A/N: Episode 178.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: FAIRY TACTICIAN

"All right! The Grand Magic Games has reached its climax at last! I'll announce the current standings." Chapati announced as the audience cheered.

"In 7th place, Quatro Puppy with 15 points!" Chapati said.

"Well, keep watching us." Bacchus commented.

"In 6th place, Blue Pegasus with 30 points!"

"6th place. That's tough..." Hibki said, looking at the Lacrima Vision.

"30 points..." Ren muttered, scratching the back of his head.

"We have to get fired up again." Jenny claimed.

"Yeah..."

"What? The important part is coming up now." Ichiya informed. "'Adversity is our greatest chance' Ichiya here."

"We've got two teams tied in 4th place!" Chapati continued on. "Lamia Scale and Mermaid Heel, both with 40 points!"

Lamia Scale and Mermaid Heel stared at one another. "The final day of the festival... All of the guilds are fired up." Jura commented.

"In 3rd place, Sabertooth, with 44 points!"

The audience cheered.

"In 2nd place, Black Sun, with 45 points!"

Black Sun's guild emblem appeared on screen along with their point count.

"And in 1st place, Fairy Tail, with 46 points!"

Fairy Tail's guild emblem flashed on the Lacrima screen followed by their point count as fireworks erupted into the sky once more.

Meanwhile...

The rescue team was still running towards the palace. "It sounds like the final battle of the Grand Magic Games is starting." Mira informed.

"All right! Now's our chance!" Natsu claimed.

"Aye, sir!"

"While everyone is absorbed in the tournament, we'll rescue Lucy." Lily commented.

"A battle fought on two fronts..." Raden mumbled.

"Given the circumstances, this was our best option." Carla added.

"But how can we sneak into the palace without getting caught?" Wendy asked.

"I have a good idea!" Happy announced.

"I bet it's a stupid one!" Carla said.

"Yeah."

"What are you talking about?" Happy questioned.

Soon enough, Natsu, Mira, and Wendy were in ridiculous disguises. "See? Perfect disguises!" Happy exclaimed.

"That's way too suspicious!" Carla commented.

"The goal is here to not get caught." Raden reminded.

"It's okay! I've got an idea!" Mira said.

"That's our Mira!" Natsu cheered.

"Said while looking like that doesn't instill any confidence in me." Lily commented.

"We'll do everything in our power to rescue Lucy-san." Wendy claimed. "Erza-san and everyone else, good luck at the tournament!"

"Show us your fighting skills! Your magic! And the bond you have with your comrades!" Chapati shouted as Gray and Juvia nodded at one another. "The final day! A survival game in which everyone participates! Let the Grand Magic Game begin!"

Fireworks erupted into the sky as Hisui was looking out the window.

"It's about to start."

"I guess this will decide which guild wins."

This made Princess Hisui smile a little.

"And for this final battle, the battlefield is the entire city of Crocus-kabo!" Mato announced.

"The members of each guild have already dispersed and are standing by." Yajima added.

"The teams run around town and if they encounter an enemy guild, a battle ensues. If an opponent loses consciousness or becomes unable to fight, the other side will gain one point." Chapati explained.

"And each guild assigns one leader."

"Although the guilds don't know who the other guild leaders are-kabo!"

"If the leader is defeated, the other team gets five points." Chapati said. "So theoretically, the highest score could be 45 points. Every guild has a chance to win."

"Should the team stay together and fight or split up?" Yajima questioned.

"That depends on your strategy-kabo!" Mato replied.

"Who will attain the glorious peak of magic?! Let the Grand Magic Game begin!"

The fireworks exploded into the air and the sound of the gong soon followed.

"Well! The final battle has begun at last!" Chapati exclaimed.

"Yes." Yajima agreed. "It seems many of the other teams are splitting up to fight individually."

Mato was waving his arms. "Do your best, everyone-kabo!"

"The members of Sabertooth and Black Sun, each of whom has great fighting strength, have split up!" Chapati said. "Otherwise, some teams are using the buddy system, while others have formed a three-person cell."

