Disclaimer: I don't own anything besides a few OCs.

Warnings: same as in previous chapters. Nothing's changed on that front.

Borealis: Hehe, I was about to fix that mistake when I realized that I had done it on purpose. The last event of each day is guild-wide, remember? He was already in Crocus, he just wasn't on the team for some reason and only entered as a reserve after Warcry's defeat.

Enjoy!


"Has anyone seen Team Night Frost (AN: I know, lame name)?" Erza wondered, noting her guildmates' absence.

Lucy's brows furrowed as she thought. "Not since the trivia show yesterday. They usually patrol during the nights, though, since Jellal-nii and his team keep sensing something that feels like Zeref's magic when we're here."

"Oh." Erza calmed down slightly. "They're probably just sleeping, then."

"Probably." Lucy agreed, though she didn't look entirely convinced. "We'll check on them later…"


"It's day two of the Games and the stands are exploding with excitement!" Chapati announced. "Joining me once again is Mr. Yajima and our new special guest, Sorcerer Weekly's Jason!"

"SO COOL!" the energetic blonde cried out.


"Did Chapati's hair change?" Lisanna asked in surprise, glancing at the man who now had brown hair.


"Let's get back to the action as our teams take on the chariots!" he announced. "The point of this game is to reach the final goal without falling off! Simple, right? WRONG! The chariots are constantly in motion, and though at a snail's pace on false move could cost you! Which team will survive this rough and tumble sight-seeing tour through Crocus and be the first to cross the finish line? For those of you here with us at Domas-Flau, we'll be showing the race in crystal-clear Lacrima Vision™!"

"COOL!" Jason shouted.


The Fairy Tail mages in the audience that weren't participating looked on in horror as the details of the event were given, knowing who Team B was sending out.


"You've seen a lot in your days," Chapati said, turning to Yajima. "But would you have predicted anything even remotely like this?"

"Well…" Yajima said slowly.


"Why in the hell did we pick him?" Gray asked, wide-eyed.

"Yeah, you'd think the name 'Chariots' would be a big clue even for Natsu." Lucy said from where she was standing with Team A, shaking her head in disbelief.

"He was absolutely insistent in participating." Erza said, eyes closed in annoyance.

"Maybe he thought he was gonna get to fight chariots or something." Elfman muttered to Jet, Droy, and Levy, who were having a similar conversation.


"Uh oh!" Chapati announced. "I don't know what's wrong with Fairy Tail Team B's Natsu, but he can barely put one foot in front of the other!"

The Fairy Tail mages sighed.

"But that's not all! Mere feet away is Sabertooth's Sting, who seems to be in the same boat!"

"I can't imagine what can be causing them to slow down like this." Chapati said.

"I could be wrong but I think they share a common weakness for moving vehicles." Yajima said, hiding a smile.

Maki (Makarov) had told him many times about Natsu's issues.


"This a common affliction amongst your kind, Rogue?" Rufus wondered.

"I had thought that only Sting and I had trouble with motion sickness. But it seems I was wrong." The Shadow Dragon Slayer replied quietly. 'I'm glad it's not me out there.'


"Does it affect you too, Laxus?" Mirajane asked curiously, glancing back at her teammate.

"Just don't let Natsu know; I'll never live it down." He replied.

"I probably wouldn't have admitted that if I were you." Juvia noted.

The other two were too surprised that she had spoken in first person to respond.


"Even the Sabertooth guy's ill!" Levy said.

"Talk about a textbook case of rotten luck. This game is about Sting's one and only weakness." Lector said, arms crossed. "So those other teams have no clue how easy they got off."

"Yeah! Sting would rock their face!" Frosch agreed.


"Now let's take a look at the groups leading the pack!" Chapati redirected the audience's attention.

"In first place is Toph Beifong from Fairy Tail Team A!"

Loud cheers came from Fairy Tail (regardless of which team they were on) and Toph's group of friends.

The black-haired girl had taken advantage of her competitors' decision to let her make the first step (the idiots), considering that even those who didn't know about her unique way of seeing didn't think it would work since they were on moving wooden surfaces.

The second she had stepped on that second chariot she immediately made a few large rocks hammer at the bottom of the first chariot, knocking the Hairy Hooligan, True Cross Order, and Sabertooth participants out of the running.

