Second Event: Minotaur's Maze....Lamia Scale's Secret.
The next morning was definitely an eventful one. Mikoto had awoken to find Ichiya in her bed sniffing at her hair, which of course resulted in her going on a massive electric rampage until Ichiya was blasted right out the balcony screaming, "MEEEEENNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!"3
Then when Mikoto went to freshen up in the bathroom, she found Lyon who somehow snuck in, which resulted in another long and massive rampage. After that Mikoto was ambushed by Kuroko who had been hiding in her closet, which of course, resulted in Mikoto putting her in a headlock for about 5 minutes then zapping her.2
"I am sooooo bushed." moaned Mikoto when they finally made it to the stadium.1
"But the day has barely even started." said Elli who was sitting on Mikoto's head.
"Yeah...." moaned Mikoto. "But after being ambushed by 3 perverts within 30 minutes....I think I have a headache."
"Awe come on Mikoto!!" said Natsu cheerfully. "If we're going to kick all those other guild's butts we gotta be in tip top shape!!!"
"Meh....." said Mikoto. "I'm just not feeling-"
Before Mikoto could finish her sentence however, she saw Nicole Mavros on the other end of the stadium. Nicole looked straight in Mikoto's eyes with an expression that plainly said "You're dead meat."
"Oh...it's ON!!!" said Mikoto perking right up with an angry light in her eyes. "I'm gonna kick her so hard she'll have to sit on her own head!!"2
"Well that attitude changed quickly." said Gray.
"And welcome to the second day of the Grand Magic Games!!!" shouted the Announcer. "I'm back here with Jason and today we also have a surprise guest announcing with us. Say hello to Yajima from the famous 8-island restaurant all the way in Hargeon Town!!"
Yajima was a short bald old man with bushy eyebrows. He nodded slightly at the Announcer. "I have to say, I'm most interested to see how the competition turns out this year. And I can see we've already had quite the eventful first day."
"COOOL COOOOOOOOOOLLLLL!!!!!!!" shouted Jason enthusiastically as usual. "Everything is just so COOOOLLLL!!!!!"
Back at the the other end of the stadium, Nicole Mavros watched Mikoto Misaka hatefully. "She's going to pay.....I swear it....."
Next to Nicole, the small gremlin-like creature Stiffytoes cackled. "KEHkehkehkehkeh!!! That girl is soo going to get pounded when she has to fight you!! KEhkehkehkehkehkehkeh!!!!"
"Now, now Stiffy." said Khufanos Viper. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves...that Railgun is pretty strong too....in fact I'd say it might be an even match."
Nicole's eyes flashed at Khufanos angrily. "She's weak!! Do not dare overestimate her Khufanos!! I will crush her!!"
"Hmmm..." said Stiffytoes. "You must really be riled up Nicole!! You're usually the stoic in our little group, KEHkehkehkehkehkeh!!"
The two floating coffins behind Nicole giggled sinisterly.
"I say this might be an interesting fight to contemplate." said Coffin Twin #1 in a small echoing voice.
"Teeheeheehee...I wanna fight her." said Coffin Twin #2. "I wanna see what dragon blood tastes like...."
"Sis.....you shouldn't be such a glutton." said Coffin Twin #1. "You've already had several gallons this morning."
"But ordinary human blood tastes so bland...."
"Enough!" a woman came out of the shadows. She was tall and wore a dark black dress with greenish eye designs all over it. her hair was dark and wild with red highlights. This was Madam Darkness, Guild Master of Fright Face.
"What have I told you about speaking of our.....other businesses.....in public." Said Darkness sternly.
"Sorry Master..." said The Coffin Twins. "We're just sooo hungry..."1
"In any case." said Madam Darkness. "We need not worry about the Railgun girl too much....she lacks the initiative to do what must be done.....isn't that right dear Nicole?"
"I'll take her head...." said Nicole. "Thundaarix shall weep over her remains when I'm done..."