Nox looked at the Lacrima Vision in confusion as Orion hopped down on the roof behind him. "Something wrong, Nox?" Orion asked.

"They're not moving." Nox informed.

"Huh?"

"W-What's this?!" Chapati exclaimed as everyone saw that the Fairy Tail members weren't moving.

"Hey, what the hell?"

"What's goin' on?"

"W-What's wrong?! The members of Fairy Tail have their eyes closed and aren't moving!" Chapati said.

"What the hell are they doing?" Makarov exclaimed in irritation.

"W-What is this?" Lisanna questioned.

"I don't know!" Cana responded. "The devil takes the hindmost! Hurry up and start kicking ass!"

"Fairy Tail's odd behavior is curious..." Chapati began as Yuka and Toby encountered Novali.

"Seriously?! Two of you?!" He exclaimed.

"...but other people have already made contact with the enemy!"

"Got it? While I seal his magic..." Yuka started to say.

Toby unsheathed his claws and howled. "You're leaving him to me?!" He finished.

"Don't get mad. Wave Boost!" Yuka called out as Novali got covered in a light blue magic aura.

"Magic sealing..." Yajima commented.

"Crap! Then I can't..." Novali realized.

"Mega Mega Jellyfish!" Toby exclaimed.

"Wild!" Novali said as he collapsed on the ground, his body burnt.

"Quatro Puppy's Novali is incapacitated! Lamia Scale gains a point, which puts them in 4th place alone!"

"We had to run into women? How unlucky." Hibiki claimed.

"If that's how you feel, you can always hold back." Arana told him.

"Nope. We're gonna go all out." Ren said.

"Don't hold it against us, okay?" Eve added.

"Aerial Fourze!" Ren called out, releasing a blast of air.

"White Fang!" Eve shouted.

"Oh, my! Mermaid Heel's Arana and Beth are both incapacitated! Blue Pegasus gains two points, bringing their total to 32 points!" Chapati announced. "All right, the scores are on the move! Unlike the members of Fairy Tail, who are still just standing there!"

"Hey, Erza!" Macao yelled.

"Get out there and take down the enemy!" Wakaba exclaimed.

"This is so irritating!" Cana commented.

"Whoa! In the meantime, Lamia is crushing Puppy!" Chapati announced as Lyon froze Semmes and Jura defeated Yeager.

"What's wrong? Is this as far as you go?" Jura asked.

"W-Wild..." Yeager muttered.

"Lamia Scale gets another two points."

"Their total is 43 points-kabo!"

"While Jura, one of the Ten Great Wizard Saints, is around, I can't picture Lamia losing!" Macao commented.

"Somebody take him down!" Wakaba exclaimed.

"That's right. With Jura and Lyon on our side, we're invincible!" Yuka told Toby while they were running.

"Sherria is strong, too!" Toby exclaimed.

"Don't get mad." Yuka scolded.

"I don't know about that..." Bacchus claimed, encountering Yuka and Toby.

"Uh-oh! Lamia's Toby and Yuka are suddenly face to face with..."

"Bacchus!"

"We're invincible!"

"Two against one, huh? The odds are against me, but my soul is trembling!" Bacchus said.

"Guess we have no choice." Yuka informed.

Toby unsheathed his claws once more and howled. "I'll put you into a deep sleep!" Bacchus claimed, getting into his fighting stance.

However, Bacchus ended up getting punched in the back by Sting, causing shock to run through Goldmine's body. "It's Sting! Saber's Sting came out of nowhere to knock out Bacchus, the leader of Quatro Puppy! Sabertooth gains five points!" Chapati announced.

"Our total is 49 points. In other words..." Minerva paused.

"They did it! Sabertooth, the strongest guild, is in first place!" Chapati said.

"He beat 'im! Dammit!" Yuka exclaimed as Sting glanced over at them.

"Now the two of us have to beat him!" Toby shouted. "It smells like booze here!"

Kagura struck both Yuka and Toby. "My mistake! Now we're done in!" Toby exclaimed as him and Yuka crashed to the ground.

