"JUVIA!" The entirety of Fairy Tail B shouted as the now frozen Juvia fell off the platform and down into the open space.
"What the hell was that!?" Natsu shouted as he now had an unconscious Erza in his arms.
"Playing the game," Yakuza replied with a smirk.
"Playing dirty is more like it…" Mirajane sneered, and without wasting any more time, a magic circle appeared over her body as she entered her Satan Soul takeover, immediately sprouting her wings out and flew down to catch the frozen Juvia.
"Oh, no, no…We can't have you spoiling out fun…" Yakuza sighed, shaking his head in a disapproving manner before firing off multiple Ice God Bellows at Mirajane, attempting to impede her progress, and it worked to some degree, as the demon had to change her flight pattern to avoid being hit.
"OI! Knock it off!" Natsu screamed towards Yakuza, but his words fell on deaf ears.
"Natsu, we have to keep moving…" Gray reluctantly said. "They'll be fine!"
"Right…they can handle it…" Lucy nodded in agreement, and as much as Natsu wanted to pound Cosmic Star's faces in, he and his team kept moving.
"Alright, you've had your fun!" Gajeel puffed his cheeks out and threw his head forward, unleashing an Iron Dragon's Roar that clashed with an Ice God's Bellow, creating an explosion and smoke cloud, blocking Cosmic Star from sight.
"Nice one, Gajeel!" Cynthia said with a sigh of relief.
As White Eclipse B made their way up a long flight of stairs, Nami couldn't help but watch as Fairy Tail B and Cosmic Star faced off. "Those guys look dangerous…"
"We'll be fine, just keep moving, Nami," Taya ordered.
"Those guys really get on my nerves…" Flynn said he and Twilight Zone couldn't do much but continue their way by running on an upside down flight of stairs.
"I got her!" Mirajane let out a sigh as she grabbed the frozen Juvia, and began her way back to the platform her team was standing on.
"That could've turned out bad…" Laxus said in a somewhat relieved tone and expression, though both the tone and the expression vanished when a blast of black ice struck her wing, freezing it completely as she now spiraled out of control.
"Mirajane!" Cynthia's eyes widened and she turned around after, seeing Cosmic Star in the same place, smirks on Yakuza and Magnus' face.
"Oh, now THAT was a good shot," Daryan said with an approving nod.
"Now, I believe that's enough playing around; this way," Magnus nodded, and the team of Cosmic Star sped off.
"Shit, now what!?" Gajeel asked.
"Hold on, I got it!" Cynthia nodded as a determined look appeared on her face. She ran off the platform, swan diving off.
"Whoa, kid, what are you doing!?" Gajeel asked with a slightly surprised expression.
"Saving our members!" Cynthia replied as red fire trailed down her arms, and she flew past Mirajane, shattering the black ice around her wing, allowing the demon to take flight once more.
"Cynthia?" Mirajane asked as she turned around, waiting to see if the young dragon slayer would need her assistance in getting back, but Cynthia merely landed onto another platform, and shifted her momentum back to her feet, shooting off to the original platform where Team B was, and Mirajane landed.
"Not bad, kid," Laxus said with a nod.
"And!" Cynthia ignited her fist, slamming it into the ice that surrounded the frozen Juvia, shattering it.
Juvia shivered immensely, her cheeks red from being in the godly cold for so look. "J-J-Juvia is…sorry for holding her team up…"
"It wasn't your fault, Juvia," Gajeel replied as the team finally started to make some more progress once again. "Those space star bastards think their all that, but we'll show 'em."
.
"The games have already started…?" Ultear asked as she, Jellal, and Meredy discreetly made their way through the city of Crocus, keeping their identities a secret with hoods over their heads.
"Just look up," Jellal stated as he pointed to the Sky Labyrinth. "All the guilds are competing in there to see who'll be in the top eight, remember?"
"It's been a while," Ultear replied with a shrug.
"Hey…" Meredy tugged on Ultear's arm as she pointed to the rooftops, seeing two people hopping from rooftop to rooftop. "What's that about?"
"Huh?" Jellal looked up, squinting at the sight. He saw Layanna, and that's all he really needed to see because he knew what was coming next. "Hide!" Jellal whispered, grabbing the arms of both Ultear and Meredy and pulled them into an alleyway.
"J-Jellal, what's going on..!?" Ultear asked with widened eyes.
"That was a council member…" Jellal replied. "I don't know if there are more on the way after her, but I'd rather not take any chances…Not to mention…it looked like she was chasing someone…"
.
