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.

49. Grand Magic Games VII

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

Altajir95: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. Yeah, Ivan having Demon Slayer magic was an idea I came up with awhile back, and while it's really cool, it serves another purpose of making it so Ivan is an actual threat that's worth taking seriously.

Ragnas Bredvolts: Thanks, I'm glad to see you like it, and I'm also glad to see that you're still keeping up with this story, despite everything that's happening right now. Yeah, I've taken a few liberties with the plot of the arc, but based on your reaction and the reactions I've gotten from other reviewers, I'd say that it's coming along pretty well. As for your own story, I look forward to seeing when the next chapter comes out so I can read it for myself. I hope you continue to enjoy the story, and you have a nice day as well my friend.

Guest: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. Ivan having Lightning Demon Slayer magic was something I came up with awhile back because I wanted to make him into an actual threat, compared to how he was in canon. And yes, the Laxus vs Ivan showdown was something that I was really looking forward to writing, and from the looks of it I say that it was satisfying to all of you.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The third day of the Grand Magic Games had come to an end, but not all was well.

'Who is it, who's the source of this power?' stil in his Mystogan disguise, Jellal made his way through the crowd in the colosseum, when something caught his eye in the form of a suspicious cloaked figure making a beeline towards the exit 'Right there, that's them! At last I've finally found you!' he quickly rushed forward to try and confront the cloaked figure, only to find some unexpected blockage in his way.

That unexpected blockage was Doranbolt materializing in front of him "Hi there."

'What the- Where did he come from?'

"You planning on going somewhere?"

'Dammit not now, they were just right in front of me.'

"I need you to tell me who you are."

'I could knock him out with one hit right here and no. No I can't, everyone here is under the impression that I'm a member of Fairy Tail, so I can't just go attacking the council. Even they would never do something like that. I think.'

"I'm onto you."

"Doranbolt what is it, what's all of the commotion?" this was when Lahar showed up with a squad of Rune Knights trailing behind him.

"You're not fooling me, I know that you're not Mystogan, so who are you really?" he received no reply.

'Dammit, how did he find out about me?'

"I'm going to ask you one last time, who exactly are you?"

"I'm sorry but I don't have time for this, I have some important business that I have to attend to right away." Jellal started walking away, only for Doranbolt to teleport in front of him and grab him by the shoulder.

"Hold it right there, I know for a fact that Mystogan is not in Earth Land."

"I can assure you that I am."

"So you claim, now let me see your face so we can verify." on that note, Doranbolt suddenly grabbed onto Jellal's mask, revealing his true face.

'...Shit, this just went from bad to so much worse.'

"Looks like you finally decided to remove your mask Mystogan, I was wondering when you were gonna do that?"

Jellal's head snapped over to see Luke and Bolt making their way onto the scene "You two are here… Are you alright Luke, you look rather pale."

"I'm fine, I just had a brutal crash course on why I don't drink regularly. Even about two years of hardcore training won't change the fact that me and alcohol don't mix together in any way, shape or form. Anyway there's no need for any of you guys to be so freaked out, given what was about to go down I'm sure you can understand why he chooses to hide his face from the rest of the people here. Mystogan has spent his entire life dealing with the fact that he looks exactly identical to Jellal, so show him a little bit of compassion."

"So you mean that he's not Jellal?" asked Lahar.

"No he's not, both myself and Bolt can testify for that. But if you're still not convinced then let me elaborate, have you ever heard of the world of Edolas?"

"As a matter of fact I have, some of my men told me about it."

"Then I'm sure you know that there's a strong connection to our world, in fact there's an identical twin of everyone in Earth Land living in Edolas."

"So then he looks like him, but that's just a coincidence."

"Pretty much yeah, Mystogan here is nothing more than the Edolas counterpart of Jellal, that's really all there is to it."

"...I see. Thank you for clarifying this matter for us."

"And thank you for understanding my situation." Jellal gave him a simple nod.

"There's no need for thanks, I apologize for my ignorance."

"I don't blame you for it, and just so you know I consider Jellal to be a menace as much as the rest of you do. If I do find them then I'll be sure to notify you." on that note, Jellal started to take his leave, but before he did he turned towards Luke and Bolt "Thank you both for this, I'm in your debt."

"We can't let this become a regular thing." Luke told him flatly "Take my advice and clear out of here while you can."

"I will, I assure you that I'll be gone by the end of the games." and with that, Jellal took his leave of the colosseum.

"In the meantime, we've got our own work to do." Luke and Bolt prepared to take their leave, but stopped when they noticed the look Lahar was shooting in their direction "Something else I can help you with?"

"You know as well as I do that he was the real one." Lahar told him quietly "You have a history of cooperation with the council so I'll let you save face for the time being, but don't expect this to happen again."

"...I'll keep that in mind."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Unfortunately, not everyone was willing to look past Jellal's presence, even if they didn't really know it was him.

As Team Mermaid Heel was exiting the building, Kagura noticed Jellal among the crowd and suddenly felt sick. Milliana and the others tried to call for help, but as they did she quickly took notice of Jellal as well, and she tried to run towards him, but Kagura stopped her, realizing that Fairy Tail had been hiding him, which left Milliana worried.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Nightfall came, and things had calmed down after the day's events had come to an end, but not for everyone.

Makarov made his way to the fountain in the central plaza of the city, but he quickly discovered that Luke, Bolt and Laxus were waiting for him there "Is there something I can help the three of you with?"

"I think we need to address the elephant in the room master." Luke told him "What can you tell us about the Lumen Histoire?"

"...I see, so I take it that Ivan told you about it?"

"I told Luke about it after you guys got back." Bolt told him flatly "Ivan said that's what he was after when he attacked the guild that day."

"I see."

"And he mentioned when we fought, a crap load of times actually." Laxus cut in "It seems that whatever the hell it is, he really wanted to get his hands on it."

"Damn that good for nothing wretch."

"And after I beat the crap out of him he tried to give me some kind of line about how it's the darkest secret of Fairy Tail."

"Did he now?"

"That's not true."

Luke and the others quickly glanced up at the sound of a new voice "First Master."

Sure enough, Mavis appeared before the four of them, her expression unreadable "It's not dark at all, what Ivan says is wrong. The Lumen Histoire is actually the thing that brings light into all of Fairy Tail."

"Keep in mind that you must not tell them." Makarov told her.

"Of course I know that, it's a piece of top secret information that can only be shared with those who bear the title of guild master. Sorry about this you three, I hope you can understand my reasoning for this."

"Don't worry about it First Master, if it's not our place to hear about this then that's really all there is to it." Luke assured her, earning simultaneous shrugs from Bolt and Laxus "We don't have any reason to pry."

"I appreciate that, thank you."

"There is one thing though, if only the guild masters are supposed to know anything about the Lumen Histoire then how did Ivan learn about it in the first place?"

"Well I assume that he learned about it from Precht, the second master."

"You mean Hades right? That would make sense I guess."

"I never thought that he of all people would fall to the dark side. It was such a terrible mistake to choose him as guild master."

"Come on First Master, you can't blame yourself for something like that."

"But it's still my fault, all of it. I was the one who chose him, and…" and then she started tearing up, which promptly freaked out the four of them.

"Oh crap oh crap, what the hell do I do?!"

"I'm just fine, I'm not crying I swear! I swear I'm not! I'm not…" and then she started tearing up again.

"Come on you guys don't just stand there, someone who actually knows what to do go ahead and do something already!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

About an hour later…

After things calmed down all the way, Luke stood with Cana by his side on the balcony of the room in the inn they were staying at "So think it pretty much goes without saying, that was the most awkward day of my life."

"Coupled with the fact that you spent at least ⅔ of today huddled in a pall, hunched over or puking your guts out." Cana pointed out dryly.

"Yeah that's fair, but even so we finally got rid of Raven Tail, so I think that's a definite plus for the day. Still though, I'm making a solemn vow here and now, with you as my witness, that I'm never drinking heavy again for as long as I live. Of course we both know that there's a pretty good chance I'm gonna end up breaking that vow."

"And there's a pretty fair chance the next time that happens is gonna be the next time some drunk jackass drinks you under the table and steals your bra. I'm personally praying no one ever tries that sort of thing again, my insides still feel like they're on fire."

"That goes away after awhile, if that makes you feel any better."

"It doesn't, god only knows why you would do that to yourself."

"The same reason you keep training until your bones crack, well aside from your whole thing about protecting everyone."

"Coping mechanism to deal with all of the insanity?"

"Exactly."

"Still though that does more harm than good."

"Yeah I know, it kind of loses its luster after a while. If it makes you feel any better than I am thinking about cutting back on the drinking, not sure by how much but still."

"You serious about that? What brought that one?"

"I've been doing a lot of thinking since we got back from Tenrou Island." Cana let out a sigh as she gazed up at the star covered sky "I spent more than a decade pining over my dad, how I never really felt like I was deserving of telling him unless I was an S-class wizard. That really took a toll on me, and truth be told, aside from all of the insanity with the guild and everyone, the drinking kind of helped me to sooth the pain, but even then it only worked temporarily, so I ended up falling into a never ending spiral of sorts that I never really tried to climb out of because I always had that weighing me down. But now that it's over… do I really need to keep drinking anyway?"

"Well based on that little speech you just gave, I think you just answered your own question didn't you?"

"Yeah, I guess I did."

"I try to keep my nose out of other people's business most of the time, but I honestly think you cutting back is for the best. That sort of thing kills people, and I want you to be around for as long as possible. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't want to live in a Fairy Tail without you."

"To be honest, that goes both ways." Cana promptly wrapped her arms around Luke's neck and pulled him into a hug "When exactly did you become such a smooth talker?"

"When I started listening to the heart I guess, it's all that anyone can really do."

"And then there's the modesty, chances are it's gonna be your undoing one of these days."

"Well I'll stick with modesty over some arrogant jackass who can't back up all the shit that he talks."

"You mean Natsu?"

"I never named names."

"Yeah but we both know who you were thinking of."

"It's open for interpretation. Well we should probably head back down to the bar and do some damage control before they wreck the place."

"This coming from the one guy in our guild that actually comes even close to giving a damn about property damage."

"Yeah I wouldn't count on that." this was when Bolt popped up in front of them "We've got a pretty big problem in that regard."

"Do I dare to ask?"

"Probably not but I'm gonna tell you anyway. The party started out pretty well, everyone was congratulating Erza, Laxus and Wendy on the way they showed their stuff and things were just good old fashioned fun. And then Natsu happened."

"In what way exactly?"

"He started this huge barrel surfing game that everyone ended up joining in on, with Erza being the first of them."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Even now I remember all of it so clearly. All of the smiles on their faces, all of the drinking and stuffing their faces, all of the singing and dancing, just having some good old fashioned fun in the way only Fairy Tail can. We ended the third day of the Grand Magic Games in pure joy, the best way we knew."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

While Fairy Tail was celebrating their performance on the third day, other members of other guilds throughout the city of Crocus were dealing with their own issues.

From his place at the Sabertooth inn, Sting confided to Lector that he believed that he was going to be fighting against a certain someone the next day, something that excited him greatly.

At the inn for Mermaid Heel, Kagura was in the shower contemplating the meaning of Jellal being in Fairy Tail, while out on the balcony Milliana was wondering about the exact same thing as well. When Risley tried to get her to talk about what was bothering her, Milliana was quick to assure her that nothing was wrong, though they still had to try their hardest to win the Grand Magic Games for their guild.

The man on the mind of the two women, Jellal in this case, was wandering through the streets of the city alone, contemplating the close call that he had today.

All the while, within Mercurius,

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"As the night of the third day of the Grand Magic Games came to an end, all of our feelings and ambitions became intertwined. With each moment that passed, we drew closer to it. Only four days were left until… calamity came down upon us."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Another day came, and the festivities of the games were well underway… with a massive ball of water hovering over the arena.

"It's a sunny day for all sorts of magic and mayhem, and believe me when I tell you that we're ready to kick off the events for the fourth day with one hell of a bang! The first event is a little something that we call a Naval Battle! That's right ladies and gentlemen, you had best strap yourself in for an exciting skirmish in the sea! The entire battle field is made up of a large ball of water that you see above you, if you get forced out of it then you lose the match. The last contestant that manages to stay in will be declared the winner. However, when there are only two contestants remaining inside the battlefield then that is when a special rule is going to come into play. It's a little something we refer to as the 5 minute rule. In this instance, if one of the remaining challengers exits the ring within the first 5 minutes of the final showdown, then they will get last place. Another way you can think of it is that the game ends up turning into an underwater sumo match, but that will make things all the more exciting too. The guest that we're going to have for today is the founder for the Scherazade Acting Troop, Mr Rabian. Now let's see who's gonna be going in for each guild. Oh okay wow that was fast, it looks like they're already going in for each guild. First up we have Sherria going in for Team Lamia Scale, and I have a feeling that she won't be settling for a draw like she did yesterday. Next up we have Jenny going in and hitting the waves for Team Blue Pegasus. After her we have Risley going in for Team Mermaid Heel, you'd be wise not to underestimate her. Also joining the fray, we have Juvia going in for Team Fairy Tail B, she and water go hand in hand so I can imagine that she's going to be at quite the advantage. Coming in next, we have fan favorite Minerva Orlando joining in for Team Sabertooth. Yeah I can hear the cheers from here, I wasn't kidding when I said that she was a fan favorite. With this change to their roster, Team Sabertooth now consists of its five most powerful members, so that's gonna make it all the harder for their competition! And last but not least, we have the Celestial blonde bombshell from Team Fairy Tail A, Lucy Heartfilia!"

