Who Needs a Princess, When You Can Have a Queen?

Celestia193's Author's Note: Poor Hibiki, this is going to hurt. Anyway, as Fairy Tail fans know, next up is Pandemonium and the MPF. I don't think there's much to say about the events, other than that. But hold onto your hats, this is going to be awesome! Just as awesome as the match-up decided at the end of the chapter. And to warn all of the FT fans, we're going to be going fairly off-canon from here on out in terms of the team rankings. Because, let's face it, Blue Pegasus is going to get a ton more points than in canon with Itachi and Sasuke fighting for them. The final rankings are going to be fairly different.

Chapter Notation: Thanks for the reviews. Sorry, Hibiki. It was really nothing personal. Anyway, there are no line breaks in this one and we hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 13

"I'll go." Hibiki straightens out his pink shirt, grinning for the lacrimas. Pandemonium had just been announced, and the first competitors were heading to the field.

Sasuke nods at that. "Alright. Be careful." To say the least, the event's name sounded rather ominous, but Hibiki deserved his shot too!

Hibiki wasn't the only familiar face down there, Itachi's eyes flick to the armored Fairy on the arena floor. "It seems that your Fairy is going to be participating." And somehow, he had a feeling that no matter what Hibiki did,there was little chance of defeating Erza in any contest of strength or of arms. Then again, perhaps it would be one of intellect, in which case, they might both place high. And Erza wasn't the only Fairy on the ground. "Both of your Fairies." Cana was joining the fray as well.

Sasuke nods at that. "Erza told me she'd be competing today." He didn't necessarily expect Cana though. "I've never actually seen Cana fight before. Well other than barroom fights." He idly wonders what kind of magic she has, but was more distracted by Erza.

"In that case, our teammate has his work cut out for him." Shisui sighs at that knowledge, though he did give Cana a rather appreciative glance. "Well I'm sure he'll do well enough to keep us competitive though."

"Yes, let's hope so." Because if there was one thing Itachi knew, it was never to underestimate the women of Fairy Tail. They were an exceedingly dangerous bunch.

As the referee begins explaining the rules, Itachi's stomach sinks a little. A hundred monsters within the castle of Pandemonium, and the number of monsters that you were able to defeat would determine your score at the end of the contest. What complicated things, however, was that as the ranks of monsters went up, five in total, they got exponentially stronger. "…Perhaps Hibiki was not the wisest choice to send down to represent us." The man was intelligent, of course, but fighting monsters on his own was not his strong suit.

"I'll admit that he's at a disadvantage, but this does involve some strategy." Sasuke watches with anxious eyes. "I think he can perform decently, but his odds of winning aren't great."

Shisui nods in agreement. He shared his cousin's concerns. "Though it's our collective score as a team that matters. So even if we perform poorly or modestly well in an event or two, we could still win at the end." Which was exactly what he expected his guild to do.

However, when it came down to the drawing of the straws, the lineup began to take shape. The last to go would be Cana, but the first…Erza. And Itachi could already sense something wrong in the air. "Fairy Tail is going first…" That could only spell trouble.

"Well...I guess it's about time they had some good luck." Sasuke frowns. He knew that such an occurrence likely wouldn't end well for Hibiki. "Let's see what happens." It wasn't as if they had any other choice.

A choice of any number between one and one hundred as Erza approaches the castle, not even waiting for the referee to finish speaking. And as though sensing her intent, the lacrimas zoom in on her, projecting her image and voice for the entire crowd to hear. "Inside this castle wait one hundred monsters…" She stops at the bottom of the steps, dropping her straw into the sand. "I choose to challenge…all of them. My challenge right is one hundred." It was an impossibly bold move by the Queen of the Fairies.

Shisui blinks at that and places his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Don't worry. She's survived worse than this." After all, she had survived a dragon attack.

"I know." That didn't mean that he wasn't worried though. "Challenging all of them?" Sasuke sighs, wondering what she was thinking. Well he KNEW what she was thinking, she wanted to rack up points for her guild, but this was a dangerous way to do it.

