Happy Sunday everyone!

Once again to a guest reviewer: Nope, still alive, and well!

That said, sorry for the wait! I've been jumping back and forth between GMG and Tartaros as various ideas hit me!

Also, COVID lockdowns are finally lifting here, and I'm back to work again (hopefully this is the last time), so I have three jobs and six-day work weeks again. I will do my best to keep updates as consistent as possible, but do bear with me, updates should never be more than a month apart.
Anyyyyway. Fun and (grand) Games ahead.

~Onward

43

-Stars and Flames-

Lucy pouted at the announcement of the first event, "This would have been perfect for you and Haru," she grumbled, eyeing the fire mage to her side. Natsu had his forearms resting on the thick stone railing of their team's balcony, staring out over the stadium. He looked up at her questioningly without moving from his spot. "I don't think anyone can match your teamwork," she elaborated.

With a raised brow and an incredulous look, Natsu chuckled as he straightened, "Lucy… our teamwork comes damn close to mine and Haru's, case you forgot." Cocking his head at the unsure nod she gave him, confidence quickly replaced the incredulity on his face, seeming to bely a snap decision that gave the blonde pause. He turned to the rest of their team, "Luce and I got this one!" he declared. The other four agreed easily, nodding their approval and wishing them luck as Lucy's jaw dropped.

"What?! The very first event?" she yelped.

"No time like the present! We'll get Fairy Tail off to an early lead!" he told her, thrusting a fiery fist into the air. "Come on!" he commanded as he planted his hands on the barrier and flung himself over the balcony in streaks of fire to materialize on the stadium floor below. Lucy stared blankly for a moment before flipping over the edge with only a moment of hesitation, she shoulder-rolled to absorb the impact and came to a graceful stop next to him.

She rose and smirked up at the fire mage, "Alright then, let's kick their asses!"

They threw up a quick high five just as the other partners began to appear on the field as they entered through the various corridors or jumped from their respective balconies. Millianna and Sienna, Ren and Eve, Lyon and Yuka, Flare and Kurohebi, and Rocker and Jäger. Once all the teams had gathered, Sabertooth was the only unrepresented team.

Predictably, Sting leaped from his Guild's balcony, garnering a loud round of cheers from the audience. What did come as a surprise to Natsu was Rogue not moving to join him. Natsu scanned the remaining tigers until another uproar of cheers built and he glanced back to find Yukino striding out of the shadows of a corridor to join the white slayer on the stadium grounds. She stopped, angled toward Sting, eyeing Lucy with a sidelong gaze as Sting sized them up out right with a large grin in place.

"Ah, so that's how you're going to play it, huh?" Natsu muttered.

"What do you mean?"

Natsu glanced down at the blonde beside him. "Yukino is a celestial mage, seems Sting wants to challenge us magic to magic..." he explained. Lucy nodded, meeting the gaze of the white-haired girl as her partner absently added, "interesting."

By the look on Sting's face, it was a safe bet the other slayer only entered the opening challenge because Natsu happened to be competing. The fire mage smirked at the thought. "Hey Sting!" he called, "this is the part where you eat your words about my 'rag tag bunch!'" The grin that had been on the blonde male's face died instantly, and his eyes narrowed into a glare as he leaned closer to converse with Yukino.

The fire mage chuckled lowly, turning his attention back to his own partner. "They're being mindful of dragon senses, I wonder if Sting has figured out Sienna is one of us as well…" he told her softly enough to be sure Sting couldn't hear him either. "They can whisper all they want, it won't save them," he added louder with a bark of laughter for his rival's ears alone. To be honest, he felt a little weird about lumping Yukino into the aggravation he felt toward Sting, but today, they were representing rival guilds and not the Eclipse Team.

The Spectators

Haru leaned into the pillar on his right, watching the competitors on the stadium grounds. His eyes flicked up to one of the various large lacrima screens as the teams below were teleported away to a magic-constructed event location.

"Your telepathy would have been invaluable in an event such as this."

"Aye…" Happy agreed in an unsure sound.

The water slayer crossed his arms and glanced down at the blue cat and Makarov who both sat to his left on the wide stone barrier that edged Fairy Tail's section. "Natsu and Lucy can predict each other's moves well enough without," he countered, turning his attention back to the screen that showed his best friends materializing to land in a vacant street. The battle ground for the first event appeared to be a sprawling city center construct with large buildings that offered plenty of potential coverage and vantage points.

Makarov hummed in agreement as the event's rules were explained to the crowd. One by one, the recordings showed snippets of each team in various quadrants of the cityscape. Behind them, Gajeel grumbled, "Salamander's on defense? That's a stupid choice, what are they thinkin', are they try'n to lose?!"

Haru noted the blue identifier tied around Natsu's upper arm, and the red marker clipped to Lucy's belt. Each team assigned a mage to defense and the other to offense, the teams would receive points for landing attacks on Offence and attacking the Defense or being struck themselves, would result in deducted points. Defense on the other hand, were barred from attacking and had only two tasks: defend their partner, and if able, collect markers from the competing Offence which would result in that team's complete elimination.

Haru was about to address Gajeel's remark when Makarov beat him to it, "Not at all my boy," the guild master mumbled without looking away from lacrima vision. The teams were beginning to launch into their various strategies, darting through the streets in search of the other teams. The guild master spoke up more clearly, "so long as Natsu keeps his temper under control… it's actually a brilliant strategy. With the release of our Twin Dragon's identities, most of the competitors will know many of Natsu's abilities, but they likely don't know Lucy's..."

At the elder's pause, Haru added, "Natsu's magic is also better suited to stealth and long-range defense, he can get close enough to steal the other teams' markers without being easily detected. Lucy on the other hand, has far reaching attacks that are more precise than the general destructive nature of Natsu's magic, so she can avoid striking the defense and losing points. That, and her spirits allow her to gang up on any opponent she encounters."

