"I know how to deal with you!" Cana smirked as she threw down a pair of cards in front of Daryan; the cards then released a literal wave of women in two piece bikinis to latch onto Daryan.
"And looks like Cana isn't holding anything back!" Chapati said as his face started to turn red from the sight of the women.
"I remember that all too well…" Freed said as a sweatdrop appeared on his face.
"You were just pretending though, right?" Bickslow asked as he raised a brow underneath his mask.
"Of course I was…!" Freed replied while averting his eyes from the women.
"You think I'm THAT easy to take care of? For shame, babe…" Daryan shook his head, completely unfazed by the women holding onto him, shouting his name out in an affectionate way.
"N-No way!" Cana's eyes widened; the attack she thought would take down the flirtatious dragon slayer wasn't working.
"It's not working?!" Lucy took a step back, almost falling off her platform, but she quickly regained herself.
"Ladies, ladies…You never realized not once that Daryan actually has self-control?" Magnus chuckled; Daryan then held his arm out, creating a several foot long bone, and he spun it around, sending the women away.
"N-No way…!?" Cana grit her teeth, feeling like an idiot for not realizing it sooner. "He's been playing us…"
"Besides, I only have eyes for one woman now." Daryan said firmly. Kagura was the one for him, that was decided a while ago.
"Shame." Magnus held his arm forward, a heavenly glow appearing as his Flame Sword appeared, and he pointed it forward. "Fire Sword." The sword then unleashed a spiraling wave of fire towards the female duo.
"Not so fast!" Cana shouted as she threw down a card. "The Prayer's Fountain!" As Cana spoke the card unleashed several beams of water, clashing with the fire spiral, though the fire spiral began to overpower the water. "That's not good…"
"Heh, and they're sitting ducks now…" Takeru smirked, puffing his cheeks out as he began charging a Shadow Dragon's Roar.
"Tak, look out!" Kuro shouted as he quickly placed his hands together, a red magic seal appearing. "Fire Make: Hammer!" A flaming hammer appeared in Kuro's hands, and her quickly swung it sideways, smacking Alexander, who was preparing to attack the off guard Takeru.
"GAH!" Alexander cried out as the hammer connected with his side; the war god then fell off his platform, but Taranis managed to catch him before he fell.
"Hold on, I got'cha," Taranis replied. "We've come too far to fail now!"
"Excellent…they're doing all the work for us…Too easy…" Magnus smirked.
"Gate of the Water Bearer, I open thee!" Lucy started as she began to pull a key out; the key of Aquarius.
"Not so fast!" Daryan started, causing Lucy to stop, expecting an attack from him…but she was wrong; the attack came from Takeru, who unleashed a Shadow Dragon's Roar upon the two ladies.
"Gah!" Lucy's eyes widened as the attack struck the two ladies, and not just that; it was also Magnus's flames that struck them as well, creating an explosion, which resulted in a cloud of smoke.
"Lucy! Cana!" Natsu's shouted. From the smoke, Cana hit the ground, in KO, but that was it, leaving the others to wonder what happened to Lucy.
"Ha! The drunk is down! Both are." Ruika laughed.
As the smoke cleared, Sagittarius was gone due to the damage, but Loke was seen in front of Lucy, badly damaged, but he smirked nonetheless, feeling as though he did his duty as a spirit, and as a Fairy Tail wizard. "Heh…you okay, Lucy?"
"L-Loke…!" Lucy let out a huge sigh of relief upon seeing her trusted spirit.
"Leo…" Ruika's mocking expression turned into that of a serious one; she then grabbed Byron by his shirt and forced him to look at Leo. "See that! THAT'S LEO. What's so hard about grabbing his key!?"
"G-Gah! Chill out…!" Byron replied, unsure on how to really act.
"Whoa!" Kuro blinked a few times. "Where did he come from!?"
"Right on cue…" Magnus said with a grin, pointing behind Lucy. "It's admirable you'd take a bullet such as that for you owner, Leo…" Magnus started.
"But, not even a spirit can protect from two attacks," Daryan finished, a smirk on his face.
