Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything but a few OC's.
Warnings: same as in previous chapters. The new hinted yuri pairings are in this chapter, too, though feel free to ignore them.
Enjoy!
"We've got to do something about those jerks in Raven Tail." Natsu decided. "They can't just get away with this!"
"It's as if they're trying to take us out, one by one." Erza said darkly. "And we still don't know where Ryder and the other two are…"
"Actually…" Carla paused. "I'm not entirely convinced that's true."
Wendy, Natsu, Erza, and Lisanna glanced at her.
"Wait, what are you talking about?" Wendy asked.
"How can you say that after everything that's happened?" Erza demanded with a frown.
"The men from earlier told Natsu that they were hired by Raven Tail to kidnap Lucy for some reason." Carla said sharply. "But their plan ended in failure. Not only did they choose the wrong target but Natsu easily stopped them."
"What's so strange about that?" Lisanna wondered.
"We don't know that they were going to do with Lucy after they caught her, either." Erza said.
Lucy, who was there with Meredy because they had been probably targets, grimaced. "I don't want to know."
"Wait, why are you so sure it's Lucy they were after?" Natsu frowned, glancing at his blonde friend and fellow pinkette. "Meredy was in the infirmary, too."
Meredy frowned thoughtfully. "Maybe…but I agree that they were probably after Lucy. Especially with her connection to Laxus…"
"That's if it really was Raven Tail." Erza mused.
"The method they used raises a red flag." Carla explained. "They have a wizard who can instantly drain magic power. That's the one that attacked Wendy, Romeo, and I before the Games even began."
"Yes, that's right." Erza frowned. "The same wizard who was going to sabotage Lucy's battle with Flare."
"If Raven Tail has a wizard who possesses that kind of skill, one would think that they would choose to involve him in the abduction."
"Maybe they didn't want to seem suspicious." Gray theorized. "If they sent one of their guys out right before the battle people would notice."
"The organizers want everyone close by for the battles, since they don't announce who's fighting until right before the match." Lisanna added.
"I think you're giving them too much credit." Wendy agreed with a small smile at Carla.
"I don't think they're concerned with how they do things as long as someone gets hurt in the end." Lucy said with a scowl.
"No matter what, if they're targeting us both in and out of the arena, we must remain on guard at all times." Erza declared. "No one should go anywhere by themselves. Got that, Cobra?"
'Yeah, Titania.' The Poison Dragon Slayer muttered, having established a telepathic connection with the group to keep in touch with the rest of the guild. Warren and Kozue were focusing on Raven Tail itself. 'I'll pass it on.'
'What troubles me the most about this,' Carla thought once Cobra had broken the link, remembering her premonition. 'Is that it was likely Lucy they were going after.'
"It's a lovely day here at the Games and it's about to get even lovelier!" Chapati shouted. "Welcome to the Battle of the Beauties, with Fairy Tail B's Mirajane Strauss against Blue Pegasus' Blonde Bombshell, Jenny Realight!"
"Hey, we're back." Lisanna greeted.
"You're just in time." Cana said with a smile. "Your sister's up."
Lucy smiled. "I think Mira's going to be just fine…"
"Jenny's got a lot of crowd support." Cana said. "I heard she used to be number one on Sorcerer Weekly's Hottest Girls in Magic list. Guys go a little nuts over her."
"Rumor has it she idolized Mira, so much that she modeled her career after her." Lisanna said.
"It's weird because now she's technically older than Mirajane." Romeo mused as he walked up with Carla and Wendy. "Since none of you aged in the last seven years…"
Pantherlily turned towards him in surprise. "Oh. Seems like someone's feeling better."
"Carla!" Happy cheered.
"Yes, we're fine." Carla said. "So apparently those of us who aren't competing have to stay over here during the match?"
"Yes." Pantherlily agreed. "Team members are on the balcony. Close enough that we can all still hear each other, but still separated. Teams A and B are standing together because the organizers weren't expecting multiple teams from the same guild to make it, so they were unprepared."
Carla sighed.
"Oh, I was so worried-!" Happy cried, lunging for her.
She dodged easily. "Oh, knock it off, or you'll miss the next battle."
Carla stared down at the arena worriedly. 'I can't keep worrying about what I saw in my dream…for now I need to support my guild and cheer them on!'
