced. "And what if that matters to you? Memorizing all the important content and forgetting battles and spells that aren't essential is what's memories are for, are they not? For example…" he reached up. "Memory-Make: Blade of Flashing Lightning!" At his command, a powerful bright burst of energy shook the whole library, roaring with a shrilled magnitude. The energy compacted in front of a stiff Craig, materializing into a tan-skinned bare giant with muscularity like Jiemma, with the lower body being complete iced impacted in the ground. He had a blade with crackling lightning and swung it with sheer muscle. It hammered down, expelling lightning as it touched Craig's own blade. It was stopped cold, with Craig's one arm upholding his sword shakily.

"But how?!" Rufus gasped.

"Not that you would understand…" he trailed off as he swung his own mighty blade again. With one swing, Craig deflected the blade, and made it twirl out of the giant's hand. As it soared into the air, it vanished, along with the giant in ice itself. When it all dissipated in wavy light, it revealed Rufus frowning while Craig half-grinned. "But better late than never to drill sense into you."

"Oh? And was your magic not only cloaking, but muscle density?" Rufus inquired nervously.

"Nope." Craig smirked. "In all honesty, my magic…is kicking asses like there's no tomorrow."

Rufus bared an angered frown. "That doesn't make sense. Won't you please show me your magic?"

"And why? So you can make fun of it by molding it into something that the original can't be? You have your memories, but instead of thinking of just victories, I think of somethings that are more teach-worthy. The pain of losing. Heartache. Treachery. Joy. Shame. Dismay. Adrenaline. Every single emotion you feel in a time or place at some point, you take it all in, and you learn that it's your treasured asset, because it's not always about damn logic. Sometimes it's about what you've been through, and taking the positives and negatives alike to make yourself not just a better fighter…but a better person." Craig narrowed his eyes at Rufus. "And for your information, at least I'm straight with people when I can admit I want to break their faces for insulting what's dear to me."

"Cranky…" Cana murmured.

"Because you insulted my memories, you've insulted all the people and creatures who stood by me and for me before…" his eyes began to sharpen some more. "And the greatest sin…the greatest mistake anyone even I never cross…" he calmly sheathed his blade, sending a monstrous glare at Rufus, his fangs bared with hostility. "IS INSULTING THE DEAD!"

Rufus was staggered back in deep shock over his opponent. He could feel something resonate from Craig, but it wasn't magic. It was something more bizarre. And it was making him feel something he was trying to forget: Fear. But whenever he was looking at Craig, he saw a grave mistake he made, but rather than face the consequences head on, he tipped his cap forward to shield his eyes. He was too much of a coward to face death and vile in its face.

"You've got a unique-tracked mind, Craig Crius." He said with a small break in the tone. "It's too bad that it's irrelevant to me."

Craig's eyes sharpened further, showing a dark, grizzly bearer of hell. "You just keep saying all the wrong words."

Rufus smirked. "So says the term, 'the weakest dog barks the loudest'." He jumped into the air, where he got so high up that he perched on the balcony railing high above. Looking down at Craig, he raised his arm and readied his next attack.

"You shouldn't focus so much on emotions, it'll cloud that character you need for learning. Memory-Make: Sword of Frozen Black Lightning!"

Above Craig, a black lightning bolt was starting to come crashing down. Time began to slow down as he glared up at it.

"Craig! Move!" Gray shouted.

"What is he doing?!" Evergreen exclaimed.

"I don't know, but it's looking risky!" Bickslow stammered.

Craig made no movements that were sudden, but rather his mind quelled, and his feet spread apart. As the bolt drew closer, he took in a deep, cleansing breath that cleared all the vile in his mind. With an empty head and flowing arms, he gathered the chi through the air coming down from above. He reached two fingers up upon meeting with the bolt of lightning, and he pivoted in a 270 angle. It flowed with him as he bended it from two fingers to the others on his other fingers. He pointed the two fingers at Rufus and redirected the bolt at lightning-fast fury straight at the shocked mage. With no room to even think of how or why, Rufus was struck by his own attack in a compressed form. Black lightning bolted and electrocuted him, and ice suddenly erupted on his entire front.

Rufus' eyes were devoid of pupils as he gagged. 'H-how…why…?'

Ignoring the fact his fingers had frost in them, Craig balled them and went running up towards the falling mage. "Since you like to forget things that you don't like…then try and forget THIS! SMASH!" He balled the fist tighter and crushed his fist against the ice on Rufus' body as he fell, meeting in midair. The ice instantly shattered upon impact into a million pieces, and Rufus gagged blood that sprayed in front of Craig's face. He went soaring so hard that he smashed into the library wall, breaking apart the wood that it was and leaving the wall devoid of filling.

Rufus laid there on his back, body numb and far from okay. Craig gave a quelled glare at his fallen foe before turning away.

"You see, it's not that easy to forget. Never take the painful memories for granted."

"C-C-CRAIG CRIUS HAS DONE IT!" Lola screamed loudly. "He has successfully taken down Rufus Lore without much of a scratch! It's unbelievable! Fairy Tail has just earned themselves 1 point, leaving Sabertooth down a member!"

The audience cheered loudly at the display.

"Alright! He did it! Romeo cheered.

"He most certainly did." Makarov said.

"Yeah, that was awesome!" Warren cheered. "He didn't even break a sweat!"

"And he sure knocked that Sabertooth guy for a loop." Max added.

Gray folded his arms as he smirked up at the monitor. "The guy surprised me. I thought that Rufus guys' Memory-Make was a little confusing. Looks like the others were worried for nothing."

Juvia nodded. "It was his own memories that he loved and forgave that powered him."

As the crowds cheered on, Fairy Tail was getting overly excited by Craig and talked about how he deflected the attack. As they did, Cana sat back in her seat, looking up with a frown. While she was very much eased, she couldn't help but be startled at times. She didn't know why, but it unsettled her to no end. She gave the screen and Craig a quizzical look of ambiguity.

"Speaking of which. What was that thing he did with the lightning just now?" Warren added.

"Don't know, but I thought he didn't have magic." Nab said.

"Did he learn it on the spot?" Alzack questioned.

"But honey, doesn't he have no Ethernano inside? He can't possibly contract magic like that." Bisca defended. "Ain't that right?"

"Yeah, come to think of it…" Laki had a finger to her chin, looking up at the monitors. "Wasn't he able to bend other attacks like Laxus' own lightning?"

"Yeah, and when we were in that Tahunga place, he did something like that with his big blast." Elfman reminded them.

Gildarts listened full well to what was being talked about. He crossed his arms and looked up at the monitor, the image of Craig walking over towards a book before he chose to look at its front and put it back in its place. 'What is he able to do? He can stop lightning and he molded my attack and multiplied its power. Is it even a power capable of magic itself? Man, this guy's just putting too much questions into our heads to even wrap around. Guess we'll see where this goes.'

