Chapter 30 - Closer To Victory
Grand Magic Games Arena
Just shortly before Jellal was spotted by Doranbolt, the final round of today was announced to be between Elfman Strauss and Nullpudding. Seeing how Wendy was forced into a draw against Sherria Blendy from Lamia Scale. Elfman wanted to avenge his younger guild mate by winning the battle against Nullpudding and simultaneously beating Ivan. However, Elfman wasn't entirely aware of how low Ivan and his guild would go to win.
Like many others in his guild, Elfman is the type who would be tripped up by someone who plays dirty.
Then again, it didn't matter if Nullpudding had to play dirty during the fight. Raven Tail as a whole would work together from the backstage to make their side win. Overall, the main goal in entering this competition wasn't to win and earn a massive amount of money.
"Oh yeah! I'm a man and only a real man is gonna win this!" Elfman yelled.
As Elfman yelled this, Evergreen had the desire to smack Elfman for yelling about being a man. The woman was starting to look like she was enjoying hitting Elfman. Perhaps the woman is a tsundere and she became closer to him in recent date. Still, nothing was stopping Elfman from showing his pride and confidence in winning for his guild.
"Show me what you got, you purple faced weirdo!" Elfman yelled as he pointed at Nullpudding.
Nullpudding laughed in response, "You're quite arrogant, it sounds like Fairy Tail is always going to boast about their pride before they do anything. Maybe that's why you fools always create a mess." he said, mocking Elfman.
"Shut up! I'll show you why my guild is number one!" Elfman exclaimed.
This got Fairy Tail as a whole to cheer for Elfman along with a lot of people in the crowd who just like his energy. Nullpudding continued to laugh as he saw this as an easy victory as he was prepared to use his a trump card. Funny enough, Elfman also had one but would only use it if he got really desperate. Unknown to either competitors, both carry class cards and the crowd would witness a mock battle between legendary figures that have been long forgotten.
However, this wasn't the only battle that was occuring.
Elsewhere
Dressed as Alexei, Ivan had followed his son and set up a barrier to corner Laxus. Laxus immediately raised his guard as he thought such magic was very suspicious in a public setting. That's when he saw "Alexei" approach him, confirming Laxus' suspicions but he wouldn't raise his fists just yet. Even though Laxus had plenty of reason to do so when Ivan revealed himself under the helmet. Meanwhile, everyone was focused on the illusion that looked like Ivan to draw suspicion away from "Alexei".
"Hello Laxus-chan." Ivan greeted, as if they were long time friends.
"What the hell are you doing here, Ivan?" Laxus asked.
"What's with the rude attitude? I thought I raised you better." Ivan asked, sounding like he was mocking Laxus.
"You barely raised me at all and left me with the old man. I became bitter and angry because of the wrong reasons after that." Laxus replied, but Ivan didn't seem to care.
Ivan was aware of Laxus' attempt at taking over Fairy Tail and nearly destroying Magnolia Town as a result. It was thanks to having a spy inside of his former guild. That spy is Gajeel and it only made sense considering the man was essentially homeless after Phantom Lord was shut down and Makarov offered him a spot in the guild. Sadly for him, Gajeel was a double agent and just reported back whatever Ivan told him straight to Makarov. Still, Ivan did find it funny that his own son nearly destroyed his father's guild.
"And looking at it right now, unless you're playing dress up or you have a twin brother I don't know about. You're breaking a rule by playing in the games when you're a guild master." Laxus said.
Ivan ignored his statement, "Rules are just limiters that we don't need. Besides, the money is nice but unfortunately, it's not my main priority." Ivan said, not even denying his greed or lack of honor. "Don't think I'm a bad guy, Laxus-chan. I really wanted to see because I need something from you." he said.
Laxus' opinion of his father wouldn't go up even the slightest as that statement already sounded like a contradiction. A normal deadbeat father would usually say that when they want something like money or a selfish request. Seeing as Laxus had yet to find a way out, he was forced to listen to Ivan.
"There's something your grandfather is hiding. That and another thing I need from you, but I'll get to it later." Ivan said. "I need to know about the Histoire Lumen, my dear old dad's secret. You can tell me where I can get it right?" he asked.
"I don't know what the hell that is." Laxus said, confusing Ivan.
"Don't be messing with me, son. You're the grandson of the guild master, the old man must have told you about it." Ivan said, thinking Makarov revealed his secrets.
"Like I said, I don't know anything about that thing you just said. Besides, it's not like I would tell you anything and as far I know, you probably don't know either." Laxus said, calling out his father.
This deadbeat is someone to be trusted let alone someone Laxus should listen to. As far as Laxus knows, "Lumen Histoire" could be a brand of ale or even the name of a sorority in a magic academy. Thinking about it, Laxus can imagine both being a secret if it refers to an embarrassing moment in Makarov's youth.
"I don't like your tone Laxus. Sometimes the behavior of one delinquent can affect others." Ivan said as he looked over his shoulder and towards the arena.
With the fighters
Elfman was having a hard time with Nullpudding who continued to dodge most of his attacks. It didn't help that the purple skinned mage was hardening his arms with his Needle Magic. The ability worked as both a defense and offense which really got on Elfman's nerves sometimes. Still, the Strauss had a good chance as his own magic made him more versatile.
"Are you dumb and slow, fairy?" Nullpudding asked in a mocking tone.
"Beast Soul: Iron Bull!" Elfman yelled as he punched the ground where Nullpudding once stood. "If I'm dumb and slow, what do I call someone who's full of himself and scared to take a hit?" he asked.
Nullpudding didn't respond as he kept his smirk in place. He didn't feel like responding to Elfman's words.
"I'll tell you what they aren't. A real man!" Elfman yelled as he dashed at Nullpudding.
"Too slow!" Nullpudding yelled as he jumped over Elfman. "You're too proud, fairy." he said as he tried to slam his massive fist over Elfman's head.
"Beast Soul: Weretiger!" Elfman yelled as he transformed into a humanoid shaped tiger.
Now it was Nullpudding's turn to miss as Elfman moved out of the way in time. In this form, Elfman was a lot more quick and used this chance to claw at Nullpudding's exposed torso. Elfman quickly clawed at Nullpudding before the purple man could use his Needle magic to shield himself. When he did, Elfman didn't give him a chance to recover as he changed forms again.
"Beast Soul: Ifrit!" Elfman yelled as he revealed another new form.
Nullpudding increased the amount of spikes on his body to better prepare his defense. Only to stand shocked as Elfman towered over him as a massive amount of fire surrounded him. The male Strauss now had a form that could rival his sister's Satan Soul in terms of scary appearance.
Nullpudding raised up his arms as he jumped away. At that moment, Elfman let out a roar as he rushed straight towards Nullpudding like a fire coated missile. The purple man tried to avoid the strike but was caught and sent crashing into the wall in a ball of fire. The resulting crash made Nullpudding cough up some blood. He tried to stand up quickly but was sent crashing back down with a double ax handle attack by Elfman. From there, Elfman flipped Nullpudding onto his back and stepped on it.
"Give up!" Elfman commanded as he didn't want to go further.