"Come on, Mirajane!" she shouted. "Fight with everything you'll got!"
But then, her mouth dropped open in horror as she saw the 'battle.' "What's going on here?!"
"You're not gonna like it." Happy warned.
Makarov stared at the scene with hearts in his eyes.
"Get a hold of yourself, Master." Romeo said with a sigh.
That broke Carla out of her shock, and she slapped the Master upside the head, nodding at Romeo, who grinned back at her.
Down on the arena floor, Mirajane was kneeling in a swimsuit. "Do you like what you see?"
The crowd cheered.
"Ooh…" Jenny said, running her hands through her hair and showing the underside of her breasts in her own blue swimsuit.
The crowd cheered even louder.
"What kind of battle is this?!" Gray and Natsu demanded.
"I don't know!" Wendy cried.
"It's weird." Happy said. "I mean, I know they both used to be pin-up models and all…"
"But this is a place for mages to show off their skills, not prance around in teeny-bikinis." Pantherlily continued.
"Disgraceful!" Carla huffed.
Mirajane modeled another swimsuit. "Hey, boys!"
"Hi." Jenny followed a moment later.
The crowd cheered.
"Is this normal?!" Wendy cried.
"I'm pretty sure this is a special arrangement for the two of them." Lucy assured her. "At least…I hope so."
"It's only the second day and we're already having to dip into our reserve members?" Hibiki asked.
"Yeah, that kinda sucks." Ren agreed. "But Ichiya's in bad shape."
"Stuck the tubes too far up his nose during Chariot, and burst a few blood vessels." Eve recalled. "Got a pretty bad nosebleed."
"You've definitely still got it." Jenny complimented.
"Thank you! It feels nice to be doing this again." Mirajane admitted.
"I've gotta admit, I was actually a little surprised you agreed to do this with me."
"Mhm." Mirajane hummed. "I don't really like slugging it out with people, so this is better. I much prefer taking a more peaceful approach if it's possible."
"Two bodacious babes who are both masters of Transformation magic?" Chapati announced. "This is truly the stuff that dreams are made of! Somebody pinch me!"
"I'm really feeling like a young man today!" Yajima blushed, holding up a small sign with an 'M', as opposed to Chapati's 'J'. Jason, of course, had one of each.
"I can't wait to see what they'll change into n—" Chapati started, but was interrupted.
"NOT SO FAST!" three women jumped down to the arena floor.
"You don't expect us to just let these bubble-headed bimbos hog all the attention?" Risley asked, already in her Gravity Change form with Beth and Araña beside her.
"We are strong and beautiful chikas as well." Araña agreed.
"Team Mermaid Heel is the ultimate in girl power." Risley and the green-haired woman said, with Beth just sheepishly blushing from her place next to them.
"This is embarrassing." The younger girl muttered.
The judges stared at them in surprise.
"Well I definitely did not see this one coming!" Chapati said. "Mermaid Heel has joined the party!"
"Hold it you guys!" two voices called. "All these girls are missing the most important thing! They don't have the love to back it up!"
"If you want love, then you've got to give love." Sherry said.
"And we're both bursting at the seams with it!" Chelia said cheerfully.
"And now two contestants from Lamia Scale through their bodies into it!" Chapati called.
"Wow." Levy said skeptically. "That takes guts, I guess."
"What are you ladies doing just watching from the sidelines?" Mavis cried.
"What do you mean by that?" Levy asked warily.
"Do you think we should go down there?" Lisanna asked, surprised.
"Are we supposed to just always have a swimsuit handy?" Cana asked.
Levy and Lisanna's eyebrows raised, glancing at the red bikini top Cana was wearing.
"No, silly. But you never know what might happen." Mavis said with a smile. "So you should be ready for anything. I have one for all of you!"
Swimsuits rained from the sky around her.
"Pay attention, boys." Makarov whispered to Macao and Wakaba. "This is why we must never, NEVER, question the infinite wisdom of our First Master."
"Yeah, she really seems to know how to have a good time." Romeo said obliviously.
"You shouldn't just stand here like a bunch of party poopers!" she went to the balcony. "Let's all go down there together!"
"For real?" Toph groaned.
"There's no reason we should stand idly by while our competitors are taking the spotlight." Erza said with a smile.