Cana gave a long sigh of relief. "About time…Cranky."

---

Looking from another part of the Crocus streets, Minerva faced a nearby monitor, revealing Craig putting books back nonchalantly. She saw her defeated teammate and had a deep frown on her face. "So that's your specialty, is it, Craig Crius?" Minerva inquired with a growing smirk. "How very interesting."

She looked over to another part of the monitors nearby. In one monitor, it revealed Orga, who was heading down a certain path towards a target in mind. "Perhaps you'd like a better challenge."

---

Normally, competitors were usually just up and going about when it came to competitions such as these, but Craig had a different approach to the matter. With Rufus having been the key to Sabertooth intelligence, he had a funny feeling he had already relayed his whereabouts to the others. This would undoubtedly bring the other competitors towards him, not that he didn't have a problem with it. So, as he waited for the competitors to get rolling by the library, he did the one thing that was bugging him…putting books back.

"Honestly, these guys aren't smart enough to put books back intentionally?" he growled as he closed another book and put it in a random shelf. "I have no idea how these are alphabetized, but at least I know to clean up my own messes. Seriously, such fine literature treated like garbage…" he looked down at the book he had in his hand, scrutinizing it with little to no indifference, but even if it wasn't of importance at this time, every little asset he read at some point meant something.

Having a moment, he looked at the front cover, seeing that it was labeled for advanced Darkness Magic and spells. He didn't have to read it though; he's already seen them with his own eyes. Incantations of the darkest syllables that summoned demons with bloodcurdling arias.

"Why they bother." Rather than open the book and take chances, he put it back on the shelf. "There, that should be the last of-"

Suddenly, a massive beam of black, crackling power surged straight through the wall, almost feet in front of Craig. It covered a large area as pages of books before him were reduced to cindered oblivion, including the books that Craig put back into place. He kept a straight face as the beam projected through the wall towards the other end, creating an explosion of smoke and crackling sunder that destroyed even more books. Cindered pages feel like rain around Craig as he continued to stare ahead with the same face.

"…it." He finished. He hung his head in a sulk and pinched the bridged of his nose. He sighed so heavily that it became nothing less than a growl. "I hate people."

A foot was seen on the opposite side of the wall, which had a perfect circle in its wall. The crackling of the foot worked its way up, revealing two palms pressed together leading down to a familiar smirking God Slayer.

"It's Orga!" Lola cheered loudly. "Orga of Sabertooth has come like thunder!"

Through the monitors, Yukino looked up with a hand against her chest. Her brown eyes had a sense of worry in them as Rufus was down, and now Orga – someone more ruthless than Rufus – has ventured into the fray. "Please be alright…"

"It looks like Sabertooth's going in with its pack against Craig." Yajima evaluated. "Just how he intends to make his way out of this is beyond my plausible guess."

Lola nodded. "That indeed, Mr. Yajima. So, it looks like the God Slayer of Sabertooth will be up against Craig now. Will Craig hold out after that battle with Rufus, or will it be the lightning god himself?"

Back in Crocus, Orga stepped closer towards the hole he made, his knuckles cracking with black static being consistent. He and Craig glared at one another, with one being smug and another looking with a serious frown.

"Why the long face? I thought you'd be happy I cam when I did?" Orga chimed.

"Well I was until you almost fried me like a barbeque." Craig retorted. "You could've killed me."

Orga's arrogant smirk widened. "Whoops. Sorry."

Seeing he really didn't have to go off, Craig relented and stepped out of the library. He was careful over the rubble until he was safely out of the house of knowledge. Once stationed meters away from Orga, he was set and ready to go.

"You ready?" Orga balled a fist and pulled it back as black lightning surrounded it. "Because here comes the first strike!" With nothing to lose, he punched forward, sending a straight blast of black lightning through the air. It went towards Craig but missed his ear by a few inches. He kept still as the blast of black lightning went for the building on Craig's left, destroying a fraction of it in a crackling blast of roaring rage.

As debris fell, Orga lowered his fist and smirked. He was expecting Craig to respond in some way, but rather than look unamused, or scared, he was still left with a stone face.

"You missed." He said. Out of nowhere, Craig pivoted on the debris mound and picked up a hard book. He threw it like a discuss and it went at Orga, startling him and hitting him in the chest, on its pointed end. He winced at the surprise attack, causing him to falter a step back. Before he knew it, Craig planted a midair kick in the same spot, hurdling Orga in a thud against the ground once again.

Craig landed, and Orga staggered his way back up. "What…the hell was that?!" he yelled.

"It's this thing that people should pick up once in a while called a 'book'." Craig said. "They're much scarier in content than intimidating when you get deep enough."

Orga gritted his own teeth. "The only thing that'll be deep is a hole through you!"

Craig's eyes narrowed in disgust. Instead of reply, the two instantly went for the attack.

BAM!

Orga's bare fist collided with Craig's own. The sounds of their knuckles crackled profusely, and the intensity made both their attacks collapse. Craig swiftly ducked and went for his next move.

"Soaring Pain!"

He threw an uppercut, but Orga was fast enough to lean to the side and dodge. He threw a right rook with black lightning, and Craig crouched and dodged that technique as well. Craig He swept his left foot forward and drove his elbow into Orga's gut, making the bigger lug gag at the force. With close range, he did another uppercut, this time with the left fist. This time got Orga's chin, sending a fierce blow through his jaw. He stammered back as the jawline fractured from the impact, covering his mouth and hunching over. With the advantage in the one blow, Craig raise a leg and kicked them in the face, sending him tumbling onto his back.

"Yeah!" Elfman cheered. "Just like how a real man should fight!"

Orga got up from the ground, grunting heavily as he still had his fingers grazing his flaring jaw. He faced Craig, who adjusted his legs and howled out like a raptor. He sprung at him, just as he opened his mouth.

"Lightning God's Bellow!"

He angrily opened his mouth and unleashed a blast of black lightning. The blast expanded into a large volume, which closed in towards Craig. As he was just meters away from the lightning's range, time slowed down, and he slowly blinked as he reached back.

With a foul swing and a thrust forward, Craig's blood red sword went up vertically and slashed into the beam. He completely bisected the blast of lightning as he used the blade as a defense. The edges of the blast enveloping both his sides grazed him, as well as make his cape flare in the black wake. Once the roar dissipated, it revealed him untouched, much to Orga's surprise.

"What?" he exclaimed.

Craig spread his feet and held a position to strike. With another fast lunge, he closed the distance and stuck his sword out. "Humming Pointer!" he prodded with speeds of a squid strike and went for Orga. Orga was barely able to cross both arms and expel a grand amount of black lightning. With a hostile shout, the energy released from him made the ground shake, causing Craig to forcibly back off.