He may have greater control over a full Take Over, but he didn't want to risk killing a man as Ifrit is his strongest form now. It was thanks to his training and some help from Ventus who loaned him Ifrit to train with. However, he knew that the Esper was strong enough to kill someone without caution.
Nullpudding wasn't the type to spare someone like Elfman, "I should tell you that, but where would the fun be." he said as he pulled out a card.
"That looks familiar, where did you get that?" Elfman asked before Nullpudding activated his class card.
As Nullpudding transformed, a large magical barrier appeared over the arena. However, it wasn't made to keep the fighters in but to keep the spectators unaware of the situation. As they were being shown an illusion of Elfman and Nullpudding fighting on even terms. Unaware that Nullpudding had transformed to even the odds with Elfman.
Elfman then witnessed Nullpudding looking a bit more taler and muscular. Only now his outfit changed as he was wearing some kind of skinned ram or some creature on his head. Elfman decided to take his opponent's new appearance with caution since he didn't want to assume that Nullpudding just made himself look weird. However, while the difficulty in the battle had increased, it wasn't from Nullpudding alone.
Elfman noticed that he was surrounded by three other members of Raven Tail. All of them activated their own class cards and had appearances ranging from having greater armor to transforming into monsters.
"For someone who comes from a guild that talks about family, friendship and other crap. Here you are all alone while everyone watches." Kurohebi said, now looking like a snake monster.
"Muscles is alone and no one is coming for him." Flare said, further taunting Elfman.
Elfman scoffed, "I'm alone, but it doesn't take a team to beat a bunch of thugs. I can handle you jerks by myself, like a real man!" he yelled as Ifrit's flames came to life.
Outside
Lucy started feeling a lot of tension in her body. She could see that Elfman was struggling to fight Nullpudding, but it felt like she was watching a repetitive battle. It didn't make sense as Elfman's new form as Ifrit made him a lot stronger and Nullpudding doesn't appear to have a good defense against his flames. At the same time, it felt like she was watching a literal glitch.
Lucy didn't want to assume that she was feeling annoyed that the battle isn't already over. Natsu was the type to get annoyed about a prolonged fight, but this felt different. Like this was suddenly scripted like a film and Lucy decided to check on something.
"Hey Luce, you okay?" Natsu asked as he saw her extend her hand.
"Something feels weird, I just want to check something." Lucy said.
"Hopefully it's interesting, Elfman was winning but now they're trading punches like the most boring boxing match in the world." Natsu said, confirming Lucy's thoughts. "Seriously, I can feel the heat from Elfman, but he's barely using any flames." he added.
Lucy narrowed her eyes as Natsu's analysis further confirmed her suspicions, "Magic Cancel." She said.
"Lucy, no! You'll get us disqualified!" Gray yelled as he saw her use magic.
"We probably wouldn't if you learned to shut up, idiot!" Natsu yelled.
However, while Gray and even Erza thought Lucy did something reckless by interfering. They saw the barrier that was placed over the arena as it broke apart like burning paper. At that moment, everyone in the arena witnessed Elfman fighting all four Raven Tail members along with moderate difficulty.
"What the hell?" Gray asked.
"I knew something was up!" Natsu yelled.
"Someone call the referee! This has to be illegal!" Wendy yelled.
"Yeah, where's the Ref?" Gray asked.
Apparently no referee, official or even Mato himself decided to stop the illegal fight. The only thing they received was further commentary from Chapati Lola.
"Unbelievable! Almost every member of Raven Tail is at the arena! Was this an illusion all along!? Will Elfman Strauss be able to handle not just one, but four members of Raven Tail!? Is this even legal!?" Lola shouted.
"It's not, that's why we're calling for a referee!" Gray responded but was ignored.
"We have to do something! This is not legal or fair for Elfman!" Erza exclaimed.
Lucy groaned, "Knowing us, if we don't get in trouble for me breaking the illusion barrier. We're gonna be in trouble for interfering." she said, feeling like Fairy Tail will still be discriminated. "Still, there has to be something we can do." she said as she looked around.
However, that's when Lucy was approached by Kato Danzo who revealed herself from behind Lucy. The Assassin quickly whispered something into the Holy Maiden's ear that made her feel shocked.
"Erza, I need you to follow me. I might need your help. The rest of you guys stay here and hopefully the referee finally arrives." Lucy said as she ran off with the Titania.
"I think the prophecy of Gray marrying Juvia will happen before that happens." Natsu said.
"While that insult annoys me, I feel like it might take longer." Gray said as he couldn't find any officials anywhere. "Seriously, I'll probably be a grandpa before someone shows up. What is this crap?" He asked before witnessing another explosion.
"That's it, you guys pushed me to the limits!" Elfman yelled.
"Why does Elfman sound angry?" Wendy asked nervously.
"I was being a man, but now I'm gonna be a legend!" Elfman yelled before he was surrounded by a flash of light.
"Is that another Take Over?" Gray asked.
"I think its one of Ven's Class Cards!" Natsu exclaimed.
When the transformation ended, Charle was the first one to witness Elfman's new appearance. She looked at the man in awe as he now stood over the four cheating dark mages. As there was no yet to intervene, Charle had this to say:
"The valiant warrior who pummeled both the Nemean Lion and Cerberus, the Hound of Hades, into submission." Charle whispered.
"What was that?" Gray asked.
"Hey, I remember this one." Natsu said, remembering this class card.
Charle continued her monologue, "He was the demi-god who completed the 12 labors. He is the envoy of justice who shines light upon all of heaven and earth." She said.
Wendy started recognizing who Charle was referring to, "Wait, are you telling me that Elfman transformed into…"
Her words were cut off as Elfman slammed his club hard against the ground. Causing the entire stadium to shake as a result of the attack. Making even Raven Tail nervous as he prepared to finish them off.
"Heracles!" Wendy exclaimed.
With Laxus
Laxus quickly swung at Ivan and missed, punching a hole in the wall as a result.
"You're a freaking scumbag! You want me to give you some crap I don't know about and you're going to have Elfman killed off?" he asked.
"That's the price of business, Laxus-chan. You're just too immature to understand this." Ivan said with a smug look.
"I'll show you my business!" Laxus yelled as he charged up electricity in his body.
Just as Laxus was ready to beat his father to near death. The barrier around him started to fall apart like the one in the arena. That's when Laxus noticed that Lucy and Erza had found them.
"Kato was right." Lucy said.
"Ivan!" Erza exclaimed as she drew her sword. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"He wants something only the old man wants and he's set up Elfman to be killed if I don't tell him anything." Laxus said.
"Damn it, if only there was a referee!" Erza yelled.
"Actually, I should just order an Assassin to beat those guys up." Lucy said.
"…please do so." Erza said after a quick pause.
"There, no wait. Hm… I'm being told that Elfman is handling this well." Lucy said after having a mental conversation with Kato Danzo.
Followed by hearing a monstrous roar in the form of Elfman embracing the wrath of Heracles. Along with the sounds of someone screaming in pain as the stadium begins to shake.
"I guess he has the power of Heracles." Lucy said.
