The name of this chapter came from a fun little game I played in my history class called Frog Assassin. The rules are:
One person becomes the hunter. The hunter goes out of the room while everyone else closes their eyes while someone picks the assassin.
So no one knows who the assassin is, but the assassin makes kills by making eye contact and flicking his tongue at them. The victim is then supposed to 'die' dramatically.
Once the assassin is chosen, the hunter comes back in and tries to catch the assassin while people die while they're in the room.
There's one rule that we came up with: NO machine gun. That's where the assassin flicks his tongue out rapidly at every person they see.
Chapter 8
Spider Assassin
"Today's the second day of the Grand Magic Games! Our guest judge is Goldmine, guildmaster of Quatro Cerberus!"
"Just because we started off badly doesn't mean we'll stay like that!" Goldmine clicked his tongue. "Just watch, we'll be in second place by the end of the day!"
"With Mermaid Heel in the lead, and today's events, the scales can still tip in anyone's favor! Our next game is Assassin! Please choose your players!"
"Assassin, huh?" Lyon stepped forward. "This is going to be easy."
Lamia Scale: Lyon Vastia
"By the name, you can tell there's gonna be stealth involved," Arania said.
"It's all right." Kagura walked past her team mates. "I'm going to enter."
"Kagura-chan, are you sure?" Millianna asked.
"This blade..." The swordswoman gripped Archenemy. "...will lead us to glory."
Mermaid Heel: Kagura Mikazuchi
"Assassin?" Laxus couldn't help but grin. "Well, when you put it that way...I'll give it a shot."
Fairy Tail B: Laxus Dreyar
"Gajeel isn't any better yet?" Mirajane asked.
"Juvia checked, but Gajeel is still paralyzed in his arm."
"Oh? If Laxus is going, I'm gonna enter too!"
Fairy Tail A: Natsu Dragneel
Quatro Cerberus: Rocker
Blue Pegasus: Eve Tearm
"Well, wish me luck." One of the cloaked figures threw their disguise into the air. A man with spiky black hair and red highlights stood proudly, purple and blue eyes glancing at the competitors so far. A pair of combat boots for his feet, some ripped jeans, and a black shirt with a red hourglass design: he looked like a street punk.
"Eesh, you have to be dramatic?" the taller of the two remaining cloaked figures drawled.
"Hey, at least I'm not as bad as you."
Imperial Snow: Jigumo
"Jigumo?"
"Is he an Imperial Guardian?" Yuka whispered.
"...I'm not sure. Last time I saw him, Jigumo was nowhere near his brother's level. But he's still Sasori's twin," Dobengal admitted.
"I see the resemblance...but just the eyes?" Chelia asked.
"They're both very eccentric. But Sasori's more cultured, Jigumo...is brutal."
"And yet, Sasori's wearing the gladiator armor."
Meanwhile, Rogue was sitting quietly, deep in thought. He couldn't get that girl from last night out of his mind. The dancer who looked exactly like Glacia.
Something about the way she danced scared him. He had been every bit as enchanted as Frosch was. He couldn't peel his eyes away from her performance, and when she stopped, he couldn't stop staring at her.
Then the thugs came, and Rogue didn't think of anything else but her. He attacked them, thinking the dancer was Glacia.
He was expecting a thanks but he didn't expect her to run away from him!
White hair, blue eyes, her face was the exact same, he thought. But her hair was longer, she looked older...who was she?
"...been a while since he's been like this," Sting noticed. Usually, Rogue would be scowling. But now he was calm, comtemplative...what he had been before she died.
"This is too good to be true." Sure, Rufus didn't mind this rare moment when Rogue wasn't harsh and cold. But what worried him was how long it would last. He wouldn't mind if his former personality returned to stay—
"Hey, Rogue! You going or what?" Orga called. Sting gulped, Rufus facepalmed himself. He just had to! they thought.
"Hmm?" Rogue looked up, a slight look of annoyance on his face.
Just when I was enjoying the peace! Sting mentally cursed.
"It's Assassin, sounds like you would be perfect for it," Orga said.
An eyebrow twitched. Great, here it comes again, Rufus thought, hoping Rogue would at least keep their appearance perfect in front of the crowd.
"Orga...if I go, will you leave me in peace for the rest of the day?" Rogue asked.