"Kabo!! Welcome back everyone!!" shouted Mato at the center of the stadium. "I shall now announce the next event!! The name of this event is called Minotaur's Maze!!"
"Minitaur's maze?" said Mikoto. "I'm not good with mazes....Anyone else wanna take this one?"
"Hmmmm...." said Gray. "I think I'll do this one. If we send Ol' Flame breath we might have to clean up what's left of this maze with a broom and a miniature duster."
And so the contestants that were competing for the next event were as follows.
Gray Fullbuster of Fairy Tail.
Stiffytoes of Fright Face.
Rocker of Quatro Cerberus.
Risley Law of Mermaid Heel.
Orga Nanagear of Sabertooth.
Ichiya Kotobuki of Blue Pegasus.
The strange hooded girl from Lamia Scale who was apparently named Nelly Blue.
And finally there was another strange hooded girl from Cross Arcana (Necessarius.) who apparently was entered as the name Rin.....3
"Good, it seems everyone has gathered, Kabo!" said Mato enthusiastically. "Now we can get started!!"
Mato raised his hands, Immediately the ground began to tremble with intense power. A ginormous spire shot out of the ground and an ancient door opened on the large obelisk. Above the spire, several large holographic screens appeared, showing what looked like a series of underground passages.
"In this event, you will be teleported straight into a maze over 1000 feet beneath this stadium!!" said Mato. "In the center of the maze is a large ruby which will instantly instantly teleport to the outside."
"Sounds simple enough." said Orga. "Looks like it's just a race..."
"Kabo!! Maybe, but there's a twist!" said Mato. "See that thing over there!?" Mato pointed at one of the Lacrima screens which showed a hulking form lumbering through the halls. The muscular humanoid had a bull's head with glowing red eyes and a mouth with rows of shark-like teeth. The monster gave a massive roar and smashed a hole in a wall of the passageway with his fist.
"Of course." said Rin quietly. "It's called the Minotaur's Maze after all...."
"That's right! Kabo!" said Mato. "Now here's the tricky part, you see the ruby at the center of the maze does not actually appear until somebody defeats the minotaur."
"I can see how that would be a tricky situation." said Gray. "For all we know, if someone kills the Minotaur, then another contestant could be just waiting in the center of the maze to get an easy win."
"Glad you see it that way!" said Mato. "But now isn't the time to discuss major strategy.....LETS DO THIS!! KABO!!! Now if everyone would just step in the spire...."
Gray stepped into the strange obelisk, followed by the other mages. Rin seemed to stick particularly close to Gray....So Gray decided to take a chance.
"Hey..." he whispered to Rin. "You're a member of Necessarius right?"
Rin didn't respond.
"Listen....why are you guys here?" whispered Gray. "I-"
"Shh...." Rin put a finger to her lips and peered up at Gray from beneath her hood. "I'll tell you later.....though I'm not really from Necessarius...Call it...a temporary alliance...."
Suddenly the entire interior of the obelisk glowed with a blinding blue light. The next thing Gray knew he was standing in a long dark hallway. It was extremely chilly. Strange magic ruins adorned the walls of the place, which reminded Gray of Dravis's domain back under the Black Flood Marshes to the south.
"Looks like I'm alone." said Gray looking around. "Guess the others were all transported to random areas of the maze."
"Almost everyone...." Rin walked out from the shadows behind Gray. "I used my magic to bend the rules slightly.....now I am completely invisible to all the Lacrima for now.....as are you."
Gray grinned. "Guess you church types are finally gonna let us in on what your big game is.....Rin wasn't it?"
"Rin was just a cover name..." said 'Rin'. "Allow me to formally introduce myself."
The twelve year old girl removed her robes in a flash. The girl had short blonde hair, and wore a white dress with black stockings. "I am called Leivinia Birdway....and if you must know why Necessarius is here.....we must first find that darling little mage from Lamia Scale."1
"Wait..." said Gray. "I think Mikoto told me about you once...You had something to do with that GREMLIN incident that happened in her world."
