Chapter 9 - BRIDGE BETWEEN WORLDS

Prologue

Magnolia Town. A beautifull town that dwelled on the coast. It was famous for many things. It's food, it's people, it's wonderous magic, and not to mention it was also home to Fiore's number one guild Fairy Tail. But the current greatest attraction of this town was none other then the strange Rainbow Gateway that sat within the middle of the town's square.

At the moment, there was a certain strange somebody who was looking at the large glowing rainbow colored doorway with awe in her green eyes.

It was a pink cat with cute curly tuft on her head. She wore a neat blue dress and carried a pack that was slightly too large for her. This exceed's name was Elli, and she was a treasure hunter. Any wonder she wanted to see....any strange occurence...and she would hurry as fast as her wings could take her and find that wonder, whether for glory, or just to watch the beauty of it...she was there.

Currently, the number one wonder on her list was to pass through the gate and see the supposed legendary city of science....also known as Academy City.

"Okay..." said Elli breathing in and out. "You can do this...You walked straight into the unknown before.....this isn't going to be a problem at all.....just take a step forward and-"

Before Elli could step through the gate, a couple hundred tourists crowded through, causing Elli to trip and fall flat on her face. Elli sat there for a moment....then tears welled up in her eyes as she began to cry.

Despite the usual adventurous persona Elli had always tried to put on, in reality she was also quite a crybaby....in fact, she had to have set the largest records for adventurers who have cried the most during their hunt for the unknown.

"I knew it!" sobbed Elli. "I just can't go through with it! I'm a failure....."

Elli took off her pack, reached into it, and pulled out a poster. It was a poster advertising the Fairy Tail guild. On it was a picture of Fairy Tail's supposed strongest Dragon Slayer, and Academy City's third strongest esper Mikoto Misaka. Elli was a huge fan of the Railgun....everytime she started to cry on an adventure, she would pull out the poster and ask herself....what would Mikoto Misaka do?

"I wish I was like you..." said Elli. "You always are so brave.....and you're never afraid to take any challenge..."

Then suddenly, a frighteningly wonderful possibillity occured to the little pink cat. She was in Magnolia Town.....the Fairy Tail Guild Hall was here....which meant she could probably...

"Miss Misaka might be there..." said Elli breathing a little quicker "I might...actually meet....oh my...I think I'm going to faint!"

Elli shook her head quickly. "No! now's the time to be brave! I'm going right over to that guild hall, and I am going to finally meet the Railgun herself! Then maybe I'll be able to go to Academy City and find the legendary treasure!!"

Elli puffed up her chest in an attempt at confidence. "Alright, no dillydallying, I'm coming to meet you Railgun!! You just wait! you'll be totally impressed by how adventuruos and awesome I-" Elli suddenly tripped onto her face again.

Tears welled up in Elli's eyes again as she began to cry once more. "N-no! sniffle...I'm not going to.....sob sniffle....give up now!"

Elli put placed the poster neatly back in pack. She then shouldered her pack, activated her wings, and flew into the air, looking for the guildhall which she so desperately wanted to see.

Gensei Kihara walked through the lab full of circuits and computer screens with the calm look that he usually wore on his face. Though he may have looked like a pleasent old man in a lab coat at first, in reality he was insanely twisted on the inside....prefering to take the most unsavory and brutal methods to finish his experiments.

One of these experiments had been the level 6 shift attempt..the attempt to create a level 6 esper. The first attempt at this experiment had been the Radio Noise project, the second had been the loading of a virus into the mind of the Railgun. However, both attempts had failed on account of a boy named Touma Kamijou....an extreme annoyance in Gensei's opinion.

But Gensei had not given up on the attempts to create 'one who would reach heaven'. Even the new discovery of a paralell world that was supposedly filled with magic could distract him from the possibility of creating a Level 6 esper. And now.....he finally had that third chance...that rare oppertunity to begin an experiment anew.

"Are we ready?" Gensei asked one of the scientists who was typing away at an observational terminal.

"Yes." said the scientist. "We've got cameras set up all along the different areas for the Grand Magic Games.....we'll be able to get a nice view at all the competitors."

Gensei nodded. "Good...knowing her, she would definitely want to participate in the competition..... Has our contact reported in yet?"

Suddenly there was a great burst of colorful smoke and confetti, and a strange looking masked harlequinn appeared in the room.

"Your contact is right here!!" shouted Night Reveler jubiantly. "How did ya like my entrance!? I was thinking of bringing dolphins, but then I figured it would make the confetti look a little too tacky..!"

"A complete goofball as always." grumbled one of the other scientists who was currently making notes on her clipboard. "Can't he ever take anything seriously?"

Night Reveler heard her. "Well I can definitely tell you one thing I always take seriously....MY JOKES!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Joke within a joke!! Knee slapper!!!"

All the other scientists groaned. Some of them wondered out loud how long this alliance with the strange organization called Hydra Head was going to last....others wondered what kind of sick inhuman features lay beneath the crazy clown's mask.

"So what news?" Asked Gensei, still wearing his usual smiling face that made him seem like a harmless old man.

"Everything is settled like you asked." said Night Reveler. "Though Black Whisper and Hades request that you send an advance on our deal.....if you're up to it..."

"Hmpf..." said Gensei. "I can't see why they couldn't be a little more patient."

"It's just to show a gesture of good will." said Night Reveler doing a little goofy dance on the spot as he spoke. "Unless you wish for Aqualas and Diablo Etwatia to make a visit..."

Gensei's expression suddenly changed to that of cold fear....and expression that rarely ever crossed the old man's face. "D-Diablo? No.....I would even take Aqualas over that.....abomination!"

"Then you would do well to send that advance!" said Night Reveler cheerfully. "Or else..."

Night Reveler made a slitting motion across his neck, and his head jumped into the air and landed onto his outstretched palm.

"Get the picture?"

Gensei nodded slightly.

"Good!" said Night Reveler putting his head back on his neck as if he were screwing back on a jar lid. "Then I say...Good day to you sir!!"

Night Reveler dissapeared in another burst of smoke and confetti.

"Hmpf..." said Gensei "Hydra Head and Grimoire Heart...a typical bunch of weirdos....."

Mikoto Misaka Meets The Jiggle Butt Gang.

Down in a forested region of Fiore, next to a set of train tracks,two cats, two mages, and one esper/mage hid in the bushes. Lying in wait for something that had not come for around 5 hours.4

"Urgghh....." muttered a boy with pink hair and a scaly scarf, adjusting the position where he lay on the ground, peeking through the twigs and leaves. "When the heck are they supposed to be here!?"

"Shhhhh...." A girl with sandy brown hair, blue shorts and a black shirt with a frog design on it put a finger to her lips. "Natsu...we don't want anyone knowing we're here."

"But we've been waiting for hours!" whined Happy, the blue cat who currently sat on top of the girl's head.

Mikoto Misaka sighed. Erza, Gray, and Lucy were supposed to have been here 12 minutes ago. Seriously, how long did it take to go to the bathroom?

"If this keeps up any longer I'm going to just obliterate the tracks with a Railgun move and see how that works out...." muttered Mikoto.

Fairy Tail's strongest team, as it so happened, were currently lying in wait for what was supposed to be a group of strange bandits who had been stealing train carts recently. Other then that, the only thing Mikoto knew about the group was that they wore rather...strange.....outfits.

"For some reason I'm getting the strange feeling that this is going to be 'one of those' jobs." said Mikoto.

"Well so far this whole trip's been a whole lot of bleagh!!" grumbled Natsu. "First, we actually had to take a stupid train here!! Man my stomach got sick! Then the bandits don't even show up for-...."

"Hey Natsu." exclaimed Wendy who was crouched next to Mikoto. "They're here!!"

Natsu perked up to see what appeared to be three figures pushing along a large caboose on the train tracks.

Natsu jumped out of the bushes with mouth aflame. "YEAAAHH!!! FINALLY!!! SOME GUYS TO BEAT UP!!!!!!"

"Natsu! We're supposed to wait for Erza and the others first!" exclaimed Charle.

But Natsu wasn't listening, He ran down to the train bandits at top speed laughing at the top of his lungs.

"Oh jeez." said Mikoto getting up and running after Natsu. "Not again...."

"W-what do we do?" said Wendy.

"I don't know about you!" said Happy, who had flown into the air. "But I'm going to see what those bandits are doing!"

By the time the entire group had reached the bandits, the strangely dressed people had given up on pushing the train cart and were sitting all tired like next to the train cart. And from the looks of it, Mikoto could only assume that they had to be the strangest trio of theives she had ever seen in her life.

The three bandits, one of them being quite fat, and the other two being quite skinny, were wearing what appeared to be black spandix outfits that were so tight, it revealed their unnaturally strange giant bottoms.

"Uhhh...." said Mikoto not sure what to make of this ".....The train was being robbed by.....circus performers?"

"CIRCUS PERFORMERS!!!?" shouted the center bandit. "I'll have you know that we are much more then mere men dressed in comfy, stylish outfits!!! WE ARE!!..."

The men all exclaimed together while jiggling their massive buttocks at a very disturbed Mikoto. "THE MASTERS OF TRUE EVIL..... THE JIGGLE BUTT GANG!!!"

"Haha!!" said the center jiggler. "How was that for an entrance!?"

"A true masterpiece boss!!" cried the other bandits with tears in their eyes. "An inspirational entrance to spark fear into all who go against true evil!!"

"Eh.....?" said Mikoto tilting her head with a weirded out expression on her face. "Are you sure we should beat these guys up?....they seem like a couple of idiots....."

"I've met them before!" said Wendy. "But I don't think they're really bad people....."

"It's our goddess!!!" shouted the Jiggle Butt Gang with cheerful tears in their eyes. "IT HAS BEEN AGES OUR SWEET GODDESS!!"

"Goddess?" said Mikoto. "What the heck are they talking about?"

"Unfortunately Wendy tried to 'rehabilitate' them once." said Charle. "I'm still having nightmares about Wendy's running around in.....that horrid outfit.......EEEEEEKK!!!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Shouted Natsu engulfing his fists in flames. "I don't care if we know these guys or not, I'm finally gonna get to beat someone up and it's going to be these three!!"

"Not so fast!!" said the center jiggler. "The masters of true evil don't go around unprepared. Boys!! lets show them our secret techniques of the dark arts!!"

"You got it boss!!!"

The Jiggle Butt Gang jumped on to the train cart and aimed their bottoms at Mikoto and the others. Mikoto still debating whether she might have drank something funny earlier that morning.

"Secret Jiggle Butt Art: Gas Butt Triple Ecstasy!!!"

