Paris' most well-known race might be the Tour of France bicycle race, but it holds other races as well. It's holding a marathon as well. Many people have signed up for the race, and one of the racers is none other than Lucy's father. He was competing in the marathon and was getting ready to go.

"Best of luck, honey." Layla said as she handed him some water to drink. "You're going to do great out there."

"Great? I'm sure Dad can win the whole thing." Lucy said as she really believed in her father.

"Thank you, Lucy, but I'm not really trying to win this race." Jude said. "I just thought entering the race would be fun and a nice challenge."

"You mean you're not even going to try to win?" Lucy questioned.

"Well, I'm certainly going to give it my best shot." Jude said.

"You don't need to worry about that." The Heartfilia family looked and saw a fellow runner wearing shades with him have a blonde mohawk-like hairstyle. "No one is faster than me. Just you wait and see. I'm the one who is going to be bringing home the gold."

"And who are you?" Lucy asked.

"The name's Sawyer. I'm one the one who is going to win this race. Sorry, old man, but you and the others are going to be eating my dust."

"Someone is certainly cocky." Layla said as they didn't exactly like the man's tone.

"Well, I'm sure you'll do your best as well." Jude said as he was willing to brush the comment off, but Lucy wasn't going to take it so easily.

"My Dad is a great runner himself, you know." Lucy said. "You're the one that will be eating his dust. I bet you won't even be the first one to finish this race."

"Lucy, you're not being nice." Jude said as he didn't want his daughter talking about it.

"Just you wait, little girl. I'm the one who is winning this." Sawyer said as he walked out of there as he was confident he was winning this race.

"I should get going myself. I'll see you both after the race." Jude said as he hurried over to the starting line with the rest of the racers. Layla moved to the side to watch with Lucy hoping her father would do well.

"Lucy, did you really need to talk to that Sawyer like that?" Stella asked from Lucy's purse.

"I was just trying to show support for my father." Lucy said.

"I know, but your father doesn't seem to care about winning this race." Stella said. "He's just facing another challenge. That Sawyer seems to be the one that wants to win so badly."

"I'm sure it's nothing. I just hope that cocky runner can back up all that talk." Lucy said as she went with her mother. Runners gathered around the starting line as the marathon was about to start. Jude was going to give it his best shot, but Sawyer was in it to win it. Obsessing over victory and getting cocky can have some serious problems if you don't get the results you want. As the starting alarm went off, all the runners got moving.

"Good luck, Jude!" Layla called.

"You'll do great, Dad!" Lucy called. They both hoped that Jude would do well in the race. As the race just started, Lucy spotted someone she was glad to see. She looked through the crowd and saw Natsu there and was standing on a stage. "Natsu is here too?!" She was glad to see him and rushed off to see him.

"Lucy?" Layla said as she thought it was strange she just ran off.

"Lucy, where are you going in such a hurry?" Stella asked.

"To go see, Natsu." Lucy said while trying not to draw attention to herself. "With Natsu having a busy schedule, and his brother hardly letting him out, I've got to take the opportunities to hang out with him while I can."

"But why you need to do it so suddenly?" Stella asked. "You can barely talk to him anyway. You're acting like you're in a big hurry just to be with him."

"Love is a battlefield, Stella. You need to take chances while you can." Lucy said. "Especially with the likes of Taylor and all those other fangirls out there."

"But Taylor isn't even here. You should just calm down and cheer for your father. You have plenty of time to talk to Natsu after the race." Stella said.

"I doubt it. Now stay down." Lucy said as she kept Stella out of sight. She could see Natsu right in front of her. She just needed to step on the stage. Her heart was beating like a drum, but she tried to take the first step up there.

"Hold it!" Jacob said as he did his job and got in the way. "You're not allowed here. Just what what do you think you're doing?"

"I... I... I'm actually a reporter and..." Lucy was trying to think of a good excuse to get up there and see Natsu. Luckily, Natsu spotted her and helped her out.

"Hey, Lucy." Natsu said. "It's okay, Jacob. She's in my class. She can come up." Jacob wasn't so sure, but he was a nice guy and let her on. Lucy stepped on the stage and was happy to be standing next to Natsu. "What are you doing here?"