"Please..." said Birdway. "My role in it was quite minimal in my opinion.....in the end Touma Kamijou proved himself to be the major chess piece..."
"So why do we need to find that Nelly Blue girl anyways?" asked Gray. "And how long do you plan for us to remain invisible to the others outside? Won't they be thrown into a panic?"
"Don't be ridiculous." said Birdway breezily. "A malfunctioning Lacrima is hardly a rare thing. I must applaud Mark Space...he did quite a good job sabotaging the observational magic without anyone noticing...."
Birdway began to walk down the dark passageway with Gray following close behind.
"What about the games?" said Gray. "Aren't you going to try to win?"
"I could care less about this petty competition." said Birdway. "My goal lies much nearer."
Birdway took out what appeared to be a playing card. "Now....let's find her shall we?"
The card flitted out of Birdway's hand and flew through the passageway. "Ahh.....there she is...."
Leivinia turned to the left down another passageway. "If my magic is correct.....then my Tarot card will have attatched itself to our target. Well ice mage, are you up for this? Because you are about to experience the darkness of Academy City, in the center of Fiore....."
"Leivinia....just who are you exactly?" said Gray.
Leivinia just gave Gray a devious smile. "Ask Touma Kamijou that question....I'm sure he will give you a most interesting answer."
Suddenly a black lightning bolt with yellowish edges blasted the ground near Birdway and Gray, barely missing them. Approaching out of the shadows was none other then Orga Nanagear, Sabertooth's resident Thunder God Slayer.
"I'm afraid that's as far as you go.." said Orga. "You see, I figured that if I take out all the competition first, there won't be anybody waiting at the center when I kill that minotaur."
Gray crouched getting ready for a fight. "You're on Buzz Brain!!!"
Birdway on the other hand just sighed. "I don't have time to play with such a childish man. But if you insist on fighting....." Birdway took a wooden wand from within her sleeve. "Then I guess I'll play along for now..."
Birdway waved her wand and a massive wall of flame razed through the hallway at Orga. Orga smiled and thrust his hand outwards, creating a massive sphere of blackish yellowish lightning that blasted apart the wall of flame. When the flames cleared, Leivinia Birdway had dissapeared and Gray Fullbuster had used the distraction to run right up to Orga. "Ice Make: Knuckle!!"
A massive sheet of ice formed under Orga's feet and a ginormous fist made of ice shot out of the ground and smacked Orga straight into the cieling, cracking the earth around him.
"That's the spirit!" said Orga blasting appart the ice fist with his lightning and landing on the ground, burning with energy. "That's the kind of fight I expect from Fairy Tail!! Although....that girl who was with you seems to have run off."
"Run off?" said Birdway's voice with a chuckle. "How rude.....I merely assesed the best move for this situation....."
Birdway suddenly appeared right behind Orga. Orga's eyes widened with surprise. "What!? How did you-?"
"Surprised are we?" said Birdway amused. Birdway waved her wand which suddenly morphed into a sword. Birdway swung the sword which emitted a powerful tremendous slicing wind.
Orga jumped back grunting in pain as a large deep cut sliced across his torso and caused blood to splatter out.
"Yeesh!!" said Gray his eyes wide. "Brutal!"
Orga recovered his stance quickly and pointed a fist at Birdway. "Charged Particle Cannon of The Thunder God!!!!"
A massive blast of black lighting engulfed Orga's forarm and blasted towards Birdway. Birdway smiled and using her small size to her advantage, somehow managed to dodge Orga's attack by jumping off the wall of the narrow hall. Birdway morphed her sword into a strange looking teacup and a large disk of water formed in front of her and began shooting a multitude of liquid daggers into Orga who blocked with another powerful sphere of black lightning.