"Oh no!!!" shouted Natsu as he, Wendy, Charle, and Happy moved out of the way. "It's happening again!!!"

"Huh?" said Mikoto still standing in the same spot. "What's happening!?"

'BAAAAMMMMPPPFFFFF!!!!!"

A massive fart cloud blasted out from the Jiggle Butt Gang, engulfing Mikoto in the horrid stench and propelling the train cart forward at massive speed.

Mikoto koffed and spat holding her neck as she tried not to choke. "AAGGHH....KOFF KOFF....HOLY FREAKIN' GEKOTAS!! THAT IS.....KOFF KOFF... BLEAAGGHH!!!!!"

"We did warn you!' said Natsu. "Ewww.....I can still smell it from here!!"

That's when Mikoto noticed something on the ground, something that caused her bangs to spark uncontrollably with rage.....

"Th-that's my rare rainbow colored Gekota finger puppet!!!" said Mikoto picking up the little frog toy that must have dropped out of her pocket. "I-it's been crushed by the train......"

"Uh oh..." said Natsu edging away. It was common knowledge how Mikoto got in her obsession with the little frog character.

"Th-they murdered Gekota!!!!!" screamed Mikoto shooting a lightning bolt into the air without meaning to. "HAPPY!! IM BORROWING YOU FOR A SEC!!!!!"

"Aye!!???" shouted Happy as Mikoto grabbed him out of the air.

"Fly me to those freaking Gekota murderers!!!!" growled Mikoto with a demonic look in her eyes. "GO!!"

"Uh...Okay!!" Happy picked Mikoto up by the back and flew off at mach speed.

Meanwhile. The Jiggle Butt Gang on the roof of the train were busy high fiving each other and laughing at what believed to be their good fortune.

"And once again!" said the leader. "The Masters Of True Evil have succeeded in their heist!!"

"Uh boss?" said the fat jiggler. "Isn't this like....the first time we've actually succeeded in an evil deed?"

"By golly you're right!!!!" shouted the leader. "Then let today be known as the day that the Jiggle Butt Gang finally moved into the ranks of....TRUE EVIL!!!!"

"Uh....boss" said the other jiggler. "What's that flying towards us?"

"Huh?" the leader of the Jiggle Butt Gang put a hand up to shade his eyes then narrowed his eyelids. "Hmmmm.....that looks like a winged cat carrying......AN ANGRY DEMON GODDESS!!!!!!"

The description couldn't have been more accurate at that moment, because Mikoto had a look on her face that could probably send Laxus Dreyar screaming in terror.

"YOU GEKOTA MURDERERS!!!!" shouted Mikoto taking a small coin out of her pocket and aiming it on her thumb at the train.

"B-boss what do we do!?" cried the two jigglers frantically to their leader.

"Don't ask me!!" cried the leader. "We all know that I was only in this for the outfits!!"

Mikoto flicked the coin which shot forward in a bursting electrical spark and left a sonic boom in it's wake as it broke the sound barrier and headed towards the frightened Jiggle Butt Gang.

It was said that the explosion that followed could be heard by a mole in the ground 100 miles away.

Dragon Slayers And Exceeds

"So what happened again?" said a blonde haired girl who was sitting on a seat in a train compartment.

"Like I said before...." said Mikoto to Lucy. "I caught them...and now they're going to pay..."

The entire gang was on the train heading back to Magnolia Town. In the seat next to Mikoto, was tied up Jiggle Butt gang.

"Pl-please let us go!" cried the snivelling leader. "We promise we'll be good!"

"Shut up!!" growled Mikoto kicking the leader in the face.

Erza Scarlet, the armored girl who was sitting opposite Mikoto next to a sick looking Natsu, raised an eyebrow. "Mikoto, are you sure you had to bring them along? We already got the reward for bringing them in....we could have left them at the prison..."

"Oh they're going with me back to Academy City!!" Growled Mikoto. "Then I'm not going to let them go until they find me a new rainbow Gekota!!!"

"I think Gekota is cute..." said Wendy who was adjusting a little Gekota hair pin that Mikoto had gotten her for Christmas. "But don't you think this is going a little too far...?"

Mikoto suddenly went red with embarrassment. "Ehh...no!.....is it?"

Gray Fullbuster, a black haired youth who was sitting next to the window shrugged. "I don't know....I've seen Erza get stiffed up over having picnics and strawberry cake."

"Wh-why...?" Muttered Natsu as he tried not to hurl. "I-if Mikoto and Wendy are Dragon Slayers.....then why don't they get sick on transportation...?"

"Well Mikoto's a Dragon Born." said Happy. "And they're supposed to be different from normal Dragon Slayers, and Wendy....actually I don't know about Wendy. Maybe it's because they're both girls!!

"How would that make me not motion sick?" said Mikoto. "But then again.....now that I think about it....before I became a Level 1 esper I used to get super sick in my Mom's car....maybe my esper abilities sort of zeroed out the whole motion sickness thing." (In truth, what Mikoto says is actually true. In fact Dragon Borns are supposed be even more effected by transportation related motion sickness then even regular Dragon Slayer's. However an esper's personal reality affects the mind to the extent where they have a much better sense of balance then most humans.)

Suddenly the train came to a slow stop as it entered Magnolia station.

"FINALLY!!!" shouted Natsu jumping out of his chair. "We're off this crazy train!!"

Natsu smashed through the window of the train and ran off whooping.

"Whoah!!" said Mikoto. "I know that he's excitable, but has he ever done that before?"

"He's just excited." said Lucy. "You know, for what's coming up soon."

"Oh yeah!" said Mikoto. "The Grand Magic Games are next week! It sounds like it's going to be fun!"

"Aye!" said Happy. "Last year was extremely awesome!!! Natsu beat up both of Saber Tooth's Dragon Slayers at once!"

"Hmmm...." said Mikoto. "You think Master would let me participate..?"

"Uhh...Mikoto?" said Gray. "I think your frog murderers are making a break for it..."

Mikoto looked to see that the Jiggle Butt Gang had somehow wriggled out of their ropes and were trying to escape.

"Going somewhere?" growled Mikoto as a large spark leapt out of her bangs.

"This is the cue where the Masters Of True Evil...SKEDDADLE!!!" shouted the jiggle leader.

Those who were looking at the train from the outside looked absolutely confused, as there seemed to be lightning bolts shooting out of the train carts

Back at the Guild Hall, everyone was absolutely excited. Supposedly the rumor had gone around that Master Markarov was ready to pick whoever was going to participate in the Grand Magic Games today.

Everyone was in full throttle. Elfman was running all over the guild shouting "Man Man MAAANNN!!!" While Natsu and Gray were having one of their usual fights. The only Fairy Tail member who wasn't acting completely nuts was Mikoto.

Mikoto was sitting at the bar next to Cana, Fairy Tail's heaviest drinker. Cana was drinking her usual ginormous barrel of beer while Mikoto just ate some cake. Kuroko Shirai, Mikoto's friend, was sitting on the other end acting pervertedly weird as usual, trying to slip something questionable into Mikoto's sodapop.

"Hey! Sissy!!" said Kuroko with a glint in her eye. "Don't you want a drink!?"

"Kuroko...I saw you slip that in." Said Mikoto with a stern look. "And if you try and slip something into my cake too you can forget about coming to see the Games with me!"

Kuroko, who had been about to drip something from a small bottle in her hand suddenly withdrew it with a slightly sour look on her face.

"Jeez." said Mikoto sniffing her cup. "What did you slip in there anyways?" (For those of you who haven't read or seen the Index series.....yes, Kuroko is a lesbian.)

"It was at one of those weird magic shops at the edge of town." said Kuroko as the bottle slipped out of her hand and spilled into Erza's cake accidentally.

Erza took a bite of her cake and then suddenly perked up with a strange look on her face. She then stood up and pointed at a random support beam in the guild building. "YOU!! Yes, YOU!! I'm tired of you always standing in my way and never moving you stupid support beam!!! YOU ARE MY RIVAL!! And now we shall fight as is the custom of rivalry!!!!"

"Th-that's not what was supposed to happen....." said Kuroko with a shocked look on her face. "What did that guy sell me!? He said it was a love potion!!!"

"That's what you get for buying from the edge of town." said Mikoto. "If you want the blatant truth, even in this world there has never been an actual legit love potion....they're illegal."

"AWWWW!!!" said Kuroko putting her hands over her face. "WHHHYYYY!!!!?"

Mirajane Strauss, who was cleaning a glass with her usual cheerful smile, giggled. "You know Mikoto, since you've been in this guild for a while now, there's just one thing you need to complete it!"

"Huh?" said Mikoto. "What?"

"You know how every Dragon Slayer here has a Exceed friend right?" (unless you count Laxus who isn't a true Dragon Slayer because of the Lacrima in his body). Said Mirajane.

"Yeah.." said Kuroko. "Even that Gajeel has that Panther Lilly guy. What's your point?"

"I'm thinking Mikoto needs an Exceed friend of her very own!" Said Mira with a wink.

"I don't know..." said Mikoto. "I already have some pretty great friends, plus I'm not sure if I should be wandering around Fiore just to find a flying cat.....and I'm thinking any Exceed I randomly find will probably be a little weirded out if I tried to suddenly be their friend out of the blue.."

"You don't look for your cat!" said Gajeel who had just come over with the gutsy black furred Panther Lilly sitting on his shoulder. "Your cat finds you! Geeheehee!!"

"It's like fate." said Lilly. "You meet along the way, and then you have a beautiful understanding, the next thing you know, you're the best buds in the world!"

"Fate?" snorted Kuroko. "Come on! It's not like a flying cat is going to just fall out of the sky and becomes friends with Sissy!"

Suddenly there was the sound of shattering glass and a pink cat in a blue dress with pack too large for her body sailed through the window near the top of the cieling crying. 'HELP!! IT'S TOO HEAVY!! I CAN'T...AIIEEEEE!!!"

Mikoto leapt out of her chair and dove to the floor with her arms outstretched, catching Elli the Exceed just in time.

Mikoto stood up, carrying the pink cat in her arms. "Hey! Are you okay?!"

"Then again..." said Kuroko staring. "Stranger things have happened."

Elli opened her green sparkly eyes and looked around. "Huh? I'm not dead....?"

Mikoto smiled. "Nope...still in the land of the living."

Elli took one look at Mikoto and gasped. "Y-you're.....you're.....you're....you're....."

Mikoto tilted her head with a slightly worried expression. "Ummm....are you okay? You're stuttering an awfull lot."

"You're her!!" exclaimed Elli her eyes going wide with awe. "You're the Railgun, Mikoto Misaka!! I-I'm a huge fan!!! P-please sign my pack!!!!!"

