July 5th x787
"WELCOME BACK EVERYONE TO THE FINAL DAY OF FIORE'S VERY FIRST EVER GRAND MAGIC GAMES! TODAY WILL BE AN ESPECIALLY EXCITING DAY AS UNLIKE THE OTHER DAYS, ALL MEMBERS OF EACH GUILD'S TEAM WILL BE PARTICIPATING IN THIS EVENT CALLED TAG TEAM DERBY." Chapati announced.
Suddenly the arena began to morph, with dust being kicked up from the ground forming a massive cloud. Within the cloud, the figures of several structures could be seen popping up out of nowhere. Several seconds later, the smoke began to clear, revealing thirty different ramps evenly spread around the perimeter of the arena.
"HERE ARE THE RULES FOR TAG TEAM DERBY! EACH GUILD TEAM WILL GET INTO A MAGICAL VEHICLE! ONE PERSON WILL DRIVE BY KEEPING A CONSTANT SUPPLY OF MAGIC GOING THROUGH AN SE PLUG! THE OTHER FOUR WILL RIDE IN THE BACK AS SUPPORT! THE GOAL IS TO DESTROY THE OTHER CONTESTANTS' VEHICLES OR RENDER THE VEHICLE UNABLE TO DRIVE TO GAIN POINTS! ONE POINT PER VEHICLE DESTROYED! THESE POINTS WILL GO TOWARDS YOUR FINAL SCORE, SO EVEN THOSE IN LAST PLACE HAVE A CHANCE OF CATCHING UP! ALSO, IF A PERSON FALLS OUT OF THE VEHICLE AND TOUCHES THE GROUND, THEY ARE DISQUALIFIED AND MAY NOT PARTICIPATE FOR THE REST OF THE EVENT! ALSO, USE OF FLIGHT RELATED MAGIC IS BANNED FOR THIS COMPETITION! EVERYONE, GET IN YOUR VEHICLES!" Chapati finished announcing.
Meliodas and the rest of the Fairy Tail team walked over to one of the nearby ramps and approached the magic vehicle parked in front of it. It was a small, red convertible with one seat in the front for the driver and four seats in the back. The group looked at each other before getting in.
"Whose driving?" Laki asked.
"These things run off magic. Meliodas has the most magic out of all of us so he should drive right?" Alzack suggested.
"I don't know about that. I never learned how to drive." Meliodas responded.
"Then leave it to me. My magic's no good for this event anyway and all of you guys can attack or defend without leaving the car." Jet said as he hopped into the driver's seat and attached the SE plug to his arm.
"Makes sense." Max shrugged. "So we got a game plan?"
"I'll leave the offense to you guys. I can block any incoming magic." Meliodas said as he put his hand on the handle of Neo Mel Force.
"Then I'll cover long range duels. I'll snipe the drivers before they can even see me coming." Alzack said confidently.
"So that leaves me and Max to work close to mid range then." Laki added.
"I can use my sand to hide us and create diversions if we need to. Looking at this team, I'd say we're pretty well balanced for this kind of event." Max said as he and the other members each got into a seat.
"NOW THEN...MAKE SURE YOUR DRIVERS ARE PLUGGED IN AND EVERYONE IS READY!" Chapati shouted.
"5...4...3...2...1...EVENT START!"
"Alright! Bring it on!" Jet shouted as he planted his foot down on the gas pedal. The back wheels began rapidly spinning, kicking up a large cloud of dust. The car took off after kicking up more dirt from the arena with a loud screech as it accelerated forward and up the ramp.
The Fairy Tail vehicle took off from the ramp, soaring high into the air. Around them, they noticed the other guilds were also in the air as they all headed towards the center. The car landed hard onto the ground, bouncing and skidding slightly as Jet tried to keep balance.
"Closest car is about twenty meters to our left! Leave it to me!" Alzack shouted. Two revolvers formed in his hands and he pointed them both towards the car. Meliodas looked over towards the car Alzack was pointing at. Suddenly the car exploded, engulfed in bright yellow flames as the guild members went flying out of the car, covered in ashes.
