[Re-edited 01-22-23]
Hola friends!
As promised, a whole lotta action ahead plus some fun.
I believe this is the longest chapter yet (over 12k), so hopefully it'll tie you all over for the next few weeks.
~Onward
46
-Fire and Water-
Lucy threw her arms up in exacerbation, she could swear the organizers were purposefully coming up with events that Fairy Tail's team had the perfect mages for… but couldn't compete in the described event. She turned her narrowed eyes on the Water Slayer next to her, he appeared completely unperturbed by the event description, actually, he looked relaxed. He was absentmindedly tracing patterns over the exposed skin of the leg that Mira had draped over one of his, his form stretched out lazily against the next row of seating.
"Why did we let you do Chariot?" Lucy grumbled.
Blue eyes flicked over, and he shrugged a shoulder in response. "How could we have known the last event would be in the water?" he asked in a blasé tone.
"And besides, there would have been no talking him out of competing that day anyway…" Natsu added flippantly, grin widening as he took in Haru's unimpressed look shifting from his girlfriend to him. Lucy hid a grin of her own behind her hand. Everyone knew Haru was irked by anyone implying he was as competitive, brash, or reactive as his pink-haired partner. But everyone also knew, he was nearly as quick to temper as Natsu when anyone in Fairy Tail, especially Mira, was threatened—call it a Dragon Slayer thing. They'd even observed it in Wendy when she got protective over anyone she was treating.
Natsu left the insinuating sentiment unfinished and Haru said nothing to deny. Laxus leaned forward from his spot in the third row of seats, dropping his elbows on his knees and mused, "Lucy would have been well suited too, with Aquarius' Star Dress… or Erza with Sea Empress armour… but they've both already competed in events."
"See? Laxus gets it! I swear this is planned just to piss me off!" Lucy said incredulously.
"Aren't you all forgetting something?" Haru asked with a hint of amusement, they all turned to look at the still relaxed water mage.
Then Mira stood with a sweet smile, hands clasped in front of her. "No need to worry, I've got this!" The team nodded collectively, each internally considering how her Satan Soul would fair underwater. Mira's gaze swept over each of them. "This'll be a blow out. You don't date a water dragon without picking up a few tricks…" she said with a slowly darkening smirk.
Haru chuckled as she leaned down to give him a quick kiss on the cheek as she passed. "Have fun… Show 'em what my Siren can do," he said in lieu of good luck. Mira winked back at the team, turned, and waved over her shoulder as she disappeared from their booth to join the other competitors that were slowly trickling out onto the stadium ground under the large orb of water magically suspended midair.
Lucy watched the takeover mage until she disappeared around the corner and then shifted her focus to the few mages clad in swimwear below. Arana in a yellow web-printed bikini, Chelia in a pink and blue, frilled bikini, and Jenny standing proudly in a lavender bikini. Sorcerer's fans were already going nuts for the current top model, and as excited as the fans were for Jenny, they booed just as enthusiastically when Rocker joined the group of beauties in black swim trunks. They began ardently demanding an all-female brawl.
Lucy chuckled as she hinged her weight onto elbows that now rested on the stone barrier. A head of white drew her attention to the arena edge to catch Mira emerging from the one of the corridors. Her hair, now pulled into a thick braid swayed with her movement as she sauntered over to join the other competitors. She wore a one-piece deep blue swimsuit and a deceptively sweet smile, but Lucy knew she would destroy anyone who took that smile as reason to underestimate her.
"Aw Mirajane, covering up because you know you can't compete with Sorcerer's new Number One?" Jenny snarked, the lacrima speakers picking up snippets of conversation from the competitors.
Tilting her head with a cocky smirk of her own, Mira was quick on the turn-around. "Just feeling charitable enough to give you a chance…" she countered, "besides, I'm here to win, not prance around with my boobs out, but no judgements hun..."
Lucy burst out laughing, along with Natsu and Erza. "Ooo she roasted her, even I felt the heat off that one!" Natsu said through his laughter.
"That's our She-Devil for ya!" Lucy declared, sneaking a glance at Haru who wore a subtle smirk and obvious pride himself. He had stood for a better vantage point, and was now leaning comfortably against the wall at the edge of their booth, his legs crossed at the ankle as he watched the scene below.
Lucy opened her mouth to tease him, but his grin faltering gave her pause. "Minerva is in," Haru pointed out in a serious tone. Lucy and the rest of the team looked back at the battlefield as Sabertooth's entrant stopped at the edge of the gathered contestants. Fans cheered loudly as the lacrima screens displayed her cool eyes raking over her opponents, she wore a conservative two piece and a calculating but derisive expression.
They still had no idea what the woman was capable of, she'd hung back on all the matches up until now. Sabertooth's mystery card. Completely unknown magic, but powerful, if her magic pressure was any hint to go by… Lucy had thought from day one, that the woman had a dangerous air about her. Not even Yukino had any idea on what her magic entailed, apparently the raven-haired woman didn't even associate with her own guildmates much.
Lucy snapped herself out of her pondering and leaned over the balcony with her guild-marked fist in the air. "You got this Mira!" she yelled. Mira waved back at her with a confident smile as she was levitated up to be dropped into the globe of water with the other competitors.
Aside from Mira and Minerva, who remained on the outskirts of the battlefield observing at first, there was no time wasted in unleashing attacks. Arana's webs seemed surprisingly resilient under water as she quickly managed to tie up Rocker from shoulders to knees. Chelia's cheeks puffed as she snapped forward and a silvery-black wind cut through the water, encompassing a large portion of Mira's side. Arana responded by slinging her captive into the encroaching attack which fired the Cerberus mage straight out of the floating globe. Mira calmly shot a pulse of dark magic to propel herself out of the way and made no effort to retaliate, still surveying her competition. Chelia used a blast of her magic to launch her kick at Arana like a pin missile, and the two began exchanging strikes. Meanwhile, Jenny transformed into one of her Machina Soul and locked eyes with Mira.
"It is finally time to see who's Takeover magic is truly superior!"
Mira caught Jenny's kick at the shin, the blonde's current Machina Soul affording her an incredible agility underwater. Mira's eyes drift closed for a split second before snapping open in a dark blue-black hue. Her body was enveloped in light, causing Jenny to shield her eyes briefly. Long, sleek, black horns framed her head, her swimwear replaced with a similar bodysuit with a plunging neckline and thigh-high boots. Translucent blue webbings between her fingers and at her arms increasing her underwater speeds exponentially. "Takeover: Tsushaima Soul," Mira said with a dangerous look. She tightened her grip on Jenny's leg, cracking and subsequently shattering the aqua-coloured shin plate.
Natsu laughed behind Lucy, and she glanced back but he was looking at Haru. "Tsushaima! I can't believe I forgot about the Water-Demon takeover!" To be fair, he'd only seen it once, and for a short period while his attentions were divided by his own fight. Haru simply smiled, nodding.
Lucy pursed her lips, she'd seen the transformation as well, but she hadn't heard the takeover's name before. 'Tsushaima... The demon that killed Lisanna and almost killed Natsu…' she thought to herself in wonder, looking at Natsu. She was surprised he seemed so nonchalant about this specific takeover, given its origins. But she saw no tension, just a strange mix of determination and pride on his face. Lucy knew he and Mira had an odd but strong connection, even more so recently since he'd confided in them about his own demonic origins.
It was one thing they shared that no one else could really understand.
Turning away from the Twin Dragons, Lucy watched Mira pull Jenny's leg down to slam a heeled boot into the other Takeover mage's gut, gaining a sharp cry.
. . .
"Sorry Sweetie, modelling, or magic, you simply can't match up," Mira declared, and Jenny's eyes widened fearfully. "Dark storm pulse!" Mira yelled, thrusting both palms forward. An explosion of dense water collided with the blonde. The woman shrieked in pain and Mira gave chase, spinning a precise kick into Jenny's side to effortlessly eject her from the battle. A scream behind her alerted her to Chelia successfully eliminating Arana from the fight as well, and just like that, only three of them remained.
