The Rise of a Warrior: Fairy Tail

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

Luke Drako, S-class wizard of the Fairy Tail guild, the true Lightning Dragon Slayer, student and son of the Lightning dragon Kaminari. This is his story. The story of a Dragon Slayer trying to find his place in the world, and make one hell of a strong team along the way. And with any luck, he just might win the heart of a certain brunette card mage. OC x Cana. Read and review.

45. Grand Magic Games III

I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story since I updated it.

Fpinheiro96: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it.

Guest: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. Yeah, I've always liked Lucy's Star Dress abilities, so I figured that I would try and give them some more screentime to show off what they can do now.

Altajir95: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. Yes, the Grand Magic Games will officially begin next chapter.

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Morning came, and the sun was rising over the skies above Crocus.

Erza and the others looked up from their place in the changing room "Would you listen to that crowd, sounds like they're pretty excited for the games to start."

"It's kind of nervewracking though." Lucy muttered "I didn't think there were going to be so many people here."

"Keep in mind that there are wizards from all over the country here, so it shouldn't be very surprising that so many people wanted to see what they're capable of."

"Man this purple crap is so lame." Natsu was less than thrilled about the choice of the color of their team's uniforms "I'd rather just go out there and wear my regular clothes."

"It doesn't matter if you're satisfied with the outfit or not, this is what we're required to wear during the games, unless you would rather go to the master and tell him what your concerns are about them. I personally don't have a complaint about them, I think they happen to be quite stylish and comfortable."

"Yeah tell me about it." Gray gave a smirk "Nice and skin tight too."

"As I'm sure anything would be with you, also put on some clothes."

"DAMMIT!"

"Uh guys, the color is probably the one thing I don't mind about this." Elfman on the other hand had greater concerns about his costume "There's no way in hell I'd be able to fit into this thing, and that's the least of the problems I've got with this thing."

"You shouldn't be surprised by that, keep in mind that the uniform was made when Wendy was still rostered as part of the team and you're the one who spent three months benchpressing a mountain or two for all we know."

"Well the hell with that, you know as well as I do that Wendy should be standing here with the rest of you instead of me. Do you think she'll be alright?"

"Well don't forget that Porlyusica herself said that Wendy was going to fully recover once she got some rest." Lucy pointed out "Bolt and the others found her and Carla around the palace gardens, she wasn't hurt but she doesn't really remember what happened to leave her the way she was."

"And the both of them were suffering from Magic Deficiency Syndrome, so even if she was unharmed, she wouldn't be able to participate in the games." Erza noted, a frown spreading across her face.

"Since she knew she wouldn't be able to compete in the games, she asked Elfman to officially take her place on the team, and Porlyusica assured us that she would at least have an opportunity to compete before the games come to an end, even if it isn't today."

"Which means that there's only one thing we can do." Elfman pulled himself to his feet with renewed levels of determination "We make sure that Fairy Tail is in first place by the time she gets back on her feet."

"Right."

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"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I'm proud to say that the big day we've been waiting for has finally come! The Grand Magic Games are about to begin very shortly. I have a very strong feeling that this year's games are going to be the one to remember!"

By this time this announcement had been made, Natsu and the others had reached the corridor that led to the arena, but the mood was far from chipper "Hey tell me something guys. The bastard that attacked Wendy, what do you think the odds are that they're gonna be taking part in the games too?"

"I think the chances of that are big enough that we don't wanna rule that out." Gray told him flatly "Plus you've gotta stop and wonder if they did it in order to weaken our team or if it was just some other reason."

"Like spite or something?"

"Probably, but we had best keep our eyes on the prize for now." Elfman pointed out "The best way to get revenge for Wendy is by winning this whole thing."

"We're just mere moments away from the official start of the Grand Magic Games ladies and gentlemen, I'm Chapati Lola acting as the lead commentator and I'll be the one handling the play by play while commentary is being provided by former councilor Yajima. I have to say that it is quite the honor to have you with us sir. And let's not forget the very special guest that we have here with us, a member of the Blue Pegasus guild and the one who currently holds the title of Miss Fiore, the ravishing Jenny Realight, who holds the utmost confidence that Blue Pegasus is going to be the one to bring home the goal this year."

"It's about time, let's get moving."

"Way ahead of you." Natsu was the first one to walk ahead, with Erza and the others following right by his side as they made their way out into the open sunlight.

"Now then, the time has finally come for us to meet the competitors who had passed the qualifier round by finishing the Sky Labyrinth in the top 8. First up in eight place, we have an old school bunch of wild losers from the city of Magnolia. They received an incredible stroke of luck, and now they've made it very clear that they intend to take first place by force. Here we have the Fairy Tail guild!" the reaction this received was… less welcoming than they would've liked, seeing how everyone started booing them.

"Oh you've gotta be fucking kidding me, what the hell is that about?!"

"No one would've predicted that they would make it this far after they've lost in the games every single year, securing a spot in the preliminaries was no small feat for them, especially considering that veterans of the Games Bolt Drako and Max Alors have elected not to participate this year. This raises the question, will the sensational and miraculous return of the Tenrou Team allow Fairy Tail to become the greatest guild in Fiore once again?"

"What the fuck does that mean you little-"

"Take it easy Natsu, calm yourself." Erza was quick to call him off "Like the master said, let them think whatever they want, because we're going to show them what we're capable of soon enough by taking back the title."

"CHEER UNTIL YOU BUST A LUNG!" as it turns out, that outburst came from Makarov and the others from their place in the stands.

"And keep in mind that the cheers and support of our friends and comrades are the only support that really matters."

"Yeah I guess- Wait a second." Natsu suddenly took a whiff and looked up, and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head "Okay either you guys see that too, or I'm hallucinating like that one time I broke into Luke's place and ate a bunch of those weird brownies."

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Now for what made Natsu think he was hallucinating…

"Hooray hooray!" as it turns out, it was Mavis sitting on the balcony cheering on the Fairy Tail team, her appearance leaving everyone absolutely gobsmacked "Fairy Tail is the best, now show them why we're number one!"

"...Okay then." Bolt was the first one to snap out of his stupor "I think I speak for pretty much everyone when I quote Sword Art Online Abridged and say this: Sweet merciful Buddha, what the fuck?!"

"What else silly, I came here so that I could cheer you and the others on."

"No I get that, what none of us get is the fact that you're dead."

"Well there was absolutely no chance of me missing this so I had to pull a few strings, but you don't need to worry about that. Only those who bear the mark of the Fairy Tail guild are able to see me."

"That's not the issue you fucking lolly, that's not even close!"

"I understand your concerns about this but I couldn't help myself, it's so dull being stuck on Tenrou Island by myself after all."

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Meanwhile, back in the arena…

"Holy fucking shit, this is insane!" Natsu barked out a triumphant laugh "Even the First Master herself came to cheer us on, we've got this crap in the bag!"

"On one hand, the First Master is routing for us." Gray noted dryly "On the other hand, the ghost is one of about a dozen in a stadium filled with hundreds that actually do like us."

"Next up we have the team that came in 7th place in the qualifier round, the rowdy army of hounds coming straight from the depths of hell, we have Quatro Cerberus! Just from taking a first look at them, I think it's safe to say that they're ready to get wild! Coming in at 6th place is a guild filled to the absolute brim with the fairer sex of the two, we have the damsels of the great blue sea in the form of Mermaid Heel."

"Well that is rather surprising, I wasn't expecting to see an all female guild." Erza eyed the members of Mermaid Heel with interest, but then she took notice of Kagura, the one with the sword, and her frown deepened 'But there's something different about that one, I'll have to keep my guard up with her.'

"In fifth place with charisma and charm enough to cover the entire kingdom, we have the Blue Pegasus guild! After that we have the team that came in fourth place, the goddess of love and the sacred destroyer coming together to fight as one for the guild known as Lamia Scale!"

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" that bit of outrage came from their master Oba "WHY DID YOU INGRATES ONLY COME IN FOURTH PLACE?! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU BRATS NOT TO HOLD OUT ON THEM!"

"Yeah, sorry about that old hag." a young girl by the name of Sherria let out a nervous chuckle at the sight of her rage "You see I wasn't watching where I was going and then-" and then she tripped and fell over Wendy-style.

Gray blinked at the sight of her "Okay I wasn't expecting that, is it just me or does she look like a smaller version of that chick Sherry?"

"Ow…"

"Honestly Sherria, please try to stay on your feet." Lyon told her flatly.

"I'll try Lyon, but I can't make any promises about that."

"I shouldn't be surprise. Anyway to answer your question, this is Sherria and she's actually one of Sherry's cousins. And she just so happens to be quite the capable wizard too, so you had best not let your guard down around her."

"Come on Lyon, you're giving me too much credit." Sherria let out a nervous chuckle "I'm going to need a lot more love if I want to compete with Sherry."

"Don't be so modest, you're the one that the old hag picked to part of the teams competing in the games after all."

"So being crazy about love runs in the family." Gray noted dryly "I shouldn't be surprised by that in the slightest."

"You have no idea, but don't forget about our little agreement Gray. Keep in mind that if Lamia Scale wins the games then Juvia becomes one of us."

"Last time I checked I never agreed to that bet, not that it matters either way because you and your guys are gonna go down hard."

"Is that the bet you gentlemen made?" this was when Ichiya suddenly popped up in front of both groups "Then if we when then I fully intend to take Miss Erza into Blue Pegasus as my one and only!"

"You'll do no such thing you wretched troll!" Erza's refusal was met only with Ichiya doing his thing and sniffing her all over.

"I swear your perfume is like candy to my nostrils as much as it ever was." it was at that moment that he was punched away.

"Nice to see that you're still the same as you used to be, and I don't even have to see the Trimens to know that they're just the same as they were too."

"Yeah, I guess Luke was right when he said that the more things change, the more things stay the same." Lucy gave a small fond smile, but then frowned slightly "So who do you think placed in the top three? I mean I would've guess Blue Pegasus or Lamia Scale, but we already know where they placed."

"Well I can imagine that Sabertooth took the first place spot, but as for the second and third place spots, I'm actually as stumped as you."

"Now things are getting very interesting as we move onto the top three teams. First we'll start off with our third place contestant. Quite the shocker too, swooping in from the midnight dreary, this dark and gloomy bunch are making their debut in the Grand Magic Games this year. Alright ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Raven Tail!" this was followed by its members emerging in a very unsettling fashion.

"...I was afraid of this. This is much worse than I could've anticipated, the master of their guild just so happens to be Master Makarov's son Ivan."

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Meanwhile, in the stands…

"Why is a dark guild participating in the games?!" to summarize the reaction shared by everyone in Fairy Tail, Makarov pretty much exploded at the sight of Raven Tail "Are you officials completely out of your minds or were you just incompetent to begin with?! How could you allow a dark guild to take part in the games?!"

"Well we've conducted research on the guild in question and their records do appear to be in order. They're one of the older guilds, it's been stated by officials that they've been active for over 7 years but they were only recently approved for the status of an official guild by the Magic Council. If they do have official status then they technically are not classified as a dark guild, and therefore they are eligible to compete in the games."

"But… fine, so be it." Makarov could only grit his teeth 'Damn you Ivan, I don't know what sort of sick twisted game you're trying to play with us, but whatever nefarious scheme you're plotting I swear you won't see it through!'

Across the arena, Ivan just leaned against a wall behind him and shot a smirk full of malice and confidence in the direction of Makarov "You know you really shouldn't allow yourself to lose your composure old man, it's bad for your health, and I want more than anything to make sure that you live long enough to see your guild fall."