Elli tried to reach for a pen in her oversized pack but fell over out of Mikoto's arms in the process. As the pack smacked down into the ground and spilled, Mikoto quickly caught Elli again.

"Whoa!!" said Mikoto. "careful there."

"Oh no!!" said Elli jumping out Mikoto's arms and picking up the contents of the pack, which mainly contained strange jewels and artifacts. "These are extremely fragile! Please don't let any of it be broken!!"

Mikoto got on her knees and began to help Elli pick up the strange objects. "Wow...these are some pretty neat looking stuff. Where'd you get it all?"

"O-oh right!" said Elli. "Well you see, I'm kind of a treasure hunter. I look all over the world for rare stuff...Oh dear, how rude of me, I didn't introduce my self! I'm Elli...Elli Pauline!" Elli gave Mikoto a neat little bow.

"Nice to meet you!" said Mikoto cheerfully. "I'm Mikoto Misaka! And umm.....what is this thing?"

Mikoto looked at the strange peice of rock that had ruins on it.

"C-careful with that!" said Elli jumping up and taking the fragment. "This is hundreds of years old!"

"So Elli..." said Mikoto as she watched Elli put the fragment carefully back in her pack. "It's not often I see an Exceed around other then Happy, Charle, and Lilly. What brings you here?"

Elli suddenly puffed out her chest with pride and put a paw out as if pointing into the beyond. "Well....I'm going to Academy City to find the legendary treasure that's hidden there!" Elli suddenly looked forlorn. "That is....I was....but I got scared and chickened out...."

Mikoto watched Elli as she began to sniffle and sob.

"Are you....crying?"

"N-no...." said Elli as tears welled up in her eyes. "I'm sweating through my eyes.....Okay yes I'm crying!! You must think I'm a real wimp huh?"

Mikoto scratched her head trying to think of something to say. She had never had to comfort someone crying before....though she didn't like to admit it, the most experience she had ever had with that kind of situation was when Touma Kamijou actually comforted her while she was crying....and that had been after she had nearly electrocuted him. (During the Sister's arc of Railgun and Index).

"I don't think you're a wimp...." said Mikoto. "Everyone has something they're afraid of...in fact..." Mikoto leaned in close to Elli's ear and whispered. "Secretly I'm afraid of bugs."

"That's no secret!" Natsu shouted out from nearby. "Everyone saw you lose it that time the lady bug was in your soup."

Mikoto went red in the face as Elli started giggling through her tears. "Heehee...I always thought that you were never afraid of anything....."

Mikoto sighed. "Well...no one's fearless...even crazy people have something they're afraid of....."

Elli nodded then suddenly looked shocked as if she had just remembered something. "OH no!! I just remembered, I ran out of money at the inn in the last town!!"

Elli began rummaging through her large pack. "There has to be money somewhere....rock.....rock....rock...." Elli took out a sombraro. "Why haven't I worn this yet?" Elli continued to rummage through her pack. "Oh no....if I don't have any Jewel left I'm going to have stay under a bush again....rock.....rock.....why do I have so many rocks!!?"

"Hey..." said Mikoto. "You're obviously in a bind.....would you like to stay with me? I'm kind of staying with my friend Lucy for the Summer Break....."

"M-me?" said Elli, looking like she was in heaven. "Stay with....you....? Misaka.....you?"

Elli fainted on the spot.

"E-Elli?" said Mikoto looking bewildered. "Elli!? Are you okay!? ELLI!"

One Who Would Be King

Down in the sewers of Academy City, two girls walked along, looking for something that their organization had been assigned to retrieve. These were two members of an organization called ITEM. An independently created organization that operated on the dark side of Academy City. Their leader, was none other then Shizuri Mugino, the 4th strongest esper in Academy City...aka, Meltdowner.

Meltdowner's current accompanying companion was a black haired expressionless girl named Rikou Takitsubo. Rikou looked around the area with her eyes slightly widened. Using her AIM Stalker ability to scan the surrounding area for any other espers.

"We're clear...." said Rikou. "Though I can't completely gauruntee we're completely alone.."

"Good." said Shizuri. "Then I guess we can commence the deal."

Shizuri took out a cellphone and dialed a number. "We're here.....you can come on out."

As Shizuri casually threw the phone into the sewer water, several men in dark suits came out of the shadowy end of the sewer carrying a large armored suitcase.

"We take it that you weren't followed?" said one of the men.

"Pretty much." said Shizuri with a slightly raised eyebrow. "Don't underestimate ITEM..."

"Well make sure that this gets to lab 18." said the man. "SCHOOL and STUDY have been giving us some issues about this lately, but it's nothing you probably can't handle..."

Shizuri took the case and weighed it in her hands. "What is this? I have to imagine that this would be quite an important piece of hardware if we were hired to take it..."

"No kidding." said another one of the men. "What you're holding is the newly designed central server for Tree Diagram 2. The satalite is scheduled to launch in a couple of days... and the only part left is that central hard drive."

"Most intrigueing...." said Shizuri looking at the case with a brighter interest in her eyes. "What do you make of this Rikou?"

"It's a box...." muttered Rikou, her face still expressionless. "Other then that, I don't think I need to know much..."

"Hmph...sometimes you can be quite boring..."

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, some strange looking looking totem-like dolls flew through the air at the men in black suits and fired off some greenish energy beams, blasting the cieling and causing an avalanche of rocks to block off the other end of the sewer.

"YEAH!! That's right my babies!! Take em' to the cleaners!!"

Shizuri and Rikou whirled around to see a man in purple robes and a strange medievel visor standing at their end of the sewer.

"Impossible!" said Rikou. "I should have sensed another esper coming!"

"That's no esper." said Meltdowner as she began to gather energy in preparation for a fight. "This guy's a magician."

Bickslow opened his mouth in a grin, letting his tongue hang out to reveal his black Fairy Tail tattoo. "Hey there gals!! Sorry that me and my babies had to butt in and all....but you have something that we'd prefer not ever get into the wrong hands..."

"He's from Fairy Tail!" said Meltdowner with a growl. "So you're friends with that Railgun aren't you!?"

"Mikoto?" said Bickslow shrugging. "Of course! In case you haven't noticed, we're all kinda family!"

"Well you were a fool to come alone!" said Meltdowner shooting off a powerful blast of energy at Bickslow.

Suddenly the beam of energy stopped in mid air as it came into contact with what appeared to be a strange transparent wall made out of purple energy ruins.

"What!?" said Meltdowner stepping back.

"Who said I was alone!" said Bicslow spreading his arms out as his dolls gathered around him and said in echoing voices. "Not alone, not alone, not alone."

"You see." said Bickslow holding up a finger. "Not only do I have my babies! But I have a few other friends as well!!"

A green haired man in red clothing emmerged from the shadows trailing a sword behind him. This was Freed Justine, and as it so happened, he had already drawn a great number of magical ruins around the area.

"I'm afraid the game is set and match for you esper." said Freed. "The ruins I have already set will not allow you to escape unless you give us that case."

Mugino screamed with fury and blasted another concentrated blast of energy at Freed. However the ruin barrier appeared again repelling the blast all around the area as it bounced off a different assortment of ruin walls before it finally dissapated."

"Like I said before." said Freed. "Those ruins are set to remain until you hand over that case to me."1

Meltdowner smiled sinisterly. "Well....if that's how you feel" said Shizuri. "Then you can have it!!"

Shizuri threw the case into the air, and just as Freed caught it, Shizuri shot out a blast of energy powerful enough to reduce a truck to a puddle (it's said that Shizuri's most powerful move is actually powerful enough to one shot the Railgun. However it would also be fatal to Shizuri.)

"Baryon Formation!!" Bickslow's dolls flew in front of Freed and rotated around in a vertical circle, causing a huge blast of energy to colide with Meltdowner's electron beam. A massive explosion erupted from the area, causing a huge dust cloud of smoke to erupt from the area. When the smoke cleared, Bickslow and Freed had dissapeared, along with the case.

"NO!!" shouted Meltdowner in absolute fury. "THAT'S it! I'll show them to interfere with the affairs of ITEM!!!"

On the surface of Academy City, in one of the alleyways of District 7, Bickslow and Freed stood watching for any pursuers.

Freed brought a cellphone up to his ear. 'Master.....we have it."

"That is so amazing!!"

It had been 3 hours since Mikoto and Elli first met, During that time Lucy, Happy and Natsu had asked Mikoto if she would like to hang around town until Master Markarov decided to announce the team that would be competeing in the Grand Magic Games.

During that time Mikoto and Elli had done nothing but talk to each other as they walked through the town, either laughing at each other's silly jokes or talk about the many ancient ruins Elli had visited on her treasure hunting exploits.

"Wow..." said Lucy with a grin on her face. "Those two are getting along well."

"Eh.." said Natsu. "I still can't see it...I always imagined Mikoto's partner would be yellow instead of pink!"

Happy was looking at Elli with a sort of worried expression. "You don't think that I won't be able to sit on Mikoto's head again will you...?"

"Why are you so obsessed with Mikoto's head?" said Lucy.

"He hair's so soft and comfy! It's like sleeping on silk!! Maybe Plue should try it too!"

Lucy put a hand on her pouch where she kept the keys for her celestial spirits. "Don't be ridiculous, that would only creep Mikoto out!"

"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!" shouted Happy suddenly. "NOOOO!!!!! ITS HAPPENED!!!"

"Huh?!" everyone turned to look at Happy in surprise.

Happy was pointing at Mikoto who now had Elli sitting on her head.

"What's wrong Happy?" asked Mikoto looking at him with confusion.

"M-my spot has been taken...." said Happy a little tearfully. "On that comfy comfy head...."

"Huh?" said Elli. "Well it is soft and comfy...what kind of conditioner do you use Mikoto?"

"I just use whatever I've got at the time." said Mikoto shrugging. "Though lately I've been using more of that conditioner Lucy's got since I've been staying with her over the summer...."

"Well whatever you do." said Elli cheerfully. "It's working for you, this hair is so silky soft!"

"Why thank you."

"Hey!" said Happy grumpily. "Every time I compliment your hair, you always tell me I'm being creepy, but when Elli compliments it, you're all just like 'thank you'. What gives!?"

Mikoto just smiled. "Well for one thing, she actually asked permission before she decided to climb onto my head. And another thing, she doesn't dig her claws into my scalp."

Happy looked at his paws. "Aye, they have been getting long lately....."

"Well I think it's pretty cute that you two are getting along so well!" said Lucy. "Hey Elli, I know that you're an explorer and everything, but have you ever thought about settling down somewhere, maybe joining a guild?"

