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

Celestia193's Author's Note: Alright, time for the major show to start. And canon be damned, this is where the FUN starts. Oh, and the rules for obtaining the MS are fairly simple. Either you see someone you love die in front of you, and it causes sufficient trauma to unlock the evolution, you BELIEVE that one of your most loved ones dies in front of you, OR you have sufficient reason to believe that it's about to happen right before your eyes, and that causes the utter fear and anger required for the chakra to begin flowing differently through the brain. So, with these three possibilities in mind…we give you this chapter.

Silver's Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I think that this is the chapter that a lot of people have been waiting for and I'm probably not the only one who wanted to deliver some just desserts to at least one wizard. Though just so you know, we're planning on releasing an update on this story every other day for the foreseeable future. My coauthor's schedule is about to get a little busier, but we will try to update as often as we can. Anyway, happy reading!

Chapter 20

There was something VERY wrong with this picture. Not that Itachi was complaining in any way, at least, not concerning their chances of winning. But something was definitely up if Fairy Tail was pulling this kind of stunt on the last day of the games, where every point counted.

The designated leader of the Blue Pegasus team stares at the Fairy Tail team with a mixture of shock, relief, and confusion, with an underlying current of dread. "They've removed Natsu from today's line-up." Though Itachi couldn't fathom WHY they were taking out arguably one of the strongest members of their guild on the crucial last day.

Sasuke frowns. He didn't like it. While Natsu rubbed him the wrong way more often than not, he was one of Fairy Tail's strongest members. "Either something major is going on and I mean Raven Tail level of fighting dirty or they benched him for being a hot head."

"I agree with the former possibility." Itachi honestly couldn't see them only taking out Natsu. Erza's ability to strategize easily made up for Natsu's casual disregard of most strategy. "If they had concerns about his hot-headed demeanor, they wouldn't have allowed him to participate in the first place."

"Well, whatever it is, I'm not complaining." Hibiki grins sheepishly. "Anything that keeps Natsu out of the fighting is good for the team."

"I'm not sure I agree." Sasuke knew that if it sounded too good to be true, it probably was. "There has to be a reason they'd take him out."

Eve laughs nervously. "Are you saying that you WANT to fight Natsu?" After the way he single-handedly brought down both of Sabertooth's dragon slayers, the snow wizard was NOT looking forward to fighting the monster that was Natsu Dragneel.

Sasuke wouldn't mind knocking a dragon slayer on their ass just on principle, but that wasn't his point. "My point is something is up and it might be bigger than the Games." Though he didn't have a clue as to what that was.

"Then first, we win, and then we can go about finding out what's going on." After all, they couldn't simply quit in the middle of the game, Itachi knew that, it would reflect badly on their guild. But as soon as the game was over…it was another matter entirely.

"Right." Sasuke nods in agreement. "Well lets go." The sooner they finished this, the sooner they could figure out what was going on.

As the crowd finally got over their own shock at not seeing Natsu with the Fairy Tail team, circles appear underneath each of the six teams, transporting them in a flash of light to various spots throughout the city. After all, today, the entire city of Crocus was their battlefield.


"Strange." Mikoto tilts her head as she sits by her husband and Shisui while sitting in the stands. "I don't see the pink haired one." From what little she knew of the guilds thus far, it would seem he was one of Fairy Tail's top fighters. So why wasn't he joining them? Had he been injured?

"Yes, strange indeed." Fugaku had noticed that they replaced that one with a blue-haired woman. And from what his Sharingan had shown him, it seemed as though she was not nearly as powerful as the…dragon slayer, he believed the pink one was called. But she didn't appear particularly weak, though. Compared to most of the team, she was, but compared to most of the other competitors, certainly not. "Shisui, do you have any idea why they would remove the 'pink-haired wall of utter destruction and chaos from the team?" That's what Itachi had muttered under his breath the day before, and after the display during the match, and at the water-park, Fugaku was inclined to agree.

Shisui shakes his head in confusion. "I have no idea, but I doubt it's for any good reason. Sabertooth is bringing two Dragon Slayers into the mix. I'm lost as to why they would bench one of their counters to that."

"That does seem to be rather counter-productive." Fugaku looks to the screens as the gong sounds, and the teams begin to move. "However, they seem to be considered the team to beat. Can you tell us anything about them?" Fugaku was rather curious as to what his sons were up against here.