Ivan suddenly felt cornered, he didn't expect things to go south but he wasn't very intelligent. His only saving grace are his underhanded tactics and tricks and looks like Elfman is probably beating the crap out of Nullpudding and everyone else. Still, he had one final trick but he wasn't sure if he could use it to defeat all three Fairy Tail wizards as his son and Erza were dangerous foes and he already heard a lot about Lucy.
Perhaps if he was facing only one at a time, that would be a different story. Taking action before he could be defeated, he activated the class card that he obtained from the mystery dealer. Unaware that his own guild were given cheap cards that only made them slightly stronger instead of having immense power. Ivan got the worst of it as his transformed him into a monstrous creature but with greater strength.
"You should have listened to me while you had the chance, Laxus-chan! Hey, what happened to my voice!?" Ivan asked as his voice sounded higher and scratchy.
Lucy and Erza looked bug eyed at Ivan's new form while Laxus just looked disappointed. Laxus really felt stupid as he had used his father as an excuse for lashing out against Makarov. Standing in front of the fairies was a ten foot tall muscular crap with two large man legs wearing white underwear.
"What the? What kind of power is this?" Ivan asked as he tried controlling his pinchers. "No matter, you won't catch me now!" he yelled as he rushed at the group.
"Create Water!" Lucy shouted as she splashed Ivan with lots of water.
"Requip: Gourmet Chef!" Erza shouted as she was suddenly wearing a chef's hat and held a spatula and knife in her hands.
"I'm out." Laxus said as he left the area.
Laxus decided to give the news to his grandfather about the confrontation with Ivan. Hopefully the knights will deal with Ivan, assuming Erza doesn't cook him and eat him. At the same time, he saw Elfman finishing up his fight.
"No, I'm Dirty Dan!" Elfman yelled as he threw Nullpudding at Orba and Kurohebi.
Laxus could see Flare slowly trying to walk away only for Elfman to grab her by the hair. Where he witnessed Elfman display great skills in knot tying to the crowd before just wrapping up Flare in her own hair.
"The winner is Elfman Strauss of Fairy Tail Team B!" Lola announced as the crowd cheered. "I am also being notified that Raven Tail is now disqualified and security is on their way." He said.
Later
Unfortunately for Ivan, the class card was stuck and even Lucy had difficulty trying to nullify the faulty card. Makarov's son would have to deal with being taken to prison in the form of a lobster hybrid. Although with a lot of cracks and missing piece of a shell as Erza did consider eating him.
"That man was rotten on the inside as well." Erza said as she drinking bottles of mouth wash.
"Erza, you weren't supposed to eat him." Lucy said.
"You were boiling him, so I only had one assumption of what to do." Erza said, seeing that she did nothing wrong.
"It was to hurt him and you decided to bust out the butter." Lucy said as Erza looked away.
"Lucy, if you cannot respect the fact that I do not waste kitchen ingredients then we cannot be friends." Erza said, making Lucy groan.
As Raven Tail was taken away to prison and Laxus explained the topic of Histoire Lumen. Lucy was approached by Sherlock Holmes who decided to bring up the incident with Doranbolt.
"Our blue haired colleague was almost caught had former councilman Yajima not came in." Sherlock whispered.
"What? How did this happen?" Lucy asked.
"I will elaborate in a more disclosed location." the detective answered.
As Fairy Tail prepared to leave the stadium. Millianna could be seen watching Erza from the background as she also spotted Jellal earlier. The cat girl narrowed her eyes at Erza, feeling suspicious of her childhood friend and of the fact that her former friend was walking around in public than sitting in a prison cell.
The next day
Raven Tail was officially removed from the Grand Magic Games, leaving the remaining seven teams to continue the games. As the competition is halfway over, everyone was still doing their best to fight for first place. Now, the fourth day of the Grand Magic Games will begin with yet another unique challenge involving a sphere of floating water at the center of the arena.
Luckily for Fairy Tail Team B, they had Juvia volunteer before the challenge was announced. Juvia would be fighting in her own element against Lucy, Jenny, Risley, Sherria, Rocker and Minerva who had just replaced Yukino.
"Okay ladies and gent, the rules are simple. You will all be fighting to knock each other out of the water dome and as you can already guess. The last lady standing will win, cabo." Mato explained.
"Hey, I'm still here!" Rocker exclaimed but everyone ignored him.
Not only because no one was taking Quatro Puppy seriously, but Rocker is a guy. Without him, this challenge would have been solely young girls in bikinis. Which feels like another display of fan service for the crowd. Regardless, this strange mix of swimming and sumo had an extra challenge to further motivate everyone.
"Another detail, there will be an added timer but don't worry. This timer will only appear for the final two competitors and it will last for five minutes, cabo." Mato explained as he presented a chart. "The timer will go off for five minutes, should one of the final two be kicked out before hitting 0. They will be penalized with the least points, cabo." He said.
"So in other words, second place could mean last place." Risley said.
"Exactly, so you might wanna hang on, cabo!" Mato explained as the sphere of water was formed.
And with that, the ladies rushed to put on their swimsuits which made every man in the stadium have a nosebleed as they caught sight of the beautiful bodies of the ladies. Some felt like vomiting when they saw Rocker wearing a speedo. The last thing any of them wanted to see was an old guy exposing most of his body.
Regardless, Rocker was a competitor too and he wanted to fight for a chance to restore honor to his guild. However, he lost any chance of obtaining points for his guild as he was the first one to be kicked out.
"Hey this isn't fair!" Rocker yelled as he literally kicked out of the sphere and landed on his head.
"Once again, Quatro Puppy lets everyone down." Lola announced.
By this point, Goldmine was likely going to have a stroke with how bad his own team is doing. Makarov's old friend is just having a bad time this year. Then again, Rocker at least has a chance to avoid last place depending on how long the battle between the final two is.
Then there are those who are trying to get creative in trying to win this challenge.
"Mordred, I could use both you and your surfboard." Lucy said as she summoned Mordred in her Rider form.
"Woah, I never expected to use my summer form." Mordred said before grabbing Lucy. "Hang on Luce, swimming is one thing but riding the water is a whole other world." she said before surfing around the sphere.
As Mordred moved around, she started shooting air bubbles at the other competitors. As she made rapid runs with quick pot shots at her foes. Jenny and Risley quickly found themselves to be the first ladies eliminated in this match. Although that didn't stop Mordred who was having too much fun.
"Out of my way you pale skinned anorexics!" Mordred yelled out.
"Can we please tone down the insults?" Lucy asked.
"Nope!" Mordred answered. "Hey water lady, why don't you get a tan?" She asked as she almost hit Juvia.
Juvia glared at Mordred, "My skin is the perfect shade! Water Vortex!" she yelled as she started pulling Mordred back.
"Ah oh! I think you were right about me needing to tone down the trash talk!" Mordred told Lucy.
As Mordred struggled to hang on in the water sphere. Sherria was caught in Juvia's attack, resulting in her also being ejected next. Somehow, Minerva managed to hang on with nothing more than a look of disinterest on her face. She just watched as Lucy and Mordred were trying to fight against Juvia's Water cyclone.
"Luce, we need back up!" Mordred said.
Lucy decided to summon Saber Gareth, "Hi big sister!" she said to Mordred.
"Why the butt kisser?" Mordred asked.