Leivinia changed her tea cup back into a sword and jabbed towards Orga while chanting. "The color is yellow, the shape is a dagger. With action of defense and the symbol of flow and change, one of the five great internal symbols of my temple shall be contained within my hand!!"
Immediately the lightning sphere was compressed into the blade of Birdway's sword. Orga stepped back gritting his teeth. "What kind of magic are you using!?"
Orga pointed his finger at Birdway again, but Birdway swung her sword and the lightning once again compressed itself into Birdway's blade.
"Are you quite done yet...?" said Birdway with a bored voice. "Because just so you know....no one can actually see this fight right now...you don't need to further entertain any spectators...."
Orga engulfed his fists in black lightning and grinned. "Are you kidding?! I've finally found myself a strong opponent!! This'll be some great fun for me-..."
Before Orga could finish his sentence however, Birdway moved in quickly and pressed what Gray recognized as one of Stiyl Magnus's ruins slips against Orga's forehead. Orga immediately fell over and began to snore heavilly.
"There..." said Birdway. "That should keep that powerhouse out of our hair for a while.....hopefully we won't be meeting any more distractions."
Gray just watched Birdway with his jaw open for a second. "Man...you remind me a bit of Accelerator."
"Accelerator....it's been quite a while since I've spoken with him.." said Birdway. "I'm afraid he doesn't like me all that much..."
"I wonder why." mumbled Gray.
"Come along now Ice Mage...our target is close...and next time a lady is in your presence, please deign to keep your clothes on..."
Gray looked at himself to fine that he was once more in nothing but his boxers. "AWE MAN!! NOT AGAIN!!!"1
Gray hurried after Birdway who seemed to be chuckling at Gray's predicament with his clothes.
"And here we are.." said Birdway putting her foot out in front of the entrance to another passageway. Immediately the little hooded girl from Lamia Scale tripped over Birdway's foot and fell face down into the passageway. The hood and robe fell off to reveal a girl of around 14 years in age, she wore a neat blue dress with a white bow ribbon tied to her back and she had long light blue hair tied into a pony tail, her black guild mark was right above her left ankle. The girl looked up at Birdway and Gray with a little bit of fear in her eyes.
"Gray Fullbuster." said Birdway. "Allow me to introduce you to Nelliel Cerulean...level 4 Hydrokinisist.....and the first artificially created Dragon Born..."
Project: Waterfront
"An artificial Dragon Born!?" Gray looked shocked out of his mind. "What are you talking a about!?"
"It's all rather simple really." Said Birdway. "I take it Misaka has already told you of Project Radio Noise?"
"Bits and pieces." Said Gray. "We all know about the Sisters now though...are you telling me she's a...?"
"No." Said Birdway shaking her head. "She isn't a complete clone. In reality, her DNA was completely artificially created while the Personal Reality within her was configured so that she would become a Hydrokinisist, thanks to the dragon DNA they fused to her blood at a quantum level. The only part of her that's a clone of anything is a smidgen of Misaka's DNA that was used to help stabilize the fusion between dragon and human."
Nelliel Cerulean got to her feet and backed up to the wall of the passage way. "Wh-who are you people!? Wh-what do you want!?"
"Calm down....." Said Gray putting his hands up cautiously. "I'm not here to hurt you." Gray looked at Birdway.
"Oh please." Said Birdway. "I see no benefit in harming her...I was merely sent to secure her."
"S-secure me?" Said Nelliel. "B-but.....I don't want to go back to that's world!! Those t-terrible people.....they want..."
"If you are speaking of your creators." Said Birdway. "Then rest assured, they won't find you where we're going. No one will...."
"Wait...." Said Gray. "Don't tell me you're just going to take her now!!?"
"Why not?" Said Birdway. "Thanks to Mark Space's sabotage of the Lacrimas it'll be quite easy to transport her away from here during the event..."
"But you can't just kidnap her and leave!!" Exclaimed Gray. "She's part of a guild now, she has friends she cares about!!"