"Gngh!" The discharge was tremendous in volume as residual bolts grazed Craig. His body instantly yanked back from the strike and crouched. His arms and elbows took the blunt of the attack, leaving scorch marks on his new white jacket. However, rather than care, he glared ahead, seeing the discharge end and a rogue, streaky black bolt arched over the ground, making a scorch trail towards Craig. The bolt stretched its arch towards him, prompting him to roll to his right and dodge at the last second. The bolt went on towards the next building, grazing up its midsection and causing a dust burst.

Having recovered from the roll, Craig looked up, already knowing of Orga's next offense. The God Slayer was in midair with an arm up with crackling lightning. With a loud and mighty shout, Orga came hammering his fist down on Craig. Craig brought up his sword for a bunt; a sharp one with the bladed edge facing p at an angle that Orga was working into.

Orga's blow collided with the blade, the lightning blocked completely, as well as the blade cutting inti his hand that he fell for. Unable to sustain himself with pain, he recoiled with his cut knuckles and side of his hand having deep slits in them.

"Gnnaah!" he yelled in pain.

"OH! That has gotta hurt!" Lola shouted. "Can't say that wasn't defensive though."

"Smart is what I call it. Offense and defense at the same time." Yajima remarked. "That's the drawback to getting reckless with opponents who know what they might be doing."

With Orga recoiling in pain, he was wide open for Craig. With no words, only action, he pulled his sword back, poised to slam and strike. When Orga looked back ahead, his eyes were wide as he saw Craig ready and willing to strike.

Not far, a sudden, long thread shot out of nowhere, snaring Craig by the cape. When he realized it, his motions were stopped for that moment and another thread snared his wrist, stopping his sword from aiming for Orga.

"The hell?" he grunted.

A pair of lips showed themselves behind him, coming from dark eyes. "Sorry if I was interrupting something…"

Craig looked back over his shoulder, glaring at the surprise that was Arana entering the fray. She had her hand out and fingers spread; the palm having two strings attached that connected to Craig's cape and wrist. The Thread Mage smirked as she caught another prey in her hold.

"Oh my goodness! What a twist of fate! Orga was saved by a thread!" Lola exclaimed. "Arana of Mermaid Heel made a comeback with a surprising entry. Now it's a 3-way battle, between Fairy Tail, Sabertooth, and now Mermaid Heel!"

"But where did she come from?" Happy questioned.

"She must've figured out where the battle was with Rufus, and that lead her to now" Carla said.

Pantherlily had arms crossed and gave the monitor a glare. "Well if that's true, then Craig will have to hurry and think of something, or else others will be arriving on the scene."

"Not good." Makarov grimaced.

---

Seeing the battle up on a nearby monitor, Lyon saw that Craig was intercepted, prompting him to hurry up with his pace. "Quickly, Chelia, this way!"

Having regrouped with Lyon along the way, the perky God Slayer jumped off of the nearby rooftop and landed right beside Lyon in a crouch. She raised her head and smiled determinedly. "Right!"

Both darted towards the biggest threat of all, at least for now. As they closed in on an alley to get towards the fray and to Craig, Lyon had a smirk on his face. If anyone was going to knock Gray's guild out, it was going to be him.

---

Craig was still restrained, but seeing the Mermaid Heel mage left his opponent surprised. "Huh? Hey, you're with those mermaid chicks." Orga said.

"It's Chica to you." Arana strained, trying to hold herself onto Craig, but surprisingly, her threads were getting less than helpful by the second.

Craig showed visibly annoyance as he saw the extra pair of hands that could be his challenge yet. "Great." He grunted, and then pivoted and swung around to face Arana. He used his left hand and reached for his guard. He slashed in one go, slicing off the threads on his cape and wrist, as well as made Arana recoil. Craig adjusted his stance to make himself look like a crab, with knees bent sideways and facing the building between Orga and Arana. His sword faced Arana, while his barehanded palm was at Orga.

There was a distilled silence between the three, the fixation of Craig against the two of them at once were odds stacked against him.

"Heh, looks like we got ourselves a little party going on." Orga joked.

"Oh, ques is a party alright. A party where no boys are allowed in the winner's circle." Arana joked.

Orga served a chuckle. "Well then, guess we can settle this little debate after we beat the snot out of this punk."

"Agreed."

Craig looked at the other with swift glances, without having to move his body much. 'Looks like they're going at a common enemy here. One shoots webs to slow me down, and the other can shoot lightning. I gotta work this out, or else I'm gonna be stuck to a wall all fried.'

Arana crossed her arms out. "This will slow you down! HRAH!" Using her magic, a seal appeared before her, sending volleys of cobwebs at Craig. The bullet-like projectiles went showering al over the ground and around Craig, spreading like spider webs. Craig looked around himself, seeing that around his feet, Arana placed sticky traps for him to step in.

The Mermaid Heel mage smirked wider. "So, care to gives us the point?"

Craig's eyes narrowed as he reached back. "Sorry, not today. Spiral Dragon Slice!" He abruptly began to spiral in place, his body temporarily unsheathing all his blades to make his signature sword technique. He did it so fast and with little exercise that Orga and Arana recoiled as webs and ground grazed profusely around them.

With every spin made in the funnel he made, Craig cleared enough room for himself to show the pavement being torn deeply into shreds, with slash marks thoroughly deep and free from the traps Arana had made. Once fully planted, he shot a glare at Arana, his several blades making it hard for her to even try and draw closer.

"HRAH!" Orga appeared in midair behind Craig, once again having a fist coated in lightning, only in the left hand. "Guess you should've tried paying attention, because this is gonna hurt!"

As he pulled his fist as Craig's back, Craig himself turned his head, his mouth blades following in command. The left end turned and blocked the attack that Orga made, once again making a result that was lightning crackling in midair between them, and hints of blood for the edge digging into him. The stalemate didn't last very long like before, prompting Orga to shoot back in a slide.

He grunted once more, looking up at him. "He just turned his head to block?"

Craig looked back at Arana, who proceeded to shoot him a nervous frown. Despite the setback he cleared, she made another magic seal and unleashed another blast of strings. The many long threads reached out like long vines, but Craig did the same motion as before, spinning and cutting the ropes of sticky thread to shambles.

Arana scoffed as her attack again failed her, but Craig stopped in place and looked at the blades in his hands and mouth. When he looked at them, he saw the sharp tips had little filaments of thread on them, and edges of the blades were all covered in bits of scraped thread. 'She's limiting my defenses with my blades. If I try that again, I'll only manage to block and not cut. Damnit…'

A larger magic seal appeared before Arana. "Then care for more?!" The earth beneath her lightly shook as more threads of huge volumes shot at Craig. They were so potent that they looked like they were going to hurt bad.

As they drew in, Craig narrowed his eyes and did quick thinking. At the last second, he turned his head vertically and drove the mouth blade into the ground. He pivoted further and used the red cape and wrapped it around him. The many shots struck him hard, hitting his cape with a powerful flow. The Thread Mage attacking him snockered as she had him on the ropes, and she did not give him the luxury of relenting. She enhanced her properties, causing the cape Craig was wearing to get heavy, but forcing him back a few feet into Orga direction.

