Chapter 17: Training Part-2


[Group 6:]

Bacchus, Ichiya, Araña, Risley, and Millianna headed over to the location where Natsu, Lucy, and Happy fought one of the seventh kin the last time.

"So, what are we gonna do?" Risley asked, arms crossed and standing next to her girls, Araña and Millianna.

It was no surprise Bacchus was already drunk, during the walk, he drank booze that was stolen from Cana. "I say w-we *Hic* get WILD!"

Araña rolled her eyes, her accent thick, "How about we make it boys V.S girls? Me and my girls, versus you two boys."

"Nyaa, that sounds like fun," Millianna happily agreed, tail wagging in excitement as Risley nodded.

Bacchus wickedly grinned, about to comment until Ichiya started sobbing, "Nooo! HOW CAN I CALL MYSELF A GENTLEMAN IF I FOUGHT TWO BEAUTIFUL LADIES! MANN~"

"Well then, this'll make it easier to defeat you—Web-Shot!" Araña battle cried, shooting a crying Ichiya with sticky spider webs. Only realizing his mistake when he was already in the air and falling into some part of the forest, sticking to a tree.

Bacchus only had a buzz, and he was going to drink some more while the girls were distracted until a rope-paw wrapped around the alcohol bottle. Yanking it from his grasp, "Nyaa~ Silly boy. Did you think I'd let you take another drink?" Millianna grinned, her cloak wrapped around her and bangs covering her eyes. Soon enough, the bottle was in her hands, Millianna didn't hesitate to smash it on the ground. The liquid darkened and sank into the dirt.

Bacchus watched his whole world stop, like slow motion as the bottle shattered to pieces on the ground. Falling to his knees in a dramatic motion, staring at the broken glass, "NOOO! My baby… That's totally NOT wild man! Who wastes booze?!"

{Meanwhile:}

At campgrounds, Cana hunched over as if she'd been stabbed in the heart—She knew this feeling, she's felt it before.

Someone just wasted booze…

Glancing up with anger in his eyes, Bacchus launched towards Millianna, whose face was shielded but her frown. Although he didn't even make an inch toward her, the kitty lover smiled at the last minute, "Gravity Magic: Downward!" Risley shouted, forcing Bacchus to eat dirt. He groaned at the feeling of not being able to move or get up, Risley and Araña heading toward Millianna.

"Looks like we beat him! I'm a pumped-up kitty to the max, Nyaa!" Millianna cheered, fist in the air and tail wagging.

"Yeah, good thinking about breaking his bottle Milli," Risley congratulated.

"But we should probably finish him off," Araña nodded, about to cast her magic until the three were caught off-guard when the floor shook, and a roar echoed in the air. Startled, Millianna's tail straightened in a puffing manner and jumped on Risley unconsciously, the sudden attack had the poor girl lose control over her gravity change. Frantically, Araña tried to pry the kitten lover off without hurting anybody, but Millianna's claws were dug too deep in Risley's skin.

Bacchus, no longer grounded, used this chance to take them out. Picking himself up, he didn't hesitate to rush forward with palms held out in a straight manner. Hitting the three girls at the same time as they screamed in pain before falling to the ground, defeated… His hand technically was like sharp blades.

Panting, Bacchus shouted to the sky in anger, "That was for MY booze!"


[Group 7, 8, and 9:]

Mirajane, Lucy, Yukino, Levy, Happy, Panther Lily, Lector, Frosch, Carla, Laxus, Orga, Sting, Rogue, Gajeel, and Natsu were all climbing their way to the spot where Loke once fought Capricorn.

The girls, Exceeds, and Orga were getting tired from the walk—Not hesitating, Lucy rushed forward and jumped on Natsu's back. The dragon slayer instinctively catches the celestial mage and grips her thighs to keep her from falling. Lucy noticed his wings were folded back in a comfortable position. "Natsu~ Are we almost there yet? I'm tired and so is everyone else!"