"Wh-what!?" said Elli. "A-are you offering me a spot on your guild!?"

"Why not!?" said Natsu with a huge grin. "We've already got Happy, Charle, and Lilly, I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to have another exceed in the guild."

"Hmmm..." said Elli with a thoughtful expression. "On one hand, I would'nt be able to travel around as freely as I used to....on the other hand, everyone here is so nice, even that Lilly cat kept giving me flowers and giving me some sort of lovey dovey expression (Panther Lilly has a crush on Elli).......then on the other hand I would probably need to find a permanent place to live..........but on the other hand I would get to hang out with Mikoto more...........M-Mikoto? W-would you hang out with me more i-if I joined.....and would you be alright with that?"

"Of course I would!" said Mikoto cheerfully. "And if you're looking for a place to stay permanently....you could live with me if you like!....though I would probably need to find a way to get my dorm supervisor to be okay with it."

"R-really!?" said Elli. "That's so...never in my wildest dreams...me living with.....!" Elli fainted on the spot and fell off Mikoto's head and into her arms.

"Oh no!" said Mikoto. "Not again. Elli...? Elli....? Are you alright?"

Elli woke with a start. "Oh! sorry.....I guess this is just so...oh I feel faint again....." Elli shook her head a little in an attempt to clear it. "O-of course I'll join your guild! Anyways, it sounds like you guys have a lot of neat adventures here too!"

"YES!!!!!!!!" Panther Lilly jumped out from a spot behind a trash can that was nearby, pumping his fist like had just won the lottery.

Elli, Mikoto, Natsu, Happy, and Lucy stared at Lilly. Lilly seemed to notice the stares and a bead of sweat traveled down his black furry head. "Uhh......ummm........Master sent me to tell you that he needs everyone back at the guild now....hem.....that's all."

Lilly activated his wings and hastilly flew away while cheeks blushed red.

Mikoto looked at the others. "You don't think he's ready to announce do you?"

"Let's go find out!" shouted Natsu with a jubiant expression. "Come on Happy! I'll race ya!!"

"Aye sir!!"

Natsu ran off with Happy flying close behind.

"We should probably catch up with him before he runs over some tourists or something." said Lucy.

"Y-yeah!" said Elli. "I-I guess we should...." Elli looked at Mikoto.

MIkoto smiled. "Do you want to sit on my head again?"

Elli's eyes sparkled with delight. "Oh yes!!"

"Then climb aboard."

Elli cheerfully flew up and settled on top of Mikoto's head again while Mikoto and Lucy went to catch up with Natsu and Happy.

Back at the guild hall, the entire place was extremely packed. Every single guild member had gathered. Mikoto could even make out Accelerator, Fairy Tail's only completely non-wizard guild member in the crowd. (Accelerator joined up after Gildarts offered him a position back in the epilogue of the second book. He, and the two MISAKA sisters, Last Order and MISAKA Worst, live together in Gildart's home. Accelerator still doesn't socialize much with the rest of the guild...prefering to go on either solo jobs, or with Gildarts. As a result, he's sometimes considered as Fairy Tail's "Second Mystogan".)

"Has Master said anything yet?" Mikoto asked the blue haired girl Juvia who was standing next to her in the crowd.

Juvia, who had been busy scanning the crowd fervently for Gray, shook her head. "Master still hasn't made the announcement....Oh Juvia hopes both she and Gray get to be on the same team!!! Then we would wipe away the competition with our unchallenged love!!"

"Hmm..." said Elli from atop Mikoto's head. "She seems obsessed with this Gray person."

"You haven't seen anything yet..." Mikoto muttered remembering the time that Juvia had once purposefully locked both herself and Gray in a closet in an attempt to get a kiss.2

"Do you have anyone you like?" asked Elli curiously.

"Well......" said Mikoto going slightly red and thinking of Touma Kamijou. "There is one guy.......but he's so dense, I don't think he would notice even if I told him myself."1

"Have you ever tried telling him?" asked Elli.

"Er...........well.........erm...."

"Well I think you should tell him." said Elli. "After all, the worst thing he can say is no right?"

But what if he does say no!? Said a voice in Mikoto's head. What would happen then?!

You will die a lonely widow in a hut on a mountain top scraping the shattered fragments of your love life, said another voice.

Shut up, said the first voice. You don't know anything!.....but could that happen?

"Hey Mikoto!" said Elli excitedly. "I think they're starting!!"

"Huh?" Mikoto snapped back to reality to see that Master Markarov and Mirajane Strauss were standing on the guild hall's large stage.

Master Markarov cleared his throat. "Hello everyone! As you all well know, I have decided on the team that will be representing Fairy Tail while we attend the games this year!"

Everyone cheered in response to this, all except for Accelerator, who wore his usual bored expression and shrugged. "Eh....I guess it sounds interesting....."

"This year I have selected a team of 5 who will represent us!" said Markorav. "Now where did I put that list....I swear I had it on me a moment ago..."

Mira held out a peice of paper to Markarov. "You gave it to me remember? Your mind's going a little with age Master."

"Nonsense!" said Markarov stubbornly as he took the sheet of paper. "I'm still quite young-Ow! My back!"

As Marorav rubbed his back ruefully, he began to read from the list. "Hehem...these are those who will represent Fairy Tail." (Let it be noted that Accelerator is still allowed to participate despite the fact he doesn't use magic, thanks to the fact that he bears the guild insignia. Accelerator's guild insignia is on the left area of his neck, just beneath his choker.)

"First! Is Natsu Dragneel!"

"Yeah!!" Shouted Natsu pumping his fist. "I'm totally going to show those guys whose boss!!! I'm ALL FIRED UP!!!"

"Second! Gray Fullbuster!!"

Gray, who was standing near the entrance of the guild grinned, as if he had been expecting this. "Finally, all that training I've been doing lately is going to pay off."

"Third! Erza Scarlet!!"

Erza nodded. "I am most eager to see who the competition is this year."

"Fourth! Laxus Dreyar!!.....Hmmm? Where is Laxus?"

Mirajane leaned in and whispered in Markarov's ear.

"Oh, I see." said Markarov. "So he, Evagreen, Bickslow and Freed won't be back for a coulple of hours.....odd, considering Freed just called me to say it was a success....oh well, I'm sure he'll be back in time."

Markarov cleared his throat again. "All right....back to business!"

"Last but not least, we have Mikoto Misaka!!"

"Wait....me?!" said Mikoto feeling absolutely surprised. "But I'm a newbie!"

"No shocker there." said Natsu clapping Mikoto on the back. "Way to go Mikoto!!"

"To be honest..." said Mikoto. "I thought they might pick Juvia, or Gajeel, or maybe even Gravix."

"You're Fairy Tail's strongest Dragon Slayer and Academy City's 3rd strongest esper!" said Elli. "If they didn't pick you it would be a crime!"

"W-wow!" said Mikoto. "I guess I should start training or something....."

Natsu suddenly grabbed Mikoto by the arm. "No kidding!! LETS START RIGHT NOW!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Natsu ran out the door of the guild at top speed with a surprised Mikoto in tow as Happy and Elli flew after them.

Back in Academy City, things weren't as cheerful. Bickslow and Freed were staggering through the alleyways with bruises on their bodies.

"Darn it!" said Bickslow. "This started easy at first, but that ITEM doesn't mess around.....how did that Meltdowner girl find us so easily?"

"Don't give up now..." said Freed holding up the large armored suitcase. "Laxus and Evagreen are on their way, we'll have the backup we need soon......"

Suddenly the twosome stopped in their tracks....and with good reason, because a twelve-year old girl in an orange hoodie had just appeared at the end of the alleyway....this was Saiai Kinuhata, one of the members of ITEM.

"Found you." said Saiai with a serious expression on her face (don't let the seriousness fool you, when not on missions, Saiai acts quite cheerful and carefree.)

"Dang it!" said Bickslow as his dolls came out and flew around in preparation for the fight to come. "There's old nitrogen girl again.....which means..."

"She's here as well." said Freed looking behind them.

Sure enough, Meltdowner was coming from the other end of the alley way with a bloodthirsty smile on her face. "Well, well, well...How long do we have to keep meeting like this....Fairy Tail?" (Because of Mugino's grudge against Mikoto, she holds an almost equally intense dislike towards Fairy Tail...however she does have a 'thing' for Gray...)

"Dark Ericture!!" Freed embeded a magic ruin on himself and instantly became covered in full body sinister demon-like armor. Freed readied his sword. "In any case....this will not be our last fight."

"That's right!!" said Bickslow, regaining his composure. "My babies won't go down so easily!!"

Bickslow's dolls echoed in unison. "Won't go down, won't go down!!"

"Now that's quite the fighting attitude you've got there..." said Meltdowner as she began to glow with energy. "But can you back it up....?"

It could be said that the alleyway lit up with lights and sounds of a desperate battle that day...whether the fight would have a winner...who could say?"

The Watchfull Jellal...And The Haunting Night Reveler

Accelerator never really liked doctors that much. It wasn't that he had anything against them, more like he just hated being told what to do....it reminded him of his time in the darkness of Academy City, where every move you made was either predicted by Aleister Crowley or an order by the Board of Directors. But he didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

After that fateful bullet had damaged his brain a year ago, he could no longer function properly or summon his esper powers without the use of the choker around his neck. The device had been designed to help his brain form calculations and not let Accelerator go into a stroke like state....but only as long as the battery remained running. Accelerator's doctor, a man by the name of Heaven Canceller (odd name for a doctor) who had a face that kind of resembled a frog's, had designed the device to depend on the MISAKA network to function....ironic considering his past with the MISAKA Sisters...

In any case, thanks to the battery limit, Accelerator could only access his esper powers for 30 minutes at a time (it used to be 15 minutes, but after Accelerator joined an organization known as GROUP in the past, the choker had been upgraded). So though he was still considered the most powerful esper in Academy City, and probably now considered one of Fairy Tail's top 6 strongest members ( the other 5 being Mikoto, Erza, Laxus, Mirajane, and Gildarts) he was considerably more vulnerable then a he was a year ago, back when he could deflect any attack at any time he wanted.

So here he was, going to another doctor. This time though, the doctor he was going to see was considerably odd.....

Porlyusica was healer who was well learned in the magic art of healing...or so Accelerator had heard. Anyways, she seemed to know what she was doing, which was all Accelerator cared about. The only problem anyone ever had with her was that she seemed to be extremely antisocial in regards to anyone human. (odd, considering she herself was a human).

"Alrighty now," said Porlyusica tapping a finger on Accelerator's choker, "lets give it a try....."