With Craig grunting and unfocused, Orga stood and smirked. "Heh, this'll be perfect." He spread his legs apart and readied an offense. He put both his bleeding hands together and clasped them. He drew them apart to show a black sphere with a bright yellow energy field around it.

Craig looked back, his eyes wide as he saw Orga preparing.

"Lightning God's Hemisphere!"

Orga thrust the sphere at Craig. It traveled across the ground swiftly, kicking up dust on either side. As it flowed towards him, the energy field expanded, giving it a much wider range. Craig gasped in shock as it drew in.

BOOM!

A large black sphere of lightning enveloped everything between Arana and Orga, enveloping the ground and cindering not just the webs, but also the rock that it covered. The energy exploded into powerful discharges around the actual sphere, making great magnitudes.

"My goodness, what a whopper!" Lola panicked. "That attack's gotta hurt Orga a lot more than it does Craig…wait!"

Orga and Arana smirked as they knew the attack had dealt some damage. However, they saw the lightning discharge starting to bend and distort. To everyone's shock, the black lightning was moving in wave-like motions in the state of a globe.

"What the…?"

"The lightning, it's…"

The dissipating lightning compressed into Craig's arms, which he bended about and used the chi in its force. The residual lightning dissipated, while the main fragments of it all compressed into his chi blades. They were long and elongated, and Craig vividly crossed them in an X formation.

Orga looked stunned as his attack was bended by Craig. "What in the…?"

"HRAH!" Craig moved in a full circle, slicing and spreading apart the fingers. The chi blades dissipated as they moved with Craig, blasting varied black waves and cutting into Arana and Orga alike. Both mages fell over and slid on the ground, grunting hard while Craig stood in the middle of them still, his arms still tingling from the lightning he bent.

"T-THERE HE GOES AGAIN! CRAIG HAS ONCE AGAIN TURNED THE ENEMY'S POWER INTO HIS OWN!" Lola cheered in exhilaration. "JUST HOW IN THE OWRD IS HE EVEN DOING THAT?!"

"Not sure, but our scanners and our archivist are doing what they can to analyze this matter of conversion if possible." Yajima informed.

Orga was one his hands and knees, grunting as his body crackled in the lightning that was his own. "Damnit…" he looked up at Craig, seeing his cape free of webs and his body only having slight cinder marks on them. "The hell…you just turned my lightning against me?"

Craig said nothing, but he readied himself. But as he focused on Orga, he had an odd feeling crawl up his spine. His eyes widening, he turned and saw that Arana was on a knee, her arm weakly out with a magic seal. She shot a glob of silk at him, aiming for an unlikely place.

The glob smacked him in the eyes, making Craig grunt and fall over onto his read. He yelped as the silk covered both eyes, its shape night a night mask.

Arana smirked, her breath rather raspy. "This Chica…isn't down yet."

"Heh, not bad for a chick." Orga admitted.

In the audience watching, they all saw the comeback and Craig's defenses down. Some cheered for Mermaid Heel, as well as Sabertooth. The comeback, however, left Fairy Tail surprised.

"Oh! And it looks like Mermaid Heel just went for where it hurts." Lola winced. "And right in the eyes."

"That'll hamper Fairy Tail no doubt." Yajima stated. "An attack like that shuts down the sight, something very important for the fighter to have. I'm afraid Craig's gonna have a hard time now."

"Oh no." Wendy gasped.

"Hey, c'mon man, get that stuff off you, quick!" Gray warned.

"It's too late. Orga's getting ready for his blow." Juvia said. The monitor showed a shaken Orga getting up to his feet with his hands together. He started generating a lot of force, in which caught a great swell of Magic Power.

Sting pumped his tiny paws. "Yes! Orga's still in this!"

"Fro thinks so, too." Frosch agreed.

In the streets, Kagura looked up from her position and saw that monitor. Her eyes narrowed as she glared up at Craig's predicament. Otherwise, she gave no visible sign of remorse of clarification.

"Meow! Go Arana! Win this for us!" Millianna cheered.

"The girl's got this in the bag now." Risley said with an eye open, laying on Crocus' streets.

"Will this be it?" Lola questioned the audience.

As Arana panted with what energy she had, she tried standing, albeit with vigilance. Craig, however, was struggling as he was trying to get the silk off his eyes. He couldn't see, but the sound of crackling wasn't a good sign at all.

Orga readied the sphere of lightning in his palm, smirking wide. "Sorry pal, but it looks like you got schooled by a God Slayer."

"Crap! The kid's in trouble!" Gildarts exasperated.

"He better do something and quick!" Vijeeter panicked.

"Oh man! Look out!" Alzack snapped.

Craig tried to get the silk off, but at this point it was no use. It wasn't coming up; and even if it did, its residue would sting and still leave him blind. Just by feeling the energy crackling and his ears ringing from the ions Orga was gathering, Craig could feel the time had come.

"Use your mind to see rather than your eyes…"

His struggling ceased as he thought back to when he first went blind by an anomaly.

3 Years Ago

The bare lands of regions beyond Ishgar and beyond the Western world was something altogether. There were legendary beasts that had mythology written on them, but in the case of an inexperienced Craig, going bare-handed at recently 15 made him a little survivalist.

Having built forts and fires, and having seen and been through hell, quite possibly literally…he just needed to get away from it all. It was too much for him. He had to find sanctuary, solace in ways so that no one could be hampered by him ever again. And what better way to do that than the far-off reaches of the world, where one can escape and possibly never return.

And that's where legends spewed. There was a wild beast supposedly able to give off the most powerful light ever, as bright as the sun. One flicker and it'd be like a close-range lightning bolt. This radiant beast was an extinct species of Wyvern, more or less known as 'Whitemares' in folklore. And even though it was by accident, Craig encountered one, just as he saw a whole platoon of soldiers try and seize it. When it gave off its light, all the soldiers close went permanently blind, and those far away were temporarily blind, including Craig.

It was only a matter of time until the Whitmare and its hunters clashed again, but at the moment, Craig was blinded, and he ended up slipping into a ravine. It carried him down a stream, where he gurgled and gasped until he fell down a waterfall.

This was where he was to learn one of the many life lessons to come.

"BLEH!" Craig gagged out water of his mouth, coughing profusely and on his knees against the cool, damp ground. It was pitch-black in his eyes, so he had no idea that he ended up in a beautiful underground cave.

He coughed up the rets of the water and wobbled up to his feet, struggling to stand. "Great, where am I?" He listened well, hearing the sounds of rushing water and echoes throughout the abandoned cave. "Well, I think I'm at the bottom of a lake basin or something…or a really big wishing well..."

The sounds of a cane tapped against the ground, inching closer.

"What?! Who's there?!" Craig snapped, trying to bring fists up.