Lucy sighed, nuzzling into the scarf with a tired moan, "We're almost there Luce. Go to sleep, I'll wake you once we arrive," She nodded, eyes closing softly and finally giving into her exhaustion.

Mirajane and Levy eyed their friend, getting similar ideas as Lucy before jumping on their mate's back. Sighing in relief and falling asleep automatically, Gajeel and Laxus shook their heads with a tiny smile.

Sting could see Yukino was starting to get tired as well, the celestial mage trying to catch her breath—Concerned, he grabbed her wrist as Yukino halted in question, "Oi, are you alright? Tired? Need me to carry you like blondie and them? I don't mind…" Yukino was shocked to say the least that Sting was worried for her. It made her feel warm inside as a shy smile graced her features, a blush coating her cheeks and nodding in acceptance. Sting cheekily grinned, hosting her onto his back so she could rest. When Yukino fell asleep, the white dragon slayer heard snickers to see all the guys laughing, Orga making whipping sounds. Yet the five immediately turned around with wide eyes, whistling and walking casually like they didn't see anything… Shaking his head, Sting huffed in frustration and tightened his grip on Yukino before jogging to keep up with them.

The Exceeds were tired too, flying to their respectable "families". Happy cuddling between Natsu's neck and Lucy's blonde hair, purring softly. Natsu smiled to himself at his two partners, tail wagging slightly but not noticeable, thanks to the walk.

Panther Lily headed toward Levy and Gajeel, landing in the iron dragon slayer's messy hair and sighing in relaxation. Gajeel softened when hearing the Exceed fall asleep on his head… It seems Gajeel's inner-dragon even had a soft spot for his cat.

Frosch flew into Rogue's arms, immediately falling asleep as Rogue petted the head of the frog costume.

Lector sat on Sting's shoulder, leaning upon his head as Sting smiled at the cat—He was glad Lector wasn't leaving anytime soon like what happened during the Grand Magic Games.

Natsu noticed Carla, the only Exceed that was still flying. The sight had him frowning—This cat was one of his dragon slayer's companion… More precisely, this was Wendy's Exceed, who he thought was like a little sister. Carla is also Happy's first-love. Natsu slightly felt bad that she was separated from Wendy, especially when the other Exceeds were asleep on their own best friends. Sighing, Natsu grunted to gain her attention as she raised an eyebrow before motioning with his head with a silent signal she can rest upon him as well… It's not like the added weight was a big deal since he was in dragon form. Carla's eyes widened, then softening before flying to Natsu and laying on his fluffy pink hair, avoiding the horns. Her eyes got droopy, fighting sleep until she couldn't.

…Finally, they arrived and woke the girls before starting their training.

Mirajane and Panther Lily took Happy, Carla, Lector, and Frosch away from the dragon slayers so that neither would get hurt when trying to practice transformation magic. Although they were still close enough where Laxus could see his mate.

Levy, Yukino, and Lucy decided to sit down on a rock, away from them too but also close enough to be seen.

Rogue, Orga, and Sting nervously shifted on one side of the field, in their battle stance. While Gajeel, Laxus, and Natsu stood opposite of them, smirking and cracking their knuckles when facing their opponent.

The three male dragon slayers were the first to attack, Natsu launching at Sting with a flamed-fist at the ready. Even at such an inhuman speed, Sting ducked the attack just in time, turning around laughing and pointing. Although the white dragon slayer didn't notice Natsu scoffing, hitting Sting in the stomach with an excessive force using his dragon tail. "Oof! D-Dammit… Shouldn't have been so c-cocky," Sting muttered, holding his stomach and falling to his knees.

Gajeel was calmly walking towards Rogue until he vanished, disappearing into the shadows. The iron dragon slayer grinned evilly at the attempt to escape before transforming into his iron-shadow and jumping right after him in the pitch void. Two shadows seen chasing and clashing against one another.