Itachi, on the other hand, was just as stunned as the crowd. She was challenging ALL of them? Just one of the weakest was fifteen times her size, and could crush her under its foot with ease.

But there was nothing to be done as she walked inside, declaring her challenge, and was surrounded by a hundred, vicious, magically projected monsters. And every single lacrima was trained on only her.

Then, she struck.

First, a favorite requip of hers as she takes the high ground, the silvery, winged, Heaven's Wheel armor. And with it, she rained a hail of death and destruction on them with a flurry of winged, silver swords. And in seconds, seventeen of the gray, D-Class monsters fall under the onslaught of her flying blades.

Shisui blinks as he watches that in awe. "Sasuke, never forget your anniversary or that woman's birthday, if you manage to win her over." Or he'd be dead.

"I wasn't going to!" He glares at his cousin for his advice as he watches Erza begin to face off against the monsters. "She took out a lot of the weakest ones in one strike." It was a clever move but there were still a lot of them to go and they were only going to get stronger.

"That wasn't the point." Ren stares at the screens as the Queen requips into her Flame Empress armor, countering a monster that starts breathing fire at her. "She's being smart about it. She's testing them out, learning how to beat them. The first attack wasn't meant to be effective." But as more monsters began to fall by her hand as she bounced around the inside of the castle, it was obvious. "It was just setup for all of this."

Pulling her Sea Empress sword from another dimension, she counters fire with water, cutting through the red, C-Class monsters with impunity, knocking off several of the remaining D-Class along the way.

Sasuke blinks as he realizes Erza had just done three Requips in only a couple minutes. "Is she going to go through all her armors?" She was certainly changing at a daredevil speed.

"That…very well may be the case." After all, every armor and weapon had an advantage and a disadvantage. And based on only the first couple of minutes, Itachi was certain that this was going to be a battle of both power and intelligence. "She'll use whatever she deems appropriate, I would guess."

And appropriate was apparently deemed to be her Sea Empress armor, to deal with the blue B-Class monsters, as she cuts down over thirty of them with the spear of her Lightning Empress set, arcs of lightning racing out in all directions. However, infallible, she is not, as she's slammed against one of the spiky walls by one of the B-Class monsters she had missed.

Shisui winced at that. Both in sympathy for the Fairy Queen and his cousin. His cousin who looked like he had been the one who was hit. "She's doing amazingly. The old witch can patch her up easily." He tries to reassure him and Sasuke nods as his dark eyes scan the seen anxiously.

But despite the savage strike, and quite a few bruises, Erza's revenge is swift and devastating, the spiked black sword of her Purgatory armor, paired with her Speed armor, a light, leopard-patterned outfit that turned her into little more than a blur as she cuts them down to number only forty-eight. She was on the warpath, and while she had been slowed somewhat, she had NOT stopped.

Itachi's eyes widen as he watches the numbers drop one, by one, by two, by three, the Fairy Queen requipping left and right, combining armors from her Lightning Empress, Giant, and Adamantine sets with a wide variety of weapons, including several pieces that he'd never seen before, not in all of his visits to Fairy Tail so long ago. "She…is truly a master of her magic. It must take great power to use so many forms all in a row."

She continues to tear into the horde, her fatigue beginning to show, but not daunting her at all as more armors make their appearance. All of her classics were coming out, and it was for all of the world, the stunned audience, and her insanely loud, laughing teammates to see.

"I've only seen a handful of them before." Sasuke watches in awe. He had no idea that the woman had so many different armors. "She must have dozens." And her stamina was incredible.

The numbers continued to shrink, right into the single digits as Erza abandoned all armor for simple red cloth pants, and bandages wrapping about her chest as the cuts down the last two of the B-Class monsters, the last A-Class, and comes face to face with…one, tiny monster, hardly bigger than her own head.

Crimson eyes narrow at the sight as Itachi turns his Sharingan towards the top of the castle. It was hard to see, but thanks to all of the practice he'd had, he could see enough to tell him that this was not good. "…Mato said that there was only a single S-Class monster, correct?" That's also what the screen said, and there it was…a single, tiny monster.

