The city of Crocus boomed with excitement. Not just from the mages who were planning on participating in the Grand Magic Games, but the people who were excited to see the Grand Magic Games. Cynthia looked around in amazement, utterly surprised that a city could be so lively. "Whoa…I've never see a city so lively before! I love it!" Cynthia clapped her hands together, her eyes sparkling in amazement. "Can we take a large tour, Wendy? Pleasssse!"

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, Cynthia, but we have to get back to the hotel by midnight, remember?" Wendy said, looking around the city.

"Well…it's…only…" Cynthia looked around for the nearest clock, pointing to it once she found it. "It's 9! We have three hours to take a tour!"

"You're not winning this one, Wendy," Carla said with a slight snicker.

"Oh, alright, alright!" Wendy put her hands up in defeat after realizing Carla was right.

"YAY!" Cynthia grinned and then grabbed Wendy's arm, pulling off to take a tour of the large city.

.

"That ride was horrible…" Selene groaned while rubbing her stomach, still feeling slightly nauseous from the long train ride.

"At least it's over now!" Aira nodded, grinning cheerfully as she looked around. "Are you hungry? We still have time to grab a bite to eat!"

"I could go for some good food right now…" Selene nodded. "It's getting somewhat late though, are you sure you remember where the hotel is?"

"I remember!" Aira nodded as she gave a reassuring smile, dragging Selene off in the process.

.

"So many people here…" Evanee groaned somewhat as she took some time off to walk around the city. It was noisy in the hotel room, so she decided to take a walk to what she thought would be a quiet city, but she was wrong. "And it's noisy…"

"I find it kinda funny ya think a city like this would be quiet…" Bacchus said as he stumbled around somewhat, obviously quite drunk.

"Ugh…" Evanee waved her hand, attempting to wave the strong scent of alcohol away from her nose. "Who are you…and why do you smell of that disgusting aroma…?"

"Heh, name's Bacchus, drunken Falcon for the wildest guild in Fiore; Quatro Cerberus!" Bacchus said with a drunken, yet clearly proud grin. "As for the smell, heh, I was drinkin' as much as I could. Who might you be?"

"Evanee…" Evanee replied, her eyes narrowing at the drunk before her. "Don't tell me your guild is competing in the Games…"

"Of course we are! We made top six last year, and now, we intend on taking that number one spot!" Bacchus nodded, taking a sip from his gourd. "I couldn't drink too much though, don't wanna be a liability for my team if I passed out drunk."

"Right…" Evanee replied, clearly uninterested in the conversation, though Bacchus clearly didn't seem to notice. "Now…I'm going to go…elsewhere…" Evanee gave a slight nod and started to walk off.

"Oi, wait a sec!" Bacchus shouted after her.

Evanee sighed a sigh of irritation before turning her head to look over her shoulder. "What?"

"What guild are ya from?" Bacchus asked.

"Twilight Zone," Evanee replied before walking off.

"Heh, pretty wild name…" Bacchus grinned before walking off back to the hotel.

.

Lucy was taking in the sights of Crocus. She hadn't been here in a while, and she was glad to see it was repaired from the Dragon Attack. As she wandered, she did happen to almost encounter Luke. "Whoa, almost ran into you there. Sorry...Luke!?" She didn't realize it was Luke she almost ran into.

"Hey, Lucy." Luke gave her a wave. "Excited for these Games? This time, White Eclipse is going to get in, and we're going to win."

"Of course I'm excited. And Fairy Tail is going to take it this year, too!" Lucy said confidently. "This time, if we have to fight, I'll make sure I beat you." That was one of her main goals. Luke was a hurdle for her, and she intended to clear him one way or another.

Luke chuckled at her determination. They hadn't had a fight in a while, but Luke was fairly confident in his ability to defeat her if need be. "Don't think you'll get the drop on me so easily. I have plenty of new tricks up my sleeve." Luke said while taking a step closer to Lucy.