"Acceptable losses." said Birdway emotionlessly. "Pluss their is always a chance that the people she cares about will betray her."
"Lamia Scale isn't like that." said Gray angrily. "How can you be so heartless!?"
"The question is how one can be so logical without becoming heartless to an extent." said Birdway. "I'm trying to look at this from the logical sense. You see, after Mikoto reappeared from the 2 months she first spent in this world, the board of Directors thought it would make sense to have another esper/dragon slayer on their side in case the Railgun ever turned on Academy City, so Project: Waterfront was started. In all senses, she's a weapon who was designed specifically to fight and kill your friend Misaka....are you really going to risk something like that falling into the hands of the enemy?"
Gray looked at Nelliel who seemed extremely frightened by the entire conversation that was taking place. "Hey....Neliel was it? Would you really do something like this?"
"N-no!" said Nelliel shaking her head. "I-I hate killing things! And those stupid people in lab coats kept asking me to kill all sorts of people for 'training'....but I hated it!! I don't want to go back to that!!!"
"Well there you have it." said Gray. "Those weren't the words of a liar Birdway. And I doubt Lyon and the others would allow anyone to use Nelliel in such a horrific manner."
Birdway sighed. "Well it seems that you won't move out of my way with this....very well, how about we do a little wager?"
"Wager?" said Gray.
"If Fairy Tail manages to beat Cross Arcana, the temporary alliance between Necessarius and my cabal the Dawn-colored Sunlight, I will leave Nelliel alone. However, if Cross Arcana beats Fairy Tail.....then we will forcibly take Nelliel without any consent."
"Well if that's the only choice I've got..." said Gray. "Then you better be ready, cause Fairy Tail's going to beat you senseless."
"Brave sentiments." said Birdway. "But I would be more worried about that fist over their if I were you."
"Fist?" said Gray.
Suddenly a massive furry fist slammed into Gray and caused him to soar across the passageway until he hit a wall on the other end, cracking earth on his back. The Minotaur roared menacingly as Nelliel squealed in terror.
Birdway left along another passageway chuckling to herself. "Good bye Ice Mage...and good luck....by the way, in case you would like your friends to see what's going on....I just deactivated the glitch on the visual Lacrima's...be sure to wave hello to your fans.
"Dang it Birdway!!" growled Gray getting up to face the huge beast as it lumbered towards him.
All of a sudden, several massive spheres of water spiraled out of thin air and collided with the Minotaur, causing to it to step back confused.
Gray, thinking of Juvia, looked around. "What!? Where did that come from!?"
"I-it's my esper ability." stuttered Nelliel who had her hands out. "I-I can condense and control the water in the air....it just so happens that the moisture in these caves are pretty sparse.....but I can still form enough water to fight..."1
"Can't you activate your Dragon Slayer powers!?" Gray asked.
Nelliel shook her head. "I-I'm still having difficulty with that...it drains my energy too quickly..."
"That's right..." said Gray. "Dragon Borns are drained more easily when using their powers....Mikoto had the same problem."
The Minotaur roared once again and began lumbering towards Nelliel with it's fists raised.
"Oh no you don't!!!" shouted Gray. "Ice Make: Cold Excalibur!!"
A massive sword of ice formed in Gray's hand and he ran at the Minotaur slicing around quickly and viciously at the Minotaur, cutting a gash in the monster's hide that began bleeding purplish glowing energy.
"I'm not done yet!!" shouted Gray. "Ice Make: Freeze Lancer!!!"
Massive spears of ice shot out of Gray's hands and smashed into the Minotaur, causing it to fall to the ground, roaring with pain. Gray then jumped onto the monster. "Ice Make: Battle Axe!!!"
Gray chopped straight into the Minotaur's head with a massive axe made of ice. Immediately, the Minotaur exploded in a shower of purple and golden sparks. Gray had successfully killed the Minotaur.
"Y-you did it!!" said Nelliel amazed. "You actually did it!"