The Fairy spectators all nodded collectively as the mages on screen sprinted or stealthily moved through the streets and bursts of magic began flaring across the live feeds as some clashed. The live feed focused in on Natsu briefly, catching the sun glittering off the crimson scales of his Drive Mode. He threw a thumbs up at Lucy before he vanished in fire, and then she shot across the residual embers licking over the pavement, carried on golden wings. The emcees dissolved into an excited flurry of words, speculating on Fairy Tail's strategy of splitting up, when all the other teams seemed to be staying together so far.

Haru chuckled, "It only appears they've split up…" he said softly.

Action was quick to build of course, a flash of white split across one of the screens as Sting flipped agilely around a series attacks aimed his way. The other teams quickly ganged up in attempts to take out a returning champion, early on. He skidded to a stop and countered with a destructive bright white roar. "Pitiful," his voice droned around the stadium as he strode forward to stand over his fellow offence mages. His counter had left both Eve and Rocker laid out flat in a single attack.

"Sting opens with a quick two-point lead for Sabertooth!" Chapati cried to excited applause. Yukino darted forward seconds after, aiming to snag the downed mages' markers. Lucky for Blue Pegasus, Ren was able to save Eve with aerial magic, but Rocker wasn't so lucky. "And with that, Sabertooth gains another 5 points, eliminating Quatro Cerberus from the event in the first five minutes!"

Sting didn't so much as pump a fist into the air to celebrate their early, (and substantial) lead, instead he issued a challenge. "Where the hell are ya, Salamander! –Why don't you stop cowering and face me!" he shouted.

Haru smirked subtly at the united sharp inhale of Fairy Tail, noting their shared tension in his peripheral. He didn't turn his attention away from the battle though, waiting patiently to see his partner's response. It was clear his guildmates were expecting to see flames explode into the air from some hidden spot, announcing Natsu's whereabouts as he rose to Sting's challenge…

Three years ago, Haru was sure that would have been Natsu's response exactly. But everything they'd been through had matured him, even if he didn't make it outwardly apparent.

With a tone of uncertainty, Levy even asked, "Doesn't this whole strategy hinge on Natsu not letting Sting or Raven Tail escalate him?" The guild sweatdropped, all too used to their resident fire slayer's reactive behaviour. If the defender attacked, it resulted in a loss of five points per opponent attacked… So if Natsu allowed himself to be goaded into a strike, Fairy Tail could easily be starting off in the negative.

But not a single flicker of flame was seen. Instead, in a flash of gold, Lucy appeared in the sky overhead and aimed a Star Dress empowered kick down at the white slayer. Sting's attention shot toward her, eyes widening as surprise coloured his expression, apparently bewildered at being taken off guard. Lucy's kick still met with air though, and a large crater tore itself through the pavement when her kick connected with the street.

"What happened?!" Happy cried, leaning further out over the barrier. Haru pursed his lips as well, staring at the cloud of debris that Lucy's kick had expelled into the air. When the dust settled, she was in a half kneel at the center of the webbing of damage, focus fixed on Sting who now hovered in the air above her. The surprise on Sting's face was slowly replaced by a mask of irritation at how close she'd come to landing that strike.

Haru smiled again as he relaxed back into the pillar, 'Go get 'em, Lucy.'

The Competitors

Lucy couldn't think of any attribute of Holy White magic that could potentially manifest flight, but she didn't have time to ponder it either. Diving to the side, she shoulder-rolled out of the way, barely dodging a sharp slash of light that tore through the street. Pulling a key from her belt as she ground to a stop, she swiped the key in a line, but froze before calling the summons. Her lips parted as she tuned into a familiar magic signature. 'So that's it,' Lucy realized.

Without turning away from the dragon slayer, she stated, "the heavenly scales, Libra…" knowing without having to look, that the named Zodiac spirit would be somewhere behind her. Yukino stepped out of the shadows of an alley to smile smugly back at her, and stopped a few meters to Sting's right. "Altering his gravity… clever," Lucy praised.

Yukino wasn't to be underestimated either. She was clearly a cautious strategist, and Sting's defense, just as Natsu was hers. The other celestial mage would not be letting Sting take a hit without doing everything in her power to intervene. Lucy made a mental note to keep the girl's presence in her awareness to ensure the white-haired mage couldn't get close enough to steal her marker.

Thrusting the key still in her fingers through space once more, Lucy summoned, "Open, gate of the goat: Capricorn!"

She quickly swapped her Star Dress for Capricorn's and the tall bipedal goat closed the distance to Libra in a flash. Landing a quick succession of three powerful kicks, he ejected the other Zodiac back to the spirit realm in mere seconds. Lucy returned Yukino's earlier smirk when the other girl's victorious expression faltered.

Calling her gratitude to Capricorn, Lucy sprung forward to follow her spirit's example. She was already swinging around with a powerful kick as Sting dropped back to the ground when his gravity reverted to normal. But without flinching at all, the blonde man blocked the kick with a forearm, and thrust the other forward with a palm strike straight into Lucy's sternum.

She slid back on the balls of her feet with a grunt and cursed her carelessness as she waited for the emcee to announce the loss of a point, but he never did. Lucy realized too late, it wasn't an offensive spell she'd been hit with. Her eyes blew wide when she realized she was locked in place. Worse, just as she realized she was immobilized, Flare joined the fray, long red hair ignited in fire whipping toward her. Across from them both, Sting was inhaling in preparation for what Lucy recognized to be the standard dragon slayer breath attack. She dissolved into an internal string of curses at her vulnerability as she continued to struggle against the seal Sting had placed on her.

But before either spell could land, streams of fire exploded from the street in a spinning vortex around her, cancelling both the impending attacks. Flare still screamed from nearby when the white roar landed its mark on her, sending her sailing back to crash into the pavement. Natsu appeared a second after in a storm of fire between her and Sting and reached back to place a palm coated in gold flames on the mark Sting had imbued on her. The seal burned away in an instant, releasing her. With a quick roll of her muscles and joints, Lucy twirled around the fire mage and met the white slayer in melee again.