"Oh, my! Kagura is here! With Yuka and Toby out of the way, it's a one-on-one fight with Sting!" Chapati informed before he realized that Sting had disappeared.

"Huh?"

"He's gone-kabo..."

"That's good. Avoid Kagura and Jura. Let them exhaust themselves." Minerva commented.

"Mermaid Heel gets two points for a total of 42 points!" Mato announced.

"It seems Mermaid Heel's Millianna has taken down Quatro Puppy's Rocker." Yajima informed.

"That's another point, bringing them up to 43!" Chapati said. "Wow, Mermaid is really putting the pressure on!"

"And I think Puppy is already wiped out?" Yajima questioned as Goldmine was pale.

"Wild-kabo!" Mato commented.

"The points are increasing at a dizzying rate! But Fairy Tail has yet to move a muscle! What's going on with them?!" Chapati wondered.

"What are they doing?! They've gotta win to help Lucy!" Makarov exclaimed.

"That's why." Mavis claimed. "That's why they must be calm. From all the previous competitions, I've observed the enemies' fighting strength, magic, psychology, and behavioral patterns. I took it all into account and ran hundreds of millions of battle simulations in my head."

"Um..." Macao had his arms crossed.

"Number one, what...?" Wakaba questioned.

"Their movements, predictions and results, locations. It's all gone according to my calculations." Makarov widened his eyes. "I've already told them the strategy."

All of Team Fairy Tail's eyes soon opened. "Lead your comrades to victory... That's my war." Mavis said as she stood up.

"War?" Makarov repeated.

"Begin Operation: Fairy Star!" Mavis announced.

"Roger!"

Team Fairy Tail soon began moving. "Finally! Fairy Tail has finally started to move!" Chapati announced.

"Lucky. I wanted to see the final battle, too..."

The two guards soon heard footsteps coming towards them. "Hey, what do you want? And who are you?!" One of them asked.

Mira was holding Wendy, Natsu, and Sebastian as she was disguised as a guard. "Intruders. I'm sure they've come to save that Fairy girl." Mira explained.

"Fairy Tail?"

"Black Sun, too..."

"His Majesty and the Minister of Defense are both out..."

"We'll just have to throw 'em in the dungeon. Take 'em."

"Roger." Mira responded.

"Hey, the dungeon is that way."

"Sorry. I've just recently been posted here." Mira apologized.

"Mira-san is brilliant!" Wendy praised while Natsu grinned. The transformation on Mira's face soon disappeared.

"It seems the royal guards are a lot dumber than I thought." Sebastian commented.

Happy, Lily, Carla, and Raden were hiding underneath the uniform. "Aye!" Happy agreed.

"I'm squished!" Carla complained.

"Hurry up and get me out of here!" Lily said.

"Watch it, that's my tail you're stepping on!" Raden added.

"Princess. Now might be a good opportunity..."

"Yes. Let's begin..." Hisui agreed, turning around. "...the Eclipse 2 Project."

"Everyone, spread out! Please proceed to the next checkpoint." Mavis ordered.

"N-Number One..." Makarov commented in shock.

"What's the checkpoint?" Jet asked.

"I don't know." Droy responded.

"Fairy Tail is on the move!" Chapati exclaimed.

"Maybe that was some kind of strategy." Yajima guessed.

"Even if so, I think it'll be kind of tough for them to take back enough points-kabo." Mato commented.

"At this point, there's a 97% chance Rufus will make a move." Mavis said.

"I see them." Rufus chuckled to himself. "My enemy tracking ability really shouldn't be underestimated." He began to get covered in a golden magic aura. "I'll take them all off the board at once. Memory Make! Night of Falling Stars!"

Yellow light soon came hurling down towards the Fairy Tail members. "This magic is..." Chapati started to say.

"He used this magic to wipe out the enemies on the first day." Yajima finished.

"It's beautiful-kabo!" Mato complimented.

"Ignore the lights in the sky and in two seconds, you can dodge it." Mavis said.

Erza, Juvia, Gajeel, and Gray all dodged the incoming light. "How many times d'you think I'd fall for the same trick?!" Gray questioned.