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Meanwhile, in the arena…

"Fairy Tail…" at the head of the Raven Tail team, an armored figure by the name of Alexi was the one to step forward, his entire demeanor one of malice "So tell me, I trust that your friend is doing well after her little accident?"

"You mean that… you're the ones who did that to Wendy last night?" Natsu gritted his teeth and was barely able to restrain himself "You're gonna pay for attacking one of my friends, I'm gonna make sure of it."

"No need to lose your composure so soon, the festival is only getting started."

"And you're not gonna be around to see the end of it, not if I have any say about it."

"Wow you couldn't cut through the current tension in the air if you tried, but even so we still have two other teams that made it through the qualifier round, and if the current teams are anything to go by then I think it's safe to say that they'll be tough contenders without a doubt.'

"Yes that's right, Raven Tail only came in third place." Erza frowned in thought 'Well we can bet on one of them being Sabertooth, but the other one is really anyone's guess. All of the well known guilds have already been announced, and even then it's possible that at least one of these teams is tied to Zeref somehow, assuming that Jellal's intuition was correct. But either way, I guess we'll find out soon enough.'

"Alright pay attention ladies and gentlemen, because the first runner up teams from the qualifiers is… Oh okay wow, I did not see this one coming! Let me tell you now folks, this year's competition just got a great deal more interesting than it already was! It looks like in second class we have Fairy Tail Team B!"

"Wait what?!"

With a surge of magic power and electricity, before the other teams stood Fairy Tail Team B in all of its glory, with Luke at the front of it (clad in the same blue gi he wore during the events on Tenrou Island, with a black t shirt on underneath) and Cana, Juvia, Laxus and Mira following right behind him, and he gave a simple wave to what is now known as Fairy Tail Team A "Hey guys, how's it going? Yeah I know you weren't expecting this, I sure as hell wasn't but what are you gonna do?"

"Hold the fuck up a minute, I need some answers!" Natsu promptly stormed up to the newly revealed Team B "How in the flying name of fuck are you guys competing, and why the fuck didn't you tell us that you were gonna be in the games?"

"Yeah sorry about this, I do feel pretty bad for leaving you high and dry but the Master wanted me to spearhead the B team to try and even things out."

"Even things out how exactly?" asked Erza, her tone filled with skepticism.

"Because the other team has you, and frankly you're better at commanding respect in the role of a leader than I am. Don't worry about it though, with two guilds going for us in the games our chances of winning the overall tournament are that much higher. Plus even if the five of us aren't enough to make it, we've got Gajeel as a reserve member too."

"You mean to say you have two Lightning Dragon Slayers in your team, how in the hell is that a fair trade?!" Gray was quick to protest.

"Because you guys have Erza, I thought I already went over that."

"You know looking back, I believe that the new rules that were implemented may have left our audience a bit confused at the appearance of a second team for the same guild, so perhaps we should explain it a bit in greater detail. The committee that is chartering the Grand Magic Games permitted each guild to enter two teams, which they felt would make the preliminaries more exciting."

"Yeah sorry again about this, the master wanted it to be a surprise, mostly so he could show off how Fairy Tail takes care of business, to use his words at least. But you guys don't need to worry about it, like I said it just gives us a better chance of taking back the title. I mean granted you probably could argue that it's unfair or it stacks the odds, but either way we're just another team aiming for the title, and it's every team for itself after all."

"Well he does raise a point, and I suppose it's a reward for being the only guild out of over 100 to have two teams in the game at the same time. Besides, the committee did say that this was okay for the games, so I suppose that's all there is to it."

"Yeah you've gotta give it to Makarov, he knows how to plan ahead if nothing else." Luke noted dryly, which was met with the sound of Makarov barking out a laugh filled to the brim with confidence "I rest my case."

"Yeah well I say this is the biggest load of BULLSHIT since Tik Tok!" Natsu suddenly exploded at him out of nowhere, though it only earned a raised eyebrow.

"You gonna elaborate on that?"

"Being in the same guild doesn't mean a damn thing, if I fight against any of you then you can be sure as hell that I'm not holding back or pulling any punches! As long as we're in this tournament all of you are my enemies, and I'm not gonna lose to any of you!" he pointed a finger at them, only for it to be put away by Luke.

"To be completely honest with you Natsu, I wouldn't have it any other way, and I doubt any of the others would either. I'm looking forward to seeing how far you've come in the past three months, but not just in magic power or fighting prowess. I want to see how much your character has grown since Tenrou Island."

"...What the fuck does that mean?" this simply casued Luke to facepalm himself, hard.

"Oh for- You'll just have to wait and see what I mean by that." on that note, Luke glanced around at the competition, frowning slightly at the sight of a few of them 'Even with the Second Origin release and three months of training, I'm not sure if the progress we've made is going to be enough, but I guess there's only one way to find out. Still though, we're dealing with some tough opponents in the games. Quatro Cerberus seems pretty straight forward like a bunch of tough guys, but they shouldn't be too much of a problem. Mermaid Heel I don't know anything about, but I shouldn't let down my guard, especially around Kagura. According to Bolt, she may very well be among the top 10 contenders in the entire games. I can feel a lot of magic power coming from her too, and if what Xian told me is gonna pan out, then things are gonna get pretty heavy if she comes to blows with any of us, especially Erza. Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale are both pretty straight forward, they have tough contenders and one of them has an actual Wizard Saint in the form of Jura. He specializes in Earth magic, so at least it's a type that I'm somewhat familiar with fighting in a real battle, if Aftershock is anything to go by. Chances are I'll have to at least use Dragon Force to beat him. Sabertooth I know next to nothing about, aside from the fact that they're pretty obviously in the top spot right now, and that they've got two Third Generation Dragon Slayers. But then there's the main concern right now.' he turned towards the last guild present, his gaze hardening considerably 'Raven Tail, the guild that's personally led by the son Makarov, Ivan himself, and they're the guild that holds those four Elemental wizards that me and Laxus fought back before the whole thing with Edolas. Part of me really can feel my blood boiling just looking at all of them, being a dark guild is one thing, but they're the ones who killed Jet and Droy and the others. Five of our guild members, our friends, are family, they're all gone for good because of him. But I can't let myself lose my composure, that's exactly what he wants me to do. I need to keep myself calm, wait for the right time to strike, and then close in on them before anyone could get hurt.'

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At the same time, Mira had gone up to Elfman and shot him a smirk "You know I can see that terrified look on your face, you look like you're about to pass out."

"I might as well be, I might have to fight you." Elfman pointed out, but then he quickly regained his composure "But I'm not as much of a coward or weakling as I used to be, and I'm not gonna lie down like a dog before you. If we do have to fight then I'm gonna come at you with everything I've got. You understand?"

"I wouldn't expect anything less little brother, I'm personally looking forward to it about as much as you are."

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While some pleasantries and/or rivalries were being exchanged or reginited, Erza had made her way over towards Luke and leaned in, her voice low "So I don't suppose you've been able to find anything yet?"

"Nothing that's really noteworthy, not yet at least." Luke told her "Raven Tail is the one I'm mainly keeping my eye on for the time being."

"This is their debut in the games, Jellal did say that they've been sensing the evil power in previous years so they can't be the source of it."

"Whatever happens just make sure to stay on your guard, whatever goes down in the games we have to handle it carefully."

"And last but certainly not least, we have the team that came in the first place in the preliminary rounds! Yes that's right ladies and gentlemen, you know them and you love them, you never want to get on their bad side! Now get on your feet and scream until you bust a lung, I'm totally quoting Makarov on that one! Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for the greatest guild in the entire kingdom, SABERTOOTH!"

"OH HELL YEAH!" the team from Sabertooth promptly emerged from the pathway in all of their glory, with Sting (being the loud as ever one) and Rogue (the quite and reserved one) being the ones to lead the group, with three others (Yukino, Rufus, Orga) following close behind them, which earned a massive uproar of cheers from the audience. Once they finished making their grand entrance, Sting shot a cocky smirk at Luke and Natsu "Why bother with a bunch of serous looks like that, it's just a game."

"A game you plan to use to flaunt your so-called superiority." Luke pointed out dryly, earning an eye roll from Sting.

"Whatever you need to tell yourself, you'll see soon enough why you're so wrong for sticking with that pack of losers."

"I think we'll see about that soon enough. Well at least we finally have a good idea of who our biggest competitions in the games is.'

'So I was right, they did make it past the qualifier after all.' Rogue analyzed Luke and the others intently for a moment 'And from what I can tell he's been training harder than I would've expected from him, but at the same time, it's just like him to exceed expectations. As for the rest of his guild, I suppose only time will tell.'

'Sabertooth, Raven Tail and the shadow of Zeref looming over everything, looks like we've got our work cut out for us.'

"And that's the full lineup of the teams for the Grand Magic Games this year, and all in all I would say that we have quite the impressive group of wizards here to make for an equally interesting tournament for all of us. I think it's safe to say that everyone has been kept waiting for long enough, so I say it's about time for us to reveal the official schedule for the tournament this year!" this was followed by a massive stone chart being summoned from underground in the stadium, revealing many battles listed for each of the days.

"Looks like there's gonna be a lot of fighting in the events coming up over the next few days, but that's mainly one of our specialties, so that's good."

"Each one of these rounds is going to begin with a contest, in which contestants are going to be ranked from first to eighth place. Each team will be awarded points depending on how their members perform in the event, and in addition each team will be allowed to select which members they want to compete in which event. After that we have the battles, these bouts should turn out to be quite the loyal treat to all of the loyal fans out there, seeing how it was your suggestions that created these matchups.'

"Which most likely means that they get to choose who's going to fight who. Or whom. Whatever it's supposed to be. This means that you have to be careful to regulate how much magic power you use in a certain event, you could find yourself being throwin into a battle without any time to rest first. We'll have to be careful."

"The rules of each battle are quite simple, each team is going to square off as is being shown on the scoreboard. The team that wins will be awarded 10 points while the losing teams get diddly squat! In the case of a match reaching a draw, both teams involved are going to be rewarded with five points. I hope you're ready for action, so let's get started with the first contest of the Grand Magic Games of year 791X, with an event we refer to as Hidden. At this time we would like for each of the participating teams to select a single member, and only once each team has selected a member will the rules be explained for everyone.'

"So they're trying to make sure that we don't know for certain which of us will have strengths or weaknesses depending on the event."

"The first challenger has decided to step forward, Yeager will be the wizard representing the Quatro Cerberus guild. The second challenger to step forward is the adorable Beth Vanderwood of the Mermaid Heel guild."

'Neither of them appear to really stand out compared to some of the others, so this shouldn't be too bad.'

"Nullpudding has stepped forward to represent the Raven Tail guild."

'Ivan isn't the type of make careless mistakes, we'll have to watch out for this one.'

"Eve Tilm has officially been sent out for the Blue Pegasus guild, you have to love those lively cheers he's getting from the fairer sex."

'Seems simple enough.'

"I shall handle this, I'm feeling inspired like a bird's lovely songs." this was when Rufus of Sabertooth stepped forward.

'So the guy dressed like a pimpernell is stepping up to the plate, and he's getting a lot of cheers from the fans.

"Make sure that you keep your eyes on this one folks! From the beloved Sabertooth guild, the menstrual who sings to the red moon, the red and white pimpernell still searching for his vampire queen, we're getting Rufus Lore!"