"My runner is father... I mean my race is marathon..." Lucy was stammering around with her words again.

"Oh, hold on." Natsu said as he spotted something on the roster. "Jude Heartfilia... That's your father, right? He's in this race, right? Well, I'm sure he's doing well."

"Thanks, but what are you doing here?" Lucy asked.

"My brother is one of the race's sponsors. He asked me to fill in for him and watch the race." Natsu said. "I guess all we can do now is sit back and watch. I'm just glad I've got a friend to talk to now." Lucy was glad to be standing with him, but she's doing the opposite of what she wanted. All she did was stand there as time was ticking away.

...

Later

The race went on for a while. Lucy tried her best to talk to Natsu, but she just kept crashing and burning. It wasn't exactly going how she wanted. She practically stood around in awkwardness.

"Here comes the racers!" Natsu said as he pointed down the road. They all looked and could see a few of the racers coming. Sawyer was the one in the lead. Lucy couldn't believe it. Sawyer was in the lead. His heart was beating, his breathing was hard, and his chest and feet felt like they were on fire.

"I almost made it!" Sawyer said as he could see first place, but he's burned through a lot of stamina. Other racers weren't far behind as one fellow racer was starting to pass him. "Oh no you don't!" Sawyer tried pushing himself to go even faster, but he was at his limit. With the finish line just a few feet away, Sawyer just about had it until the other racer was able to pass him at the last second and cleared the finish line first with Sawyer only a few seconds behind. He couldn't believe it. He was only a few seconds away from getting first. People cheered, but he felt like it meant nothing to him.

"Looks like Mr. Cocky got second." Lucy said.

"Too bad. Another few seconds and he would have gotten first." Natsu said. Sawyer stomped away in frustration as he couldn't believe he lost.

...

Sawyer

Sawyer went somewhere he could be left alone. He took off his shoes and massaged his burning feet. Sawyer was still sore about coming in second when first was so close.

"I was so close. I'm the fastest. I should have been the one that won." Sawyer said. "If I was just a little fast, I would have won it." He smashed his fists against the ground in anger. An anger that didn't go unnoticed by someone.

...

Black Wizard

"Feeling a little slow. We all wish we could be just a little faster." Black Wizard said as he could sense the frustration. "Being a few seconds too slow can be frustrating, what my etherious desires." He had an etherious land in his hand and filled it with dark powers. "Flyaway, little etherious, and evillize him!" He unleashed the etherious and it wasn't going to be too slow.

...

Sawyer

As Sawyer stayed where he was, the etherious flew closer. The etherious entered his shoes and established the link between him and Black Wizard.

"Racer, I'm Black Wizard. You want to be faster? I'll make you the fastest man alive, but if you want to stay like that, you must bring me the miraculous of Celestria and Salamondra."

"I've got the green light." Sawyer said as he was ready to go. He put on his shoes and was transforming into a new villain. His outfit was now a black skin-tight suit with red stripes.

"No one will be faster than me!" Racer claimed. He moved with incredible speed. He was running faster than any man has ever ran before. With Racer's speed, Celestria and Salamondra might easily be get runover.

...

Lucy and Natsu

Lucy and Natsu continued to watch the race as they saw more and more racers finishing the race. Lucy kept her eyes open for her father to cross it.

"Over there, Lucy!" Natsu said as pointed down the street. "I can see your dad!" Lucy looked around and spotted her father. He paced himself pretty well as he made his way closer and closer to the finishing line.

"Come on, Dad! You're almost there!" Lucy cheered. Jude took his time until he finally crossed the finished line. Lucy cheered for her father finishing the race.

"Your dad's timing is pretty good." Natsu said. "He did pretty well in this race." Lucy was quite proud of her father, but it was short lived as something incredibly fast zipped it's way through the area and was causing chaos and disordered. People were beginning to panic until the fast blur stopped and showed it was Racer.

"Run all you like! No one can runner faster than me!" Racer claimed as he took pleasure in the chaos.

"I've got to go!" Lucy and Natsu said at the same time as they took off in different directions to find a spot to transform. Lucy ducked into an alleyway and made sure no one saw her.