"Thanks Natsu! I've got this!" she called indiscriminately.

With a toothy grin, Natsu skipped back a few steps and vanished in a shower of embers again, renewing Sting's furious ranting once more.

The Teammates

"They're letting Sting monopolize their attention. Sabertooth already has eight points, so they don't give a shit about anything but throwing down with us." Erza grumbled, watching their blonde teammate hold her own in combat with the dragon slayer. Lucy ducked a sharp punch from the side and pivoted to catch the follow up kick Sting threw, trapping it in a hook grip. She latched her arms around his leg and in a flash, her black and purple body suit materialized into the cow-print and denim ensemble granting her Taurus' strength to throw him into the ground. Sting got a hand out to plant on the ground just in time and struck out with an upward kick at Lucy's forcing her to release her grip. Sting flipped back to his feet and thrust a fist forward firing a pure white beam of magic that Lucy dodged by re-donning her star reform wings and escaping to the air. The match continued, without either mage managing to land a strike or slowing in their onslaught.

Erza mumbled how impressed she was with the blonde's combative improvement, but Mira could tell she still desperately wanted Lucy to break away and go on the attack elsewhere. "They need to get some damn points on the board though, time limit is already at the half point," the redhead grumbled.

"SHIT!" Gray yelled, slapping his hands down over the barrier as he leapt to his feet, Lucy's pained cry echoed through the stadium speakers. She landed hard on her back after flying through the air and skidded across the ground when Sting finally landed the first hit of their fight. Lucy back rolled and stopped on her hands and knees, digging the ball of a foot in to quickly launch herself back into the fight. "Why the hell didn't Natsu defend?!" the ice mage added furiously when Fairy Tail's score dropping to the negative was announced.

Mira's attention crawled over her fellow fairies, Erza and Gray were both on their feet, but Laxus still sat unmoving in his spot, seemingly unphased by the attack. She pursed her lips in curiosity, Laxus was usually as quick as Gray to call Natsu out on any move he disagreed with. Not to mention his increasing rivalry with the fire slayer upon realizing the gap in their power had been closed. "What do you think Laxus?" she asked, putting a halt to Gray's ranting and Erza's analyzing, they both turned their attention to the stoic blonde as well.

The corner of his mouth quirked upward in a half smile, "seriously?" he asked chuckling. "You should all know that Natsu is way too fucking stubborn to leave a comrade—let alone his girlfriend—without defense… unless, that was her plan." Laxus finally turned away from the lacrima vision as Lucy's star shot took Sting in the chest, claiming her lost point back from him. Looked at each of his teammates, Laxus jabbed a thumb at the lacrima and pointed, "blondie can handle herself; I'd bet they're just biding their time to rack up some points—"

"WOAH! Out of nowhere, Fairy Tail's Natsu Dragneel with a five-point elimination—" the ecstatic call sounded to a mix of cheers and surprise. Laxus threw his head back with a loud bark of laughter when one of the live feeds focused on Eve's stunned face. The snow mage apparently hadn't even noticed until Blue Pegasus' elimination from the first round had been called, and that was enough to break the Fairies' tension as they all broke out in laughter.

The Competitors

"—NO, make that ten points!"
Lucy's head whipped to the side and she and Sting jolted apart, leaping backward as a streak of pink and red cut straight down between them, sending up a plume of dust. The air cleared to reveal Natsu with a knee dug into Flare's back, and his other boot across an unconscious Kurohebi's neck. He had a fist of Flare's red hair held tight at the nape of her neck, and a dangerous look on his face. He leaned down close to her ear, and forcibly turned her head so he could lock eyes with her, "cowards. Did you really think I would allow you two to blindside my partner?" he growled. Natsu released the grip he had on the raven and stood, twirling her marker between his fingers as he turned to meet Sting's stunned expression.

Lucy noted that her partner hadn't used any physical attacks or spells so despite the rough landing, no points were deducted from their score. That seemed rather impressive given how riled up he seemed to be.

"Folks, it would appear both Raven Tail's offense and defense were squaring up for an ambush on Lucy Heartfilia!" guest emcee Yajima proclaimed, "while not cheating, the strategy makes no sense, it would seem to be purely motivated by vendetta! What is the history between these two guilds?!"

"That aside, Blue Pegasus and now Raven Tail, eliminated in a matter of minutes!" Chapati squealed into the mic, and the three announcers began enthusiastically breaking down the events as the battle continued. Lyon had been racking up some one-point hits consistently and had his team's score at four, Mermaid Heel held three points, Sabertooth had eight, and Fairy Tail now took the lead with ten. Quatro Cerberus, Blue Pegasus and Raven Tail each had a point or two upon their eliminations and would likely be vying for the bottom places unless there was a big upset with the remaining teams.

Natsu swept a wild grin over the other mages present. Despite Sting's apparent fury, Lucy knew that the other dragon slayer couldn't attack the fire mage if he didn't want to lose points. Natsu hadn't been overly impressed when she'd suggested he take Defense, he had been dying for a brawl at this level, but it seemed he found plenty of amusement in the white slayer's obvious frustration.

"Earth dragon's ROAR!" Attempting to get eyes on the new arrival, everyone's heads whirled in the direction of the call, but Sienna's form was obscured by the sun behind her, effectively blinding them. A storm of earth and debris barrelled down on Sting and Lucy with far-reaching range. Lucy quickly donned Aquarius' star dress and conjured Aqua Metria just in time to counter the attack, sending a tidal wave right back at the earth slayer. The attacks collided and exploded in a mess of water and earth. Sting had yelled in shock at the brunette's sudden appearance, though he had managed to block her roar as well. The third dragon slayer landed gracefully in front of them, rising and extending her arms forward in a sparring stance as she sized them up.

"Surprised you're on defense, Natsu, Lucy put you on a leash?" she sang teasingly at him. The blonde dragon slayer's attention whipped back and forth at the familiarity between the two as Natsu chuckled at the taunt.