Saeko rubbed her eyes tiredly; she wanted to see if the results of who made in into the main event would be said after the eight teams managed to go through, but she was also fighting sleep. "It's late…But the stars say they're doing fine right now…" Saeko nodded to herself, and turned around, but she took on a confused look when she noticed a female member was missing. "Kairi…Heather…Selene…Where's Skye-chan…?"
.
Layanna continued her pursuit of Skye, but the assassin was well aware of her presence. Unfortunately for Layanna, Skye was GOING somewhere, not returning to someplace, so it made it a little difficult for the angelic mage to keep track of Syke's movements. Layanna did have her angelic sword out, but unfortunately, Skye was able to parry away any slashes Layanna managed to swing. Eventually, Skye, in her assassin state, wouldn't be able to carry out her assassination so she quickly pulled out a smoke bomb, and threw it down. "Ah…!" Layanna coughed as the smoke covered her body, jumping out of it to regain sight, however, Skye vanished. "She got away…"
.
"Water God's Bellow!" The water god slayer, Kuro, threw his head forward, unleashing thick beam of black water from his mouth directly at Lamia Scale.
"Not so fast!" Yuka stood up, holding his hands out as he created an anti-magic barrier with easily managed to hold off the Water God's Bellow.
Upon seeing this, Chelia jumped up, unleashing a funnel of black winds towards the Wild team. "Sky God's Bellow!"
"Oh, Sky God, eh? Don't mind if I do!" Reve shouted from above, using his Reverse Slayer to take in the Sky God's Bellow, which he immediately released back to Lamia Scale.
"Rock Iron Fist!" Jura preformed a hand sigh, which resulted in a large fist of rock and iron to shoot from the platform and slam into the Sky God's bellow, which resulted in an explosion.
"Heh, Wild," Bacchus smirked, but he got too comfortable with the fact White Eclipse A bought his team some time, and as a fire javelin hurtled towards him, the drunk only had a few seconds to dodge, which he managed to do by swaying his body to the side, watching as the javelin flew past him. "What the?!"
"For a drunk, he's got excellent reflexes…" Taya noted.
Blues slid his fist into his palm, throwing them forward as a dark blue magic seal appeared in front of him, unleashing dense, watery lances. "Water Make: Lance!"
"Look out!" Waiston stopped the ground, creating large glacier for defense, but it was futile as the lances shattered the glacier, and struck the members of White Eclipse B, sending them tumbling back through a door which led to who knows where.
"Nice shot, Blues!" Rocker shouted with a grin.
"Now, let's keep moving!" Yeagar nodded.
.
"How are we going to wake her up!?" Lucy asked as Fairy Tail A made their way across a rather straight platform.
"I dunno, but we're going to need to think of something fast! We need her!" Gray replied, but he immediately stopped, throwing his hands forward to create a large ice shield. "Ice Make: Shield!" Gray's timing couldn't have been any better, as a bone boomerang slammed into the shield, shattering it, but the bone returned to Daryan, who was standing on a platform along with his team, once it struck something.
"It's them…!" Wendy shouted.
"How's Titania doing, eh?" Gaia asked with a sarcastic tone.
"She'll be fine once she wakes up!" Natsu replied, puffing his cheeks out, and fired off a Fire Dragon's Roar towards Cosmic Star.
"Earth Roar…" Gaia took in a breath, then unleashing funnel of stones and other earthly debris, overpowering Natsu's roar with ease, and slammed into Fairy Tail A, causing them to skid back across the pathway.
"G-Gah…what was that?!" Natsu asked with some shock.
"Natsu-san…" Wendy started as she looked at the unconscious Erza. "I don't think we should take any risks as long as Erza-san isn't able to do anything…"
"She's right, Natsu…" Lucy nodded, reaching for her key pouch.
Magnus's smirk left his face, and he then sighed, looking over to Gaia. "Gaia…"
"I know," Gaia replied, shifting her body to the right, avoiding a Stone Dragon's Roar that came from behind her. Gaia then turned around, placing her hands on her hips with a subtle smirk. "Oh, Ev, how nice to see you again."
"How did she dodge that…!?" Evanee clenched her fist somewhat, gritting her teeth.
"They know each other…?" Lucy blinked a few times.
"I don't think that matters right about now!" Gray shouted. "Let's go!"
"Where do you think you're going?" Daryan shouted with a smirk, lowering one hand and brought it up, causing several tan magic circles to appear around Fairy Tail A. "Arise!" From the magic circles, four skeleton warriors with swords and shields surrounded Fairy Tail A. "I've been working on that, how do you like it!?"
"Nice, Daryan!" Alex said with a grin.
"I believe it's time to get a move on now," Yakuza said with a nod.