Minerva had yet to make a move. She still floated at her starting point, a hand on her hip and a sadistic grin on her face. Mira knew she'd have to keep an eye on the Sabertooth mage, the raven-haired woman still hadn't shown her abilities, but it was clear now, that this would be a one-on-one match between them. "Hey, hey! Don't underestimate me!" the young pinkette cried indignantly when she noted the stare down between the two older women. "Sky God's boreas!" Tornados of black wind shot from each of her hands toward them.
"Sorry Chelia, I can see you are indeed powerful… but this will be between me and Minerva," Mira shifted, but made no move to dodge the God Slayer's attack. "Dark deflect!" Chelia's eyes blew wide as one of her most powerful spells was absorbed like it was nothing, Mira whipped her hands around and sent the attack back at her at twice the power. With no time to dodge, the younger girl screamed out in pain, her body piercing the side of the water sphere to collide with the stadium walls framing the arena. Turning slowly, Mira directed her attention back at her true foe, the regal looking woman was also unscathed, though Mira hadn't seen how she'd negated the attack.
Then, with an unspoken command, the real fight began, both mages shot forward, ripples of water thrashing out behind them. After a couple rounds of evenly matched physical strikes, Mira gathered the purply-blue magic of her takeover around her arms and launched a close-ranged storm pulse at her foe. The attack didn't land though, Minerva swept her hands in front of her, and Mira's spell vanished. Eyebrows knitting together, Mira glared back, Minerva's spell hadn't been like her own Dark Deflect… It seemed to extinguish the power entirely. Spatial magic perhaps?
"Territory explosion!" an orb of purple magic half the size of the battlefield itself, flew at Mira. Unfazed by the display of power, Mira dived to the side, using the webbings and fins of her takeover to move with blinding speeds through the water. But then the world warped around her, and suddenly she was gazing at the attack point blank, with only enough time to gasp in shock she was overwhelmed. Mira screamed as pain ripped through her nerves. "Space is my domain," Minerva drawled, "it doesn't matter if you're fast in the water or not…"
As the pain faded to a dull ache, Mira looked back at her opponent a smirk firmly in place, without hesitation, she shot back at the territory mage. "Useless." Minerva condescended, an outstretched hand rising again and erupting with the power of another Territory explosion. Once more, Mira dodged, cutting through the water with precise movements, but this time focusing her senses to Minerva's magic signature. The same trick wouldn't work twice, the waters around her pulsed slightly. 'NOW,' she commanded herself, 'dark deflect!'
The pocket of space absorbing her shattered, and she rounded on the unexpecting Minerva instantly, "Dark storm breaker!" Mira drove her palms straight into the Sabertooth mage's back, the spell erupting around her. Minerva gave her first tortured scream of the event as her body was shredded at the magic storm's center, but Mira wasn't going to give her the time to recover, whirling on her with a magic enhanced kick. Another pulse of demonic power burst on impact and sent Minerva flying toward the edge of the battlefield.
She vanished in a shock of purple, just before the water barrier and reappearing behind Mira. "How dare you, damn cocky fairies!" she spat furiously. Spinning to catch a magic coated fist, the two women's magic signatures surrounded them in visible auras of purple and blue as they each poured more magic into their strikes.
This continued with Mira finding an obvious edge thanks to the Water Demons' power, if not for being in the water, this battle would likely be too close for her comfort. But speculation on their potentials was pointless now, Mira released her magic steadily until the magic she gathered challenged the integrity of the water globe's barriers. Her eyes shone with a shimmery blue as her magic swirled around her, whipping the water inside their battleground into a violent whirlpool.
"It's been fun," Mira said sweetly, despite the evil-looking grin on her face, "but I'm going to have to end this now."
Bringing her hands together overhead, the aura of her demon magic condensed to an orb and Minerva actually flinched back against the magic pressure. But her hesitation was short lived as she quickly retaliated, building as much of her own magic up as she could, unleashing a barrage of Territory explosions that were rendered useless against the stormy waters. Mira thrust an arm forward, and with a demonic smile, she called, "Tsushaima's soul extinctor!"
A massive streak of power cut straight through the water and Minerva seemed caught between trying to dodge and trying to counter, which only froze her to the spot in her indecisiveness. But before the attack could hit, the energy dwindled and died out, flickers of harmless purple rippling passed the awestruck Sabertooth mage. Blinking as the reality of the failed spell dawned on her, Minerva's shock now became mirrored on Mira's own face.
Minerva's smug grin returned tenfold and she burst into a maniac laughter. "Really? You have the gall to be so cocky and that's all you have to show for it?!" her opponent goaded.
. . .
"The fuck…?" Haru mouthed silently, eyes narrowing as he straightened from his previously lazy posture.
"W-what? What happened?" Erza asked in concern, echoing the commentators' own questions that were making up the background noise.
Below, Mira had managed to dodge Minerva's answering attack, but without the agility of the Water-Demon takeover which had failed with her last attack, she was struggling. Her foe was visibly revelling in her new desperation as she took advantage and unleashed a multitude of devastating attacks.
"Running low on magic?" Lucy whispered questioningly as she looked toward Haru for answers. Natsu had also straightened from where he'd had his arms looped around Lucy's waist, with his chin resting on her shoulder while they'd watched… Now his attention was off the event and on Haru with sharply focused eyes and a restrained anger.
"Another facet of Minerva's magic?" Erza pondered in a shaky voice. The redhead's eyes remained strictly on the match while the rest of the teams', including Laxus' were currently fixed on Haru. Haru shook his head, dismissing the suggestion. His mind reeled for answers. It couldn't have been Minerva, she'd looked too stunned when Mira's final strike failed her.
Clenching his jaw hard enough that the muscles of his neck corded, he met Natsu's gaze and was surprised to see subtle red flecking onyx irises. "Not magic." Natsu said pointedly. "That's the last time they hurt our friends, Haru, let's crush them," he growled menacingly, muscles tensing as he pivoted toward the exit.
So, that was it. Haru grabbed his wrist, "No, we need to handle this behind the scenes. Even if we could prove they were cheating, interguild conflict would still get us disqualified too," he replied.
Letting out a long exhale, Haru reined in his anger, vaguely registering his comrades' reactions as they filled in the blanks of their conversation. Attention snapping over to Raven Tail's seating, Haru noted the dark mages observing the match with a detached air, Obra's tall stature putting him behind his guildmates. "Mest, I need your help," Haru reached out quickly, just as Mira's scream sounded through Domus Flau when the Territory mage landed a clean hit. Cringing at the sound of her pain, Haru's eyes raked over his girlfriend's battered form on the lacrima screen. 'Hang on a little longer Mira,' he thought.
Mest's voice answered, worriedly questioning what was going on. "No time for that, get me over to Raven Tail's box now—discreetly," Haru quickly added.
"Wha—"
"Just do it!"
Space warped incredibly briefly as Mest appeared in the shadow of their balcony and vanished just as quickly after dropping a hand on his shoulder. Haru saw the confused looks of the girls and Natsu's confident thumbs up before the world bent around him with a dizzying speed. The next minute he was dropping out of thin air at the back of Raven Tail's balcony, none of the Ravens turned, so it appeared they had yet to notice his presence. He was confident the lacrima cameras wouldn't turn on Raven Tail's booth due to their forfeit from participating this round. But he still couldn't afford to rouse the rest of their team, a full-blown confrontation would inevitably draw the stadium's attention. Without releasing the breath he had been holding, he signalled Mest to be ready, and lurched forward to grab the demon's tiny body in a fist. The demon didn't even manage to release its enraged hiss before Mest had them teleported out of Domus Flau and away from prying eyes.
With a near-demonic look of his own, Haru fixed the now squirming demon with a fanged grin, and its eyes went wide and frantic with the shock of being torn away from the stadium. "Update?" Haru asked simply.
"Definitely Obra's doing, Mira's coming back with a vengeance… It didn't drain her power like last time—"
"Probably using a gradual drain in attempts of not being detected. Guess Raven Tail didn't count on the demon on our side," Haru said mirthfully. Natsu's low chuckles answered, filtering through their link.