Sting wasn't even mad at being disqualified, since he hadn't even intended to finish the race anyway and was just glad to be on an unmoving surface.

Natsu held on by sheer willpower, though he was laying down and drooling on the chariot.

As Toph launched her attack of the first chariot, she used her magic to push her own chariot forward, actually separating it from the long line of chariots and moving it to move alongside it at a much faster pace, bringing up obstacles in the form of 'speed bumps' in the other chariots' path.

The other groups grimaced, especially Black Snake, who had only allowed the girl to go first out of feigned pity and sportsmanship.

"We really should have known better." Yuka muttered to himself with a sigh as they all sped off. He wasn't particularly surprised. This was the girl who'd beaten Jura, after all. He shouldn't have underestimated her. "Guess we're fighting for second place, then."


"And furthest ahead is Black Snake from Raven Tail, followed closely by Blue Pegasus' Ichiya, Lamia Scale's Yuka, and Mermaid Heel's Risley Law!"


"Feel the burn!" Ichiya cried.

"I'm surprised someone with your figure can run for this long." Yuka said conversationally, not trying to insult her but merely making an observation.

"Don't underestimate chubby power short stuff!" Risley returned with a smile from her place right behind him.

"Coming in behind them is Quatro Cerberus' reserve member, Bacchus!"

"Man that guy's loud!" Bacchus groaned. "Can't you let a guy work off last night's booze in peace?"

"Feel my WAVE BOOST!" Yuka shouted, knocking Ichiya and Risley back as his magic…well, boosted him forwards. "Good luck using any magic while you're in my shockwave."

Risley grinned. "We're you listening before? Chubby power RULES!"

And she moved, running on the side of the chariot.

"And there it is!" Chapati announced. "Risley's Gravity Change magic! She dodged Yuka's wave and is now making her way towards the leaders!"

Ichiya made a pose. "A magic neutralizing wave, huh? In that case…"

He stuck two tubes up his nose, causing disgusted groans from the crowd. "Watch my Fleet-Foot Perfume Zero Distance Inhalation! It absorbs in style!"

The odor made him immune to the neutralizing aspect of Yuka's attack, and also gave him enhanced speed, which he proved by quickly passing the blunette Lamia Scale mage.

Yuka's eyes widened as he realized that both of them had managed to escape his shockwave and were now ahead of him.

"Wow." Bacchus said. "They're really going all out aren't they? Gets my soul all stirred up, ya know? Well! Guess I better put a little effort into this race, too!"

He raised his foot, and with a powerful stomp he knocked all of the chariots ahead of him off-kilter, unbalancing his opponents and nearly causing them to fall off. "Check this out!"

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Chapati shouted. "Bacchus demolished the chariots with brute force!"


"Amazing." Erza said, stunned at the display. 'He's even stronger than before.'

Not that that part was a surprise, considering even Max had improved so much that he'd given Natsu a hard time at first.

Speaking of the Fire Dragon Slayer, at this point she had given up hoping Natsu would somehow be able to break out of his sickness and overtake the others.

He was in last place out of the remaining teams, sure, but Sabertooth, the exorcists, and the Vikings would be getting any points, so it could be worse.

The only way he wouldn't get at least one point would be for him to roll off of the chariot, now that everyone else was too far ahead to knock him off on purpose, but she knew that his determination would ensure that he didn't.


"What is with this guy?" Ichiya groaned as Bacchus jogged past him.

"Catch ya later losers!" the man called back. "Try not to fall off before the finish!"

"That was a dirty trick." Ichiya commented.

"You said it." Yuka agreed.

Meanwhile, Risley had used her Gravity Change magic again, and appeared to be a much skinnier (and taller for some reason) woman, and she clenched her fist angrily. "No one makes the chubby fly."

"What happened to Risley?!" Chapati wondered. "A Gravity Change?"

"THAT'S COOL!" Jason shouted.

Bacchus cackled as he quickly passed Black Snake, who paused in surprise as Bacchus arrived at the end of the line, hopping off the chariot before sprinting to the goal.

"And we have our second place winner!"


"I didn't know Quatro Cerberus had someone like that in their guild!" Makarov said, surprised.

"Now that's what I call wild." Master Goldmine said contently.


Toph had been waiting for the last five minutes for someone else to finish.