"This magic's attribute is lightning. Only Laxus should block it." Mavis continued as Laxus did so.

"It doesn't even tickle." Laxus claimed.

"What?! He stopped it?!" Rufus exclaimed in shock.

"The enemy is shaken and his thoughts are disordered. Because of those disordered thoughts, there's a 68% chance Rufus will try to approach us. There's a 32% chance he'll stand by at his current location. But even in that case, it doesn't have much effect on our strategy." Mavis said.

"What's Number One sayin'?" Wakaba asked.

"You got me..." Macao replied, also not having a clue.

"Operation: Fairy Star...?" Lisanna repeated.

"I get that it's a strategy to make us win, but..." Cana trailed off.

"At this point, Erza will make contact with an enemy by proceeding northwest."

"Uh, I'm not sure I'm ready..." Jenny mumbled as Erza encountered her.

"Number One was right." Erza claimed.

"Erza?!" Jenny exclaimed as she ran away.

"What a scary opponent." Erza commented.

"Escape and live to fight another day." Jenny said as Erza appeared in front of her.

"Destroy her."

Erza took down Jenny. "No!" Jenny shouted.

"Gajeel, obliterate the enemy to the south." Mavis said as Gajeel took down Eve.

"I didn't know you were gonna ambush me!" Eve exclaimed.

"Sorry, bro!" Gajeel apologized. "All right. Wanna attack me in order? Simultaneously? I'm okay with either way."

"Hibiki, you get out of here." Ren ordered.

"Ren!"

"I'll stop this guy!" Ren declared.

Gajeel ended up slamming Ren into a wall. "You can stop this?!" He exclaimed.

"Fairy Tail has someone who trumps the calculations of my Archive?!" Hibiki questioned while he was running.

"That's right." Gray grinned.

"Another ambush?!" Hibiki exclaimed as he got frozen by Gray.

"Gray, after you take out the enemy who escaped to the water fountain plaza, go directly to B4." Mavis instructed.

"Oh, boy! After getting a succession of points, Fairy Tail has tied it up with Sabertooth!" Chapati announced.

"What spirit-kabo!" Mato commented as the audience cheered.

"Number One's strategy is right on target!" Jet stated.

"Seriously?!" Droy exclaimed.

"Juvia, scan for enemies while supporting the rear guard! Laxus, continue to F8! Erza, go to S5. There's enemy movement in that area!" Mavis continued to instruct.

"I just remembered your nickname, Number One... With that genius eye for strategy, you attained victory in a number of wars! The Fairy Tactician!" Makarov exclaimed.

"That girl can do anything!" Macao muttered.

"She isn't just a soothing presence." Wakaba said.

"Maybe you see her like that, but she did create Fairy Tail..." Lisanna reminded.

"Yeah, although now she's a ghost..." Cana agreed.

"Ichiya-san, I'm sorry..." Hibiki apologized.

"Men... Never fear! Leave the rest to me..." Ichiya claimed before he was knocked out by Jura.

"You were wide open." Jura claimed.

"Jura of the Ten Great Wizard Saints gets 5 points for taking out Ichiya, the leader of Blue Pegasus!" Chapati announced.

"Befitting one of the strongest wizards in this tournament-kabo!" Mato said.

Sherria knocked out Risley. "And my Sherria-tan gave the boot to Mermaid Heel's Risley, tying them for first place with 49 points, too!" Chapati said. "That's my Sherria-tan!"

"Sherria-tan...?"

"Well, that aside, it's really heating up here with three teams tied for first place!" Chapati said.

"Yes. I suppose Blue Pegasus is also wiped out." Yajima stated.

"The numbers have really been thinned out-kabo!" Mato added.

"I predict a fierce battle from here on out." Mavis said.

"Hey, Number One, what are they ultimately gonna do about Jura?" Cana asked.

"Have you given thought to him?" Lisanna questioned.

"I've thought about him, but I couldn't come up with a way to deal with him. That shows how exceptionally strong Jura is." Mavis answered.

"I'm participating on Obaba's orders, but my blood is boiling." Jura said to himself.

In the castle dungeons...