"In a second," Gaia said with a nod, staring down Evanee with a smirk on her face. "Hm, I wonder if that's all your dragon roar can really do…"
"Knock her down a peg, Evanee!" Rylo said while adjusting his top hat.
Evanee ignored Rylo, and everyone on her team for that matter, only so she could shut Gaia up. She puffed her cheeks out, and Gaia did the same, and they both unleashed their roars at the same time, the result ending with Gaia's roar overpowering Evanee's for a few seconds before Evanee entered her Stone Drive state for a few seconds, which led the two roars to explode powerfully, kicking up an immense gust of wind. "Tch!"
"Alright, I see where she stands now, let's go!" Gaia nodded, and Cosmic Star went off once again.
"Hm…" Taranis eyed Gaia somewhat before leading the team off.
"What are we going to do about these things?!" Lucy asked while panicking. Just then, a cosmic like blast of energy blew the skeletons away, and when Team A looked to see where the source of the blast came from, they saw Fairy Tail B above them. "Mira!"
"We're getting close to the end!" Cynthia shouted.
.
Sabertooth noticed the GOAL sign on a platform far away from them, but they knew that they were in the lead so far. Of course, on other platforms about the same distance away from the finish line were the other guilds, Cosmic Star, Twilight Zone, Mermaid Heel, Blue Pegasus Lamia Scale, White Eclipse A and B, Quatro Cerberus, and leading the rear was Fairy Tail A and B. "We're gonna make it! First place, just like last time!" Sting exclaimed.
"I hate to rain on your parade, Sting!" Magnus shouted from southwest of Sting, causing the white Dragon slayer to look in that direction. "But I can already tell you the placements of this! And Sabertooth won't be first!"
"That's what you'd like to think, isn't it?" Sting replied with a smirk. "I'll get you this time, just watch!" Sting puffed his cheeks out, and in the next instant, he sent a White Dragon's Roar hurtling towards Cosmic Star.
"He just doesn't learn, does he?" Alex said with a slight sigh, but to her surprise, Daryan stepped up.
"I got this!" Daryan grinned as another several foot long bone appeared in his hands, and he twirled it around, successfully deflecting the White Dragon's Roar away, much to Sting's surprise.
"What the?!" Sting's eyes widened.
"Now it's my turn!" Dayran grinned, performing yet another "arise," which brought fourth multiple skeleton warriors from the ground in front of Sabertooth.
"W-What are those?!" Yukino asked as she came to a sudden stop.
"Nothing you need to worry yourselves over, just forget them…" With a smirk, the skeletons vanished as Rufus used his Memory Make Magic to make them do so.
"Oh, no way!?" Daryan gawked at the sight of his skeleton warriors vanishing.
"Pay it no heed!" Magnus replied.
"Special delivery for Cosmic Star!" Waiston shouted from above, the platform he and White Eclipse B running on upside down, but held the same pathway to the GOAL line. Waiston unleashed an Ice Dragon's roar down towards the team, but Yakuza merely grinned.
"Oh, that's cute…the ice lizard thinks that'll work…" Yakuza merely opened his mouth, eating Waiston's roar, which replenished the magic power he used up earlier. "Oh…nice and chilly…"
"What's with these guys?!" Waiston groaned.
"Keep your head up, Waiston!" Reve shouted from northwest. "We're almost there!"
"MEN!" Ichiya shouted, realizing how far ahead they were in comparison to the other guilds. "I think it's time we unleashed our secret weapon to ensure that we enter the games!"
"Already!?" Ren asked in sort of bewilderment.
"It's not like we'll get another chance to use it! And if we don't now, we might never get into the games!" Eve replied.
"So, it's my turn then? Jenny asked with a smirk growing onto her face.
"Take it away, Jenny, Men!" Ichiya nodded.
"Of course~!" Jenny nodded and her body was then bathed in bright light, catching everyone's attention. Since Blue Pegasus was now in the lead, this light caught everyone's attention, and when it died down, Jenny was in a bathing suit, in the most seductive pose possible, which grabbed the attention of every male within who looked at it. "Ta dah~! Blue Pegasus' Jenny Realight, at your service!"
"H-HOLY…!" Waiston's nose started to bleed immensely from the sight of Jenny. "This is the second time I've seen her like this! AMAZING!"
"Waiston, get your head in the game!" Taya shouted, but Waiston was too far gone now. "Jaxon, talk some sense into him!" Taya groaned, but unfortunately for her, Jaxon too was taken in by Jenny's amazing looks.
"Is she really playing this game…?" Mirajane asked in her usual sweet tone, her head tilting to the side slightly.