'Whatever the rules might be the name is probably a clue to how it works, there's a pretty big chance that stealth and strategy are going to be important to winning. It does raise the question though, who will our teams be sending out. Elfman and Natsu are ruled out pretty fast, if it really is about stealth and strategy then sending out a wildcard or a muscle bound giant aren't the best way to go.'

"I know exactly what to do about this and ensure that we take the lead from the start. Just leave it to me." Lyon was quick to step forward.

'So Lyon is entering, then that means…'

"So Lyon is entering then is he? Well in that case I've got this one in the bag." Gray was quick to step forward "I don't know about you guys, but I've been itching to see what this tournament is gonna be all about."

'So like a sort of chain of contenders, Lyon stepping up leads to Gray stepping up, and anyone who knows a damn thing about Gray means that…'

"My beloved ice prince has chosen to put himself on the line!" Juvia almost immediately popped up with hearts in her eyes bigger than her whole head and was quick to step forward, only to be stopped by Luke holding out an arm in front of her "Is something wrong?"

"I know you're eager to get started Juvia, just let me say something. I understand how you feel about Gray, I support your feelings 100%, but I need you to look me in the eye and tell me that you won't just throw the fight because of your love for him. This is about more than just you and him, this is about Fairy Tail is a whole."

"...I understand, I promise I will not let all of you down." with a deep breath, Juvia stepped forward and was officially confirmed as a contender, but then she turned around and gave a smile to the others "You can count on me to perform well for all of us."

"I know I can, I just wanted to hear you say it." Luke gave a smile and a nod of reassurance, and then he and the others took a step back 'Yeah, she's totally gonna be fawning over Gray the second this thing starts.'

"Alright then folks, now all 8 competitors have been chosen and the long wait has finally come to an end. Let me warn you now that you might as well be glued to your seat, because now we're about to get started with Hidden and you don't want to miss a single nailbiting second of the action we've got in store for you."

Once the cheers had died down somewhat, Mato (the pumpkin guy) was quick to get things back on track "Now then, will the participant of each team that elected to take part in the Hidden event kindly step forward?"

"That would be my cue, so I'll be seeing you later." Gray started to making his way towards the center, but not before being met with a jab from a certain someone.

"You'd better not lose out to these ascclowns snowflake!" as it turns out, Natsu was the one who made the jab, not that it should surprise anyone really "We're better than the assclowns on the other team like Gajeel and those assclowns from Sabertooth and those Raven pricks and you'd better show them what we're made of!"

"Trust me idiot, that's the plan." and so Gray took his leave.

"Now I'm sure there are two questions that I'm sure are on the first and foremost of the minds of everyone here: The first question is, just what sort of event is Hidden going to be, and who is going to be the undisputed favorite in this mysterious competition? I believe it's quite safe to say that Rufus from the Sabertooth guild is probably the odds on favorite at the moment, but we do happen to have a few dark horses in the running, at least as is stated by Yajima here, with a prime example in his eyes being Gray from Fairy Tail. But I think we should get the opinion of the special guest for the day, Miss Jenny Realight from the Blue Pegasus guild."

"You want to know my favorite? Well I'm rooting for Eve in this one of course, I say he's got this one in the bag."

"Well there you have it folks, we've got ourselves another favorite for the games."

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Meanwhile, outside the colosseum…

At the same time, Ultear and the rest of Crime Sorciere were watching over the events of the games from atop a nearby cliffside "At last the games are about to get underway, and in all of their spectacle too."

"And no one should be surprised that Thunderclap isn't satisfied with being on the sidelines, nor should he be for that matter." Noah pointed out "At least he's taking it seriously, the further in they get to the colosseum the closer they'll come to finding out whatever the hell the source of that magic power is."

"At least our meeting with that group of Fairy Tail is proving to be very meaningful in the grand scheme of things, especially as far as Jellal and Erza are concerned."

"The only thing that has to be done for that is for him to grow a pair and actually do something about it. But personally I'm more interested to see when Thunderclap gets to do something, he's easily the strongest of both teams, Titania included."

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Meanwhile, back in the colosseum…

By this point, the Hidden event was about to begin, but before they did, Juvia and Lyon both made it perfectly clear that they wouldn't hold back if forced to go up against Gray, and he said the same to them. This was followed by a discussion between Gray and Juvia regarding Mato, and exactly who and what he was. This was when Nullpudding of Raven Tail decided to complain and point out that since Fairy Tail had two members they had an advantage over the others, and the event wouldn't turn out to be fair as a result. The rest of the participants went on to say that they didn't have a problem with it, and Rufus even added in that having two members might turn out to be a disadvantage.

Mato then went on to activate the field, and a city formed in the middle of the stadium purely out of magic, which left all of the participants to wonder if it was some form of hide and seek they were required to play. This was followed by screens appearing for the audience to see what was happening to the participants during the event.

Chapati went on to explain the rules of Hidden, being that the players have to find and attack each other, as copies of each competitor are formed to confuse them, since hitting the clones will cause them to lose points.

When the event started, Juvia almost immediately went to hug a copy of Gray, which caused her to lose a point and be respawned in another area. Gray then launched an attack on Nullpudding, only to find that it was just a copy and the real one was right behind it, which led him to be transported somewhere else and adopt a plan to act like a copy until they found the actual enemies. Nullpudding was quick to track down Gray again and attack him, which gave himself a point. Beth then went on to ambush Gray by Yeager landed an attack on her, only for him to be defeated by Lyon. Just before Gray and Lyon were able to engage each other though, Juviat then dropped down onto the scene and attacked Lyon, claiming that she want the win because she made a promise to the Master.

She then went on to reveal that Makarov had allowed them to participate in the Grand Magic Games as part of the B team, and while a number of them were reluctant, Makarov decided to sweeten the deal by making a deal with the group, stating that the winning team could make the losing team do whatever they wanted for an entire day. As one could imagine, Gray was far from happy to hear this, which led to this next exchange.

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"You've gotta be freaking kidding me, this is officially the biggest load of crap I've heard since the Simpsons got bought out by Disney! Hey listen up Gramps, if you're gonna pull crazy rules out of your ass like that then they've gotta be fair! That means they had better work for us if our team works the same way too, you got me?!"

"Makes sense to me." Cana glanced back at the others, then over at Luke "So I know what the others are planning to make Erza's team do once they win, but what about you? Any sort of plans in mind for that?"

"It's nothing too complicated." Luke gave a shrug "I don't have any actual fantasies to carry out with any of them, the only thing that really comes to mind would be to make Natsu not fight me for awhile. What about you?"

"I'd probably want Wendy for that one personally, then bring her to pay a visit to a certain old friend of mine."

"Bring her to meet Father Brock and the kids at the church?"

"They could always use some new friends and entertainment. You know it's been awhile since you showed up there too, I'm sure they'd love to see you again."

"You know something, I might just do that." the two of them exchanged small smiles, which didn't go unnoticed by any of the others.

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Unfortunately, the hikinks and light hearted moments were cut short when Nullpudding was able to take advantage of Gray and Juvia being distracted and attacked the two of them, earning two points for himself. Snow then started falling over the fake city, courtesy of Eve using one of his spells, and his team came to realize that the copies didn't produce the white fog when they breathe, but the real people did, which made things clearer for them. Nullpudding on the other hand kept attacking Gray, which irritated him to no end.

It was then people came to notice that Rufus hadn't made a single move the entire time, and he was seen standing on a high up pole noting how the competition was too simple for him, and by the time Gray realized this, it was too late. Rufus went on to activate his magic, the day turned to night and all of the other participants began glowing as he cast his spell, Memory Make: Night of Shooting Stars, in which everyone except for Nullpudding was hit by a beam of golden colored magic energy, which earned him 6 points for the event.

Nullpudding went on to attack Rufus, only for him to miss and be hit with an attack instead, which brought his score up to 7. Rufus instantly shot to the top of the scoreboard, and then he went on to explain how he won. Angered by this, Gray tried to attack Rufus, only to be stuck down by Nullpudding before he could even get close. It was mere seconds later that the timer sounded, signalling the end of the event.

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"And with that final blow from Nullpudding of Raven Tail, the game has officially come to a close, so the time has come for us to take a look at the scoreboard to see the official results for how everyone did! In first place, we have the Sabertooth guild with 10 points for the win as is to be expected by this point, Raven Tail in second place with 8 points, Lamia Scale with 6 points in third place, fourth place goes to Blue Pegasus with 4 points, fifth place goes to Mermaid Heel with 3 points, Quatro Cerberus is in sixth place with 2 poins, seventh place goes to team Fairy Tail B with 1 point, and not far behind them in dead last is Fairy Tail A with squat. Both teams from that guild gave it their all, but unfortunately it wasn't enough for them to get out of last place. Better luck next time, you guys still have another chance."

Unfortunately for Fairy Tail, the rest of the audience wasn't as sympathetic and didn't hold back in pouring salt into their wounds:

"What the hell would you expect from the weakest guild in Fiore?!"

"You guys are such pathetic losers!"

"Get used to being in dead last you has beens!"

"You might as well just disband already!"

?"You sons of…" Natsu gritted his teeth and was about to explode at them, but then he looked up at the stands, specifically at Happy and Lisanna, and he calmed down somewhat, though his teeth were still grinding "Fine I get it, these idiots aren't worth it. Let them laugh for now, when the time comes we'll show them how wrong they are." he was met with a nod of approval from Erza for his level headedness. Which is pretty rare for him.

"Sorry about this guys." was all Gray said as he passed by the group, his mind drifting back to the defeat he suffered at the hands of Nullpudding and Rufus, and the minute he got into the tunnel leading out of the arena he slammed his fist against a wall 'Those murderous bastards from Raven Tail and that pompous Maker wizard from Sabertooth… I'm gonna be getting back at them for the crap they put me through, so they sure as hell better watch their backs.'

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As things calmed down and the arena was cleaned up after Hidden was completed, a white knight by the name of Arcadios was making his way towards the arena, noting that there was a lot more to expect from the Grand Magic Games this year.

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Following a few minutes for breathers after the end of Hidden, the first day of the Grand Magic Games continued on with the next event.

"Now that the Hidden event has come to a dramatic finish, coming up next will be the battle part of the competition! One member of each team is going to participate in a one on one match but this is a tournament setup, and the oragnizers for the games are the ones who get to decide who is going to be taking part in each battle, but considering they've set up the previous games we have no reason to doubt their capabilities in battle. There is no doubt in my mind or those of my two companions up here that they set up some matchups that will make for some spectacular displays of magic power and skill, and I just received the lineup for the matches so now we know just how spectacular those matches are going to be. Our very first one on one matchup of the Grand Magic Games this year will test the abilities of the Zodiac wielding Celestial Wizard of Team Fairy Tail A, Lucy Heartfilia."

"Okay, so I'm up then." Lucy steeled herself and made sure to maintain her composure.

"And her opponent for this match is going to be the crimson intensity that comes with Flare Corona of the Raven Tail guild!"

"Oh crap."

"Too bad for you blondie." Flare shot a wicked glare in Lucy's direction, a malicious smirk plastered across her face."

'Yeah, I've got a bad feeling about this one.'

"I know what you're thinking Lucy, and you have nothing to worry about." Erza was quick to give her a nod of reassurance "Winning this battle will keep us in the running sure, but in order for that to work you need to have faith in yourself. You've trained just as hard as the rest of us over these past three months, perhaps even harder. You'll do fine."