Shisui nods at the question. "They're all...well I guess you could say Jonin Level or higher. Though ANBU would be more accurate." He pauses as he considers the best way to answer that. "Juvia, the blue haired one, has powerful water jutsu. Gajeel is an Iron Dragon Slayer. He's the one with all the piercings." That was one way to put it. "Laxus is the blond. He's a Lightning Dragon Slayer." Enough said. "Gray is the black haired one without the piercings. He uses ice jutsu." The young wizard takes a moment to catch his breath. "Finally, Erza is the red head. She's known as the Queen of the Fairies and relies on a combination of ninjutsu and taijutsu to summon magical armors."

Fugaku raises an eyebrow at that. "They have how many dragon slayers?" The pink-haired boy was one, and there was the one with the piercings, though knowing that he was an Iron Dragon Slayer explained those, and then the tall blond man was one. They seemed to all be focused into two guilds, from what he could tell.

"Technically, they have four in Fairy Tail." Shisui shakes his head. Finding that to be…well, a bit lopsided to say the least. "Gajeel, Laxus, Natsu, and Wendy." He smiles fondly at the last one. "Wendy is the youngest though and she's not competing in the final match."

"I see." That was certainly quite the concentration of power in a single guild. "Are dragon slayers common?" If they were, then Fugaku could barely believe that this city was still standing.

Again, he could only shake his head. "They're extremely rare. The only ones that I personally know of are those in Fairy Tail, Rogue, and Sting." Though there were probably others. "It's likely that they aren't the only ones, but I doubt there are more than a dozed in the entire world."

No more than a dozen, and yet, at least half of them were here in this city. Fugaku couldn't see how that was a coincidence. "Then I expect that we will see quite the show."

"Well I doubt they expected the Games to be this grand when they organized them, but yes." That was an understatement. "I think we'll be lucky, if the city is still standing by the end of this."

That was a very likely danger, actually, because with all of the teams on the move, combatants were starting to meet up across the city. The six team rosters hang in the air, along with a point count. And the first battles begin to break out.

What Fugaku noticed first was that Itachi had come across two men who shared the emblem for Lamia Scale. An odd name for a guild, but he digressed. From the Roster, it would seem that their names were Yuka and Toby.


Itachi frowns. Yuka's abilities essentially nullified magic, but it seemed like a gamble to try Taijutsu against him while his friend with claws was on the field. He'd have to get creative. "Shadow Clone Jutsu." He summons several clones and then does another move. "Transformation Jutsu." Making himself look like Toby and all his Clones, before coming at the real Toby and Yuka.

His strategy was simple. Confuse them and get the clawed one to attack Yuka and have the guild mates take out each other.

Seeing duplicates of himself and Yuka coming towards them, Toby growls confusedly. "Like, what's going on here, man!?"

"I don't know, but…" Yuka holds out a hand towards the duplicates. "Whatever it is, it's not going to work." Already, an anti-magic barrier springs up in front of him, distorting the very energy in the air. If you had magic and threw your body into that, it wouldn't be pretty. And if you threw magic at it, it would dissipate. It was simple, but very effective.

Well Itachi had been hoping that they would take each other out. No such luck. "Oh well." He Flickers behind Yuka and knocks him out. "Too bad your barrier only protected your front."

As soon as Yuka hit the ground, Toby's claws were out and slashing at the newcomer. "Hey! What'd you do to make another me!?"

"Well that's called the Transformation Jutsu. It essentially allows you to copy the appearance of another person." He smiles at him. "It's something children are taught in my birth village." It would be rude not to at least answer the other man's question before going for a knock out. His Sharingan whirls at the man, the black tomoes spinning quickly. One of the advantages of this technique was that it allowed you to knock your opponent out, if you made eye contact. The Sharingan had a wonderful way of amplifying genjutsu.

Toby's claws may have been dangerous, but as soon as he looked into those spinning eyes, he fell into a trance, drool dripping from his mouth as he grins. He sways contentedly, before falling flat on his back in the dust.

"Well that was relatively easy." He smiles and continues on his way, rather pleased that he didn't have to kick a puppy.


Fugaku nods approvingly at the screen. "That was well-handled." There were no wasted moves, and the initial assault served well as a distraction, allowing Itachi to come from behind and take advantage of their confusion. The screens flash as Yuka and Toby are eliminated, granting Blue Pegasus two points for Itachi's swift victory.

Fugaku wasn't the only one making observations though. So was Mikoto. "Sasuke seems to have found two enemy ninjas." Well she didn't really understand this wizard nonsense. "From the Mermaid Heel Village. I still don't know why they're called that." They weren't actually mermaids!