Lucy also took a step forward, looking up at Luke with her own confident grin. "So do I! You'll see! I'll knock you flat and finally get a win over you. I've been training just to beat you, Luke."

"I'd like to see you try." Luke replied. The two of them weren't breaking eye contact. Their rivalry was still there, but so was...something else. The longer they stared at each other, the more difficult they both found it to pull away. Lucy found herself moving forward first, and Luke followed suit...but she immediately caught herself and stepped back, eyes wide and cheeks dusted red. "S-So!"

Luke only caught himself because Lucy did so first. He blinked in surprise and pulled back, clearing his throat. His cheeks were also red, unsure what to say about what almost just happened between them. "You won't get the best of me...!"

"I'll show you!" Lucy said while quickly turning and running off. Her cheeks were red and she couldn't believe that just happened, right in the middle of the street!

.

"Uwah!" Saeko stared out from the balcony of a room White Eclipse had in the hotel, looking down at the city below. "It's amazing!"

"It's a great view, no doubt!" Zalen said with a slight grin.

"You all seem comfy," Kairi said with a slight giggle.

"It's a great place, and I can't wait to start this thing," Reve said while lying on a bed. "Where is everyone, by the way? We're gonna need them in a few hours."

"Selene and Aira went out to eat somewhere, so I doubt they'll be gone for much longer," Nami nodded. "Everyone else is somewhere around, not too far from the hotel, I'm pretty sure!"

"As long as everyone is on time, I don't have a problem." Reve nodded.

.

"This city never ceases to amaze me…" Lucy said as she, Natsu, and Happy walked around the crowded city. The trio just came from eating at a restaurant, and were now on their way back to the hotel to wait for the preliminaries to start.

"It has sooo much fish!" Happy grinned, carrying a large fish in his paws, savoring every bite of it.

"I feel great!" Natsu threw a fist into the air, patting his stomach. "That meal was just enough to fire me up! I'm ready for this thing to start!"

"Excited, aren't we, Salamander?" Yakuza said as he happened to approach the three while walking in the opposite direction.

"Eh…you're…" Lucy started, trying to remember who Yakuza even was.

"Don't remember me…ouch…then again, what does it matter?" Yakuza merely shrugged. "Since you've forgotten, my name is Yakuza, and I am the ice god slayer of Cosmic Star, soon to be number one guild in Fiore."

"Heh, I dunno about that," Natsu said as a sudden smirk appeared on his face. "Fairy Tail may have competition this year, but we're going to win just like last year!"

"We'll see about that, Salamander," Yakuza said while a smirk started to tug at his lips. "Magnus and his strategies will take us to the top, no doubt. You know, we were the top guild in Bosco. But it didn't feel like much of a challenge, so we tried our luck here instead."

"Bosco?" Natsu's eyes lit up at the sign of a challenge. "Then you'll get to see just how Fairy Tail made it to the top!"

"About Magnus…" Lucy started, very curiously too. "How does he know EVERYTHING?"

"Eh?" Yakuza blinked. "I'm not going to go and spill our trump card. But you can know that he does and doesn't know everything at once. I'll give you that bit of food for thought."

"That's really confusing…" Happy tilted his head while chewing on his fish.

"I agree…" Lucy sighed, looking over to Natsu to see if he got it, but he seemed about as lost as she and Happy.

"Those without brainpower aren't exactly going to get what I just said rather quickly…" Yakuza said with a simple shrug.

"H-Hey!" Lucy puffed her cheeks out in an irritated fashion.

"Too late," Yakuza shrugged, turned around, and started his way back to the hotel. "See you soon."

"Well that guy is annoying…" Lucy huffed, crossing her arms under her chest.

"Oi, come on, let's get back," Natsu nodded.

.

"This is a rather big city…" Ur said a she, Byron, Tobias, and Ruika stood on a roof, watching the people from above.

"Can I kill them?" Byron asked as he looked to the two ladies, but they both shook their heads.