From the smoke, another car drove out. Meliodas recognized the people in the car as being members from Quatro Ceberus, but he wasn't familiar with the person at the front driving. He was a middle aged, muscular man with a bald head and a stern expression on his face. He wore a black sleeveless shirt and blue jeans. Jet turned his head briefly and got a good look at him.
"Wait! I seen that guy before! Lately, I've taken an interest in magic vehicle racing and that guy is one of the best drivers in the country. He doesn't have a lot of good offensive magic but he has really high magic reserves which let him keep driving. But his driving skills are on another level!" Jet shouted excitedly.
Behind the Quatro Ceberus vehicle, another vehicle drove up from behind. A mage in the vehicle stood up and pointed his palms at the Quatro vehicle. Two small fireballs shot out of the mage's palm and flew towards their vehicle at an alarmingly fast rate.
"Behind us!" Rocker shouted.
"I'll stop them with my vines!" Jager exclaimed as he put both hands out in front of him. Large vines sprouted out from the ground, forming a wall. The fireballs immediately veered out of the way and towards the Quatro car.
"No way!" Jager shouted in horror. The driver immediately took a hard turn to the left, leaving a trail of smoke behind the car as he took off into a drift. Close on the tail of the car, were the two fireballs.
"Those fireballs may be fast, but they're not as fast as FAMILY!" The driver said as he poured more magic into the vehicle, causing it to go faster.
"WILD!" The other members of Quatro shouted as they held on in the back.
"They're pretty good." Meliodas commented as he watched their car drift along the edge of the arena.
"Meliodas, heads up we got one coming in directly from the front!" Laki shouted. Meliodas turned towards the front and saw another car heading straight towards him.
"Hold on, they're going to ram right into us?" Jet exclaimed.
"Leave it to me!" Laki exclaimed as she put her hands out in front of her.
"Wood make: Ramp!"
Large planks of wood formed in front of the car, creating a ramp. Jet hit the gas, making the car go faster as they accelerated off the ramp and high over the other car.
"Laki that ramp was a bit high! Get ready for a rough landing!" Jet shouted.
"I'll take it from here then!" Max said with a grin. He made two swirling motions with his arms, causing large waves of sand to appear beneath the car. The car landed on the ground with a small thud, as the sand acted as a cushion. With a swipe of his hands, the sand immediately vanished and Jet hit the gas once more.
"How's it going on your end Alzack? Any good shots?" Jet asked.
"Everytime I set my sights on a car, it gets destroyed before I can even shoot at them." Alzack responded with a grim tone. Meliodas looked over at the scoreboard. It had been about ten minutes and already half of the cars were gone. So far, Sabertooth was in the lead, with Mermaid Heel and Lamia Scale right on their toes.
"So the rules said if I leave the car, it's fine as long as I don't touch the ground right?" Meliodas asked.
"I believe so." Laki answered.
"I see where you're getting at Meliodas." Jet said with a grin. He immediately made a sharp turn, now heading straight towards the center of the arena where several guilds were in battle with each other, circling the center as they shot magic at each other.
"They banned flight magic, didn't they? Don't those wings of yours count as flight?" Alzack asked.
"I won't be using that. Alzack, launch me forward with a tornado shot then recatch me with your grappling hook!" Meliodas said as he put his hand on the handle of Neo Mel Force and jumped up into the air.
"Guns Magic: Tornado Shot!" Alzack shouted as he shot a twister towards the back of Meliodas. Meliodas propelled forward towards the group of brawling cars. Just as quick as he entered the fray, he seemingly vanished, reappearing at the other side of the cars.
[Lightning Sword Flash]
The walls and wheels of the cars were all cut up into tiny pieces as the members who were in the cars went flying out of the cars face first into the dirt of the arena. Meliodas hovered briefly in the air and stared at the ground beneath him as he fell. He suddenly felt a tight rope latch around his torso and pull him from behind, right back to the Fairy Tail vehicle.
"We got five points from that!" Laki cheered. "We're right behind Sabertooth now! We only need to score another two points and we'll be in first!"