She could tell who it was from their heartbeat and movements, but also by the stink of his breath.

Damn drunk.

"'Bout time, Dionysus." She complained.

"It's Bacchus." The man corrected her.

"Same difference." Toph waved a hand dismissively. "Roman god of wine, Greek god of wine…you sure live up to the name."

Bacchus smirked at her. "Why thank you. I try."

A few moments later Black Snake appeared, and then Risley, Yuka, and Ichiya, in that order.

Last but not least (as least was the disqualified teams) was Natsu.


Sting was walking slowly alongside the chariot.

"I don't get it." He said. "Can you explain something to me?"

Natsu glared at him weakly.

"Why did you even bother entering the tournament?"

The pinkette blinked in surprise.

"Seriously. A contest meant to determine the strongest guild in Fiore." The blonde scoffed. "For a long time that was Fairy Tail, and who knows? I certainly think Sabertooth's got you beat, but I'm not the king."

"What're you talking about?" Natsu complained.

"You're obsessed with how tough you are and what the rest of the world thinks of you. What happened to the Fairy Tail of my childhood? The guild that did whatever the hell it wanted. Whenever the hell it wanted. They never cared what anybody else said or thought about them."

Laxus flinched slightly.

He had cared. More than he should have. And it had very nearly cost him everything.

Natsu grit his teeth. "The reason we're here…is for our friends!"

Sting's dark gray eyes flashed in shock.

"The ones…who waited for us. For all the years we were gone." Natsu continued. "Who fought through the pain!"

He remembered loosing Lisanna, and imagined that it had been much worse with all of them missing and presumed dead by most of the world. "And the heartache! We abandoned them (albeit unintentionally). But even so, they stayed strong! And they kept our guild together. We're doing this for them!"

Team B was, anyway.

Team A had entered because they didn't want to end up nearly bankrupt as they had, and 30 million Jewel went a long way to keep them afloat.

Lucy smiled proudly, not bothering to wipe away the tears she felt flowing down her cheeks.

"And I'm going to make sure everyone here knows." Natsu glared, shouting at this point. "FAIRY TAIL NEVER GAME UP! NOT FOR AN INSTANT! SO THERE'S NO WAY I'M GONNA GIVE UP NOW!"

'Oh Natsu!' most of the Fairy Tail mages (many of whom with tears in their eyes) thought fondly.

Kozue smiled widely, and Erik would never admit it, but even his eyes had softened and he had a tiny smile that only Kinana and maybe Laki would be able to spot.

Everyone in Fairy Tail was smiling. Gajeel, Laxus, Itachi, Charlotte, Raven…even Toph from where she was waiting for her guildmate at the finish line.

And so, when Natsu finally stumbled off the chariot and, suddenly recovered from the ride, jogged across the finish line, the crowd cheered louder for him that anyone else.


"HE DID IT!" Chapati cheered. "Fairy Tail Team B's Natsu scores…7th out of 10th place, leaving Fairy Tail Team B with 4 points and the teams in 8th through 10th places with none! As such the scoring for Chariot is as follows…

1st is Fairy Tail Team A with 10

2nd is Quatro Cerberus with 9

3rd is Raven Tail with 8 points

4th is Mermaid Heel with 7

5th is Lamia Scale with 6

6th is Blue Pegasus with 5

And 7th is Fairy Tail Team B with 4 points!

Meanwhile, the Sabertooth guild, the Hairy Hooligan tribe, and the True Cross Order come away from this event with zero points!


Master Jiemma's eyes narrowed angrily.

He could deal with Sabertooth ranking last against other magic guilds, considering that Sting was unable to do anything to control his motion sickness. It was the drawback of having dragon slayers compete.

However, being on the same level as non-mages?

That was an entirely different story.

He would give the blonde one more chance.

And if he failed…well.

Maybe that damned feline cheerleader and fanboy of Sting's would be of some use, after all.


Please review! :)

I don't know if Toph can feel the vibrations of the earth well enough to do this when she's on a wooden platform, not touching the earth directly, but for the sake of this event she can. I'll use the reasoning that the chariots have metal, and as those who've watched Avatar: The Last Airbender know, she can bend metal as well as earth, so she used that to 'see.' And she doesn't have to be touching earth to manipulate it.