"She's pretty…" Cynthia said while staring at Jenny, but her eyes were then covered by a somewhat enraged Juvia.
"Juvia thinks Cynthia-san is too young to see this…on the other hand, how dare she preform such a pose in front of GRAY-SAMA!" Juvia grit her teeth in anger, obviously wondering how Jenny would have the audacity to do such a thing to Gray, but she was missing the point that it was to slow everyone down.
"Idiots…" Kagura shook her head, as Mermaid Heel continued on their way, obviously unfazed by Jenny's now seductive movements.
Daryan was completely awe-struck by the sight of Jenny, hearts literally flowing from his eyes. "S-She's amazingly beautiful!"
"T-tch…" Magnus' nose started to run, but he covered it up. "Not surprising that Blue Pegasus has the gall to pull such a move…"
"She's a goddess…" Alex said with hearts in her eyes, now in a trance like state.
"Alex, Daryan!" Gaia thwacked the two mages upside the side, snapping them out of their little trance. "Get your heads in the game!"
"People are staring at her breasts, aren't they…" Wendy said in a sort of depressed tone, poking her fingers together.
"Let's not think about that…!" Lucy said nervously as she ushered Wendy to keep moving.
"That…is…WILD!" Blues shouted, not caring that blood was running down his nose, but to bee fair, his nose wasn't the only one running from Quatro Cerberus.
"HELL YEAH!" Bacchus nodded in agreement.
Aira looked towards the males of her own team, only surprised to see that none of their noses were bleeding. "Whoa, you guys have improved!" Aira said with an approving nod.
"She's nothing special," Reve replied as Team A started to move forward.
"I don't get what everyone's even looking at…" Tak said rather oblivious to the situation.
"Now, it's time for my paralyzing perfume!" Ichiya nodded, now having most of the guilds right where he wanted them. Ichiya took out a small tube and opened it, releasing a paralyzing odor into the air. "Ren, Eve!"
"On it, Ichiya-san!" Eve and Ren said in unison. Ren used his Air magic to divert the perfume around Blue Pegasus and down to the other mages, while Eve used his snow magic to mix with Ren's air magic, creating a paralyzing blizzard to strike down on the mages.
"Watch out!" Kuro shouted.
"I got it!" With a smirk, Jaxon finally came back to his senses and twirled his finger counterclockwise, creating multiple magic seals in the air, which turned into tornadoes that sent the blizzard away from the B team. "Tornado Alley!"
"My turn!" Aira also twirled her finger, creating a wall of wind around the A team, which protected them from the paralyzing blizzard.
"I remember…" Rufus said with a smirk as he looked at Aira's wind wall, using his Memory Make to create an exact replica of the wall, protecting Sabertooth from the blizzard. The other guilds, however, weren't so lucky, as even with their defenses, none of them could halt the paralysis form happening, so they all stopped in their tracks.
"K-Kuso…!" Natsu grit his teeth, attempting to fight through the paralysis, but to no avail, and eventually his arms gave out, and he dropped Erza. "S-SHIT!"
"ERZA!" Both Fairy Tail A and B shouted with widened eyes, unable to do anything about it.
After about ten seconds of falling, Erza's eyes shot open, and she tucked her legs in, somersaulting as a holy light bathed her body. "Kanso!" Erza then flew up into the sky, now in her Heaven's Wheel armor, now well above any guild.
"She's up!" Lucy said with a large grin.
"Erza!" Wendy said with a relieved sigh.
"Oh, look at that, Titania's up…" Magnus said, not really too surprised by it.
"Erza-chan!" Ichiya said with a gasp, attempting to give her another look, but she was ignoring the perfume mage now.
Erza held her arm up, creating a multitude of swords in the air; all aimed all the guilds excluding Fairy Tail. "Heavens Wheel!" Erza then threw her arms down, sending the swords all down.
"T-Tch…Nothing up my sleeve…!" Rylo pulled his sleeves back; a clear magic circle appearing in front of him that took in all the swords Erza sent towards Twilight Zone.
"She's using a powerful offensive maneuver to keep us on the defensive, thus allowing us not to move…not bad, Titania…" Magus said with a somewhat impressed tone as Yakuza created a large black ice structure to block the incoming swords.
"Two can play at that game, Titania!" Reve said with a smirk as he spread his arms apart, creating a multitude of guns to match the swords. "Devil's Wheel!" The guns let loose bullets at the swords, resulting in explosions that chained across the Sky Labyrinth.
"There's going at it again…" Daryan said with a smirk.
"Perfect, let us use this moment to make it across the finish line." Gaia nodded, and Cosmic Star made their way to the GOAL line.