"Since my body is made out of water, I can fill out a bathing suit better than any of these other girls." Juvia said with a smile, suddenly in a light purple/blue bikini and pigtails.
"Ugh, you're gonna do it, too?" Gajeel asked.
"A woman must do whatever she can to fight for her true love!" Juvia declared.
"Good luck with that." Gajeel muttered sarcastically.
"This situation has gotten pretty out of hand, wouldn't you say?" Mirajane asked.
"Oh yeah, but it's all in good fun, and the fans are totally eating it up." Jenny agreed, though her smile had dimmed slightly.
"If you were looking for a heaping serving of fanservice, then ladies and gentlemen, the Domas-Flau is definitely the place you want to find yourself today!" Chapati announced.
"Unless we want an actual riot on our hands, we have no choice but to let this madness continue." Oddly enough, Yajima didn't sound mad at that.
Jason was ecstatic, as always. "This is amazing! Oh man! The Sorcerer Weekly cover story! I'll call it 'The Big Battle of the Busty Bathing Bombshells!' It's so hot, and COOOOL!"
"Well folks, this is still a strictly one on one event, so Mirajane and Jenny will still be the only ones scored!"
Jenny was ahead by one point.
"That's quite the alliteration." Lucy said, eyebrows twitching in annoyance at Jason's comment.
She was wearing one of her own swimsuits that she'd requipped as opposed to getting one from Mavis, so she wore a black bikini set with gold stars.
Levy posed awkwardly, before giving up. "Why the heck are we all down here demeaning ourselves?"
Cana, however, was in her element in a green, yellow, and orange bikini set, laying down on the ground.
"Come on, lighten up!" Mavis encouraged. "This is a nice break from fighting."
"Don't take this the wrong way, but I just don't understand why a ghost would be so into this." Cana said, staring at the First.
"Makes total sense coming from the person who started this crazy guild in the first place." Lucy said with a laugh.
"Is there a reason you're standing so close?" Erza asked Evergreen, who was indeed right in front of her.
"As the rightful Queen of the Faries I simply can't be upstaged." The brunette explained.
"Wardrobe change: school swimsuits!"
The girls all found themselves in plain blue one-pieces.
"This is starting to get a little too crazy for me." Levy decided.
"Wendy doesn't look too out of place in hers."
Wendy groaned. "I feel out of place!"
"And now, bikinis and thigh-highs!" Chapati shouted.
"It's weird, it covers more skin but it's more embarrassing." Lucy sighed, resigned.
"Who likes girls in glasses?!" Chapati yelled, blushing as all of the girls suddenly had glasses on their faces.
"This is pretty much the look I go with every day." Laki mused.
"Cats!"
Asuka giggled from her place between her mom and Cana, all three of them wearing cat costumes, the adults' of course being far more revealing.
"I feel absolutely ridiculous in these!" Carla almost cried, a cat ear headband covering her real ears.
"Bondage gear!"
"Sometimes love has to hurt a bit!" Sherry said.
"You're scaring me!" Chelia almost cried.
"So, Titania, have you accepted your place beneath me, yet?" Evergreen asked.
"You DARE speak to ME?!" the redhead returned.
Evergreen bowed quickly and apologized.
Romeo looked on nervously.
"This is freaking me out." He muttered. "I think Lucy-nee and maybe Erza are the only ones who should have a whip in their hands…"
Macao, Wakaba, and Makarov sighed.
"You're missing the point." Wakaba groaned.
"You'll get it someday, son." Macao assured him.
Romeo looked at them like they were crazy. 'I already get it. You're old perverts!'
"How about a blushing bride challenge?" Chapati asked, still flushed. "So ladies, grab a lucky guy and squeeze them into wedding dresses!"
"I appreciate the help, Master!" Mirajane said cheerfully, wearing a beautiful dress. "Thank you!"
"I will do whatever it takes to secure a win for my guild." Makarov told her.
"This'll be us, soon." Ren whispered to Sherry, who blushed darker than her dark pink hair.
A few feet away, another engaged couple was dancing slowly, ignoring the craziness around them.
"Next time, it'll just be you in a wedding gown." Erik whispered, pressing a kiss to the corner of his fiancé's mouth.
Kinana blushed happily, perfectly content to spend the rest of the event (or maybe the rest of time) in Erik's arms.
