Magnolia was buzzing with activity! There was news of a small free for all tournament going around, which was always welcome for the battle ready mages of Fiore. This tournament was something different than usual, however. It was a tournament for all the Maker mages! The stage was set in a mini arena in the center of Magnolia, a large audience sitting and watch, just waiting for the free for all maker tournament to begin. "Isn't this exciting?" Mirajane asked while placing a hand on her cheek.

"This should have been a regular tournament…" Natsu grumbled while crossing his arms. He was clearly displeased he wasn't able to participate and felt he got robbed of a chance to compete in a good fight. "I would've blown them all away easy!"

After that, Lucy lightly jabbed Natsu with her elbow. "Natsu, be quiet…! Cheer Gray and Laki on, or something."

"THEY BETTER NOT LOSE." Natsu shouted, bringing some embarrassment to the Fairy Tail side of the audience with his yelling.

"I have no intentions of it!" Laki replied.

"Dumbass…" Gray rolled his eyes while staring around at his opponents; he could see a few familiar faces in the arena. Lyon, Melody, Tristan, Rufus, Blues, and even Mary from White Eclipse, which was odd… "Wait…" Gray pointed at Blues with a questioning look. "You're a dragon slayer though…"

"I use Water Make." Blues replied with a cheeky grin. "It counts."

"It doesn't matter what you use…" Lyon said as a smirk crawled onto his lips, quickly brushing his hand through his hair. "For you will all bow to the Ice Make King."

"But…" Melody innocently quipped while placing her finger on her cheek. "Haven't I beaten you both before? I remember beating Lyon, but I also vaguely recall beating Gray…"

"What a selective memory…" Gray rolled his eyes. "This time is going to be different!"

"I can't wait to see Ms. Mary in action!" Marlene clasped her hands together. "Ne, Tyson, Kuro…why didn't you want to join in on the fun?"

"Oh no, I'm not getting involved in that." Tyson said while shaking his head. "The second Mary said she wanted to step in, I decided it was best I didn't." What was the point in getting experience when the strongest person around was just going to trivialize everything!?

"Same!" Kuro said with a nod of agreement, though he was much more nonchalant about it than Tyson. "Mary's my teacher after all, and when she said she wanted to do this…I didn't want to get in her way. She's going to show all these guys why she's without a doubt the strongest maker there is…" His tone then dropped while staring at the current guild master.

"You got this, Rufus!" Sting said while pumping his fist in the air. "Show 'em what makes Sabertooth the strongest guild!"

"You can do this, Rufus-sama!" Yukino cheered.

"DESTROY THEM TRISTAN!" Anri, acting master of Black Phoenix, said with a mouth full of sandwich. She then quickly proceeded to lose interest in what was happening and walked off, just like that.

"Where are you going!?" Hikaru spoke with an exaggerated gasp.

Chapati Lola was acting host of this special tournament, preparing his mic before shouting out to the audience. "ARE WE ALL READY!?" His voice had the ability to hype up the crowd, everyone now cheering in anticipation for the event. "The rules are simple! Last maker left standing! If you are blown out of the arena you are also out! Any questions? No? THEN BEGIN!" With that, the Maker tournament was off!

"Allow me to begin…" Rufus was going to make the first move, and everyone was already aware of how powerful Memory Make was. With his index and middle finger on his temple, a red magic seal forming behind him. "Memory Make: Night of the Falling Stars." During that incantation, the clear blue sky began to darken, resembling a night sky filled with bright stars. These stars shone brightly before falling directly towards the opposition with heat seeking properties, making the attack quite difficult to dodge as a result. Contact resulted in a minute explosion, just how would the opposing makers evade this?!

"Wood Make: Wood Wall!" Laki threw her hands out, a wooden shield appearing in front of her. This was strong enough to defend against Rufus' attack, but only barely. Even if she was deemed a background character by others, she wasn't going to allow them to take her lightly!

