What can I say? Finals are coming up, I'm barely floating in history and biology. I need to stay alive in school! So if the quality sucks, I was doing history homework while writing this!

Chapter 14

Maximum Ride

"Today's game is Maximum Ride! Will the teams choose one person to represent their guild?"

"Do it, War Cry! Your soul is always wild!"

"FOUR!"

Quatro Cerberus: War Cry

Lyon looked around, annoyance written all over his face. "Where is that guy?"

"Now that you mention it, that gladiator from Imperial Snow is gone, too," Chelia said.

Yuka shook his head. "I'll go, if it means that much?"

Lamia Scale: Yuka Suzuki

Gray shrugged. "What the heck?"

Fairy Tail A: Gray Fullbuster

Juvia's eyes were replaced by hearts. "If Gray-sama's going, Juvia wants to join too!"

"Are you sure, Juvia?" Mirajane asked worriedly.

"Remember how you lost to Gray the other day?" Gajeel warned. But their protests were met by deaf ears as Juvia floated over to the competitors.

Fairy Tail B: Juvia Lockser

"Wait, Yuka! Switch with me!" Lyon called.

The Surge simply waved his hand, as if to say, "As if!"

Sabertooth: Orga Nanagear

Blue Pegasus: Ren Akatsuki

"Platina." Kagura glanced at the silver mage. "You're going today. No complaints, the rest of you," she barked as Arania opened her mouth.

Platina shrugged nonchalantly as she walked away.

Mermaid Heel: Platina

"Oh?" Jigumo lifted his eyes from the little spider on his finger. "Let me handle this, guys."

Imperial Snow: Jigumo

"All right, is everyone here?" Mato clapped his hands. "Okay, pumpkin! Let's go to the game field!"

Certain roads in the city had been flagged, with road blocks running parallel along the lanes. A bright red line was drawn. Behind it, eight motorcycles stood proudly, each with their own helmet and Self-Energy plug. Some helmets were larger than others, as were some vehicles

"Is this a race track?" Ren asked.

"Ladies and gents," Mato began, grinning like a child with a new toy, "welcome to Maximum Ride: The high speed magical grand prix!"

Cheers could be heard all the way from Domus Flau.

"The rules are quite simple, pumpkin," Mato said. "Once the signal is given, you have one hour to complete five circuits around the race track we have marked. The track itself is approximately 10 miles long, so you have fifty miles to complete, pumpkin. First to complete five circuits gets first place, and so on. Of course, that's one way you could win, pumpkin," he added darkly.

"Then what's the other?" Gray questioned.

"Well, being wizards, of course all of you will try to sabotage your opponents. And we accept that. But take into account your magic levels. The SE plug drains your magic depending on how fast you go, pumpkin. So if one contestant is pushed off the track, that person gets eighth place. In the event that no one completes five circuits, your scores will instead be based on how many circuits you completed."

Platina raised an eyebrow. "Then why don't we turn this into an endurance race?"

"Because that would be too long, totally unfair, and it would point out which contestants are weaker. Like Quatro Cerberus," he muttered.

"Hey!"

"Anyway, there's nothing different about the motorcycles. They're all identical except in design. It's the rider that's unique, pumpkin," Mato chuckled. "Now take your pick, and we'll start."

Wendy's face fell in confusion. "Grandeeney...what do you mean?"

"It's something that's often overlooked in Necromancy," Porlyusica explained. "Humans only ever think about themselves. The dead are toys a Dark mage can repair on a whim."

"But Niebel—"

"Yes, he suffers from his older sister's death. But does he consider his sister?"

"Think about it," she continued with a serious look. "Suppose a person suffered everyday unjustly when they were alive. In their graves, they finally find the happiness they desperately sought in life. But then they are ripped away, and they return to the world they never wished to see again."

Realizing what Porlyusica was getting at, Wendy lowered her head.

"The living may live; the dead must remain dead. Humans...you never understand what the deceased wish to stay."

"Ladies and gentlemen! Presenting to you live from Crocus: Maximum Ride!" Mato crowed. "Our contestants are ready, their motors are running, and—"

A loud bellow could be heard over from Domus Flau saying, "Just get on with it!"

"All right, pumpkin!" Mato grumbled. "In five, four, three, two, ONE!"

A starter pistol went off, eight motors revved, and dust clouds were thrown into the air. "Maximum Ride has begun!"

Orga sped past the others, who were close behind.

Yuka extended one of his arms—surrounded in elongated light—towards Platina. "Wave Seal!"

But his attack somehow missed her and targeted Juvia instead. "Huh?"

"Yuka, how dare you cancel Juvia's magic!" Lyon fumed.

"But how did—" Platina reappeared within his line of sight, now speeding towards War Cry.

Her hand glowed with silver light. "Silver-Make: Daggers!"

Three silver daggers appeared between her free hand's fingers. Holding two in her mouth, Platina hurled the one towards War Cry.

War Cry slowed down, but the knife cut the cables that connected to the brakes and the accelerator pump.

Platina mock saluted him. "Auf wiedersehen!"

"Oh my! Platina has sabotaged War Cry's bike! He can't slow down or stop!"

The SE plug that connected to War Cry's wrist overinflated as he sped past the others, even Orga, much to the latter's annoyance.

"On the other hand, War Cry is in the lead with 1.2 circuits—"

"He just needs to steer clear and we'll win!" Rocker insisted.

"Oh no you don't!" Orga came from the left and rammed into War Cry. The underdog lost control of his bike for a moment but regained it.

The SE plug connected to War Cry's wrist burst. The bike stopped abruptly, hurling him into the lake.

"And War Cry is O-U-T out!"