"...You're right." Lucy's eyes steeled with renewed determination and resolve, her mind drifting to thoughts on her opponent 'Raven Tail, they're the ones who attacked Wendy and Carla just to get our attention, and in the last event they focused more on hindering Gray than winning the actual event, and as if that wasn't bad enough, they're the ones who killed Jet and Droy and the others while we were sealed away on Tenrou Island. They have a lot to answer for, and I'm not gonna let them get the best of me.'

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As the Fairy Tail members in the stands watched Lucy making her way towards the arena for her battle, Mavis took the opportunity to discuss with the others what Ivan could be planning during the games, to which Makarov explained to her that all he wanted was to disgrace Fairy Tail.

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Meanwhile, with the B team…

Gajeel let out a low whistle at the sight of Lucy making her way into the arena "Looks to me like blondie's got some fire in her eyes, didn't expect that."

"She knows how serious it is that she's going up against Raven Tail." Luke told her flatly "Don't forget that Makarov's son is the one leading them, and considering he's literally got the blood of Fairies on his hands I doubt any of us would take this lightly."

"Which raises the question, if Raven Tail holds such hostility towards the members of your guild, then what are they trying to achieve in the games?" came a third voice.

"It's not that complicated, pretty much everyone in that guild is a sadist and Ivan wants little more than to make Fairy Tail suffer. Still though, part of me has to wonder if he does have some kind of deeper motive that he's just hiding from us." then Luke back and raised an eyebrow at the sight of some unexpected company "And what exactly are you doing in our section of the stands in the first place Ryos?"

Sure enough, Rogue was standing among the members of Team Fairy Tail B with his arms crossed and his composure intact, with Frosch holding onto his shoulder "I simply wanted to get a closer look at this next event, and there's no chance I'm leaving Frosch alone with Sting after what he did last time."

"Why take the sudden interest in this next fight?"

"I sense a great deal of malice coming from Raven Tail, but you already know that. That and the Celestial Wizard down there is someone I find rather intriguing."

"Fair enough I guess. Still though, you'd better not let down your guard. Just because Ivan isn't targeting any of the other guilds now doesn't mean he won't at some point later on."

"I'll keep that in mind." Rogue looked downt at where Frosch was looking around in awe with an air of innocence rolling off of him 'And I definitely won't let them do anything to Frosch, or else they won't live to regret it.'

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"It would seem that tension is rising in the stands as well, and based on the information we've acquired previously it would seem that the respective masters of Fairy Tail and Raven Tail are actually father and son! However, based on the fact that they both bare such different guild marks speaks volumes about their relationship. Family drama does tend to make things more exciting, and some people are even getting goosebumps."

"Alright then competitors, it's time for you to step forward!" Mato made the call, which then prompted both Lucy and Flare to step forward "Your battlefield for this match is going to be made up of this entire arena, and since this is a one on one fight we've made sure to remove the rest of your teammates completely off the field! You have a time limit of 30 minutes to finish the battle or else it will end in a draw."

"Good, that's plenty of time." Flare shot a grin at Lucy with that wicked and potentially unstable gleam in her eyes.

"No problems on your end Miss Heartfilia?"

"No problems whatsoever." Lucy's expression remained firm and unwavering "There's no way I'm losing to you in this fight."

"If you can knock out your opponent or make them forfeit within the 30 minute time limit then you win. I want you both to make this a good and clean fight, now let's rumble!" once the gong sounded to start the battle, he disappeared in a flash.

'I don't know the first thing about her but I can tell that she's got a lot of magic power compared to some of the other contenders, I'd better not take any chances! I call upon the power of the Golden Bull, Taurus! Star Dress: Taurus Form!" Lucy held up one of her golden Zodiac keys and was engulfed in a flash of light, and when the light dissipated she was clad in her Taurus Star Dress, complete with her Celestial Whip "Earth Wave!" and then she followed up by striking the ground around her with the Celestial Whip, rupturing the earth around her at a rapid level of speed.

'Shit!' Flare was sent flying by the use of the Earth Wave, but she quickly managed to recover in mid air "Is that all you can do blondie?"

"Far from it, I'm just getting started! Now open, Gate of the Scorpion, Scorpio!" still clad in her Star Dress, Lucy pulled out a second Zodiac key and opened the gate.

From the gate in question emerged Scorpio himself in all of his glory "Wicked, now this is one hell of a party!"

"Yeah you're telling me. Now that I've had my Second Origin released, I have enough excess magic power to be able to release two Celestial Spirits at once, or better yet, I can summon one of them at the same time I use a Star Dress! Start with a frontal assault, I'll follow up with my own attack right behind you!"

"Way ahead of you! Sand Buster!" Scorpio shot forward a large wave of sand from the tip of his tail.

"Hair Shower: Flame Shield!" with a maniacal laugh, Flare summoned her hair forward and coated it with flames that proved to be enough to cancel out Scorpio's attack.

"Dammit!"

'She's using some kind of fire magic coming from her hair, looks like she's got a few more tricks up her sleeve than I was expecting. Alright then, I think it's time for us to kick things up a notch or two, so get ready!" Lucy morphed her Celestial Whip into a Celestial Axe (or Labrys) and wrapped the sand around it "Okay I've got it!"

"Damn right you got it girl, now let's go!"

"Right! Sandstorm Wave: Aldebaran!" Lucy leapt forward towards Flare and brought down her axe, engulfing the entire battlefield in a powerful sandstorm 'This feels incredible! Now not only can I use the power of two Celestial Spirits at once, but I can combine their attacks so that I can do even more damage! I guess this means that my training really is paying off. Thanks a ton for your help Scorpio, that was awesome, but I think I can take it from here."

"Show this crazy chick how wicked you can be!" Scorpio quickly gave Lucy the devil horns hand gesture, and then he disappeared.

"I'd better not take any chances either, I'll give here everything I've got! I call upon the power of the Lion, Leo! Star Dress: Leo Form!" she held up a key, and with a flash of golden light she materialized her Leo Star Dress "Alright then, your name was Flare right? Well now is when the real fight starts."

Flare was sent tumbling to the ground in a heap, her eyes blazing with fury as she pulled herself back to her feet "You're gonna pay for that blondie, I'm gonna make you beg for mercy!"

"We'll see about that." with a flash, Lucy blitzed through Flare with remarkable levels of speed, leaving behind a trail of golden colored energy and a large burn mark across Flare's face 'Each of the Star Dresses I've unlocked up until now have a certain attribute that makes it different from the others, but the Leo form has such a level of speed, strength and agility that it's a league above the others. This way I'll be able to see her attacks coming with ease, so that way I'll have an easier time avoiding them. I can't afford to slack off in this fight though, not when I know that her guild is in this just to make ours suffer.'

"Don't think you can let a few good moves go to your head blondie!" Flare spat out some blood and charged towards Lucy, letting a barage of hair strands shoot forward to try and impale her.

Using her enhanced strength and speed, Lucy was able to dodge and weave her way around each strand of hair with ease, until she found the opening she had been looking for "RegulusLucy KICK!"she then blitzed through the barrage of hair and dealt Flare a Regulus-enhanced kick to the chest that sent her skidding backwards.

"I'm gonna kill her, I'm gona fucking kill her! Hair Shower: WOLF FANG!" with her rage clearly growing by the second, Flare shot forward a large amount of her hair as it morphed into the appearance of a giant wolf.

'So she can ignite her hair with flames and morph it into a wolf too? Looks like her magic is more interesting than I gave her credit for, but I'm prepared for this. Regulus IMPACT!" with only a second to spare, Lucy fired forward a Regulus Impact blast, incinerating the giant hair wolf on the spot "You and your guild aren't gonna be killing anyone else, not as long as I have a say in it!"

"No my hair, my beautiful hair! You little bitch, you went and torched it! HOW FUCKING DARE YOU!" now pretty much over the edge, Flare sent a large amount of her hair underground to try and grab Lucy that way.

Seeing this coming, Lucy leapt into the air to avoid being grabbed.

Still seething with rage, Flare sent forward a number of treces of Lucy's hair to try and grab hold of her.

Lucy was able to dodge the attempts to grab her using a number of back flips, blitzing past each attempted grab as she tried to find an opening, and when she did she blitzed towards Flare and unleashed a rapid barrage of punches, kicks and slashes from her Celestial Whip.

Flare was quickly forced on the defensive, trying to block or weave her way around each attack, but then she sent another barrage of hair forward.

Lucy was able to leap over the barrage of hair with ease, as well as dodge the next few attacks being hurled forward "Regulus Lucy KICK!" seeing an opening, she promptly dove forward and dealt Flare a solid Regulus-enhanced kick to the chest, sending her tumbling backwards a great distance in a heap.

"Woah mama, this is absolutely incredible! These two ladies clearly have no intention of giving the fans in the stands a chance to catch their breath, nor do they intend to back down from this battle between the guilds of father and son! One of the ladies is down now, but it's safe to say that neither of them are close to giving up just yet."

With a brief moment of calm taking over the battlefield, Lucy stopped to catch her breath and let out a deep sigh 'Okay so far so good, the uses of the Star Dress actually require me to use a little bit less magic power than when I'm actually summoning my spirits, though not by that much either.'

"Oh what's the matter blondie, you starting to run out of breath?" Flare pulled herself back to her feet and spat out some blood, a wicked grin plastered across her face "Is it because you're left breathless at the sight of my beautiful red hair?"

"Not really, just breathless that I'm getting the chance to make you and your guild pay for killing some of my friends."

"We'll see about that. I don't believe this, I've been fighting with everything I have and my beloved scorching red hair has barely been able to scratch her! Damn you blondie, you're gonna pay for undermining my hair like this!'

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Meanwhile, in the stands…

Cana let out a low whistle "Looks like Lucy is definitely going to town on that chick, not that I blame her."

"There's no doubt that she's the more capable wizard in this battle." Rogue noted, his demeaner ever stoic, but giving a small smile that was barely noticeable "I may not have seen her in battle before today but I was still able to sense her magic power the last time we met, and she was nowhere near the level that she's at now. It's pretty impressive."

"Fro thinks so too!"

"Yes, thank you Frosch."

"Yeah I know the feeling." Luke breathed a sigh "She's made leaps and bounds in progress over the last few months, I know from experience since I tested her abilities before we left Magnolia, so that I could see for myself just how far she had come. To be completely honest, if it wasn't for her scent and that nostalgic feeling I get whenever I'm around her."

"Nostalgiac feeling?"

"Yeah I don't really know how to explain it, but whenever I'm near Lucy there's something about her that just puts me at ease. I don't really know how to explain it properly, but it just feels really familiar."

"So you noticed it too? I thought something seemed unique about her. She has sort of a calming effect that I usually only experience whenever I have Frosch with me. But aside from that unique feeling about her, she has made some considerable progress in her battle prowess. This fight may be over sooner than we believe it to be."

"I guess there's only one way to find out."

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Meanwhile, back in the arena…

"GOD DAMMIT!" with a shriek of rage and frustration, Flare sent her hair hurtling forward, but rather than have it attack Lucy directly, she had it burrow into the ground at a rapid speed.

'What gives, what the heck is she doing?' despite her mind racing, Lucy made sure not to let down her guard 'Is she gonna try and attack me from underground again? Crap this is bad, I can't sense any of its movements underground. I know that it's travelling beneath me, but this area is too big for me to narrow down exactly where it is without it attacking first.'