"Now," Haru said flatly, glaring down at the tiny creature, "that, was the last time you get away with going after Mira." The demon gave a panicked sounding screech and fought harder to escape as the bright blue of Haru's magic swirled around his hand. He tossed the demon up and the air froze around it instantly, locking it in a block of ice that dropped heavily to the ground. With a final disgusted look, Haru lifted and slammed his boot down over the block, shattering it mercilessly.
Pulling his gaze off the icy remnants to look back at Mest who still stood a few feet away observing in stunned silence, Haru said, "Let's go."
Mest dropped him in one of the sparsely populated corridors just outside the Fairy Tail team's designated seating, his head spinning once more as space bent to their will one last time. Shaking off the disorientation and waving as the spatial mage disappeared again, Haru turned to rejoin his team and hopefully catch the end of the Naval battle. The bright sun of midday forced him to squint his eyes briefly as he adjusted from the dimly lit halls, and unlike Raven Tail, his teammates caught his presence immediately. "Haru, you're back just in time!" Lucy chirped, gesturing to the match.
Smiling back, Haru moved passed the lounging lightning mage who said nothing, but wore a knowing smirk. Natsu and Erza still stood at the edge of the balcony, and Lucy had taken to sitting on the railing in front of Natsu. Haru joined them and his partner gave him his usual toothy smile as he wrapped his arms around Lucy's waist once more and relaxed his chin onto her shoulder.
Haru leaned his weight into his forearms on the stone railing, and took in the weaning fight. Both women were charging spells, the magic pressures pulsing against the water. Both women were yelling incoherently in their determination to end the battle. Both women looked like they would barely be able to stand.
Haru worried his bottom lip with a sharp canine, he hated that Mira looked as rough as she did currently. She wouldn't have been this injured if it hadn't been for Raven Tail's cheating, and no one else would be wise to the interference.
"What'd you do Haru?" Erza asked curiously, she pointed across the stadium to wear Obra's puppet had slumped back against Raven Tail's balcony seating. "Obra collapsed, right after you left. The other Ravens looked furious..." She tilted her head curiously, as Haru glanced over at the dark guild, the group appeared to have recomposed themselves after the initial shock.
"That thing is just a puppet," Natsu supplied when Haru said nothing. Looking at the fire mage sidelong, Haru noticed his eyes had returned to their normal colour. "You killed it, didn't you?"
Haru nodded, it wasn't like taking demon lives was anything new to most high-level mages. Hell half his present company had done just as much at one point or another. But it was daring to do so, mid-games, when no one aside from their Guild was aware of Raven Tail's true nature.
"Evil Cyclone!"
"Territory Crush!"
. . .
The two catastrophically powerful attacks collided at the center of the airborne sphere of water, shrinking under the concentration of the opposing magics. Pulses of shadowy energy began surging outward as each of the women fed everything that had into their final spells, desperately trying to overpower the other. Mira's lungs burned, screaming through her attack as she dug even deeper for the remnants of her remaining power, increasing her spell's potential even further. Minerva doing the same opposite her. Their watery battleground quaked under the onslaught of the spells ripping through its fabric as the impact point of their attacks grew more unstable by the second, until finally the visible auras of each spell vanished.
Mira gasped, eyes widening and then the combination of her own Evil Cyclone and Minerva's Territory Crush broke in a cataclysmic explosion. Mira vaguely registering her foe's anguished scream, even as her own was torn from her lungs. She found herself being thrown back at violent speeds when the floating underwater battlefield burst under the daunting pressure to soak the sandy field below.
Mira cried out again as she collided with the ground on her shoulder and was sent tumbling across the dirt floor. Her rough landing was stopped short and cushioned when a sudden but gentle embrace absorbed her weight, her head spun as speed of her rolling came to an abrupt stop. Cracking her eyes open gingerly, she was unsurprised to find Haru above her as he dropped to one knee and cradled her protectively into his chest.
His eyes were focused somewhere beyond her, and she wrestled her fading focus over to the other side of the field where Sting had caught Minerva in a similar fashion. Rogue stood just ahead of the pair, and both Sabertooth dragon slayers had sharp eyes trained on them, though neither made a move toward a confrontation. Sting lifted the unconscious Minerva, pivoting to depart the battlefield with Rogue on his tail, neither so much as spitting an expected quick promise of revenge.
The match ended in a draw.
A relieved sigh proceeded the standoff. "You were incredible, could've given me a challenge the way you owned those waters…" Haru's voice broke through Mira's dazed and pain-muddled head space as her eyes trailed after the retreating forms of the Tigers. Her attention flicked back up to the water mage smiling softly at her. "I'm so proud of you, Mira, you really have claimed perfect control over the demon that once terrorized you," he told her. Then he shocked her—Haru with his constant strive for privacy, Haru with his incredible aversion to attention— leaned down and sealed his lips to hers in front of the entire stadium of onlookers. He pulled away barely a moment later, the reactions of the crowd became a dull thrum in the back of her head as she desperately tried to process the action.
He rose to his feet with her still in his arms and strode toward the exit without giving the audience even a fleeting thought. "Let's get you to Wendy," he murmured. She nodded dumbly in response, at a complete loss for words.
The shadow of the corridor swallowed them as their teammates came bounding toward them, cheering their excitement for the suspenseful water war. Natsu immediately glided up beside his partner as the girls offered Mira words of congratulations and equal parts concern for her current state. Nudging Haru's arm with a shoulder, gently enough to not jostle Mira's injured form too much, Natsu announced boisterously, "Man! That was bold! I thought I knew you better than anyone… but never in a thousand years would I have believed you'd kiss Mira in the middle of Domus Flau without seeing it myself!"
Stopping dead in his tracks, Haru blinked owlishly for a moment, as though the ramifications of the moment that ran away with his common sense had just now dawned on him. Mira let out a burst of laughter at the recognition dawning on her boyfriend's face, and immediately regretted the jolt of pain that flew through her ribs. Her sharp intake of pained breath seemed to break Haru from his thoughts as he looked back down at her, pinching his lips together. "Well, no take backs now…" he relented, looking back at Natsu, "Wendy on her way?"
"Yep—" the fire mage started, just as Wendy came shooting down the hall with the Happy and Carla flying to either side of her.
"Miiiira!" Happy sang in worry, Natsu's hand shot forward to catch the cat's tail before he could collide with their injured comrade's chest. Recoiling backward, Happy's body came to a swaying stop upside down, dangling by the tail held firmly in the fire mage's grip.
Carla flew up next to him, eyes narrowed, "Honestly Tom Cat, she's hurt, don't you ever think?!" she chided.
"I jus' wanted to give her a hug!" Happy pouted pathetically. Lucy drew the cat into her arms as Mira reassured him that she was fine.
"Oh yeah, you're totally fine…" Haru droned sarcastically, continuing down the hall toward their designated infirmary as Wendy's glowing hands already settled over Mira's head as they walked.
Mira flinched at the Sky Slayer's initial touch before relaxing into the soothing magic, defiant eyes flicking up to Haru's again. "Déjà vu! Except it's usually you claiming you're fine… You bare no ground on which to lecture me," she responded teasingly, sharing the same amused smile worn by the rest of their friends.
Infirmary
Porlyusica glanced at the door as the group plowed into the previously quiet infirmary, the only sounds, her own shuffling about and Meredy's steady breathing gave way to the mages' loud chatter. Immediately tensing with irritation under the onslaught of their usual rowdy energy ruining her peace, the healer grumbled. "Great…" she muttered, turning away from the assortment of her own medicinal concoctions that she'd been organizing in the cabinet at the back of the room. "Alright, which one of you brats overdid it this time?!" she barked, fixing them with restrained upset at their interruption.
Wendy, the only one who ever seemed to pacify the old woman, stepped forward apologizing and gestured to Mira as Haru lowered her to the bed next to Meredy's. Porlyusica regarded the Sky Slayer with a cool look and pursed lips before her red eyes flicked over to Mira. "I swear, you Fairy brats will never learn restraint."
Despite her show of irritation, she listened patiently to Wendy's assessment of the takeover mage's condition. Porylusica lifted the arm the teen had reported to be broken. The action, however gentle, caused Mira to wince and advert her eyes as the edge of her bed dipped under Haru's weight. Haru ran his thumb over the back of her other hand as Porlyusica continued to plan her treatment priorities, palpating the various areas of bruising marring her pale skin. "Has Meredy woken up at all?" Mira asked, apparently seeking a distraction from the medical attention.