It seemed as though Melody had a plan for herself at least. Arms spread out, a silver magic circle forming underneath her. "Silver Make: Dome!" A dome of silver formed over the female, acting as a shield from all angles against Rufus' attack that slammed into it, creating a small explosion. As for a few no name mages, they had no such luck and were eliminated instantly.

"Look at Rufus, taking out so many mages like nothing!" Orga smirked.

A shooting star was falling directly towards Mary. Though the fire make master didn't even so much as bat an eye to it. Instead she brought one arm up and swatted the star back into the sky where it exploded without a care in the world. The explosion still occurred though it was more surprising that she deflected it so easily. "…."

"W-What the…!?" Gray's eyes widened when spotting Mary just…smack away the star. The last time he dealt with such an attack it nearly took him out and here was Mary not even flinching. This time he and the others were more than capable of defending against this attack so Rufus did not catch them, but Mary was going to be an issue.

"She's not going to move unless she's moved." Reve said with a slight smirk.

"Let me show you how it's done…!" Blues said with a grin while placing his fist into his palm, a watery veil appearing around his body. "Water Make: Fishnet!" Blues then threw his hands forward, releasing a large fishnet composed of dense water to ensure it would ensnare its target. Rufus was in line; however with his magic his location was nothing more than an afterimage! However the net did snag Gray and Lyon and Blues wasted no time swinging the net around before sending the two ice mages soaring towards Tristan. "See ya!"

Seeing that he was in danger, the ace of Black Phoenix acted quickly and slammed his fist into his palm. "Steel Make: Wall!" With that incantation and throwing his arms forward, a wall composed of steel formed before him. This wall completely halted the momentum of the trapped Gray and Lyon and they slammed into it harshly.

"Oof…!" Gray grunted in pain before he had enough, expelling ice from his being to freeze the net over before freeing himself and Lyon, though he wasn't going to let Lyon get away for free. Gray turned and quickly slugged Lyon in the face before leaping into the air, placing his fist in his palm as a chilling wild blew around his body. "Ice Make: Cold Excalibur!" Lifting his hands up, a large blade of ice formed within his grip, and he immediately swung it down towards the center of the arena where an explosion of ice occurred that threatened to encase all those caught in a shell of ice.

"…" While the others leapt away or were narrowly caught by the explosion, Mary took a simple leap backwards, perhaps the first time she actually moved throughout the match and it wasn't much. She was still just waiting for the opportune time to strike.

Laki, however, wasn't going to let Mary stand idly by. She focused her attention on the fire make mage. "Wood Make: Violent Approach!" She threw her arms down, and suddenly a gigantic spiked ball of wood shot towards Mary with full intent to slam into her.

"Wood Make? Didn't you learn to not play with fire?" Mary said confidently. If Laki wanted a fight, she'd give her one. But Mary was so confident, she held her hand out, flames appearing around it as she caught the wooden sphere, allowing it to burn to a crisp. The woman smirked while Laki's eyes were slightly wide in response. The flames continued on towards Laki, and she quickly dove out of the way to avoid being charred.

"These opponents are quite skilled…" Tristan thought to himself while dusting off before he took the maker's stance yet again. "Steel Make: Knight's Armor!" The steel make mage was then covered from head to toe in his custom made Knight's armor, and he wasn't done just there! "Steel Make: Ballistic Line!" Before Tristan, several ballistae appeared, all of them loaded with steel arrows. On his command, these arrows were released and flew towards the opposition.

"Fire Make…" Mary silently uttered the words while making the stance for the first time this battle. "Jar." Before the red headed female, an open jar of flame materializing before her. For any incoming steel arrows coming her way, they were merely encapsulated by the jar and the lid closed, effectively rendering the portion of the attack coming her way useless.