"Or we can take Sabertooth out for ourselves! Cause here they come!" Jet shouted. The group looked right in front of them and saw the Sabertooth group driving right up to them. Driving the vehicle was a young man with brown spiky hair wearing a black ninja suit with most of his face covered by a black mask except for his eyes.
"Dobengal, keep going forward. I'll wipe em out!" Orga said with a smirk as he put both hands out in front of him and black lightning began to crackle loudly between his palms. Sitting in her seat calmly, Minerva looked up at Orga before looking back over at Meliodas. She narrowed her eyes as she watched Meliodas make his way to the front of the vehicle. 'What will you do, Blond Demon?'
Max's eyes widened as he recognized the gesture. Meliodas put his hand on the handle of Neo Mel Force and took a stance as he waited for Orga.
"Take this! 120mm Black Lightning Cannon!" From between his palms, Orga shot out a beam of concentrated black lightning straight towards the Fairy Tail vehicle. Just as the beam was about to collide with them, Meliodas quickly swung his blade.
"Full Counter!"
Orga's confident smirk immediately vanished as the beam ricocheted back at them. A small smile formed on Minerva's face as she quickly got up from her seat and put both hands out in front of her. The beam collided with the Sabertooth vehicle, creating a large explosion of black smoke in the center of the arena. Meliodas stared at the smoke cloud with a perplexed expression.
"Well, well, well. Looks like I missed." Meliodas commented.
"Missed?! Are you joking? You hit them head on!" Jet retorted. Meliodas shook his head and continued to look at the smoke cloud. Suddenly, the smoke cloud began to contort as the Sabertooth video drove right out of it completely unscathed.
"How?!" Max shouted in disbelief.
"That woman uses spatial magic. I don't know what exactly she did, but she diffused most of the blast away." Meliodas responded.
"That's our lady Minerva for ya!" Sting commented as a bead of sweat dripped down the side of his face.
"Rufus, did you see that technique Meliodas did?" Minerva asked.
"Y-yes my lady. It is in my memory now." Rufus responded, still slightly shook from the blast.
"Dobengal, keep driving forward, we're going to take Fairy Tail out of this competition right now!" Minerva ordered.
"Understood." Dobengal nodded as he stepped on the gas, heading straight towards the Fairy Tail group.
"They're really going to try to crash into us?!" Jet exclaimed.
"Then we'll just beat them at their own game!" Laki said as she raised her arms up in the air and began channeling her magic. "Max, you help me too!"
"Right!" Max said. Meliodas looked around the car as sand and wood began forming around them, taking shape into wooden walls with spikes coming out of the front reinforced by Max's sand. Alzack pointed his two revolvers at the Sabertooth car and fired several shots at them.
Minerva swiped her hand, causing the bullets to stop in their tracks and hit an invisible wall before they could hit her.
"Dobengal, swerve at the last moment." Minerva ordered. Dobengal nodded and continued pressing on the gas, accelerating even faster towards the Fairy Tail group.
"Rufus, Sting. Get ready for the counterattack and destroy them with everything you have. You can leave the Blond Demon to me." Minerva continued.
The two vehicles approached each other, about to collide. Dobengal immediately swerved to the left, dodging the fortified Fairy Tail vehicle. He suddenly felt a sharp pain to his face as he was launched off the driver's seat and across the arena, slamming into another vehicle that was across the arena and knocking it over.
Meliodas appeared standing where Dobengal was sitting and faced the Sabertooth group. The vehicle began to swerve left and right as it slowed down as there was no longer a driver. Meliodas stared at the Sabertooth group with a cheeky smile on his face as Orga, Rufus, and Sting had a dumbfounded expression on their faces.
'How convenient. I was going to come to you, but if you're going to come to us, this makes my job easier.' Minerva thought as a small smirk formed on her face. Meliodas took a step forward, prepared to strike down the rest of the Sabertooth members. The Fairy Tail group watched in shock as they slowed down their vehicle. Just as fast as Meliodas appeared on the Sabertooth vehicle, he vanished, nowhere to be seen. Minerva immediately hopped forward over the driver's seat and attached the SE plug to herself, restabilizing the car as she grabbed the steering wheel.
"Looks like Lady Minerva saved us…" Sting sighed. A wave of relief swept over the Sabertooth group.