Orga was a nervous wreck but didn't want to show it, putting on a smug look instead. Big mistake, because Laxus took that as a challenge and growled. The god slayer didn't have time to blink before Laxus was gone in a flash, Orga looking around for him. He blinked, only to have a fist to connect with his face that made him fly towards the nearest old-half buried temple.

Meanwhile, the girl's training was going well.

The Exceeds sat in front of Mirajane as she explained how transformation magic works, using Panther Lily as an example. When the lesson was over, Mirajane instructed everyone to focus and turn into their own form that one would believe if they were semi-human—Carla decided to try first, standing up and taking a deep breath. She closed her eyes until disappearing in a puff of smoke when it faded… There, standing, was Carla in her transformation form. Peeking an eye open, the white furred Exceed saw Mirajane beaming while Panther Lily gave an approving nod. Frosch gave a thumbs up, but Happy and Lector were both drooling… Mirajane summoned a small mirror, Carla gasping when she saw herself.

Carla was more or less the same height as Wendy, wearing a white turtleneck that was tucked into a peach-colored skirt. Black tights covered her legs and topping it off was a black-suit blazer and combat boots—Her nails were painted pink, and her tail still had her favorite pink-bow on it. Carla's hair was straight but wavy at the same time, below her left ear, a black shaped cat clip was keeping her bangs from blocking her vision. Carla's eyes were a light-brown and skin a pale tone like Lucy's.

"Frosch wants to try too!" Frosch raised a paw in excitement as the two male Exceeds were still distracted over Carla's transformation. That is… Until someone threw a pebble at Happy's nogging, waking him from his trance. Blinking once, then twice, Happy glanced over to see Mirajane pointing to a drooling Lector—Raising an eyebrow, Happy looked at Lector to see he was drooling over HIS Carla. Annoyed, Happy "innocently" shoved Lector into the ground and made him eat a mouthful of dirt… A trick he learned from Natsu over the years when the dragon slayer caught someone eyeing Lucy.

Mirajane instructed Carla to stay in that form, wanting to see how long she could hold it—Next, the she-devil allowed Frosch to go next as the frog excitedly jumped from the floor and went to stand in front of Mirajane. Doing exactly what Carla did, breathing in-and-out, Frosch disappeared among the green smoke in a puff… The small cloud reveals the Exceed's transformation form.

Frosch was the same height as Carla, wearing black jeans and green converse… The hoodie was shaped like his pink-frog costume, and hairstyle was the same as Rogue's because the Exceed wanted to be like his best friend. The only difference was that Frosch's hair and eyes were a deep-green, the cat's skin almost a pale-olive green. Fluffy-green ears were hiding underneath the hoodie and the tail was out in the open.

The green-cat was amazed at his transformation form, jumping in excitement and shouting how he can't wait to show Rogue. Mirajane giggled, directing her attention to Lector now, who was still eating dirt. "Lector, your turn!" She smiled sweetly, Lector glancing up and coughing dirt as he tried to get himself together.

Brushing dirt off himself, Lector grumbled as he took a deep breath and tried to clear his mind for concentration. It took about ten minutes until there was finally a maroon cloud puffed out of nowhere. When it cleared, Lector was standing in his transformation form, facial features slightly annoyed that he swallowed dirt and grass.

Lector was slightly taller than Frosch and Carla, wearing baggy blue-jeans and maroon converse. He had a hoodie, the same color as his vest, with holes to fit his maroon-colored ears through. His tail swayed softly, dark-hazel eyes narrowed, skin a tannish red color.

Gaining the nod of approval from Mirajane, Lector moved to stand beside Carla and tried to make conversation, only to be ignored. Happy was irritated, not being able to concentrate now, so when it was his turn, he kept trying but couldn't. The blue Exceed kept pushing himself, angry tears starting to fall without him realizing.

Carla looked at Happy in concern, deciding to be nice to the Tom-Cat for once. "Come on Tom-Cat, I know you can do it. Just get it over with so we can move on already!" Carla huffed, turning her nose in annoyance and crossing her arms over her chest.