"Silver Make!" Melody reacted to Tristan's widespread attack on a time. "Arrow Squall!" Multiple silver magic seals formed before Melody, layered with yellow magic seals. Silver arrows shot forth, breaking through the yellow seals only to be coated in lightning, and since silver was the most conductive element the lightning only made it that much stronger. The arrows collided in the center of the arena, resulting in a powerful explosion. Both sides didn't escape the clash; one electric arrow collided against Tristan's armor, dealing some damage while the electric pulsated through his steel armor, causing him to grit hit teeth in pain; as for Melody, an arrow grazed her side, causing her to fall to a knee and yelp out and fall to a knee.

"We've got quite the collection of mages here…" Lyon said while dusting himself off. An arrow from Tristan did strike his leg, however he would not let it bother him. "It's my turn now. Ice Make: Dragonfly and Eagles." With an elegant horizontal swipe of his hand, Lyon created several cyan magic seals that released frozen eagles and dragonflies, all of them scattering about the arena to attack the others.

"Annoying little gnats…" Rufus grunted in annoyance, swaying around to evade the incoming frozen objects, though some did manage to strike him, resulting in a grunt of pain to escape the Memory Make mage. The others didn't fare too well against the onslaught either; Blues and Melody were brought to the edge of the arena before they could completely recover. They were knocked out. Gray, Laki, Rufus, Lyon, Mary, and Tristan were still remaining.

Mary on the other hand….the lid of the flame jar opened once again, just consuming the icy creations that came her way. The eldest Maker on the field finally made her own move, fist in her palm once again. "Is that all you can manage? Fire Make: Javelin Rain!" She threw her hands into the air, causing multiple javelins of flame to rain down onto the others.

"Ice Make: Dome!" Gray and Lyon exclaimed at the same time, ironically shielding everyone else in the process of protecting themselves. That said, Mary's javelins pierced through the dome before long, knocking those remaining around a bit.

"Everyone should cool down!" Blues, with some burn marks on his body, shifted around. "Water Make: Tidal Wave!" A cyclone of water spun around from Blues and spread outward, aiming to push everyone out with its force.

However, Laki was the one who intercepted this attack. "Wood Make: The Dam of Shy Love!" Multiple wooden pillars shot up from around the ground. The properties of the wood absorbed the water, much to Blues' surprise. "My wood cannot be conquered by mere water!"

"Oh come on!" Blues groaned!

The trees were quickly dealt with by Rufus, who pressed his hand to the ground. "Memory Make: Karma of the Burning Land!" The floor was now lava, as it turned into molten rock that spewed out fire. However, that didn't last long as Lyon was the one to counter this. He expelled ice from his hands that countered Rufus' flames, resulting in a stalemate. "Hm?"

"You'll be forgetting all about Gray soon enough. Because I can be the one to defeat you next." Lyon said with a confident smirk. It was extremely difficult to gain momentum when everyone was out to get each other, but that was what made this competition so exciting!

"All that power…and you all expect it to do the work for you." Her words caught the attention of the others since she'd been silent thus far. Without uttering the words, Mary formed a javelin of flame, took a step back, and then with all her might hurled it forward towards the other competitors! The result was an explosion of flame strong enough to melt a section of the arena while blowing everyone back due to its sheer power. She was on an offensive onslaught now, planning to end this battle before it dragged on too long.

"There it is…" Reve said with a sly grin.

"What strength…" Tristan admitted while gasping. His Knight's armor tanked most of the explosion but even he was still damaged severely from the attack as was everyone else. "Steel Make: Falcons!" Tristan threw his hands forward, sending steel falcons flying towards Mary. This was the first time she actually had to move, for the falcons assaulted her in such a way that she couldn't use a fire make spell. She dodged to the side, her eyes narrowing as the sharp, bladed feathers of the falcons did slice into her a little bit. They caught hers, legs, and shoulders. The falcons then spread out, assaulting the others as well.

"Ack, come on!" Blues swatted at the falcons as they cut into him.

"What bladed nuisances..." Laki grumbled. Tristan suddenly took command of the battle with these fast birds, but his lead wasn't going to last for very long.