Accelerator was currently inside Porlyusica's tree-like house. Accelerator had been treking here through the forest ever since he had first come to this world at the recommendation of Gildarts.

Accelerator turned on the knob on his choker. "Heh, same as always.....doesn't feel any different to me...."

"I've examined that device thoroughly." said Porlyusica as she began to chop up some vegetables in preparation to make soup. "The battery I've created runs purely on magic, and can regenerate magic from it's environment much like your average mage....it took me some time to figure out how to let you use the magic without your esper nature getting in the way, but I was able to do it after looking at some of that interesting research done in that strange Academy City of yours...."

"Thanks." said Accelerator moving to get out of the 'treehouse'.

"Hmmm?" said Porylusica raising an eyebrow. "You're leaving? Just like that? Aren't you going to saddle me with another ridiculous request like the rest of your guild usually do?"

"Keh!" spat Accelerator. "You're not the only one who's not much of a people's person......so before I'm off on my jolly way, what are the limits to this thing?"

"Like your old battery it runs on a 30 minute time limit." said Porlylusica. "However, it will regenerate after around 12 minutes, and if you wait a while when it still has a charge, it will regenerate faster, that battery was hard to make, so don't even think about breaking it, understand?"

"Whatever." said Accelerator walking out the door.

"Hmpf!" said Porylusica. "He's like a violent version of Mystogan...."

Accelerator walked along the dark moonlit path through the dense forest, his mind considering nothing important. Gildarts had constantly recommended that he travel during the day, due to the large nocturnal creatures that tended to hang around the forest at night. But Accelerator didn't care, he went when he felt like it. And the monsters here had learned to fear Accelerator after about 2 weeks. The first time a forest Vulcan (not Star Treck, just a giant weird monkey) had tried to take him, the other monsters had watched from the bushes in terror as Accelerator propelled the giant ape 1000 meters into the air with the flick of his hand, ever since then, Accelerator was considered a taboo in the nocturnal forest environment.

But as it so happened....the strange blue haired man that was watching Accelerator from the trees didn't posses that fear. In fact....he almost felt a sort of kinship towards the level 5.

Accelerator stopped in his tracks, sensing that someone he didn't know was watching him. "You can come out now....unless you want me to drag you out myself."

The man known as Jellal Fernandes walked out into the open in front of Accelerator. "Sorry for acting like a stalker.....but you and I need to talk."

"Talk to me when it's day time and I'm not completely bushed." said Accelerator pushing past Jellal. "I don't know you...and frankly I don't care what you have to say...whoever you are."

"Gildarts told me you might act like that." said Jellal looking over his shoulder at the esper.

That got Accelerator's attention. Accelerator stopped and looked back at Jellal. "So you know the Old Geezer....not many worthless people can say that."

"Let's just say I am very acquainted with Fairy Tail." said Jellal. "And I've always had a bit of a thing for their best interests."

"Are you a member?" asked Accelerator. "I haven't seen you around the Guild Hall."

"No...I'm actually a member of a two person guild called Crime Sorciere...."

"So you're Jellal!", spat Accelerator. "I've heard about you....you have quite a complicated history...heh, and I thought Academy City was the dark side of the dimensional gate."

"You and I are both alike....." said Jellal. "We've both done terrible things in our lifetime and are trying hard to make amends....That's why I feel I can trust you to help me with what I'm about to request of you...."

"And pray tell, what would that be?"

Jellal's eyes glinted seriously. "Ever hear of a dark guild called...Hydra Head?"

"N-Natsu.....can we please stop now? I'm soooo tired."

It was already around 11:00 at night and Mikoto was lying in the grass next to Natsu's house with her eyes half closed. Elli was busy wiping a wet towel over her forehead while Natsu ran around still absolutely enthusiatic, blowing flames from his mouth into the air.

"Aw come on Mikoto!!!" said Natsu. "We gotta be in top condition next week if we're goint to kick those other guild's butts!!! And this time Fairy Tail is going for it's second win in a row!!! So no excuses!!!! LETS TRAIN!!!!"

Happy who was lying on the ground next to Mikoto with his eyes half closed muttered drowsily. "A-aye.....lets....do.....this.....fish are delicious....except for flying fish.....those are gross........."6

"Natsu." said Elli. "Mikoto's all tuckered out, and isn't having a good night's sleep one of the keys to getting healthy and strong?"

Natsu pointed a finger at Elli, his face in the expression of having a sudden revelation. "YOU'RE RIGHT!!!!! I never thought about it that way. Well if that's what it takes......SLEEP MODE ON!!"

Natsu fell to the ground and onto his back and began to snore, unbelievably out cold from the sudden enthusiasm at sleeping.

"He's so enthusiastic." Mikoto mumbled as she began to fall asleep herself.

Lucy, who had been watching nearby walked over and helped the super drowsy esper/Dragon Slayer to her feet. "Come on Mikoto, lets go...."

"Go.....?" said Mikoto her head lolling onto Lucy's shoulder. "Where....to.....?"

"Back home silly." said Lucy with a smile. "You obviously need a good 8 hours of sleep right now."

Mikoto yawned widely as Elli flew over and sat on her shoulder. "O.....okay....then......Hyaaaaaaahhhh.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

Elli nudged Mikoto's cheek with a paw. "Mikoto? You're not sleeping now are you?"

Lucy sighed. "Guess it's time to do what a big sister would do.."

"What would that be?"

Lucy grabbed under Mikoto's legs and put her on her back in piggy back ride fashion. "I'm going to carry her..."

"That is a sisterly thing." said Elli flying alongside Lucy as she walked back into town with Mikoto snoozing soundly on her back.

They walked back into town, Lucy being sure not to walk on the edge of the canal this time since she had someone on her back.

"Hey Elli." said Lucy. "How come you aren't tired?"

"Me?" said Elli shrugging. "Well, being a treasure hunter and all, there were some places like magic ruins, that could only be entered at a certain time of night or day....so I've had to get used to staying up late. Especially when I was looking for the legendary moon pendant of the Skyforth temple."

"Sounds like you've had some crazy adventures." said Lucy.

"You haven't heard the half of it." said Elli. "One time I met this weird tribe in this canyon down south, and they tried to sacrifice me so they could eat me in a barbeque or something.....then their leader turned into a giant monster and tried to chase me down....I cried for a week after that, it was soooooooooo scary."

"This wouldn't happen to be a group called the Tribe of The Sun would it?"

"HOW DID YOU KNOW!?"

"Ermmm.....long story...."

Mikoto began to mumble in her sleep. "You have to do it Touma.........it's a penalty game......so you have to do what I want.................uh,huh............."

Mikoto smiled, as if whatever she was dreaming about was extremely pleasant.

"Having that dream again isn't she?" said Lucy with a sly smile.

"Hey Lucy...." said Elli. "Is that some kind of circus performer over there?"

Lucy looked up. Standing in the street light was a black and yellow Harlequin she knew all too well. Lucy stopped dead in her tracks. "Elli.....stay close...."

"You know him?"

"More then I'd like."

Night Reveler just stood there by the canal, looking up into the starry night sky. He was so still, that he almost seemed like he wasn't breathing.

Lucy looked at Elli with an expression that said, be careful and don't make a single noise.

Elli perched herself on Lucy's shoulder as she attempted to tiptoe behind Night Reveler.

Suddenly, Night Reveler's head turned 180 degrees with his body still unmoving to face Lucy, as if though he were some creepy owl. "Why hello there!"

Lucy nearly dropped Mikoto in fright, and Elli fell off of Lucy's shoulder with an expression of absolute shock.

Night Reveler's body turned 180 degrees to align with his unmoving head. "I've been lookiing for you Fairy Tail folks....HAHAHAHA!! You look surprised to see me!!"1

"Why are you here Night Reveler?" growled Lucy.

"That's quite an interesting question!!" said Night Reveler. Night Reveler detatched his head and held it out on his open gloved palm. He then waved a hand over it and in a light popping noise, it multiplied into 3 heads. Night Reveler's headless body began to juggle the heads like a circus clown.

"Why are any of us here really....? Said all three heads in unison. "Is it that our lives all have one great purpose, or are we just like hamsters, running the same wheel over, and over, and over again?"

"This guy is really freaky." whispered Elli.

"You think that's freaky?" said Night Reveler. "You should see me on Friday, that's when I REALLY like to party."

Lucy didn't know how to respond to this. In truth, out of all the members of Hydra Head she had ever met, Night Reveler had always struck her as being the most dangerous. Not because of his magic or anything, but because he was so inhuman and unpredictable. If you bobbed, he weaved. If you tried to beat him up, he made you a ham sandwhich then poisoned your bathwater....he was just random...at least that's how Lucy pictured it...she hadn't run into Night Reveler as often as Mikoto or Natsu, but the harlequin had always given her that feeling.

Lucy then asked a question that not even someone as unpredictable as Night Reveler could have expected. "Why are you working for Hydra Head.....? What's in it for you?"

Night Reveler stopped juggling his heads. Each head reformed back into one head and popped back onto Night Reveler's neck. "Hmmmm.....What an interesting girl you are...to be asking that of me..... Let me guess, you're wondering why I act like such a monster, why I do the things I do, why I am so heartless and inhuman perhaps!!!?? HMMMMM!!!??"

Lucy stepped back feeling slightly scared as Elli shivered and clutched onto Mikoto's sleeping head.

"It's because....." said Night Reveler grabbing a hold of his mask. "I'M NO LONGER HUMAN!!!!"

Night Reveler tore the mask off to reveal a mass of sparking wires and circuits. There were lights and gears, levers and wires, and a metalic skull reminicent of Terminator. There were also bits of flesh here and there around the face, and multiple glowing magic ruins adorned the metal skull's forehead.

Lucy nearly screamed her heart out. Had she done so, she might have awoken Mikoto, and a massive battle would ensue. But before Lucy could utter a sound, Night Reveler made a 'shhhh' gesture with his gloved fingers and Lucy's mouth seemed to shut as if by magic ( and of course it was magic.)

Night Reveler placed his mask back on his face. "For thousands of years I have lived in torment. I forgot my name, even my own stupid Birthday. I even lost my sanity.....but one thing that's always managed to keep me going......was ALWAYS A GOOD JOKE!!!"

There was a puff of smoke and confetti and Night Reveler reappeared standing on the roof of a house nearby, his body darkened against the light of the moon.

"So remember Lucy Hearfilia." said Night Reveler. "The next time you and Fairy Tail run across good ol' Night Reveler....my jokes will kill......."

Night Reveler's laughs echoed into the night as he dissapeared into a puff of smoke and confetti. Even after the harlequin had left, Lucy could still hear the sinister laughs of the clown mage, and deep in Mikoto's dreams, the laughter continued, as if it wished to give her the deepest nightmares.

Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus....MEN!!!

"So.....what happened last night?" said Mikoto looking at Lucy worriedly. "You look extremely freaked out for some reason...."

"Oh....it's nothing." said Lucy trying unsuccessfully to hide her disturbed look. "I just might have eaten something terrible that's all."

"Hmmmm...." said Elli who was sitting on top of Mikoto's head again with a look that suggested that she was struggling with whether not to tell Mikoto or tell her.

Truth be told, the only one who knew about Lucy and Elli's run in with Night Reveler last night had been Master Markorav. And his explanation of the whole deal to Lucy had been a mind blowing one.

"Night Reveler has been around for thousands of years." Markarov had said. "There are many myths about him that have been passed around. In fact it is believed that he started the myth about Loki, the god of mischief. However, I believe Night Reveler was actually an attempt by Aleister Crowely to create a combination of both science and magic...besides that, I could not honestly tell you anything about his true identity.....or why on Earth his body would be in such a state. He's definitely been jumping around both worlds long before the Hydra Head and Grimoire Heart incident, and how he has been doing that remains a mystery."

Lucy, Mikoto, Elli, Happy, Natsu, and Kuroko were currently sharing a train compartment. The other Fairy Tail members had taken up nearly the entire train car. The reason for this was that for some unpredictable reason, the Grand Magic Games had been pushed up to 2 days from now.....a real cunundrum considering Laxus and his team hadn't yet returned from whatever secret mission they had been assigned to.

Mikoto had been hoping that Touma would meet her at the train station, but thanks to his 'bad luck' as he would call it, he missed the train, and he and Index were currently taking a carriage with an ugly old man who kept on talking about, "How I lost this one eye when fighting the great bears of the north!"

"P-please..." cried out Natsu putting a hand over his mouth. "Someone stop this crazy train!! I think I'm going to be sick!"

"Throw up on me." said Kuroko. "And I'll teleport you right into the lake out there!"

"You would do that for me?" said Natsu obviously oblivious to the fact that what Kuroko was saying had been a threat. "Thank you....."

"He really doesn't like to ride transportation does he?" said Elli munching on the gummy bears that Mikoto had gotten for her earlier.

"Aye!" said Happy. "The last time we rode a train, Natsu tried to jump off the end. Mikoto had to use her iron sand to pull him back.

"I think the best thing we can do for him now is to knock him out." said Lucy. "But I think Erza is the one more suited to..."

"WHAM!!" Kuroko instantly drop kicked Natsu over the head. Natsu slumped over, completely unconscious.

"There." said Kuroko. "Problem solved.......What?"

The others were staring at Kuroko.

"Mikoto...." Lucy whispered. "Your friend is scary...."

"You should see her when she's in pervert mode..." muttered Mikoto.

Suddenly, there was a great deal of commotion within the train, as if sombody important had just come visiting. Romeo, a young boy mage who dressed a lot like Natsu (normal considering he looks up to Natsu.) came running over. "Guess what!? Some of the competing guilds are actually on some of the other train cars, they boarded on the last stop!"

"Huh? Really?" said Mikoto.

In truth, the only official magic guild Mikoto had ever met besides Fairy Tail, had been Lamia Scale during the 2 months she had wandered Fiore when she first came to that world. Orriginally she had thought about joining that guild.....but after some 'issues' with an ice mage named Lyon, she had decided not to join and left before anyone could offer her a place in the guild (and she also left a charred and smoking Lyon too.)

"Yeah!" continued Romeo. "The ones in the cart next to us are from Blue Pegasus....."

Before Romeo could continue, he was suddenly pushed out of the way by what appeared to be three very handsome boys.

"Why hello there ladies!!" said the boys suddenly with seductive smiles, holding their hands out to Lucy, Kuroko and Mikoto. "It is honor to meet you!!"

"Hello Eve, Hibiki, Ren..." said Lucy. "It's been a while.."

"Oh Lucy, you're as radiant as ever!" said the blonde younger looking of the boys, Eve.

"Indeed you are truly the master of beauty!" said Ren, the tan and black haired boy, kissing Lucy on the wrist. "Truly marvelous."

"Oh Lucy....your sweet scent is so exotic!!" said Hibiki, the taller reddish blonde of the three.

Mikoto stared at the boys as they started complimenting Lucy on everything from her hair to the shape of her chin. "Uhhhh....okaaaayy?"

"They're always like this." said Lucy. "Just go with it."

"AHHHH!!! said the boys suddenly looking at Mikoto and Kuroko. "And who are these fine beauties!?"

"Well....." said Mikoto. "I'm Mikoto Misaka...and this is Kuroko Shirai...."

"We have heard so much about you!!" said the men suddenly gathering around Mikoto.

"If you don't mind, your beauty far exceeds the tales that have been told about you oh beautifull Railgun!" said Eve bowing to Mikoto like a waiter. "Please, allow me to rub your shoulders!"

"No, allow me to get you a hot towel!" said Ren.

"All I need from you is to keep letting me look into those deep and enchanting eyes...." said Hibiki giving Mikoto his best seductive look. "And I will be complete for all of eternity."

Mikoto began to go absolutely steamy red. Never had she had such handsome dreamy men talk to her like this before. "Er.....uhhh...thanks...I guess?"

"Mikoto, you look really red!" said Elli worriedly. "Are you okay!? Do you have a fever!!"

"Uhhh...er.....I don't know..." Said Mikoto going redder and redder as the men continued to compliment her. (oh you are so beautiful), ( your face paints a thousand wonderful words), (just one date is all I ask).

"So.....how long do you plan on keeping all the women to yourselves...MEN!" said a silky low and handsome voice.

"Eh?" said Mikoto looking to the side. There standing ever so boldly was a short stocky man with prominent cheek bones and long hair. his white shirt was partly opened to reveal somewhat of his chest, as if he believed this made him irresistable (it didn't.) If Mikoto were to describe him, she would say he was some sort of baby that tried to look handsome at some point.

"We appologize Ichiya sensei!!" said the boys parting before the man. "We did not mean to deny you the opertunity to meet such beautifull women!!"

"Women...?" said Mikoto. "I-I'm 15...."

"MEN!!" said Ichiya in his silky smooth voice. "Do not be so modest my Honey!! You are beautifull no matter what your age..."

"M-My Honey??!!!" said Mikoto feeling really creeped out now. "N-now wait just a second!!"

Before Mikoto could say anything more, Ichiya leapt forward and sniffing all over her like a enthralled dog. "My!! Such wonderful Parfum!! (means perfume in french) MEN!! I can see that you have been wearing this so as to attract a young man of sorts.....but where is he...perhaps he missed the train? MEN!!"

"EEEEEKKK!!!!" cried out Mikoto backing away on her seat from Ichiya while kicking him in the face. "D-don't sniff me like that you creep!!!!"

"Master!! Are you okay!?" cried out the three men as they surrounded Ichiya who had been kicked to the floor.

Ichiya leapt up from the floor posing as if he were a model, his nose bleeding slightly. "MEN!! Do not worry my students....I have caught more elusive females in my day!..MEN!!! Beautifull, handsome, MEN!!!"

Mikoto backed up until she was huddling at the corner of her seat, hugging Elli in her arms like a teddy bear and shivering and wondering how any girl could have stood the handsome baby man. "St-stay away!! I'm warning you!!!"

"I would listen to her." said Elli. "She's the Railgun after all!! "

But of course, Ichiya would not listen. Ichiya danced over to Mikoto, going into different poses as he came closer. "All I need is to once again smell that beautiful Parfum!!! MEN!!"

"ZZZAAAMMMM!!!!!" a massive bolt of lightning arced straight from Mikoto's bangs right into Ichiya.

"OOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" screamed Ichiya still in a strange pose as the electricity coursed through his body.

The moment the electricity stopped, Ichiya fell to the floor all charred and smoking. "S-such grace upon attacking.....men.....!!"

"SENSEI!!" shouted the other boys gathering around their boss.

"Live I say!" said Hibiki picking up Ichiya in his arms. "You must LIVE!!"

"Er...I'm pretty sure Mikoto didn't kill him...." said Lucy.

"I am fine my students....." wheezed Ichiya. "However......I think I'm in love.....with a TSUNDERE!!"

"THIS ISN"T SOME FREAKING NOVEL!!" shouted Mikoto. (Yes it is....this is soooo a freaking novel ;) ). "GO AWAY!!"

"Calm down Sissy." said Kuroko. "It's not like he asked for marriage or anything."

"Is marriage an option!?" Eve asked. "Because I think I'm in love as well!"

Eve put his hands on Kuroko's hands. "Please....go out with me!!"

Kuroko gave Eve a cold stare. "I have absolutely no interest in you."

Eve shyed back shivering. "M-my...s-so c-cold....."

"We bid you ado Railgun." said Hibiki picking up the charred Ichiya. "May we meet again!"

The Trimen of Blue Pegasus moved out as Ichiya cried out one final, "MEN!!"

Mikoto just sat there all huddled up and shivering, hugging Elli tightly. "I-I really hope I don't meet that guy again....Eeeek!!!"

"Wow, you're like Erza when it comes to Ichiya." said Lucy. "She can't stand being near him either."

"So what's her secret? How does she deal with it?"

"Just one thing...." said Lucy. "She punches his lights out."

".................that's it?"

"I didn't say she had anything efficient."

"Well there's no need to worry!" said Elli standing up on Mikoto's lap. "Because Elli the treasure hunter will always be here to protect you from weird handsome/ugly men, because I am the bravest-"

Elli tripped before she could finish her sentence and fell facedown on the floor of the compartment. Mikoto picked Elli up frantically as the pink cat began to cry.

"S-sorry.....sniffle sniffle...I'm fine.....sniffle."

"My." said Mikoto smiling. "What am I going to do with you?"

Romeo suddenly came back to the compartment, looking a little bruised from the sudden influx of the Trimen who busted in earlier. "Wh-whoa.....eh...what was I saying?"

"You said the Blue Pegasus Guild was next door." said Kuroko. "But we just met them."

"Oh yeah!" said Romeo. "But that wasn't the only guild....Lamia Scale is here too!!"

"WHAAAAAAAAATTTT!!!!!!!??????" Mikoto shouted, causing nearly everyone in the train to jump. (Except Natsu, who was still out cold).

"What's wrong Mikoto?" said Lucy. "Have you already met Lamia Scale?"

"It's not that guild I'm worried about...." said Mikoto. "It's......"

Suddenly Mikoto heard a voice that nearly made her go accidentally into Thunder Dragon mode (good thing she didn't or those wings would have ripped the train in half.)