"May I have this dance?" Eve asked Chelia cheerfully.
"Sure!" the fourteen year old pinkette agreed cheerfully, accepting the hand.
Hey, there was a huge age difference, but it was entirely innocent and they didn't like each other that way, so who cared if they partnered up for the sake of an event?
"Well, you were at hand." Jenny teased her boyfriend.
"That turns me on even more." Hibiki teased back.
Rogue bit his lip, glancing at Raven, who hadn't bothered to go down with her guildmates, and was instead still on the balcony reading.
Would he have had the courage to defy Master Jiemma and go down there to keep her company if the half-demon Fairy had decided to participate?
He glanced at his guildmates.
Sting looked bored, but he noticed that Yukino was staring wistfully down at the group below.
Well, at least he wasn't the only one.
"OY!" Toph shouted up at the stands. "SPARKY!"
Her friends giggled as Zuko sighed jokingly before leaping over the balcony to keep her company. "Hey, Toph. I've got to say, the dress…doesn't really suit you."
Toph grimaced in agreement, feeling the foreign material.
"Never again." She swore.
Zuko wrinkled his nose at the tuxedo he somehow found himself in. "Yeah, me neither."
"Not many guys to choose from." Sinon realized.
"No, it would seem that there aren't." Charlotte agreed, before seeing that Izumo and Shiemi from the exorcist group had partnered up (one of their friends, Shima, pouting from the sidelines). "There's an idea…"
And in short order the two girls decided to just be each other's partner for the event.
"That's an interesting development." Kirito mused as he watched Sinon talk with Charlotte Phantomhive, obviously partnered up.
"Who knows?" Asuna said with a smile, glancing at the two girls fondly. "Neither of them has any patience for guys...well, except you in Sinon's case, but she's not interested."
"Neither am I." Kirito assured his girlfriend.
Kozue blushed slightly as Rin took ahold of her hand.
Neither noticed the stares (and in Rin's case glares) they were getting from the exorcists, who thought that the girl must not know what Rin was.
"Oomph!" Lisanna said in surprise as she felt something heavy land on her head.
She glanced up to see Bickslow resting his head on hers. "Comfortable?"
"Not really." The Seith mage said, sticking his tongue out.
Lisanna waited. "…Then are you going to move?"
"Nope." The masked man denied.
"Well, okay then." She smiled.
Evergreen sniffed. "Well, I suppose if I must."
Elfman smiled slightly, making sure she didn't see it.
The woman could try all she wanted, but he'd seen under that snobby mask a few times, and he wasn't so easily fooled anymore.
Maybe he should ask her out on another date soon…
After all, their first one went pretty well, in his opinion.
"Come on, Natsu!" Meredy laughed, trying to pull Natsu with her as he grabbed onto the railing.
"Ultear will kill me!" the Fire Dragon Slayer panicked. "She didn't let you do the Bachelorette thing…"
"Because she wanted me to have a choice." Meredy rolled her eyes playfully. "Now come on, Natsu. I don't bite."
Natsu whimpered in fear, glancing at Ultear, who was luckily being distracted by Itachi.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow as he saw his brother partner up with another Fairy Tail mage for the event.
Had Itachi-nii finally found himself attracted to someone?
So there was a heart still under there after all…
Levy sweat-dropped as Droy and Jet fought over her before turning to glance at Gajeel.
"How come you're not pairing up with anybody?" Pantherlily asked. He was holding both Asuka and Yui's hands, both girls dressed in cute little flower girl dresses, Asuka in pink and Yui in a light silver (she usually wears white, but can't here since white is supposed to only be worn by the bride, or so I've heard.)
"This is stupid." Gajeel grunted. "I'm just gonna take a nap for a while."
Pantherlily glanced at Levy, noticing that she was watching, and winked encouragingly.
Levy sighed. "Well, I suppose—"
She was cut off as she was suddenly lifted off of the ground, and she squeaked, looking down to Gajeel as Jet and Droy went off to cry in a corner.
"Gajeel-kun!" she grunted, hitting his back as he put her in a fireman's hold. "What're you doing?!"
"Couldn't put you on my shoulder the right way cause of your dress." He muttered.
"And this is BETTER?!" Levy screeched, disbelieving.