Sure enough, Lucy dove down into the water ball, her eyes blazing with determination "I can't dwell on happened on the first day. I might have let the others down then, but I have no intention of letting that happen again."

"Let me tell you know ladies and gentlemen, the scenery very rarely gets much better than what we've got going now. Each of the 7 remaining teams has sent a female challenger clad in a swimsuit to represent them in this event, all of them beautiful and enticing in a multitude of different ways."

"Wait hold on a second man, I'm in here too you know!" that protest came from Rocker of Quatro Puppy, the only male in the Naval Battle "Don't I get some love?"

"Yeah, no one cares about that."

"Oh come on man, that's totally uncalled for!"

"Anyway here comes the start of the deep sea rumble, you have to try and stay in the water for as long as you cn. I hope you're ready for this ladies, and Rocker, because the Naval Battle is about to begin!"

'So we've got a lot of people that we've already seen before, so I should probably start with them for now.' Lucy looked around at her opponents, but then she frowned at the sight of Minerva 'I can probably take most of them out at once if I summon Aquarius, but Juvia is made for this sort of thing and I don't really want to take her out just yet. But then there's that new member of the team for Sabertooth, I don't know the first thing about her but Natsu said she was strong enough to stop one of his Dragon Slayer Secret Art spells.'

"There's the gong, so the time has come for the Naval Battle to begin!"

"I guess it's my turn to get the party started for this round, so get ready! Now open, Gate of the Water Bearer: Aquarius!" Lucy pulled out a golden Zodiac key and opened the gate.

From that gate emerged Aquarius, looking at lot more smug than angry "I hope you're ready you annoying bitches, this is my domain and now I'm gonna show you what that means! Next time learn not to fuck with the alpha! I AM THE HYPE!" and so she promptly unleashed a water torrent that engulfed Sherria and Jenny.

"Now it's my turn! Water Cyclone!" Juvia promptly summoned a magic circle, and from that magic circle emeged a cyclone of water that clashed against Aquarius' Torrent "It's been a fair amount of time since the two of us spoke to each other hasn't it Aquarius?"

"Maybe it has, but if you think I'm gonna hold back on you just because you're one of the few people that I don't hate then you're living in a fantasy!"

"I wouldn't dream of it, in fact I'd be insulted if you did." the clash continued, with Juvia staying firm in her struggle.

"You mean she's actually holding her own against me?!"

"I don't intend to lose to you either, my beloved ice prince is watching this and I would never be able to live with myself if I failed in front of him like that! You hear that as well don't you my rival in the game of love?!"

"For the last time I'm not interested in Gray, I never have been and I never will be!" needless to say, now Lucy was growing frustrated with Juvia's fantasies, though that didn't stop her from having to defend herself against 'Juvia isn't letting up for a single second, since I'm so busy with her the others probably think we're too busy to deal with anyone else. Chances are someone is gonna try and take advantage of that.'

"Now's my chance!" seizing the opportunity, Jenny promptly made a beeline for Rocker and knocked him out of the battle with a single kick, which subsequently turned the event into an official all female brawl "In case you didn't get the memo Mr Speedo, this is a no boys allowed event!"

"With Rocker being eliminated, Quatro Puppy is officially out of the game! The poor guy was caught completely off guard. Of course I don't think the crowd could possibly be any happier about this elimination from the competition since now they're gonna be getting what they and myself wanted this whole time, in the form of an all girl bikini battle! I think I speak for everyone when I say this Jenny, we can't thank you enough!"

"I guess I'd better kick things up a notch or two!" this was when Sherria decided to make her move and pounced at Risley with her Sky God Slayer magic ready.

"Here's a little life lesson for you kid!" Risley was ready for this and slimmed down in order to avoid the attack "You never want to underestimate chubby power, just look at Naruto if you want a good reason why."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Unfortunately, it was around this time that Aquarius decided to call it quits "Okay the hype can only take so much of this, I've gotta get out of here."

"...This is about your boyfriend again isn't it?" Lucy asked dryly "Should I expect another jab from you about me being single?"

"Nice to see that you're actually learning blondie, now put than brain to good use and go wreck someshit." and then she disappeared in a flash.

"Yeah that figures."

"Well that was certainly unexpected, it would seem that Aquarius has decided to abandon her wizard in order to rendezvous with her boyfriend. Ah the sweet vigor of youth, isn't that just sweet and cliche as all hell?"

"Thanks guys that's just what I needed, someone to rub it in. I guess there's only one thing I can do now." Lucy promptly pulled out a second key and held it above her, which promptly bathed her in a golden light "I call upon the power of the Archer, Sagittarius!"

"You fought well Lucy, but without your trump you're through!" Juvia promptly pushed forward with her Water Cyclone.

"That's where you're wrong, if I'm nothing without my spirits then I shouldn't have them, case and point! Star Dress: Sagittarius Form!" sure enough, the light subsided to reveal Lucy, now clad in her Sagittarius Star Dress 'That was way too close for me to be comfortable with, even a split second later and Juvia's attack would've hit me dead on. Like I said, I don't deserve to have my spirits if I rely on them to do everything for me, and now I have the ability stand on my own two feet. You can thank Capricorn for teaching me how to use the Star Dresses."

"You can summon every requip as you please, they won't help you now!" Juvia promptly summoned another Water Cyclone.

"I've always known how powerful you are Juvia, you and the rest of the others in Fairy Tail have all sorts of incredibly abilities you can use. But just because I respect that doesn't mean I'm going to hold back on you! Star Shot!" using her enhanced marksmanship abilities and the bow she summoned along with her Star Dress, Lucy fired forward a barrage of arrows made of magic energy to successfully cancel out the Water Cyclone "You were saying?"

"You have grown stronger Lucy, I can't and won't deny that, but the time has come for me to stop pulling my punches in this fight. I'll take you and all of the others out in a single fell swoop, and I'll do it with this, the newest and most powerful spell in my arsenal, that was unleashed by the awakening of my Second Origin, combined by my lover's heart! Gray my darling, this one is for you! Wings of Love!" with a wave of both arms, Juvia summoned forth a sprialling torrent of water that engulfed Jenny, Sherria and Risley and sent them flying out of the Naval Battle with ease.

'Dammit that's not good, she took the others out in a matter of seconds. Wait I know! Open, Gate of the Ram! Aries!" thinking quick, Lucy pulled out a key and opened the gate.

From that gate emerged Aires, looking as shy and timid as ever "I'm sorry Miss Lucy, did you need me?"

"Yeah actually, can you use your Wool magic to make a wall against this stuff?"

"O-Of course miss!" so as instructed, Aries created a wall made of wool magic to protect herself and Lucy from the Wings of Love attack "I don't know how long this wall will be able to hold it back though!"

"Just do what you can and then I'll improvise from there. Juvia's attack already pushed three of them out though, so that just leaves the two of us and Minerva from Sabertooth. I've got a bad feeling about her though, so no matter what happens we can't let down our guard."

'That was even more perfect than I hoped, after seeing my love in action Gray would have to fall for me!' Juvia turned her attention towards the crowd, only to see Gray looking mortified to a comical extent, much to her obvious dismay 'Why does he look sick? He should be head over heels for me now that he's seen my true feelings!' and then she suddenly found herself falling flat on her face outside the water ball.

"Juvia!What the-"

"After a battle in which she fought valiantly, Juvia finds herself flat on her face outside the ring after taking a surprise attack. As a result of this, she finished in third places and scores a total of 6 points for her team."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It didn't take long for it to come to light that Minerva was responsible for Juvia falling from the ring the way that she did, the members of her team noting that with the magic she had at her disposal, she could've pushed everyone from the ring within a matter of seconds.

They also noted that Lucy was about to be in for a rough fight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, back in the ring…

"As a result of Juvia's sudden elimination from the ring, the only ones remaining are Lucy from Team Fairy Tail A and Minerva of Team Sabertooth, but where did Lucy's Celestial Spirti Aries end up at? She just up and disappeared?"

"No I would suspect that she sent Aries away in order to preserve her magic power."

"Fair enough I suppose, but either way it's a one on one now, so here's the big question on the minds of everyone! Will Saberooth take the gold, or will Fairy Tail catch them by surprise and snatch it away? The five minute rule is now in effect, so if either of the contestants exits the ring before the timer runs out then they will be ranked in last place!"

"Tell me something, is there any particular reason for this special rule?"

"It's like the golden rule of show business, you have to take chances and use the element of surprise to keep people on the edge of their seats."

"This is the end of the line for you." Minerva shot a smirk at Lucy, one full of confidence and malice "I could send you flying out of this ring within the time it takes to blink, but the people came for a show and I intend to deliver. So really it's a matter of whether or not you can survive until the time runs out, and be sure to scream."

"You won't get that satisfaction from me." Lucy tried to rech for one of her keys, only for a ball of magic energy to materialize next to her and then promptly explode, with several more following without giving her a chance to recover, causing her to cry out in pain as she was bombarded with multiple blasts of heat and energy 'What the hell is that? I feel so heavy like I'm made out of led. I can't take many more of those as I am right now, I need to get one of my Star Dresses out here an fast!' she reached for her keys in the pouch on her waist, only to find a very serious problem instead 'What the hell, where did my keys go?'

"Oh I'm sorry, are you looking for these?" Minerva got her attention and revealed that she now held Lucy's belt and her keys, and then she activated another explosion that sent Lucy hurtling towards the edge of the ring.

"Oh no this is bad for them, Lucy is heading straight for the boundary and into last place for the event!"

"Come on, come on, come on!" gritting her teeth, Lucy managed to stop herself before she fell out of the ring, only to be met with another explosion from behind 'What the hell is with this heat, it's unlike anything I've ever felt before! This is bad, if I can't get my keys back then this fight is over. No, I can't think like that. I can't give up now, not when we're so close to getting back to the top. Go ahead and hit me with your best shot, I can take whatever attack you throw at me."

"If you insist." Minerva set off two more explosions that left Lucy with some noticeable burns, but they didn't weaken her spirit.

"I'll keep fighting… I'll do it for as long as I have to…"

"Are you sure about that, you don't want out of this torment as soon as possible?"

"You want me to give up, to scream and beg for it to be over? There isn't a chance in hell of that happening, I'm not giving you that satisfaction. If I quite after my friends and comrades all fought with every ounce of strength they had, then it would be worse than betraying them. I won't do it, you can't hurt me as much as you want but it doesn't mean anything to me! I'll fight and win, my guild will stand at the top once again! I'll do whatever I can to make sure that dream comes true!"

"Is that so?" the timer continued ticking, and now there less than 30 seconds left until the timer ran out.

"This is strange, the two of them are just floating there. Minerva has stopped launching any attacks on Lucy, even though she was so close to victory. The timer has just run out, and now that any chance of either of them coming in last place is gone, it's simply become a battle to reach the top spot."

"And that's my cue." with a look of malice plastered across her face, Minerva promptly hurled a ball of magic energy at Lucy and engulfed her in a blinding explosion, and then another, and another, and several more afterwards, causing her to cry out in pain "Even now you still haven't learned your place have you? Maybe this will teach you who you're dealing with, and to resepct your superiors! We are the members of Sabertooth, the mightiest guild that rests beneath the heavens! You belong with all of the other insects beneath us, grovelling at our feet like the pathetic worm you are!" and then with a wave of her hand she caused Lucy to disappear in a flash of light.

"There's no way Lucy would be able to recover from that- Wait here did she go?"

As it turns out, Minerva had used her magic to teleport Lucy right in front of her, and then she dealt Lucy a brutal kick to the spine.

"She just reappeared in front of Minerva and took a brutal attack to the back! Was it her doing or that of her opponent? Lucy is getting pummeld with overwhelming brutality, even without using any magic power Minerva is dealing her one crushing blow after another and decimating her in the process! This is absolutely horrible, can someone please stop this senseless violence? But since this match is underwater there are no knockdowns, all Lucy can do is take this relentless barrage!"

"Have you learned your lesson now or should I keep beating it into you? I'm personally fine with that, just make sure that you remember this the next time you think about making the foolish mistake of defying me!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, with Team Fairy Tail B…

"Dammit… Dammit…" gritting his teeth furiously, Luke and the others shot simultaneous glares over at the balcony of Sabertooth, seeing all but one of them smirking with malice over the current events taking place "You're gonna pay for this, I'll make sure of it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, back in the arena…

"That's it that's enough, stop the match already!" Mato was quick to make the call, and then the gong sounded to stop the match 'We can't let there by any fatalities during the games, and we definitely can't afford to lose that Celestial Wizard! We have to stop this before it's too late!'

"The referee has stopped the fight, and thus the Naval Battle is over! Despite the overwhelming brutality, Sabertooth takes first place in this event with, as I said, overwhelming levels of brutal force! It doesn't look like Lucy is moving, can we please get the paramedics on the field right away?!"

"So it's over then?" Minerva grabbed onto Lucy's unconscious form by the neck and held her dangling from the Naval Battle.

"Lucy hold on!" now that the battle was officially over, Luke didn't waste a single second in rushing onto the scene, with all of the other members of both Fairy Tail teams following right behind him, and he caught Lucy before she hit the ground "Good, she's still breathing. Okay now come on Lucy I need you to stay with me okay?"

"What in the name of fuck is your problem?!" Natsu rounded on Minerva and promptly let out an outright snarl "You're crossing the fucking line right now!"

"Forget about that Natsu, we'll deal with her late. Right now we've got something more important to deal with, like getting her some help. Wendy hurry, use your sky magic to heal her as much as you can."