"Let me guess, you're wondering where my hair is going to pop up? Well why don't you take a look and see for yourself." Flare shot a wicked grin at Lucy and pointed over at the stands, or to be more specific, where the other Fairy Tail wizards were cheering them on, and then she froze on the spot when she saw one strand of hair creeping up behind Asuka, not that anyone actually noticed it "Asuka look out for-" she was silenced by a large amount of Flare's hair wrapping itself over her mouth to silence her, and then hurling her to the ground 'Don't tell me, is she actually trying to hold Asuka hostage so that she'll beat me?! I shouldn't be surprised that they would resort to playing dirty… Wh-What do you think you're-"

"Let me stop you right there blondie, I'm doing you a favor by telling you to keep your worthless trap shut for now if you want the girl to live. I dare you to try calling out to your friends up there in the stands, do that and I'll snap that girl's neck like a twig faster than you blink, so be a good little bitch and take your punishment with a smile. No one notices it now and no one is going to notice it, if I wanted to then I could take that little brat out before anyone even realized."

'This chick is insane, what the hell am I supposed to do?! I can't just let everyone down by doing nothing, but if I do try and fight back then Asuka is as good as dead!'

"Now keep your trap shut, don't move a single muscle and keep your magic to yourself, no more of those Requip spells of yours. Disobey me in any way, shape or form and I'm gonna snuff the little one out like a candle before you can even blink. You got me?"

'D-Dammit… I don't have a choice… the match isn't worth Asuka getting killed…' gritting her teeth in frustration, Lucy forced herself to power down from her Star Dress back to her normal form.

"I said you got me blondie?!" Flare's hair grabbed Lucy by the ankle and hurled her across the arena, sending her tumbling to the ground in a heap, but she wasn't done yet and then went on to brutalize Lucy with her hair, laugina maniacally all the while.

'Dammit, what do I do?'

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The sudden turn the battle was taking was not a welcome change in the eyes of many of the wizards of Fairy Tail that were present, with many of them questioning why Lucy wasn't fighting back or summoning her spirits when she was doing so well before. This sudden turn of events was all something that the audience found to be disappointing as well.

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"And in the blink of an eye it would seem that the fight has taken a turn in favor of the Raven Tail guild! The fight has switched gears faster than anyone could've predicted, I'm not entirely sure what happened but it would seem that despite having a strong start at the beginning of this battle, now Lucy Heartfilia is on the receiving end of a brutal beatdown.'

'D-Dammit…' still at Flare's mercy against her will, Lucy looked up at the stands and saw plain as day that Asuka was still unknowingly being held hostage 'I can't do anything or Asuka is as good as dead.'

"So how about it blondie, are you feeling the burn?!" Flare continued attacking Lucy with no restraint, her hair being coated with flames as she continued her beatdown "So do you like that one, or that one, or how about that one?!"

'Everyone… Wendy… Gray… Luke… all of my friends… Why do I have to be so different from all of them? Even after all of my training I'm so useless, and they all act so cool like they've done this thousands of times over, and they have! They're all acting so calm and collected and I'm so pathetic, why can't I keep up with them? I'm sorry guys… but I can't do this anymore… That's enough… I surrender-" her attempt to forfeit was cut off by Flare gagging her with her Crimson Hair again.

"I'm pretty sure that I told you I didn't want you talking during this blondie, did you forget those rules I set up? How dare you defy me you pitiful blonde slut!" Flare promptly used her Crimson Hair to bind Lucy's arms and legs, her smirk widening at Lucy's muffled screams "You can't just up and quit in the middle of a warmup, not when I have so many delectable things that I want to try out on you. Now I want you to be a dear and take your punishment like a big girl, can you do that for me? And I know I said I don't want you talking during this, but you are allowed to scream and cry for me. I'd actually prefer that. Now let's see, what do you think I should have you do first? Peeling off that skimpy outfit of yours might be a fun show for everyone, so would you like to put on that fun show for everyone? But then again I'm feeling rather artistic right about now, and I think your body would be the perfect canvas for me. I think I'll brand it with the mark of Raven Tail, would you like for me to do that?" she ignited a small portion of her crimson locks and started inching it ever closer to Lucy "So how about it, where would you like for me to put this? Oh wait now I know, you want it on top of that Fairy Tail mark you have on your hand don't you?"

"No please don't, put it anywhere but there!"

"I thought I told you to keep it down!"

"No no no, plese I'm begging you!"

"What the hell did I just say blondie?"

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Meanwhile, with Team B…

"Dammit, this isn't right!" Mira gritted her teeth at the sight of Lucy being tortured by Flare for all of the arena to see "There's definitely something wrong with all of this, why the hell aren't you guys just-" she whipped around to face the others, only to cut herself short when she took notice of the sight of Luke holding Frosch on one arm, and Rogue nowhere in sight "Okay, so where's Mr Personality and why are you holding his frog?"

"First of all, this little guy isn't a frog, he's an Exceed in a frog suit." Luke told her flatly "And second, I'm holding onto him because Ryos thrusted him into my arms and then took off running before any of you noticed, and before you ask a second question, he took off the way he did because the sense of a Dragon Slayer don't lie. We both heard her loud and clear, the only difference is that he acted first. Plus he's got something to prove."

"And what would that be?" Laxus shot a raised eyebrow in his direction.

"That he's not like the other members of his guild, he actually cares enough to show compassion to others when he feels it's called for."

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Meanwhile, with Rogue…

'The senses of a Dragon Slayer are harder to fool, I and a number of others here heard what she was saying loud and clear.' as it turns out, Rogue was blitzing across the stands until he reached the section where the rest of Fairy Tail was located, and with one quick surge of dark magic power he managed to incinerate the hair that was threatening Asuka "The only reason she wasn't fighting back was because she was trying to protect the child. Let this be a lesson: Awareness of your surroundings is crucial, whether you're on or off the battlefield." this quickly drew the attention of those on the battlefield, and he gave a simple nod being aimed at Lucy, but the message was clear 'You've taken enough tortute onto yourself, the child is safe now show her what you're truly capable of.'

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Meanwhile, back in the arena…

'I see, so Fairy Tail wizard or whatever, he still saved her. Thank you.' seeing that Asuka was safe thanks to the actions of Rogue, Lucy managed to maneuver just enough to pull out one of her golden Zodiac keys "I call upon the power of the Lion, Leo! Star Dress: Leo Form!" with a golden light engulfing her body, she flashed into her Star Dress form, the enhanced levels of physical strength allowing her to break free of Flare's bindings, sending both of them skidding back a great distance, though her mind was racing 'I took a lot more damage from that than I would've liked, I don't have a ton of magic power left. I don't like taking huge risks like this, but the best chance I have of winning this will probably be to go for the big one. I don't know for certain if I can do it properly, I haven't practiced this one anywhere near as much as I would've liked to, but I guess there's only one way to find out. First I'd better pull out a precaution to make sure she can't interrupt it. Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!" she pulled out a key and opened the gate.

Sure enough, from the gate in question emerged Taurus in all of his glory "You summoned me to your side Miss Lucy, I'll do whatever you ask of me in exchange for a nice big smooch."

"Yeah we'll deal with you being a perve later, I'm kind of in a bind right now. I've already got a plan in mind to beat her but I need some time to carry it out. A few minutes should be all that I need for it. Can you stall her until then?"

"No need to worry Miss Lucy, you get moooving with whatever you've gotta do, and I'll moove in and buy you the time you need. Just remember to give me that smooch later." and so he pulled out his axe and charged into the fray, launching a rapid barrage of attacks towards Flare that kept her going on the resistance.

"Alright then, here goes nothing."

"Well this is a welcome turn of events, after spending several moments on the receiving end of a brutal beating, Lucy Heartfilia has once again turned the tide of the battle and seems to be preparing to cast a new spell she hasn't shown us before. During this time, the Celestial Spirit that she summoned would have to be Taurus the Golden Bull of the 12 Zodiacs."

With a deep breath, Lucy spread out her hands as she prepared her last resort spell "Oh stars far and wide that embody the Heavens, let thy radiance reveal thy form to me. I implore you oh tetrabiblos, ruler of the stars, let your unrestrained rage flow."

"Maybe I didn't make myself clear you smelly hunk of beef, I said that anyone who sides with that blondie won't get any mercy from me!" quickly losing her patience, Flare didn't waste any time in trapping Taurus and using her hair to burn him across his arms and legs, and then send him flying, which caused him to disappear and return to the Celestial World, but then she took notice of what Lucy was doing "What the hell are you up to blondie, what the hell is that spell you're using?"

"Even after all of my training this won't be anywhere near as strong as the last time I used it in a battle, but I must ask that you lend your power to me, and I pray that it will be enough for me to show her."

Now Flare was growing nervous "Okay seriously what is this, what the hell sort of crazy spell are you casting?!"

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From the stands of the Blue Pegasus guild, Hibiki was quick to figure out what Lucy had planned to do, and he couldn't stop himself from congratulating her on learning how to use the spell in question on her own.

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Meanwhile, back in the arena…

"Open the raging tumultuous gates!" Lucy continued preparing her spell, the sheer magic power it was radiating proving to be enough to make Flare stumble back in fear "This is the true power of Fairy Tail! This is it, now I'm placing all of the pride I hold in being a member of this guild into this one final attack! With all of the 88 heavenly bodies shining, I cast thee!"

If Flare wasn't full on freaking out before, she sure as hell was now "What the hell is this, what's with the starry skies?! This doesn't make any sense, stop it!"

"URANO METRIA!" with the preparations finally complete, Lucy unleashed the most powerful spell in her arsenal in all of its glory.

Flare could only let out a scream of terror as she waited for the spell to strike her… but that never happened, as the spell dissipated before it could hit her.

Lucy was left just as dumbfounded as she barely managed to keep herself balanaced, her Star Dress fading out of existence 'The spell didn't work… my Star Dress is gone… I don't get it, what happened… Did someone manage to counter the spell…?'

'Wait a second, was it…?' Flare looked back at the stands for the Raven Tail guild, and her suspicions were quickly proven to be correct 'Obra, so you're the one who saved me…'

'But how… I don't get it…' Lucy's strength finally gave out as she fell to the ground, unable to fight any longer.

"Well I have to say, with a buildup like that I was expecting something a great deal more bombastic, but it would seem that the spell was a complete dud. Anyway Lucy Heartfilia appears to no longer have the strength she needs to even stand, let alone fight. She's down for the count folks, looks to me like that's it for her and you know what that means. The official winner of this battle is Flare Corona of the Raven Tail guild, earning them 10 points!"

"So that's it then, is it…?" Flare slowly pulled herself back to her feet and spat out some blood, and she shot a wicked smirk in Lucy's direction "I did tell you before that I was gonna win didn't I? The fact is that you never stood a chance against me blondie, you never have and you never will either! You're just pathetic, how does it feel to be such a worthless loser! Maybe next time you'll think twice about challenging the superior opponent!"

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The reaction to Lucy's unexpected loss was mixed to say the least. Fairy Tail was quick to catch on to the fact that Flare had received outside help and was furious, and Makarov was left to wonder if Ivan wanted to take the fight outside the ring. Other wizards from various different guilds also took note of Raven Tail's cheating and cowardice, such as Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale.

Unfortunately, not everyone was so observant, and many of the spectators in the audience started booing Lucy and mocking her over her supposed inability to control her magic power, and how Fairy Tail as a whole was pathetic in their eyes.

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Meanwhile, down in the arena…

'D-Dammit… I trained so hard… I thought I made so much progress, and yet…' as a result of the pain and humiliation of her loss, Lucy was left huddled on the ground with tears streaming down her face, and when she looked up at the sound of footsteps she found Rogue looking down at her, his expression as stoic as ever, with Frosch riding on his shoulder "Great let me guess, you came to gloat about how your guild is superior in every way, and mock me for how pathetic I am?"