"Two?" Lucy blinked a few times.
"Behind you!" Luke shouted.
"Wha-" Lucy turned around slowly, and that's when it hit her…an arrow struck Lucy in the chest, causing her eyes to widen. The arrow was fired from a regular skeleton warrior from the platform behind her, and Lucy, despite Loke's efforts, fell to the ground.
"L-LUCY!" Natsu screamed, completely shocked at how far Daryan and Magnus would go to win.
"And with a shot like that…Fairy Tail gets fourth place…" Chapati said quietly, shocked himself by the event.
"Now they're really pissing me off…" Natsu growled.
"Oh RELAX!" Daryan sighed. "She's not dead…At least I don't think so…"
"I'm gonna…destroy you…" Natsu's growl got even deeper.
"Calm down, Salamander." Shadowlore sighed. "That hot head of yours doesn't stand a chance against someone like Daryan…"
"WANNA BET I'LL TAKE YOU DOWN TOO!" Natsu screamed out, his voice catching the attention of the battlers…except Cosmic Star.
"Damn, he's so loud; I can hear him from up here…" Takeru sighed while rolling his eyes…but he found that mistake was one that cost him and Kuro, and two bones slammed into their chest, pushing them off the platform, causing them to hit the ground.
"GAH!" Kuro grunted as he hit the ground.
"A-And White Eclipse gets third place, kabo!" Mato nodded.
"Heh, all too easy…" Dayran said with a smirk. "Cause a little scene, and everyone's attention gets diverted to the culprit."
"Dirty tricksters, aren't you?" Taranis asked while rolling his neck, preparing for battle; he held his hand out, creating a spear made from electricity.
"Ah…demon slayer and war god…I didn't forget about you. In fact, you've already been taken care of." Magnus nodded.
"Taken care of…?" Alexander raised a brow, quickly scoping out his surroundings. The only thing he saw was the warrior that took out Lucy, but it wasn't even paying attention to them.
"Yup," Magnus started, and sat down once again, looking towards Mato. "Call it; it's over."
"It's over? Like hell it is!" Alexander and Taranis started to move forward, but as they did, a searing pain in their legs stopped them from moving forward.
"W-What the hell!?" Taranis attempted to move, but his legs were in too much pain to do so.
"While everyone was affected by Cana's light show, I took the liberty of numbing your legs; of course, just as we thought, you'd be affected right here. And yes, I got you BEFORE you two decided to hide in that little portal; not fast enough, Twilight Zone." Daryan nodded.
"Think you're clever, huh?" Taranis pulled his arm back, hurling the electric spear in his hands like a javelin, sending it hurtling towards Daryan and Magnus.
"I don't think…" Magnus said as he swayed his body perfectly away from the incoming spear; doing so that it just missed him, mainly to aggravate the demon slayer. "I know."
"Nice try, though," Daryan smirked, swinging the bone in his hands; the bone extended mid-swing, and it struck the two Twilight Zone mages in the side, causing them to hit the ground. "And done."
"And Cosmic Star wins again-kabo!" Mato exclaimed, though the crowd didn't really seem to into it this time. "And the current standings are…!"
Scoreboard:
White Eclipse: 56
Cosmic Star: 54
Fairy Tail: 51
Twilight Zone: 42
Quatro Cerberus: 22
Mermaid Heel: 16
Lamia Scale: 8
Sabertooth: 8
"Damn…They're getting ahead…" Natsu said in a low tone as he, Wendy, Chelia, and Aira went over to Lucy; it turned out that Lucy was actually fine, despite the injury, which was nothing more than a ruse for Cosmic Star's plan. After this, each team returned to their respective sides, now waiting for the double battles to be announced.
"We'll be ahead by the end of the day," Magnus said with a nod.
"It appears these games are quickly coming to a close…after today's battle, all that remains is the final day…" Yajima nodded slowly.
"Speaking of battles, it's time for the first one of the fourth day! Cosmic Star's Yakuza and Shadowlore vs. Lamia Scale's Chelia Blendy and Toby Horthorta!"
"Chelia's battling again?" Wendy's eyes narrowed somewhat, feeling worried about the situation.