"You two look like you need help." Gareth said before raising a sword at Juvia. "Leave my big sister alone, kyah" she yelled as she charged at Juvia.
Juvia put more pressure into her attack which resulted in a small explosion as Gareth's sword was coated in fire. Juvia barely managed to hang on but the kick back caused Gareth to recoil and hit Mordred. With both knights of Camelot crashing into the ground and Gareth being on top of Mordred.
"I screwed up, I'm sorry big sister." Gareth said.
"Gareth, get off of me." Mordred said as she gritted her teeth.
As for Lucy, she had passively summoned Aries and Virgo where they also appeared to be wearing bikinis as well. Aries seemed to be doing a good job of using her magic to absorb the water and Virgo may have been trying to keep Lucy in place but all three girls were in awkward position that looked quite sexualized.
"I'm sorry Juvia, but I gotta end this with Medusa!" Lucy said as she summoned a jellyfish. "I said Medusa, not Medusozoa! Where did that even come from?" She asked.
Aries squirmed, "Get it away! Jellyfish are like the hornets of the sea!" she said.
"Indeed, there are some jellyfish that are capable of killing humans and with how modern magic works. That jellyfish could no less dangerous than a tiger shark." Virgo said, making Aries scream in terror as it moved past her head.
"Virgo! Stop scaring Aries!" Lucy commanded.
"If I don't stop, will I be punished?" Virgo asked.
"Now is not the time!" Lucy exclaimed.
As this whole craziness continued, Juvia didn't pay attention to the jellyfish as it moved behind her. Resulting in Juvia taking a heavy amount of electricity to her body. The jellyfish appeared to be quite overpowered as it's electrical shock caused Juvia to fly out of the water sphere.
"Wow, that jellyfish is dangerous." Lucy said with a shocked face.
"Get it away! Get it away! Get it away!" Aries pleaded as Lucy managed to make it disappear.
By this point, the five minute timer that Mato has already mentioned had appeared. That was Minerva's signal to start fighting but while she had the power to backup her arrogance. Minerva would already begin to look down on Lucy just as the girl had withdrawn her two Celestial Spirits.
"Try and endure this, fairy." Minerva said as she extended her hand.
Lucy noticed a small flashing portal appearing behind her. Lucy slowly raised up her hand and locked herself inside of a Perfect Cube. Lucy then watched a blinding flash of light hit her barrier and making it rapidly shake around. Lucy did her best to make sure her Perfect Cube stayed in place and not drift out of the sphere by the time the attack had ended.
"What was that? Some kind of fire magic?" Lucy asked as she lowered her barrier.
Minerva looked slightly irked by that attack failing. Minerva was not going to be discouraged by a small failure and a competent opponent. However, she was quite angry as she proceeded to use the same spell over and over again. Lucy did her best to keep her barriers up as she could feel that Minerva was getting more intense with each attack.
"Why won't you just just give up already!?" Minerva angrily yelled.
"I'm not letting my guild down!" Lucy replied as Minerva continued to attack.
"You idiot, don't you realize pathetic your little guild is? Sabertooth is the greatest guild beneath the heavens!" Minerva yelled as she sounded more deranged.
Lucy just gave Minerva a blank look, "Lady, you have issues and I've seen Erza go a week without her cake." she said.
Nobody wants to remember how how crazy Erza went that week. She behaved like a feral animal that was forced to go through isolation and physical abuse. Only here, Erza didn't have the crazy look in Minerva's eyes and it didn't help that she was wearing a lot of makeup that somehow managed to avoid washing away.
Lucy had enough of hearing Minerva's ramblings as she could sense her dark self flickering in and out. Lucy wasn't sure if she was feeling really irritable lately or if Minerva is just that rude and narcissistic.
"And what kind of guild allows kids to enter!? Sabertooth would never allow it because it's a respectable guild, not some run down orphanage for brats!" Minerva screamed.
And now Dark Lucy had motivation to come out, but it wasn't the silly sadistic one. Rather, for the first time in seven years, Dark Lucy Stage 2 appeared and rushed at Minerva who blasted her in the face with her magic.
"There, I won! Sabertooth stands above… ACK!" Minerva screamed as Dark Lucy punched Minerva in the throat.
"Have you taken a punch before? It almost hurts as much your shrill voice." Dark Lucy said in an emotionless tone. Minerva quickly tried to kick Lucy who quickly elbowed her knee, "You lost the moment you let your emotions take over." Dark Lucy whispered before ramming her fist into Minerva's gut.
"Stop it!" Minerva yelled as she shot at Dark Lucy from behind.
Either Lucy's dark form had great durability or she was apathetic towards pain. As Dark Lucy proceeded to grapple onto Minerva as her magic started burning the both of them. Two minutes were left in the clock as Minerva struggled to break free of Lucy's grip. As Minerva tried to break free from Dark Lucy's strong grip while yelling insults about the guild. Dark Lucy proceeded to twist Minerva's limbs in uncomfortable positions.
With less than a minute left in the penalty clock. Minerva came crashing onto the ground, but now she looked like a pretzel.
"I wonder how many gentlemen like flexible ladies. Either way, Minerva is eliminated and right before the clock. Sabertooth is now in last place with no points." Lola announced.
By the time the water sphere had come down, Dark Lucy was still active as Fairy Tail came to meet her. Along with Sabertooth who ran to help untangle Minerva and get angry at the fairies for humiliating them. It probably doesn't help that despite being eliminated right away, Rocker still earned a couple of points for his own guild.
"Good job, Lucy." Erza said, congratulating her teammate.
"Aye, we're gonna beat these Sabertooth jerks thanks to Evil Lucy." Happy said, earning an emotionless stare from Dark Lucy. "Um, I mean… Super Cool Lucy!" he said, fearing Lucy's darker half.
As the team congratulated Lucy, Sting could be seen marching towards Fairy Tail. He felt that Lucy had purposely shamed Minerva and thereby shaming his guild in front of the public. The young Dragon Slayer already had his ego crushed when Natsu kicked his ass the other night and now he wanted to start something despite Lector trying to calm him down.
"Sting-kun, we can't do this here. The games aren't over yet, we can still turn this around." Lector said, trying to sound reasonable.
"Move Lector, I'm putting my foot down. These fairies have had things going their way for too long." Sting said as he brushed past his exceed. "You Fairy Tail losers think just because you're actually gaining some points, you're special? Well you're not! You're just a bunch of idiots that think with their fists!" He exclaimed.
"And the pot calls the kettle black." Gray said.
Even if Sting and Rogue are one of the strongest members of the Sabertooth guild. Gray doubts that they, or at least Sting, isn't any more mature than Natsu. Just looking at Minerva, some of the competing wizards probably think she's a psychopath from a guild full of crazy people.
"Well look, you think you're so great after doing that to Minerva?" Sting asked as he pointed at Minerva's injured body.
"Your leader instigated a fight, became angry when things did not go her way and I had to humble her. Go sulk elsewhere." Dark Lucy said, not caring for Sting's outcry.
"Evil or not, Lucy has a point. Your teammate was in over her head. So you have no right to get angry over losing." Erza said.
"Why you!" Sting yelled.