Happy's eyes snapped open at Carla's words, suddenly feeling like he could do anything because Carla believed in him! The Exceed wasn't stupid… He knew acting rude was one of the ways Carla covered up her emotions, not wanting to show that she cared—Suddenly, Happy was surrounded by blue smoke, and when it cleared, Carla couldn't help but blush… Though she quickly shook it off, putting on an expressionless face.

Happy was only a bit taller than Carla, Lector, and Frosch but still short compared to Wendy—He was wearing jeans, the same color blue as his long-sleeved shirt. Happy had navy-blue shoes, and his shirt had a white spot in the middle of his stomach area. The green handmade backpack that was from a bandana was bigger, like a scarf, wrapped around his neck in a secured fashion. Happy's hair was the same color as his blue fur, as well as his ears… His tail was holding a white tip. Eyes were now a deep-blue, almost black, and his skin was almost tan like Natsu's.

Happy bounced in joy, tail straight up and tip twitching in happiness, a toothy grin on his face. The Exceed directed his attention to Carla, "I did it! I did it—Did you see that Carla?! I did it, just like you said I could!"

Carla blushed, thankfully it wasn't THAT noticeable as she puffed and waved him off in irritation.

Mirajane smiled, seeing that all their transformations had a resemblance to their partners… Carla had an innocent face like Wendy, following her fashion too. Frosch had Rogue's hairstyle, and Lector's eyes and face were shaped like Sting. Happy… Happy had the same tannish skin color and toothy grin that showed off his canines like Natsu.

Panther Lily stood next to Mirajane, clapping, "Wow, for your first time, you guys did well—Now, Mirajane is going to train herself with Levy, Lucy, and Yukino. I'm training you four in hand-to-hand combat, as well as weapons. So for now, the only weapons we have are sticks littering the floor, choose one!" Panther Lily demanded. The Exceeds started looking around the ground as Mirajane joined the girls.

Lucy, Levy, and Yukino sat around on a rock, legs crossed and trying to drown out the noise from the male's fight—They closed their eyes, concentrating to raise their magic container inside… It helped Lucy that her second-origin was released and Natsu's magic coursing throughout her was helping. Taking a deep breath, everything began to disappear, and Lucy felt like she was floating in the Celestial World as she relaxed. The blonde even felt her magic expanding… Everything was perfect—" Hot. Hot! HOT—LUCY/LU-CHAN!"

"Kyaaa!" Lucy yelped in fright, breaking out of her trance and flailing backwards. Groaning, she rubbed her aching head from crashing to the floor, grumbling in annoyance at the silver and blue haired girls. "What the hell? WHAT WAS THAT FOR—Why are your clothes burnt?" Dumbfounded, Lucy was in awe at the girl's ruined clothes.

"We don't know! First, we concentrated and then we were hot, next thing we knew we smelled smoke! We opened our eyes to see if Natsu or any of the dumb males created a fire, only to see WE were on fire! Quickly, we put it out, but you were probably the one that set it off since you were giving off an extreme sense of heat… We had to shout to snap you out of it," The two yelled in unison. Lucy merely laughed sheepishly, rubbing her neck in a nervous manner, "Hehe, um, oops? Gomen, I still don't know how to control Natsu's magic yet. He promised to teach me later…"

The girls snorted before sitting back down, a little farther from Lucy to concentrate. Half an hour later, Mirajane finally joined the three, deciding to work on their abilities now.

Lucy and Yukino decided to see how many spirits the two could summon—Yukino went first.

"Open, Gate of the Paired Fish: Pisces!" Yukino shouted, gold key in her hand as it glowed before two large fish came out, swimming in the sky above. One was black with a white belly, and the other was pure white with a black belly… Yukino didn't waste time to pull out a second gold key, "Open, Gate of the Heavenly Scales: Libra!" In a puff, a woman with dark hair appeared with two buns like horns. Her outfit was like a belly dancer, a white bandana covering her mouth, hands dangling two scales on the tip of her fingers—Summoning two golden gates at the same time didn't affect Yukino, since she did it at the Grand Magic Games. Although she didn't bother using the 13th gate, Ophiuchus. Rather moving forward to her two silver keys… It was unheard of a Celestial mage to summon three gates at the same time. Though that was mostly for the golden keys since it took a lot of power, "Open, Gate of the Swan: Deneb!"