The healer shrugged, eyes remaining focused in her assessment. "No," she answered brusquely as she returned to the broken arm.
Mira yelped and clamped down hard on Haru's hand when Porlyusica set the broken bone in her forearm without warning. The action drew a grunt of pain from the Water Slayer as well, and Lucy bit her lip cringing back as Natsu mumbled "Ouch…" under his breath.
"Mira, or Haru?" Lucy whispered with amusement edging her voice.
"Both…" Natsu joked back, grinning wider when Haru glared at him sidelong, massaging the hand he'd rescued from the She-Devil's clutches. Wendy was now gliding magic infused hands over Mira's more superficial injuries as Porlyusica moved onto the ribs that needed attention.
"When do you think she'll wake— DAMMIT!" Mira cursed through a sharp inhale as a sickening crunch signified another articulation corrected. Haru cautiously offered his hand back to her as she received a sadistic smirk from Porlyusica and an apologetic look from Wendy.
Soothing Mira's ribs with sky magic, Wendy glanced between two sets of deep blue eyes. "Meredy should be okay, she appears to be in some sort of magic-induced coma from the ordeal."
"—Her magic is her own again though," Natsu offered. Lucy gave a start and looked up at him with eyes wide in relief. Smiling he fit her to his side with an arm around her shoulders, "it's only been a couple days—"
"The first round of Day Four's tag-team matches will be commencing in 15 minutes," Chapati's announcement cut through the stadium speakers and the group fell silent to listen. "The first match will pit returning champions, Sabertooth, against the scrappy Fairies! Participants will be announced in 10 minutes."
Natsu and Haru both shifted their attention to one another simultaneously. "Looks like it's just about time, Haru," Natsu said with a toothy smile.
The mages all nodded collectively, readying themselves to head back to their designated seating area. Mira also moved to peel herself out of bed, albeit gingerly.
"Oh no, where do you think you're going?!" "Mira, you need to stay in bed!" came the displeasured complaints of both Fairy Tail's healers.
Scoffing, the takeover mage turned back, letting her weight slump against Haru's side as he wrapped a stabilizing arm around her waist. "And miss this?! Not a chance…" Mira chirped defiantly.
Wendy protested further until Erza dropped a hand on the teen's shoulder and offered her words of assurance. "We'll make sure she's alright!" Lucy promised.
Gaze flickering over the dragon slayers and their girlfriends, Wendy shifted her weight anxiously and whined, "—Haruuu!"
Shrugging a shoulder, Haru chuckled, "Battles you know you aren't going to win, aren't worth fighting Wendy."
Fairy Tail's team turned toward the infirmary doors, but Wendy wasn't ready to cave yet. "If she wants to watch, she should watch with the rest of us—we can send Gray to make sure she isn't chosen to fight!"
"She won't be."
"You can't be sure!" Porlyusica snapped.
"Yes, we can. This match will be me 'n' Haru versus Sabertooth's Twin Dragons, guaranteed."
"Whatever. Get out of here, you're giving me a headache! …Reckless brats," the woman growled with an affectionate look. She turned back to her potions and healing ointments as they departed.
"Bye Porlyusica! Thanks!"
The crowds hadn't been this loud and rowdy since Erza had successfully defeated all 100 monsters in Pandemonium, standing victorious with her sword thrust in the air overhead.
Natsu stepped into the square of sunlight that fell across the mouth of the colosseum hall, adrenaline flying through his veins as he eyed the parts of the audience he could see. Across the stadium, fans were on their feet and cheering their hearts out in anticipation of the first tag team battle, Fairy Tail and Sabertooth flags dotting the crowd evenly.
"Are you getting PUMPED?!" Chapati cried into the mic, receiving even louder rounds of applause then the previous. "The previous number one guild in Fiore, the current number one guild in Fiore, two powerful rival guilds… four Dragon Slayers—"
As the emcee continued to diligently rev up the audience, Natsu tuned out the chatter and excitement and looked back over his shoulder at his partner who was leaning against the stone wall lazily. "Ya think the audience would be disappointed if we flattened those Saber-punks in the first ten minutes?" he asked, his eagerness filtering through his tone.
Haru chuckled despite himself, "Yeah man, probably. They came for a show."
"Good thing I enjoy putting on a show then," the fire mage joked back, gaining his fellow slayer's amused smirk in return.
"You've been waiting for it! You've been asking for it! The long-awaited show down between DRAGONS!"
Pushing himself off the wall, Haru made his way over to step into the patch of light and slapped a hand over the Fire Slayer's shoulder. Meeting blue eyes, Natsu asked mockingly, "Ready for our adoring fans, Haru?" He laughed as Haru narrowed his eyes in displeasure at his sense of humour. The media coverage was already going nuts over his slip up with Mira earlier… Haru let out a puff of air, though a subtle smirk stayed firmly in place. Natsu knew, despite his advertence to this level of attention, the Water Slayer was looking forward to this fight as much as he was.
Haru ignored the taunt, settling on a simple, "Let's crush 'em."
"Put your hands together, for Fairy Tail's Twin Dragons… NATSU DRAGNEEL and HARU MARIUS!"
With a final fist bump, the pair strode out of the shadows of the corridor with a nonchalant air. Natsu wore his usual bright toothy grin, and each held an arm thrust overhead with a pointer finger and thumb extended. The lacrima visions flickered between images of the Fairy Tail dragon slayers and their guildmates who began mirroring their hand gestures in the stands. The contagious energy prompted random fans to begin mimicking the sign as well, not understanding its significance but getting carried away in the moment regardless.
"—And their challengers, Sabertooth's Twin Dragons… STING EUCLIFF and ROGUE CHENEY!"
The cheering escalated to another decibel again and Natsu crossed his arms over his chest as Haru dropped his arms to his sides, one hand landing idly on his hip as they watched their opponents emerge. Sting had both arms thrown out to his sides, basking in the energy of the spectators as he and his partner approached to stop a mere meter away. "So, you didn't back down… at the very least, you aren't cowards," Sting said, fixing them with a condescending expression.
"I could say the same of you," Natsu retorted, "thought you might've realized your mistake and run scared after seeing our 'rag tag' bunches' performances so far." Natsu was not about to let the insult from day one go any time soon, he was determined to make the blonde eat his words.
Sting clicked his tongue, "I'll admit, they aren't bad… but like you two, they're still only second rate," he declared, grin widening as he took in the unimpressed stares of his fellow slayers. "What'd you expect? We aren't going to lose to a couple embarrassments to the Dragon Slayer title."
"I suppose we will see about that…" Haru trailed off calmly, ignoring the bait.
Narrowing his eyes, the White Slayer pushed further, lowering his voice to ensure the speakers wouldn't pick up their conversation. "Your guild may have done a good job of burying the truth, but we happen to know what went down on your little island. You two got your asses handed to you by a dragon… and nearly let your precious guild die at its claws."
Natsu's eyes flashed, immediately losing the battle with his composure… He had a fistful of the blonde's shirt in his grip in an instant, ripping the man to his toes, inches from his face. Even having his family back, the failure to protect them against Acnologia still plagued him, and Haru, he knew. The years their guildmates lost in stasis, the years he lost with Lucy, there would always be a part of him that placed that blame squarely on himself. And Sting just hit that psychological trauma with brutal precision. Natsu growled lowly, "Wanna repeat that, Saber-punk?"
"Natsu!" Haru admonished, grabbing his forearm as Mato came running over waving his arms frantically to break up the pre-match altercation.
The Fire Slayer threw Sting back roughly, sending the blonde staggering back a few steps. Sharp eyes stayed trained on him as his foe caught his balance and straightened. "You're lucky I made a promise to Weisslogia…" Natsu spat. He revelled in the other man's stunned look and subsequent demanding inquiries for a moment before following Haru back to assume their position for the match start. Rogue, looking equally bewildered at his knowledge of the White Dragon, stepped forward and tugged his partner out of his stupor to back away to the marked distance as well.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Looks like our competitors are raring to go—So what do ya say we get this match underway?!" Chapati shouted. The crowd's loud chants of approval followed the emcee's words, flags whipping around in the stands in a flurry of vibrant colour. "Alright then, let the first doubles match BEGIN!"