Then Mato appeared, acting like he was the assigned referee, "Okay, okay, break it up. Ease it with the tensions, cabo." Mato said.
Sting wanted to refuse but Lucy looked directly into her his eyes. The golden eyes that signaled the presence of Lucy's darker half bore into Sting's mind. As mentioned earlier, Dark Lucy's early stage was more playful and sadistic, but her second stage had no time for games and would only break anyone who she loathed. As if she Mystic Eyes, Sting felt like he was witnessing his worst nightmares as he looked into the golden orbs.
Forcing Sting to turn around, "Fine, but this isn't over." He said.
"Yeah, you guys are lucky Minerva lost her balance is all!" Lector said before following his partner.
Natsu scoffed, "What a sore loser. It's a good thing Evil Lucy is on our side, right?" he asked.
At that moment, Dark Lucy was released and allowed her true self to return. Unfortunately, she ended up taking up too much energy and this resulted in Lucy losing consciousness. Luckily, Natsu caught her in his arms and started lifting her up.
"Thinking about it, that must be the first time Lucy got into a real fight with someone without help. I guess she must be sleepy or something." Natsu said.
"Or she's super lazy, like always." Happy said, trying to make fun of Lucy.
"Lucy does have fairly good combat ability, but she was fighting someone who lacked a good physique." Erza said before the group returned to their spot.
Where they would soon be given some news that would come out as unfair.
Moments Before Round 2
The second round would be different this time as instead of the standard one on one duels. Mato announced that the wizards would be in a series of tag team battles. In all honesty, it was a major contradiction as the mascot referred to the incoming fights as tag team when he said the fights will be two on two rather than taking turns to be one on one.
But that was the least of Fairy Tails's worries.
"What? They're disqualifying us!?" Natsu angrily asked.
Erza sighed, "No, they are just reducing us to one team. Apparently, the odd number of teams would make it impossible for every team to have a turn in the next round." she explained.
"That's not fair, Raven Tail gets exposed and we're the ones that lose a team?" Gray asked.
"I understand your point Gray, but there's nothing we can do. The only upside is we managed to find a loophole so we could keep Team A's points as they wanted us to gain less." Erza said.
By this point, it almost sounded like Fairy Tail was being handicapped. The removal of one team is one thing as it would be harder to argue if the seven remaining teams were actually from seven different guilds. However, Fairy Tail being left with the score of the team with less points just sounded unfair.
"I'm starting to think that this place has something against us." Natsu said as he crossed his arms.
"Aye, it's one thing with other guilds and the council, but this place is supposed to be fair." Happy said in agreement.
"I know, but we cannot fight the rules. For now, we are have to remake the two teams into a group of five plus an alternate." Erza said.
"So that means we can choose who gets to stay. That's perfect!" Wendy said.
"It would have been perfect the way it was before, Wendy." Charle said.
"Whatever is happening, I'm definitely staying on the team. Even if I have to be paired up with this idiot." Gray said while gesturing to Natsu.
Natsu decided to hold his tongue despite wanting to insult Gray and beat him up. He didn't want to interrupt Erza as she was trying to think of a good team layout. It needed to have a good balance of strength and intelligence in order to properly prepare for whatever will happen for the remainder of today and tomorrow.
"Then we should consider this lineup." Erza said as she started drawing something up.
Everyone was forced to quietly wait for an hour as Erza decided to add literal drawings of cute things with the chart she created. Every time someone tried to speak up, Erza would shush them as she had the inspiration of an artist. Luckily or unluckily, Erza had only slightly more skill than Mirajane who had the artistic skills of an elementary schooler.
"And this who we will send!" Erza said proudly.
"Why did you draw that girl with the crazy hair magic?" Gray asked as he squinted his eyes.
"That's me! Can't you see my armor?" Erza asked.
"It looks like a tin can." Natsu pointed out as Erza felt both angry and depressed.
Clearly, Erza could not handle any form of criticism regarding her artistic skills or lack thereof.
Outside, Round 2
The tag team battles were really entertaining for the crowd as they saw the unique characters in each guild interacting with each other. Rocker and Bacchus both looked like they were sure for an easy win against Ichiya and a mystery mascot. However, the mystery mascot revealed himself to be the exceed captain, Nichiya, from Edolas. Unfortunately, Nichiya must have forgotten that he was weak as he was defeated with minimal difficulty.
That's when Ichiya sprayed himself with a perfume that made him muscular and powerful. Somehow, Bacchus and Rocker weren't strong enough to defeat Ichiya. Perhaps the committee would add steroids to the list of prohibited items for the next year of the games.
After Blue Pegasus had won, Tobi and Yuka represented Lamia Scale and surprisingly ended their battle in a stalemate against Mermaid Heel. Which was quite surprising as the team had Kagura who was already a seemingly powerful wizard. Then again, so was Bacchus so this year has been a bit disappointing. However, Kagura wasn't joking around like Bacchus so it was hard to tell as the fight didn't looked staged or anything.
"And with that surprising result over, we can now move onto Fairy Tail and Sabertooth. I hope you're all excited because we will be having rival Dragon Slayers fighting against each other! The third and final battle of the day will be between Sting Euclliffe and Rogue Cheney versus Natasu Dragneel and Gajeel Redfox! " Lola announced.
"Oh do I enjoy seeing Fairy Tail, they are such a good guild as they helped save my career!" the guest commentator, Rabian, had said with happiness.
"Did they? I know Fairy Tail has some good people with good hearts, but aren't they a bit destructive?" Lola asked.
"Yes they are, it's because of their nature. My theatre had become more famous!" Rabian answered.
"Well I'm sure it was an amazing sight to see. Hopefully today's battle will be as amazing as their theatre performance if you say it's good." Lola said before announcing names.
Gajeel and Natsu made their way towards the center where they saw Sting and Rogue across from them. By the time Lola finished his conversation regarding the time Natsu's team accidentally destroyed Rabian's theater. They were given the signal to begin.
"Remember the strategy?" Natsu asked.
"Yeah, don't piss off your mate." Gajeel said.
"That's not the plan." Natsu said.
"It's 80% of the plan." Gajeel countered.
Flashback, right before the fight
Lucy had just woken up and heard about the new rule changes. Just after hearing that Erza added Natsu and Gajeel to the roster. Dark Lucy decided to appear again, but it was her second stage and decided to get her point across to the boys. So she summoned Carmela and pulled out a large squash.
"Natsu, Gajeel, before you think about getting angry at each other. Imagine yourselves as this squash." Lucy said as she calmly presented the squash.
"Why do I gotta imagine that I'm a fruit?" Gajeel asked.
Lucy responded by throwing the squash inside of the Iron Maiden that Carmela carried on her back. Carmela quickly slammed the Iron Maiden shut and the two dragon slayers watched as the juices of the squash came out from the bottom. It was safe to say that the visual presentation was enough of an explanation of what Dark Lucy expects from them.
"A waste of fruit." Gajeel whispered as he looked scared.
"A waste of life on your parts." Dark Lucy said.
End of flashback
The two could see Dark Lucy despite not facing her. Those golden eyes were boring into them and they were too afraid to look over their shoulders. Fearing that Dark Lucy would suddenly shoot lasers out of her eyes or shoot them a crossbow straight into their foreheads.