It seemed as though his wife was still trying to become accustomed to the way that things worked here. "Mikoto, I believe that we are supposed to call them wizards. And they come from a guild, not a village." Ninjas and wizards, as much as they seemed alike, were obviously vastly different, both in culture, and in their physical abilities. "And I think that calling them the competition is more acceptable than calling them the enemy.

"I don't think calling them the competition is going to reduce the strength of their attacks." To her, that was a distinction without a difference. All that meant is that luckily, none of these fights would be to the death. At least she hoped not. "But alright, they're wizards...who call themselves mermaids, but have no tails." The names of these guilds made little sense to her. Well other than Blue Pegasus and perhaps, Sabertooth.

Fugaku shakes his head at his wife, watching as his youngest son's taijutsu skills take out the two girls with ease. Though, for some reason, the redhead nearly buried him in carrots in the process. "Summoning vegetables is…an odd skill to have." Though he supposed that if the girl was caught in the wilderness with no food, it wouldn't be a problem for her to produce some.

"Well I suppose we should be grateful that it was carrots and not kunais." Mikoto blinks as Kenji laughs at that. While Aiya quietly suggests they go out for carrot cake later, or maybe she could make them a nice stew.

But the screens catch the attention of the audience, the scores really beginning to move now as Fairy Tail starts their assault on the competition, Gajeel taking out Eve and Ren in short order, before going after Hibiki. It was fairly rough treatment to be giving friends, but it was a competition, and the kid gloves were coming off.

Watching as the dragon slayer's limbs turn to metal, Fugaku examines the power curiously. "Tell me, Shisui, can all dragon slayers transform their limbs in that way?"

"I honestly, have no idea." Shisui shakes his head. "It's a Dragon Slayer ability. It's similar to a bloodline in a way that it can't be replicated."

"I see." Well, he wasn't sure if that was reassuring or disturbing. At least these dragon slayers seemed to be 'good guys' in this world. "Will your friends be alright?" Frankly, it was hard for Fugaku not to wince when Hikibi got smacked into the air by an iron limb. That really looked like it hurt as Fairy Tail racked up three points for the victory.

Shisui nods as he winces. "They'll need to see a healer, but Fairy Tail isn't aiming to kill them." While he didn't like it and damn sure was going to give Gajeel a tongue lashing for that one, Shisui knew it wasn't fatal. Dragon Slayers truly had zero restraint, except for Wendy it seemed.

Then again, it seemed that very few of the top tier competitors had much in the way of restraint. Numbers flash for Sabertooth, Lamia Scale, and Blue Pegasus as one by one, Quatro Puppy is almost systematically taken out by Sting, Lyon and Jura, and their last member by a roving Itachi. Even a Mermaid loses her place as Minerva appears out of nowhere, claiming yet another point for Sabertooth. That meant that positions were changing every few minutes as the teams juggled points, and the weakest of the competition were weeded out.

The end of the 'first round' was marked by an eerie silence through the stadium as the battles came to a halt, the competitors cut down to half their original number. It was the quiet before the storm. Because only the strongest remained.

Not that Chapati allowed it to remain quiet. "Well, look at this here, folks! Blue Pegasus is still in the lead with fifty-three points! But look out, Fairy Tail is hot on their heels with fifty points, and Sabertooth is playing catch-up with forty-one points! Can Fairy Tail overtake Blue Pegasus!? Or will our returning champions, Sabertooth, make a come from behind win!? Keep your eyes glued to those lacrima, because the real battles are about to begin!"

And as though to prove him right, over a dozen powerful magical signatures flare across the city, the brightest patch occurring atop a terrace overlooking the city, where the three most powerful female wizards in the game have just collided.


The city was utter chaos. Left and right, miles apart from each other, vicious battles were taking place. In Crocus' Grand Library, Gray and Rufus' magic power could be found filling the building. To the south, the Wizard Saint had found himself a god slayer, and a dragon slayer. To the north, the roars of two dragon slayers could be heard, and next to one of the city's many canals, one would find an elemental wizard and yet another god slayer.

A chaotic dance, bringing together the best that every guild had to offer. And in the center of the city, three powerful magical signatures flare, over and over again, locked into a brutal dance of a Tiger, a Mermaid, and a Fairy. A dance culminating in a grand pillar of light that lit up the skies for all to see for over a hundred miles.

Sasuke's eyes widen in horror when he sees the giant beam of light, and feels the earth-shattering shockwave. From the direction of the light, he recognizes Erza's magic signature and that of two other powerful wizards. Ones that were familiar to him. Minerva's more so than the other one. Kagura, he believed was the third one's name.