Sting and Rogue shot forward in a barely-tracible blur of white and black but Natsu and Haru remained still. They watched the two close the gap rapidly, each with an elbow cocked back for attack. At the last second, Natsu side-stepped, dipped low and drove a brutal uppercut into Sting's exposed abdominals, bending him in half and halting his momentum. At the same time, Haru had shifted just out of range of Rogue's punch and caught him at the wrist and elbow, spinning around to throw the Shadow Slayer straight into Sting, sending both men sailing to the side passed Natsu. Not letting the opportunity pass, Natsu took a step and pivoted on his forefoot to spin and drive a Talon Attack into Rogue's side with a burst of fire that launched the pair further across the field to crash into the sandy ground.
The Sabertooth mages tumbled to a stop a fair distance away as Natsu dropped his foot and intertwined his fingers behind his head. He casually glanced back over his shoulder at their downed opponents. "Don't tell me that's all you got, after all that boasting? We were hoping for a little more entertainment…" he trailed off in a bored tone.
"Don't get cocky you damn Slayer-Failure!" Sting barked back angrily, peeling himself off the ground, "we're just getting started!" Just in front of him, Rogue was back on his feet and dusting himself off, piercing red eyes now betraying the first signs of emotion since the Games had begun. Blinding light burst off Sting and a similar shadow burst off Rogue a moment after. Pursing his lips consideringly, Natsu looked back at his own partner, both shrugging their shoulders before following suit. Fire and water whipped up around them and all four magic auras diminished to reveal the glittering scales of each of the dragon slayers' respective Drive Modes.
"Things are getting serious now folks! We are looking at a Dragon Slayer's true power!"
Natsu chuckled internally, 'Not by a long shot pal…' he thought to himself as the four slayers took a moment to size each other up again. Then without any real signal, driven by pure instinct for battle, the men exploded forward and collided in the center of their stand-off. The shockwave from the impact drove a shallow crater out around their feet and a ring of dust to bloom outward under the force.
Natsu caught a sharp punch from Sting, and the blonde quickly used it to vault himself into the air, aiming a kick down over Haru's head. Leaning back to dodge the kick, Haru flipped back out of the way giving Natsu the space to unleash a fiery Wing Attack that encompassed both the white and shadow wielders.
The left streak of fire was sliced in half with a holy magic enhanced hammer kick, and Rogue had vanished. When he reappeared, it was to shoot up out of Natsu's own shadow, aiming a punch straight out of the ground at the seemingly unaware fire mage. Natsu dropped, swiping out with a low spin kick attempting to take out his attacker's legs, but was efficiently countered with a burst of shadow magic. Behind him, Haru swore loudly when Sting finally connected a solid punch to his jaw sending him stumbling to the side. With a curse of his own, Natsu realized his partner's skin was marked with Sting's stigma seal. He was fighting against its invisible bindings as the other man charged an orb of white between his palms, taking aim at the immobilized water mage.
Natsu caught Haru's eyes with a smirk as Sting surged forward again toward unknown danger. "Fire Dragon's purifying flames!" Natsu called, sending a cone of gold flames at Haru. Sting's eyes widened in surprise at the strategy and flinched just long enough in his movements for a now stigma-free Haru to emerge from the fiery storm with water magic thrashing around him. "Water Dragon's typhoon!" Slashing across the air, Haru built his magic into a raging storm that whipped around his form and crashed into Sting's side, submerging him and carrying him right into the shadow mage. Both Sabertooth mages ended up sprawled out and choking up water on the ground again. They managed to press themselves up just in time to catch sight of Natsu and Haru pulling in deep inhales.
"Fire Dragon's—"
"Water Dragon's—"
"ROAR!"
Vast torrents of fire and water exploded forward, whipping together to barrel down on their foes.
. . .
"White Dragon's—"
"Shadow Dragon's—"
"ROAR!"
The incantations echoed through the lacrima speakers floating around Domus Flau and the Fairy Tail team watched with varying grins as Sabertooth's Twin Dragons countered with the same spell combination but to less effect. The blend of white and shadow met fire and water in a large explosion, embers splattering outward through plumes of smoke that quickly blanketed the arena. The overwhelming power of the swirling vortex of fire and water cut through the counterattack, dampened but still carrying destructive potential. The Fairy's combined roar forced the receiving men to dive out of the way of the weakened spell. They rolled to stops and recovered to half kneeling stances, eyeing the scar that had been carved into the earth with slight trepidation before rising to their feet.
Sting and Rogue were still relatively unscathed, though appearing more than a little dishevelled and no less than enraged at this point. Sting let out a vicious scream, demonstrating his fury with the lopsided power scale. The competitors fell back into exchanging physical strikes and magic attacks in a four-way brawl once more. Natsu wore a wild grin as he widened his stance to swing his torso under Sting's Holy Nova charged punch. Straightening up behind the blonde male, he nailing him with a series of blurred punches, followed by a back-kick to the kidney.
Laxus stretched out lazily, a subtle smirk pulling the corner of his lips upward. "I guess dragons don't teach their children not to play with their food…" he snarked, mirth colouring his tone.
"We shouldn't have expected any less..." Erza trailed off with a fond smile. An uncharacteristic quiet had settled over the emcees, all three commentators focused on the match below with jaws agape. The crowd's energy was no less enthused, but it was obvious no one had expected the fight to be so undeniably one-sided… least of all, Sabertooth's die-hard fanbase. Sabertooth's teammates looked to be a warring mix of self-righteous anger and stunned silence themselves. Given the new number one guild's carefully maintained reputation for dominating power, having some of their strongest toyed with like this was a clear blow to their pride, one they were already seething over.
"Well, they did promise us a beatdown, and when have they ever not delivered?!" Lucy said proudly. She had reclaimed her spot on the stone barrier, swinging her legs over the edge with a carefree air as she watched their dragon slayers deal blow after blow to their opponents' overconfident visage. Mira leaping forward and whistling sharply beside her drew Lucy's attention and her friend smiled up at her, eyes sparkling with her own delight. She was covered in thick layers of bandages, and Lucy had noticed the other woman flinching occasionally when her cheering got a little overzealous, sending ripples of pain through her. But Mira stubbornly remained on her feet, despite Erza trying to get her to sit down and take it easy.
. . .
Natsu continued to skip around Sting with barely matched agility, simply dodging or blocking the other's attacks without returning fire. He was aware of smudges of black on his peripheral that revealed a similar state of battle between Haru and Rogue. With a carefree grin, Natsu couldn't help but ask, "Why so grumpy Sting?!"
Indignation marred the White Dragon Slayer's expression as he unleashed a multitude of light rays to rain down from above. The beams pocketed the ground in holes as Natsu danced around them with practiced ease, he continued pressing his foe with questions that went unanswered. Quite honestly, Natsu was curious to the level of animosity his fellow dragon slayers had for him and Haru. "Weisslogia—"
Sting cut him off instantly, vanishing in a shower of light and reappeared point blank with a hand wrapping around his throat, slamming his body down into the dirt. Natsu blinked up, mildly impressed with the speed, though he made no move to break free of the grip for the moment. "Don't you dare say his name!" Sting hissed, and demanded through clenched teeth, "how do you even know that name?!"
Rolling his eyes, Natsu ignored the slightly increased pressure that challenged his breathing and his ability to reply. "Ya mind?" he choked out with an incredulous look, "or I can—re-move—your han mysef—" he bit out between shallow inhales.
The grip eased cautiously, "Get explaining," Sting demanded with narrowed eyes.
"I met your father—"
"That's IMPOSSIBLE you dumbass!" the man cut him off again, "I—we—killed our parents!" Sting declared hotly, gesturing to Rogue, just as Haru sent the Shadow Slayer flying in a cloud of sand, dust and fractured ice.
Natsu let out an exacerbated exhale, "Yeah, I don't know what they were hoping to achieve by altering your memories to believe that… but it just isn't true. Weisslogia, and Skiadrum are both alive, though I haven't met Skia—."