The cane got closer and closer, but didn't get far enough to touch him. It stopped several meters before a frightened Craig, revealing the person.

"Who dares to enter?" an old voice said.

"Wait, where the heck am I?!" Craig yelled.

The cane stepped forward, as did the pair of feet that went with it. "That, is for you to see." The voice belonged to an elderly old man. However, there was a catch to him. While he did hold up a cave, he had a tattered cloak on with light magenta cuffs and edging. It also had a hood, which he brought down to reveal his bald head and short moustache. And he wore small black specs, indicating that like Craig, he was also blind.

Craig grew defensive as he stepped back. "Who…who are yo-GAH!" Unfortunately, he stepped back too far, falling into the water once more with a splash.

"What, who is there?!" the blind old man shouted. He jutted his cane out, randomly waving it to attack thin air itself.

The water of the basin bubbled, until it spouted into Craig gasping and clawing onto the rock again. He coughed profusely, making sure he did not let this time around.

The blind old man heard the gasping and stopped his random swinging. Knowing where it was now, he walked on over and turned down at Craig. "And who might you be?" he banged his cane against Craig's head, making sounds that echoed like coconuts. "Huh? Well?"

Craig rubbed his spiky black hair and grunted in pain. "Gnnngh…wait, were you affected by the Whitemare, too?"

"Ah, so that's it. I suppose that you have been carried away…Whitmare hunter." He questioned.

"Well maybe carried away, but-"

"HIYA!" he slammed his cane above Craig's head, this time knocking him back into the pool of water. He faced the water with a frown. "You idiot! How dare you break sacred lands! Do you have any idea what that cost ya? Well?!"

Slowly, Craig arose again, his face showing frustration as his breathing was slow and steady. "…well ain't this just a swell person." He muttered.

"WHO SAID THAT?! HIYA!" the old man slammed his cane on Craig's again, hitting him once more to down under.

After several minutes of long gasps, broken explanations, and ten different types of concussions later, Craig finally told the blind old man his story, and how he went temporarily blind by the Whitemare's rays. After gathering all the pieces, the blind man had his head down and cane out as he and Craig sat on two rocks…which took them two minutes to find.

"I see, so it is you who means of no harm, young one." He said.

"I-I don't know how…but I gotta do something. Those hunters, they must have something up their sleeves for next time…but I…" Craig began to drown in his worries once more. "I don't…"

"You are thinking like a child." The old man berated. "This isn't like when you were born!"

"I know! But I'm blind!" The comment earned Craig a whack across the face by the old man's cane, sending him towards the ground.

"Yeah, and so am I, but you don't hear me crying to my momma." He said.

Craig rubbed his head. "Oww…"

"You are not seeing the real picture here. When you cannot use your eyes, you use the most powerful tool you have…and that, lies in the eyes of your mind."

Craig face twisted with given anger. "That…doesn't make sense! What the heck is that supposed to mean?!" he yelled.

The blind man sighed again. "Again with the questions…I suppose you could say use your smell, or ears or whatever." He said tiredly. "But even those…are flawed fallacies."

Craig's brow furrowed. "My senses…are flawed?" He got whacked again.

"YES, EVERYONE IS FLAWED~! DO YOU LIVE IN A CAVE?!" the old man berated. The true irony here was that they were indeed in a cave. "Sometimes, the greatest eyes, are the ones that can see nothing. The greatest of all sights to those of you and I, are those we must seek."

Despite his eyes having a bright blue rather than sea blue, indicating his blindness, he blinked. "Like…picturing it?" The cane was raised again, and this time he heard it lifted. "SORRY! NO HURTING!"

The old man gently sat his cane down and nodded. "Ah, so you see that? Good, then you 'looking' is to where the picture comes to you...DID YOU GET THAT?!"

It was then Craig knew the key to taming the Whitemare was by the mind, and that's what he did. A blind man, against another blind army, but with technology to rely on rather than their own senses. He gained his sight 24 hours later, but the effects of what he learned from such a chatty blind man, left him with a new way to see the world.

Craig's eyes relaxed beneath the thread. Slowly, he eased his grip on his sword, using it as a cane. He straightened his back and cleared his mind, similar to the art of chi bending.

And it was here, the battle was to turn.

"120mm Black Lightning Cannon!" Orga thrust his palms forward, sending a concentrated blast of black lightning at Craig. The blast closed in with a deep need to electrocute Craig, and everyone watched as the attack closed in.

His mind cleared and picturing the chi heading his way, the blind Craig jumped right above. "Hirah!" His feet actually landed on the lightning, in which he shockingly took long strides along the chi waves it carried. Like hopping on rocks, he closed in on a startled Orga, time slowing down as he sent a black lightning-coated kick dead in his face. The blasting kick was strong enough to stamp him deep into the dirt, making him fall onto his back with a groan.

"What the…?!" Mato was at a loss for words.

"Did Craig just walk on lightning?!" Lola's eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

"My goly!" Yajima gasped.

Natsu stopped his rampage for a moment to look up at the screen, seeing the blind Craig with knees bent against the fallen Orga. "Woah, what the heck?"

"How in the world did he do that?" Gajeel questioned.

Orga was devoid of pupils as that blow did him in. Unable to get up, Sabertooth was down another prideful member, tying them with Fairy Tail.

However, Arana saw his back turned and she took advantage of it. "Gnnngh…" Up on her feet, she sent a long blast of her web at Craig's back.

Hearing the silk running, Craig turned around and moved the end of his blade in a circular motion. It snagged the end of the thread, and it began to tie and warp as he moved his sword. By the time the thread finished, there was a large ball of silk on the end of the sword, like cotton candy on a stick.

"What?!" Arana gasped.

Craig snickered some before he brought his arm back and then forward, making the ball of silk detach off the blade and hurl towards Arana. It moved so fast she couldn't dodge, and ended up struck in the face by her own attack working against her.

She tumbled across the street, threads and web all over her upper body as she laid unconscious and sprawled on her side. While Craig swiped at the air, getting some of the silk from earlier off.

"Ah…ah…he just beat Orga and Arana with his eyes closed!" Lola yelled throughout Crocus' intercoms. "I repeat! Craig has struck down two competitors without looking!"

The audience cheered with the results, while some were completely startled by what was seen. They knew Craig was strong in some way, but they didn't think he'd do something of that caliber.

"That's nuts!" Jet and Droy paled in unison.

"My goodness." Mirajane gasped.

"Did he seriously but beat those two at their own game like that?" Lucy stammered.

"Ow wow." Wendy awed.

"Beating them with your eyes closed now, Craig?" Cana questioned with a smirk. "C'mon, don't be a showoff."

As if he felt his spine crawl, Craig turned sharply towards thin air. "Who's there?! HRAH!" He slashed at the air, moving his sword in all directions with its flat edge.

"And with that, Fairy Tail gets another point, once again bringing them to 2nd place in the running." Lola commented.