"The fact Cosmic Star is battling Lamia Scale again after yesterday is what gets me…" Cynthia said while narrowing her eyes.
"It looks like Chelia is making a comeback after her defeat from Magnus yesterday…" Yajima gave a nod of approval. "She's a tough competitor alright."
"Back of her neck," Daryan said, tapping that spot on his neck for an example.
"What?" Gaia looked over to Daryan.
"That's what I told them; hit the back of her neck. She's got a pressure point there and when struck she'll drop like a rock. As for the dog…one shot will take him out." Daryan nodded.
"It's for the best." Magnus sighed. Whenever he looked at Chelia, it made him nervous. Taking her out as soon as possible to prevent anything unpredictable happening was the best option. She was an anomaly. A threat.
"Cosmic Star will indeed rise to victory," Karma gave a chuckle.
"Begin!" Mato exclaimed, and a bell rang.
"LET'S GET IT OOON!" Toby yelled, his claws sharpening as he rushed Shadowlore.
"You're nothing, mutt…" Shadowlore replied as he easily dodged an incoming paralytic slash, and performed a simple roundhouse to Toby's jaw, though the power behind it was incredible, as Toby hit the wall, now lying in KO.
"ONE SHOT?!" Ooba spun a no name member in complete aggravation.
"That won't be me this time…" Chelia thought to herself as she unleashed a Sky God's Bellow in Yakuza's direction.
"Ice God's…Frost…." Yakuza mumbled while holding his hand out, creating a black frost that froze Chelia's bellow in mid travel.
"What?!" Chelia's eyes widened at the sight of her frozen bellow, but she didn't allow this to stop her. With her speed, she quickly rushed Yakuza…only to fall flat on the ground after; Shadowlore's speed superior to the little girl's, and he chopped the back of her neck, instantly knocking her out.
"Two minutes." Shadowlore chuckled.
"N-No way…kabo…Cosmic star wins again…! Now moving from 54 points to 64, taking the lead!" Mato exclaimed, completely surprised at how quickly the battle went.
"No way…! Yakuza and Shadowlore defeated Chelia and Toby within minutes!" Chapati gasped.
"Hn…." Alex's eyes narrowed. She didn't like the direction things were going. Nobody in Cosmic Star did, but what could they do about it at this point? They made their grave, so they could only lie in it.
"Do you see, Fiore? You may as well quit while you're behind. My guild is exceptional and has no intentions of losing." Karma said proudly. "When they don't make mistakes, they are among the best of the best."
"Can it, old timer." Reve rolled his eyes at Karma's little speech.
"When they don't make mistakes, huh?" Sting continued to narrow his eyes at Karma. The vibe he gave off...
"And now…it's time for another match between Quatro Cerberus and Sabertooth-kabo! Blues and Kuro Chi, the Water Dragon God Duo vs. Sabertooth's Twin Dragon's Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney!" Mato yelled, and this time, the crowd cheered.
"WILD!" Blues exclaimed as he Kuro, Rogue, and Sting entered the arena.
"They can do it!" Lector shouted.
"It's about time we started getting some momentum going…" Sting said with a grin. "Better late than never, right?"
"I agree…" Rogue said with a nod.
"Shall we allow the day to continue…?" Magnus asked Karma via mindlink. It was a rhetorical question. It was simply about time to enact their plan.
"Nope. End the day right here, right now…I'll take care of it…heh…" A grin appeared on Karma's face, and with that, a multitude of black magic circles appeared all around the area, soon unleashing the black skeletons from the night before, immediately causing a mass panic.
"W-What the hell!?" Sting's attention shifted from Blues and Kuro to the surrounding skeletons.
"They're back…" Evanee said while narrowing her eyes.
"Hm…" Daityas observed the calamity below, looking around for the culprit… "This magic power…interesting…hahahaha! Oh, these humans are such a delight sometimes."
"W-What's happening!?" Chapati flailed as he began to panic.
"It's the skeletons from last night that attacked the city!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Everyone, evacuate the premises this instant!" Correll and Doranbolt shouted.