"SHUT UP!" Sting yelled, slamming a fist down into the ground inches from Natsu's head.
Natsu sucked in a strangled breath as the chokehold tightened again. Abandoning his attempts to reason with the other slayer for now, Natsu grumbled a dismissal as he released his magic pressure and fire burned up around them. He snapped a hand up to grab a fistful of Sting's shirt, preventing his escape when he flinched back under the scalding heat. "Fine, I'll just beat the sense into you then!" Natsu vowed. Rolling back, he lodged his feet into the unreasonable man's gut and kicked him back over his head in a flare of fire before flipping back to an offensive stance. Rogue caught his careening teammate, and skidded back a few feet, both posturing and glaring back as Haru sidled up beside Natsu again.
"Not a shred of reason in either of them, huh?"
"Nope." Natsu replied, popping the 'p.' He eyed the pair derisively as light and shadow erupted off the slayers once more in columns that shot into the sky. The magic pressure surrounding the two increased exponentially, pulling a pleased grin to Natsu's face. "Well now, this is getting fun," he decided.
The magic extinguished to reveal a larger smattering of scales to cover Sting's and Rogue's bodies and blonde and raven locks whipped into wilder angles. "Here's where you learn the true gaps in our powers…"
"That so?" Natsu asked flatly, he lifted a hand, embers flickering off one extended finger as he gestured to them, "show us what you got then."
. . .
"Dragon Force?! I thought Natsu and Haru only mastered that after a year of training with Igneel, how'd these two get it?" Erza asked befuddled.
Below, the newly empowered dragon slayers were readying their counterattack. Sting dissolved into a beam of concentrated light that arched through the sky like a meteor, and Rogue melted into his shadow to streak across the ground in haphazard lines. Sting rematerialized just above Natsu, "White Dragon's talons!" he bellowed as he fell out of the sky, driving dual kicks into the Fire Slayer's sternum and ribs. Natsu let out a howl of pain as he was thrown back only to collide with Haru when Rogue emerged from the shadow with an Iron Fist to the water mage's gut. The Sabertooth mages spared no time in launching into unrelenting strikes on the Fairies now sandwiched between them.
"Sabertooth FINALLY turns the tide—" Chapti's voice sounded around the stands.
Lucy hummed in consideration, "Wellll Natsu and Haru had each achieved Dragon Force prior to mastering the state as well…" she began, eyes flickering absently over the shocks of white and shadow soaring around the stadium ground. "But from what I understand—and keep in mind Natsu isn't great with the theoretical explanations—those were incomplete forms, not much unlike Drive state."
"Ohhh, good hit," Laxus said behind them with a mock cringe when Sting nailed Natsu in the cheek, halting Lucy's explanation. An amused grin had plastered itself across his face as he watched the ongoing battle.
Erza deadpanned at him, gesturing indiscriminately at the ongoing fight behind her, "That's what you say when our guys are getting batted around the field like ping pong balls?!" she snapped. Her head whirled as something else occurred to her, "wait, why are you so calm…" she asked quickly, whipping her hand away from the direction of the dragon slayers to jab a finger at Lucy.
"Why would I be worried?" Lucy asked, gently nudging her white-haired friend beside her, "Mira? You worried?" she added through light laughter.
The model shook her head, "More worried about my ribs than the guys!" she replied flippantly.
Erza cocked an eyebrow, attention grazing over the girls and Laxus who all seemed to be in on an inside joke she wasn't privy to. "Seriously Erza?" Laxus chuckled, "they haven't entered their Dragon Force yet… and we all know those two can kick MY ass in Force… they're still playing with their food."
Understanding dawned on the redhead as Mira leaned toward the lightning mage and pinched his biceps with wide innocent eyes. Yelping uncharacteristically with surprise, Laxus batted the offending hand away, "Oi, what the hell Mira?!"
"Just had to check to see if this is real, never thought you'd willingly admit to being weaker than Natsu."
Ignoring her point, he grumbled, "You're supposed to pinch yourself…"
Haru's pain echoing through the speakers abruptly ended their banter. Haru crashed hard, skidding across the ground with violent speed before back rolling and digging into the ground to stop on all fours. Blue eyes snapped up just as Sting and Rogue threw simultaneous flying kicks into Natsu's chest, again. Haru leapt to the side, absorbing the fire mage's weight.
"White Dragon's holy nova!"
"Shadow Dragon's slash!"
Silvery light and shadow burst from the Tigers' outstretched hands, showering down over Haru and Natsu to tear more screams from both. The concentration of ethernano set off a catastrophic explosion that destroyed a chunk of the stadium floor, crumbling into another crater. The detonation sent them both into the air with another curtain of smoke and debris that clung to the air, obscuring the guys. Long minutes passed as Chapati and Yajima contemplated the status of the match, debating whether Fairy Tail's Twin Dragons had fizzled out after an overpowering start.
Then Sting's confident visage faltered subtly, a look of confusion crossing his face as he exchanged a glance with Rogue. Lucy leaned further out over the edge she sat on, trying to decide what was affecting their calm. She searched for movement in the cloud of smoke, and then a blast of heat washed over her, followed by a sharp wintery cold.
"What the hell?!" Sting bit out, taking a step toward the slowly dispersing smoke when columns of fire and water swirled up, only to burst apart. Sting and Rogue whirled around at the new concentration of magic density appearing and rapidly climbing behind them. Instinctually skipping back a few steps to distance themselves, they gawked at their opponents' altered appearances.
"You guys pack a bit of a punch!" Natsu laughed, drawing a palpating hand over his now exposed abdominals and ribs through the shreds of his team uniform. "Ya mighta broke a few bones… but I think we're through playing. Thoughts, Haru?"
"Time to end this."
"What do you know?! Fairy Tail's Twin Dragons were hiding power of this magnitude too?!"
Natsu grinned wildly, revealing elongated canines to glint in the sunlight, and the lacrima visions zeroed in on his and Haru's own transformations. The gold eyes, Natsu's newly deep red locks, the curved ice horns framing Haru's silver-white locks… "The fuck?!" Sting barked, finally snapping out of his awe and consequently interrupting the Fairies' casual discussion.
"Oh sorrrry," Natsu sang, hinging forward with his hands on his hips and a look of mock surprise. The fiery horns over his head danced with the movement, "did you think you were the only ones with access to Dragon Force?"
"If you can call it that…" Haru put in condescendingly.
With a considering brow and a lazy nod, Natsu agreed, "Solid point, man." Then as mirror images the guys both whipped their inside arms back and built up a giant orb of fire and water in seconds, with no real signal between them. Lucy assumed they had to be connected telepathically now as well… Sabertooth was officially screwed.
"Twin Dragon's elemental break!"
A sphere with a diameter triple any of their heights tore across the battlefield, carving a gaping crevasse into the ground. The spell overwhelmed Sting and Rogue when they didn't react to dodge fast enough and the pair hurtled back. They collided hard with the stadium walls, forming a webbing of cracks around them.
"Well, their luck just ran out," Mira chirped darkly to a chorus of mumbled agreements from Lucy and the rest.
. . .
Natsu nudged Sting's jaw with the toe edge of his boot and the White Slayer whipped an arm at his ankle with a mild grimace of pain. Haru stood a short distance back, arms crossed over his chest as their fellow dragon slayers climbed back to their feet again. The same tenacity and stubbornness that was a common hallmark of all the slayers Haru had ever met, was represented in these two just as strongly. Even after facing solid evidence that they were extremely outmatched… they continued to fight back persistently.
"Lacrima-gained Dragon Force is no true Dragon Force… no way you could slay dragons with that measly power," Natsu was saying bluntly, now eye-level with the other two again. Natsu wasn't really the lecturing type, so Haru knew he was back to attempting to work reason through their heads. However, neither appeared to be ready for reasoning just yet.
Both men spun perfectly coordinated kicks at the Fire Slayer in response. Natsu caught Rogue's leg in the crook of his elbow and stopped Sting's with his bare hand at the ankle. Then he spun and whipped both in opposite directions. He followed Sting's trajectory to bury a brutal kick of his own into the man's lumbar. Natsu whirled, puffing up his cheeks and blew a torrent of lightning infused, deep red fire at the recovering shadow mage in the opposite direction.