"I think...it's a lot stronger than it looks." Sasuke doubted that one would be the only survivor, if it was truly fragile.

"It's good at dodging, that's for sure." Ren's eyes stay fixed on the tiny monster through the lacrima, as the tiny creature begins to glow. "…That's not good." Typically, when things glowed, that was a bad thing. And an indication to run as fast as you could in the opposite direction.

And a bad thing it was, as the tiny creature grew to be over fifty feet tall, flying through the air with Erza as the two of them dueled, two swords on what amounted to a giant suit of armor, all the way up to the dueling arena right at the top of the castle, where it proceeds to pin Erza against one of the pillars, trying to crush her under its foot.

"Damn it!" Shisui's eyes widen as the thing expands and Erza was suddenly nearly crushed. "She's too drained to go up against something like that!"

Sasuke would normally be inclined to agree, but this was Erza. "She'll figure something out. Another armor maybe." His gaze never leaving her.

But it was clear to many, including Itachi, that Erza simply didn't have the strength left to summon an entirely new armor, not after the three dozen requips she had already employed. No, she had to end this now, and she had to do it quickly. Because that was part of the catch, according to Mato. When all other monsters had been defeated, the S-Class monster tripled in strength. Too strong, perhaps, even for a Wizard Saint.

And all Erza had was a single sword. A sword, against the crushing power and vicious claws and teeth of the horned nightmare. And that…was all she needed.

Summoning one last burst of strength, Erza throws the giant foot off, raising her sword and leaping into the air, her whole body a blur as she cuts and slices at the monster, going first for its clawed fingers, its body, and its giant horned head, landing far behind it as piece by piece, it crumbles at her feet.

And the crowd went WILD. "That…was…UNBELIEVABLE!" Chapati's voice rings across the arena, the judge astounded by the display of will and power. "Erza Scarlet has singlehandedly defeated all one hundred monsters! Fairy Tail A sweeps today's contest in an absolute, undisputed victory!" It was something never seen before. "Let it be known, we've just witnessed history! The strongest guild from seven years ago has returned from the grave!"

Sasuke sighs in relief. He was tempted to Flicker down there and take her to a healer, but she'd probably smack him for that. "Thank the gods and goddesses." She was too proud for that. Though hopefully, one of her guild mates would immediately. He doubted she could even stumble off or care.

As the castle disappears, all of Fairy Tail A races down onto the field, startling Erza as she's transported back to the ground, battered and bruised, but smiling, her spirit unbroken.

Itachi had to admit once more, his foolish little brother had very good taste. "I would suggest, Sasuke, that you take Shisui's advice to heart." This was not a woman to be trifled with. "Should you do anything to upset her, I doubt even I could protect you from her wrath."

"I don't know why you both assume that I'd upset her!" He was close to flailing, but his dignity wouldn't allow it.

"Because women are easily upset, and way too high maintenance." Ren shakes his head. "Troublesome, the lot of them."

"Says the man who is engaged." Sasuke rolls his eyes. "You want your fiancee to beat you, don't you?" Was Ren a masochist?

The man shakes his head. It was the truth, Sherry was even more high maintenance than your average woman. Constantly spouting things about love and what not.

But on the floor, as Erza is carted off by her team, after being wrapped up in a great team bear hug, Mato the pumpkin-headed referee disappears. That concerns Itachi greatly. "With Pandemonium completed on the first turn, they'll require another way to rank the teams."

Shisui blinks at that as he realizes something. "They have to come up with an entirely new event." This was madness.

"Then let's hope that it's something better suited to Hibiki." If it was another contest based on strength, well…Ren couldn't see that going well at all. But at least Erza had gotten them a shot at maybe placing higher.

"Well I doubt whatever they pick is going to involve a hundred monsters again." That one had obviously required a lot of planning, Sasuke thinks to himself. "They need to come up with something quick that the crowd won't complain about."

