Chapter 40
Pride
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
"Magic"
Flashback
Location / Date / Time Skip
Erza and Elfman leaned against the railing when Natsu ran up from behind. "How is Lucy doing?" The red head asked, turning around.
"She seems fine. She wanted to take a shower." The pinkette answered before pushing himself to the railing. "Tell me I didn't miss anything."
"You're in luck, the second match is about to start." She replied as dust blew around the arena.
"You've defiantly improved from last year, but you're still not gonna beat me." Ren chuckled.
"And here I thought a Pegasus man would object to hitting a lady." Araña chuckled. "I guess I was wrong." She thrust her hands forward and webs shot out.
"Pay attention, Ren!" Sherry shouted from the stands. "Now go kick her butt!"
"Don't go cheering for the enemy!" Obra shouted. "I don't care who you're engaged to!"
"I refuse to lose like this!" Ren shouted as he dodged the silk. "Aerial Phose!" Electric charged air spiraled forward and took Araña into the air. It spun her around and electrocuted her before she dropped to the ground.
"And the winner is Ren Akatsuki of Blue Pegasus!" Chapati declared as the crowd went wild. "Their guild has scored an impressive 14 points on day one, while Mermaid Heel has scored only 3 points."
"I shouldn't have left my guard down." Araña declared before walking back to her guild.
"His skill have certainly improved over the last seven years." Erza said before glancing over to the winning guild. "But I can't help be suspicious of whoever is in that costume."
"So you think that's weird too?" Elfman asked with a sigh. "Good, I thought I was the only one."
"And now for our third match of the day." Chapati declared as a poncho wearing wizard walked into the arena. "From Quatro Cerberus, Warcry! He'll be going off against Sabertooth's Orga Nanagear!" The tattooed man walked onto the field and the gong rang out, starting the fight.
Warcry triggered his magic and tears started welling up in his eyes. He charged Orga, who merely raised his hand and a giant orb of black colored lightning zapped him. The crying man fell over charred and blackened, instantly obliterated by the spell.
"Lightning..." Laxus mumbled as he raised an eyebrow.
"And the third match is over in a literal flash!" Chapati declared as the crowd cheered. "Orga's black lightning scorched Warcry's tears in an instant!" Orga merely turned and walked back to the rest of his team. "And with that one hit KO, Sabertooth moves to twenty points on the first day! Unfortunately, Quatro Cerberus only has two."
"That victory worries me." Mavis mumbled. "As much as I hate to admit it, we might not be able to beat them."
"I hate to say this, but they're awesome." Romeo added.
"Day 1's matches are about to come to a close, but we still have one more match to attend." Chapati said as someone literally scrapped Warcry out of the arena. "Fairy Tail B and Lamia Scale are about to throw down in our final fight. The final match of the first day is going to be Fairy Tail B's Nicholas Boulton vs Lamia Scale's Jura Neekis."
The crowd cheered at the name of the Wizard Saint. "Aw crap! He screwed!" Natsu face palmed.
"For years, Nicholas was hunted by the Magic Counsel because an evil doer filed the report first. But now he's been clear and has joined Fairy Tail!" Chapati explained as Jura walked into the arena, making the crowd go crazier.
"Guess luck isn't on your side today." Laxus teased as Nicholas rolled his shoulders.
"Who'd have thought you'd be forced to fight Jura of all people..." Mirajane added in worry.
"He's just a bald priest. Is he really that tough?" Gajeel asked.
"Don't worry. I got this." Nicholas chuckled as he walked into the arena.
The two stood across from each other and stared with determination. "Personally, I would love to see Fairy Tail do well in this tournament." Jura confessed. "But the old hag would throw a fit if I let you win. So know I don't plan on holding back."
"That's what I wanted to hear." Nicholas replied as the gong ran out. "Because I won't either."
Jura raised his hand and stone pillars rose up, knocking the Dragon Slayer into the air. Nicholas flipped over and landed on a curving pillar before running down it. He raced before against some charging pillars before jumping off and his arm turned into a pillar itself. Jura waved his hand and the pillar missed, only to find Nicholas zooming down his arm.