"This might seem hard to believe, especially given that you've actually met at least one of my guildmates, but not everyone in Sabertooth is as petty as that." Rogue told her flatly, but then his expression softened ever so slightly "I can see it in your eyes. You're allowing your failure, which was the fault of people who resort to cheating just because they know they're outclassed, to cloud your own faith in your abilities aren't you?"

"It's just… I don't get it, why is it that I'm so different from the rest of them? I spent these past few months working so hard, pushing myself until it hurt, doing whatever it took to get stronger than I was, but now that it actually matters, all it takes is some cheater to make me see just how meaningless it was? Is that all I'm worth?"

"You can't afford that kind of self doubt on the battlefield, that sort of self doubt can lead to the wrong decision that could cost you your life, along with those around you. The fact is that right now you stand here as a wizard deemed worthy enough to compete in the Grand Magic Games, as an equal among your fellow contenders. If you joined your guild of your own free will, if you were chosen to participate in these games, then you have to compose yourself and grow stronger than you already are. There is nothing to ashamed of when it comes to being weak, but there is something to be ashamed of if you are content with staying weak. If you're not satisfied with the level you're at right now, then resolve yourself to get stronger, if not for yourself, then for the sake of those around you."

"...You're right. I spent the last three months working as hard as the others did, training myself with Capricorn until my bones cracked, pushing myself to get as strong as possible, doing whatever it takes so that I could stand by the others as equals and not have to rely on them to fight my battles for me. I'll never back down again and give into any doubts. I'll never run away and I'll give it everything I've got. You can count on that."

"You have spirit if nothing else. It would seem that my initial thought about you was correct, you are more intriguing than most of the others. Go and see the others on your team, show them that you're okay." and with that, he took his leave, leaving Lucy alone for the momet.

"...You're right. Thank you Rogue." and on that note, Lucy pulled herself back to her feet and made her way back to the tunnel leading to the stands, where she found Erza and the others waiting for her "You don't have to say it guys, I already know. I can't let myself get destroyed over something like this, we'll just have to pay them back for it and for everything else they've done and will do. As far as I'm concerned, the fact that I was 7 years out of practice and still able to fight against her proves that all of us have a fighting chance in this world. 0 points is more of an opportunity for all of us to make an epic comeback."

The others didn't say anything, because nothing needed to be said, and instead they all just gave her smiles of approval.

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After a few minutes of intermission, the second match was about to get underway, which consisted of Ren from Blue Pegasus going up against Arana Webb of Mermaid Heel, and being the lover boy that he is, not wanting to look lame in front of his beloved, Ren managed to use his Aerial Phose to catch Arana off guard and claim the victory for Blue Pegasus, boosting their score up to 14 points.

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Meanwhile, up in the stands of Team A…

Erza raised an eyebrow at the sight of Ren's victory "I have to admit, his skills have improved immensely over the past 7 years."

"Tell me about it." Natsu let out a low whistle "You don't think this guy is stronger than Ichiya now do you?"

"Natsu that's completely unrealistic, while I admit that Ichiya is as eccentric as they come and very rarely in a good way, he is quite the extraordinary man, and he is without a doubt the most powerful wizard in all of the Blue Pegasus guild.

"You're serious, you mean that little troll?"

"I know it might seem strange but looks can be deceiving, and don't even think about trying to fight him right now."

"I wasn't thinking that!"

"Yes you were, we all know you. If you want to fight him so bad then at least save it for the actual games. Still though, one thing that I can't help but wonder about is who it is hiding in that rabbit suit."

"So you think that thing is messed up too huh?" Elfman let out a sigh "Well that's pretty good to know I have to admit, I didn't want to be rude or anything but I've been cracking up ever since I first saw him."

"Yes I know the feeling, there's something very strange about that one." Erza had no idea how right she was.

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Following a few breather moments from the last battle, the third battle of the day was announced, which consisted of Warcray from Quatro Cerberus going up against Orga from Sabertooth.

From their place in the stands, Sting was watching over the two contenders as they made their way into the ring "Hey check it out they're putting in Warcray, this is gonna be good. Have you guys seen his magic before? It turns out pretty entertaining whenever he uses it."

"Yes indeed, I find it to be rather fascinating." Rufus gave a simple nod "As a matter of fact, it's something I found to be worth committing to memory."

"It's good enough to make into one of those Ear Rape videos on You Tube."

"I need to hear it like I need a root canal." Rogue told him flatly "There are very few wizards in these games that actually interest me, and this one is not one of them."

"But apparently that blonde chick from Fairy Tail is."

"And that amuses you?"

"Hey don't worry about it man I get it, busty blonde that knows how to throw a punch on some level, there's a lot worse to go for out there."

"She displayed interesting abilities in her battle, and you both know as well as I do that if not for the outside interference that prevented her from finishing her opponent, she very well would've won that fight."

"Well she should've thought of that before she decided to go and get her ass kicked. And for the record, if this fight bores you so much then why are you sticking around?"

"Because I haven't forgotten what happened the last time I let Frosch alone with you."

"Oh come on, you pawn him in a poker game one time!"

"Seven times. Besides, if Iwere to leave now then the chances of me missing a fight that's actually worth watching would increase substantially."

While that little exchange was going on, Frosch turned to Lector from where the two of them were standing on the balcony "Fro wants to know who you think is going to win."

"Oh come on Frosch, do you seriously have to ask me that?" Lector let out a scoff "Anyone with half a brain cell knows that Orga has this one in the bag no problem."

"Oh, so you mean he rigged the fight?"

"Look Sting is the best wizard we've got without a shadow of a doubt, but the fact is that we don't have a single member that's as weak as those Fairy Tail punks. Seriously Frosch, if you don't even know that much then you must be even dumber than I thought you were."

"Fro might be dumb, but Fro is still cute."

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Down in the arena, the battle between Orga and Warcry finally began, and Warcry was quick to make a move that shocked many of those present: He burst into tears almost instantly, and then he turned to Orga and screamed out an explanation for this: It turns out that the more he cried, the more powerful he became. However, this didn't pan out very well, as Orga simply responded to this by holding out one hand and attacking Warcry by unleashing a massive blast of black electricity, this attack alone being enough to knock Warcry out cold and leave many of those present stunned.

As Sabertooth was declared the winner of the match and Warcry was carried out of the arena on a stretcher, Sting decided to call out to Orga about how fast paced it was, and how he should've made things more fun. Orga then responded to this by snatching the mic away from Mato and then rapping for all of the audience to hear, for many of them to try and boo him out of the arena, and then for the rest of them to start laughing, cheering and/or screaming about how Sabertooth was the best guild.

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Meanwhile, back in the stands of Team B…

About 10 minutes passed for things to calm down.

Luke was in the middle of doing some stretching when he looked back to see Cana make her way towards the group "So how's Lucy holding up after all that happened?"

"Well according to Erza she's doing pretty well, she said something about taking a shower to just calm herself down." Cana gave a shrug "Not that I blame her for that."

"Who could blame her for it? Still though, screwed over or not she did well in her fight. She's really grown a lot since she came to Fairy Tail, and that's pretty much what it does. Aside from making all of us part of the same family, it helps all of us to grow not just as wizards, but as people too."

"Yeah, it's done a lot for everyone who's part of it. But enough reminiscing for the time being, did they start the next match yet?"

"No not yet, first they had to chase that lightning mage from Sabertooth out of the arena and make him give up the mic. Apparently he's got a thing for rapping."

"And you were one of the guys who booed him out of the place." Gajeel pointed out dryly.

"I like what I like and let's face it, he was totally ripping you off. And let's face it, his voice actually does sound like nails in a garbage disposal."

"I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just saying

"No they're just about to, they haven't said who it is yet. But be that as it may, something about it is really starting to get my blood pumping."

"Well it's been quite the interesting first day for the Grand Magic Games and the matches are about to come to an end, but before that happens we do still have one more battle that we have to get through. There are only two teams that we haven't seen yet, so the matchup will have to be between Team Fairy Tail B and Team Lamia Scale, and these two guilds used to be equal in skill so this should prove to be quite the interesting battle, and I personally can't wait to see which of these teams will come out on top. Alright then ladies and gentlemen, I hope that you're ready for this one. The final match for the first day is going to be Luke Drako from Team Fairy Tail B going up against Jura Neekis from Team Lamia Scale!" this announcement was met with an absolutely massive amount of screaming and cheering from the audience.

"...Okay, I wasn't expecting that one. Me right off the bat huh, and to think I'm going up against the likes of a Wizard Saint."

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"For those of you who aren't aware, Luke Drako had made quite a name for himself in the past as one of the strongest wizards that Fairy Tail had to offer, with his mastery over lightning magic and swordsmanship putting many powerful warriors to shame, among them being a former member of the Ten Wizard Saints."

"So it would seem that I've been selected to fight earlier than anticipated." Jura started making his way through the tunnel to the arena, but stopped when he found Xian standing in front of him looking firm "Is there something that troubles you?"

"I simply came to offer you my best wishes for this match." Xian told him calmly "No one in the kingdom can deny the amount of power you possess, but you should know as well as I do that this match will not be an easy one for you to claim victory."

"Believe me my friend, I'm well aware of that. Worry not, I shall do my best, and if I should fail in this battle, then that means I have that much further to progress in my training." and so he calmly made his way out into the arena amidst heavy fanfare and cheers 'So many people fail to realize that the title of a Wizard Saint is little more than that, a title. Even I do not know the reasons why the Magic Council decided to honor me with the title of a Wizard Saint, but I do my best on a daily basis to ensure that I honor it to the best of my ability, even if I have doubts that I will ever reach the same level as the likes of Master Makarov or other Wizard Saints.'

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Meanwhile, with Team Fairy Tail B…

Luke breathed a sigh as he strapped his dragon scale sword onto his back "Well I definitely didn't expect this to happen, I guess luck just isn't on my side. I mean having to fight on the first day of the games sounds pretty miraculous in itself, but fighting a Wizard Saint?"

"From what I can tell he's just some giant bald priest, is he really as tough as everyone hypes him up to be?" asked Gajeel.

"Don't forget that he's one of the Ten Wizard Saints, he's right up there with Makarov and Jose after all."

"Okay seriously, you've gotta cool it with the modesty act." Cana told him flatly "The fact is that we all know that you're the strongest out of everyone in either of our teams, you've beaten a Wizard Saint before and a crap load of other tough guys and you can and will do it again, so quit it with doubting yourself all the time."

"...Not bad for an inspirational speech."

"Thanks, I've been practing that. My point still stands though."

"Yeah I know. Alright here goes, wish me luck." so with a deep breath, Luke started making his way towards the arena 'Cana's right, I've fought tooth and nail to protect Fairy Tail and everyone in it time and again, so why am I letting my doubts get to me now? Well whatever the reason, that's not something I can afford to dwell on now or ever. The fact is that right now I have a job to do, and I'm gonna give it everything I've got. Wendy, Gray, Juvia, Lucy, and for all of you, especially Cana, I'm fighting for all of you.'

'You'd better give it your all out there Luke, I didn't fall in love with you because you let your doubts cloud your faith in your own abilities. I fell in love with you because of your kind heart and your unwavering conviction and determination. Now show that to all of them right here and right now.'