"Probably not something complicated." Eve returns to the gallery, having been getting himself some snacks while watching Erza's match from a distance. But he notices just what's coming out with Mato. "But it looks like the odds are still stacked against Hibiki." That is, if the MPF had anything to do with the next contest.

"Why do you say that?" Shisui frowns in confusion. "Do you know something we don't?"

Eve nods. "Just watch."

Mato toddles over to the wizards on the floor, the blue crystal ball hovering on its also floating stand as the lacrimas focus in on the referee. "Okay, after some deliberation, we've decided that the seven remaining teams still need to be ranked. So we're having another contest. This game might be a bit on the boring side compared to Pandemonium, but I think it'll suffice."

"A Magic Power Finder…" Eve cringes at the sight. "The Rune Knights use them in training." He'd used one himself back before he joined Blue Pegasus, as a member of the knights himself, working for the magic council before moving on to a guild.

"Is that as simple as it sounds?" Sasuke blinks. Could that thing actually measure the strength of someone's chakra? "So it's just based off raw power?" If that was the case, Hibiki was fucked.

"It's as simple as it sounds." Eve sighs, shaking his head. "Which means that of everyone on our team, Hibiki is the last person who should be down there." Unfortunately, there were no substitutions, not even as Milianna of Mermaid Heel stepped up first for her team, scoring three hundred and sixty five. "Well, that's pretty good since she doesn't seem like the raw power type."

"What's the scale on one of those things?" Shisui glances. "What's the highest possible score and what's considered average?" He had no idea what three hundred and sixty-five actually meant, and neither did his cousins.

"Well, it's pretty high in the Rune Knights. You could be a squad captain with that kind of score." Eve laughs sheepishly. "So…I hit that easily when I was about thirteen." Then again, he'd always been something of a magical prodigy.

Itachi raises an eyebrow. "I see, so a relatively good score, then?" Eve nods in response as the next contestant steps up, Novali of Quatro Puppy, the name awarded them after yesterday's bet between Bacchus and Elfman went through. He scores one hundred and twenty-four, much to the amusement and ridicule of the crowd.

"I feel a little bad for that guy." Sasuke sighs as that. "Not everyone's magic is linked to raw power." And he had to be feeling rather humiliated by now. "Though I'd like to see what the audience's score would be. I doubt it would be in the double digits."

"Well we know one thing. A hundred and twenty-four definitely isn't a good score." Shisui tries to hide his own amusement. "Though three sixty-five is reasonably good."

Still, Hibiki approaches the MPF, undaunted, smiling brightly for the crowd. Ren shakes his head at the sight of their optimistic teammate. "This isn't going to go well."

"Not at all…" Eve closes one eye, cringing as Hibiki hits the MPF with his magic, scoring…a measly ninety-five points. "Yeah…that's about what I expected. Hibiki's smart, but when it comes to attack power…" Well, he just didn't really have any. He could knock out unsuspecting twelve year-olds, but that wasn't hard, really. This was just the kind of competition that you sent in dragon slayers for, not yesterday's fiasco.

Sasuke winces at the score. "It's not the size of the attack points, but how you use them?" That score was bad though. They were going to have to do well in the next contest and battle to make up for that one.

"Not today…" Ren shakes his head, watching as the representative from Raven Tail, Obra, approaches the MPF.

It was by far the strangest of the turns, as Obra did nothing more than stand there and open his cloak as a tiny creature flies out of it, smacking head-first into the MPF for a score of four points.

Itachi narrows his eyes at the sight. That had to be some sort of trick. He doubted that any member of Raven Tail would actually be nearly so weak. Something was wrong. Perhaps this Obra possessed little attack magic, and his was of a more…sinister nature. In fact, if he recalled correctly, this is the teammate that Flare had looked to at the end of her match with Lucy, after the girl's magic had been drained.

Very suspicious…

Ren crinkles his nose as Orga, the representative from Sabertooth, approaches the MPF. "This should be interesting, though." The giant green-haired man, the one who wielded black lightning. "You might wanna turn those eyes of yours on for this, kid."