"Yeah..." said Gray panting. "Which means that the Ruby at the center of the maze is open now...and Birdway's probably headed there right now."
"Why are you helping me....?" said Nelliel. "You heard what that girl said.....I'm an abomination of nature....."
"No you're not..." said Gray. "Just because we can't decide how we're born doesn't mean we should think ourselves worse because of it.....you were born into this world for a reason.....and it's a reason you must decide for yourself....not Academy City...not Necessarius or that Dawn-colored Sunlight. You."
Gray held his hand out to Nelliel. "Come on...anyways, I can't wait to see the look on Mikoto's face when I tell her she's got another little sister."
Nelliel paused for a moment.....then she took Gray's hand. Afterwords her cheeks blushed super red. "Ummmm...your clothes are missing."
"Yeah." said Gray. "Kind of a bad habbit of mine. Now let's get to the center of that maze."
After around twelve minutes, Gray and Nelliel had gone further and further into the center of the maze. So far, they hadn't run into any of the other contestants. Gray was actually glad about this, he didn't want any delays that might give Leivinia Birdway the win.
Meanwhile, outside the maze in the stands of Domus Flau, Team Fairy Tail watched anxiously on the Lacrima display screens that showed Gray running around with Nelliel through the maze. According to the screens, Mermaid Heel and Quatro Cerberus had already been knocked out fighting each other. After about 10 minutes more of chaos and a few collapsing passageways, the only ones still in the game were Cross Arcana, Sabertooth, Fright Face, Fairy Tail, and Lamia Scale.
"I'm getting clausterphobic just looking at this." said Mikoto dizzily. "Has nobody found the Ruby yet?"
"No..." said Erza peering up closely at the screen. "Otherwise they would have been teleported back here. by now....."
"Why do I have such a bad feeling about this.....?" said Mikoto. "Maybe it's my imagination or something....?"
"No...." said Erza. "I have a strange feeling about this whole affair myself....Say Mikoto, you said Night Reveler was keeping an eye on Sabertooth...have you had a good look at their lineup yet?"
Mikoto looked at the area in the stands next to Fairy Tail that held team Sabertooth. From what she could see, the members that were competing were Yukino Aguria, Rogue Cheney, Rufus Lore, and of course Orga Nanagear was currently participating in the event. But there was one more member that Mikoto wasn't sure on with names...not that she knew much about Sabertooth...
"Hey Erza. Whose that woman over there?"
Erza looked to where Mikoto was referring. "Hmmm.....you mean Yukino? She's no trouble, she's actually quite nice..."
"No, I don't mean her, I meant that one. the one wearing the strange hat...."
The woman in question was indeed wearing quite a strange hat. It looked like a wide brimmed fidora with a massive skull design on the the top. She wore a red and black sleevless shirt with armored pads. Her eyes were hidden by her wide brim....but Mikoto thought she could sense something.....as if those eyes were roving over everything everywhere....seeing everything....
"I think they said her name was Noiress Blackout." said Erza. "Other then that, I don't know much on her...."
"Hmmm...." said Mikoto looking at Noiress suspiciously. "Something about her....seems off."
Back in the maze. Gray and Nelliel had made it to a strange downward sloping passage.
"I think this might be it.." said Gray. "All the other passageways so far have remained level."
"I smell something...." said Nelliel murmuring. "But I can't tell what it is...It smells weird though.."
Suddenly Nelliel's eyes widened as she noticed something behind Gray. "G-Gray!! Look OUT!!"
"What!?" Gray turned around, but before he could do anything, Stiffytoes the small gremlin creature jumped onto his back and bit into his neck with his sharp teeth. Gray suddenly fell over as Stiffytoes jumped off of him cackling.
"KEHkehkehkehkehkeh!!!" Said Stiffytoes. "I can't believe you didn't notice me following you all this time!!"
"C-can't move...." said Gray. "Wh-what is this!?"