"Ohhh, sorry Sting, did we forget to mention there are more of us—seven, in fact—in attendance at the Games this year?" Natsu said smugly.

"Seven…" Sting bit out in displeasure, his jaw clenched, "whatever, my only interest is in retiring the old Twin Dragon's legacy."

"Well, you're not doing such a great job so far!" Natsu taunted.

Lucy gaped at her partner and the three-way dragon slayer stand-off and found herself hoping Natsu wasn't about to let his competitive nature get the best of him. Until she realized Natsu was just turning the tables on Sting, attempting to provoke him into an attack, just as the white slayer had done earlier. It seemed ironic, that due to the nature of this match, neither were able to attack the other without consequence.

"You should broaden your attention blondie, because this dragon can attack you!" Sienna interrupted irritably, "earth dragon's rupture!" The brunette threw her hands down into the street and the pavement blew apart as it sent a deep scar through the ground toward Sting. Buildings collapsed under the reverberating quake and it appeared Sting would be unable to dodge the range of her destructive attack until Yukino summoned Pisces. In the blink of an eye, two massive eel-like creatures warped into being, swirling around each other in a knot of black and white, and Sting flung himself up on the black spirit's back as it whipped by him.

Lucy grinned as the fight escalated as adrenaline surged through her. Star magic wrapped around her hands and she moved to take advantage of the squabbling dragon slayer's divided attentions. "Star reform: Star shot!" she shouted, drawing her ethereal bow as Sagittarius appeared across the battle ground to pin the other Offense down between them. Sagittarius let loose his own arrows to join hers and numerous arrows rained down on her foes. The coordinated strike landed two hits on Sting and one on Sienna, knocking the pair off kilter as they recovered from the unexpected strike.

The announcers had been cheering wildly over the dragon slayer's confrontation already, and now broke into further excitement as they were quickly reminded of Lucy's presence. "Three more points to Fairy Tail!"

Natsu whipped by behind her, and Lucy just caught a glimpse of a series of orange-coloured tubes flying at her before he severed them with ribbons of fire. She had missed the stealthy attempt on her marker due to her preoccupation with the other offense mages… that had been close, "nice save Natsu!" she called.
Shooting out from a shadowed section of alley, Millianna darted around the offensive mages with cat-like agility manipulating another multitude of tubes in attempts to steal any of their markers. From Pisces' back, Sting ignored the cat mage as blinding light charged up around his clasped fists. Lucy dodged the restraint magic easily while Sienna took advantage of her teammate's spell to try to catch her off guard. Blonde hair fanned out around her as Lucy dropped to swing a leg out and knocked Sienna off her feet. She cocked an elbow, aiming to slam a fist into the downed earth mage, but the other girl rolled to dodge and flipped gracefully back to her feet. Sienna threw her own punch and Lucy side stepped and caught her at the elbow, pulling her into a body lock.

"White Dragon's holy ray!" Sting shouted as his magic hit a threshold, he unleashed a shower of devastating white rays. Sienna and Lucy screamed in anguish as they were battered by the attack and the entire street was obliterated in a mess of gravel and chunks of pavement. Natsu and the other surrounding defense mages had been spared by Pisces blocking the spell to protect Sabertooth points.

With a groan, Lucy rolled herself over, eyes going skyward as she tried to orient herself, Natsu's frantic yelling sounded muffled through the blood rushing in her ears. Confusion sparked through her when the sky filled with glittering eagles, refracting the sun's rays in a kaleidoscope of colours, and then understanding flooded her. 'Lyon… damnit, move, Lucy, you gotta move!' she demanded of herself.

Her vision whirled again as sudden speed and jolting movements set her head spinning, "Lucy, tell me you're alright?!" Natsu pleaded urgently. She released a long groan as he dodged around an onslaught of ice eagles with her cradled in his arms, "pull yourself together Luce, you're strong," he reminded confidently. Sting had gained four points in his last attack, taking the lead over them by a measly point, and time was dwindling fast. Lucy shifted in his arms, cracking her eyelids open to take in the determined look on the fire slayer's face. He wasn't watching her, his entire focus forced to remain on stray attacks that blasted outward from the other three offense mages colliding. Natsu's eyes flicked down to hers, as gold fire flared up around them to block encroaching spells. His fire warmed her to the core. The purifying flames didn't have the power to heal her injuries, but she did immediately feel a rush of energy and the ceaseless ache wracking her body subsided under the soothing warmth.

"Natsu, that's it!" Lucy said suddenly, eyes raking over the vortex of gold fire that swirled around them before meeting his eyes. He quirked a curious brow, and she explained her plan hastily, gaining a lopsided smile, a sharp canine glinting as he eased her back to her feet. He took her hand and purifying flames exploded off his frame as a column of blinding gold erupted off Lucy at the same time, drawing their opponent's confusion instantly. Their magic wove together flawlessly and the Fairy Tail mages drew their joined hands down through the air in a large arc. Then they each drew their opposite hands back drawing the invisible bow to tension. Their opponents didn't appear concerned, just confused, though their confusion was warranted. Natsu couldn't attack without penalization, regardless of whether it was part of a unison raid…

A wild smile spread across Lucy's face, "Stellar Flame Dragon's SHOOTING STAR!" she shouted, unleashing an incredible arrow of brilliant gold that spanned a meter wide.

The Spectators

Haru's lips parted as he pushed himself off the pillar, dropping his hands to the stone as he leaned his weight onto the railing, eyes locked on the live feed. Shooting star had exploded to overwhelm a three-block radius and now just residual magic sparks and a blanket of dust filled their screens. Beside him, Happy was on his feet babbling incoherently as his anxiety built and most of his guildmates were equally flabbergasted by the move. Much like Haru, Makarov remained unmoving and unspeaking as everyone around them dissolved into frantic discussion. Haru's eyebrows knit together, Natsu's purifying flames were purely defensive, so the offensive attack was entirely Lucy's. It seemed likely, that they were trying to use Natsu's involvement to psyche out the other mages, but… Haru couldn't see how a spell of that scale could have possibly missed the Defense mages and attacking them resulted in a loss of five points each. That would take them back into the negative if they hit all three…

"There—" Haru breathed, pointing as the dust dissipated and everyone fell quiet immediately, focus snapping back to the battle.