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A few minutes later, in the arena…

It wasn't long before Luke made his way into the arena, his expression calm and focused and filled with unwavering determination, and he found Jura waiting for him 'I never was really one to enjoy fighting just for the sake of fighting, but there's very few things that make me happier than being able to fight for the sake of those I hold dear. Sorry I kept you waiting for as long as I did."

"I must apologize to you as well." Jura gave a smile "Personally I would love to see Fairy Tail do well in this competition, but I'm afraid that the old hag would undoubtedly throw a fit if I were to let you win this battle without fighting you with all of my effort. Again I must offer to you my sincerest apologies, but I won't be holding back."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you. I don't plan to hold back against you either, it's only common courtesy after all. Of course we do want to give the people a good show at the same time, so what do you say we start with some smaller stuff and then work our way up to the more powerful spells?"

"I believe that would be prudent."

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Meanwhile, up on the stands…

'Come on Luke my boy, we're counting on you.' Makarov glanced over to notice Mavis looking rather glum "I assure you that you have nothing to worry about First Master, Luke is highly capable and we all have the utmost faith in his abilities. You know he actually defeated at least one man who holds the same title as Iron Rock Jura, so I think it's quite safe to say that if nothing else, Luke can definitely hold his own. Is there something wrong?"

"No it's not that, sorry about this, I have been listening but I actually really need to go to the restroom right now." Mavis was met with various jaw dropped looks from the other Fairy Tail members present.

"How the hell does that work, you're a ghost!"

"Ghosts make about sense as the fact that Teen Titans Go keeps getting renewed." Bolt pointed out dryly, then glanced down at the arena 'Alright it's time for you to show them Luke, show them why Fairy Tail is still the best guild out there.'

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Meanwhile, outside the colosseum…

Jellal sat on a statue overlooking the colosseum, with Ultear and Meldy by his side, observing the current events through a crystal ball 'The battle will start any minute now. Luke, you had best not let down your guard.'

"Alright guys I got the stuff, so what did I miss?" this was when Noah suddenly appeared on the scene with several pizza boxes in hand, only to nearly drop them when he looked into the crystal ball "You've gotta be fucking kidding me, Thunderclap is fighting on the first day? This is gonna be awesome."

"You don't think he's gonna lose do you?" asked Meldy.

"Don't worry about that, I know more about him than the rest of you and I know that he's way too strong, smart and calm to let himself get fucked over like that."

"Even if he tries to show off and make himself look good in front of Cana?"

"There's only one guy I can think of who would fuck up that bad when he's trying to make himself look good in front of a girl, and he's standing right there." he promptly jerked a thumb over at Jellal, earning a frown as a result.

"Well what about you, I mean you're probably even more powerful than Luke is. You'd be able to beat Jura right?"

"That's a lot more simple than just being more powerful than him. He's an Earth magic user and I'm an Earth-based Dragon Slayer. Even if he is more powerful than me, all I have to do is eat whatever spells he tries to throw at me. But whatever the case, the fact is that Thunderclap has got this one in the bag."

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Meanwhile, back in the arena…

"So here we have it ladies and gentlemen, the most powerful lightning magic user in Fairy Tail going head to head with the Iron Rock of Lamia Scale! So the time has come for us to get this final match underway right here and right now!"

"I have to admit, part of me is worried I won't get another chance to do anything for my guild in the games." Luke slowly drew his sword from its sheath and entered a stance "So I'm gonna have to make this one count, and let's make it look good for the audience too okay?"

"I understand completely my friend, and I shall not hold back either. Iron Armor." Jura then dropped into a stance of his own, his body hardening like rock "Would you mind if I were to make the first move?"

"How about simultaneously, does that work for you?"

"Indeed it does, now come."

"I plan on it." and once the gong sounded the two of them started their battle, Luke's fist clashing against Jura's palm before the two of them broke away, and then they started dashing across the arena, Luke's sword clashing against Jura's hardened skin.

Jura pushed back against Luke's blade and leapt away a short distance, then leapt over the blade and attempted to strike Luke with a palm thrust aimed at his stomach.

"Lightning Dragon TALON!" Luke aimed a lightning-enhanced kick at Jura's head, only for him to be forced to retreat back onto the side of the arena wall to avoid another palm strike 'He's definitely gotten a lot more nimble over the past 7 years.'

"Iron Rock Spikes!" with a wave of his hand, Jura sent forward a barrage of iron spikes to try and pierce Luke.

'And his magic is a lot more powerful too.' thinking quick, Luke used a series of small and concentrated bursts of electricity to propel himself along the wall of the arena to avoid the rock spikes, but then he saw Jura pouncing up towards him and gladly met the charge "Thunder Drive!" he promptly activated his Thunder Drive in mid air.

Jura met the blade of Luke's sword with a palm thrust, a powerful shockwave resulting from the collision, though it drew a small amount of blood from his arm 'This Thunder Drive technique of his appears to increase his physical strength and the power behind his spells, it's already enough to break through my iron armor.'

"Lightning Dragon Talon!" Luke dealt Jura a lightning-enhanced kick to the back of the head, and then he charged towards him and began preparing a spell.

"Talus!" recovering from Luke's attack within seconds, Jura summoned a series of rock pillars to catch him before he could be sent flying further.

"Dragon Sword Style: Thunderous Blade Dance!" Luke blitzed towards Jura and fired a series of lightning slashes from the blade of his sword, almost instantly cutting through many of the rock pillars, and then when he got close to Jura he brought down the blade of his sword and charged it with electricity.

"Iron Armor!" thinking quick, Jura coated himself in another layer of iron armor and caught the blade of the sword with his bare hands, his armor quickly shattrering, but he held it just long enough to be able to sent Luke hurtling a short distance away, and then he quickly followed up with a palm thrust to Luke's face, the force sending him hurtling towards the ground and back a great distance.

Despite tumbling well across the arena, Luke managed to stop himself and wipe the blood from his face, then looked up to see Jura return to the ground, shook off the disorientation that came with the blow, and he started coating his fist with electricity "What do you say we kick things up to the next level?"

"I believe that would be prudent. Come then."

"Right." and so the two of them charged, their magic power surging further with each step they took.

"Iron Rock Strike!" Jura let a palm thrust fly forward.

"Lightning Dragon IRON FIST!" Luke let a lightning-enhanced fist fly forward himself and clash against Jura's palm thrust, the clash lasting for a few seconds and sending out a powerful shockwave before the two of them broke away, being sent skidding to opposite sides of the arena as a result of the collision. Once he managed to stop himself, Luke spat out some blood to the side and wiped some of it from his face "I shouldn't be surprised that you've gotten this much stronger, your position as one of the Ten Wizard Saints is well earned."

"A title is just that and nothing more, but your power is remarkable as well. One would never have imagined that you would have been sealed away for 7 years. Your improvement since then is truly remarkable."

"I had a good teacher and good friends to help me out, I never once believed that I got to the level I'm at now all on my own. Not giving it everything I've got would be really disrespectful to the people who taught me what I know and who put their faith in me to win this fight."

"I understand completely, but that doesn't mean I'll hold back agianst you."

"I'd be insulted if you did."

"As I would expect. So shall we continue?"

"As long as you're okay with me making the first move. Lightning Dragon Steam!" thinking quick, Luke stuck one hand into the ground and sent forward a current of electricity across the arena.

Jura was quick to go on the evasive, blitzing and leaping across the battlefield in order to avoid being electrocuted, and once he found an opening he slammed his hands together "Iron Rock WALL!" he summoned a large wall of earth in front of him that was able to disrupt the current and result in an explosion.

'It figures he was able to stop that no problem, but what's his next move going to be.'

"Iron Rock FIST!" from within the smoke, Jura summoned a large fist made of rock from the ground around him and sent it hurtling forward.

"Dragon Sword Style: THUNDER DOME!" with little time to react, Luke thrusted his sword into the ground and erected a dome of electricity around him, which proved to be enough to rip away at the Iron Rock Fist for the most part, but about ⅓ of it still made it through the dome and slammed into him, sending him tumbling back, though he managed to stop himself, albeit with a considerable amount of blood coming from his right arm, though he gritted his teeth and tied a cloth around the wound to stop the bleeding 'Hits like a fucking freight train too, I probably should've seen that coming. I'd better go on the defensive now.' with his Thunder Drive flaring and sword in one hand, he promptly burst forward at full speed.

"Talus!" waiting for the right moment, Jura simply pointed two fingers forward and summoned a series of earth pillars from within the ground in an attempt to corner Luke.

'Shit, he saw me coming and was just luring me in so he could ambush me!' Luke then went on to use a series of small bursts of electricity to propel himself so he would avoid being cornered by the pillars running along the side of one of them until he found an opening and pointed his sword in the direction of where Jura was standing "Dragon Sword Style: THUNDEROUS PURGE!" he spread two fingers across the blade and rained down a blast of lightning from above, causing Jura to cry out in pain as he was engulfed in the explosion that followed 'That won't be enough to finish him, I know that for a fact. I don't like thinking less of my friends in Fairy Tail or other guilds, but it's almost impossible to deny that there are very few wizards in the entire kingdom who can stand on the same level as Jura.'

"Iron Rock FIST!" the smoke cleared to reveal that Jura was still standing firm, albeit a little bit singed from Luke's blast, and he sent an Iron Rock Fist hurtling forward.

'I've gotta time this just right, and… Lightning Dragon DEMOLITION FIST!" Luke sent forward a large fist made entirely out of lightning that engulfed the Iron Rock Fist and hurtled towards Jura at full speed 'Note to self, I've really gotta thank Laxus for teaching me that technique later.'

"Iron Rock Wall!" Jura summoned a wall of earth that managed to protect him from the Demolition Fist.

'Add that to the long list of reasons why the council wanted him to be named one of the Ten Wizard Saints, and looking back I should've realized a lot sooner that I was gonna have to use it if I wanted to come out on top in this fight.' with a primal roar, Luke was engulfed in a massive golden light that nearly blinded many of those present. When the light subsided, his arms, legs and face were covered in dragon scales "I shouldn't be surprised that you forced me to pull this out in a fight, but here it is: Now I'm coming at you with the power of Dragon Force."

"I must admit that I've always been intrigued by what this form is capable of. I'm honored to see it in person."

"Trust me, the honor is all mine. This form isn't something I get to use very often, but I still train with it as much as I can so that when I do have to use it, I can use it to its fullest potential." on that note, he promptly blitzed past Jura with a heightened level of speed, then circled back around and shot towards him.

"Iron Rock WALL!" Jura held out a hand and summoned a wall of earth.

"Dragon Sword Style: Thunderclap STRIKE!" Luke pointed his sword forward and unleashed a powerful blast of electricity from the blade, which proved to be enough to blast clear through the wall and engulf Jura.

"Iron Rock Wall: FISSION!" from within the smoke of the explosion, Jura waved his hand and dividided the Iron Rock Wall into smaller pieces that scattered and started chasing Luke across the arena.

Luke blitzed across the arena and avoiced every piece of rubble with ease 'Thanks to the enhanced speed that comes with Dragon Force, I can avoid each of his attacks a lot easier than I did before.'

"There you are! Iron Rock Fist!" Jura caught onto Luke's movements and sent forward an Iron Rock Fist to try and strike him down.

"Lightning Dragon SURGE!" Luke quickly leapt above the Iron Rock Fist and unleashed a surge of lightning from one hand that both blasted him apart and propelled himself higher up into the air, in which he held one hand and the skies began darkening "Looks like I'm in the perfect position for this one."

'Dammit, so that's what he's planning to do now!'

