The Hidden event is about to begin and our favorite guild gets to show off what they can do… Okay, second favorite. I hope you all enjoy!

July 1, X791

As the first round of the Grand Magic Games was about to start, a tablet with the tournament's title followed by a list of days and events, which mostly listed battles and a few questions marks save for 'Day 1' which had 'Hidden + Battle'.

*So each day has a contest followed by battles.* Spiral thought.

"Can't have a fighting tournament without battles." Sakura stated, sounding particularly pumped.

"First, I'll explain the contests." Chapati announced over the PA system. "Teams will be ranked from first to tenth place based on their performance. Points will be given to each team based on their rank. First place gets 10 points and tenth place gets 1 point; you can guess the rest. Each team will be allowed to choose one member to participate in the contest. Now let me explain the battles. The sponsors will pit competitors against each other based on factors such as audience votes. The battle rules are simple. Each time will get a chance to fight each day. The winning team will be awarded 10 points and the losing team will get 0. In the case of a draw, both teams will receive 5 points. And now for the opening contest! Prepare for 'Hidden'! Please choose one participant for your teams. We will explain the rules once all participants have come forward."

Mermaid Heel, Raven Tail, Blue Pegasus, Sabertooth, Lamia Scale and both Fairy Tail teams selected their members, which were respectively Beth Vanderwood, Nullpudding, Eve Tearm, Rufus, Lyon Vastia, Gray Fullbuster and Juvia Lockser.

"If the event is called 'Hidden', it's probably a stealth game." Aqua surmised.

"I wanna go!" Sakura shouted loudly.

"If it's a game of stealth, I'm the perfect choice." Spiral said.

"Show them what Phoenix Dawn can do, Spiral!" Aqua cheered.

"You go, Spiral!" Azusa and Hikari cheered.

Sakura went behind them and curled up in the fetal position. "They wouldn't let me play in the games…"

"If Spiral's going, then I'm entering as well." Melody said.

"I kinda wish it was me, but stealth isn't my specialty." Frost said.

"Kara, send me out there!" Momo said as she jumped up and down around Kara like an excited child.

"As good as your stealth is, I think it would be better if I were to participate." Leah said.

"I agree." Kara said. "Leah, you may go."

"Ooohh…" Momo groaned in disappointment as her guildmate walked forward.

Outside the city on a cliff overlooking Domus Flau were Ultear, Meredy, Foster and Morticia.

"What was Jellal thinking going out there?" Morticia questioned.

"Yeah, was there any point to you, him and Meredy meeting with Fairy Tail in secret if he was going to do this?" Foster questioned.

"Heh, I guess he wants a chance to be near Erza." Ultear chuckled.

Foster leered at Ultear.

"Don't you look at me like that!"

With all ten participants decided, Hidden was about to start.

"We're ready to start!" Chapati announced.

After the commentators discussed about their favorites to win, Nullpudding argued with the pumpkin man Mato, who appeared in front of them, about Fairy Tail and Phoenix Dawn having two teams, but it didn't seem to bother any of the other guilds' contestants.

"Open the field!" Mato ordered.

Around the ten contestants, an entire town started to be formed from what appeared to be some sort of projection magic inside the entire grounded area of the stadium. As it finished forming, each wizard was separated from the rest with their teammates standing outside of the city and large screens showing what each wizard was doing in the city appeared to the audience.

"Please enjoy a view of the goings-on inside the city on our lacrima-vision monitors." Chapati said. "None of our ten participants can see what the others are doing. The rules for Hidden are simple. It's a game of tag where everyone is 'it' AND hiding. Contestants are to find their opponents somewhere in the city and use any magic they like. Regardless of how much damage is dealt, every successful hit will earn the player 1 point."

Holograms of each of the participants started to appear and walk around the city.

"I see what they're getting at." Spiral muttered to himself.

"These are copies we made of everyone." Chapati stated. "If a player mistakenly attacks a copy, he or she will lose 1 point. Let Hidden… Begin!"

At the very start of the match, Juvia hugged one of the Gray copies, got zapped and lost a point.

"Already Juvia attacks a copy and loses a point." Chapati commented. "Now she will restart in ten seconds in another area of the city. The same were to happen if she was attacked by another wizard. Competitors can restart as many times as they want before time runs out. The time limit is 30 minutes. The team with the most points gets first place."

*So… if these are copies produced by magic, then they don't have heartbeats or a need to breathe…* Spiral thought.

He then stomped his foot on the ground and sent a sonic wave throughout the city to pinpoint the location of nine heartbeats.

*… Gotcha!* Spiral thought as he smirked and walked away.

On one of the rooftops, Leah was crawling on the surface belly first and keeping her eyes out for any opponents. She pulled a bow she held on her back, making sure to stay out of the sight of the other competitors. In her line of sight, Spiral had just taken out both Beth and Eve, earning him two points, and she created white arrow of magic in her hands, readying it and taking aim at Spiral.

Spiral clapped his hands against each other as his defeated opponents were sent elsewhere, but quickly sensed Leah's presence and tried to jump out of the way.

"… Homing Arrow…" Leah whispered.

Leah fired the arrow and a stream of light was aimed at Spiral.

Spiral saw the arrow coming for him and tried to jump out of the way, but it tracked him and struck him in the torso.