"Woahhh! What in Earthland just happened?!" Chapati cried, voice echoing around the stadium.

The visual cleared, and focused on Natsu and Lucy, the fire mage wore a giant toothy grin, spinning another unknown marker between his fingers. The blonde was beaming up at him, behind them, their offense opposition were in various positions of recovery. Lyon and Sienna were both in the middle of climbing shakily back to their feet, while Sting was doubled over, but not down, with his hands braced on his thighs as he worked to correct his breathing.

"Th-that's STING'S marker!" the emcee suddenly yelled into the mic.

Sting's eyes blew wide, hand slapping back over his belt to where his marker should be and obviously found nothing. He looked over at the Fairies to find Lucy standing with a hand on a cocked hip, looking up at Natsu, "shoulda known of the three markers you could have used the commotion to grab, you'd choose his…" she laughed. Natsu, of course, was already locking eyes with him and wearing an incredibly smug expression as he flicked Sting's marker back and forth mockingly.

"But what happened to the Defense mages?!" Chapati exclaimed.

"Take a close look," Yajima responded, "it would seem Lucy summoned a spirit to drop the Defense mages into pit fall traps, thus avoiding her attack, very clever."

Lucy shared a smile with Natsu as Virgo bowed to her and asked for her punishment, the blonde closed the maiden's gate through giggles. Lyon and Sienna had just gotten back to their feet when the remaining seconds of the first event ran out.

Angrily clicking his tongue, Sting stomped over to them and prodded a finger into Natsu's chest, who looked at him derisively. "This was just a stupid game, not a proper fight, a proper show of strength. When we really meet in battle, prepare to be destroyed," the dragon slayer bit out in a surprisingly calm tone.

Natsu cocked his head, "sure thing… I'll get right on that. But first, me 'n' my 'rag-tag bunch' got a victory—and your humiliating defeat to celebrate tonight," he mocked in turn.

Sting growled and was promptly halted from throwing a punch when Yukino caught his forearm, "come on Sting, it's not worth it, you'll get your revenge later," she urged. His eyes narrowed, but he still allowed her to lead him away, Yukino glanced back over her shoulder and afforded them a quick smile as they departed.

. . .

As soon as they were transported back to the stadium grounds of Domas Flau, Natsu had Lucy wrapped in his arms. He whirled her around in the air before thrusting his fist high above them to the roar of the audience's applause. "See Luce? Did I tell ya, or what?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah," she said with an eye roll, but a bright smile still covered her face, "we did kick ass, didn't we?"

"You bet we did!"

The pair departed through the corridors, dodging through the throngs of people that were moving about during the pre-battle intermission. Natsu kept a grip on Lucy's hand, trailing her behind him as he led the way back to their team's designated balcony. But when they crossed a deserted corner, he quickly tugged her into a shadowed section behind a pillar so he could pull her into an aggressive kiss.

Lucy moaned briefly before pushing him back, "Natsu—"

"Gods Lucy, you were amazing today," he told her, his hand finding the skin of her back beneath her shirt as he drew her flush to his body and his knee threaded between her legs. He dropped his forehead to her shoulder as she let out a sharp gasp at the friction, turning, he nipped the skin at the base of her neck before letting out an elongated sigh. "Gonna be damn hard to wait 'till we get back to the Inn tonight…" he alluded before claiming her lips in one more bruising kiss. Breaking away, he took in her half-lidded eyes and pink-dusted cheeks, and smirked, knowing she would be feeling that impatience as well now. "Well, best be getting back before Erza kills us."

"Tease," she drawled.

"Hey," he said, looking back over his shoulder at her as they wove back into the crowds again, "that's my line."

When they emerged into the day light to descend the few stairs to their team's seats, Erza and Mira were already up and running at them. Erza slammed Natsu's head into her chest plate as the demon mage pulled Lucy into an actual hug, "incredible work you two!" Mira praised as she drew Lucy back to arm's length, "that unison raid was a great trick, you even had Haru confused!" she giggled. Natsu raised a brow, and Mira explained, "we were talking telepathically during your event, he was worried you'd hit the Defense— but using Virgo was so smart Lucy!"

Natsu and Lucy returned the smiles, sharing their appreciation as they dropped onto the stone benches to recover before the next round of events. Laxus shifted up to take a seat next to Natsu, slapping a hand over his shoulder with a bark of laughter, "man, the look on that Saber-punk's face when he realized you'd gotten his marker, priceless!" The lightning mage broke into an uncontrolled fit of laughter as he hinged forward at the memory as the team's laughter joined his.

Scratching at the back of his head as he leaned into the barrier behind him, Gray said, "yeah, I have to admit, that was some smart planning and great execution…" Natsu gave a bright grin and opened his mouth to reply, but the ice mage was quick to add, "though let's be honest, that was mostly Lucy's doing, who knows how she manages to make a flame brain like you look smart."

"Wanna say that again, ice prick?!"

Natsu launched to his feet, vaulting over the stone stands toward the ice mage and the two predictably broke into a fight that Erza didn't bother to break up as she chatted with Lucy and Mira about the upcoming battle rounds. Laxus just kicked his feet up over the row of seating in front of him and lazily watched his teammates with a subtle smile.

The match ups would be announced right before each fight, so there was no telling which guilds would be facing off, or which mages could expect to fight. Though matches were all voted on by the public, so speculations could be made. Natsu listened vaguely to the girl's discussions as he connected a fiery fist with Gray's jaw. He could be nearly 100 percent certain he wouldn't be fighting in the next round. The public and the Royal family would almost certainly have voted for a dragon slayer show down, Hisui knew he was itching to face off with the other Twin Dragons. He considered, as he snagged Gray's arm and wrenched it behind the man's back, that he should probably not beat on his friend too much in case the other was chosen. He pushed Gray forward roughly and returned to his seat between Laxus and Lucy, relishing in the indignant look the ice mage fixed him with.