Craig continued to move about in place, trying to find levity in something that could substitute for a cloth or something, but all he had was a sword that he moved about like a cane. When he started moving away from Orga and Arana, he started towards what was, surprisingly, a lamppost. Underneath the lamppost, there was a trash can with a lid. He tapped it when he got close, feeling the can. His brow raised as he felt how hollow it was. The more he touched it, the lighter it felt, and the more questionable it was.

"…what are you and why?" he questioned the bin.

Not far away, two more competitors were closing in. One had spiky white hair, while the other was shorter, younger, and had pigtail magenta hair. They hurried towards the site after seeing the earlier image, and they sure didn't want to miss anything.

"Lyon, up ahead!" Chelia shouted.

As Craig lifted the lid in inquiry, he perked up at hearing the voice.

"I see it too, Chelia!" Lyon hurried his pace, Chelia falling not far behind. The Sky Goddess and the Ice Mage both hurried towards the site where Craig was.

When both finally caught up, both stopped right in front of Orga. They looked down at him, eyes wide at his body laying in cold defeat, and with his marking proven of his damage. Lyon gasped, while Chelia was at a loss for words.

"No, we're too late." Chelia murmured.

Lyon looked down in shame. "Seems Gray's guild isn't as slow as we predicted." He looked up to see Arana several meters away in the exact same condition. "And they sure aren't chivalrous to the code of harming women."

"Do you think they're okay?" Chelia looked down at Orga to see the damage he had taken, not that it mattered in any shape or form.

"I'm afraid that's the least of our worries for now." Lyon glared ahead, staring at a certain someone who's trying to look around. "Looks like we're not too late after all."

"Huh?" Chelia looked ahead, seeing the same object of Lyon's attention.

Craig turned his head left and right, hearing the voices of two opponents. He had his sword up like someone would hold a cane, but his orientation was far off as he faced the lamppost. "Whoever is there, tell me…is there a restroom nearby? I really need to wash this silk off." He said. "Seriously, it's starting to burn a little…hello?"

Chelia felt a bead of sweat on her head. "S-should we…you know…help him?"

"It'd be in our best interests." Lyon said, but a smirk crossed his face. "But first thing's first. This is still a competition after all, and besides, if we don't do something, the old hag's gonna her own head off for this."

"Good point." Chelia sulked, before perking back up. "Right! Then let's finish this quick!"

"My thoughts exactly!" Lyon brought his hands together, manifesting mist around the palms. "Sorry about this in advance, Craig, but as much as I would rather be sportive about this, we're in a rather tight spot. Do hope you don't take this personally."

Feeling a strong magic, Craig's head turned in the direction where Lyon and Chelia were. He felt a wind pick up, as was a cold sensation.

"Now! Ice-Make: Water Serpent!" Lyon unleashed a spiraling, icy serpent through the atmosphere heading towards Craig. The attack drew in without delay, but Craig had his ways of getting around. At the last second, he picked up the trash lid beside him and held it by its handle, acting as a shield The entire attack that was sheer icy water struck the trash lid and rendered Craig safe.

"Say what?"

Chelia moved in front of Lyon with arms spread out. "Let me try!" Like Lyon, she brought her hands around as a cyclone of black winds gathered and surged profusely. As she brought her arm around, it was like she threw the whirlwind, which erupted into a black vortex.

"Sky God's Boreas!"

The vortex aimed and arched for Craig. As it drew in, he did yet another unorthodox move, and blindly jumped into the empty trash can. With the lid shut over him, the vortex carried the trash bin with it, spiraling out of control with a lot of papers and trash in Crocus' street. The adhesive blast swerved upwards and snaked profusely, until its ending was a large mouth that spit the trash can high up.

"Alright! Got him!" Chelia chirped.

As the black whirlwinds dialed down, the blind Craig inside the trash can was spinning profusely, but it felt more closed and gravity felt off. Feeling himself fall, he opened the trash bin in midair, twisting out before grabbing the end of the actually can with his free arm.

Lyon smirked as he turned around to look away. "Suppose that was a bit much, but oh well?"

His ears perked at Lyon's voice. Craig barreled by turning on the trash can's axis and came down with it, ready to strike.

As Lyon walked ever so casually, an unknown force clamped on top of his head. In fact, it smashed so hard that it sent him into the earth with a powerful spat. His head was slammed hard by what felt like aluminum, heavy aluminum. The trash bin was upside down and had a huge dent atop of it, no doubt Lyon's head. Craig landed with it on a knee, much to Chelia's terror.

"Lyon!"

Hearing her and feeling the chi, Craig threw the trash lid like a saucer behind. The lid spun and got Chelia in the gut, sending her into a lamppost and sliding down onto her bottom. The trash lid's ricochet brought it back to Craig's hand, catching it albeit knowingly.

The trash bin fell over, along with Lyon. The Ice Mage groaned as he laid on the ground, trying to worm out of the bin. Once he did, he clutched his head. "What was that…?" he grumbled. "Chelia!"

Staggering back up, the shaken God Slayer readied herself. "I-I'm here!"

Craig tumbled to the side, landing on the shoulder and rolling with the lid like a shield. He grabbed the damaged trash can once more by its side handles, getting a distance from Chelia and Lyon. Although, his stance was directed towards the open city than them directly.

Lyon glared at Craig with a suspicious vibe. "How did he do that? Some kind of Perception Magic?"

"I didn't know Fairy Tail had someone like that…wait, what are we doing?! We gotta take him down, Lyon!" Chelia snapped.

"You're right, Chelia. Our questions will have to wait. For now, we strike!" Lyon reached out towards the enemy at hand, unleashing Ice-Make: Dragonfly and sending a swarm of dragonflies at Craig head on. Much to their dismay, Craig bunted behind the trash lid and blocked the attack. Sharp icy missiles struck the lid profusely. Some, however, maneuvered behind the lid, aiming for Craig's back. "Got you."

As the dragonflies aimed for Craig from behind, he picked up the trash bin by the handle and had the dragonflies flew right into the bin. They shattered upon impact with the dented bottom, filling the can with ice fragments.

Lyon gasped in shock as his attack was negated, while Chelia was equally as shocked. "But how…?"

Craig pivoted on his heel and swung the trash lid, using the momentum to send the ice specks at Lyon and Chelia. As they soared at them, they hurriedly dodged; Lyon dodging by jumping, and Chelia by the side. Lyon manifested a lot of icy mist in his arm as he aimed down at Craig, poised to blast.

"Ice-Make: Snow Dragon!"

From a magic seal in front, a massive serpentine dragon of ice roared at it went shooting down for Craig. It drew in with remarkable speeds, but Craig felt the force head his head and threw the trash lid skywards. With it leaving Craig a free hand, he took a deep breath and brought up two fingers. He swerved and shook them a little as he was molding and manipulating the chi he was forcing into his two fingers. Following his bodily motions, he leaned back and got weight to the two fingers.