"Hey Gray...It's been a while"

Gray, who was in the compartment right behind Mikoto looked up and grinned at a spiky white haired boy who was about the same build as him. "Hey there Lyon...how's it been?"

"You know." said Lyon shrugging. "The usual...however, I would be more worried about the games if I were you, seeing as we've got Jura competing again. Plus we've also got a new member in our guild, and I have to say, she's pretty darn strong!"

"Heh!" said Gray. "You're forgetting that we have a monster named Erza on our side. Plus this year we've also got a second monster, and her name's Mikoto Misaka!! Those two will so wipe the floor with you!!"

Oh crap!! Mikoto thought in her mind. Gray you idiot, you just told him I was here!!

"Mikoto.....Misaka...? Wait...THAT MIKOTO MISAKA!!!?"

Lyon looked around frantically till he saw Mikoto sitting in the seat one over from Gray. "IT REALLY IS YOU MY LOVE!!!!"

"My love!?" said Lucy. "Wait.....HUH!?"

"Oh jeez." said Mikoto. "Here we go again."

Lyon sped over with tears of joy in his eyes as he began to hug Mikoto like a long lost friend. "Oh my love!!! I hoped that we would meet again-"

"ZZZAAAAAAMMMM!!!!" Lyon was suddenly lying on the floor smoked and charred. "I-it's been a-a long t-time.....ugh....."

"Weird." said Lucy. "He's even more enthralled then when he used to crush on Juvia."

"Really." said Mikoto. "He's actually worse then Kuroko on a Friday."

"Well Friday is our special night...." said Kuroko smiling slyly.

"No it isn't, and don't start getting perverted on me again please." said Mikoto. "I've had enough of perverts for one day."

Suddenly Natsu woke up and held up a finger with a serious expression on his face despite the motion sickness he was experiencing. "Lucy!! I must ask you something!!!"

"Huh?" said Lucy looking a little shocked at Natsu's sudden revival.

"If one of those Blue Pegasus guys asked you on a date....would you do it?"

"Erm.....no....I kinda think they're players..."

"Good...." said Natsu falling back on to his seat and going sick again. "That's....urp.....really good."2

Mikoto just sighed. "Boys..."

Back in Academy City.....the fight between ITEM and the Raijinshuu had escalated. Bickslow and Freed had become seperated in their fight, and were now fighting one opponent each.

"Go get them my babies!!" Echoed Bickslow's voice in the alleyway, as the dolls flew at Saiai firing off green energy beams.

Saiai mereley stood there as the beams suddenly burned and dissapated 3 inches from her, her ability Offense Armor using the nitrogen in the air to create a thing shield around herself.

"Pathetic...." said Saiai walking forward liesurely. "And to think that Accelerator actually saw something in this so called Wizard's guild. Perhaps he pittied your weakness, or he really has gone soft as they say."

"Hehehehe..." said Bickslow grinning, his tongue lolling out. "Don't underestimate my babies....don't you see what's happening?"

"What?"

"Baryon Formation!!!"

Suddenly the ground under Saiai erupted as a blast of magic energy propelled her into the air, causing her to fall on a car nearby. Fortunately for her, she was able to use her Offense Armor to cushion her fall. However, the bottom of her shoes were burned. Saiai kicked them off groaning as her feet hurt from the blow.

Bickslow's dolls came out of the hole in the ground giving off echoing giggles as the souls within them were jolly at their success to land a blow.

"You.....you left some of your dolls in the sewer!?" said Saiai.

"Hehehehe!! You bet!" said Bickslow. "You see, before we went on this mission, we did a little studying up you ITEM folks.....your Nitrogen Shield surrounds wherever there is empty space...which means the bottom of your feet are excluded."

"Hmpf." said Saiai getting down from the car. "You won't get far just by trying to melt my feet off..."

Saiai put a hand in her pocket and brought out a bunch of large bullet-like objects. Saiai threw the Handheld Anti-tank missles into the air, where they instantly ignited and flew at Bickslow.

"X Foromation!!" shouted Bickslow crossing his arms into an X shape.

The dolls instantly formed together into an X shape and blocked the incoming missles, exploding on impact.

"So much for your dolls." said Saiai putting a hand on the car behind her. "Now how will you deal with this super attack!" (Saiai likes to say super a lot. In the anime however, it's translated to ultra for some reason.)

The car flew forward, pushed by Saiai's condensed nitrogen and gained on Bickslow. But Bickslow, displaying his acrobatic skills jumped out of the way and used his feet to hang upside down from some telephone wires above. "Ha! Missed!!"

But Saiai wasn't done, she touched her hands against several more cars which flew at Bickslow like bullets. Suddenly a massive barrage of green beams burst through the ground and blew up the cars.

"Wh-what!?" said Saiai. "What the super heck was that!?"

"Just how many dolls do you think I have!?" said Bickslow. "Come forth my babies!!!"

Hundreds of stuffed animals and toys burst through the holes in the ground and began flying all over the place.

"Those are all toys from the toy store down 3 blocks from here!!" Shouted Saiai. "Super weird!!"

"Ever since I heard about Hydra Head, I have been hard at work collecting more wandering souls for my dolls." said Bickslow. "Now I've ammassed enough souls to create an entire army of dolls!!!!"1

"If I understand it right.." said Bickslow. "Your nitrogen shield can't stand a blow if it's hard enough.....you're nothing like Accelerator...soooooo.......let's see how you like this attack!!!"

All the dolls began to form themselves into multiple circles that began to rotate really fast as they charged up magic energy.

"Now let's see how much you'll enjoy being the first to experience my MULTI BARYON FORMATION!!!!" Shouted Bickslow. "LETS DO THIS MY BABIES!!!!"

"Do this, do this." Echoed all the dolls as they blasted forth multiple extremely powerful magic blasts that burned against Saiai's Offense Armor as she tried to keep her footing.

Suddenly the air around Saiai burned as the beams powered through her nitrogen and blasted into her.

When the smoke cleared Saiai lay unconscious in a huge smoking crater.

"Hmmmmm....." said Bickslow jumping back down to the ground. "That was a little harder then I thought....awe well....I guess I had better go check on Freed."

Bickslow walked off into the alleyway.

Meanwhile, Saiai woke up a little within the large crater moaning. "Owwwwww...that was SUPER not fun..."1

Welcome To The Grand Magic Games...The Other Dragon Born.

"Its so big!!!"2

Fairy Tail had finally arrived in the massive city of Crocus. Mikoto had to admit, this city actually rivaled Academy City in largness and grandeur.....though the buildings were nowhere near as large and tall as the ones in Academy City. The only super large building Mikoto could see was the beautifull main palace that stood in the center of the capital. The golden colored castle seemed to beckon Mikoto on a sight seeing journey...

"I have to get in there..." said Mikoto. "That place needs to be seriously photographed."

"We can go look later." said Erza who was walking down the crowded street with Mikoto. "We have to find the hotel lodgings that were set up for us. That way their won't be much of problem when we have to get back by midnight."

"Hyyaaaaahhhh" said Elli yawning as she sat atop Mikoto's head. "I can't believe that journey took over two days....."

"Once we find the hotel we'll be able to rest a bit before the games start at midnight, I honestly don't remember where the hotel was last year so we'll have to stick together." said Gray looking at a map. "And speaking of finding our lodgings, where are Natsu and Happy?"

Mikoto looked around, but the only ones of their supposed 5 person team that were currently here were her, Gray, and Erza, and Wendy who was on the team as a reserve member until Laxus arrived. The other Fairy Tail members had gone to find a separate hotel since the games required only the competing guild members stay in the required lodgings.

Mikoto scanned the large crowds of people until she saw the familiar pink haired mage and blue cat at a one of the stands that were out in celebration of the games.

"Hey! Isn't that them over there?"

"What are they doing?" said Erza. "We need to find the hotel."

"AGAIN AGAIN!!" shouted Natsu who seemed to be enthralled by something a strange man was doing at the stand.

"Aye!!" said Happy. "That's amazing!!"

"What are you guys going on about now?" asked Mikoto as she and the rest of the group approached the stand.

At the stand was a thin man in a dark cloak. He wore a faceless mask with two simple eyeholes.

"Are you sure you wan't me to perform that spectacular wonder again!?" said the man in a jubiant voice.

"You bet!!" said Natsu. "Hey guys! Watch what this guy can do...."

The man's masked head suddenly detached from his neck and began twirling around in mid air.

Natsu and Happy began clapping. Mikoto however, looked suspicious.

Hold on a sec.... Mikoto thought. Where have I seen that whole head trick before?

"Now watch my head closely...." said the strange man as the head began to spin faster and faster.

"Eh?" said Natsu. "But usually your head goes back on your neck by now....."

"Oh..." said the man. "It's just a new trick I came up with......see?"

Suddenly the head exploded in a massive smoke cloud of confetti and streamers. When the smoke cleared, Night Reveler was standing where the cloaked man was before. "HELLO!!! How's it going all you chime changas?!"

Immediately the entire group leapt back and readied themselves. Erza drew her sword and pointed at Night Reveler. "YOU!! What are you doing here!?"

"That is an interesting question!!!" said Night Reveler. "Well if you want a philisophical response, I have quite the 9 hour speech!! But if you want the straight up boring answer...then here you go!!!"

Night Reveler did a twirling spin and jumped onto the roof of the house behind him. "You should probably know....there is a spy in the games that are about to happen!! A spy from our wonderous guild Hydra Head....As for why we're here...you'll have to figure that out yourself!!! SEINARRA!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!" Night Reveler dissapeared in his trademark smoke and confetti, his laugh still echoing a bit from where he dissapeared.

"This is not good." said Gray. "Months of not causing any trouble and now Hydra Head shows up again? What's their game?"

"Who want's to bet that it involves killing me?" said Mikoto.

"Mikoto!" said Elli. "Don't say that! Why would anyone want to kill someone as nice as you?"

"Well.....there's Meltdowner who's just bitter because I'm ranked higher then her......there's the dorm supervisor, heaven knows why she's always so uptight....and Black Whisper wants to kill me because I thwarted his attempts to turn into a level 6, and then I defeated him in a fight for the second time in a row, then he hates me because I.....well....he has a lot of reasons..."

"In any case," said Erza. "It's probably best that I go tell the Master. You guys go and find our lodgings for now, I'll catch up."

"ALRIGHT!!" shouted Natsu. "LETS DO THIS THING!!!"

Natsu grabbed both Mikoto and Wendy by the wrists and sped off enthusiastically with Gray in hot pursuit while Elli, Charle and Happy flew after them.