A flying knee hit his face and dazed Jura before a double axe handle hit the back of his head. Jura grabbed his opponent's leg and threw him into the mass of pillars just in time to see a giant stone fist flying at him. "Come to papa!" Nicholas licked his lips and opened his mouth before he started eating the rock.
The arm was cut off and Nicholas finished his meal before diving backwards and vanishing into the ground. Jura looked around in worry before an uppercut surprised him. "Supreme Rock Fist!" Jura chanted before a fist hit Nicholas, launching into the sky.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art!" Nicholas shouted before stone began covering his body. "Gaia's Revenge - Meteor Impact!" The Slayer angled himself and started falling with the power of a space rock.
Jura clasped his hands together and a giant rock mountain with a face around him. The two objects met and created a massive explosion. Wind knocked the hair back of everyone in the audience as the dust finally settled. The two wizards stared at each other and smirked. "We seem be at an impasse." Jura declared.
"It seems so." Nicholas chuckled. "I can't compete with you in terms of control, and what ever magic you send my way only strengthens me. Then we settle this the old fashioned way." He charged and magically enhanced punched Jura in the chest, sending him flying back. "Your turn, Jura."
The Wizard Saint merely dusted himself off and walked over. "I suggest you reinforce yourself." He said before raising his hand in a chop. Nicholas quickly triggered his Scale spell and crossed his arms for the impact, only for the chop to hit the square of his head.
The stone cracked and shattered to pieces as he stumbled backwards. "G-good hit..." He mumbled before he was knocked out and fell over.
"And with one hit, Jura puts an end to this rocky back and forth battle!" Chapati declared as the crowd cheered. "Jura Neekas gets the win! And with day one now wrapped up, let's take a look at the scores!"
Sabertooth 20p
Raven Tail 18p
Lamia Scale 16p
Blue Pegasus 14p
Mermaid Heel 3p
Quarto Cerberus 2p
Fairy Tail B 1p
Fairy Tail A 0p
Jura walked over to the unconscious teen and picked him up before helping him out of the arena. The crowd started jeering the action before the Wizard Saint handed him over to Brianna and Mirajane. "He should come to in a few hours." He said in concern. "When he does, tell him I would be more than happy to fight him again."
"He'll be happy to hear that." Brianna said as Laxus just glared at Jura.
Honeybone Inn
"You guys stink!" Cana drunkenly declared. "How culd members of the great Fairy Tail be sho pathetic? It's embarrassing."
"You're talking awfully big for someone who that was too busy touring bars to come cheer for us." Elfman replied.
"I was soo watching!" The drunk replied. "All the bars have Lacrima vision ya know!"
"But it was quite a first day." Erza chuckled.
"Yeah, we have to try our best starting tomorrow." Mira added.
"It's going to be my turn tomorrow!" Natsu cheered. "I'm gonna turn things around!"
"If Salamander is coming out to play, maybe I'll make an appearance as well." Gajeel chuckled from the bar. "How's rock head holding up?"
"Be quite..." Nicholas groaned as he held an ice pack to his throbbing head. "God I feel like I was just hit by a train. Or, maybe I was on one. Natsu, is this what your motion sickness feels like?"
"Gray, more ice!" Brianna requested, ignoring the glare from Juvia. "Is she always like this?" Her question earned a nod from the ice wizard.
"Lucy, are you alright?" Levy asked
"Totally fine! I'm more pumped up than ever before!" The blonde replied.
"What about Wendy and Carla?" Gray asked Lisanna after refilling the ice bag.
"It seems they still don't feel well." She replied. "Porlyusica is still with them."
"Alright, now that everyone is gathered..." Makarov jumped onto the table, a mug firmly in his hand. "Listen up, brats! Today's defeat is tomorrow's victory! We'll rise up and show all! We don't know the meaning of giving up! Our goal here is number 1 in Fiore!" The entire guild erupted as the party went on even louder than before.
Mercurius
Arcadios knelt before the throne and kept his head down. "Your majesty, the first day of the Grand Magic Games has ended without incident. Regarding the second day's battle portion, I humbly ask wither you have any requests."