There were battles going on throughout the city. Almost everywhere, he could feel magic flaring, But, nowhere was it burning as brightly, as from where those three signatures were coming from. "I shouldn't have left her alone." He races towards where he felt the magic coming from. "Not with that sadistic bitch." Not even sure if she was alive or not. It was such a vast distance, he couldn't even Flicker. He'd have to run. And quickly.

The scenery of the city passes by him. Shops, homes, gardens, marketplaces, all adorned with flowers beyond count. Flowers that shook with every shockwave that rocketed through the city as the heavyweight competitors did battle. And even with all of the noise of the various magical attacks shooting into the sky, the cheering from Domus Flau could be heard far and wide.

"What are those idiots cheering for?!" Someone could be dead! Someone was probably dead! "Damn it!" Maybe, even Erza! Though he would probably cheer if it was Minerva. That witch had it coming, after what she did to Lucy! With that thought in mind, he runs faster than he had ever run in his life. Hoping that it wasn't too late.

The shaking increases as he approaches the terrace, before everything in the area go absolutely still. Not even the birds chirped. No crickets, not cats of dogs roaming the streets. Nothing. The air itself seemed almost frozen in place. Then, a thundering crash breaks the silence, the deafening boom of falling debris echoing throughout the city.

It was quiet. Too quiet until the echos of the falling buildings were heard throughout the city. "Erza!" This couldn't be happening! She hadn't survived a dragon attack to die at the hands of that witch!


It had been a hard-fought battle, first taking on both Kagura and Minerva at once, then fighting Kagura alone. They'd reconciled their differences, and Erza had earned her team five points with Kagura's surrender.

Now, however, with her leg injured after being pinned under several blocks of stone, Erza stares, enraged, at the lone female wizard who remained standing before her. Minerva. The one who'd tortured Lucy only two days ago. And the one who had struck Kagura down, even after the woman had surrendered. To add insult to injury, she'd ejected a badly injured Millianna from a pocket dimension, having tortured her just for the sake of hearing her scream. She was the lowest of the low. "Coward." Her voice drips with venom. "First you take Millianna, and now you strike down an opponent who's given up?"

"I told you that I was going to make this a battle fit for a King." The Queen of the Tigers smirks at her fallen foe. "And a king will only eat rare delicacies. Such as a Mermaid's tail and a Fairy's feebly flapping wings!"

Requipping two swords, Erza growls, charging her opponent fearlessly, despite the injuries weighing down and slowing her body. For Millianna, Kagura, Lucy, her guild, this woman would be brought down! The reign of Sabertooth would end! Even if it took her life, Minerva would NOT hurt anyone ever again.

Sasuke had probably run a couple miles as swiftly as his body was capable of carrying him without Flickering. When he finally got there though, he saw a horrifying sight. The cat girl from Mermaid Heel was laying unconscious on the floor, her back brutally sliced up, and still freshly bleeding. Kagura lay not far from her, and she had obviously been stabbed and was now barely moving. That wasn't the worst of it though.

Even more unforgivable than that was the sight of Erza valiantly trying to stand and fight, despite her many injuries as that sadistic bitch was about to attack her. About to KILL her with what felt like another of those powerful spells. He felt something inside himself snap and his vision burned red as he acted on instinct. "Get the hell away from her!" He slams into Minerva from behind, shoving her against the wall, a Chidori held in the hand that had been shoved through her back and into her ribcage. Pinning her helplessly to the ruined wall with her back towards him.

"I want you to know two things." He whispers into her ear as he feels her heart beat in his fist. "The first is if you weren't such a sadist, I wouldn't have killed you." It was a strange sensation to literally hold her life in his hand. "The second is when I'm done with you, there won't be anything left of you to bury!"

Her eyes wide and terrified, Minerva tries to move, only to feel his firm grip on her heart. Blood splashed down her back, coating her clothes as she screams. "Release me!" She couldn't die! Not here! Not now! Not like this! He wouldn't dare kill another competitor in cold blood! They wouldn't allow it! They couldn't!

With that being said, he rips her heart out and feels one of his eyes begin to bleed. He watches as her body falls to the floor, utterly lifeless. "Amaterasu!" And he activates a jutsu that only a Mangekyo Sharingan User could. The one whose fire burned hotter than the flames of Hell itself and that Itachi had told him long ago and currently, it was the 'spell' that was causing black flames to erase Minerva's body from existence right before the audience's and Erza's very eyes.