After about 6 hours of searching, and a quick lunch, and Gray and Natsu arguing before Mikoto broke them apart with a thunderbolt, The group finally managed to find the hotel they were staying in.

Natsu burst into the door of their room with a grin on his face, throwing his bags onto the first bed he could find and jumping on the bed. "FINALLY!! Just like we remembered it, eh Happy!?"

"Aye Sir!!" shouted Happy lying right next Natsu and then starting to snooze as a sleep bubble formed under his nose.

Mikoto, Wendy and Gray walked in. Mikoto picked a bed and began taking out a camera from her Gekota dufflebag as Elli cheerfully curled up on the pillow.

"Well I don't know about you guys." said Mikoto. "But I'm going to sight seeing, anyone wanna come with?"

"ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ"

Gray, Natsu, Wendy, Charle and Happy were all curled up and asleep on the beds.

"Well it was a long ride." said Elli. "Can I come with you?"

"Of course!" said Mikoto. "I guess since they've been here last year it's not as new and exciting to them...."

"They still don't know what they're missing!!" said Elli cheerfully puffing up her chest. "Come on! If we search long enough we might find treasure!!"

Elli made to walk to the door, but forgetting she was still on the bed, she fell straight off and facedown onto the floor.

Mikoto picked Elli up as she began to sob.

"Yeesh, watch where you're going okay?"

"Y-yeah..." said Elli wiping away her tears. "L-let's go get some adventure!!"

And so they went sight seeing. And Mikoto had to say, it was unlike any other tourist destination she had ever been to. Mikoto and Elli visited everywhere they could reach. At times they would run into some of the other magic guilds. Mikoto even got to meet Iron Rock Jura of Lamia Scale, who she remembered had visited the Fairy Tail Guild hall numerous times before. Mikoto bought Elli some cotton candy at a stand, and apparently the candy had the magic effect of changing colors for 20 minutes, which resulted in Elli sporting green polka dots for a little bit of time.(Mikoto didn't have any due to the fact that her esper abilities only allow her to use her Thunder Dragon magic.)

About several hours later, when it was starting to get dark and the moon was rising in the sky, Mikoto walked out of the palace gardens with Elli sitting on her head. Mikoto had a bunch of shopping bags full of souveniers, clothing, and one large stuffed animal that looked so much like Gekota that Mikoto had to buy it. Elli was wearing a white wide brimmed hat adorned with pink flowers that Mikoto had found in a shop nearby.

"Now that...was fun." said Mikoto.

"Yeah!" said Elli. "I didn't know the gardens were so big!"

"Hey....." said Mikoto suddenly noticing a super large crowd nearby. "What are they gathered around for....some kind of event?"

"Let's check it out!" said Elli, her eyes sparkling. "Maybe it's a new kind of cotton candy that turns your eye color green!"

"Elli, your eyes are green."

"Really? I never really looked before!"

Mikoto walked to the crowd and pushed through the people, trying to get a better view. "Scuse me, sorry, pardon me.....just need a better look..."

Mikoto finally got through the crowd and found that they were all surrounding what appeared to be a black haired girl about 2 years older then herself.

The girl's hair was long black and lusterous, as if she cared for it quite often. She wore graceful form fitting sleeveless shirt and black pants with combat boots. The girl had a cold looking expression, as if she could care less about the attention she was recieving. On her arm she had a tattoo of what appeared to be sharp toothed jaws with evil looking eyes hovering above them....a guild insignia.

"It's her!" said one of the onlookers. "It's really her, the Dragon Slayer from the guild Fright Face, Nicole Mavros!"

"I wonder if she'll sign my bag!" squealed a random girl.

"I hear that she was able to defeat Sting from Sabretooth in only one move." said another onlooker. "And that she once scared away the former master of Phantom Lord..."

Mikoto stared at Nicole Mavris. "So that's what they're so enthralled about...guess she's a pretty famous mage."

"You haven't heard of her?" said Elli. "I've seen Nicole Mavris in alot of Sorcerer Weekly Magazines. Some of her pictures are right after some of the interviews they had with you."

"So what's her Dragon Slayer element?"

"Everyone says that she uses what's called Ghost Dragon Slayer magic."

"Ghosts?!" said Mikoto a little taken aback. "Then what does she eat? She can't really eat souls or something can she?"

Elli shrugged. "I don't know...but one thing's for sure, she's supposed to be one of the strongest mages in Fright Face."

Suddenly Nicole seemed to notice Mikoto standing there. "You.......You're her...."

The rest of the crowd noticed Mikoto too. Suddenly there was a bunch of excited exclamations as the crowd backed away and surrounded both Mikoto and Nicole.

"It's her! It's the Railgun!!"

"I heard she single handidly took on Hades of Grimoire Heart!"

"Do you think she'll sign my back pack!!?"

Mikoto's cheeks went slightly red from the sudden attention. It wasn't as if she wasn't used to it, she usually had to represent Tokwadai Middle School for a lot of events considering she was one of the only Level 5s in the school.....but in this world, she had never realized how much of a reputation she had earned.

Nicole walked over to Mikoto and looked her over, as if trying to analyze what kind of person Mikoto was through her build. "Hmmmm....yes.....you are strong......as expected of one from your lineage..."

"Er.....okay?" said Mikoto. "Umm...you're Nicole right? It's nice to meet you....I'm-"

"I know who you are Mikoto Misaka, daughter of Thundaarix.." said Nicole. "Question is...do you know more of your own kind other then Black Whisper?"

"Y-you're....?" Mikoto felt shocked down to her core. "Y-you're a Dragon Born?"

"My mother was Phasmaticana...." said Nicole. "She and my human mother and father died........and soon...you shall experience same fate....."

Mikoto backed away her bangs sparking slightly. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"It means...." said Nicole her pitch black eyes darkening. "That I see you as my rival.....and I kill all my rivals...."

The mood of the crowd seemed to get tense as they heard the words spoken by Nicole Mavros.

"D-did she just threaten to kill Railgun?"

"This'll make the games interesting that's for sure...."

Suddenly a small purple cat burst through the legs of the crowd. He was wearing black pants and had the same Fright Face guild emblem on a large black eyepatch he wore over his right eye. His teeth seemed sharper then normal exceeds and his pupil was red.

"Hey! Nicole!! What are you standing around for!?" exclaimed the cat. "It's 10:40 already, we gotta get back to the hotel before midnight!"

"I won't be long Maverick." said Nicole looking at the Exceed.

Nicole turned back to look at Mikoto. "I have not forgotten the day that Thundaarix betrayed my mother Phasmaticana. If I cannot take her life.....then I feel the life of her daughter will suit me just fine...you best watch the shadows Railgun.....for my spirits never cease watching..."3

Nicole walked away with the exceed Maverick at her heels. As she walked away, the shadows seemed to pull towards her and form gruesome faces, as if she held ghosts within her.

"Th-that wasn't pleasent." said Elli hugging Mikoto's head with a scared expression.

"It's alright..." said Mikoto staring after the other Dragon Born. "It wouldn't be the first time someone's threatened to kill me..."

But deep in her heart, Mikoto couldn't help but feel a slight chill.....as if she was starting to fear the shadows herself.

"Come on...." said Mikoto. "Let's get back to the hotel....."

That night, at around 10 minutes to 12, Mikoto sat on her bed in a bathrobe next to Elli, silently thinking to herself as Erza paced around the room in her own bathrobe. Natsu, Gray, and Happy were still asleep while Wendy stood out on the balcony with Charle at her side.

"You should probably change while you can." said Erza. "The competition starts the moment the clock strikes 12."

Mikoto remained silent.

"Are you okay?" asked Erza sitting down next to Mikoto. "You seem out of it."

"Oh.....uh....it's nothing." said Mikoto. "Ermm...Erza? You wouldn't happen to have some advice on this conundrum I'm having would you?"

"That depends on the question." said Erza smiling. "But whatever it is, I'll try and answer it best I can."

"Well....what would you do if you just met someone for a total of 5 minutes.....?" said Mikoto. "And they told you that someone you were related to did something terrible you didn't know about...and they wanted to kill you for it?"

"My, that is quite a problem." said Erza. "And I take it that you met somebody like this during your little sight seeing trip today?"

"Yeah...it was some girl named...erm...I think it was Nicole? She was from that guild called Fright Face...."

"Figures." said Erza. "Fright Face doesn't usually enter any sort of competive event, you might say they're the most elusive out of all the official guilds. But one thing I have heard is that they take their grudges seriously.....though, I wouldn't worry much on it if I were you....Fright Face can't pull off anything like murder while the games are going on, it's when Crocus is at it's highest security..."

"Yeah!' said Natsu suddenly waking up. "And if those idiots decide to mess with ya, I'll smash em myself!!"

"Yep!!" said Elli. "And then that Nicole will have to deal with me!!"

Mikoto grinned. "Alright, you've convinced me...thank you."

Suddenly Wendy burst into the room from the balcony. "Everybody come out quick!! I think it's starting!!"

Everyone hurried outside to the balcony to see what appeared to be a ginormous holographic image of a cartoonish pumpkin headed figure with a black cape.

"GREETINGS!! KABO!!" shouted the pumpkin man. "In about 5 minutes, we shall begin the Grand Magic Games!!!! This year, we have a whole new assortment of events that I am sure will challenge both you and your magic!! KABO!! But first, Allow me to introduce the first event which will begin in several minutes!!"

The holographic figue waved his hand and immediately, what appeared to be different colored flying vehicles flew over to the balconies of the hotels and docked next to them. Each cart looked like a cross between a car and a roller coaster cart, with absolutely no wheels, each of them looking like they were designed to seat 5. The one that docked next to Fairy Tail's balcony was a red one, on it's door side was a white colored Fairy Tail insignia.

"This event is called The Amazing Death Race!!!! Kabo!!" said the pumpkin man. "As you can see here in the sky, there is a track made of a line up of lanterns, you will race for around 20 miles and then make a round trip back to the city....The first eight guilds to reach the finish line will move on to the next round. Any guilds that wreck along the way or deviate from the track, will immediately be disqualified....and finally, the most important rule...THERE ARE NO RULES!!!! KABO!!! Now get yourselves ready racers, because in 3 minutes....THE GAMES SHALL BEGIN AGAIN!! KABO!!"

"Prepare yourselves." said Erza. "Cause we're about to face some fierce competition."

"Alright!" shouted Natsu. "I'm all fired up!!"

Mikoto however, stared into the sky thinking about Nicole's last words to her.

"You best watch the shadows Railgun.....For my spirits never cease watching..."

3 meters away from Mikoto, a shadow shifted in the ground and morphed into a hideous face.....a face that expressed a look of murderous intent.....