"Calm yourself," Ruika merely replied; the celestial mage then looked down, spotting Lucy, Natsu, and Happy walking below them. "Lucy…"

"Hm?" Ur looked over to Ruika rather curiously, noticing the sudden change in attitude. "What's got you all upset all of a sudden?"

"Tch, I remember her…" Tobias replied, tugging on his scarf in a slightly irritated way.

"Nobody cares, Tobias," Ruika replied as her eyes locked on Lucy's key pouch. "I WILL have those keys…if I can't even have all of them, I will at least obtain Leo."

"He didn't seem all that when I fought her and him during that fiasco not too long ago," Tobias replied.

"He is a powerful spirit, but, he will be even more powerful once I get my hands on him…" Ruika's lips started to form into a sadistic smirk. "And then, I will watch Leo kill his former owner, and then her keys will be mine, and her head shall be mounted on my wall."

"This girl is crazier than I am…" Byron said while he took a few steps back, turning around to see if there was anything else he could look at, but he noticed Yukino and Sting taking a walk around the city on the other side of the building. "Oi…Who're those two?"

Tobias turned first, squinting at the two Sabertooth mages. "Huh…looks like we have Sting Eucliffe of Sabertooth along with Yukino Aguria…"

"Did you say Yukino?" Ruika turned instantly, looking down at Yukino with the same look she had with Lucy.

"And what's so special about this one?" Ur asked while crossing her arms.

"She has the two keys Lucy doesn't have…along with the 13th zodiac gate key…" Ruika replied.

"The…13th key…?" Byron blinked a few times, starting to count the keys by using his fingers, eventually thinking it to be impossible for there to be 13th gate key. "Nope…I just counted, it's impossible…"

"Idiot…" Ruika sighed slightly, but she found Byron a lot less annoying than Tobias, so she complied to tell him and Ur about it, completely ignoring Tobias in the process. "There have been rumors of the 13th key, which is a very powerful spirit…and Yukino is the one who possess it…And I want it. She surprised me last time, but I won't let that happen again either."

"So what are we doing here? We could get those keys right now if you wanted…" Ur started.

"No, I want to see how this competition plays out first…" Ruika replied. "I have my bets on Fairy Tail."

"Psh, White Eclipse, obviously," Tobias said.

"Ohp, well, I was gonna go with that but knowing this guy he's gonna be wrong…" Byron said. "Hm, I'll go with Fairy Tail too."

"Fairy Tail." Ur nodded.

"Oh come on…" Tobias groaned.

.

Back at the hotel, more so in Cosmic Star's room, the members just all rounded themselves up, now looking at the clock. "It's 11:45," Gaia said with a nod. "Only fifteen more minutes…"

"You whippersnappers better get into the top eight…" Karma said, coughing slightly after. "I didn't return just to see you all fail…"

"Don't worry, we got it!" Alex nodded.

"I've already come up with a plan," Magnus said with a smirk. "And it begins with…" Before Magnus could continue, a large black ice structure appeared in the southern part of town.

"Something that will take a large amount of time to break down, or get around…"

.

"H-Hey! What's the big idea?!" Aira flailed her arms around as the black ice structure blocked her and Selene's way. "I need to get back to the hotel in fifteen minutes!"

"Don't worry, Aira, I can do this…!" Selene nodded, changing her arm into a diamond sword, and began hacking away at the godly ice, only making little progress.

"It's taking too long…!" Aira said, nervousness of not making it on time starting to get to her. "We have to go around!"

"That's going to take longer!" Selene protested.

"What do we do, what do we do!?" Aira started panic.

.

"Alright, we have fifteen minutes; Team A: Report," Reve said, looking around for his team.

"Here!" Luke nodded, raising his hand.

"Here," Takeru nodded.

"And here," Cygnus nodded.

After a few minutes of silence, Reve looked around. "Where's Aira?"

"I wouldn't expect her to be late…" Luke said while raising a brow.