"Don't worry, I'll help her as much as I can." Sherria was quick to rush to Lucy's side and get to work, with Wendy doing the same "She's hurt pretty bad, so the two of us should combine our healing powers together."

"Good, that will accelerate the healing process. Now then…"

This was when Minerva herself returned to the ground, receiving a number of furious glares from those present, Luke and Erza in particular "Quite the scornful expressions. You can glare at me as much as you like if that will make you feel better, but you should know as well as I do that I acted within the rules set for the competition."

"I'm not the kind of person to be so blinded by rage that I would overlook a fact like that, but what you shattered beyond recognition is the boundary of basic human decency."

"All I was doing was trying to provide the crowd with entertainment, that's really all that there is to it. To be quite honest you and your guild should be thanking me, she did end up in second place did she not? She would never have been able to do that without my help."

"Is that what you think?" Luke gripped the hilt of his sword, his eyes blazing with rage.

"Hold that thought smart guy." this was when Sting and the others (with Rogue being the exception here) appeared in front of Minerva "If you want to get to milady then you're gonna have to go through the rest of us, or do you not have the stomach for it."

"...Forget it." taking a deep breath to compose himself, Luke removed his hand from the hilt of his sword, his eyes blazing with quiet rage "This sword that I carry with me was a memento given to me by my father, I'm not going to taint it or his memory by staining it with the blood of arrogant pieces of trash like you. I don't care if you are the supposed strongest guild in the entire kingdom right now, if you have any ounce of intelligence to match your arrogance then you'll listen to this warning. Attacking and torturing my friends for shits and giggles is officially crossing the line. It usually does take a lot for me to lose my cool, but I've officially reached my boiling point. If I fight anyone from your guild, don't expect a single ounce of mercy from me. You guys made one critical mistake today: You made this personal." he then turned back towards the others "Come on you guys, we have more important things to do than waste time with the likes of them."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

About a half hour later, in the infirmary…

"Dammit…" Luke and the others looked down at Lucy's wounded sleeping form 'If only I had done something sooner.'

"I know what you're thinking, and you shouldn't be."

Luke glanced up to see Cana and the rest of the B team make their way into the room "Glad to see you guys came."

"It doesn't matter if we're on different teams, we're all in the same guild and we have to stick together. So how is she holding up?"

"She's been a lot better, but according to Porlyusica she's gonna pull through, and for that we have Wendy and Sherria to thank. With the two of them combining their healing magic she's gonna make a full recovery. All things considered, what she had to go through today could've been a hell of a lot worse."

"They're gonna pay for that." Natsu let out a snarl "Every last one of them is gonna pay for what they did to her."

"For once I have no intention of arguing with you about that."

"Guys…" this was when Lucy slowly cracked one eye open and looked around at everyone present, her voice soft "You guys… I'm sorry…"

"Lucy what could you possibly have to apologize for?"

"What do you think, I screwed up again."

"Lucy listen to me, no one here will disagree when I say that you have absolutely nothing to be sorry about. Thanks to you they managed to get a full 8 points in that round, as far as all of us are concerned."

"But, I lost my keys…"

"I snatched them from Minerva after you got carted off." he promptly handed her the pouch with her keys.

"That's such a relief… thank you Luke…" and then she fell asleep.

"She's gonna be just fine you guys, but for now we should let her get some rest. I think she needs it a lot more than the rest of us do right now."

"But we still can't let any of those bastards get away with this crap." Cana pointed out "They have to pay for what they did to her."

"Nobody is saying that they don't, we're the last people in all of Earth Land who would ever dream of saying that. There's gonna be hell to pay for every single one of them, with maybe the exception of Ryos. But don't forget we still have the games to consider."

"Exactly right Luke." this was when Makarov made his way into the room "I wish it were under better circumstances, but I'm still glad that both teams are here, because I have something to tell all of you."

"Go ahead master, let's hear it."

"I was just contacted by the organizers of the Grand Magic Games, and while I'm unsure as to whether or not it will be a help or hindrance to us, we've been asked to combine both of our teams into one single team."

"So to put it simply, we have to be like everyone else in the games then? What brought on this change out of nowhere?"

"Since Raven Tail had been disqualified yesterday, there are now 7 teams remaining, but having an odd number of teams makes it harder to match up competitors in each round, and as a result we've been told that we have to do away with the A and B groups and form a single team that consists of 5 members of our choosing for the rest of the Grand Magic Games."

"Which means that we'll be losing 5 members, and we have to decide on which 5. How is this going to affect the number of points each team has racked up until now?"

"Apparently we're only allowed to keep the lower number of points, and that would be the 34 points from Team A."

"Seems like kind of a copout for the team that's been racking up the most points, but there's nothing we can really do about it, so I'm guessing we'll just have to deal with it."

"Look on the bright side of this." Cana told him "This just means that we're gonna be able to put together an even more kickas team than we had before."

"True as that might I just wish this would've come to light a little bit earlier, because the only thing we have left now are the two man battles right?"

"That's where you're mistaken." Makarov told him "Traditionally there is a mandatory day off, and then it's followed by a battle that involves all members of every team that participates, at least based on what I've been told."

"With all due respect master, no matter what happens I'm not backing out of the games no matter what happens. Sabertooth made a grave mistake today, they went and made this personal. If they think they can abuse one of our guildmates like that then they're in for one metric fuckton of a reality check. I'll prove that myself."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"After that uncomfortably brutal display, the battle round of the fourth day is about to get underway at last, and now we're about to find out who's gonna pop up in the roster for Team Fairy Tail. Mr Yajima happens to have quite the long history with the guild in question, but when we asked him about his predictions for the five members they chose, he gave no comment. And once again we have Mr Rabian, a noted thespian as well as the founder of the Scherazade Acting Troop, thank you again for joining us here today, but be sure to keep in mind that the matches for today are no mere stage combat, but even so they require a certain level of choreography in their own right. Now then, I think the time has come for us to get down to business and announce the lineup for the battles for today. Now then, please turn your attention to the lacrima screens that we've placed throughout the arena. The first match will feature Team Blue Pegasus going up against the frisky Team Quatro Puppy. The second match will feature the ladies of Team Mermaid Heel facing off against Team Lamia Scale. And in what will without a doubt be the most exciting match of the day, we have Team Sabertooth facing off against the new Team Fairy Tail! So all of you make sure you put your hands together and scream at the top of your lungs in a big Domus Flau welcome for when we finally meet the new Team Fairy Tail!"

"Alright guys it's go time, let's do this for Lucy." and on that note, the frontrunner of the team made his way through the hallway and into the open arena 'The rest of the guild is counting on us to win this, the Master put this team together and entrusted us with this task. We're gonna show them what we're made of, and more importantly, we're gonna show them that if they hurt our friends for any reason, they're in for a world of hurt. We're gonna show the world that we're still the greatest guild in Fiore. The spirit of our guild is a force that no one can dream of beating, especially Sabertooth, and the five of us embody that spirit without question. The time has come to show the world what we're made of, and if we get a chance to show off to some certain people we're trying to impress, then I think we can multitask, but the guild's reputation and our comrades come first.'

"This is the moment that we've been waiting for us, it's my pleasure and honor to introduce to all of you the new Team Fairy Tail, consisting of Luke Drako, Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Erza Scarlet and Gajeel Redfox!"

Sure enough, Luke made his way into the arena, with Natsu, Gray, Gajeel and Erza by their side, eyeing the other guilds with an air of calm and confidence 'The five of us and Laxus as the reserve member, I think it's only fair."

"With an incredible entrance like that one, I'm not sure the audience will be able to handle the anticipation leading up to the final match of the day. The fans are certainly looking forward to it more than any of the others, and I don't blame them for losing their minds in such a way."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

From their place on the balcony, Darton took note of the fact that Lucy wasn't among the ranks of Team Fairy Tail, but then Arcadios appeared to tell him that Lucy was still recovering in the medical facility. Darton then went on to ask if the plan to capture Lucy would be a success compared to the last time, to which Arcadios assured him that he would not fail in the task in question a second time. He then told Darton to enjoy the festival as three days from then, the Eclipse Plan would be set into motion. Darton began sweating as Arcadios stated that the world would be forever changed, and that Zeref had been kept waiting long enough for the moment in question.

Now with no way to stop the plan and the tag team battles about to begin, Darton made his way towards a carving of a dragon and a hooded figure battling against each other, and stating that the festival went by another name: the Dragon King Festival.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The first tag team battle, which featured Blue Pegasus going up against Quatro Cerberus, began with Ichiya and the mysterious masked figure in the bunny suit going up against Bacchus and Rocker. Everyone was curious as to the identity of the one in the bunny suit, with Ren noting that neither him nor anyone on his team knew who it was, and then he promptly ended up getting distracted by the sight of Hibiki and Jenny making out.

Back on the field, Ichiya excitedly revealed the figure in the bunny suit to be none other than his own Edolas counterpart, Nichiya. Needless to say, everyone was caught by surprise by this sudden revelation. The two counterparts struck a pose that left many revolted, with Ichiya then called it destiny to meet himself, as he then went on to explain how they met.

Bacchus then proceeded to lunge at Nichiya and knocked him down in an instant, which promptly led Ren to ask Ichiya if his counterpart could actually fight. Ichiya was still convinced that he could, only for it to be pointed out that Nichiya had already been knocked out from that single attack, which promptyed Bacchus and Rocker to go after Ichiya now that he was left on his own and started attacking him relentlessly.

As he was forced to take continuous attacks, Ichiya thought back to how Nichiya had agreed to take part in the games even though he knew he had no skills. This caused him to finally get serious and dedicate his next perfume to Nichiya, and so he used his Power Perfume attack, which he had dubbed Smiling Smash, and so he dealt Bacchus and Rocker a punch with all of the power that he had, flinging them both into the wall of the arena and claiming the win, as well as 10 points, for Blue Pegasus.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, in the infirmary…

Lucy looked up from the book she was reading when she heard the sound of a gong coming from outside "Sounds like the first match ended, I wish I could've been there to see it."

"Believe me when I tell you that you don't."

Lucy jumped at the sound of an unexpected voice and looked over to see Rogue making her way into the infirmary, Frosch hanging onto his shoulder "Um… hey there. I wasn't expecting any company right now. Least of all anyone from Sabertooth, especially you to be honest. So what brings you in here?"

"A few different things actually. First, the match between Blue Pegasus and Quatro Cerberus, or Quatro Puppy as they're apparently calling themselves now, got weird, and I decided that it wasn't something Frosch needed to see."

"How weird are we talking exactly?"

"There was two of Ichiya, and one of them was a cat."

"...Oh dear god. You know I'm not sure what's more concerning, the fact that I'm hearing you talk about something that absurd, or the fact that I actually understand exactly what you're talking about."

"I'm not even going to ask about the context."

"I'm telling you now that you're better off."

"I'll take your word for it."

"So you just came down here to get away from there?"

"And it only seemed right to make sure that you were okay." now that took Lucy somewhat by surprise.

"Oh. Wow, uh…"

"You thought I was like Sting and Minerva because I'm part of the same guild as them. That's essentially what you were thinking right?"

"Well… yeah. I know that seems wrong, just because you're part of the same guild, but…"

"But there's the intimidation factor to consider, as well as the fact that Minerva brutalized you in ways that define a new level of sadistic."

"...Pretty much yeah. But just because someone is in a guild with bad people doesn't mean they themselves are bad. I mean take Gajeel for example, back when we went to war against Phantom Lord. Their master literally blew a few holes through me, but he patched me up. And then he forced me to listen to his music."

"He does that. Anyway I know I shouldn't be assuming with you, I mean I know you're a lot nicer than some of the other people I've seen from your guild."

"Fro thinks so too!" this was when Frosch popped up from his place on Rogue's shoulder, leapt down towards Lucy, landing in her arms "Rogue takes really good care of Fro. Rogue doesn't show it to a lot of people, but he always smiles towards Fro. Miss Fairy can trust Rogue."

"I'll take your word for it, uh…"

"His name is Frosch." was Rogue's input.

"Right. Well thank you for that Frosch. And thank you Rogue for coming here to check up on me like this, I'm doing a lot better now but I really do appreciate it."

"It was only right given what happened, and for what it's worth, you lasted a lot longer compared to other people who had to face Minerva one on one in the past."

"High praise in your eyes?" she was met with a shrug "I think I can live with that. So anyway how did that match go?"

"I did say that I left when things started to get weird, even by the standards of Blue Pegasus, but I did hear enough on my way here to know that they beat Quatro Puppy. The second round should be starting within the next few minutes. Lamia Scale is going to be paired up against Mermaid Heel, and then it's… my guild going up against yours."

"Oh, I see. I was worried that I might have missed it when Luke and the others get ready to fight today."

"I can imagine that he would make the effort to come and see you before he goes out into battle later, that is the sort of thing he would do for the people he cares about."

"Yeah, I can imagine. You know he was actually the one who brought me into Fairy Tail in the first place."

"I believe that. There's going to be some time before that match starts, you should rest as much as you can until then and focus on recovering your strength. And for what it's worth, I believe you might have found yourself some unexpected company."

"What do you mean?" Lucy looked down to see that Frosch had fallen fast asleep in her lap, and that brought a smile to her face "He really is adorable."

"You're more intriguing than I had originally expected you to be, he doesn't get so comfortable with people other than me."

"He seems like the type that a lot of people tend to fall for pretty fast. You know if you want, I can keep an eye on him during your match."

"That… is a much better option than leaving him alone with any of the other members of my guild. I think that speaks volumes of the regard in which I hold all of them."