As the intermission wound to a close, Chapati's voice filled Domas Flau again, pumping up the crowd for the beginning of the battle rounds. The first match ups went by fairly quickly, Ren of Blue Pegasus was wiped out in the first five seconds by Orga taking Sabertooth back to first place. Nullpudding and Araña faced off with the sadistic purple man ruthlessly beating the mermaid with spike covered limbs. Finally, Fairy Tail was matched with Lamia Scale. Having come in last in the preceding event, Quatro Cerberus would not be battling and as such, wouldn't have a chance to get points on the board yet.

Gray cracked his knuckled as he picked out Lyon from his guild's seats across the stadium, "the fans want a show down of ice make prowess? They've got one!" Gray said excitedly.

The girls wished him luck, and Natsu slapped a heavy palm into his back, "don't fuck it up ice princess!" he joked with a wide grin. Gray returned the expression with a wide grin of his own, and then pulled an ice laced fist back against an open palm, he pressed his hands down into the stone barrier, "Ice Make: slide." Ice burst from his hands to slant down to the stadium floor and Gray leapt over the balcony, landing to surf his way down the icy slide.

"Alright, I admit it, that was a cool entrance." Natsu said, amused with himself.

"Really? Puns, Natsu?" Lucy laughed as they watched their comrade approach Lyon in the center of the arena.

They all knew this fight would mean a lot to Gray, he'd never bested Lyon before. Where Gray had always busted his ass in training, the other had always been a prodigy when it came to magic. To top that off, Lyon now had a two-year training period while Gray and the others had been suspended in time, but Natsu had full faith in the ice mage.

Gray had made some significant progress with his ice magic under Haru's rather brutal training methods… Natsu hadn't even realized his partner could be such a ruthless trainer, but that run in with Tempesta had shaken them both.

. . .

Jagged ice covered the arena from failed and countered spells on both sides, the ice covered so much of the battle ground it looked more glacier field then anything. Gray and Lyon stood with a far distance between them, sharp eyes watching each other as they both caught their breath. It was clear the Lamia mage hadn't been slacking over those two years, he was now able to summon multiple powerful ice beasts in one go. That said, Gray was dishing out spells that had been keeping Lyon on his toes just as much even given the two-year gap. The pair had been throwing a near constant onslaught of attacks for the last twenty minutes, and only ten minutes remained now.

Gray pressed himself back to his full height, still sucking in air as a bright blue aura of magic whirled up around him, he pivoted and widened his stance. Fist pressed into his palm as icy magic pulsed around his hands, he launched into a sprint, following the curve of the stadium rather than running directly at his opponent. Dragging fingertips down over the ground before whipping the building ice up in an arc unleashing a tidal wave of pure crystalline ice. Gray literally ran up the arcing wall of ice with spikes he'd formed on the bottom of his boots and once at the top, released the spell in a torrent of shards that would obscure his foe's visual. He leapt overhead, with his focus locked onto his rival who was looking around frantically to get eyes on him as his own teal magic aura covered his hands.

Too late Lyon found him, looking up just in time for Gray to slam a brutal kick into the space between his neck and shoulder, grinding the other into the ground. The ice mages skidded across the ice coated field, and Gray kicked off the downed mage to skip back a few steps, "Ice Make: war hammer!" he shouted. A long staff appeared in his hands with a hammer head larger than the two boys put together. With all the force he could muster, Gray swung the massive weapon down at Lyon.

With a loud curse on his lips, Lyon hastily threw his own cast together, "Ice Make: dragon!" he summoned, manifesting a shimmering beast just in time to swoop down and snag him out of the way. The hammer crashed into the ground, creating a large crater and sharp edges of ice exploded outward in a full circle from the impact point. The battle continued with only minutes to be spared as Gray felt the sweat roll off his forehead, he was being pushed to his limits, but so was Lyon he could tell. They'd both unleashed a series of their most powerful spells, and the drain on their magic containers, second origin or not, was exponential. Gray panted for air, as he whipped the hammer back around again, he slammed it down and used the pole to vault himself into the sky at the ice dragon.

"Are you insane?!" Lyon barked, as Gray shot toward him, he caught part of the air borne dragon and flipped himself up as his opponent met him with an ice laced spin kick. Barely getting up a block, ice spread over Gray's forearm as a jolt of pain rippled through his arm, gritting his teeth as he leapt up and met the other with a barrage of hand to hand strikes. Both men stopped as their kicks met at the shins, and leapt backward, "this ends now!" Lyon shouted. "Yeah, for YOU!" Gray countered.

"Ice Make:" they both shouted in unison as the air around them dropped several degrees again.

"Dragon assault!" Lyon yelled as a second dragon began to burst into form.

"Gungnir!"

A massive lance with a trident like blade erupted from the stadium floor below just as the first dragon sailed over top, Gungnir cut right through the ice beast and landed a clean blow on the unexpecting Lyon. Simultaneously, the second dragon had spun around the first and clamped its jaws around Gray's form before shooting toward the ground. The dragon collided with the stadium ground, and the spell exploded in countless shimmering shards. Both ice mages gave tortured screams at the devastating attacks, Lyon's body dropped limply to land a few meters away when Gungir shattered and the dust and ice slowly settled around the arena. A dead quiet settled over Domas Flau as everyone, including the commentators watched with bated breath for the results to the spectacular match.

. . .

Gray woke to a gentle swaying motion, and lifted his heavy head to find his arms pulled between Juvia on one side and Haru on the other as they walked into the shadows of the corridor. "Gray darling! You're awake! How are you feeling?" the bluenette chirped happily.

Haru glanced down at him as well, and ahead Natsu turned to walk backwards, his hands interlaced behind his head and a toothy smile in place. "That was pretty awesome man," his long-time friend and rival told him.