"Now we can get serious!" Jigumo yelled, speeding past the starting line.

"As of now, Orga is in the lead with 1.5 circuits, Jigumo is close behind with 1.3 circuits, followed by Platina with 1.2 circuits! Here comes Ren with—what is that on Yuka's bike!"

Too late. Yuka's SE plug popped, sending the Surge crashing into a brick building. What appeared to be a mechanical spider scuttled out of what was once Yuka's engine.

"Oh, and Yuka takes seventh place!"

"Damn, I should've sealed his magic when I had the chance," Yuka muttered.

Jigumo snickered. "He could have. I doubt my spiders would take notice."

"Ice-Make: Lance!"

Jigumo steered clear of the ice barrage, retaining that same sneer he wore on the second day. He took in a deep breath and spat a purple glob at Gray.

The ice mage slowed down, avoiding it effectively. But the purple substance landed in Ren's eyes.

"Agh!" Ren shut his eyes in pain, an unbearable stinging sensation pulsing through them. Without his vision, Ren crashed into a statue.

"Ooh! Ren of Blue Pegasus takes sixth place!"

"Poison?" Gray said aloud.

"Hey, he was unlucky enough to have taken it in the eyes," the spider specialist called. "That's the worst place to be poisoned. If he doesn't get treated immediately, he goes blind!"

"Bastard!" Gray snarled.

Jigumo snorted. "Born one and proud of it, stripper!"

Before he could come up with a better insult, Gray heard one of his tires squeal. And he stopped abruptly. Looking down, Gray found a silver dagger in his front tire.

Damn it! He thought as the others drove past him.

"Gray-sam-aahh!" Juvia cried. Her bike lost balance, and the water mage bounced off the road several times before she finally landed in a fountain.

"Platina has wiped out Gray, now in fifth, and Juvia, who forcibly accepts fourth! And now we're down to Orga, Platina, and Jigumo—all of whom are on their fourth circuit!"

Platina's bike began to slow down against her will, but both Orga and Jigumo were rearing to go.

"What's wrong, little silver?" Jigumo taunted. "Can't take the heat?"

"Rgh...!" Platina steered away from a black lightning shot from Orga. Glaring at the men ahead of her, she converted nearly the rest of her magic while she reached into her right boot.

"Lightning God's—" Something blasted the tires on Orga's bike. The God Slayer was thrown off his bike violently.

"No way!" Orga yelled at Platina. "You're not supposed to have magic left!"

"Pft! You dummkopf!" Platina held up a pistol in her right hand. "You don't need magic to power a gun!"

"Final circuit!"

Jigumo grinned. "Feisty, huh? Just my type! That is, if you weren't—"

Something caused Jigumo to hold his right ear. A confused look appeared on his face before it faded just as quickly.

POP! Jigumo's SE plug burst. He halted abruptly before quickly jumping off.

"Platina's the last one on track! Then by default, Platina is the winner of Maximum Ride!"

Mermaid Heel 10P
Imperial Snow 8P
Sabertooth 6P
Fairy Tail B 4P
Fairy Tail A 3P
Blue Pegasus 2P
Lamia Scale 1P
Quatro Cerberus 0P

Sasori, you'd better have a good reason for this, Jigumo thought.

Earlier, Sasori sent his younger twin a telepathic message.

"'Help me out. He knows.'"

"Eesh, bro. Can you not handle one little spy on your own?" Jigumo grumbled as he headed out to find his twin who possessed no sense of direction whatsoever.

"I guess I can't hide it from you, can I, old friend?" Sasori sighed. "Yeah, Niebel came here last year. He left just a week after Glacia but came a bit later."

"Did he ever mention G—?"

"Well, did you think he would leave his sissy's body crushed under all that rubble?"

A breath of relief. "But...I can't help but wonder...what did you do to the body?" Dobengal asked.

Sasori flinched slightly. He regained his composure quickly. "We buried it," he answered hesitantly. "Or rather, Niebel did. At the Glacian Lake, where Glacia grew up."

The two had a staring contest. Mismatched eyes pleaded with brown to believe him.

Dobengal bowed his head. "I see. Well, sorry to hold you up, Sasori."

"No problem," Sasori said, walking past his old comrade. Slowing down a bit, the gladiator withdrew a syringe needle from his pocket with what seemed to be dried blood on the tip.

Sasori spun around, towards Dobengal's exposed back. The needle glistened as it aimed for the neck.

Chink!

The needle tip broke. Sasori's needle was countered with a glowing knife from the ninja.

"Aha."

"Very good," Sasori commented. "When did you start doubting me?"

"I didn't believe a single word," came the reply.

"Heh. So you grew brains during the last few years. You're not as gullible as before."

A tiny pinch on his neck, and Dobengal fell, only to land on a certain spider mage's back.

"Man, oh man. One ninja, Saso. Just one! Couldn't you handle it?" Jigumo grunted, shifting the weight on his back. A tiny spider nestled in his hair after crawling off of its prey.

"Jigumo—you..."

"Simply put, man, you know too much now," Jigumo said as he walked away, carrying his poisoned ex-comrade on his back. He chuckled. "Hey, don't be sad. We're going back to the orphan's guild where we all grew up! Us orphans gotta stick together, right? Who knows? If I feel merciful, I might even help you see your crush in the afterlife."

"Our first tag battle: Mermaid Heel's Kagura and Platina vs. Avian and Sasori!"

"Gaci Platina, Platina Gaci." Avian bowed to the female mages, but his gaze lingered on one. "I know you."

Kagura glanced at Platina, who narrowed her shaded eyes at Avian.

"I remember everything about you." Avian smiled as he flipped a card with a yin-yang symbol on it. "I even recall the day Glacia met you."