"I think that's more a matter of perspective than anything else."

"Perhaps, but either way I'll take you up on that offer. I'll be back to pick him up after my match is over… provided I can still stand. If Luke has his way, then I won't be able to."

"Come on don't be like that, Luke isn't the kind of person to enjoy hurting people. You should know that as well as I do."

"Under normal circumstances, but considering the level of hostility he was directing at my guild, I wouldn't be surprised if he made an exception. Not that I would blame him."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After the match between Blue Pegasus and Quatro Cerberus came to an end, the next match got underway, with Lyon and Yuka of Lamia Scale preparing to go up against Kagura and Milliana of Mermaid Heel. Once the four of them arrived on the field, Kagura decided to let Milliana take care of the two of them on her own while she watched from the sidelines, and so as the battle got underway, Milliana was able to push back Lyon and Yuka by herself. However, the two of them managed to outsmart Milliana, and then defeat her.

It was at this moment that Kagura finally decided to enter the battle and defeated Yuka with ease, leaving her and Lyon as the only combatants remaining in the match, and so they would have to face off one on one. The two of them went on to fight back and forth with neither of them giving an inch, but just as Kagura was about to finish off Lyon the battle reached the time limit, and the match was declared to be a draw, with both teams being awarded 5 points for their performance in the battle.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, with Crime Sorciere…

At the same time, Meldy was talking with Ultear about a certain interesting topic "So yeah, based on what Noah told me, that's why Edward Elric is really a homunculus."

"It's somewhat disturbing you were able to make that sound so plausible." Ultear noted, her tone increasingly dry.

"Like I said it's what Noah told me."

"And that makes a lot more sense."

"It's just that he made it sound so plausible. He even told me this one about how Grandpa Gohan is the Omni King in Dragon Ball Super, and even one about how the Palpatine that appears in Rise of Skywalker is really Jar Jar."

"Now that one sounds ridiculous even by his standards."

"He made it sound so convincing, and he's got a bunch of others lined up too."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"The crowd is still going wild after the excitement from that last match, but the next one we have lined up is sure to be just as exhilarating, perhaps even moreso! I know what you're thinking right about now, the time has finally come! We're about to see Team Fairy Tail, one of their teams having taken first place as early as the second day, going up against the team that's held the title of the strongest guild for years now, Team Sabertooth! The power both of these guilds have displayed in the games up until now is matched only by the level of animosity they've been displaying towards each other after the events of the Naval Battle. Now the question remains, who will come out on top from this next battle."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, in the infirmary…

Lucy slowly opened her eyes and found Luke sitting in a char next to her "Oh hey."

"Hey, you feeling any better?" asked Luke.

"I've had better days, but I'm getting there. Is the next match about to start?"

"Yeah, Lamia Scale and Mermaid Heel called it a draw and now I'm gonna end up going out there in few minutes with Gajeel. We're gonna win this one, you can count on that."

"I know you will. Thanks for coming to see me like this."

"Judging by the new company you've got there it looks like I'm not the only one." he looked down at where Frosch was still sleeping in Lucy's lap.

"Yeah, Rogue actually came in here a little while ago. I know that we're not exactly besties with Sabertooth right now, but he's a good person."

"I know he is, I've actually known that longer than anyone, except for Gajeel that is. Anyway I'd better get going for the match, you should probably keep resting. You're in good hands here since you've got Wendy and Carla looking out for you."

"I know, and good luck with your match. Make sure not to hurt them too badly, I know how you feel about what happened but still.

"With Ryos I can confirm that, but with Sting I make no promises." and on that note, Luke then made his way out of the infirmary.

'Just be careful out there Luke, I know I shouldn't be worried about you of all people, but I can't really help it. It's kind of hard to imagine how much things have changed since I first came to Fairy Tail, but he's stayed pretty much the same, at least for the most part that is.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, in the halls of the colosseum…

Luke made his way through the halls as he strapped his sword onto his back, and he soon found that Gajeel was waiting for him along the way "Sorry about that, I didn't keep you waiting too long did I?"

"Not enough to be a pain in the ass." Gajeel told him flatly "Now are you finally ready to rock or not?"

"Trust me, I'm more than ready to bring the thunder. Now we've got work to do, so let's go out there and make Fairy Tail proud."

"Hold it."

Luke glanced ahead to see Natsu standing in front of the path "If you're gonna start complaining about how you should be the one fighting out there then save your breath, I don't have the time or the patience to deal with that right now."

"No that's not it, but I do have something I want to say." Natsu promptly held out a fist to him, his eyes blazing with determination "You better not lose to those pricks out there, or I'm never gonna let you live it down."

"Trust me, I don't plan on it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"And now after four days of buildup and even more foreshadowing than Goku going Ultra Instinct, we're finally about to get to the battle that everyone has been waiting for! One of the guilds in question was considered to be the strongest guild in Fiore 7 years ago, and the other one holds the title in the current era. This is going to be the highlight of the events of the fourth day, perhaps even of the entire Grand Magic Games. It's Luke Drako and Gajeel Redfox of Team Fairy Tail fighting against Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Chener of Team Sabertooth. We're about to bare witness to a showdown of epic proportions, the likes of which has never been seen before in the Grand Magic Games. These four wizards in the field at the moment go beyond the normal limitations of your average wizards. That is to say, you're not dealing with the average guild wizard anymore. These four are Dragon Slayers, the best of the best in all of the kingdom."

"I will say that part of me is kind of disappointed." Sting didn't miss a beat as he started running his mouth to Luke "I somewhat expected to get to fight Natsu today, but to be completely honest, this is way better. You're a Third Generation Dragon Slayer like me and Rogue, and that means that whether you want to admit it to yourself or not, you're superior to them and the others in every way, so why the hell won't you just accept that?"

"I don't have the patience to try and justify myself to someone like you." Luke's tone was calm, but his eyes were blazing with rage "Like I said, it takes a lot for me to lose my cool but I've officially reached my boiling point with you and your guild. Lucy fought in the Naval Battle with every ounce of strength she had, despite knowing full well that your guild mate stole her keys so she couldn't fight back. She still went to town on her, she tortured her for shits and giggles even after it was over. You and most of your team members sat there on your asses, and you watched, and you laughed! The time for holding back is over. As far as I'm concerned, it's payback time."

'So this is what he's like when he actually gets pissed.' Gajeel shot a glance over at Luke, his mind drifting slightly 'I had heard from the blonde and the others that when he gets angry he's like a whole other person, but still he's so calm and collected. I guess he's got something that most of the others in this guild, Salamander in particular, don't have. Self control.'

'No matter what happens I have to make sure I don't fly off the handle and attack them like some kind of enraged animal. I'm not gonna give these pricks the satisfaction of making me lose my cool and do something that's gonna get my guild disqualified. Get ready Gajeel, we're not holding back against them."

"This is it ladies and gentlemen, the four Dragon Slayers have finally made their way onto the battlefield! Now the question remains, who will be triumphant? Will it be the Fairies or will it be the Tigers?"

'As infuriated as I am right now I can't and won't deny that these two are both pretty tough in their own right, so neither of us can afford to let down our guard.'

"Everyone is dying to find out who's gonna win this round!" this was when Mato popped up in between the two groups.

"I know what you're going to say, 30 minutes to win the match and there's no killing allowed right?"

"That's about the sum of it, now let the match begin!" and then Mato disappeared in a flash using teleportaton magic.

"That's all I need to hear, now let's go." in a flash, Luke blitzed in front of Sting and buried a foot in his gut, and then followed up with a kick to the face, with Gajeel doing the same thing with Rogue the force of both blows sending them flying backwards "I told you that I was done holding back, next time try pulling that stick out of your ass and take this seriously."

"How's this for serious then? White Dragon ROAR!" Sting stopped himself and let out a roar, and with the roar came a beam of white magic energy, which he quickly revealed to have a homing effect.

"Lightning Dragon Iron FIST!" Luke channeled some electricity into his fist and slammed it into the front of the Roar, the force dissipating the blast in an instant.

"Shadow Dragon SLASH!" Rogue tried to take the opportunity to attack Rogue from behind with a hand barred and filled with dark energy.

"Gajeel!"

"On it! Iron Dragon SWORD!" Gajeel morphed his sword into an iron sword and used it to stop the slash and send Rogue hurtling back a fair distance.

"Thanks for the save."

"Rogue no!" Sting looked on at the sight of Rogue being sent flying back, but then he saw something charging through the smoke "What the-"

"Lightning Dragon ROAR!" the smoke was suddenly dissipated to reveal Luke letting out a roar that sent Rogue crashing into Sting, engulfing both of them in it in an instant "Lightning Dragon WING ATTACK!" and then he followed up with two simultaneous surges of lightning, one from each hand.

"Holy crap this is incredible, I can't believe what's happening right before my eyes! It was only in a matter of moments but Sting and Rogue themselves, the Twin Dragons of the mightest guild in all of the land, have been overwhelmed by Fairy Tail with such incredible ease!"

"Like I said, I'm not pulling any punches with you."

"And it sure as hell shows." Sting pulled himself back to his feet and wiped some of the blood from his lip "You're sure as hell as tough as I expected you to be, but that's what makes it all the more fun for me."

"This stopped being fun and games the moment you turned Lucy into a punching bag, as far as I'm concerned you declared war on us. And besides, with measely power like that I don't buy for a second that you actually defeated your dragons, not that I ever did to begin with."

"Oh we didn't just defeat our dragons, we killed the two of them with our bare hands."

"I shouldn't be surprised that a piece of scum like you didn't even give a damn about your own parent in the first place."

"That isn't any of your business, but if you're really so desperate to see our power as true Dragon Slayers then I'll be more than happy to show it to you. White Drive." with a flash, Sting was engulfed in a white aura, his body surging with magic power.

'So he's bringing that out.'

"Shadow Drive." Rogue promptly engulfed his own body in a black aura, his body surging with magic power as well.

'Rogue is too, so they're both getting serious to an extent. Every Third Generation Dragon Slayer has that Drive ability that lets them increase all of their abilities by a pretty wide margin. Not as wide as the likes of Dragon Force, but it's still noteworthy.'

"I hope you're ready, now it's time for the second round to get started."

"I haven't even gotten warmed up yet." Luke promptly dropped into a combat stance "Come at me if your power matches your confidence."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, up in the stands…

"Sting and Rogue, the Twin Dragons of the Sabertooth guild." Makarov frowned in thought at the sight of them "They're Dragon Slayers like Luke, Natsu and the rest of them, but we still know next to nothing about their magic. Any chance of being able to predict the outcome of this fight is all but impossible."

"Save us the predictions master, I already know how this is one is gonna go down." Bolt told him flatly "But it's definitely gonna pick up now that they're done testing each other's levels of strength, so this is where the real fight starts. Don't forget that Luke has more than a few tricks up his sleeve, as in ways to beat the ever loving crap out of each other."

"The intense staring contest between the two teams continues, you could cut through the tension in the arena like a hot knife through butter. Who will be the first one to make a move?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, back in the arena…

"I haven't even gotten warmed up yet." Luke promptly dropped into a combat stance "Come at me if your power matches your confidence."

"Fine by me, but don't forget that you asked for it! White Dragon Iron FIST!" Sting launched himself forward and unleashed a fist packed with magic energy.

One hand was all that Luke needed to block the attack, though he was sent skidding back a short distance as he did so 'He's definitely more powerful than he was before, but it's not enough to make a difference.'

"Now you're gonna feel the wrath of my holy white judgement, so take this! White Dragon Iron FIST!" with his hand burning with energy, Sting thrusted it forward into Luke's chest, and then he started dealing Luke a rapid barrage of punches and kicks across his torso.

"Thunderclap hold on!" Gajeel prepared to try and race to the rescue, only to find Rogue closing in on him from multiple angles, forcing him to go on the defensive, until…

"Shadow Dragon TALON!" Rogue suddenly blitzed behind Gajeel and dealt him a brutal kick to the face "It doesn't matter how hard you try, you can't keep up with a shadow, and to that extent you won't be able to keep up with me." he disappeared into the ground in the form of a shadow and hurtled towards Gajeel at rapid speeds.

"I got you! Iron Dragon CLUB!" Gajeel tried to rip through Rogue's shadow with an iron club, only for the shadow to dissipate and for Rogue to blitz around and deal Gajeel a solid elbow to the face, sending him skidding backwards.

Luke finally broke off from the barrage of attacks he was getting from Sting and then managed to stop Gajeel with one hand "You having trouble with his Shadow Drive?"

"From the looks of it I'm not the only one."

"I'm just trying to get a grip on his attack pattern and power level, and now that I have the gloves are coming off."

"Hey don't forget assclowns, we're the ones that you're fighting so why don't you try showing some respect!" this was when Sting and Rogue promptly leapt high into the air and then soared back down towards them.

"You got that new spell worked out for situations like this?"

"You're damn right I do, it's about fucking time I got to put it to good use. Stand back and watch the master at work. Iron Dragon DOME!" Gajeel slammed his hands together and formed an iron dome around himself and Luke, which easily repelled the incoming attacks "A little bit of creativity can go a long way to giving a giant middle finger to people that you don't like."

"You won't receive any objections from me."

"Speaking of which, didn't anyone ever try and teach you that it's bad manners to hold back on your opponent in a fight?!" Sting pounced at Luke and started launching a rapid barrage of punches and kicks, none of which actually managed to land or do any damage.