"KEHkekehkehkehkeh!!" said Stiffytoes. "My venom excretes a special magic that paralyzes your body for 12 hours!! Until then....I'm free to take a win.....but first..."
Stiffytoes lashed out with one of his claws and slashed Gray in the face.
"S-stop that!!" shouted Nelliel. "Get away from him!!"
Nelliel held her hands out and giant spears of water blasted out of thin air at Stiffytoes who dodged like the crazy gremlin he was cackling madly.
"KEHkehkehkehkeh!! What was that supposed to do!?" said Stiffytoes. "Give me excercise!?"
Stiffytoes suddenly clasped his hands together. "Fearful Art: Gremlin's Helpers!!"
Stiffytoes's body blurred and suddenly the entire hallway was filled with multiple copies of the little red gremlin.
"KEHkehkehkehkehkeh!!" all the Stiffytoes clones cackled at once. "Now you will feel a true dose of fear puny girl!!"
All the gremlins viciously leapt onto Nelliel, tearing at her skin and clothes, cackling madly.
"N-no!!" shouted Gray. "LEAVE HER ALONE!!!"
"What shall we do first!?" said one gremlin. "Gouge out her eyes? Skin her scalp? Drink her blood!? KEHkehkehkehkehkeh!!!!"
"Stop stop stop STOP STOP STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!" Nelliel screamed putting her hands over her ears. Suddenly a massive wave of water blasted outwards, forcing back over 50 stunned gremlins as the other gremlins stopped in surprise.
The water began to twist and turn until it formed itself into a massive long tail on Neliel's backside. The tail had liquid spines running down it with one large liquid spine on the tip. The powerful tail whipped around like a club and smacked down hundreds of gremlins at once.
Nelliel puffed up her cheeks. "ROAR OF THE WATER DRAGON!!!"
A massive tornado of water blasted outwards and washed away all the Stiffytoes clones in a massive destructive flood. The clones all dissapeared in flashes of black smoke until only the real Stiffytoes was left.
"Geh!?" said Stiffytoes looking a little frightened. "Kehkeh....kehkeh....KEH!?"
"SECRET ART: TAIL SMACK DOWN OF THE WATER DRAGON!!!!!!"
The large Water Dragon Tail shot out from over Nelliel's head like a giant scorpion's tail and slammed over Stiffytoes repeatedly rupturing the ground around him. The entire passageway seemed to shake with even more power then one of Orga's lightning bolts as the tail continued to slam itself against the little gremlin.
Finally, Nelliel fell to her knees panting as her tail deformed itself. Stiffytoes just lay there with his jaw open and his eyes wide in shock. "Ow...ow...ow...kehkeh....keh..."
Nelliel crawled over to Gray and began trying to carry him with his arm over her shoulder. "Ow....heavy."
"Hey...you shouldn't be moving around like that." said Gray. "Your energy must be completely drained...."
"You're the one who needs to win this thing..." said Nelliel..."besides....I think I can see the..."
But before Nelliel could finish her sentence, the two reached the end of the passageway and took in the massive ginormous red jewel that sat within the center of the large circular cavern. And standing right in front of the large ruby was Leivinia Birdway.
Birdway gave Gray a mischievous smile. "My, and here I thought you would never make it...how unusual, I suppose you ran into a delay...."
"No!" said Gray. "We're too late!!"
"Hmmm..." said Birdway "Not bad....but I'm afraid I'll have to take this win....."
"Not yet!!" shouted Nelliel gritting her teeth. "Sorry about his Gray!!"
"Eh?" said Gray. "Sorry about what!?"
Suddenly, a mass of water appeared out of thin air and spiraled around Gray, levitating him into the air. Suddenly the water spewed itself out like a high pressured hose, causing Gray shoot at the ruby yelling in shock as his face hit the ruby at just the exact moment that Birdway touched the jewel.