"You guys aren't going out there? Romeo asked the group of men hiding in the stands, which included his father, Wakaba, Max, Nab, and Reedus.
"No. If something should happen…" Macao answered.
"If my wife happened to see me…" Wakaba muttered, terrified.
Romeo sighed, going off to find Wendy.
After all, if Carla and Happy paired off together because they were both Exceeds, then surely it wouldn't seem weird that he asked Wendy, since they were the same age, right?
"Juvia, I'm the only one for you!" Lyon declared, sweeping the blue-haired girl into his arms. 'Wait for it…'
"Lyon-sama!" Juvia gasped. "But Juvia is—"
Before she could finish, Gray came out of nowhere.
'There he is.' Lyon thought with a satisfied smirk.
Of course, Gray misinterpreted the smirk, and launched a flying kick at his rival, knocking him away and catching the Water mage in his arms.
"It's no fun letting a teammate get snatched by a jerk from another guild." Gray muttered petulantly.
"Juvia is so happy!" she cheered, throwing her arms around Gray and knocking them both down.
"Gah!" Gray panicked. "Not so tight, woman!"
Erza smiled from where she was leaning against one of the arena walls, looking on fondly as her friends and family had fun.
She was startled when someone tapped her shoulder, and at a glance found Jellal standing next to her with a small smile.
"May I?" he asked quietly, offering a hand.
Erza blushed brightly, requiping into a wedding dress that she'd seen on one of her missions, fallen in love with, and bought. "Of course."
Lucy beamed as Jellal actually asked Erza to be his partner.
Honestly, she wasn't sure he'd be able to follow through with it, so she was happy to see that she was wrong.
Erza made a beautiful bride.
Hopefully Jellal's bride, someday.
Lucy would like having the redhead as a sister-in-law…Jellal was practically her brother, after all.
Hearing familiar footsteps come up from behind her, she smiled.
"Let's see…" she said teasingly. "Who should I—"
"Need a partner, blondie?" Laxus asked, and she turned to see him dressed in white. "Saw you send away Loke…"
"Of course I did, he has Aries." Lucy smiled. "And alas, I too am taken these days…"
"Oh?" Laxus raised an amused eyebrow. "By who? I'll need to have a talk with him."
Lucy laughed brightly, causing Laxus' expression to soften.
"You look nice." She grinned at him.
"So do you." He muttered awkwardly.
A few moments later, the girls' fun ended when the Lamia Scale guild master, a short old woman, decided to 'show them what a real woman looked like' and ruined it for everyone.
Porlyusica face-palmed from the infirmary, where she was watching via lacrima vision.
"And with that crash course in reality the mood in the arena has been brought back down to Earthland." Chapati muttered gloomily. "The fun is over, folks. The other teams have begun to clear out."
"AW!" the crowd cried, disappointed.
"The circus is gone and it's just you and me again." Jenny said.
"Aw, that's too bad. It was fun while it lasted." Mirajane replied, cupping her cheek.
"We need to wrap this thing up, so let's move on to the final round in this exhilarating match!" Chapati announced, glancing at the scoreboard, which showed that the two ladies were tied at 30 points each.
'Yes!' Jenny thought triumphantly. 'Sorry Mirajane, but no matter what the judges want us to do, I have an airtight strategy for victory.'
"It all comes down to this!" the blonde said out loud.
"And I'm not gonna lose!" Mira said, determined.
"How about we make things more interesting and have our own bet?" Jenny asked. "After all, everybody else today is doing it."
"I'm game." Mirajane agreed. "So what do you have in mind?"
"The loser will pose for Sorcerer Weekly wearing absolutely nothing but her birthday suit!" Jenny declared, pointing at Mirajane.
Nosebleeds.
Nosebleeds everywhere.
"That's crazy." Lisanna said quietly with a slight blush.
"Sorry…but I'm a little conflicted." Macao said. "Who do I cheer for?"
"Don't know, it's hard." Wakaba added.
Mirajane's smiled stayed as she tilted her head cutely. "You're on!"
"WHAT?!" the crowd shouted.
"Unbelievable!" Chapati cried, sweat pouring down his face. "Things like this, everybody is a winner!"