Soon enough, the third gate… Silver or not, had Yukino drained as she panted in exhaustion. The golden summons took most of her magical power the longer the two stayed. Eventually her magic failed, falling to the ground as sweat ran down her temple, not even managing to summon her last silver key, which was the Bear Cub.

Feeling a wave of confidence, Lucy decided to go all out and clenched onto all her golden keys—" Open, Gate of the Lion: Loke; Gate of the Maiden: Virgo; Gate of the Giant Crab: Cancer; Gate of the Archer: Sagittarius; Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus; Gate of the Twins: Gemini; Gate of the Ram: Aries; Gate of the Scorpion: Scorpio; Gate of the Goat: Capricorn!" She even managed to summon Aquarius, thanks to Levy and her solid-script, water.

Yukino and Mirajane eyes widened in fear and worry, "Lucy, are you sure about summoning all your golden keys?! Won't that kill you?" Lucy just smiled, not appearing exhausted or tired.

Shaking her head, the blonde moved to her silver keys as she kept the zodiac gates opened. "Open, Gate of the Southern Cross: Crux; Gate of the Clock: Horologium; Gate of the Lyre: Lyra; Gate of the Compass; Pyxis; Gate of the Canis Minor: Nikora!" The silver keys glowed, as the summons appeared next to her zodiac spirits. Smiling, Lucy picked Plue up and hugged the snowman-looking dog close.

Mirajane, Yukino, and now even Levy, stared at Lucy in shock that the celestial mage was able to keep that many gates open—She didn't even look like she was going to pass out! In fact, Lucy appeared like she hardly used any magic.

As if reading their thoughts, Virgo piped up in her monotone tone, "Princess has gotten more powerful ever since she became Natsu-sama's mate."

Loke pushed his shades up, "The extra magic that Natsu injected for his mating mark is what her celestial magic is feeding off to help us stay open… Even though it's cruel that my princess is with Natsu, my love for her will always be as bright as the sun!" He said, draping his arm around Lucy's shoulder with a certain sparkle to his appearance. However, when he heard a low growl from across the field, he immediately went to hide behind Aries, who squeaked and blushed in shock.

Taurus, for once, didn't have anything to say… Almost passed out after seeing and I quote, "So many beautiful moo-ing bodies with giant udders," (Lucy, Yukino and Mirajane). Aries was still embarrassed that Loke chose her to hide behind, covering her face with apologies. Sagittarius was just standing, waiting for orders, while Gemini floated and danced in the air. Cancer was looking around, scissors snipping as he looked for Happy to cut his fur again but didn't realize the Exceed was in a humanoid form. Crux, as usual, was asleep… and Pyxis was flapping his penguin wings and chirping happily. Plue was shaking, nuzzling in Lucy's arms as Lyra smiled and waved at her friend.

Capricorn bowed, like a knight to a princess, "You have grown into a fine lady, Miss Lucy… Lady Layla would be proud of how you turned out."

Scorpio wrapped an arm around Aquarius' waist, using his free hand to send a rock-and-roll sign, "Wicked, nice job on opening all the gates Lucy!" Aquarius merely puffed out her cheeks like a puffer-fish, turning her head away so Lucy wouldn't notice a slight blush, "Tch, at least you FINALLY got a boyfriend idiot…. I'm… I'm proud of you Lucy." The last words were faint, but Lucy managed to catch it, her eyes widening before getting teary-eyed. She waved them goodbye, each of the spirits had smiles on their faces—Lucy's older spirits softened, believing to see a ghost of Layla Heartfilia smiling back.