Erza stares at the sight as Minerva's body crumbles to ash under the power of black flames, not entirely believing the sight before her eyes as she struggles back to her feet. But a distant bell rings, indicating Minerva's defeat, and the points being given to the victor. "…Sasuke?" There was something…different about him… "Are you alright?" His eyes were…the patterns in them were a different shape than before.

"Erza, you shouldn't try to stand!" He wasn't sure what the full extent of her injuries was, but he knew that they were bad. "Don't worry. I'm alright." Sasuke rushes over to her and wraps his unbloodied hand around her waist. "The medics should be here soon." There was no way she could continue the game like this. "Don't move. It's okay. I got you." And with that, he deactivates his Sharingan and banishes the black flames. Nothing was left of Minerva anymore, not even ash.

"Sasuke, I'll be fine…" Erza sighs, leaning against him slightly as she tested out her foot. Yeah, something was definitely twisted in there, or sprained, and maybe something broken too. It was bleeding. Well, most of her was bleeding, but that wasn't the point as she picked up her katana, pressing the tip into the ground to support herself. "I can walk by myself."

He watches her carefully. She was definitely not fine and he was highly skeptical she could really walk at least not far, but sasuke knew better than to say so. "Alright. Are you withdrawing?" She couldn't be expected to fight like that, but Erza might be crazy enough to do it.

"No." Erza takes several deep breaths and smiles. "I still have a few things left in reserve, just in case. First…I must rest, and then, I mus rejoin my team."

"Alright. I'll take you to them." There was no way he was letting her walk around like that with a couple of Tigers still wandering around!

Erza closes her eyes for a moment, willing away the pain. "Gray should be done with Rufus by now, and Laxus has likely finished with Orga, and is now fighting Jura. Gajeel should be with Rogue…" A huge elemental roar, courtesy of a very angry Iron Dragon Slayer rips through the sky, disappearing into the blue above them. "…It would seem that he has won." And that just left… "Juvia is fighting Chelia now. The only member of Sabertooth left is Sting."

"Good." He still wasn't letting her wander around alone like this though. "I guess if we bump into him on the way, I'll offer my not very sincere condolences about his teammate."

She grows very quiet at the rather snarky remark. "Why did you kill her?" It wasn't something that she'd expected from Sasuke. Not at all. He could be hot-headed, yes, impulsive, yes, but kill in cold blood? …No, she didn't think so.

"Because she was going to kill you." He normally wouldn't have. "For what she did to Lucy, to Kagura, and that woman from Mermaid Heel. She wasn't going to stop hurting people." She would have killed Erza, he knew that. If she didn't pull of a miracle upset, she would have been dead. But he got to Minerva first. Erza would live…she would live… "She's the first person that I killed, but it was self-defense. She aimed for my heart first." He kisses her forehead.

"I see." That was good. The less blood Sasuke had on his hands, the better. "Then I understand. And I cannot possibly judge you for it." Erza had far more blood on her hands than Sasuke knew. "Thank you."

He nods at her. "You're welcome. Let's go find the rest of our teams." Sasuke didn't want her to fight like this, but Erza was determined. At least this way, he could get her to her team safely and it seemed like most of the major threats were tied up.

Erza chuckles softly at his words. "Then I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you and your brother are the only remaining members of Blue Pegasus in this game. Gajeel found Hibiki and the others."

"I'm not happy to hear that, but it wasn't unexpected." Eve was strong, but he wasn't on the same level as some of the other competitors, the same went for Ren. As for Hibiki, he was more of a strategist than anything. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Yes." Erza hobbles along, using her sword mostly for support, but drawing some from Sasuke as well, since he insisted. "About your eyes…" She reaches up to wipe away some of the blood from beneath his left eye. "They changed." And she'd never seen him display THAT sort of power before.

"My Sharingan evolved into a Mangekyo Sharingan." He'd explain it to her later. "Doesn't matter now though." His eyes scan the field. They had to be around here somewhere.

"They will be a while longer." The sounds of a new battle emanate from down towards the canals. "The battles are not yet over." She looks ahead, towards a small park. "I am to meet my team there, when Laxus has beaten Jura, Gajeel returns from defeating Rogue, and Gray and Juvia join us after dealing with Lyon and Chelia." Everything was falling into place, despite the complications.

Itachi would likely join them soon. "I see." He mentally does the math. The odds weren't great. Two against what seemed to be all of Fairy Tail's members. And not your average line-up, either.