"What the hell happened?" Gray groaned with a weak smile as his head pounded relentlessly.

"Double knock out," Haru supplied. Gray grumbled, not entirely happy with a tie, but not upset either, at least he'd finally levelled the playing field with his fellow ice make pupil.

"Gray was so wonderful, and strong, and sexy!" Juvia cooed, as the boys all rolled their eyes with a shared laugh. "Don't you worry, Juvia will nurse you back to health, Gray darling!" she added quickly, giving him a bright smile.

Porlyusica stomped over then, "you will do nothing but stay out of my way, damn brats!" she growled, eyes crawling over the multitude of injuries on Gray's form. "Now get him to our infirmary so I can heal him," she commanded.

The Fairy Tail mages all gulped heavily, "yes mam!" they all relented and instantly picked up the pace under the glare of elderly pinkette.

Day 1 Conclusion

18 - ST

15 - FT

12 - RT

11 - LS

4 - MH

1 - BP

0 - QS

Bar Sun

Natsu had been keeping partial attention on a pair of mages that he recognized as team members of one of the guilds eliminated in the prelims. The men had been getting more and more friendly with Lucy as they got more and more drunk. The fire mage watched the blonde, subtly, over Gray's shoulder even as he bantered back and forth with the ice mage while they waited for another round of barrel surfing. Gray was sporting several layers of bandages and a casted arm, Porlyusica and possibly Wendy, would be furious if they caught him barrel surfing, but that didn't seem to deter him.

Lucy was chatting happily with Levy at a table across the bar that Fairy Tail, and many other mages in town, had taken to frequenting at the end of each day due to its proximity to their Inns. She had been politely warding off the attention she garnered after her impressive performance earlier in the day. Natsu and Gray had been fending of similar attentions, but the men hitting on Lucy didn't seem to be taking the hints she was laying down. One of the two mages dropped into the seat next to her and slung his arm around her shoulders, leaning in as he showered her with empty compliments and bad pick-up lines.

"You're up, fire breath," Gray told him, snapping his fingers in front of the distracted mage's face. Natsu pursed his lips as he considered what seemed like more fun, surfing, or messing with a couple jackasses. –No contest.

He smiled at the ice mage and slapped a hand over his shoulder earning a grimace from his injured comrade. "Take my spot," he offered and wandered over to the table that the girls were sitting at with his fingers casually laced behind his head. Dropping onto the vacant bench across from Lucy and the handsy guy, he greeted them with a 'yo,' and waved down a waitress to order a beer. Lucy eyed him curiously as she continued attempting to fend off the unrequited touches and comments with polite gratitude and obvious disinterest.

"Man, I'm impressed! You are bold, going right for one of today's Games' top performers," Natsu started, casually gesturing to Lucy before taking a swig of the beer he'd ordered when it was set in front of him.

The man in question turned from Lucy and took in Natsu's presence for the first time since he'd sat down, before a grin split his face. "Yeah man! Strong women get me so hot!" Lucy cringed further away from the nuisance without any attempt to mask her disgust, but Natsu managed to maintain his detached persona.

"Mmm, yes, I have a thing for strong women too…" he trailed off, shooting a warning look at Levy who'd barely managed to stifle her laughter with the back of her hand.

Standing slightly, the man leaned across the table toward Natsu conspiratorially and whispered, "I got here first, go find the redhead from your team, or that other dragon chick." He dropped back onto his seat and threw his arm around Lucy again, but her patience was starting to wane, and she snapped at him to keep his hands to himself.

Chuckling, he did as she asked, though he didn't seem the slightest bit perturbed and he didn't move away from her, "see what I mean? She's fiery, andshe put on a hell of a show today, like you were cool and everything—Fairy Tail is obviously a super strong contender… but you can't compete with the… female figure."

Natsu quirked a brow, eyes flicking over both the girls before settling back on the other man.

"Yeah, I'd have to agree with you there, Lucy is fucking gorgeous."

"Seriously man, sooo hot!"

"Incredibly strong…"

"Yeah! Yeah! And that star magic of hers', so cool!"

Lucy watched with a blank stare as the two discussed her as if she weren't there and glanced to catch Levy's eye with restrained amusement. The bluenette shrugged a shoulder with a smile as Natsu continued in matter-of-fact points, glazing over the other man's contributions.

"Resourceful and strategic…"

"OH, right?! Today, the way she—"

Natsu cut him off, "probably half of Fiore's dream girl…"

"And every guy's wet dream!"

"—and my girlfriend."

"Yeah and—" The other stopped, gawking at Natsu for a second, blinking slowly as the comment fully dawned on him. Natsu smirked, satisfied with the reaction, and dropped his chin into his palm, tapping a finger impatiently on the handle of his beer stein as Levy finally burst out laughing. It was at that moment the man bolted upright with his hands held in surrender to the famously destructive mage, "woah man! Shit, I'm sorry! I swear I didn't know," he yelped frantically, "if I'd known she was your girlfriend, I never woulda hit on her!"

With a dangerously calm smile, Natsu imparted, "I suggest you not pester any women at all, with such disrespectful and unwanted advances." He gave an exaggerated shrug of his shoulder, "but I'll leave the choice to you, I do love an excuse to barbecue a jerk."

Eyes widening to comical proportions, the man let out a squeak of fear as he spun on the ball of his foot and took off for the exit at a full sprint, tripping over a stool in his haste on the way out. Levy was howling with laughter at this point, nearly falling out of her seat as she hugged her arms around her middle, and Lucy's own laughter had joined hers. Gajeel walked up behind Levy with Lily in tow, and placed a stabilizing hand over her shoulder while his attention fell to Natsu, "you traumatizing the riff raff, Salamander?"

"No one who didn't have it coming," he retorted with a sadistic grin.

"Geez Natsu, I don't think he will be speaking to any women for the rest of the Games, let alone trying to pick anyone up," Lucy said through giggles as she moved to his side of the table. Her dragon grinned pridefully back up at her, and Lucy let her eyes trail around the bar, she wasn't the only one who'd been getting plenty of stolen glances since they'd arrived. Everyone knew they were guildmates and teammates… but there hadn't been even a hint of speculation that they might be anything more...