Lucy wiped her tears, smiling widely at the girls, "Alright, Levy and Mirajane next!"

Finally, let's get to the dragon slayers, shall we?

Sting hissed, standing as Natsu smirked at the sight of him clenching his teeth in pain—Launching to him, not using magic, Sting tried to land a punch… Fist being thrown left and right as Natsu blocked all of them without trouble. The fire dragon slayer even tried to use his tail again, swinging it at Sting only for him to duck at the last minute and punch him in the jaw. His victory only lasted for a second, Natsu reeling back from the blow in total shock, caught off guard. A dark shadow loomed over his face, covering Natsu's eyes as Sting started to get scared from the silence and the fact he wasn't moving an inch. Growling dangerously, Natsu's wings stretched at an inhuman speed, flew into the sky and disappeared. The white dragon slayer paled, searching everywhere in a frantic motion… It happened too fast, a hand yanking him from his top, pulling Sting forward to face a menacing dragon that held a sneer. That's when Sting realized what he did, punching Natsu and smirking. Practically challenging his inner-dragon's strength… IN FONT OF HIS MATE! 'Fuck, why do I always have to let my cocky-side get the best of me!'

Currently, Gajeel and Rogue were still clashing in their shadow forms, Rouge beginning to pick up speed to get away from the iron dragon slayer. Slightly, he glanced to see if Sting was alright, watching in the shadows to see him throwing punches at Natsu, only to have them blocked. However, before Rogue could focus back on his fight, Gajeel caught up and grabbed him through his own shadow, throwing him back to the light and crashing into an old temple. Rogue flinched at the impact, eyes widening to see an iron-club coming straight for his face… Thinking fast, Rogue vanished once more into the shadows just as the iron hit. Gajeel growled at the action, sniffing the air to try and find him… The shadow dragon sneakily was trying to help Sting in battle, waiting for his chance to strike—Rogue was close to throwing an attack at Natsu, until a dark chuckle echoed out, and soon enough he was yanked from the shadows and facing off piercing black-dragon eyes. Sweatdropping at the angry dragon, Rogue was tired enough and clenched his teeth to wait for the final blow.

Meanwhile, Laxus watched with narrowed eyes to see Orga standing from the broken ruins—The god slayer knew this fight would be short, considering he didn't have the stamina of a dragon slayer and because Laxus took him down in one blow at the guild for catching his mate. Yet, Orga didn't care if Laxus was in his dragon form or the high possibility of getting beat… He wanted to at least get some hits in. So for once in his life, he decided to use his brain, even if it meant he'd be severely injured. Glancing over to where Mirajane was about to spare against Levy, with the other two girls watching. Orga whistled in a flirtatious tone, "Looking hot ladies! ESPECIALLY YOU MIRAJANE!" Although he didn't know, the comment caused everyone in the area to freeze, including the other two dragon slayers that held Sting and Rogue in a headlock.

Distracted, Laxus snapped his head toward the location of his mate, where she and the other girls' attention was focused solely on Orga, their cheeks dusted in a light pink—Growling, Laxus's wings spread out as his tail thrashed wildly. The lightning dragon slayer noticed that Natsu and Gajeel dropped their own opponents as they stood with a menacing aura. Though Laxus didn't have time to react as a surge of black lightning hit him square in the chest, causing him to slide in the dirt. Sensing another blow, Laxus used his wings to cover himself like a shield as a mess of dirt and rocks exploded from the powerful attack.