"Okay, it's a good majority of the plan. We end this quick, we show two brats who rules and everyone realizes Fairy Tail is badass." Natsu quickly whispered. "Then it's smooth sailing… oh, sailing." he said as he felt sick.
"Don't get motion sickness now, stupid!" Gajeel angrily yelled.
"Stop ignoring us!" Sting yelled as he fired a beam of light at them.
Gajeel moved out of the way of the blast just as Rogue came upon him. As for Natsu, he already fell face forward as he felt sick and was able to avoid Sting's attack. However, Natsu realized that his own metaphor would give him no pain but Dark Lucy would make sure he only feels suffering.
With his enhanced hearing, Natsu heard some fruit being sliced. Natsu rolled onto his back and saw Lucy standing next to Charles-Henri Sanson who had just chopped an eggplant. Dark Lucy raised up the eggplant and pointed at it and then at Natsu. Natsu shuttered as he remembered that Lucy's dark half wants to no shenanigans.
"White Dragon Roar!" Sting yelled, unleashing another large beam of light.
Natsu immediately avoided the attack and made his way towards Sting. In a brief exchange of punches, Natsu sent Sting crashing a few meters away from him. At the same time, he saw Rogue flying towards Sting's downed form as well.
"What's this? Sabertooth is already down? Are the Twin Dragon Slayers unable to match Fairy Tail's own dragons?" Lola asked, making the crowd roar in delight.
"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" Natsu yelled after jumping high into the air and charging flames into both of his fists.
Just as Sabertooth's Dragon Slayers had been recovering. Natsu had only further humiliated them by making them fly further away. Sting growled as he remembered how easily Natsu had outclass him on the night when they kicked out Yukino. He had forgotten how much he respected Natsu when he was younger and let his pride and arrogance make him believe he was superior.
But in a way, Sting and Rogue had one belief that motivated them. The one thing that made them see themselves as superior to Natsu and Gajeel.
"You guys are strong, I actually forgot that." Sting said. "Still, unlike you two oldies, we're true dragon slayers. Because we earned the right to that title by killing our own dragons!" he exclaimed.
Natsu and Gajeel were briefly stunned by the revelation. Giving Sting and Rogue time to charge up their next attack.
"White Drive!"
"Shadow Drive!"
Natsu recognized this power, it was the ability that Sting used to increase all his physical abilities. However, Sting had already revealed this ability and couldn't do much against Natsu. Sting's only hope was that Natsu didn't take him seriously since the salmon haired man was really pissed off when he attacked their guild.
"Try to keep up, Metal Head. These guys are stronger and faster, but not by a whole lot." Natsu said, warning Gajeel.
Gajeel nodded as he tried to charge at them, only to witness Rogue disappear. As Gajeel lost sight of Rogue, the Shadow Dragon Slayer briefly revealed himself from within the shadows a few times. Each time, he delivered a big blow that knocked Gajeel around.
Natsu faced a similar issue as Sting moved much more quickly. However, Natsu did his best to block and parry each attack. Only taking a couple of heavy blows to abdomen followed by a large claw attack to the chest.
"I used to look up to you, Natsu. I trained everyday so that I could surpass you and I finally reached it." Sting said as he leaves a white mark on Natsu's abdomen. "Things won't be the same as last time." he said, thinking he's stunned Natsu with his Stigma.
However, Natsu was quickly able to catch Sting's fist, surprising the younger man.
"How?" Sting asked.
"Your cheap tattoo isn't anything special." Natsu said before head butting Sting, making him recoil backwards. "You think all it takes is coming from a famous guild and having cool magic, but that's wrong. You can't be all talk when you don't even have the strength to back it up!" he yelled before punching across Sting's face.
As Sting was having trouble with Natsu again, Gajeel continued to be attacked from the shadows. That is until Gajeel had enough and caught hold of Rogue's arm and pulled him out.
"You wanna play hide and seek? Fine!" Gajeel yelled as he slammed Rogue onto the ground.
Even as the two continued to beat the mages of Sabertooth. Their younger opponents refused to give up as their own guild's reputation was on the line. Had they been anyone else, Natsu and Gajeel might have respected them for having great loyalty towards their guild. However, they couldn't accept that considering the type of people that run the guild and the selfish beliefs they follow.
Yet, it didn't stop them from becoming strong as Sting began to charge up more magic. Moving on from a flashy power up technique to very power that can actually kill dragons.
Dragon Force
Sting told Rogue to move out of the way as he became more confident that he could defeat Natsu and Gajeel on his own. However, Natsu had his own trick but was unhappy as he really wanted to save it for something bigger or more dangerous. He just didn't want Sting to show him up with another flashy move.
"Hold on Metal Head, he's my opponent so I get dibs." Natsu said with a smirk.
"Do whatever you want, Salamander." Gajeel said as he saw Natsu grab a small bottle.
At that moment, Sting rushed at Natsu with a speed that blinded the crowd. Just as he aimed his fist towards Natsu's head, Natsu blocked right on time but not without difficulty. Natsu could actually feel some pain and strain on his arm as he blocked the attack.
"I really wanted to save this, but I guess I got waste some of it on you. Lucky you, you get some fan service." Natsu said before avoiding another punch.
As Natsu opened the bottle, Natsu immediately jumped away as he felt scorching heat touching his skin. Natsu had done nothing but open his bottle and Sting already felt like he had fallen inside of a volcano.
"What is that?" Sting asked.
Natsu smirked, "Fire from one place no one in this world shoulder ever have. Flames from the son of the Sun God, Surya." He said before inhaling the bottle's contents.
Despite his confidence, Natsu already felt like he swallowed a bucket of sulfuric acid. However, he stood his ground as bright flames surrounded Natsu's body and he developed scales all around his body. Now Natsu was using Dragon Force and emanated flames from the power of the sun. It was a good thing that Natsu's magic color had the same filter as the sun or something like that.
Unknown to many, the sun is actually white and it's because of the atmosphere's filter that it looks yellow and a whole variety of colors. Because then everyone would be blinded by two bright white lights.
Sting wouldn't let Natsu's increase in power discourage him as he wanted to prove himself.
"I won't let any trick of yours beat me! I already said that Rogue and I are the true future of Dragon Slayers!" Sting said as he charged up his magic.
Natsu scoffed, "I already heard this speech from a faker who used a lacrima. You know how I beat him? I roared in his ear and he passed out!" he said as he prepared his own attack. "Do know how pathetic that is? It's like a giant shark dying from drowning underwater!" he yelled.
"White Dragon's Holy Ray!" Sting roared as he unleashed a powerful beam of white light from his chest.
"Fire Dragon's Solar Flare!" Natsu roared back as he unleashed powerful wave of gold-red flames.
The two attacks clashed and resulted in blinding the entire crowd and was followed by a loud explosion. When the blinding light had calmed down, everyone noticed that Natsu and Sting had created a massive trench. The lacrima that were working as cameras had been adjusted and revealed what was going on under the trench.