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Indra's Wrath: DIVINE THUNDERCLAP!" Luke brought down his hand, and with it came a massive blast of lightning raining down from above, one larger than any of the others that Luke had used previously in the fight.

"Rock Mountain!" without much time to react, Jura slammed his hands together and summoned a massive rock golem to protect him a split second before the blast of lightning rained down, engulfing him in the explosion that followed. When the blast subsided, it was revealed that the Rock Mountain was slowly crumbling away, and Jura had suffered some noticeable (but still relatively minor) burns from the blast, and yet he couldn't help but smile "Yes I see, so this is what the power of Dragon Force is capable of. It truly is a sight to behold."

"It didn't come easily I can assure you of that, it's take years of training until my bones cracked to be able to use this power at the level I'm at now. Plus I had a little bit of help from some good friends back when my training for the games first started."

"I believe that I know who it is you're referring to, but unfortunately it would seem that the candid advice that I offered to the master of your guild fell on deaf ears."

"...You're talking about Crime Sorciere?"

"Indeed I am. I've acutally been weary of the actions of Jellal and his guild for a fair amount of time now, but the fact that they've assisted you and your guild in the way they did is a very welcome surprise."

"Well let's just say that there's one of them in particular that I owe a lot more favors to than the rest of them. And like I said, I think the best way to repay them is by using the power they helped me to gain for the sake of Fairy Tail! Lightning Dragon ROAR!" he let out a roar that was accompanied by a powerful blast of lightning.

"Iron Rock WALL!" Jura summoned a wall of earth to protect himself from the blast, resulting in a powerful explosion from the collision, followed by an uneasy calm overtaking the arena for a few seconds.

'This battle has been going for about 15 minutes now, we're a little bit over the halfway point of the time limit. I shouldn't drag this out for any longer than I have to. I'm sure he probably figured this out already, so what's his next move going to be?'

"Iron Rock FIST!" an Iron Rock Fist shot through the smoke towards Luke.

'Asked and answered I guess.' Luke didn't waste a second as he leapt into the air as high as he could do "Dragon Sword Style: Thunderous PURGE!" he spread two fingers along the blade of his sword and summoned a blast of lightning large enough to obliterate the Iron Rock Fist as it rained down "Now for the follow up! Lightning Dragon TALON!" he blitzed down towards the ground in front of Jura with heightened levels of speed and dealt him a lightning-enhanced kick to the face that sent him skidding backwards a great distance "We're running out of time, and since I doubt either one of us would settle for a draw I think we should go ahead and finish this up already."

"I believe that sounds like a fair suggestion. Iron Rock Powder EXPLOSION!" as he then slammed his hands together, Jura went on to summon five large rock spikes that quickly hurtled towards Luke from all sides.

"Dragon Sword Style: Thunder DOME!" thinking quick, Luke thrusted the blade of his sword into the ground and summoned a dome made of electricity, which promptly shredded the rock spikes until there was nothing left, and then he proceeded to charge towards his opponent with his sword pointed forward.

"Iron Rock WALL!" seeing this coming, Jura summoned a wall of earth in front of him for the sake of protecting himself "Iron Rock SPIKES!" and then he followed up by sending a barrage of rock spikes forward.

Fully prepared for this, Luke blitzed through the barrage of rock spikes and cut through the ones in his path as he continued hurtling forward "I'm ending this here and now! Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Indra's Wrath: ROARING THUNDER!" he continued surging forward, and when he reached the rock wall he summoned a blast of lightning in his hand, pouring into as much magic power as he was able to, and with one final move he pierced through the rock wall and reached Jura, pushing forward as the blast ripped through him, leaving a very nasty wound on the right side of his torso and Luke tumbling to the ground in exhaustion, having a hard time getting back onto his feet 'I hope that was enough, because I don't have that much more left in me right now.'

"So this is it… The power of Dragon Force…" with blood pouring from his wound, Jura glanced back at Luke and gave a genuine smile of approval "Excellent work… you fought well…" and then he fell over, hitting the ground with a soft thud.

"So it's over then…" breathing a heavy sigh of relief, Luke finally allowed himself to fall to one knee as a tense silence overtook the arena.

"Spectacular ladies and gentlemen, absolutely spectacular, that's the only word that can describe it! Both of these warriors gave it their all but in the end only one came out on top, and to the surprise of many present including myself, that one was NOT the Iron Rock Jura! The mighty Wizard Saint is down for the count, and therefore the win goes to Luke Drako of Team Fairy Tail B, earning them a solid 10 points!" this announcement was met with a surprising level of cheers from the audience.

"Not bad, but I guess I've still got a ways to go." Luke spat out some blood to the side, then looked down at where Jura was being placed on the stretcher "I'd be honored to fight you again, but on our own terms instead of just a battle between guilds." and on that note, he slowly made his way out of the arena, giving the patented Fairy Tail hand symbol as he did so.

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"Well that's it ladies and gentlemen, that fantastic display of magic power and battle prowess is how we're going to put an end to the first day of the Grand Magic Games, now let's see how the teams are sizing up on the scoreboard! As to be expected, in first place we have Team Sabertooth with an incredible 10 points! In second place, we have Team Raven Tail with 18 points. In third place, we have Team Blue Pegasus with 14 points. In fourth place, following that fantastic display we have Team Fairy Tail B with 11 points. In fifth place, we have Team Lamia Scale with 6 points. In sixth place, we have Team Mermaid Heel with 3 points. In seventh place we've got Quatro Cerberus with 2 points, and right at the bottom we have Team Fairy Tail A with absolutely nothing, 0 points. Well I have to say that it's been quite the exciting first day for the games this year, and the level of talent that we've seen so far is off the charts, and as is to be expected the Sabertooth guild is in first place, while one of the teams from Fairy Tail is in dead last, but the other team managed to reach fourth place thanks to that last battle. But with that being said is only the first day, there is a fair chance that we'll be seeing some notable comebacks in the days to follow. I can barely contain my own excitement, and there's no doubt in my mind that many of you out there feel the exact same way. Now then, I'd like to offer my sincerest level of gratitude to both Mr Yajima and Miss Jenny for joining me here today. It was truly an honor to have the both of you here, and I hope to see you both again."

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Meanwhile, within the tunnel…

Amidst the cheers from the audience over his victory, Luke slowly limped his way back into the tunnel and found the others waiting for him, with Cana standing in front of him and blocking his way through "Well I got us up to fourth place, it could've been a lot worse."

"Yeah, if you didn't look like a sack of meat that got run over." Cana promptly made her way towards her, but then her expression softened as she threw her arms around his neck, her voice soft "Good job out there."

"Thanks, but I'm personally not satisfied with it."

"What are you talking about? You defeated a fucking Wizard Saint." Mira pointed out "I say take what you can get."

"Maybe in most cases Mira, but I can't afford to settle, not as I am right now." Luke gently freed himself from Cana's embrace and started walking down the dark corridor, his mind drifting with each step he took 'I may have defeated Jura today, but there are much greater challenges that I have to overcome. Zeref and Acnologia are still out there, and as I am right now I'm not strong enough to stand against either of them. I have to get stronger, I have to get so much stronger if I want to protect them.' then he stopped walking and breathed a sigh 'But I can't afford to dwell on what ifs, right now the main thing I have to focus on is the games. And maybe one or two other things that I think are worth focusing.' he glanced back at the others, Cana in particular, and gave a small smile.

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Meanwhile, with Team Fairy Tail A…

Erza and the others were looking up at the scoreboard, then turned to see Lucy making her way back towards them "Oh Lucy, it's good to see you out here again. So are you feeling any better now?"

"Well I'm better than I was before, thanks guys." Lucy gave them a small smile, then looked up at the scoreboard, and her face fell "Our team is in last place, but the B team is all the way in the top five. Wait, how the hell did that happen?"

"You can thank Luke for that one." Elfman told her "He fought against Jura and he came out on top and that earned the B team a solid 10 points."

"I shouldn't be surprised, Luke has always been crazy strong."

"Not like we've got anything to worry about." Natsu gave a shrug "I'm gonna be the one competing tomorrow, so you can be sure as hell that I'm gonna turn things around for us. Just you wait and see."

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Unfortunately, things weren't as optimistic and hopeful as everyone would've liked to believe.

As the day was drawing to a close, Carla suddenly bolted awake in the infirmary, clearly terrified by a prophecy she had witnessed.

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"The first day of the Grand Magic Games was, in a few ways, a disappointment for us. The Fairy Tail guild had gotten off to a pretty rocky start, but things were starting to look up for us. But while all of that was happening, none of us could've known that there was something terrible going on behind the scenes. I'm writing to you now that the Grand Magic Games have come to an end, they actually ended a few days ago. This is to my dearest friend Cana Alberona, this is from Lucy Heartfilia."

A/N:

And now we get into the main events of the Grand Magic Games, and not only that, but we also see Team Fairy Tail B in all of its epic glory, and judging by the lineup, they're aiming to push Fairy Tail to the top in a blaze of glory. This is just the first day of that, and to be honest, covering the first day entirely in one chapter made it a lot longer than I thought it would, but I think it was worth it.

So yes, rather than be part of Team A, Luke is the leader of Team B. The reason for that is pretty simple: Jellal. Since he was only posing as Mystogan and didn't really have a Fairy Tail mark, he shouldn't have been able to get past the entrance exam, but putting Luke in his place should balance that out. Besides, putting Luke in Mystogan's place means that I get to have him fight a certain someone later on, which I'm really looking forward to, but I'll get to that in a moment.

So yes, the Hidden event was pretty much the same as in canon. I didn't really see any need to change anything from that one. Gray still decided to participate because of Lyon participating, Juvia because of Gray, and then everything with Gray getting beaten down by Nullpudding and Rufus, which makes it all the more satisfying when they get what they deserve later on in the arc. But like I said, there wasn't really any big noteworthy change in it compared to canon, so I mostly glossed over this one.

Ren of Blue Pegasus vs Arana of Mermaid Heel and Warcry of Quatro Cerberus vs Orga of Sabertooth were the same as canon, mainly because I didn't find either of those fights to be very interesting to be honest. They served their purpose and there wasn't really anything about them I could change.

Lucy still fights against Flare like in canon, and although she puts up a much better fight thanks to her Star Dress abilities, I'm sorry to say that she still had to lose for the sake of showing how Raven Tail had no intention of playing fair and that they were a force to be reckoned with. But don't worry, she does put up a better fight than in canon, like I said. Plus I get to show more of what Rogue's personality is like, how he actually believes in fair play and gives a crap about people outside of his guild, which is more than can be said for the likes of Sting at the moment. Also, for those of you who keep up with my Omake chapters, you'll know that I have plans for Rogue.

Then comes the last event of the day, and the third and final event involving a member of Fairy Tail, in this case Luke, going up against Jura of Lamia Scale and one of the Ten Wizard Saints. Now this fight was one I was really looking forward to doing, showing off the results of Luke's training with God Serena and the releasing of his Second Origin, and showing everyone just a little bit earlier why Fairy Tail isn't to be taken lightly throughout the games.

So just for the sake of clarity, here's the results from the first day of the Grand Magic Games:

1st place: Team Sabertooth: 20 points

2nd place: Team Raven Tail: 18 points

3rd place: Team Blue Pegasus: 14 points

4th place: Team Fairy Tail B: 11 points

5th place: Team Lamia Scale: 6 points

6th place: Team Mermaid Heel: 3 points

7th place: Team Quatro Cerberus: 2 points

8th place: Team Fairy Tail A: 0 point