'Hn. She took the bait.' Jenny thought. 'Mirajane has been the apple of the public's eye for a long time now, so she may have more fans in the crowd than I do, but those judges up there are the ones handing out the scores.'
She thought of a dinner meeting she'd had with Chapati, Jason, and Yajima a few weeks prior.
'So I did a little digging to find out what really turns them on, and it seems like they're into younger girls, which is perfect for me. Mira may have been around before I was, but she hasn't aged in seven years, so now she's actually the younger one. And as an added bonus, a hot model coming out of retirement looking exactly the same and finally getting naked will sell a ton of magazines for Sorcerer Weekly. It's obvious who they'll choose.'
"Now…our final theme will be…combat gear." Chapati said.
In an instant, Jenny glowed brightly. 'So sorry for being naughty, but there is no way I'm gonna lose this one. It's just too perfect!'
She ended up in dark pink and purple mecha-style suit. "You really think you can handle my combat form?"
Mirajae smirked. "Yeah, I'm not too worried about it."
And with that, her hair started flying wildly around her, and her magic, now visible, glowed purple.
"And since we're making a bet like everyone before us, why don't we continue another trend, and finish off this round with a battle of strength like they all did too?" Mirajane asked.
Jenny froze. "Uh…"
Mirajane, meanwhile, had finished her Take Over.
"What the heck is that?!" Rin demanded.
"It's one of Mirajane's demon forms." Erza answered. "Satan Soul: Sitri. Her ultimate Satan Soul…besides Haphas."
(AN: because I'm not sure which one is stronger, since she was actually banned from using Haphas.)
'And the exorcists called me a demon?!' he thought wildly, not knowing that the exorcists themselves (or at least his allies in the group) were having similar thoughts.
"I agreed to the terms that you set." Mirajane said in a much deeper voice than normal, flames billowing behind her. "So I would appreciate it if you would be a good sport and agree to mine."
Jenny's eyes widened even more as she began to shake in terror. "Wait, are you serious?!"
Mirajane glared. "Yes."
She moved towards Jenny, and suddenly she was on Jenny's other side, her opponent flying through the air.
Natsu and Gray gasped.
The Trimen already looked defeated, as they should.
"AH!" Jenny cried.
"Just like that, this beauty battle becomes a brawl!" Chapati cried out as the crowd cheered.
"I suppose this is more keeping with tradition." Yajima allowed.
"AND MIRAJANE TAKES THE BIG 'W!'" Chapati shouted.
"Yay!" Happy shouted.
"Way to go, Mira!" Lisanna yelled proudly.
"I'm okay with it." Macao said with a grin.
"Either way we win." Wakaba agreed.
"I am so ready for next week's issue!" they shouted in unison with hearts in their eyes.
"And that's how we do things in the Fairy Tail guild!" Natsu declared.
"But wasn't this supposed to be a beauty contest?" Gray wondered.
"Most of it was, anyway." Erza said with a smile.
"There was no rule against fighting." Lucy agreed with a shrug. "Mira just took advantage of the judges' oversight."
"That seems to happen quite a bit with this guild." Wendy let out a laugh.
Mirajane ended her Take Over, turning to Jenny. "Sorry about that. But if this will make you feel any better, I'll buy an issue when it comes out."
Jenny bawled, covering her chest with her arms as she realized what she'd have to do.
"That win adds another 10 points for Fairy Tail Team B, and Blue Pegasus gains zero!" Chapati called.
"Didn't know she had it in her." Gajeel grunted.
"Yeah, she's brutal." Laxus said, looking away. "That's why you always want to stay on her good side."
"Understood." Jellal said warily.
"Wow, that was amazing." Juvia said with a smile as Mirajane walked back up to them. "Nicely done."
"Thanks you guys, but that whole experience was more than a little embarrassing." Mirajane said with a light blush, covering her cheek.
"Yeah, well I bet that last part felt pretty damn good." Gajeel snickered.
Jellal, Ultear, and Meredy frowned thoughtfully.
No sign of that mysterious Zeref-like presence, yet...
Please review! :)
I've already written the scene with Ryder, Jack, Toothless, and their kidnapper, but this chapter ended up too long for me to tack it on at the end, so you'll probably see it next chapter.
Note: this is the ABSOLUTE LAST CHANCE to vote on Yukino! Again, those who have already voted CANNOT vote again!