There, the crowd witnessed Rogue holding Sting over his shoulder as the blond boy looked exhausted. At the same time, Natsu and Gajeel were lying face down on the ground. Everyone had believed that Sabertooth had won and their Dragon Slayers were already reigning in on that thought.
"This was a wakeup call for us, Rogue." Sting said.
"Yeah, we did our best and we beat them. It was fun and I'm glad we fought them, but today is our day." Rogue said.
With their weird victory monologue going on. Natsu had managed to stand up and looked like he had bad night of sleep. Even Gajeel looked mildly annoyed the entire front side of his body was covered in soot and ash.
"Damn it Salamander! Who taught you to aim! Your own kid is an archer!" Gajeel angrily yelled. "Your aim was so bad, it could have killed us! In fact, you just killed this stranger who in blue full-body tights that's next to me!" he said as he pointed at Cu Chulain who's body was lying nearby.
It was unknown why Scattach's student was there but like many Lancers. He had very poor luck and it looked like it involved him being caught in Natsu's attack.
"Lancer is dead!" someone screamed.
"You aren't human!" everyone yelled.
Gajeel then stretched, "Anyways, we're still alive and still ready to fight. So I think it's my turn to finish these two rookies off." he said with a smirk.
That's when Natsu decided to ignore Lucy's earlier warnings. Natsu suddenly threw Gajeel into the air and kicked him into a nearby trolley. Apparently there was an underground mine or something and Natsu decided to send Gajeel down the mines without any concern.
"Did you just betray your own teammate!?" Rogue asked.
"Of course not, I just wanna be the guy who beats the both of you by myself." Natsu answered.
With Lucy
Everyone took their distance from Lucy as her darker half maintained her presence. That's when Kotomine arrived with a whole set of cases filled with dangerous tools.
"Would you like the Pear of Anguish?" Kotomine asked.
"What's a Pear of Anguish?" Shirou fearfully asked.
"It's good for ripping open people's mouths and their behinds." Kotomine said, limiting the explanation of the torture device.
"Hang on now, that won't be necessary. There's no need to be hasty." Makarov said to the creepy man.
Dark Lucy already began to explore her former teacher's toolbox of torture devices as she wanted to discipline Natsu for being an idiot.
With Gajeel
Gajeel was cursing Natsu for tossing him into the mine cart. Not just because the idiot might get them eliminated but because he kicked Gajeel out of the fight. Gajeel was beyond pissed but he was also feeling really sick.
"Did that idiot somehow give me motion sickness?" Gajeel asked as he suddenly felt sick.
Then again, the mine that was under the coliseum appeared to be quite old. As the tracks were busted, bumpy and there were a lot of gaps along the way. It was a good thing that the mine cart itself was in good enough condition to travel. At the same time, there was something worth while under the coliseum that's been abandoned for many years.
"I'm going to kill that idiot when I find him. How am I going to get back up there?" Gajeel asked as his cart came to a stop.
Gajeel cursed again as he fully realized he was stuck underground. As Gajeel tried to navigate around this cavern, he realized there was something long forgotten. Unfortunately, it wasn't gold or a fossil fuel that the kingdom would be interested in. If that were the case, then Gajeel wouldn't share any of it because he would claim it as personal compensation. However, Gajeel couldn't say the same with bones but then he realized something was off about these bones.
Gajeel wasn't a paleontologist or anything like that and he didn't understand the concept of excavating fossils. Because he found the remains of creatures that were long forgotten.
"This is not good." Gajeel said as the bones belonged to dragons. "I think I need to tell the guild about this. It's a good thing the kid isn't here to see this." he said, thinking Wendy might be scared by the sight of dead dragons.
Gajeel wasn't too interested in finding his dragon, Metalicana, anymore but his relationship with the Iron Dragon wasn't as close. Wendy's dragon acted like a mother and he didn't want the girl crying if she mistook one of these fossils for her.
"I know dragons sometimes like to use caves as homes, but how did they all get stuck here?" Gajeel asked before deciding to investigate a while longer.
Luckily for Gajeel, no one would blame him if they lost.
Back to the fight
Even without Gajeel, Natsu still put up a good fight against Sabertooth's Twin Dragons. Sting and Rogue weren't closer to beating Natsu as his Solar Dragon Force is still active. There's also the fact that his last attack put a heavy strain on Sting.
"We won't last forever Sting. I think it's time we use desperate measures." Rogue suggested.
Sting gritted his teeth, "Fine, I'll put my pride aside for the guild." He said. "Just help me get the card." he said.
Rogue nodded as he grabbed Sting's Class Card as well as his own. Just as Natsu spotted them, he witnessed the two transform instantly. Unlike Ivan or the rest of his guild, Sting and Rogue had actually become something strong and competent.
"Hey no fair! Where did you two get those!?" Natsu angrily asked.
Sting and Rogue had transformed into Percival and Lancelot much to Natsu's surprise. The two had taken on the roles of King Arthur's Round Table and looked more prepared to battle the Dragon Slayer.
"They say that slaying dragons is the mightiest quest that a knight can take." Sting said.
Natsu scoffed, "It's just myth, not all of them are real. Now are you gonna fight or are you gonna keep puffing your chest?" he asked.
With that, Sting charged straight at Natsu with his lance while Rogue ran to the side to support Sting. Natsu kept up his guard as he avoided Sting's lance and raised an arm to block Rogue's sword. Natsu gritted his teeth as he used his strength to push back both weapons.
Natsu then aimed his fist for Sting but missed. Sting was then able to quickly slash at Natsu several times before kicking him across the ground. Natsu grunted as he recovered quickly enough to avoid being impaled. Natsu had to remember how much Percival's strength matched his speed. Rogue also seemed to be more quick and good with a sword as he had Saber Lancelot's card.
Unlike the Berserker counterpart, Saber had all of Lancelot's sword skills which made him one of the most formidable knights in Arthur's Round Table. Thus, making things more difficult for Natsu who is a lot more slow. Luckily for him, Sting and Rogue's class cards were still nowhere near Ventus' skills and couldn't reach the level of the real Lancelot and Percival.
"He's slowing down like an old man! Don't let up!" Sting yelled as he threw his lance.
Natsu barely managed to avoid the lance before rushing at Sting, "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" he yelled.
Sting blocked the attack with his shield, but couldn't stop the attack without difficulty. As Natsu was still in his Dragon Force state, every one of his spells were enhanced. Which made the ground under Sting shatter and turn into a crater. As Sting did his best to defend against Natsu, he started feeling exhausted again.
But while Sting was weak, he wasn't alone like Natsu. As Rogue took the opportunity strike while Natsu was distracted.
Rogue surrounded his sword in shadow magic as he raised it into the air, "Shadow Dragon's Slash!" He yelled as he slashed at Natsu's back.
Natsu cried out in pain as he was sent crashing into the ground. Leaving him further exposed as as the Dragon Slayers chased after him. Seeing that his partner was already growing exhausted and he himself already felt like his magical power was getting smaller by the second. Rogue suggested that they used one last combined technique on Natsu and finish the battle already.
"Right, let's we'll do that. Natsu is already looking exhausted." Sting said as Natsu's Dragon Force started to flicker.