Lucy was asleep when she heard someone call out her name. She opened her eyes to see Wendy, Mira, Natsu, and Sebastian. "Natsu! Wendy! Mira-san, too! I..." Lucy started to say.

Natsu covered Lucy's mouth to keep her quiet. "Sorry!" Lucy apologized.

"We're here, too!" Happy announced.

"Everyone!"

"You look good, anyway." Carla commented.

"Huh?" Lily collapsed to the ground.

"How did you get in here?" Yukino questioned.

"That doesn't matter at the moment. Back up, will ya?" Sebastian ordered as Lucy did so. Sebastian placed his hands on the metal bars, a orange-red glow appeared and melted them.

"He did it!"

"I knew he could!" Raden stated.

One of the melted bars ended up hitting Happy straight in the face. "As expected..." Carla commented.

"Here, we brought a change of clothes."

"Thanks, everyone!"

"Aren't you hungry?" Happy asked.

"We have some for you too, Yukino-san." Wendy said.

"There's fish, too!" Happy added.

"I'm fine." Yukino reassured as her and Mira were covering Lucy while she got changed.

"No peeking, Lily!" Mira said.

"Why me?!" Lily sweat dropped.

"Now we just have to think of a way to escape." Carla informed.

"If possible, we should slip out of the palace without attracting anyone's attention." Lily said.

"I don't think the whole royal guard disguise will work a second time." Raden added.

"Wait a second. They still have our keys. First, we search for that guy with the scarred nose..." Lucy said as the ground began to shake underneath them. "Hey!"

The floor soon collapsed underneath them, causing all of them to fall down. "Everyone!" Natsu shouted.

"The floor!" Happy exclaimed.

"What is this?!" Wendy asked.

"I'm still getting dressed!" Lucy shouted.

They all soon crashed onto the ground below them. "Heavy..." Natsu muttered.

"Sorry. I've been eating more recently..." Wendy apologized.

"Everyone all right?" Sebastian asked, rubbing his head.

"Ow..." Lucy mumbled.

"What the hell is this?" Natsu questioned.

"I think you mean where is this." Sebastian corrected.

"Welcome to Hell Palace."

"Huh?"

"Who are you?" Lucy asked.

"You fell right into the trap."

"Trap, you say?" Carla quoted.

"Look around you. This is the capital of death, Hell Palace. The final freedom, where all criminals end up. However, no one has ever gotten out."

Hisui soon appeared on the screen. "Rot down there, rebels!" She exclaimed.

"Who the hell are you?!" Sebastian questioned.

"I'm Hisui E. Fiore, the princess of the kingdom of Fiore!" Hisui introduced herself.

"Then she's the princess of this palace?" Mira asked.

"Scary..." Lucy commented.

"Dammit! Where's the friggin' exit?!" Natsu exclaimed as the communication cuts off.

"I can't even see an entrance, let alone the exit." Lily informed.

"What should we do?!" Wendy questioned.

"Excellent job, Princess!"

"Even though His Majesty is out, you protected the castle wonderfully!"

"Hooray! Hooray! Three cheers for the princess!"

However, Hisui just glanced down.

"The Grand Magic Games continues to be a breathtaking battle! And I predict the fighting is only going to get fiercer!" Chapati said.

Gray had entered a library. "Huh? Out of all the Fairy Tail members, I didn't expect to run into you." Nox spoke up, as Gray glanced up, seeing Nox leaning on the balcony of the second floor.

"I'm not suppose to encounter you." Gray claimed, narrowing his eyes. "Where's Rufus?"

"I took that guy out a long time ago. Wasn't very hard. He may by one of the strongest wizards in Sabertooth but his patterns are the same. It's like teaching a dog the same tricks." Nox responded, hopping down from the balcony and walking towards Gray.

"Number One seemed to be off... That's a first. No matter. This is the end of the line for you." Gray said.

"How predictable. Since we're here, we might as well." Nox stated in a bored tone. "Come and get me if you dare, Gray Fullbuster."

A/N: Another chapter is completed!

Thanks for reading!

~ Kaleb.