"I want to see Sting and Rogue... But I'll save the best for last." The monarch chuckled. "I want to see Bacchus, make sure he's included. Against that Fairy Tail wizard, the one who transforms. I think their name was Er... no, El..."
"Understood. Let's have it." Arcadios nodded. "If you have no other requests, I'll take my leave."
"Not just yet." The king replied. "There is this idea I've been thinking about and I would like to run it by you."
"If that is what you wish." The knight chuckled.
HoneyBone Inn
Natsu stood tall over a bruised Max. "Who's up next! Gimme your best shot!"
"How did he become this strong in 3 months?" Warren asked in shock.
"So... where do we stand now?" Vijeter asked.
"Now this looks like a party..." Cana turned her drunk head to see a man walking over. He was a tall, muscular, fair-skinned man with straight black hair, which is slicked back and gathered on the back of his head, where it is kept in a bun, hidden away by a white cloth with ruffled edges secured by a similarly colored strip. He has slanted eyes marked by dark lines, with black pupils circled by lighter irises, each bearing five irregular black forms below it (with the central pair of forms being larger than the three on the outsides), and which are topped by black, arched eyebrows.
He also appears to possess sharp canine teeth. Hanging from his ears is a pair of light brown earrings whose shape is reminiscent of a gourd; an object which is commonly employed to drink alcohol, and which Bacchus himself carries around for such a purpose. His Quatro Cerberus tattoo is located on the center of his muscular, exposed back.
His outfit leaves most of his muscular torso exposed, instead covering his arms and shoulders with dark blue armor plates, which join on the upper part of his back and are topped by a wide, arched armored collar in correspondence to his nape. Covering his legs is a very baggy pair of dark pants, which ends below his knees (where it gets tighter) and sports large, light motifs reminiscent of flames on the legs' outer edges, and circling his waist is a light sash tied on his left hip, with its long edges left hanging.
For footwear, he dons dark, plain Chinese-looking shoes with light soles. He placed a full shot glass on the table and stared at her. "Why don't you try competing with me?"
"Ohh..." She chuckled with a smile. "I don't know who you are, but challenging me to drinking?"
"This woman is a monster with booze!" Wakaba shouted back.
"No way!?" Cana toppled over with a drunken smile as the man chugged his drink and hers before laughing in victory.
"Cana lost in a drinking match!?" Laki asked in shock.
"This is the first time I've ever seen Cana pass out like that..." Warren mumbled.
The man stumbled off his chair and unhooked Cana's bra. "I'll be taking this trophy!" He chuckled as he stumbled to the door.
"Are you crazy!? You're gonna get killed by Gildarts!" Wakaba shouted before Macao charged.
The man ducked the punch and fell over before rising up and slamming the two of them into the wooden floor. "What's with this guy?" Romeo asked as he helped his father up.
"I know that smell..." Nicholas mumbled as he and Brianna turned. "You again?"
The man nipped up and stared at the two with a drunken smile. "Why, if it isn't old Rocky and double M... You two are finally legal, huh?"
"You two know this guy?" Lisanna asked.
"Yeah, he was one of the guys who tried to take us in years ago." Brianna nodded. "Thank god he was sloshed at the time or we might never have gotten away."
"I heard you two vanished for more than seven years." The man chuckled. "I was thinking about leaving this dump to the young ones, but after seeing Warcry's sorry state, I just couldn't keep silent... that's a man's spirit for ya. We said we were calling the reserve member... and now I'm in."
He hiccuped and turned around to the door, dropping Cana's top. "When we meet tomorrow, we'll settle things once and for all. Cause our spirit is always wild!" He left the bar and stumbled into some barrels.
"Who the heck was that guy?" Lucy asked.
"Never got his name." Brianna answered.
"He's one of Quatro Cerberus' S-Class wizards." Erza spoke up. "I ran into a few times on jobs, so I know just how strong he is. He's the Drunk Falcon, Bacchus of the Drunken Chop-Hanging Fist. We fought several times, but nothing was ever settled."
"That's in the past, right?" Natsu asked having started a fight with Gray. "There's no way Erza could lose now!"