"Pesky birds." Rufus simply waved his hand. With his memory magic, the birds were 'forgotten' in an instant. Although they did their fair share of damage, it wasn't going to stop Rufus from turning his eyes to the real threat: Mary Crane. He could win this competition, but she needed to be eliminated first. "I have not encountered a maker as strong as she in a long time. Tristan Gareth...Mary Crane. I assure you that I will be the one to win this."

"You're welcome to try." Mary said with an amused smile.

"This woman is a threat…" Blues finally spoke the obvious aloud, coughing slightly from the flames lingering in the area. "Looks like it might be time to take her out first…"

"Easy." Gray said with a cocky grin, planning to take them all out in one fell swoop. Fist met with his palm yet again, this time the chilling wind intensifying in the area despite it being hot out. "Ice Male: Unlimited: One Sided Chaotic Dance!" The ice maker created a plethora of swords that created a sharp vortex that raced towards everyone on the field; the quickness of this attack was enough to best Rufus once before so how would the others fare against it?

Who was sure? Because it looked like everyone else was preparing to go all out as well. Rufus placed two fingers on his temples, another red magic seal forming behind him. "Memory Make: Twin Wheels of Heaven and Hell!" This prompted a multitude of guns and swords to appear around the arena; the guns began shooting while the swords flew forward to impale their unlucky targets.

"I see we're going all out...!" Tristan smiled at this. He was going to match everyone's efforts and planted his hands in front of him. "Steel Make: Phoenix!" He spread his arms apart, a gigantic steel phoenix appearing in the sky above him. With the point of his finger, the phoenix charged down towards the arena with the intent to explode against all of them.

"Ice Make: Snow Dragon!" Lyon lifted his fingers up, creating a large serpentine dragon of ice in front of him. Much like everything else, its plan was to charge ahead and demolish everything in its path.

"Water Make: Dragon!" Blues wasn't going to be left out of this all out exchange; hands were planted firmly on the ground and a dragon composed of water formed, letting out a loud roar while charging towards the others! It was looking like a heated clash was about to commence…!

Everyone had the same idea. Take out the competition in a single attack. Laki wasn't going to be left out of this. "Wood Make: The Distance Between the Two is Forever!" She planted her hands on the ground, which prompted multiple giant hands and feet of wood to shoot up from the ground, in an effort to knock everyone backwards all at once.

"Kids…" Mary sighed at all the incoming attacks. She finally allowed the flame jar to wrap around her wrist and arm, having converted every attack that was encapsulated within into fire. Mary then jabbed her arm into the earth, a red magic seal forming underground. "Fire Make: Jasmine Garden." From the ground, several bulbs of flame arose and opened up. They all took aim at the opposing contestants and unleashed massive beams of flame that erupted in a massive explosion that covered the entire arena! The ferocity of the attack caused the audience to shield their eyes from the wind kicked up. When the dust settled, everyone but Mary was down for the count; it was an unbelievable sight, though White Eclipse was unsurprised by this outcome. Mary did not emerged unscatched, however. She took every attack that came her way, leaving her looking worse for wear. "You're all still 20 years too early to try and be on the same stage as me."

"N-No way…!" Chapati had to take a moment. "The winner of this free for all is...wait...isn't someone missing?"

"Hm?" Mary quirked a brow. Everyone was down, and there was some burnt wood scattered about. But when Chapati mentioned it, someone was missing. "The wood girl..."

And right on that cue, Laki emerged from within a burnt piece of wood. She hid within it seconds before every attack clashed. A gigantic fist of wood appeared over her own hand, and she was in front of Mary, mid swing. "Wood Make: GOD PUNCH!" She swung her fist, striking Mary in the cheek directly. Everyone's eyes widened as Mary took a step back from the surprising impact, right at the edge of the arena.

"Is she gonna win!?" Alex gasped.