Kemuri let out a huff of his cigarette. "Nobody here is slick." From what it sounded like, he was fully aware of what was happening. But with all the chaos, catching the criminals in the act wouldn't be so easy...
"Perhaps we should take our leave…" Karma said with a nod, acting as though he was leaving for the sake of his children.
"I agree, Master…" Magnus said with a chuckle, and with that, Cosmic Star vanished from sight for the day.
"Iron Dragon's Sword!" Gajeel shouted, using his rotating jagged arm blade to cleave through the shield of a warrior, and the warrior itself; Gajeel thought he had it, but to his surprise, the skeleton reformed itself as if nothing happened. "What the hell!?" Gajeel snarled, jumping back a few feet as he started to think of a plan, unaware of the warrior behind him with a steel shattering hammer behind him; the only reason Gajeel was unaware of this was because the skeletons had no scent.
"Gajeel, look out!" Levy shouted, immediately bringing up her pen to write the word "FIRE" in the air, sending the flaming letters at the skeletons, diverting its attention for a second.
"What?" Gajeel turned, his eyes wide for a second, but thanks to the diversion Levy gave, Gajeel was able to roll out of the way. "Gieh…thanks, shrimp…"
"It appears my bad luck has been affecting everyone this time…" Yukino mumbled to herself.
"This isn't your fault!" Sting shouted from afar, knowing how Yukino was feeling from the look on her face. "This is someone else's doing…"
"Ultear…" Jellal looked towards the time arc mage, who nodded.
"I need to find a place with high ground so I can spot them all…" Ultear replied.
"Leave it to me, hang on, you two." Jellal nodded as Ultear and Meredy grabbed onto the heavenly mage. "Meteor!" A golden light surrounded Jellal's body, and though he was slightly weighed down from the two females, he managed to fly into the air, looking for the highest point. "Where is it…" As Jellal was looking…another heavenly body slammed into him, causing him to fly back, landing on the surrounding rim of the stadium, quite a ways away from the dark mage spectators, and the two females landed on his side. "G-gah…who…?"
"Jellal Frenandes…I knew you'd come out of hiding eventually…" Head Captain Aloy said with a smirk.
"S-shit…the Council…" Jellal's eyes widened. "The worst possible time…"
"Aloy!" Odin called out, not sure where the head captain was. "We need you down here ASAP!"
"Hm…" Aloy glanced at Jellal, and then Odin. "You're lucky I'm feeling rather generous, just know that I know where you are…always…" With a grin, Aloy used his Meteor to fly back down.
"Ultear!" Meredy shouted.
"Right!" Ultear held her time arc out, a magic circle appearing over the stadium. The circle began to move forward, and the skeletons slowly started to vanish seconds later, they were all gone.
.
.
About an hour after the fiasco, everything seemed to had calmed down to a stop. "Ara…is everyone alright…?" Mirajane asked as she looked towards her exhausted members. Mirajane too had done some fighting in her Satan Soul form, it showing from the bruises across her person.
"Everyone looks okay…" Mavis said with a nod. "I wonder where those things came from…"
"Cosmic Star, no doubt…" Gajeel replied.
"Why do you say that…I know they aren't exactly the most trustworthy people but we can't just blame everything on them without reason…" Lucy said quietly.
"You want a reason? I'll give you one." Gajeel replied, turning to face Lucy. "They weren't around last night when the attack happened, and where were they today? Nowhere to be seen. How's that for evidence?"
"The only one around was Daryan." Erza crossed her arms. "Kagura told me herself."
"It's hard to deny…" Gray nodded.
"And now the fourth day's been cancelled…" Cynthia sighed. "What are we gonna do!? Cosmic Star has 64 points! And the last day is tomorrow!"
"We're still going to win," Makarov stated. "We will aim for the top, no matter how hard the climb is. We've overcome the obstacle last year, and we will this year as well."
"Couldn't have said it any better myself, Gramps…" Natsu said with a smirk.
"Tomorrow is the last day!" Makarov shouted, attempting to hype his children up. "And that means we're going to have to give it our all and more, and rise to become the top guild in again!"