Jaws dropped, flabbergasted at what the Shadow Dragon Slayer had just said. Ever since last year, if someone kept persisting, Rogue would have hacked them to bits. But this...
"Uh...yeah," Orga sweated.
Rogue sighed. "Well then."
Sabertooth: Rogue Cheney
"Something is up." Minerva placed a hand on her hip. "He didn't lash out this time."
"Maybe it's because there are too many witnesses," Rufus suggested.
"If that were the case, then he wouldn't have tried to attack that traitor in Lamia Scale yesterday." The word traitor was spat out like a curse word.
"Can everyone wear this around their wrists, pumpkin?" Mato held up a wristband with a bright green gem. "One for each of you, so don't complain."
Once the wristbands were fitted, a city began to appear within the arena. One by one, the contestants warped into the 'city', scattered away from each other.
"Is it like Hidden?" Eve guessed, glancing around.
The sky above the artificial city turned dark and cloudy. "Within the city, there are assassins trying to kill you. At the same time, you yourself are an assassin, and it's your job to kill the other assassins."
"Kill?" Rocker repeated.
"That's the setting, pumpkin. But we don't mean murder. If you get hit once, then the gem on your band breaks, and you're out, pumpkin."
"So in a nutshell, last man standing wins," Laxus said.
"Ding ding! Right, pumpkin! So let's go over it again: one hit and you're out! No murder! That's it! There are no other rules in this game except—win! At any cost!"
"Great!" Natsu pumped a fist into the air. "I'm all fired up!"
"Now, use your wits and cunning to attack! Hide in the veil of darkness!" The gong was struck. "Assassin has begun!"
The city was silent. Too silent. Almost as if no one existed.
"They hid so well," Gray noted.
Someone choked, and a body fell to the ground. The green gem turned red before it shattered. "Oh my! Eve was the first to go!"
"Damn, they're really sly with that shit," Bixlow muttered in the stands.
Somewhere in the city, Rocker did a little victory dance. Finally, he was going to bring some points back for his team!
A shadow flickered, and Rocker was thrown against a brick wall. His gem broke.
"Next time, try not to dance," Rogue hissed before he hid in the shadows.
"Blue Pegasus has earned eighth place while Quatro Cerberus snagged seventh! But the other guilds are still going!"
"Just one measly point," Yaeger muttered.
"Better than nothing," Bacchus slurred.
Natsu glanced around, using his enhanced vision to look for a certain individual.
"Ice-Make: Snow Dragon!"
Natsu avoided the sculpted ice dragon. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"
A burst of flames melted the ice golem, leaving a puddle of water on the ground.
"I can smell you, you know!" Natsu called.
"I can hear you, ya know," a snarky voice replied. A lightning bolt sped towards Natsu, who countered with— "Lightning Fire Dragon's Roar!"
The attack blew several buildings apart, and Lyon lay on top of the rubble, red shards in his hand.
"And Lamia Scale comes in sixth!"
"Lyon, when you come back, you're going to spin and spin and spin!" Ooba grumbled while spinning herself.
"Not bad, Natsu," Laxus's voice said. His voice seemed to come from all directions. "But—"
Somewhere, Laxus began to choke. Using the hacking sounds as his guide, Natsu ran in that direction and found Laxus on the ground, sweating and coughing, skin turning blue.
"Oi, Laxus, what's wrong?" Natsu's nose went off, alerting him to danger. Laxus' scent was mingled with poison.
Natsu felt a tiny sting on his neck before he too fainted. A miniscule spider scuttled away from the unconscious Dragon Slayers.
"Natsu!"
"Laxus!"
"What happened? What got them?" Fried cried, appalled at seeing Laxus on the ground.
"It's too dark to see the assassin," Mirajane said, squinting.
"Suddenly, we're down to three guilds: Mermaid Heel, Sabertooth, and Imperial Snow. Who will be the ultimate assassin?"
"Jigumo's work," Dobengal sighed, shaking his head.
"How can you tell?" Yuka asked.
"Because, like Sasori, he uses poison. But Jigumo's poison..."
The spider from before scuttled back into someone's hand, clicking its pincers, some short, others long. "Five down, two to go."
"...you're so loud."
The person holding the spider rushed away from the shadows, where Rogue emerged. "Jigumo, right?"
"Yu-pez." Jigumo placed his spider on his shoulder. "And if my intel is right, you're the guy our Princess Glacia fell for."