"So much for talking to Natsu." Stella said as she came out. "All you did was crash and burn because you felt like you were in a race of your own."

"Can we please talk about it later?" Lucy said. "Stella, Twinkle!" Stella was pulled into her earrings and transformed into Celestria. As for Natsu, he found his own spot to transform as he let Igneel out.

"I thought we were going to have a day of doing nothing." Igneel said.

"Sorry, but we need to get going, Igneel." Natsu said. "Igneel, Fire Up!" Igneel was pulled inside the ring with Natsu becoming Salamondra. Everyone has left the area with Celestria and Salamondra jumping out in the open.

"Celestria! I bet you were rushing to see me." Salamondra said.

"Not now, Salamondra." Celestria as she kept her guard up. "That new villain has to be around here somewhere." They both looked around for him, but he got them first as he ran by them and knocked them both to the ground. Racer showed himself and was more confident than ever.

"You two can try all you like, but you're never going to catch me." Racer said.

"We'll see about that." Celestria said. She tossed her whip at him, but he moved to the side rather quickly and caused the whip to miss. Salamondra tried as he jumped in the air and twirled his staff around. He tried to strike him, but Racer just disappeared.

"Someone is quick on their feet." Salamondra said.

"Secure your miraculous." Celestria said as she covered her earrings. "With his speed, he could take them without us even knowing it." Salamondra guarded his ring and kept his eyes open for anything. Racer ran around the whole place and they couldn't get a lock on his position.

"You think you can stop me? You won't be able to see me." Racer said, but they still couldn't tell where he was coming from.

"Any ideas?" Salamondra asked Celestria as they felt cornered.

"Let's try going somewhere he can't run to." Celestria said. She took her whip and threw it at the rooftops. She pulled herself up and headed up there. Salamondra extended his whip and followed her. They both landed on the roof and thought they were safe. "I don't think he should be able to get us up here."

"You better think again." They were both surprised as they turned around and saw Racer was right there. "You won't be able to get rid of me that easily."

"I never liked running anyway." Salamondra said as he twirled his staff around. He tried attacking him again, but Racer disappeared again when he swung his staff. "This is already getting annoying."

"Let's go. It's not a good idea to stay in one place for very long." Celestria said. The two of them got moving and tried to stay ahead of Racer, but Racer wasn't going to let them leave so easily. Celestria tossed her whip to swing by, but Racer was able to grab it.

"Hold on tight, Celestria!" Racer said as he started moving and Celestria was holding on for dear life.

"Celestria!" Salamondra called. He tried to go after them to try and help her. Celestria was holding on as tight as she could, but Racer was causing her to bash and smash against everything in Paris. When Racer made a sharp turn, Celestria was force to let go and sent flying down the street with her bouncing and sliding against it.

"Ouch..." Celestria moaned as she tried to straighten herself out. "Good thing I'm nearly invulnerable. That would have been a whole lot more painful."

"Celestria?! Celestria?!" She could hear Salamondra calling for her as he was searching around for her.

"Over here!" Celestria called. He soon spotted her and made his way to her.

"Are you okay?" Salamondra asked.

"I think so, but we need to find the etherious and stop this guy. Otherwise, we'll be having a nonstop country-size race with this guy." Celestria said. Figuring out how to stop this guy is difficult. It also didn't help when something hit Salamondra in the back of his head. They looked to see it was Lucy's whip handle. They looked down the street and saw Racer with him laughing.

"Give it up. You can't beat me because you can't match me. Is there anything else you like to try?" Racer taunted.

"Stop fooling around and get their miraculous!" Black Wizard told him. "Go for the gold and grab them while you can!"

"Okay. Just quit yelling in my head." Racer said. "I'll just grab them and go!" Racer ran straight for them, but they kept their miraculous shielded. They did their best, but Racer smashed into both of them and knocked them further down the street. Racer ran off again and he was running circles around them. It was difficult for them to keep track of them.

"Still no ideas?" Salamondra asked Celestria.

"Not while things are the way they are." Celestria said. "Time to add something in our favor." She grabbed a hold of her whip and was ready to use her powers. "Open the Celestial Gate!" She used her powers and formed an urn. "An Aquarius urn? What am I suppose to do with this?"