"The name 'Homing Arrow' should have tipped me off…" Spiral groaned before he disappeared and reappeared in another part of the city.

Leah put her bow away and appeared to be ready to move.

"That probably signaled some of the other wizards." Leah whispered to herself. "I should change my position just in-"

Melody came from behind and stomped right on Leah's back.

"You should really keep quiet." Melody said. "Especially when you're up against a couple of Sound Wizards."

Leah disappeared and reappeared in another part of the city and Melody quickly got off the roof before anyone could see her.

As Spiral was heading for another of the heartbeats he sensed, he saw Gray being attacked by Nullpudding. As Gray disappeared, Spiral ran up to Nullpudding and punched him square in the face.

"That one was for Jay!" Spiral shouted.

"Don't make an enemy of Raven Tail." Nullpudding said. "Your friend already made that mistake."

As Nullpudding disappeared, Spiral thought about his words.

*So they weren't after us?* Spiral thought. *Then why did they attack… They must have been after Wendy! They must have some sort of beef with Fairy Tail! But I can't worry about that for right now. I have to win this event.*

Spiral ran off to find more opponents, but eventually snow began to fall in the city.

*Snow?* Spiral looked at the precipitation. *Must be one of the ice wizards trying to seek out the real ones by seeing them shiver from the cold. Either Gray, Lyon or Eve could be doing this.*

Spiral continued running until he saw Eve running away from Lyon.

"Never-Melt Clawshot!"

Spiral held out his hand and an ice claw burst out and struck Eve.

"Ice Make: Snow Tiger!"

Lyon created an ice tiger that pounced on Spiral, taking away the point he just earned. Suddenly an arrow of light struck Lyon and he looked toward one of the building rooftops to see Leah run from her current sniping post.

Outside the city in the stadium, each team was cheering for their respective members.

"That girl keeps popping out of nowhere and picking people off!" Sakura grunted. "Why can't she fight with some dignity and get up close and personal?!"

"Because her magic is best at long range." Hikari replied. "But her accuracy is incredibly precise, even without using that homing arrow."

"I wouldn't like to face off against her." Azusa said.

In the stands, Kyo was yelling.

"What the hell is taking Rufus so long?!" Kyo questioned. "He's going to fall behind!"

"He's calculating his opponents." Kyrin said. "Pull a massive lead in one fell swoop."

"Well he should be calculating to swoop his ass in and steal some points! Pretentious Pretty Pony Pansy!"

In the city, Rufus was standing on a rooftop where everyone can see him and placed his fingers against his temple.

"This contest lacks flair." Rufus said. "I remember. Each individual pulse, footstep, magical attribute. I remember. I remember it all. Memory Make: Night of the Falling Stars!"

Nine streams of light burst forth from Rufus and shot everyone dead on except for Nullpudding, who jumped out of the way in time.

Back in the stands, Kyo scoffed.

"Tch, showoff…" Kyo muttered.

"T… Total annihilation!" Chapati exclaimed. "In the blink of an eye, Rufus takes the lead! Just what we'd expect from Sabertooth!"

After several more minutes had passed…

"And time is up!" Chapati announced. "Here are the rankings! Because this is the first game, these also reflect the current overall rankings."

Sabertooth 10P

Raven Tail 9P

White Valkyrie 8P

Phoenix Dawn B 7P

Lamia Scale 6P

Phoenix Dawn A 5P

Blue Pegasus 4P

Mermaid Heel 3P

Fairy Tail B 2P

Fairy Tail A 1P

"And no one is surprised to see Sabertooth in the lead." Chapati said.

"That wash a brilliant display." Yajima said.

"Both Fairy Tail teams fought well, but with unfortunate results." Chapati said.

"We'll hope to shee better in the next round." Yajima expressed.

Melody walked up to her teammates, who were happy with her performance.

"You were awesome out there, Melody!" Frost said.

"No kidding!" Haru said. "Even though I wish I went out there…"

"We made the right call sending you out there." Static said.

Melody looked over toward their guild's other team to see Spiral walk up to his group with a disappointed look on his face.

"Don't feel bad, Spiral." Hikari said.

"But I didn't even make it into the top half." Spiral said.

"We don't care about that." Azusa said. "What matters is that you did your best."

"Yeah, what your sister said!" Sakura nodded.

"And I still love you regardless." Hikari started cuddling Spiral's arm.

"Stop coddling him like that!" Aqua shouted. "If you keep that up, he'll never toughen up!"

"Aqua, calm down." Spiral said.

"You're not taking any of this seriously, are you?" Aqua asked angrily.

"The only people who need to take this seriously are Fairy Tail." Spiral argued. "They need to win to restore their guild's honor."

"Don't be soft!" Aqua snapped. "Remember, they're the enemy! Just like everyone else here!"

"Moving on to the battle portion of the day!" Chapati announced. "Please come forward when I call your name! Each team will participate in one battle against one another, not in a tournament format.

"I hope to see shome exshiting face-offsh." Yajima said.

"I have just received the lineup!" Chapati announced. "For the first match of the day, we have Fairy Tail A's Lucy Heartfilia! Versus! Raven Tail's Flare Corona!"

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Has anyone noticed that Hidden is like Assassin's Creed multiplayer? I think that's where Mishima got the inspiration from. For the next chapter, it will be Lucy and Flare fight, but I'm going to change a couple of things. Anyway, stay tuned for next time!