Haru cocked his head, and shifted his weight to one leg lazily, deciding to let Natsu blow off some steam solo for a bit. His partner flipped easily around Rogue who was surging by him in a series of shadow-cloaked strikes and unleashed a wing attack at Sting as he continued to dodge. Finally, Natsu flipped again, slamming one golden flame-coated palm down into the shadow that rippled across his path. The light-infused fire literally burned up the shadow and ejected Rogue with a cry of pain. Without missing a beat Natsu snagged the back of the man's cloak, wrenching him backward and threw him in Haru's direction.
Water swirled up around Haru's leg as he snapped a point kick into his foe's neck, laying the man out flat on his stomach at his feet. Natsu shot by again and nailed a knee into Sting's chin, jolting his head back with a crunch of cervical vertebrae.
Sting spat out a mouthful of blood, eyes flashing as he snapped his gaze to the other Sabertooth mage. "Rogue!" the light mage called, physically shaking off the jostling hit and leapt toward his partner again as white magic enveloped his fist. Deep shadows were already welling up around Rogue's own fist as well, the two threw the thrashing magic together before their spells had stabilized, causing their power to shatter in a giant explosion.
"Holy Shi—Folks! I don't know what just happened, did Sabertooth lose control of their spell?! Yajima, any insight?"
"I believe Sabertooth did that purposefully…"
"Despite the potential damage to themselves as well?!"
"Desperation… AND distraction."
The explosion of unstable magic had sent all four competitors flying. Haru flipped back to his feet with the momentum and focused on the flash of red sliding to a stop a few feet in front of him. Having expected the explosion, their opponents already had their attack charging, and this time, in the form of a pulsing globe of black and white rippling power at their fingertips.
"White Shadow dragon's FLASH BANG!" they shouted, hurling the cataclysmic spell straight at them. Haru strode up beside Natsu calmly, with water and ice swirling around him and a grin that could rival Natsu's.
"Blizzard-Water Dragon's jagged tsunami!" he countered, conjuring the arc of rigid ice to tower over the encroaching spell. The icy wave overwhelmed the white shadowed combination before instantly melting to crash down over the other dragon slayers' heads, submerging them in raging waters once more. Sabertooth's Twin Dragon's eyes blew wide at their most powerful unison raid being rendered useless so easily.
"Nice shot." Natsu praised, as the other two peeled themselves off the ground again, sopping wet and raging. "One more..."
All four of the elements wielded between them thrashed up in a vortex, as they summoned their respective Secret Arts and leapt into the air, aiming downward at their numbed opponents. "Crimson Lotus, exploding lightning blade!" "Ocean's Vengeance, frozen storm blade!"
Sting's face paled considerably when Haru and Natsu closed the gap between them in a blink, spinning and lashing out with untraceable slashes of elemental magic. A massive explosion shook the stadium, the power reverberating into the stands and punching a huge crater into the arena floor. With a final agonized scream that was echoed by Rogue, Sting fell bonelessly to the ground far below and his partner landed on his side right next to him as chunks of the ground above fell around them. Dust and residual magic slowly settled, static still licking at the air around them. Haru landed softly on the ground a meter away, catching a glimpse of red as Natsu joined him to assess the state of their challengers.
"You… win…" Sting mumbled brokenly into the sand, "Natsu, Haru…"
Haru's eyes trailed after Natsu as his partner approached and knelt in front of the defeated slayers and then up at the hole revealing blue skies high above them. Natsu dragged Sting onto his back and stood, Haru said nothing, approaching to copy the action with Rogue. The two then used bursts of their power to skip upward between various jagged edges of rock until they emerged from the crater. Moving a good distance from the crumbling hole, they both deposited the defeated dragon slayers to the ground with little regard.
"WOWWW, that's it, ladies and gentlemen! The winners: Fairy Tail's Twin Dragons!"
Foregoing celebrations for now, Natsu squatted back down in front of the semi-conscious Sabertooth mages as the audience went ballistic over the outcome. "Weisslogia is alive. That wasn't a strategy to throw you off, I would never lie about something like that," Natsu said softly. His eyes flicked to Rogue, "so is Skiadrum, far as I know. He should be with Oceanus." Natsu gestured to Haru as the Water Slayer came to a stop just over his shoulder, nodding in silent confirmation. The two stared back in awe, finally considering whether the mages that handed them crushing defeat, could be trusted.
Natsu rose again as Orga stalked onto the field and carelessly slung Rogue's limp form over one shoulder. Then he bent again and fit Sting under the bend of his other arm. "Wait—" Natsu said, pausing the large man, to catch Sting's attention one more time, "if you decide you can swallow your pride and want to talk to us… we're staying at the Honey Bone Inn," he offered.
Orga released a derisive snort, interrupting Rogue's attempt to reply. He shifted his stance, balancing his teammates' weights, "Sabertooth doesn't associate with second rate Guilds."
Haru's jaw dropped along with Natsu's, "Really? Still? We put three of your teammates in the infirmary in ONE day and you still manage to be this arrogant?!" Saying nothing, Orga turned and departed the field, leaving Fairy Tail's Twin Dragons gaping after them under the crowd's adoration.
Bar Sun
"That was MANLY!"
"Did you see the look on Sabertooth's faces?!"
"Aye sir!"
"I would have dealt with them faster…"
"You two really did put them in their place today!" Lucy praised, leaning slightly back on Natsu's lap to let her gaze sweep over the guys. "Though I wouldn't expect anything less from my dragon…" she continued in a soft purr for Natsu alone. She tilted her head up and nipped at the skin of Natsu's jaw line before pressing a kiss to his cheek.
Natsu gave her a wolfish grin back at the praise and squeezed her upper thigh with the arm slung around her waist. Bringing his lips closer to her ear he whispered back, "Do I get a reward?"
"I shouldn't have to remind you, that I can hear you…" Haru muttered in displeasure to his best friends' murmured and increasingly sexually charged flirting. "Get a room!"
Natsu chuckled back, reaching for his beer around Lucy's form, "Later… we want to celebrate here first!" He took a long pull from his drink, and slammed the mug down, "just think guys, tomorrow, we'll be Fiore's undisputed NUMBER ONE again!"
Gray and Elfman immediately added their rambunctious cheers to the mix of excitement that the fire mage had stirred up. "Yeah! One more event to dominate!" Mira added happily.
The Fairies were back at Bar Sun again, spread all over the venue and partying hard after the conclusion of Day 4 left them with a wide lead over 2nd place Sabertooth. Members of Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale and Quatro Cerberus were also mingling in the fun tonight as well, drinks in hand and adding to the rowdy atmosphere. Natsu sat at a large table in the bar's center with his team. Lucy was three strawberry daiquiris deep and was already letting that drunken energy show. Haru sat directly to his left, with Mira on his other side, sipping a glass of wine. Elfman and Gray were across from them with Happy on the table enjoying a pile of fish.
Haru had just left for the bar intending on replenishing their drinks when a beer stein slammed into the back of Natsu's head. "Damn! You got him!" someone said enthusiastically.
"Oi! Which of you jackasses threw that?!" Natsu barked, literally spitting fire as he whirled around on his stool and nearly knocked Lucy off his lap in the process. A surprised squeal ripped from her throat as she reflexively clamped her arms around his neck. His eyes bulged, and he immediately sucked in a breath against her strangle hold, "L-L-uc-y…Le- go!" he choked out.
Across the bar, a hysteric laughter broke out. "Pathetic Salamander! More proof Gramps shoulda put me on the team, I woulda taken care of Sabertooth solo and in half the time!" Gajeel declared, looked entirely pleased with himself.
A dejected looking Lyon stood next to him, glaring from the corner of his eye, "That was MY beer you weaponized…"
The Iron Slayer narrowed his eyes, briefly looking at Lyon, then he ripped a drink from Toby's hand and passed it to the ice mage. Toby's mouth opened with an indignant retort on his lips, but Gajeel jabbed a finger at his nose, "Get a new one ya mutt! –We've gotta knock Salamander—"
A fiery fist slammed into Gajeel's pierced nose sending him flying across the bar to bowl over a group of innocent bystanders. "Damn trash can!" Natsu growled, "you wish you were half as awesome as me!" From the pile of bodies tangled on the floor, an iron pillar shot forward and collided straight with Natsu's chest. Reflexively wrapping his arms around the iron mast, the pinkette dragged Gajeel with him as he was blown backward.