"Figure it out. You can do it." Salamondra said. Celestria looked around for something, but she wasn't sure.

"I can't find anything." Celestria said as she was starting to get nervous. Salamondra could tell she was.

"Calm down. You're rushing things." Salamondra said.

"This guy is incredible fast. We won't get much time." Celestria said.

"Don't feel rushed like him. I mean, seriously. Where's the fire with this guy?" Salamondra said. "He needs to relax and calm down or else he's going to crash."

"Crash?" Celestria said. While that advice might also apply to her, she is also been given an idea. "That's it! I got an idea, and I'm going to take my time." She placed the urn on the road and kept her eyes open. Racer was still running around as a way to taunt them.

"That's weird. What is she doing?" Racer questioned. "Oh well. It doesn't really matter. Time for me to put an end to this." Racer was going to end this big as he ran all the way to the top of the Eiffel Tower. He held himself back, then took off straight down at great speed. Celestria and Salamondra waited for the right moment and kept their eyes open for him.

"Here he comes." Salamondra said as they could hear him coming.

"Wait for it." Celestria said as she made sure the urn was positioned just right. Once she caught a glimpse of him coming, she took that as a signal. "Jump!" They both jumped to the side. Celestria positioned the urn perfectly as Racer stepped right into it and his foot got caught in it. He lost his balance and tripped with him being flung into the air. Celestria tossed her whip and grabbed the urn. She pulled with all her might with it coming right off his leg with his boot coming off as well. "Just like you said, Salamondra. You need to take your time and not feel rushed if you don't want to crash." She caught the urn and saw the book in there. "Could destroy what's inside? I think that's where the etherious is."

"No problem. Dragon Fire!" Salamondra used his power and reached inside. He touched the boot and it burned to ashes. When it was burned apart, the etherious flew out.

"No more evildoing for you, little etherious." Celestria said as she traced the end of her handle, the rope extended out, and started twirling it. "Time to de-evillize!" She tossed the whip and caught the etherious. "Gotcha! Bye-Bye, little guy." She released it after she purified it. "Miraculous Starlight!" She tossed the urn in the air and caused streams of stars to fly. The mess that Racer caused at the race was cleaned and fix. With the etherious gone, Racer turned back into Sawyer.

"What am I doing here?" Sawyer questioned.

"Pound it!" Celestria and Salamondra bumped fists for their little victory.

...

Black Wizard

"Don't do your victory lap just yet." Black Wizard said. "Before you know it, I'll come up from behind and steal victory from you. Once I do, I'll take your miraculous as my prize!" Black Wizard isn't out of the race just yet.

...

Lucy

Once the crisis has passed, Celestria turned back to Lucy. Sawyer went back to the race and claimed his silver metal. Second place still isn't so bad. She hurried back to the race and spotted her parents. She could see they were looking for her.

"Hey, there's Natsu." Stella said. She pointed down the road and spotted Natsu with Jacob. "It looks like he's about to leave. Aren't you going to take the chance to talk to him, or not talk to him?"

"Very funny." Lucy said with annoyance. "You were right, Stella. Life and love isn't a race. I got a little ahead of myself and looked what happened. I was with him the whole time, but I could barely talk to him. I'll get another chance, but I better show my parents that I'm okay."

"A wise decision, Lucy." Stella said. Lucy let Natsu go and headed towards her parents.

"Lucy! There you are!" Jude said as he spotted her.

"We were worried when we couldn't find you anywhere." Layla said.

"I'm really sorry." Lucy said. "I...got caught in the panic of the crowd and lost track of both of you. Dad, I did see you finish the race. You did a pretty good. You made great time."

"Thank you, but I sure hope that other man is okay." Jude said.

"I'm sure he's fine. He looked satisfied when I saw him." Lucy said.

"Well, how about we have a family race? A nice restaurant for lunch?" Layla offered.

"Enough races. How about we take our time? Maybe talk a little?" Lucy suggested. Both of her parents liked the sound of that. There's really no rush. If you try to rush through life, you end up crashing. Life isn't a race, but Lucy is going to pace herself.