"Like I want to hear that from you!" Luke was able to dodge and weave his way around every attack with ease, though he saw out of the corner of his eye that Gajeel was having trouble against Rogue 'So like all Third Generation Dragon Slayers they have the Drive ability to amplify their magic power, add their teamwork into the mix and they're almost flawless. The key word there being almost, if it wasn't for the fact that Sting is one of the most arrogant pricks I've ever come across then they might be.'

"You could've showed us why you're the best of us, but you had to let yourself get dragged down with the inferior pieces of trash that you call a guild! When are you gonna learn that power is the thing that people respect most in this world!"

"You mean when am I gonna turn into the kind of person you are, that's basically the gist of what you're trying to say right?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Back in the infirmary, Porlyusica noted that the change in the cheering from the crowd led to her conclusion that the fight was not in Fairy Tail's favor. Wendy started to get worried when she heard about this, but Porlyusica was quick to assure her that the battle had only just started.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, with the fight…

"Now this is the life, this is my mother fucking Hakuna Matata!" by this point, Sting had gone back on the offensive and was trying (and failing) to hit Luke with an unyielding rapid barrage of punches and kicks, none of which were connecting "The only thing better than beating the crap out of some arrogant punk would be beating the crap out of my idol! The only thing I've ever really wanted was to show the world that I'm that much better than Natsu, and while I wasn't able to to it to him today you're gonna be a damn fine substitute! White Dragon TALON!" and then the dealt Luke a fist full of white energy to the chest.

"It's gonna take a lot more than that to take me down!" Luke was sent skidding back only a short distance, but his frown deepened as he came to a stop 'Something doesn't feel right, that attack didn't hurt me anywhere near as much as he probably thinks it does but it definitely felt different from the other attacks he's been using on me up until now. Shit you've gotta be kidding me, he left a magic circle on my chest- Oh you've gotta be kidding me, now I can't move!'

"I know what you're thinking, you can't move your body. My White Dragon Talon has been infused with holy magic, anyway that gets branded with the stigmata of the attack becomes totally paralyzed. Now this is where the real fun finally gets started for me, because you're about to become my brand new punching bag!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, with Gajeel vs Rogue…

"Iron Dragon LANCE!" Gajeel was going on the offensive against Rogue, or at least trying to anyway, as he morphed his arm into an iron spear and tried to attack him, though none of them were landing on him 'Dammit this isn't working, I'm not getting anywhere!'

"You know this isn't going to work." Rogue suddenly blitzed behind Gajeel "In the end a shadow dragon is always going to get its pray, and when the moment comes for it to strike you won't even see it coming. Shadow Dragon HASTE!" with his hand cloaked in shadows, Rogue then pounced at Gajeel and prepared to land the blow, only for his hand to be caught in Gajeels, which took him by surprise.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that if I were you, now then where were we? Let me take a wild guess, you thought that I wasn't gonna be able to touch you right? I won't deny that you've got a few good moves, but I know how to adapt to my enemies in a fight. After all, that's one way to make a fight a hell of a lot more interesting. So if it's all the same to you, I think I'm gonna take my turn now."

'Dammit, he figured out the timing of my attacks and countered it!'

"What the hell happened to you then, I thought that you were so cocky just a second ago and now look at you. Believe me when I tell you that you don't want to underestimate Fairy Tail, and you sure as hell don't want to underestimate me! Iron Dragon CLUB!" he dealt Rogue an iron club to the face that sent him crashing into the wall behind him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, with Luke vs Sting…

"Now I'm gonna end this one you cocky bastard! White Dragon IRON FIST!" satisfied with the fact that Luke supposedly couldn't move, Sting charged towards him with a fist packed with white magic, until…

"Lightning Dragon TALON!" Luke suddenly ducked underneath Sting's attack and dealt him a brutal uppercut to the jaw with a lightning enhanced kick, the force sending him skidding back a fair distance "What was that you were saying about ending a cocky bastard?"

"What the hell was that, you shouldn't be able to move!"

"Yeah well here's something you might want to know about stigmata." Luke jerked a thumb at his chest where the stigmata was supposed to be "It doesn't work very well if you try to use it against a more powerful opponent. You've got a few tricks up your sleeves I'll give you that, I'd be a hell of a lot more impressed if your attitude didn't make me want to slam your face into the ground. You're gonna have to do a lot better than that. Lightning Dragon Iron FIST!" he then dealt Sting a lightning-enhanced fist to the gut, sending him crashing into the wall behind him, right next to Rogue "Not a bad job with him."

"Not bad yourself." Gajeel gave him a simple nod, then glanced up at the stands, and his expression dulled considerably.

"Looks to me like Levy is unintentionally choking the life out of your Exceed."

"And let me guess, yours is flipping off everyone in the stands that used to go on like a bunch of idiots about how Fairy Tail sucks?"

"Nope, that's what Cana's doing. Bolt is probably making bets with a bunch of suckers about how the fight is gonna end."

"I would've thought it would be the other way around, just like I thought you would've pulled out your sword by now."

"Well for one, chances are I could be wrong and for all we know that's exactly what the two of them are doing. As for the other, I already said it to them earlier. I'm not gonna stain a memento from my father with the blood of arrogant trash like him."

"And just like that the tide of the battle has turned once again, with Fairy Tail taking the upper hand against the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth."

"But this fight isn't over yet, everyone in the stands should know that as well as we do. Whatever happens next, make sure you don't let down your guard."

"You'd be smart if you took your own advice about that." this was when Sting pulled himself out of his place in the wall, with Rogue following right by his side "I expected the two of you to put up a fight like this, so it only makes sense that we would have to go all out. Both of you be prepared for this, because I'm not holding back anymore."

"I wouldn't expect anything less, come at me with 100%."

"It's only fair to warn you that I'm done showing mercy to you now, and now I'm gonna hit you with my strongest attack. When I finally get the chance to go all out, there isn't a chance in hell that lightning or metal can take me down.

"About instead of talking about it you actually do it, keep in mind that actions speak a lot louder than words. His magic power his shooting up higher than anything I've ever felt from him before, and if the two of them are about to do what I think they're about to do, then that means I'm gonna have to step up my game or else risk getting knocked flat on my ass.'

"I hope you're ready for this Luke, because here it comes! Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Holy NOVA!" with a blast of magic energy condensed into one hand, Sting hurtled towards Luke at full speed, engulfing the both of them in a massive white light, but when the light subsided and the shockwaves died down, he was left dumstruck by what he saw "What the hell?!"

Sure enough, when the smoke cleared, Luke was revealed to have caught Sting's Holy Nova blast with one hand, a feat that left many of those in the audience in disbelief "I thought you said you were finally gonna go all out, so when the hell is that actually gonna happen? No? Okay then, I think it's about time I take my turn then."

"Looks like someone is getting cocky." Gajeel gave a smirk at the sight of Luke stopping the attack with such ease 'Looks like someone is finally letting himself cut loose, so I say it's about fucking time.'

"Shadow Dragon SLASH!" Rogue tried to land an attack on Gajeel from behind with a hand filled with dark energy.

"Nope. Iron Dragon Club!" Gajeel barely even batted an eye as he nailed Rogue square in the face with an iron club that promptly sent him hurtling backwards a fair distance.

"Lightning Dragon TALON!" Luke promptly blitzed above Sting and dealt him a lightning enhanced kick to the head that sent him hurtling to the ground 'Even after my fight against Jura I still find it kind of hard to believe, even after having my Second Origin released and the three months of training with Bolt and God Serena, I never imagined that I would've gotten this much stronger. I'm on a whole different level compared to how I was on Tenrou Island.'

"I shouldn't be surprised… but it still amazes me…" Rogue was the first one to pull himself back to his feet, with Sting following his lead not long after "To think that just a few months ago, I was able to somewhat fight you on equal footing, but now you have us both completely outclassed, at least as we are right now. But don't think that either of us are anywhere close to being finished, it's not like we expected this to be easy either."

"He's right about that, you've gota give us some credit." Sting spat out some blood and dropped into a stance, his mind drifting 'I know what you're thinking Lector, but you don't have to worry about that. I already know, I made a promise to you and my word is my bond. I'm not gonna lose, not until I can bring down Natsu with my own hands. Come on Rogue, it's go time."

"Right." and so the two of them were promptly engulfed in even more potent auras of magic power, their bodies being covered in white and black dragon scales respectively.

"I made a promise to Lector a long time ago, and I intend to keep it."

"So they're finally breaking out the big guns then are they?" Luke didn't waste a second as he dropped into a stance "You feel that right now?"

"How could I not? They sure as hell aren't kidding around anymore." Gajeel muttered "I have to admit that I didn't expect this."

"Yeah it's a fairly impressive sight, they can activate it at will. Dragon Force."

"I call bullshit on that, why the hell can they activate it at will when I've never been able to do that once?"

"It's not that complicated actually, at least once you understand how it works. In order for a Dragon Slayer to activate Dragon Force they need to absorb a large amount of energy in tandem with their respective element, and that's a much harder task for First Generation Dragon Slayers like you. Natsu only managed to activate it once during the whole mess with the Oracion Seis and Nirvana, and even then he needed help from Jellal to do it. But entering it is a lot easier for Second Generation like Laxus and Third Generation Dragon Slayers like me and the two of them because all of us have Dragon Slayer lacrimas implanted in our bodies. But at the same time that does tend to cheapen it a little bit, because we don't have to do it. Like a certain someone once said, nothing worth having is gained without effort."

"...Avatar the Last Airbender?"

"Ben 10 Alien Force actually."

"Hang back for a little while Rogue, I'm gonna take these two on my own." with his Dragon Force activated and his confidence soaring along with his power, Sting took a step forward about as big as his ego "Now that I'm at my full strength I'm more than enough to handel the both of them on my own."

"If you think you can then you're more than welcome to try, but i think you're gonna be in for one hell of a surprise. You've gotta give it to him though, he's got the confidence to take up any challenge. Knowing what these kind of people are like he probably thinks he has complete control of the situation now that he's using Dragon Force. He's the kind of guy who lets his arrogance cloud his judgement with ease, and the best way to give him a solid kick in the ass is to exploit that weakness.'

"You ready to rock?"

"Oh believe me, I'm ready for anything you can throw at me." Luke promptly dropped into a combat stance "Now see if you can actually back up the shit you talk."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, in the stands…

"So this is Dragon Force in action." Max frowned in thought "I've never actually seen this ability first hand, is it really as incredible as everyone makes it out to be?"

"If Luke is any indication to go by, then yes." Bolt told him flatly "Keep in mind that with the power of Dragon Force backing him up Luke was able to go toe to toe with the likes of a fucking Wizard Saint, and that was before Tenrou Island, in which, at least from what I've been told, he was able to combine it with the power of his Dual Element mode and goe to town on the master of Grimoire Heart, a guy powerful enough to rip through Makarov like a hot knife would rip through butter. Granted his body couldn't hold out long enough to finish the job but you get where I'm going with this."

"So to put it in simple terms even Natsu could understand, it's basically the Dragon Slayer equivalent of Super Saiyan?"

"That's one way of looking at it, though the principles are almost entirely different. Either way it doesn't matter if the two of them have Dragon Force going for them."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, with the battle…

"Oh believe me, I'm ready for anything you can throw at me." Luke promptly dropped into a combat stance "Now see if you can actually back up the shit you talk."

"I don't know about you, but I feel pretty insulted." Gajeel muttered "Who the fuck does this bastard think he is?"

"Don't let your guard down or underestimate him, even if he is an arrogant prick you're as good as dead if he catches you off guard."

"He's right you know!" this was when Sting suddenly blitzed in front of Gajeel and dealt him an uppercut kick to the jaw that sent him flying, and then he went on to attack Luke with a rapid barrage of punches and kicks.

Despite being forced on the defensive, Luke was able to dodge, block and catch every attack that was being hurled at him 'Every time he attacks it's plain as day that his attacks are stronger, faster and sharper than they were before, but that's to be expected. But at the same time, his style of fighting is pretty sloppy and he leaves himself wide open in a few different places. A prime example beong, right now! Lightning Dragon TALON!" seizing the opening, Luke quickly dealt Sting a swift uppercut kick to the jaw that sent him flying into the air.

"White Dragon HOLY BREATH!" Sting rebounded in mid air and unleashed a large white laser beam from his mouth, engulfing the arena in a dome of light, and when the light subsided it was revealed that the Holy Breath had caused the floor of the arena to give out, which also caused both Luke and Gajeel to be sent falling down into the hole it created 'To think that even after I activated my Dragon Force, he was able to break through my attacks and land a blow like that on me, all without even having his Thunder Drive activated. Natsu is one thing, but this guy is on a whole other level. If you think I'm gonna let you go now then you're living in a fucking fantasy, this fight is just getting started!" he promptly dove into the hole after the two of them, with Rogue diving in after him.

"There's no fucking way I'm done yet! Iron Dragon CLUB!" Gajeel rebounded off of a piece of rubble falling into the arena, the club hitting Sting square in the chest and sending him hurtling upwards a short distance "Now's your chance Thunderclap, hit him now!"

"Trust me, I plan on it! Thunder Drive! Lightning Dragon ROAR!" Luke suddenly blitzed above Sting and activated his Thunder Drive, and only a split second later he hit him with a full power lightning-enhanced roar, the blast hitting Sting head on and sending him hurtling to the ground within the hole that his Holy Breath had created "Not too bad for a tag team tactic, now let's see if it actually did anything."

"Hate to break it to you, but no it didn't." Sting was quick to pull himself out of the small crater he had landed in, a smirk plastered across his face "The radiance of a White dragon is more than enough to purify anything and everything that would ever dare to stand against it! White Dragon HOLY RAY!" with a wave of his hand he fired a massive barrage of beams of holy magic energy towards Luke and Gajeel, the latter being filled with numerous holes by the Holy Ray barrage piercing through his body in multiple locations.