"Just where did you send him?" Orga asked.
"He'll appear right behind us at any moment." Minerva said. The Sabertooth group turned their heads and a bright light started glowing on the ground several meters behind them. A small figure popped out, falling face first into the dirt of the arena.
"Meliodas!" The Fairy Tail group screamed. Jet immediately made a sharp u-turn, driving towards where Meliodas was lying on the ground.
"WHAT A TWIST OF EVENTS! MELIODAS HAS TOUCHED THE GROUND, DISQUALIFYING HIM!" Chapati announced.
Meliodas jumped up back on his feet and brushed the dust off of his tunic. He sighed and looked at the Fairy Tail group as they drove right by him.
"We'll avenge you Meliodas!" Max shouted as they drove off towards the Sabertooth vehicle. Suddenly, a bright light began shining from the Sabertooth vehicle that engulfed the vehicle, followed by bright yellow beams of light that shot high into the sky. The arena turned dark as the yellow beams of light became the only things lighting up the arena. The beams shot upward in a smooth arc, before falling downward towards the other cars.
---
From the waiting room, Meliodas watched as the Fairy Tail group did their very best against the other guilds that were left in the arena. Meliodas looked at the scoreboard. Sabertooth had defeated fifteen guilds total. Fairy Tail had defeated six guilds and Mermaid Heel was right behind them with five guilds defeated.
"Looks like our vehicle reinforcement blocked that last attack pretty well, although it pretty much destroyed it." Laki commented.
"Can we even catch up to them in points? There's less than eight guilds left in the arena." Alzack added.
"Sabertooth played a dirty trick on us, getting rid of Meliodas like that! Even if we don't win this, we're going to at least take them out!" Jet said.
"Guys above us!" Max shouted. The Fairy Tail group looked up as a figure suddenly landed straight onto their vehicle, causing it to shake. Jet's eyes widened as he saw who it was.
"K-Kagura?! Not again!" Jet shouted nervously, remembering the encounter he had with her in the prior event. Without saying a word, Kagura spun around with her sword in its scabbard, hitting every member in the Fairy Tail vehicle. The Fairy Tail members were launched off their vehicle and all tumbled to the ground. Kagura's body was suddenly pulled back, retreating towards the Mermaid Heel vehicle without ever touching the ground. Alzack turned his head towards the Mermaid Heel vehicle and saw it was Arana who had attached a web to Kagura in order to pull her back.
"They used our strategy against us!" Alzack shouted as he sat on the ground, still reeling from the last attack.
"Damn...we couldn't even try to reach Sabertooth!" Jet said angrily as he punched the ground.
"WHAT AN IMPRESSIVE DISPLAY OF SWORDSMANSHIP FROM KAGURA, KNOCKING OUT THE REMAINING MEMBERS OF FAIRY TAIL WITHOUT EVEN DRAWING HER SWORD!" Chapati announced.
---
Thirty minutes passed since the event started. The Fairy Tail members sat in the waiting room as they watched the lacrima vision of the arena. Only one team was left standing in the arena; Sabertooth.
"AND THERE YOU HAVE IT! SABERTOOTH IS DECLARED THE WINNER, WITH AN OVERWHELMING UNDISPUTED VICTORY!"
The crowd cheered loudly as the Sabertooth members basked in the glory of being named the number one guild. On the Lacrima vision, Meliodas could see the points and placements. In second place was Mermaid Heel and in third was Fairy Tail.
"Sorry Meliodas, we weren't strong enough." Max said as he sulked, his head down on the table. Meliodas walked over to him and patted him on the head, causing him to lift his head.
"Don't worry about it. I messed up pretty badly too." Meliodas said with a friendly grin. "Besides, you all did really well. You guys have grown a lot stronger."
"We did get third place after all. A lot of people looked down on us, saying we were only a top guild because of Meliodas, but I think we proved them wrong!" Laki added, brightening the mood.
"Let's go meet up with the rest of the guild and celebrate at the tavern then!" Max shouted enthusiastically.
"Sounds good to me! I could go for a drink!" Meliodas said gleefully.