She smiled down at him affectionately, before sliding sensuously into his lap and looping her arms around his neck to drag him into a kiss that would leave no room to question her relationship status, or his, she thought smugly.

That Night

Lucy giggled as Natsu nibbled his way across her collarbone. Outside the skies were pitch black and despite the fact the Games would have them up early the next morning, Natsu was enthusiastically doing everything he could to keep her from sleep. Not that she could find it in herself right now to complain…

She gasped, eyes flying open when his tongue suddenly found her core, lapping at her juices with gusto. Cursing as her back arched, Lucy's hands flew out to find purchase on fistfuls of pink locks and tugged sharply, earning a growl of protest. Onyx eyes snapped up to hers at the distraction and she repeated the action, forcibly dragging him upward when he tried to return his attention back to his previous task. Finally complying to the silent demand, the fire mage crawled back up her body and thread his fingers through her hair at the back of her neck. "My greedy star…" he whispered, drawing her into a bruising kiss, earning a shiver from the blonde.

"Fuck— Natsu!" she cried, nails digging into the skin of his back. She hadn't even noticed the pink-haired man line himself up due to the many distractions he was teasing her with and then he was buried deep inside her. Clinging to him as she wrestled her breathing back under control, she decided he looked far too smug for her liking. "Geez Nats—" she tried, but he took her temporary recovery as a cue to redouble his efforts. She swore again "damnit!"

Biting down on Natsu's shoulder, she desperately tried to muffle the sounds threatening to escape her to avoid alerting half the hotel to their indulgences. That only revved up Natsu more though, he had a thing for biting, giving or receiving, and moaned into her neck in response. Lucy was reaching her peak when a couple sharp knocks at the door had Natsu freezing mid thrust. His eyes trailed over to the door of their suite, face marred in irritation, then confusion.

His lips parted as his eyebrows knit together in what looked to be concern. "Natsu?" Lucy asked softly. They'd been interrupted before, came with the territory when you had guildmates as rambunctious as theirs. He usually just yelled at the offenders to 'go the fuck away,' and continued to ravish her regardless of whether they did.

That wasn't happening this time.

Natsu's jaw snapped shut with a click and before she could process the abrupt change in the course of her night, he was pulling out and pulling on his white trousers as he crossed their room in a couple bounds. She sat up, entirely confused, drawing the sheet around her chest as he stepped out of the room and the door closed with a click. "What the hell?" Lucy asked the empty room, eyeing the door with growing unease. The undertones of a rushed conversation filtered through the door, but the blonde couldn't make any of it out, she wondered if she should get up, get dressed…

The door cracked open a bit, "Luce, we're coming in," Natsu warned. Lucy pulled the sheet tighter around herself, seriously, no boundaries with any of her guildmates… Should have gotten dressed as soon as her boyfriend had launched out of bed unexpectedly. Natsu admitted himself back into the room, with Haru on his heels, neither of the boy's attention so much as briefly fell on her though.

"What could have happened?"

"I don't know, but they should have been back—hours ago—I should have gone with them."

"It's not like they can't handle themselves though, and the rules do prohibit magic use to dissuade interguild fights outside Domas Flau."

"Yeah, I know! But you know as well as I, that we have gained plenty of enemies that wouldn't give a shit about the Games and their bullshit rules!"

The guys continued their frantic conversation as Haru paced back and forth restlessly, much to Lucy's dismay. She started off sexually frustrated, now she was just confused and getting more aggravated by the second. She was absolutely done being on the outside of an apparently important conversation. "STOP! One of you tell me what the hell is going on, right now!" she snapped suddenly, stealing both dragon slayers' attentions. Haru's eyes widened as if only now registering her presence.

Natsu blew out a breath, "Mira, Wendy and Carla went out exploring the city earlier, and they haven't returned."

"What?" Lucy breathed, "it's nearly midnight!"

Haru threw his hands up in exacerbation, Lucy wasn't used to seeing the calm collected slayer appear so unhinged. "I'm going to go look for them, rules be damned," he grumbled, spinning on his heel as his magic spiked. Lucy watched the cerulean scales flaking down the backs of his arms as he stalked toward the door and swallowed thickly. She knew he was relying on Drive Mode's boost to his senses to track their missing comrades, even if it was a blatant display against the rules. The door swung shut behind him.

Pursing his lips, Natsu glanced at her, apparently gaging her thoughts. "I'm with you and Haru, always…" Lucy started, moving toward her suitcase to dig out some clothes, "go catch him, we'll find our friends together!"

A grin spread across his face, and he leapt at her, taking her face in his hands to kiss her quickly, but thoroughly. "Gods I love you Lucy," he told her before spinning to take off after Haru. Lucy watched the door slam shut again, and sighed as she pulled a bra on, chewing on her lip as her thoughts went to her missing friends. Could nothing ever just be simple fun? She quickly finished dressing and snagged her keys off the desk as the moved to the door, hoping the girls had simply lost track of time… but that seemed like far too much to ask given their team's track record.

A/N. So, there we have it, fun and Games and of course a little drama.

And with that, FTTD breaks 300k. Woah, as usual, thank you so much for all your support!

Thanks for the input on Lily, pretty mixed ideas on what to do about him but I've decided to keep him with Gajeel. Still haven't decided for certain if Haru will end up with an exceed, time will tell, some of you did give me some ideas to consider though!

Once again, sorry this update took a while, hopefully it was worth the wait. I don't plan on going into major detail on all the fights or events, I feel like it would just drag out this arc too much, but what do you guys think? Of course our MCs will get their detailed matches.

Shout outs to EternalFlame, SuperSayajin4Vegeta, kkitz, Valeroix, Joker D. Zero, FireShifter, AliceCullen3 and a few guests.

'Till next time,

R&R

xx. Loka Muse