'Well so much for the principle, I guess self preservation had to win out over that at some point in this fight.' throwing his principle out the window for the moment, Luke finally drew his sword from his sheath and used it to deflect every Holy Ray being fired towards him, before he was able to gracefully land on the ground "So you still think you can back up all of the shit you talk about my friends?"

"What I think is that I'm about to send you flying! White Dragon IRON FIST!" Sting then launched himself forward with a fist packed full of magic energy and let it fly.

"Lightning Dragon Iron FIST!" Luke launched forward a fist coated with electricity and promptly buried it in Sting's stomach, though he simultaneously took Sting's attack to the jaw in the process, the force of the collision sending both of them stumbling backwards while he wiped the blood from his lip.

"White Dragon ROAR!" Sting received and pounced forward as he let out a roar and unleashed a beam of white energy.

Thinking quick, Luke used the blade of his sword to cut clean through the roar, causing it to dissipate in a matter of second, and then he resheathed the blade and began dodging and blocking another flurry of punches and kicks Sting was throwing in his direction, and then he was hit with a single blast of white energy that engulfed him in a cloud of smoke.

'Yeah there we go, how do you like that one you little bastard! I've been waiting for a really long time now Lector, he might not be Natsu but beating him will bring me one step closer to reaching that goal, and then I'll be able to keep my promise to you. I still remember that day as if it was yesterday, when I found Lector crying and he told me that he told a bunch of other people that I had defeated Weisslogia with my bare hands, but they didn't believe him. I tried to comfort him by promising him that I would defeat Salamander in front of everyone, so that I could prove that he wasn't lying. Now do you see it for yourself Lector, I'm going to win this fight, and then Natsu is going to be next!"

"I wouldn't count on that." Luke promptly wiped the blood from his lip and eyed Sting for a moment, his expression deadly serious "I can see that you have your reasons for wanting to defeat Natsu as much as you do, that's something I'm sure that a good number of people could get behind pretty easily. But like I said when this fight started, the thing that I can't and won't look past is the fact that one of my friends was suffering at the hands of one of your guild mates earlier, you and the others watched, and you laughed at her pain. You smiled at the sight of our unyielding anger towards you. You looked down on us for the fact that we value people instead of power, and that right one is why you won't be able to beat me, not as you are right now and not on your own.

"His reasoning is valid Sting." this was when Rogue finally appeared overlooking the two of them from a a plateau created by the debris scattered throughout the area "Luke is the type of person who trains and fights for as long and hard as he does because he has people that are precious to him. When a person has something they want to protect, then they become genuinely strong."

"...Are you seriously quoting Naruto right now?"

"You were quoting Ben 10 Alien Force less than 5 minutes ago."

"I never said I was complaining or objecting, I was just making an observation." on that somewhat comical note, Luke turned his attention back to Sting "He's not wrong though, the reason I fight and train as hard as I do is for the sake of my friends. It comes from fighting for something other than myself."

"That might work for you, but that's not how we do things in our guild." Sting told him flatly "I don't have a single doubt in my mind that you really are incredible, this fight in itself is by far the toughest that I've ever had. But with that being said, if you think that's gonna be enough to make me quit then you're in for one hell of a reality check."

"I never expected you to lie down and give up like that, but of course that means I'm not gonna back down either. I'm not so blinded by my anger towards you that I can't see that for the most part, the title you hold of being the strongest guild is worth its claim, and that the two of you are both pretty impressive in your own right. But what you lack is having good people by your side that spur you to keep going, something that everyone in Fairy Tail understands all too well. To put it simply, you guys need better friends." he looked up at the members of Team Sabertooth in the stands, Minerva in particular "You might think that friends aren't necessary and power is all that matters, but that couldn't be further from the truth." he dropped into a stance as his magic power started surging Friends are people that share the same goals as each other, people who come together because that's the only way for them to move forward and grow, not just as wizards, but as people. It doesn't matter if all of them look alike or think alike, but they make a pledge to grow together, to laugh and cry together, to help each other and to put their unyielding faith in each other. You guys might call it dependency or some childish fantasy but that doesn't matter to me, because what I'm talking about right now are the bonds that have always acted as my salvation. My bonds with my friends and my drive to protect them, those are what give me the strength I need to keep moving forward!" once he finished that sentence his body was covered in golden dragon scales in an instant, his magic power surging wildly.

"So now he's finally decided to show us everything he's got and show off his own Dragon Force to us, but the question is does he really think that's going to be enough to take me down, let alone the likes Rogue too."

"No, he's not finished yet." this was when Rogue finally dropped down next to Sting and pointed at Luke, gesturing to the blue aura overlapping his golden one "I know what he's attempting to do right now, and whether or not it works will determine the outcome of this battle."

"What are you talking about?"

"Just watch and you'll see."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, up in the stands…

"You've gotta be kidding me." Gray was the first one to voice his disbelief at the level of power being displayed "He's tapping into all of the power he's got left."

"With the multiplier he's displaying now, he must be tapping into all of the magic power that he has at his disposal." Makarov noted, his frown deepening "I suppose all we can do now is hope that it's enough."

"Hate to break it to you master, but this isn't his limit, not even close." Bolt didn't even bother looking at him.

"But this is the power that he displayed against Jose, I only saw a glimpse of it at the time but I know that it was a sight to behold."

"But it's not his limit, he's got one more trick up his sleeve, and whether or not that succeeds is going to determine how this battle plays out." Cana told him "It's not a question of magic power, he has both of them outclassed by a pretty wide margin in that regard, but all the power in the world doesn't mean anything if you can't control and regulate it properly."

"Which is where he went wrong on Tenrou Island." Erza frowned at the memory "I know he's been training to correct that, but the question remains. Did he succeed?"

"I'd hate to spoil it, but that's something you're gonna have to find out for yourself." Cana then shared a glance with Bolt, and they exchanged two simultaneous nods 'This is gonna be a fight to remember.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Come on, come on…" sure enough, Luke was continuing to charge his magic power, the dragon scales along his body shifting from gold to a blue and gold pattern "I have to… I have to keep going… even further beyond… I gave my word… I made a promise… to my guild… to my friends… to my family… and I have to keep it! I'll shatter through my limitations, I'll defeat whatever foe I have to stand against me, all for the sake of protecting them, and the next step on that path is defeating both of you!" and then with a draconic sounding roar, he was engulfed in a blue light that shone throughout the arena.

"And that right there is what I was referring to. It's not like the power of Dragon Force that the two of us have been using so far, he's pushing himself beyond that and tapping into a power that's even greater."

"Back up a second, a power that goes beyond Dragon Force?!" Sting rounded on Rogue and shot him a look of disbelief "What the hell are you talking about, what the hell is he doing?!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Needless to say, the power being displayed at the moment was more than enough to leave many of those present in absolute awe.

Believe it or not, Natsu was left sweating under the pressure of it "You've gotta be fu-" he paused and then looked over at Lisanna, seeing the look she was giving him "-freaking kidding me, what the hell is this?"

"It's basically the power you used against the master of the Oracion Seis, combined with the power that Luke used to defeat Jellal back at the Tower of Heaven." Gray told him calmly, then shuddered at the memory 'The power itself was fucking insane back then, but what made it so unnerving was that it was the first time I had ever seen Luke that angry. Now he's pushing beyond even that, combining it with this Dragon Force I've heard so much about, and he's pushing past those limits to tap into something greater.'

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me." even Gajeel was gritting his teeth at the sight of the transformation Luke was undergoing "Whatever the hell it is he's doing, it's unlike anything I've ever seen before."

"You've already seen it before, at least to an extent." Erza told him calmly, not bother to take her eyes off of the battle, even though it had taken on a temporary stalemate "Luke has spent one year after another to push himself to the absolute limit, and now that he's had his Second Origin released he can tap into his true dormant potential, and as such he's managed to push past his own limitations and shatter them into nothing. Thanks to that, he's managed to coalesce a power that lies deep within himself that's well beyond the capabilities of any level of power that he's show us until now."

"But he used it back on Tenrou Island against the master of Grimoire Heart, so how the hell is this something new?"

"The reason is because now he has proper control over it, and now that he does have it we can at last see this power in all of its glory, seeing Luke give this battle every ounce of power he has, for the sake of showing his opponents, the people in the stands and everyone in the kingdom who and what he truly is: Not just a Dragon Slayer like you and the others, but a wizard of Fairy Tail through and through. This is more than just a battle to protect each other, this battle is one of pride in one's self and one's guild."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Back up a second, a power that goes beyond Dragon Force?!" Sting rounded on Rogue and shot him a look of disbelief "What the hell are you talking about, what the hell is he doing?!"

"Shut up and watch, and you'll see for yourself." Rogue's tone was calm, yet it also had a sharp edge to it "It was something that he told me about back when he was first training me. He had spent some time training under the tutelage of the highest ranked of the Ten Wizard Saints, a power that very few Dragon Slayers have ever claimed. He said that he wanted to find a way to combine that power with the power of his Dragon Force. I had only ever seen it attempt it once and it nearly killed him in the process. But based on what we're seeing now it would seem that he's finally mastered it. He's finally managed to push himself clear past his limits, he's tapped into that level of power, and that's put him at a level far beyond any of the other Dragon Slayers, and that includes us."

"What… What is this power?"

"The power that only a Third Generation Dragon Slayer can even dream of achieving, and even then the chances of success are very low. It's a power that goes beyond any other Dragon Slayer abilities… the power of Dual Element Dragon Force."

Sure enough, the light subsided to reveal that Luke was still standing where he was, his body now covered head to toe in dragon scales like he was before, only now they were a blue and gold pattern instead "I hope the two of you are ready, because now I'm about to come at you with every ounce of power I've got. Besides that I've got you figured out now, the timing of your attacks, the way you stand when you defend, and even the rhythm of your breathing. If you think that I'm wrong then why don't you come at me and prove it."

"So it's a challenge then?"

"I guess you could say that, but first…" Luke was about to drop into a combat stance, but then he suddenly blitzed away, and then he returned a second later "Sorry about that, I had one bit of quick business to take care of, but now it's done and I can concentrate entirely on the battle that lies ahead."

"I see." Rogue then glanced over to see Gajeel's bloody and unconscious form sprawled out on a small plateau to the edge of the battlefield 'He just wanted to make sure that Gajeel didn't get caught in the crossfire.'

"Now then, I think I'm gonna go ahead and take a page from Sting's book and challenge the two of you to a two on one battle and see how that goes. Do the two of you have any objections to that?"

"I don't suppose it would do any good if I did."

"No, it probably wouldn't. Come at me then."

"As if you had to ask!" with his Dragon Force surging with magic power, Sting launched himself forward at full speed, with Rogue following right behind him.

Luke simply blitzed through their attacks and dealt Sting a solid kick to the stomach, the force of the blow sending him flying into a nearby wall.

"Don't forget about me! Shadow Dragon HASTE!" Rogue pounced at Luke with a hand coated in shadows and let it fly forward, with Sting rebounding and joining the fry, the two of them trying to hit Luke with a furious barrage of attacks.

Luke was able to dodge, block and counter every punch and kick being throwin at him, but it came to an end when he dealt Rogue a solid blow to the jaw that sent him flying into the wall behind him, and then he sent Sting tumbling away with a swift kick to the chest "I thought the two of you were going to take this seriously!"

"How's this for serious! White Dragon ROAR!" Sting rebounded and quickly unleashed a powerful roar.

'So that's one attack, now what about Ryos-'

"I'm not going to give up that easily! Shadow Dragon ROAR!" Rogue unleashed a roar of his own that synchronized with Sting's own roar, the two blasts engulfing Luke in the explosion that followed.

"Lightning Sea King Dragon ROAR!" the smoke cleared secons later to reveal Luke to be completely unharmed, and he promptly unleashed a lightning and water-enhanced roar.

"There's no time, get out of the way!" Rogue was quick to hurl Sting out of the way of the blast, only to end up taking it himself, leaving him to tumble across the battlefield and take some noticeable burns as a result.

'He took that blow for him without a second thought. Even if he's surrounded by people who don't give a damn about their comrades, Ryos always did have a good heart.'

"You're gonna pay for that one you son of a bitch!" Sting spiked his magic power and promptly charged at Luke in a rage.

Luke was able to dodge and block every blow that was being aimed at him, but then he glanced back and too notice of the fact that Rogue was charging at him 'So the two of them are going for some kind of diversionary tactic?'

"What the hell are you looking at?! White Dragon IRON FIST!" Sting charged a fist with magic energy and aimed it at Luke's head, but instead…

"Lightning Sea King Dragon STORM FIST!" Luke simply cranked his neck to the side to dodge Sting's attack, and then he countered it with a lightning and water-enhanced fist to the fact that sent him crashing to the ground. He then proceeded to fend off a barrage of attacks being launched at him by Rogue "Lightning Sea King Dragon TALON!" and then he promptly dealt him an enhanced kick to the chest that sent him hurtling backwards, but then he was forced to evade a barrage of oncoming Holy Ray blasts being hurled at him from his blind spot 'So now the two of them are working on trying to take me down using a series of coordinated attacks. Not a bad strategy but they're still somewhat sloppy.'

"I'm not done with you yet! White Dragon TALON!" Sting charged towards Luke with a fist packed with white energy.