The Next Day
"It's day two of the Grand Magic Games and the stands are exploding with excitement!" Chapati declared as the crowd roared. "The games have started with our next contest: Chariot! The point of this game is to reach the final goal without falling off. But these chariots are in constant motion and it might be slow, one wrong move could cost you."
"Why in the hell did we let him go?" Gray asked from his team's stand.
"You'd think the name Chariot would be a big clue." Lucy added.
"He was insistent on competing, and impossible to reason with." Erza replied.
"Maybe he thought would be fighting chariots?" Elfman suggested.
"I don't know who's going to be first, but I have a pretty good idea who it won't be." The announcer chuckled as all three Dragon Slayers struggled against their motion sickness.
"This... is Salamander's stupid weakness..." Gajeel groaned out. "So why do I..."
"Does this affect all Dragon Slayers?" Mira asked Laxus and Nicholas.
"Don't look at me." Nicholas replied. "Never had that problem. And I am not curious to find out why."
"Well, aren't you just a lucky duck?" Laxus sarcastically asked.
"Well for now, let's take a look at who's leading the pack." The camera changed scenes ro the front of the line of carts. "Raven Tail's Kurohebi is currently in the lead, followed by a three way tie for second place among Lamia Scale, Mermaid Heel and Blue Pegasus. Vying for fifth is Quattro Cerberus' reserve member, Bacchus."
Yuka pulled his arms back and twin wave boosters shot him further head. "Good luck trying to use any magic in my shockwave."
Risley chuckled before she started glowing and ran on the side of the chariots. Ichiya pulled out two vial and shoved them up his nose, increasing his speed due to its power. "Wow, they're really going all out, aren't they?" Bacchus chuckled. "My souls all stirred up. Might as well put a little effort in myself!"
He slammed his foot down and the power behind it sent the others flying into the air. "See ya at the finish line, losers. Try not to fall of before then!" Bacchus raced past the trio before overtaking the leader. He jumped off the carts and broke the tape, scoring first place.
"Quatro Cerberus scores ten points!" Chapati shouted as the crowd cheered. "Kurohebi takes second, followed by Risley in third. Yuka takes fourth and Ichiya comes in fifth. That leaves only a three way tie for last place."
The Dragon Slayers struggled to move more than an inch at a time. "I could ride on vehicles all the time. Why is this happening now?"
"That means you've finally become one." Sting chuckled. "You're a real, deal Dragon Slayer now." Gajeel growled at the blonde and tried to charge, only to fall to his hands and knees. Natsu pushed himself up and moved himself forward, as Gajeel did the same. "This is seriously uncool. You got no strength left, so you make yourself look like fools."
The two roared as they pushed on, ignoring Sting. "Fine, you can have this win! Sabertooth is gonna win every game from now on, so just one isn't going to do anything. Just answer me this: why did you even bother entering the games? You're nothing like the Fairy Tail I grew up with. You're obsessed with tough you are or what other people think.
"What happened to the Fairy Tail of my childhood? The guild that did whatever the hell it wanted, whenever they wanted. They didn't care about what other people thought of them."
"The reason we're here... is for our friends." Natsu groaned out. "The ones who waited for us... for all the years we were gone... Who fought through the pain, the heartache... They were humiliated, but they stayed strong... And they kept our guild together... We're doing this for them... And we're gonna make sure... the world knows... the Fairy Tail guild never gives up!"
With one final push, Natsu crossed the finish line in sixth place. "Our first point." He groaned out as he fell to the ground. Gajeel followed seconds later as the crowd cheered the pair, turned by their commitment. The Fairy Tail guild was crying from his words.
Sting merely walked into the coliseum before coming to a stop. "You're doing this for your friends?" He repeated before shaking his head. "Don't give me that crap."
Goddamn, that was an emotional chapter. Be honest, I bet a lot of you were worried that my OC was going to stomp Jura. Like I would ever have an OC stomp a wizard saint. Besides, it was stalemate otherwise so he had to take that shot to head. And that speech at the end, god tears were flowing IRL. Lots of fights next chapter, see ya then.
Beta read by General Feng Xiang