"Reve, stop messing around, we have to make it!" Luke shouted.
"Tch, yeah, yeah…I won't let her spoil the fun…" Reve nodded, and White Eclipse A and B hurried to the finish line, Mermaid Heel, Lamia Scale, Twilight Zone, Fairy Tail A, B, Sabertooth, Quatro Cerberus, and Blue Pegasus now all making a mad dash for the GOAL sign.
"Erza, welcome back!" Laxus shouted with a somewhat small smirk.
"Sorry, I just can't stand that sight…" Erza said as she now ran alongside A team.
"We're close to making it; it's the final stretch!" Gajeel pointed out.
"Gaia, it's about that time," Magnus stated.
"I know, I haven't forgotten." Gaia nodded, and then turned her head unleashing an Earth Roar upon the unsuspecting Blue Pegasus, the attack knocking all five of them out, despite their efforts, now losing the lead they had before.
"Whoa, she took down the entire team with one attack…?" Alexander asked with a sort of surprised look.
"What is up with that one…?" Flynn asked.
"Doesn't matter, just keep moving, we're almost there." Evanee ordered.
"To your left," Magnus ordered.
"A and B are no fun, split the chance with everyone~" Gaia sung to herself as she unleashed another Earth Roar towards White Eclipse B.
"Whoa, Taya, look out!" Cygnus shouted.
"What? They aimed at us!?" Taya shouted, completely in shock as the Earth Roar slammed into the B team, leaving them on the ground, heavily damaged.
"Shit, she took out our B team!" Reve growled.
"Ha! That complicates everything, doesn't it, you assholes!" Gray smirked.
"Oh, I'm not done just yet…!" Gaia then slammed her hands on the ground, creating sharp stalagmites that popped from the ground, nearly skewering the members who were in the lead, but they all managed to slide to a stop fast enough.
"What is this, a game!?" Sting shouted in annoyance.
"I have you all just where I want you…" Gaia grinned, turning to Fairy Tail B, the most unsuspecting Team since they were in 5th place right about now. "Earth Roar…" Gaia unleashed another Earth Roar, this time upon Fairy Tail B.
"Look out!" Cynthia shouted.
"Gah, shit!" Gajeel attempted to cover himself in his iron scales, but it was too late, and the attack slammed into them, not knocking them out, but leaving them heavily damaged; right after that, the stalagmites vanished, now leaving Mermaid Heel, Sabertooth, Fairy Tail and White Eclipse A, Quatro Cerberus, Lamia Scale, Twlight Zone, and Cosmic Star, along with a recovering Blue Pegasus, all of which made a mad dash for the GOAL line, but Cosmic Star was the first to cross.
"Cosmic Star is in first-kabo!" Mato said with a nod.
"Do we cover for them!?" Aira asked.
"C-Cynthia…"! Wendy's eyes widened, but she knew in the end she would be okay, so she continued running alongside Fairy Tail A.
"We don't have time…" Reve replied, gritting his teeth. He now understood why Gaia attacked when she did; it left neither White Eclipse nor Fairy Tail enough time to buy time for their secondary teams. With little time to spar, White Eclipse A slid across the GOAL line, making second place.
"Second place!" Cygnus let out a sigh.
"We're too far behind; the guys limping are going to beat us…" Taranis said while looking at Blue Pegasus, who happened to be making good time despite their injuries.
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Flynn said with a smirk as a magic circle appeared under the feet of Twilight Zone. "Mach 3!" The magic circle pulsated for a second, and then increased the speed of team Twilight Zone, sending them speeding past Blue Pegasus, and everyone else, landing third place.
"Whew, nice one, Flynn!" Rylo let out a sigh of relief and high fived the speed mage.
"Give a little warning next time you do something like that…" Evanee said with a slight groan; Flynn's sudden burst caused her motion sickness to act up, but she fought through it.
Just then, Fairy Tail slid into fourth place, higher than last year, but lower than they were expecting. "We made it…" Lucy let out a sigh. Following Fairy Tail, Quatro Cerberus made their way into fifth, Lamia Scale sixth, Sabertooth surprising seventh, and Mermaid Heel brought up the rear, making eight place, just barely beating Blue Pegasus.
"S-Shit…we didn't make it in…" Taya said with an agitated groan, glaring at Gaia from her current position as she and the rest of White Eclipse B stood up slowly.
"That's going to put a damper in things…" Jaxon said while holding his head.
"D-Dammit…that stupid…" Gajeel groaned somewhat as he sat up, rubbing his head.
"Tch, just when we thought we were gonna make it…" Laxus scowled at Cosmic Star, refusing to admit their timing was perfect for what they did.