"Maybe something happened…?" Cygnus suggested.

"Hey, look over there…!" Luke pointed to the black ice structure on the far end of the southern part of town. "That's where the restaurant Aira and Selene went to is…"

"You don't think…" Cygnus started.

"It seems as though something is holding them up…Not good…" Reve grit his teeth slightly before calling over to Taya, whose team was in the room next to Reve's. "Taya, we have a bit of an issue here!"

"What's the matter, cowboy?" Taya asked in reply.

"Aira's been held up." Reve explained.

"What? That's not like her," Taya replied.

"It's not," Reve nodded in agreement though Taya couldn't see it. "Someone's decided it would be okay to hold us up…We only have about ten minutes left now…"

"What's the plan?" Kuro asked.

"I can get her; it's night, after all, which is perfect maneuverability for me," Takeru nodded, standing on the railing of the balcony.

"Better hurry up," Reve replied.

"On it." With a nod, Takeru entered his Shadow Drive mode, and started to move through the shadows. "Selene's with her, but with a city this large I'm not surprised she isn't using Shadow Travel…"

.

"Everyone's here, right?" Makarov asked both Erza and Laxus, making sure both A and B teams were ready.

"Everyone's here aside form Wendy and Cynthia," Erza replied, looking over at the clock. "I know they're both safe, and I'm certain they're on their way to return here as we speak."

"They better be; a late start wouldn't be favorable…" Laxus grunted somewhat.

"Juvia thinks everything will be okay!" Juvia gave an assuring nod.

"Good luck, Mira-nee!" Lisanna said with a cute smile and wave.

"Thank you, Lisanna," Mirajane replied with her usual sweet smile.

.

.

"Come on, we're almost there!" Cynthia shouted as she and Wendy neared the hotel, but they were still a few minutes away.

"Ah, I lost track of time!" Wendy cried out.

"Don't worry, I'll tell everyone else you two are on the way!" Carla nodded, and then sprouted her wings, flying ahead to the hotel.

"We're gonna make it!" Cynthia shouted, but right after she shouted, a structure of black ice appeared, towering over the two young girls.

"W-WHAT!?" Wendy's eyes widened at the black ice structure.

.

"Oh, looks like this competition just got a little more interesting…" Maggie said with a snicker as she, Kiora, Veronica, and Horoki watched the black ice starting to slow the competition.

Horoki took a puff from his cigarette, and then blew out some smoke, grinning slightly. "I love it when people don't play fair…makes things more interesting…"

"This Cosmic Star guild is already spicing things up, I love it!" Veronica grinned, filing her nails.

"Cosmic Star'll probably win if they continue stuff like this; bet." Kiora nodded.

"Hm, that may be so…I think it's too early for bets, however, so I'll wait until things actually get started." Horoki nodded.

.

After a few more minutes, the image of Mato appeared in the center of the city, signaling it was time for the preliminaries to begin. "Hello-kabo!"

"Shit…!" Reve growled.

"Tak, hurry up…" Luke mumbled quietly.

"This isn't looking so good…" Gajeel growled slightly.

"It is time for the preliminaries of the Grand Magic Games-kabo!" The pumpkin headed host grinned, and the famous Sky Labyrinth appeared over the city of Crocus. "Only eight spots are open, meaning only eight guilds will get to compete-kabo! And remember, all five members of a team must cross the finish line in order for that guild to compete, now, go-kabo!" After the host spoke, a bridge appeared that connected the Sky Labyrinth to the balconies of the hotel appeared.

"Let's GOOO!" Flynn shouted, not wasting any time in moving forward...but before he could make it out of the room, black ice shot up, blocking the way out of the balcony, thus halting the Twilight Zone team as Flynn shot the ice face first.

"FLYNN!" The team shouted in unison.

"What's that about?!" Flynn asked while rubbing his head.

"Someone's playing dirty..." Alexander replied.

"This isn't good…" Reve, Erza and Evanee said in unison.