"Stop calling me a kid." Sasuke glares at Ren, though he does as instructed nonetheless. "What's so special bout this one?"

"He uses lightning. You might learn something." Not that Orga was much older than Sasuke, but Ren figured that Sasuke could learn something from a lightning specialist. "And when Laxus finally gets involved, make sure to watch him as well."

Sasuke was getting really tired of these insinuations that he was somehow still a child and automatically weaker than others. "I could say the same to you, Ren." Irritation aside he watches the one known as Orga carefully.

"Well, when someone uses wind magic, I'll be sure to watch them." It made sense to Ren as Orga gathered lightning all around his hands down on the arena floor. "This isn't going to be good." That was a lot of magical power.

"Well he's being pretty flashy." As expected of someone from Sabertooth. "Though so far it isn't anything particularly unusual." He could gather lightning in his hands as well. Which meant that this was either a high intensity old fashioned attack or the Sabertooth had a trick up his sleeve.

Shishi watches with practiced eyes. "Well let's wait until we see the reading before we assess." He chuckles. Those two always fought like cats and dogs. Sasuke and Ren.

The One-Twenty Millimeter Black Lightning Cannon. That was the name of this particular attack. And unlike all of the rather weak attacks that came before it, the horizontal pillar of pitch black lightning blasts the MPF with such force that static electricity hangs in the air as an after-effect. Enough to make Ren's hair stand up a little. And when the dust clears, his eyes widen. "Almost four thousand!?" The MPF had clocked in at Three thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.

Sasuke blinks at that. "I'm going to say that counts as a Kage Level attack." If three hundred something was good, four thousand must have counted as incredible.

"Cana will have her work cut out for her." Shisui shakes his head, wondering if the busty Fairy had anything in her arsenal that could top that. "But it looks like Jura is up next." He was a Wizard Saint. A concept that Shisui didn't fully understand, but he understood it definitely was a title reserved for only very powerful wizards. "This should be interesting."

"Yeah, no kidding." Eve edges towards one of the walls. "You guys might wanna hold on to something. You know, just to be safe." It was what he was doing as Jura stepped up to the plate in a rather traditional white kimono, gray hakama, and brown haori. Eve really wasn't looking to get blown away by this attack.

Personally, Sasuke thought that Eve was overreacting, but he humored him. "Alright let's see if the Wizard Saint lives up to his reputation." Sasuke had heard a fair bit about them. In this world Dragon Slayers and Wizard Saints seemed both have rather famous or infamous reputations depending on who you asked.

"Very well." Shisui felt that might be overstating a bit, but he holds on. "Though after that last attack, I feel it would be rather difficult to top such a thing."

Ren and Eve exchange a knowing look as they brace themselves, potent magic already filling the air. It was like molasses, the way that the air thickened with the Wizard Saint's power.

And then, came his booming voice across Domus Flau. "Rumbling Mt. Fuji!" The resulting pillar of light expands, engulfing much of the arena floor, along with the MPF, shaking the entire mountaintop arena with the sheer force of the magical attack.

"What the fuck?!" Sasuke blinks as the place shakes. "He knows that this is a competition, not a war right?!" He understood showing off, but this was ridiculous!

Shisui was having very similar thoughts to his cousin. "I hope that the foundations of the stadium are sturdy." He could foresee this actually causing some construction to come loose like during an earthquake, and someone getting killed by falling debris!

Well, Itachi certainly understood what the title of Wizard Saint now entailed. This man was clearly on another level, compared to much of the competition. "That was…illuminating." And he was rather glad that he had heeded Eve's advice, and braced himself for the attack.

As the dust clears, the MPF stands there,the numbers rolling, finally settling at eight thousand five hundred and forty-four. Eve laughs sheepishly. "I'm starting to think that maybe Wizard Saints shouldn't be allowed to compete."