"Hate to break it to you, but trying out the same attack over and over again in hopes that it's gona work is the literal definition of insanity!" Luke let out a surge of magic power and managed to stop Sting's attack with one hand "Your attack power is pretty impressive all things considered, you've got decent control over the magic power output of your Dragon Force too, but I made it pretty clear to you earlier that it's not gonna work on me. Lightning Sea King Dragon Storm FIST!" he dealt Sting a brutal lightning and water-enhanced fist to the gut, causing him to cough up blood and fall out of Dragon Force as he was sent hurtling into the wall behind him.

"Shadow Dragon SLASH!" Rogue blitzed in front of Luke and tried to attack him with an arm coated in shadows.

All it took was a simple slash of Luke's sword to stop Rogue in the middle of his attack, and then another slash was enugh to send him hurtling into the air.

"Shadow Dragon ROAR!" Rogue rebounded in mid air and fired an attack at Luke, a full power roar in mid air.

"Lightning Sea King Dragon ROAR!" Luke didn't waste a second as he countered Rogue's roar with his own enhanced with dual elemental properties, which blew clear through Rogue's roar with ease and engulfed him, sending him crashing to the ground in a heap.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"This is incredible, this is absolutely incredible ladies and gentlemen, I honestly can't think of any other way to describe what we're seeing right now because I'm too excited! With new levels of ferocity and power, Luke Drako of Team Fairy is ripping through both Sting and Rogue like a hot knife goes through butter in a two on one match the likes of which has never been seen before in the history of the games!"

Amidst the screaming and cheers of the crowd, what no one noticed was that a hooded female figure watching from the sidelines 'Luke… even now you've always seeme so strong and ferocious, but so gentle and kind… to think that after this…' a single tear rolled down her cheek and she quickly left the scene.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, with those of Crime Sorciere…

"What the hell?" Noah was in the middle of watching the fight on the crystal ball, but then his head snapped up at what he was sensing "I'm gonna go out on a whim and guess that the rest of you noticed that too?"

"It feels similar to Zeref in some ways, but it still feels different as well." Ultear noted "Whoever it is they must be hiding somewhere amongst the crowd, so no matter what happens Jellal can't let them escape."

"No not that, I picked up that like 5 minutes ago. I mean that scent I'm picking up from somewhere in the colosseum."

"What do you mean?" asked Quake, only to be removed from his place on Noah's shoulder and placed on the ground "What gives dude?"

"Right right, I'm the only one of us with the nose of a Dragon Slayer. I mean that I'm picking up a bunch of different scenes that I never noticed before, but the weird part is that they all have traces of dragon in them. If this means what I think it means… I've gotta go check this out, I'll be back as soon as I can." and before any protests could be made he promptly disappeared in a flash of teleportation magic.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, back with the battlefield…

With a temporary calm settling over the battlefield, Luke returned his sword to its sheath and breathed a sigh "You put up a good fight up until now, but if I know the first thing about your Dragon Force, and I sure as hell do, it's that neither of you will be able to keep this up for too much longer."

"Like you've got any room to talk." Sting was the first one to pull himself back to his feet and promptly spat out some blood, with Rogue following not long afterwards "You're pushing yourself way beyond what even we should be able to handle, you're deluding yourself if you think you can keep that up for maybe a few seconds longer, so you might as well just give up while you can."

"Are you really trying to convince me of that, or are you trying to convince yourself?"

"Shut up!" Sting was quick to reignite his Dragon Force, with Rogue following his lead "I say it doesn't mean a damn thing if you have Dual Element Dragon Force, you still don't have what it takes to beat us! There's nothing in the world stronger than a dragon, and the three of us have their power, but this is still two on one match, so now that we've run out the clock we're more than powerful enough to take you down! White Dragon IRON FIST!" Sting launched himself forward and let a light-enhanced fist fly.

Luke was able to catch the fist with his bare hand with ease "I hate to break it to you, actually no I don't, but I don't think any of us are anywhere near that level just yet."

"SHUT UP! This is the power of a true Dragon Slayer in all of its glory, and I should know since it's how I was able to kill Weisslogia!"

"Is that a fact? Then it's only right that I show you what I do with my power. It's a little bit of something called fighting for the sake of my guild, my friends and my family, the people that you repeatedly mocked, laughed at and spat on time and again. Lightning Sea King Dragon STORM FIST!" with a fist coated in lightning and water properties, Luke promptly thrusted said fist forward straight into Sting's face, the force of the blow sending him flying "Alright then guys, what are you gonna do next?"

"Shadow Dragon ROAR!" Rogue suddenly blitzed behind Luke, albeit a fair distance away, and unleashed a powerful roar in the form of a black tornado.

"Lightning Sea King Dragon ROAR!" Luke turned on his heel and unleashed a powerful roar of his own, the blast ripping through Rogue's roar with ease and then engulfing him in the explosion that followed.

'Dammit…' the smoke cleared to reveal that Rogue had suffered some considerable burns, but he was still able to pull himself back to his feet, albeit somewhat shakily, and he spat out some blood as he did so.

"I'm not done with you, not yet!"

'I know you're probably watching right now Frosch, but you don't have to worry. Even if I know how powerful he is, there's no way I'm giving up now.'

"Bring it on." Luke dropped back into his typical combat stance at the sight of both of them charging at him from opposite sides "Come on you two, show me what you've got when your backs are against the wall."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, up in the stands…

"Well I'll be damned, that's something I haven't seen in awhile." Bolt let out a low whistle at the sight of the battle taking place down in the arena "It's actually pretty rare to see him actually enjoy himself in a fight, I'm pretty sure that before now Noah is the only guy that I've seen him enjoy fighting since we got back from that year and a half training excursion. To think he's finally having fun in a fight again."

"Plus he's one of a kind too." Cana let out a sigh "I can't think of anyone in this entire freaking world who trains for as long and as hard as he does, he pushes himself to the limit whenever he does it and he's probably never gonna stop."

"You gonna try and talk him out of it?"

"I never said that it was necessarily a bad thing, stuff like that is what makes him as much of a beast as he is. But even despite that he's still got that gentle side to him." Cana gave a small smile as she said this 'Those things are part of why I fell in love with him.'

"You can't deny the facts though." Makarov noted "Our Luke might be winning this battle, but you can't deny that the tenacity of the other two is remarkable."

"Yes you're right, it is very impressive." Mavis gave a simple nod "But even despite that, the fact that Luke is still holding his own against the two of them so easily is even more impressive in itself."

"Yes, Luke is truly something special."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, back with the battlefield…

"Come on you two, give me everything you've got!" with his magic power soaring higher by the second, Luke continued to dodge and weave his way around every attack Sting and Rogue threw at him with considerable ease "I know you've still got more fight left in you so go ahead and show it off!"

"As if you had to ask! White Dragon HOLY BREATH!" Sting quickly unleashed a white colored laser beam from his mouth.

"Lightning Sea King Dragon ROAR!" Luke merely stepped to the side to avoid the Holy Breath and let out his own roar that sent Sting tumbling backwards in a burnt heap, and then he dealt Rogue a solid kick to the head that drove him firmly into the ground 'Even when they see as plain as day that the gap in power keeps widening because they haven't trained to perfect their control over Dragon Force, they still keep on fighting. Makarov is right on the money, they've got tenacity that goes way beyond most people I know.'

"D-Dammit…" Sting slowly pulled himself back to his feet and coughed up a fair amount of blood, his Dragon Force beginning to flicker "Rogue…"

"Yeah, I know…" Rogue staggered his way back to his feet "We have to use that… while we still can… or else there's no chance… we'll be able to beat him…" he held out one arm, his body being engulfed in a sphere of dark energy.

"Yeah… let's do it… here and now… all or nothing…" Sting held out one arm, his body being engulfed in a sphere of white energy.

"Go ahead and try everything you can." Luke dropped into a combat stance as he readied himself for what would come next 'I can feel it plain as day, the magic power coming from the two of them is changing somehow. No it's not just changing, it's like their magic powers are starting to merge together. So that's it, they know as well as I do that their Dragon Force could fade any second now, so they're gambling everything on being able to pull off a Unison Raid. To be completely honest, that's probably gonna be an issue for me. Even as they are now, the two of them combining their powers into something like that is gonna be devastating. But at the same time, there are some walls that you can't break through with power alone.'

"I'm not gonna lose this one, I promised Lector that I'm ever gonna let anyone take me down, and I'm sure as hell not gonna start with you!"

"Is that all that's gonna be said, you got anything to add Ryos?"

"I have nothing to say right now, except that you had best be prepared for what you're about to experience." Rogue told him flatly.

"Fair enough, and believe me when I tell you that I'm fully prepared."

"So be it then. Holy Shadow Dragon FLASH FANG!" with their light and dark magic both combining into one, Sting and Rogue slammed their hands together and unleashed a massive beam of light and dark energy, the blast hurtling forward with tremendous levels of speed, power and ferocity.

'Remember what the wisdom of TFS told you. You have to plant your feet, grit your teeth, and eat that HORSE!' with a deep breath, Luke dropped into a stance and cupped his hands out in front of him as the blast continued to draw closer 'Natsu said that he would never let me live it down if I lost to the two of them, but Bolt and Cana, the two of them wouldn't even say anything to me, and I didn't say anything to them either, because I knew fully well what they meant. The message they were sending me, I heard it loud and clear. The two of them believe in my power, they always have, and if I were to let them down now after everything we've been through together, I would never be able to face them again.' he looked up at the stands to see Bolt, Cana, Natsu and everyone else holding up the Fairy Tail hand symbol, and he couldn't help but smile at the sight of it 'There are some walls that you'll never be able to break through with power alone, but at the same time, if you harness the power inside of you, the power you use for the right reasons, then you can push through any wall and shatter it. Advanced Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Indra's Wrath: STORM CANNON!" gritting his teeth, he poured every ounce of magic power he had into his hands and unleashed a massive blast of magic energy infused lightning and water properties, ripping through the Unison Raid and engulfing both Sting and Rogue in the powerful explosion that followed.

When the blast subsided, Sting and Rogue were still standing, albeit covered in in some very noticeable burns and dried blood, their Dragon Force having faded away completely, and then they promptly spat out some more blood "Luke… Drako… Your power… it's like… there's no end to it…" and then the former finally keeled over as the last of his strength gave out along with his legs 'I'm sorry Lector… I couldn't keep my promise…'

'That's one down…' 'Now I can only hope…'

"Truly incredible… your power knows… no boundaries…" with a final breath, Rogue then keeled over as well, falling flat on his face.

"And just like that, it's over." with a deep breath, Luke finally let his Dual Element Dragon Force fade away, his teeth grinding from the pain the strain of the power was putting on his body "It's finally over…"

"Unbelievable… No words… there are no words… After a heated battle greater than anything we've seen in the games this year so far… the last man standing in this fight is none other than the man himself, Luke Drako of Team Fairy Tail!"

"Yes…" with his exhausting clearly catching up to him, Luke stumbled forward slightly, but he was still able to raise an arm and display the Fairy Tail hand symbol.

"Let's give this man the cheers and applause that he's earned today, this man was not only able to vanquish the likes of Iron Rock Jura, but now in addition to that, he was able to single handedly defeat both of the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth! This is a massive win for Fairy Tail, as with this win they've now managed to tie with Sabertooth for first place! I can't think of a better way for us to end the fourth day of the Grand Magic Games! We're gonna go ahead and give the fighters a day to recover from this excitement, and then we're gonna be moving straight on ahead to the thrilling conclusion of the games! All of it is going to culminate in one ultimate showdown, one in which every member of every team participating is going to be participating in an all out battle royale, but only one guild is going to be able to walk away with the title, so I can confirm for a fact that you do NOT want to miss it!"

"No, I don't think I do." with a sigh, Luke made his way over to where Sting and Rogue lay in two simultaneous heaps on the ground, his voice soft and filled with strain "Hey… are you guys still conscious?"

"What… you come to laugh about it?" Sting managed to lift his head and then shoot a pissed off look towards Luke "Yeah yeah… I said one point wasn't gonna make much of a difference, and here we are now… what, you gona gloat about it?"

"I think I'll pass on that, gloating isn't really my style."

"I just don't get it though… you're a Third Generation Dragon Slayer… you're the same kind as me and Rogue… but you're so much stronger and faster than us… it's like you're something different entirely… so how…"

"How am I able to reach this level of power? That's what you were gonna ask about right? Well it's not a huge mystery or anything, I would've thought it was pretty obvious. The reason I'm able to push myself as hard and for as long as I do, the reason I can reach these heights of power is because unlike most of the people in your guild, when I go into battle I fight for something other than myself. I fight for the sake of all of those I hold dear." he looked up at the stands where everyone from Fairy Tail was cheering for him, though his eyes mostly settled on one in particular, that being Cana "You know damn well what I mean by that. Behind every strike, every spell or every attack I unleash, there's an entire guild and community of people that I've grown up with, that I've had by my side every step of the way, people who push me to grow in strength and spirit, both as a wizard and as a person, over a lifetime of challenges coming one after the other. Each challenge I've had to overcome has been crucial in my growth, because the people that I call my guildmates, my friends, my family, my allies and my rivals, the people that always continue to inspire me and push me to keep moving forward. I could train and fight until I surpass the likes of Zeref and Acnologia themselves, and even if that day comes I would never think for a single second that I reached that point of growth by myself. Being a part of Fairy Tail has had a pretty big impact on it for me too, and it's done the same for a lot of other people who are part of the guild, and it helped them to grow into who they are today. A lot of us had started out as broke, lost or confused, none of us having any place to call our own, and a few of us even started out as enemies. We seemed hostile and misguided towards each other, but as time went on and we grew both as wizards and as people, all of us started to gain respect and trust for each other, and that allowed us to learn and understand a different path. The right path. Sure a lot of us fight and beat the crap out of each other, and we have our fair share of squabbles, arguments and so forth, but that doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, because we know when the time comes to put it aside for the sake of protecting and cherishing what we have. That's the main reason as to why we're more than just a guild, and we're more than just friends. We're part of a family. I don't really know how to put it into words, but this guild has a pretty interesting way of drawing more and more people in. You get what I'm talking about don't you? This power is made up of optimism, morality, conviction, compassion and all sorts of things like that. They come from a power that you understand all too well, whether you realize it or not. Take some time to think about what you believe is important to you, then grow stronger not in magic power, but based on what's inside you, and then I'll gladly fight you again. When that happens, I'll be raring and ready for a rematch anytime.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Now that the fourth day had been officially declared as over, all of the other remaining teams decided to make new goals for when the final day came, that mainly being to defeat Fairy Tail and take the title from them. Jiemma on the other hand, he didn't voice such a thing so much as sit in the stands burning with magic power in response to his rage, which caused those who were sitting near him to flee in terror from his anger.