Rogue flinched slightly, thankful for the darkness of the game field.
"Relax, dude. You look like a black widow bit you." Jigumo held a finger out to the spider on his shoulder. The arachnid jumped on, crawling into his palm. "You'd be surprised at how much spiders can tell. For example, this little beauty—a redback, by the way—just told me that you managed to make her cry. You know how rare that is?"
When the spider mage of Imperial Snow received silence on his end, Jigumo chuckled. "Aha! So that's why you said that stuff about her tears! Man, you really do like her, don't you?"
"...shut up."
"It's not healthy to be in denial," Jigumo teased.
"Shadow Dragon's Roar!"
Jigumo, with a smug grin on his face, moved out of the way when someone from behind struck him down. Green darkened to red, and the gem shattered.
A sheathed sword soared, catching the burst of shadows and flinging it back to Rogue. By his own attack, Rogue was tossed against a building.
"It's Kagura! She's beaten Jigumo and Rogue!"
"Just a fluke," Goldmine grumbled as the scores were reached.
"Yeah! Kagura-chan's the ultimate assassin!" Millianna squealed.
Mermaid Heel 10P
Sabertooth 8P
Imperial Snow 6P
Fairy Tail A 4P
Fairy Tail B 3P
Lamia Scale 2P
Quatro Cerberus 1P
Blue Pegasus 0P
Once the city disappeared, the audience knew something was wrong. Eve was turning blue and couldn't breathe; Lyon was in the exact same condition; Natsu and Laxus were sweating profusely, unable to breathe correctly.
"P-pumpkin?" Mato rushed over to examine the four. "Medics! They've been poisoned, pumpkin!"
The crowd erupted in shock, whispering amongst themselves. Chelia hurried down to the arena with the medics, kneeling beside Lyon. He groaned, tilting his head to the side, where two tiny punctures were seen. Spider bites! Chelia realized, turning her own head towards Jigumo.
"So what if I poisoned them?" Jigumo leaned back, smirking. "Don't blame me, blame the judges and the referee for this," he said, pointing at Mato.
"Eh? What for?" Mato yelled.
"'There are no other rules in this game except—win. At any cost.' I simply took advantage of that rule. There was nothing against poisoning in the rulebooks either."
Porlyusica huffed. "Just when I had one treated, two more come in!"
Natsu groaned, holding his stomach as his complexion worsened. Laxus, on the other hand, appeared dead and Fried was suddenly chanting holy texts.
"Poison from a spider, you said?" Porlyusica asked curiously, grabbing some ingredients here and there. "This should be quick...but it depends on the kind of spider—"
"Redback, I think," Lucy said.
"An hour at most," Porlyusica judged, mixing the ingredients. "Now go. I can't stand smelly humans."
The door slammed in front of Gajeel, Lucy, and Fried's faces.
"So what did I miss?" Gajeel asked.
"Make sure every drop of this goes in his mouth," Porlyusica ordered, handing off a cup full of greenish liquid to Wendy while taking one for herself.
"Hm! Yes, Grandine," Wendy said.
"Don't call me that," the elderly woman snapped, though she smiled when Wendy called her that.
Carla opened Natsu's mouth as Wendy tipped the edge of the glass towards his mouth, pouring the antidote in.
A violent migraine attacked Carla, who released Natsu's chin to hold her head.
"Carla? Carla, are you all right?" Wendy cried.
"Arania has taken out War Cry! And Mermaid Heel is up to forty points!"
"So much for second place, eh, Goldmine?" Yajima mused. Goldmine sulked silently.
"Well, next up, Blue Pegasus' Hibiki Lates versus Sabertooth's Rufus Lohr!"
"A vision of the future, Carla?" Wendy asked. "Can you tell us what you saw?"
"The usual...only fragments," Carla said, holding her head.
"Go on," Porlyusica encouraged.
"An enormous spiderweb...two cocoons...a beautiful blue crystal...and something—someone...that vision from before..."
...The white haired girl again. She was leaning over someone, but as to who was a mystery. Her long bangs hid the left side of her face, but it was evident that she was crying for the person...
...the Shadow Dragon Slayer, Rogue. He was forcing someone to their knees, holding their arms behind themselves with a foot on the person's back. A sadistic glint in his eyes, black scale-like designs on his face...his foot came down on the person's back as his hands yanked the victim's arms out...