The Twin Dragon Slayers of Sabertooth quickly came together and combined their remaining magical power to create a black and white orb. Natsu slowly got up to his feet and saw this and decided to use the last bit of his remaining power of his enhanced state to counter this attack. In the last moments, Natsu illuminated with a white-gold aura surrounding his fists.
"Unison Raid: Holy Shadow Dragon's Flash Bang!"
"Golden Lotus: Exploding Solar Blade!"
With Dark Lucy
As the impact of both attacks cause another flash of light from the trench followed by more shaking. Dark Lucy appears to be preparing two bags with Kotomine's help. Nobody wanted to ask what Lucy was preparing in one of the bags as they heard the sounds of clinging metal and the smell of what everyone assumed to be radiation. However the other bag was filled with cute exotic looking puppies.
"Lucy, what are you doing with those poor critters?" Mirajane asked.
"If Natsu wins, then he gets to have this bag." Dark Lucy said as she presented the cute puppies.
"You're going to give him puppies?" Mirajane asked as the young canines yipped with delight.
"And what if he loses?" Bisca asked as her daughter pets one of the puppies.
Dark Lucy gestures to the other bag of unmentionable things, "He gets this and Gajeel gets nothing but a verbal scolding for letting Natsu throw him out." she explained.
"I see." Bisca said, unsure if she wants to know what's inside of the other bag.
However, just as Dark Lucy prepared the bag with the adorable puppies. She threw in a little bag inside with them before tying the bag containing the puppies. Everyone was afraid that the puppies were going to suffocate in the bag but that would be the least of their concerns as the battle had finally ended.
"I can't believe it! Even with all the surprises and effort! The victory belongs to Natsu Dragneel of Fairy Tail!" Lola announced as the crowd cheered.
"I guess this means that Natsu won himself some puppies." Mirajane said.
"Yes he did." Lucy said as she threw the bag far into the arena.
As the crowd cheered, they could see Natsu looking back down at the trench. He appeared to be trying to say some words of encouragement to Sting and Rogue. Apparently, Natsu wants to fight them again once they grow stronger but this seemingly heartwarming scene of good sportsmanship came to an end with the bag landed next to Natsu.
"What the heck is this?" Natsu asked he untied the bag.
Instead of receiving harmless puppies, Natsu was attacked by demonic looking hounds. Natsu tried to run but the beasts started biting his legs and started dragging him away.
"NO! NO! Bad dogs!" Natsu yelled as they dragged him away.
"And it seems that Natsu Dragneel has been punished or something. I guess this is what happens when you throw away your friends. Can someone call animal control?" Lola asked as he could still hear Natsu crying out in pain.
"Someone just toss them a bone already!" Natsu yelled as the canines continued to bite him.
Later that night
Lucy groaned as she finally reverted to her original self and she can still feel the aches left behind by her darker half. Although she didn't object Natsu being punished for almost costing them the match by getting rid of Gajeel. Only now, everyone is wondering what happened to the Iron Dragon Slayer the mines he went into were abandoned for many years.
"Hey we found him!" Gray announced.
Soon enough, the entire guild ran to find the Iron Dragon Slayer outside of their hotel. Of course, Gajeel is beyond as he looked annoyed, dirty and very hungry. There was no limit to the imagination that the guild when it came to how difficult it was for Gajeel to escape the mines.
"Where's Salamander!? I'm gonna kick his ass for throwing me into those mines!" Gajeel angrily yelled.
"He would see you but he's enjoying the prize Lucy gave him for winning in the last round." Makarov said.
"What!? You rewarded that prick!?" Gajeel asked.
Makarov sighed as he turned to Lucy, "Lucy, I think it's time to call them off." he said.
"I'll try, but I don't know if they will listen to me now." Lucy said as she pulled out a whistle.
Lucy blew into the whistle, much to Gajeel's confusion. Moments later, they saw several demonic dogs running down from the stairs. The three canines immediately barked as they demanded real food which Lucy had to provide by summoning servants that can cook. Just as they canines were distracted, Gajeel saw a bloody and injured Natsu dragging himself from the stairs.
"What happened to him?" Gajeel asked.
"Lucy gave Natsu lots of puppies!" Asuka said, seemingly unfazed by the fact that the puppies are now dangerous creatures.
Gajeel snickered, "You know what? All is forgiven. Salamander deserves to be given the love of those dogs." he said.
"Screw you, Metal Head!" Natsu yelled as he crawled towards Wendy. "Wendy, please heal me." he whined.
"Um, is it okay?" Wendy asked Lucy.
"Fine, but only remove the loose teeth and any poisons inside of him." Lucy said as there were several fangs on Natsu's arm.
"Hold still, Natsu." Wendy said as she started healing Natsu.
Everyone then focused their attention back to Gajeel as they wondered about the ordeal that Natsu put him into. Which Gajeel explained in vague detail after getting himself some food and drinks in him.
"There's something under the castle. Something pretty messed up and I'm not talking about a lack of gold or anything stupid like that." Gajeel said.
"What could be so bad about a few caves?" Gray asked.
"You'll know when you see them." Gajeel said before asking for a group to investigate what he saw.
Elsewhere, With Jellal
Jellal wanted to berate himself in his recent failure, "The whole capital practically knows that I'm here." He said.
"And we're fortunate that former Councilman Yajima spoke on your behalf and took the attention away from you." Said Sherlock Holmes.
"But now Zeref likely knows that we're onto him." Jellal said, pointing out how much the difficulty has increased.
As Sherlock allowed Jellal to silently wallow in despair. He noticed that his high ranking luck also meant good fortune for him and his companion. Because Sherlock witnessed a figure in a literal black cloak walking towards a nearby street. Sherlock snapped Jellal out of his silence and made him see the figure. The very same one that Jellal had seen several times since the beginning of the games.
Jellal stayed silent as he began to tail the figure. After a few minutes of silently following them, Jellal finally had the figure cornered. They stood over a rail to stare at Crocus. Jellal took this time to assess the situation and noticed that the figure had skinny legs with sandals. Sherlock had noticed this while they tailed the figure and already concluded that with those features along with other details. That this was not Zeref, but rather just a suspicious woman.
"Who are you?" Jellal asked the suspicious individual.
Jellal and Sherlock readied themselves for the worst when the figure turned around. All they saw was tears streaming from their cheeks as they slowly removed their hood. At that moment, Sherlock started analyzing the figure as he raised his magnifying glasses. Because the identity of the disguised figure was none other than Lucy herself.
"Improbable, there is no denying this is Lucy." Sherlock said as Lucy silently cried.
"This has to be a trick. She was with the others." Jellal said.
"And at one point, we thought there were two Jellals. However, this is more absurd." Sherlock said, confusing Jellal.
Of course, the great detective was referring to Jellal's Edolas counterpart who lived among them as Mystogan. However, this couldn't be Edolas Lucy as she had the personality of a delinquent. Sherlock did compose several theories but already eliminated the more complicated ones such as something bad happening to the Edolas version of Fairy Tail or that there was a whole set of other dimensions like Edolas with another Lucy traveling to this one.
"But no, this one is not our Lucy." Sherlock concluded before Jellal could try to question this version of Lucy.
TO BE CONTINUED…