All the while, Jellal, still disguised as Mystogan, was making his way out of the Domus Flau colosseum and following after the hooded figure hiding herself amongst the crowd.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, inside the colosseum…

"Well that was definitely a workout." Luke made his way into the colosseum, considerably exhausted and somewhat wounded by still triumphant, and he found many of the other members of Fairy Tail waiting for him "So I was gonna head down to the infirmary and let Lucy know that we came out of this one on top."

"First things first you son of a bitch, I've gotta give you credit where it's due." Bolt promptly dealt him a fist bump "That was Goku vs Jiren and Gogeta vs Broly levels of awesome, feel free to try and change my mind about them."

"I won't."

"And there you go. I'm gonna be honest, part of me thought that the day would never come where I got to see you go to town on a bunch of arrogant assholes like them again, but now I feel like a dark shadow hanging over the guild has been lifted."

"I never knew you to sound so edgy."

"A lot had changed in the 7 years you and the others had been gone."

"But like I always say, the more things change the more things stay the same, at least when it comes to this guild."

"I couldn't have sid it better myself." this was when Erza came up to him, with Natsu and everyone else following behind her "What you did today was truly worthy of praise, you really are something else Luke."

"You think so? Well all I did was what I think any of you guys would've done in my position, it's about the guild as a whole after all, not the individual."

"Maybe, but listen up…" this was when Gajeel finally came to his senses and forced himself back to his feet "You get the win for today… I can't change that… but next time… I get my chance to have a crack at them…"

"It's only fair to let you have your chance to shine, but keep in mind that tomorrow is gonna be a day for us to get some R&R, and then we're moving onto the final round. I look forward to when we reach that point, the day where Fairy Tail becomes number one in Fiore again. And then when that comes I can focus on the bigger goals I have to take care of… Zeref and Acnologia. They're still out there somewhere doing god only knows what, and if the day comes that we have to fight them again, then I have to make sure I'm ready. But for the time being, the guild and the games have to come first. But then again, I should be able to multitask to an extent.' he glanced through the crowd to see Cana making her way towards him "Hey."

"Hey." on that rather blunt note, Cana promptly threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder, her voice soft "You did a good job out there, I just hate seeing you rip your body apart like that."

"Yeah well you can't deny that it's nowhere near as bad as it was on Tenrou Island. Anyway let's head down to the infirmary, I want to give Lucy the good news."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A little while later, in the infirmary…

Lucy looked down at where Frosch was still cuddling against her, then up at Luke and the others as they made their way into the infirmary, and she gave a small smile "I can't tell you how good it is to see you."

"Yeah, the feeling is mutual." Luke breathed a sigh "I'm kind of surprised that you haven't asked how it went."

"I don't need to, I've already got a pretty good idea. I could feel the backlash of that spell you used from all the way here. Besides, even if I couldn't I've always had faith in you. It's not like you've ever given me a reason not to."

"And I can't tell you guys how much that faith means to me, but this still isn't over, not for me or any of us right now. We're just getting started with taking back our title. Don't forget that we still have one day left in the games before we can win this thing, we've come this far so I don't see any reason why we should give up now."

"I still can't believe that we started off at the bottom of the barrel." Elfman muttered "Those unmanly assholes in the audience even booed at us, and I'm pretty sure a few of them tried throwing stuff."

"We've dealt with a lot of grief during the first few days of the games, mostly at the hands of Raven Tail, but now the victory in the games and the title itself is within our grasp."

"It's kind of ironic too." Lucy muttered "I was feeling so sorry for myself after I ended up losing in my fight against Flare that I didn't think we'd ever end up here, and yet here we are."

"0 points seems like a fine place to start so long as you keep your head held high, and now we're climbing our way back to the top. The people of Fairy Tail never back down from a challenge, and I don't see why the hell we should start now." Luke promptly raised his right arm and held up the hand symbol of the Fairy Tail guild "We're aiming for the top and we won't settle for anything less, now who's with me?" he was met with various cheers from everyone present, and that brought a smile to his face 'To think that so much has happened since Bolt and I came back to Fairy Tail, whether it be so many tears or so many laughs, but all the same so many special moments that we get to share with people that love, people that go beyond being friends, people that we call part of our family. There are few moments where I'm more proud to call myself a member of Fairy Tail than I am right now.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Unfortunately, not all was as well as the members of Fairy Tail would've liked to believe.

'Come on, I know that scent was around here somewhere.' within the catacombs of the Domus Flau colosseum, Noah was wandering throughthe dark caves by himself, his mind racing as he did so 'I know I caught the scent of dragons, multiple dragons coming from the colosseum in the middle of the battle. Whatever it is there's one thing for certain, the mysterious magic power that connects to Zeref isn't the only mystery that we have to figure out right now.' his wandering through the catacombs came to an abrupt end when he found what he was looking for, and he felt his blood run cold at the sight of it… the skeletons of numerous dragons littering the grounds for as far as the eye could see "What the hell is this place… some kind of makeshift graveyard for dragons?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, with another member of Crime Sorciere…

'Come on, I know you're the key to what we're looking for.' even though night had fallen over the city of Crocus, Jellal was still tailing the mysterious hooded figure from the colosseum.

"Jellal what's going on over there, you didn't let them get away again did you?"

"No I still see them plain as day, I'm still tailing them and I'm trying to find the best opportunity for when I can make my move. I don't know who it is but there's no way I'm letting them out of my sight, I need to find out why I'm reminded so much of Zeref by them. And I'll be sure to let you know if I find any sign of Noah."

"Got it. I don't get it though, it's not like him to run off like that."

"Noah may have his moments but he's very rational, he would never run off like that unless he had a good reason."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

From her place in Mercurious, Yukino listened as a member of the army told her of the fact that Sabertooth had been defeated by Fairy Tail, though she informed him that she didn't holy any attachments to the guild anymore, and that she also wasn't used to the title of sergeant. The soldier told her that a temporary status was required in order for her to take part in the Eclipse Project, and Yukino was left to contemplate the idea of assisting in the plan, and the level of social awkwardness that Arcadios had for someone who was trying to save the world.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, in the infirmary…

'There it is again!' Carla's head snapped up at the sight of another premonition playing out before her eyes 'There it was, the city burning and the castle crumbling, and then… she was singing wasn't she? What does it mean?'

"What's the matter Carla, are you alright?" asked Wendy.

"It's nothing, I assure you that I'm fine. It's that strange premonition again, I keep seeing the sight of Mercurius crashing down, and then… she was singing.'

"Hey LuLu did you hear, we totally won!"

"Hm?" Lucy and the others looked up at the sight of Levy and Gajeel (the latter being heavily bandaged following the beating he took in the fight) making their way into the infirmary "Oh hey guys, glad to see you're back on your feet Gajeel." she was met with muffled grumbling as a response, due to the bandages covering his mouth.

"All we have to do is keep up our spirits and then we're gonna win this thing after all!"

"Oh you've got that right girlfriend, now that we're back in first place, or tied for it at least, there isn't a chance in hell that Team Fairy Tail is gonna have any chance of losing!"

"You got that right, especially if that fight today is anything to go by. We're on a real hot streak now and we've only got one day to go."

"Yeah, and I don't know about the rest of you, but I've got a pretty good feeling about how things are gonna turn out."

"You and me both Lu, you and me both."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, with Noah…

Still down within the catacombs beneath the Domus Flau, Noah was now looking around the newly discovered dragon graveyard beneath the colosseum 'This is fucking insane, there must be more dragon skeletons in here than Naraku had jewel shards in Inuyasha. How long have these things been here though, and for that matter how long has this place been here?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I can't deny how great it felt then. Everyone was so positive that we were winning, and I wasn't any different in that regard. I could never forget how intense everything was on the final day of the games. Do you remember how it was Cana? Because that's something that I'll never forget for as long as I live, though that may not be for very long. The happiness that we all felt in hat time, it turned out to be such a stark contrast to what was about to come. When that fateful day came, when the clock struck midnight on the 7th of July… When everything went straight to hell, and everything that we had hoped for was burned to ash. First they died, all of them, and then we lost to fate… I loved all of them more than anything, but now… I barely even have the strength to write this to you, be it physically or mentally… Please Cana, I can't take this anymore… I just need someone to help me… Help all of us…'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The moon had long since risen above the skies of Crocus, and while it was shining brightly, the mood and foreboding atmosphere was a very stark contrast.

The mysterious hood figured made her way to a balcony overlooking the city, her mind drifting with each step she took 'It's only a matter of days now… that's how long I have before all of it is turned to ash all over again… before I lose everyone I love, just like I did before…'

"Stop right there, don't take another step." this was when Jellal finally chose to confront her as he removed his mask "I need you to reveal your true face and identity to me, keep in mind that I've already chosen to reveal mine. I can tell from the physique that it's a woman.'

"...You really want to know who I am? I'm warning you now that you're not gonna like what I have to say." the mysterious figure slowly turned to face Jellal, her face and true identity shocking him to the point where his blood ran cold.

"No way… it can't be…"

Day 4 results:

Tied for 1st: Team Fairy Tail: 44 points

Tied for 1st: Team Sabertooth: 44 points

3rd place: Team Lamia Scale: 39 points

4th place: Team Mermaid Heel: 38 points

5th place: Team Blue Pegasus: 29 points

6th place: Team Quatro Puppy: 15 points

A/N:

Now in what is the new longest chapter I've ever written, we see a brief glimpse of the night after the third day, as well as the entirety of the fourth day of the Grand Magic Games, ending in a spectacular battle that shows everyone, even Sabertooth, why Fairy Tail is still the guild to beat. But not all is well with our heroes, as sinister forces are getting ready to make their move, and now the members of Crime Sorciere have locked onto a mysterious figure wandering around Crocus, and their identity has left Jellal in absolute shock, and I guarantee that it will do the same to you when the time comes for me to reveal their identity. Overall though, not too bad of a way to end the first half of the arc, and I hope that you guys agree with me.

So yes, while Lucy did put up a somewhat better fight than in canon, I'm sorry to say that the outcome of the Naval Battle remained the same. It had to for the sake of proceedings, but believe me when I tell you that it was pretty painful to write out how Lucy got brutalized by Minerva the way that she did. But on the plus side, I did get to use it as an opportunity for relationship building between Lucy and Rogue, so that's a plus. Keep in mind that even in canon, Rogue didn't smirk or laugh or show any signs of being sadistic like the rest of his fellow guild members.

So yes, Ichiya and his clone vs Bacchus and Rocker was pretty much exactly the same as canon, the same with Lyon and Yuka vs Kagura and Milliana. I didn't bother going into any real detail about those fights because there wasn't really anything I wanted to add.

Then we get to the main event of the chapter: Luke and Gajeel vs Sting and Rogue, in the showdown that we've all been waiting for, and the one I've been waiting to write out. I can imagine that some people are upset that Natsu isn't in this fight, but to be honest with you I knew from the beginning that I was gonna include Luke in this fight, and since Gajeel hasn't participated in a single event up to this point I thought it was only fair that he go in there to fight as well. And yes, Luke did solo both Sting and Rogue easily once he finally unleashed all of his power, in which he also firmly clarified just how great the power gap is between him and them, but the difference is that Gajeel didn't get shafted on the glory, at least as much as he did in canon, so by extension he didn't end up discovering the Dragon Graveyard beneath the colosseum. I decided to give that honor to Noah.

Just to clarify one point though, for those who missed it: The reason Team Fairy Tail has one less point than they do in canon is because Natsu only got 7th place in the Chariot event, thanks to Cana going in for the B team instead of Gajeel. I mean granted it doesn't change the fact that they will win, this is Fairy Tail after all, but for the time being that means they're only tied with Sabertooth for first place, rather than overtaking them by one point. But don't worry, they'll be back on top all the way by the time the games come to an end.

Now then, let me go on record and say this: This past week has been pretty rough, I've had a lot to deal with between all my schoolwork and getting a wisdom tooth out. And here I thought I wouldn't have to deal with that, but it was only one tooth so I guess I got off lucky. The only problem now is that I can't eat as much as I like to, but I'm not here to whine about that, I'm here to bring something positive to all of you with a new update. Unfortunately, this will be the last update of my Fairy Tail fic for the time being. No I haven't lost my passion or spirit for it, it's just that since the new Yashahime anime seems to be going strong, I figured that now was a good time to put it out there. I've already got most of the first season written out, so the updates should be pretty regular.