Orga coughed, protecting his face… When the cloud of dirt cleared, he warily opened his eyes and looked around to see the damage. Rogue and Sting attacked on instincts, having rushed over to protect their Exceeds that transformed back into a small cat. Panther Lily was still in his own form, shielding Happy and Carla. Yet, the god slayer paled to see the girls, as they coughed uncontrollably—Lucy was in the arms of Natsu as he shielded them with his wings, Gajeel's tall figure protected Levy from rocks flying, while Mirajane and Yukino was saved by Lucy, the blonde celestial having called Capricorn in a nick of time. Lastly, Laxus shook himself clean from the dirt and pebbles, wings stretching. The lightning dragon looked around, eyes landing on Mirajane as the she-devil coughed dirt and shook her hair from the mess… Next thing Orga knew, in a flash, fierce dragon eyes ranging from olive-green, jet-black, and gold stared straight into his soul. Snarls and growling ringing into everyone's ears clear as day. Natsu reacted first, roaring like a real dragon that had everyone wincing at the sound… Yet it was like an alpha signaling permission as the other two immediately attacked Orga at the same time. The three-dragon slayer's combined power creating a giant explosion, Orga was lucky he was alive… Unconscious and bleeding out, but still alive for the most part!


{Campgrounds: Lunchtime}

Cana, Hibiki, Mavis, Porlyusica and Master Makarov were gazing at a map outside the tents, discussing battle plans—They'd have to leave tomorrow afternoon, by then, the guild members that stayed home would've evacuated the entire town somewhere safe. During this time, Jet and Warren were relaxing after preparing lunch.

Soon enough, five minutes later, did the groups arrived one-by-one.

The first to arrive was Lyon, Eve, Rufus, and Gray, who was holding an unconscious and lovesick Juvia. They all were bruised and sweating, although Lyon kept complaining about how HE should be the one to carry his "beloved".

Next group was an exhausted and injured Max, Jäger, Rocker, and Droy… The member of team Shadow Gear automatically collapses to the ground, face-first. Behind them, an unharmed Jura walked gracefully into the campsite, carrying two unconscious females: Beth and Sherry.

The third group to come skipping in was Wendy in her dragon-form, perfectly fine. Next to her, Chelia also entered with a skip to her step, not injured or nearly as exhausted as Ren, Wakaba, and Semmes that were dragging behind. The two girls have gotten an "air-snack" on the way.

Fourth group to arrive, Erza stood carrying an unconscious Jellal princess-style. While Kagura used her gravity-magic to drag the rest of the unconscious members. Such as Jenny, Evergreen, Elfman, and Meredy.

Soon, Macao made it too… Carrying Romeo on his shoulders, the two sporting biggest smiles. But behind them, a pissed off Freed and Bickslow dragged behind, both mumbling about "almost winning" or "stupid Natsu".

The sixth group, Bacchus was also upset and used one of Millianna's ropes to tie the three unconscious girls he was paired with. After what the ladies did, he didn't care if they got hurt from the floor scraping their butts. Although, Bacchus was pretty sure their group was missing someone…

{Somewhere In the Forest:}

…" Mannn! Is anyone there?!" A crying Ichiya shouted, still stuck to a tree, thanks to Arana's spiderwebs.

The final group, no one said a word… Scaring the hell out of everyone—Natsu, Gajeel, and Laxus were carrying their mates bridal-style. Happy curled on Lucy's stomach while she ran her fingers through his fur that had him purring. Panther Lily rested on Levy in exhaustion, while Mirajane hummed a soft tune to try and ease the tension in the air. And behind them, the three dragon slayers were dragging an almost dead Orga with their tails… Carla immediately flew to Wendy at the sight of her. While Rogue, Sting and Yukino were following the group in a slow and cautious manner, the twin dragon slayers were holding their Exceeds to themselves in a protective shield.

The three dragon slayers carefully put their mates down so the girls could rest and eat, before grabbing Orga and throwing him to Wendy. The young dragon slayer side-eyeing the broken man, deciding to drag him to the infirmary tent for treatment.

Everyone was afraid to make the tension worse, Makarov coughing in his hand awkwardly as Mavis's ears twitched in excitement. Mirajane cut the silence, smiling sweetly, "So, what's for lunch?"

After a while, everything turned back to normal… Even Ichiya made it back to camp. Everybody was eating, resting, or getting treated for their injuries. Makarov waited patiently to question how their training went and wanted to discuss their battle strategy.