As the dragon close din, the blind Craig saw the incoming chi force and used his two fingers in a chop dead on the snout. The small yet compressed chi chop shattered the entire head to icy fragments that exploded everywhere. Once again, Lyon was left without words to say.

"Holy crap! Did he just use two fingers to chop that thing to bits?!" Jet exclaimed.

"How did he even do that?!" Droy wailed.

"For real?!" Lucy stammered again.

As the ice littered the area around Craig, Chelia moved in from the side. She had to take advantage of the situation here and now, but her blue eyes averted skywards. The trash lid from before came down, and she was so focused on it that Craig sensed her and kicked her across the face, sending her back.

He thus raised his arm up, catching the lid and slipped his fingers into the handle again. He slammed it down on Chelia's head, making her yelp once more.

The crowd was going ballistic with the blinded Craig fighting so well. They knew it would leave an impression of him as the only Fairy Tail mage in the game, but even his own team was completely baffled.

"Oh man, he's just taking it to them!" Natsu yelled vigorously.

"Yeah, those guys are getting their asses handed to them, that's for sure." Laxus said. "But even with those eyes blocked, how is he even doing that, you wonder?"

"Mmmm…maybe some sort of psychic power?" Natsu guessed.

"Heh, even I'm not that stupid to guess something like that, Salamander." Gajeel scoffed.

He shot a glare at Gajeel. "Say what? Alright then, what do you think he's doing to fight blindly, huh?"

He shrugged. "Beats me, but I know it ain't some freaky voodoo." He looked quizzically back at the monitor, his face twisting as he watched Lyon and Chelia regroup in front of Craig. "…right?"

Erza shot her own glare at the screen. "I've never seen a fight quite like this. I knew Craig had durability, but I never imagined he'd be able to fight without an important sense. What's guiding him?"

Lyon was panting profusely, his injuries having him starting to wane forward. He grunted as he glared at Craig, but the recipient only stood still as he continued to hold the trash can and lid. He couldn't believe that he was being outclassed by someone like Craig, who wasn't even able to see him.

A greenish aura emanated from the side, soothing his injuries that he sustained. "Hang on, Lyon, let me heal you first." With the advantage still set on them, Chelia used her Healing Magic to heal her wounds sustained. The bruises and the concussions she had were starting to wear away, as were the head wounds the dizzy Lyon had.

Back on his feet and at good health, Lyon nodded. "Thanks for that. Good job, Chelia."

"Why Are you just standing around for? Now that we're healed, she can beat him!" she reminded.

Lyon faced the opponent at hand once more with a serious frown. "True. All we have to do now is tire him out. And it looks like we're doing just that." True to what he was saying, Craig was looking a little exhausted. Though he had a good hold on his trash necessities for battle, he was still unable to see. It wasn't so much physical nor mental that was taxing, but all those quick attacks were making it hard for him to keep up for long.

He had to end this, and after hearing loud and clear of Chelia's ability to heal, he had to deal one huge blow.

Lyon put his hands together, manifesting more magic. "Ice-Make: Ice Geyser!" He slammed his hands against the ground, forming a magic circle beneath Craig.

Feeling the icy floor starting to stiffen, Craig abruptly leaped off the ground and into the trash bin again. It shut atop him just as stalagmite surrounded the ground around. The bottom half of the trash can was frozen in the ice, and before long, the ice grew skywards, becoming a high pillar of jagged ice. At the high pinnacle was the trash can, perched like a trophy on a pedestal.

"That'll hold him for a short while." Lyon said. "Chelia, get ready!"

"Right!" She spread her legs apart, readying her position as she started to generate a powerful surge of magical energy. Slowly, the air pulsed as black currents started to spiral into her palms and in front. As she raised her hands up, thinner streams added into the spiral, compressing deeply into matter.

Realizing the energy, Lyon gasped and looked at Chelia. "What? Chelia! Are you really going to use…"

Jura gasped up at the nearest monitor. "Chelia, no!"

"Woah, hey. What is that Lamia chick doing?" Gray inquired.

"Looks like she's gearing up for one big blast." Cana said as she got out of her seat. She got towards the balcony with her friends, staring up quizzically to see the battle.

The winds compressed into a greater spiral, one creating a powerful vacuum that was making it hard for any sound to get through. Chelia smiled determinedly as she faced the ice geyser.

"YOU FOOL! DO YOU WANT TO KILL HIM?!" Obaba panicked loudly.

"Uh oh, looks like Chelia's going in for the big finish here!" Lola insinuated.

"Don't worry, I'll make this as fast as possible, so get ready!" she yelled out.

For a moment, the trash bin didn't budge. It looked like they got Craig trapped…or so they thought. The lid suddenly went skywards as Craig burst out of the darkness of the bin. His eyes still had silk in them, but the blindness didn't stop him from the quelling that was his chi sensory. Feeling a strong wind, he knew what he had to do.

Grabbing the trash lid as he was in midair, he put it beneath him. The position was very similar to a surfboard, the same exact one he did when he "exploded" and went sledding during the preliminary round. He bent forward, diving down with his makeshift board into the ice geyser.

There he went, sliding down the frozen, jagged pillar with great weight. He broke stalagmite after stalagmite, all with a straight face as he felt the winds and constant pounding. He sled down the mound remarkably fast, reaching the bottom and grinding the weight of the trash lid against the stone streets. With the momentum still atop of everything, he zipped pass Chelia and Lyon, temporarily bypassing the vacuum she was making.

For the briefest moment, time slowed down as he passed Chelia, the spiraling whirlwinds she was making having grazed by Craig's fingertips. Once passing, he zipped along on his makeshift board, and then jumped off it and twisted in midair to face Chelia and Lyon with his fingers molding and compressing the small black energy he gathered.

Meanwhile, the trash lid continued on, disappearing out of sights.

With Craig facing the two, he kept the compression in his center, molding the energy into his own. Without warning to the mix, Chelia turned and unleashed her attack, just as the winds became feathers.

"God Slayer's Secret Art – Heavenly Gathering of Clouds!"

A compressed cyclone of black feathers in black winds surged across the ground, spinning rapidly and with excessively deep power. It surged without any need to stop, the mass closing in and all hearts watching the melee rapidly beating. They all went wide-eyed as Craig didn't move, but what they saw next was something that even Chelia and Lyon alike were unprepared for. Craig started moving his arms in conjunction with the chi flow heading at him, and he moved like a rapid-speed puzzle. He converged the entire spiral in front, and he didn't move back at all as he was trying his hardest not to lose the chi he was gathering.

Chelia gasped in shock. "What…?"

Lyon was also rendered speechless. They watched as Craig bended and compressed all the energy by bending it into the compressed sphere that he was creating. It all literally flew inwards, where the black mass was having bright breezes surge and shift Craig's slightly tattered jacket now. By the time Chelia's attack was finished, the entire mass was compressed into a black sphere in front of Craig, his blind eyes facing the bewildered two.