Mary took that hit pretty well. Laki hit hard, but she gripped Laki's wrist. "Not bad..." Mary admitted with a smile, before flipping Laki onto the ground on her back, out of the arena. "Maybe you're 19 years too early."

"Oof...!" Laki hit the ground, in a bit of a daze. Still...she was a little upset she wasn't able to follow through.

"AND DESPITE HER BEST EFFORT, LAKI IS OUT!" Chapati exclaimed. Mary Crane from White Eclipse!" And of course, the crowd cheered for the fight overall but the other guilds were still in shock by this outcome. Just how strong was this woman…? Perhaps she really was the stronger maker…

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[Fashback...]

Ur Milkovich walked out of the Council building and had no plans of looking back. As she walked, she stepped right past Mary Crane. Mary tilted her head. "You turned them down?"

"Of course." Ur replied, stopping her walk, and she didn't look at Mary either. "I don't want to be a Wizard Saint. I appreciate the offer, but I have more important things to take care of now."

"I heard you picked up two kids." Mary was leaning against a nearby tree. "Can you even handle one?"

"..." Ur paused. Mary didn't know about her daughter, and that wasn't her fault. "They didn't have anyone else. One of them lost everything to a demon, so I took him in. The other wants to be the strongest and started following me around. I couldn't really get rid of him, but he's not bad either. What about you?" She then turned to Mary. "I heard you were training someone as well."

"I am." Mary said. "He's a bit of a slow learner, but he's got potential. He's kind as well. Who knows, maybe they'll meet each other some day?"

"If you're wondering whose students can beat whose, the answer is mine." Ur said with a slightly annoying smile. "I train those kids hard, and they pick things up quickly."

"I bet they picked up all of your bad habits as well!" Mary exclaimed, pointing at Ur, who lost her jacket at some point in this conversation. "Where did your jacket go!?"

"Huh? Oh." Ur did it subconsciously. "Doesn't matter! Anyway, what about you? Are you going to become a Wizard Saint?"

"They didn't offer me the title." Mary grumbled. They passed her over because Ur was right there. "I have to prove that I'm strong enough for it. If they look at me because you declined, then I don't want it." She refused to be Ur's second.

"We're not that far off in strength, you know." Ur shrugged. "If you want a test of that..."

"Right here, right now?" Mary's lips curled into a sly grin. She slid into the Maker's stance, looking towards her one and only rival. "I'll gladly take the opportunity to embarrass you. Then the Council will see what they missed out on."

"Come at me with everything you've got." Ur said while taking the maker's stance herself. An aura of ice from her, and an aura of flame from Mary. These two women, equal in strength, Wizard Saint candidates...fought with everything they had.

[End Flashback...]

"And I lost that fight..." Present Mary thought to herself as the competition died down. She remembered how it ended. It was a narrow fight, but in the end, Ur was the last one standing. It was clear why she was a Wizard Saint candidate.

"I look forward to fighting you again." Those were Ur's last words to Mary, because...

"But I never did see her again." Mary sighed. Shortly after their fight, she heard that Ur passed away defeating a demon. Over a decade later, she was told that Ur was revived and fought for Tartarus, but they never did cross paths before she sacrificed herself yet again. Were their paths always destined to split apart this way? Mary briefly had her Wizard Saint title, but it felt...empty without Ur around. She glanced towards Gray and Lyon specifically, the two that Ur personally trained. For a moment, a person in a hood approached the two of them. They were talking, but Mary briefly saw her face. It was Ultear, but for someone who didn't know about her...she felt like she briefly saw Ur again. She had no idea what that was about, but the woman could see one thing very clearly with the trio. She could see Ur Milkovich in all three of them. That fact alone was enough to make her smile slightly. Even if Ur was gone, she did live on through those three. Maybe that could be enough for the time being...

"They're pretty good. Not as good as you were, though. But they're getting there. You raised some good kids, Ur..."

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Next Time: Casting Roles