Natsu heard the sounds of shattering and clattering, and subsequent swearing from the person he crashed into before landing hard on his back with the heavy iron mage on top of him. With a drawn-out groan, Natsu shoved Gajeel off him, and shifted his eyes up to his partner standing above him. "Of course…" Haru said blandly as he offered him a hand and pulled him to his feet. The remains of their drink order covered the ground behind them now. "You would cause a huge brawl… wouldn't you?" his partner asked, gesturing to the large group of mages slowly circling them.
"Gajeel started it."
"You could have ignored him."
"Not in this life!" Natsu laughed uproariously.
"Thought you'd say that… I think they want a piece," Haru said, flexing his head to the side to avoid a blast of magic aimed at them.
Natsu pivoted to press his back against Haru's as Gray and Lyon leapt forward with a combined icy strike. "I think you're right…" Natsu replied, quickly hinging to dodge the stream of ice magic, "Haru!" Spinning on the ball of his foot, Haru inhaled the ice as Natsu launched forward with a fist aimed for Gray, and Haru followed suit, aiming his own at Lyon. That was the trigger for the vast majority of the bar's patrons to dissolve into an all-out brawl. Alliances quickly formed against the victorious Twin Dragons, instigated by Gajeel and some of the other more competitive mages.
It wasn't long before all chaos broke loose, shattered glass and porcelain, fractured chunks of tables, stools and bodies went flying in all directions. The mages kept magic use to a minimum to avoid totalling the entire building, though the destruction was still staggering. Natsu vaulted over Elfman, sending the beast mage face first into the ground, and drove a kick into Bacchus' gut after.
"That… wasn't manly," he heard Elfman mutter into the hardwood. Looking up with a smirk, the fire mage found Ichiya on a trajectory straight for him. Bending into his knees, Natsu prepared to intercept but before that could happen Haru sent both Gajeel and Rocker careening into airborne man.
Regrouping with Haru, the two stood back-to-back again, countering any strike sent their way with punches or kicks until Laxus threw himself into the mix. "Now things are getting interesting," Natsu said, brimming with new adrenaline as he taunted the Lightning Slayer, "I thought you were above guild brawls?"
Laxus clicked his tongue, "So is Haru, usually, but here we are…" he rebutted and snapped a kick toward the water mage's ribs. "No magic!" he added as an afterthought.
"Deal!" Natsu and Haru replied in unison before meeting Laxus in a three-way spar. The no magic rule was of course, to limit property damage, but it also leveled the playing field more. The three men whipped around each other exchanging blows invisible to the average eye, causing many to back away. This continued with all sides taking hits until a massive hand chopped down separating them, "DAMN BRATS! Our entire prize money will go to repairing this bar and everything else you destroy!" Makarov yelled angrily, "Laxus, Haru, I expect better of you!"
Natsu pouted comically at the implication, Laxus looked unperturbed, though Haru had the decency to look slightly admonished.
Then a yell of feminine fury drowned out the Master's lecture and he immediately snapped his attention across the hall to its source. Erza doling out indiscriminate punishment on a whole crowd of mages after one person or another predictably ruined her strawberry cake. Surprisingly, Lucy also seemed to be involved for one reason or another, the two women were leaving a circle of downed mages all around them. "Oh for—" the elderly master's eyes snapped back to the trio of dragon slayers with a no-nonsense glare, "behave yourselves, you're S Class!" he demanded before running off to deal with the rampaging women.
With a shrug and a shared laugh, the rivals broke apart to return to their respective teams, surveying the heavy damage to Bar Sun as they went. "It's a wonder Gramps didn't throttle us…" Haru said amusedly.
"It's a wonder the building is still standing…" Natsu added as they dropped back into their seats next to Mira.
Lucy returned a moment later with Erza on her heels after receiving their own reprimands. "It's a wonder that Master always seems surprised by these brawls," Lucy giggled, dropping her chin onto Natsu's shoulder and looking up at him with a bright smile.
Haru rolled his eyes, "yeah, yeah, everything's a wonder."
The friends laughed and chatted for a long while, as though the majority of their fellow mages weren't knocked out or nursing minor injuries from the bar-wide brawl. Laxus sauntered up and dropped heavily onto the end of the bench across from Mira with a grin. "Why don't I participate in brawls more often?" he asked, "that was fun!"
"Because up until recently, no one could really hold their own with you," Mira giggled knowingly.
"Oh my! What happened here?!" a concerned voice asked.
"Oh Yukino!" Lucy greeted happily.
Natsu shifted, looking behind himself and found the white-haired stellar mage taking in the state of Bar Sun. "Just a friendly fight Yukino, you know how it is!" Natsu told her.
A disheartened smile pulled at her lips as her eyes met his, "Not really, no, Sabertooth doesn't do friendly…" she replied.
"You know, I still don't think I'll ever understand why you stay in a guild like Sabertooth," Haru told her.
She looked toward him with an equally curious look, before rounding the table to sit between Erza and Laxus, resting her chin in the palm of her hand. "You know why, Haru," she replied simply.
The water mage didn't look pacified by the answer, but he let it go anyway, "So, fraternizing with the enemy the night before the last big event?"
"Oh, I'm not on the team."
"What do you mean, it's a full team event," Lucy asked, that was the only information they had for the final mystery event so far. "Are they using a reserve member?"
One delicate brow rose in curiosity, "You haven't heard?" At the collective clueless looks of Team Fairy Tail being turned on her, Yukino continued, "Chapati made the announcement on behalf of the GMG organizers about an hour ago. It will be teams of five tomorrow—"
"What?!" Natsu growled, knowing that potentially put Raven Tail back in the mix. Teams were only allowed one reserve member, with both Meredy and Obra out, Raven Tail had been facing disqualification. He looked at Haru beside him, his partner looked no less suspicious, the sudden change in rules was a little too convenient.
"That's not all," Yukino added, "the reserve member rule has been thrown out. We can make up the final team with any Guildmembers we choose."
That information floored everyone to silence. That was unheard of, this meant the Guilds could put together a previously completely unknown team to throw off their opponents. "Wow," Mira muttered, gnawing on her thumbnail, "is Sabertooth making changes?"
"Of course not, those five are Saber's strongest. They booted me off and said they didn't need to rely on shake ups to confuse their enemies." Yukino said with a shrug.
Mira's glance took in all her teammates, "So what should we do then? Do we stick with the original plan?" Due to her injuries, Gray was slotted to reclaim his place on the team for the final battle, but now they could just potentially go with the other five currently present. Or do they switch things up entirely? They dissolved into a debate of potential strategies, considering their strongest competition, Sabertooth, and their underhanded opponents, Raven Tail.
"Wait, I've got an idea… hear me out," Lucy broke into the chatter. Natsu glanced at her with the rest of their companions and smiled when he noted the green washing through her irises. No one in Fairy Tail could surpass Haru's strategies, except the team of Lucy and the Fairy Tactician herself.
"Alright Luce, whatcha got?"
A/N. Gah! One more chapter in GMG, and then onto set up for Tartaros and I am itching to get on with that arc. (Don't expect the last battle to go like canon, and no, Eclipse will not play into it). Predictions?
I believe Tartaros/Zeref and of course Acnologia, may wrap up this story. I haven't decided whether or not to do a more original material sequel to FTTD or not, but I do have some thoughts on potential continuations… so who knows. Would you all be interested?
I also have a completely new idea rattling around in my brain as well that is slowly taking shape... More on that later.
Anyway, Tartaros will likely be two arcs with all the fun I have planned for it, so you'll still see updates on this for a while still.
Big thanks to the usual suspects: SuperSaiyajin4Vegeta, Joker D. Zero, AliceCullen3, Valerioux, EternalFlame, FireShifter, you all make my day. No seriously, you don't know how much a few words can make a writer's day! Thanks a bunch!
'Till next time,
R&R
~LokaMuse