Sasuke loved a challenge, but for at least half of the field, going up against someone like that could easily prove fatal. So it was rather lucky that the man had a kind, honorable, and easy-going demeanor. "That or there should be some restrictions to prevent an earthquake." He pauses and decides to correct himself. "Or I guess a Saintquake, in this case."

"Yeah…that's probably a good idea…" Eve sweatdrops. "I mean, seriously, this is why they don't let the guildmasters compete." Now that would just be a clusterfuck.

Itachi eyes the last competitor carefully. "Cana Alberona…" He'd met her on a few occasions, and she was fairly powerful in her own right. "She'll likely finish behind Orga, perhaps score one or two thousand." It really depended on how much power she pumped into those cards of her. Cards that…wait, was she stripping? …What?

"Not this again!" She wasn't actually going to challenge the other contestants to a beauty contest, was she?! "Not after what happened with Jenny and Mira." Sasuke groans.

"I wouldn't estimate a woman like that. Her body language screams confident." So did the bikini top in Shisui's eyes, but he wouldn't say that in front of Itachi. "Which is odd, given that Jura scored so well. So she must have something up her sleeve." He ponders out loud.

"She's not wearing any sleeves!" Sasuke snaps at his cousin. "She's barely wearing anything at all!" What was with these wizards?! Were they all a bunch of closet strippers?!

Shisui rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Well you know what I meant. Her lack of sleeves really isn't the point." It was cute how easily flustered Sasuke got about that sort of thing. Likely, still reeling form his recent Sharingan activation and he probably felt it was 'cheating' to look at other women or something. "Anyway, let's see what she can do."

"It's time for the grand finale!" An emblem on Cana's right forearm glows as she grins widely. "Assemble, river of light that's guided by fairies!" The air around her begins to glow a bright, blinding gold. "Shine, to perish the fangs of evil!"

The air was light and heavy with magic at the same time, every particle vibrating with power as a giant golden ring surrounds the arena, contracting and racing down towards the MPF. "Fairy…GLITTER!" And the resulting explosion…well, it's impossible to see anything at the center of it.

"Fairy Glitter?" Sasuke blinks as he watches the display in confusion.

The name was deceptively innocent. "I wouldn't argue about the name." Shisui was blinking as well. "It seems that...she likely won that competition." Fairy Tail Team B had just made its presence known in a big way.

Itachi would have to agree, as the dust settles, revealing four residual nines in the air, and a very much absent MPF. There was only a scorch mark left in it's place. "…Shisui, do try not to upset her. I would hate to lose my favorite cousin." Her victory…drove the crowd absolutely wild. "I'm not entirely sure what Fairy Tail feeds their women, but it is clearly extremely effective."

"I wasn't going to upset her!" Now Shisui knew how Sasuke felt!

Smirking, Itachi turns his eyes back to the floor as the rankings are presented. Fairy Tail had taken the top two spots, and unfortunately, their own team had taken seventh. Only a single point would be awarded for that performance. Not that he blamed Hibiki. It was just bad luck, such as the dragon slayers yesterday, being forced to face their own weakness. "Let us hope that whoever is picked for the battle portion will be able to win us points today."

Ren had fought, Jenny had fought before returning to the bench. That left him, Eve, Hibiki, and Sasuke who could be picked. And as the contestants below cleared the field and the first of the battles was announced, the emblems for Sabertooth and Blue Pegasus flashed through the air. Along with a picture underneath each emblem.

Well, well, well…

"Good luck, Itachi." Sasuke smirks at his brother's misfortune. "Try not to choke on all that hair spray he uses." Shisui just laughs at that, but gives his cousin a nod of encouragement.

It was certainly a good match-up. Itachi…could hardly ask for a more fitting opponent. He did rather want to put the pompous fool in his place. "Well, hair spray can be quite flammable…" And that really was quite a lot of blond hair. It looked to be almost twice as long as his own. "I'm sure that my choking on it will be the least of his worries."

"That's the spirit!" Shisui gives him a thumbs up! "Now, go and show him what a real strategist can do!"

Oh, he would… Itachi smirks subtly as he turns to leave the gallery. He had a Tiger to hunt.