Chelia stepped back in horror. "Did…did he just…?"

"He absorbed all that power? How?" Lyon questioned.

Blind or being able to see didn't matter at this point. Craig just knew where they were, and no matter what, he refused to lose. There were many battles ahead, and as he compressed the sphere into a smaller shape, his brows furrowed as he targeted back to center.

"Energy Arts – Bide Exploder!"

He reeled his head forward and thrust his palms out, opening up to Chelia and Lyon. The small sphere thus erupted into a gargantuan beam of black winds of perhaps double, if not triple, the sheer density it once held. The monstrous beam roared as it split the ground beneath, sending waves of dust on opposite sides and shuddering nearby windows. The blast wave shook everything and shattered nearly every window down the boulevard as it swallowed a horrified Chelia and Lyon. Both their screams were muted as the ice behind broke to sparkles.

Along the monitors that lead to Crocus, the birds eye view of Crocus saw a medium-sized line and a large, pillar-like explosion at its end. The bulbous end roared like a jet throughout the entire Crocus domain, reaching as far as the Domus Flau colosseum. The ground vibrated all throughout the streets with such terror, and dust and winds were nothing short of a maelstrom that acted as shockwave, cracking apart and knocking down other city properties. Buildings were in shambles, and the pavement was nothing but fresh dirt almost several miles long. Those watching were in complete disarray for what was seen, with the monitors themselves shaken up by the black whirlwinds expelling everywhere. Lola was at a loss for words, and the likes of Lamia Scale, Fairy Tail, and Sabertooth were all completely at a loss for what was seen.

Once the stage was clear, Craig's palms were sizzling, in which he whipped them to get them to cool. He crossed his arms and frowned, hearing the sounds of debris cracking and falling apart. In front of him was a deep, long trail that ran miles on end, and with a huge dirt trail that only expanded straight ahead on end. It surged onwards with small bits of property buried or otherwise completely obliterated. In the far reaches of the open land lied the ones responsible for the attack to begin with, namely Lyon and Chelia. Both were lying on huge mounds of destroyed buildings, having been blasted through several dozen already. Their bones were broken and possibly dislocated, and both their bodies were limp and devoid of pupils. By no means were they conscious this time around; some worried if they were even alive after that.

"T-that…that's it! THE BATTLE HAS BEEN WON!" Lola shrieked, having collected himself. "In another shocking twist f fate, the blind Craig adverted the odds and turned Chelia's own attack on her! That knocked her and her partner out of the competition, earning him 2 more points! Fairy Tail now stands at 51 points!"

The audience was in a hectic cheer for what was a large change in the tides. Some where gaping, but a good amount were dumbfounded that they didn't think Craig could've taken on more as he was blind. If that wasn't insult to injury, he smoked them hard with his reverse chi attack.

"Ah…a-ah…" Obaba was shuddering in place, her eyes devoid of pupils in despair. "Lyon and Chelia…LOST~?!"

"No way! Not Chelia!" Sherry exclaimed.

"Well, certainly didn't see that fight coming." Mato said. "And neither did Craig, but what can you do?"

"Well talk about the blind leading the blind, but now Lamia Scale is just down to their Wizard Saint, Jura. And that leaves Sabertooth down to their Twin Dragons and Minerva. This is getting very interesting to watch." Lola watched the monitor to show Craig again, revealing him hunching forward with an exasperated huff. "But now with Fairy Tail's lifeline on the…well, line, what will his plan be now?"

"Alright! Wait a go!" Happy cheered.

"That was amazing!" Lisanna smiled.

"No kidding. The guy actually whopped their asses like they were kids." Cana smirked. "Now that was just showing off."

"First that guy from Sabertooth, now beating those two with his eyes shut. Now I'm curious just what exactly he's doing to fight so well." Gildarts admitted.

"He repelled Chelia's attack, just like how he did with Gildarts and Laxus' attacks before." Levy said. "But I could've sworn he can't use Ethernano even…unless he's somehow able to do it by another method."

Jet smiled. "Well whatever he did, it sounds pretty awesome."

"I'll say. That knocked them out of the gates!" Droy excitedly said.

Pantherlily nodded. "Maybe we may have a shot at winning this whole thing after all.

---

With a relieved sigh, Craig hunched over and pulled his sword out. He stabbed the ground with its sheath, acting as a cane once more. Able to feel the ground once more, he looked left and right, but the silk was still on his eyes. He at least knew that the coast was clear, that much was a given. Although, the way he moved slowly spouted winder.

"Alright, the coast is clear…I think…" he questionable asked himself if he really was, but if he did run into another enemy, at least he would know via senses, or rather the chi. For the moment he felt nothing, and that meant he was safe, for now that is.

"Alright, better find somewhere to rest…" he turned in a random direction. "And I really need to find a restroom now-oof! Who put that poll there?!"

On another part of the streets, watching from a monitor to see Craig hit and recoil off a poll, Kagura stared intensely at the only remaining opponent who had her spine shuddering the whole time. As of recently, especially during Day 4, her nerves crawled when Craig ventured about. It was making her angry, contorted, and even worse, challenged. She wasn't particularly fond of opponents unless deemed worthy. From the way she saw things, she didn't find him worthy in person per se, but nevertheless, his powers were undoubtedly frightening. She was a woman of honor, and as such, with her pride on the line as a swordswoman, she knew what she had to do. Recollecting Craig's varied sword style she was aware of, she held Archenemy's hilt tighter to her body as she walked down the streets of Crocus. If she was going to cross blades with someone, it had to be one who could at least hold a sword.

Craig hit a building wall head on. "Ow! Where the hell is this freaking restroom already?!"

---

And chapter 59, boom! I wish I could say a lot here, but I'm not that good with saying much other than I want to have this leg of the story over with. But, like all great stories out there, it takes time. It's not easy, but I already got 3 major fights down for Craig in this one chapter. Orga and Arana for a spin, Rufus for his own variation of memories, and Lyon and Chelia just to show off his usage of improvising. I felt like it was keen to get Arana's webs to blind Craig temporarily, mainly because it was a good way to get a flashback going, plus to give yet another universal message through that Craig learned the hard way. And since chi is all about the spiritual force, this was a win-win.

So as I have hinted, you can guess who is going to come up next in the onslaught against Craig. Another swordswoman of high level going against someone who slayed a dragon the size of a mountain, and (hardly) disciple of the now deceased Ace Hunter, greatest swordsman in the world. And with Kagura's angry and always serious attitude, you can imagine what sparks will go off with Craig.

So until next chapter; can't say when, but shouldn't be that long. Saturday or Sunday perhaps, maybe next Monday if things are backed up. But I'm aiming for at least Sunday. So I hope you guys stick around to see how Craig wings this! So review, comment, and thanks for reading!