There was a massive flash of blinding light and the Gray found himself lying back on the surface of Domus Flau, Nelliel was standing over him. "Oh my god!! Oh my god!!!! I am soo sorry!! I'm sure those bruises will heal right up!! I hope!!" Nelliel went steamy red with embarrassment.
"INCREDIBLE!!" shouted the announcer. "It seems we have a tie folks!! Between Cross Arcana and Fairy Tail!! Which means they'll both recieve 5 points!! Amazing!!"
Leivinia Birdway walked in between all the injured guild members who were nursing their injuries till she came to the still paralyzed Gray. "Well well well. Looks like you managed to keep your winnings to a maximum....even though you had to break your face....."
Gray had only two things to say to this: "Shut up...and someone get me an ice pack...."
Second Battle Event: Stiyl Magnus vs Ichiya Kotobuki
"Wow Gray!! You look as stiff as a board!! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
Natsu was poking Gray in the face with a devious looking smile on his face while Gray began to look more and more annoyed.
After the maze event had finished, Gray had been moved into the stands with help from Mikoto and Erza on account that Stiffytoes's paralyzing venom would still be in affect for about 2 hours. And now, Natsu was taking advantage of Gray's inability to move.1
"I swear Flame Breath...." growled Gray. "When I can move again the first thing I'm going to do is to smack you down SOOOOO darn hard!!!"
"HAHAHAHAHA!!" Natsu began poking Gray in the cheek with a stick. "Watch this Happy! Sad....happy....sad....happy....sad...happy." Natsu began moving Gray's cheeks up and down to make it look like he was either smiling or frowning.
"NATSU WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!!!!!!!" Began Gray.
But before Gray could finish his sentence, a tremendous bolt of lightning blasted into both Gray and Natsu.
"Would you two just stop acting like little kids!!" growled Mikoto.
"Y-yes ma'am..." said both Gray and Natsu as their charred skin smoked like barbeque. "We'll behave...."
"Then again...." said Natsu suddenly getting back his devious smile.
Both Mikoto and Erza turned to look at Natsu with the demonic looks in their eyes. "Yes....?"
Natsu gulped. "Er....never mind."
"And now we will go to the second battle event!!" said the announcer cheerfully. "But before I go announce it, I think I will finish this delightful pudding Yajima made, which has been sitting here quite so-"
Suddenly Jason spun around in his chair again shouting "COOL COOL COOOOOOL!!" And as a result, his arm knocked the pudding straight off the podium and spilled it into the announcer's lap.1
"Ummm...nevermind." said the announcer. "Apparently my pudding has been finished for me. So the 2nd battle event will be Blue Pegasus's Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki, vs none other then Cross Arcana's own Stiyl Magnus!!!"1
"Wow!!" said Natsu jumping out of his seat and peering down into the stadium with his hand shading his eyes. "Mr. Priest guy's going to fight now!!? This'll be fun! Right Mikoto?....Mikoto?.....Hey are you alright?"
Mikoto's vision had suddenly blurred for a moment, and a black spark jumped from her bangs for just a fleeting second. "Urgh...yeah...sorry, I think the heat is getting to me."
"Here." said Elli flying down to Mikoto with Happy and Charle, all of them carrying a bag of water bottles. "This should help."
"Thanks Elli." Mikoto made to take the bottle. But all of a sudden, her hand started shooting out intense black sparks, tearing apart the bottle in her hand and spilling it on the floor.
Mikoto pulled back her hand in fright. "Wh-whoah! Th-that's never happened before....."
"Mikoto..." said Erza looking very worried. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"I-I think so....." said Mikoto looking at her hand, feeling slightly disturbed.
Down in the stadium, Stiyl Magnus looked up at the Fairy Tail end of the stands. His eyes narrowed when he spotted the situation with the water. "Hmmm...that doesn't look natural."
"Is there something wrong, Kabo?" asked Mato, who was once again acting as the referee.
"Oh, it's nothing." said Stiyl sighing into his cigar.
20 ft away from him, Ichiya did another one of his modeling poses. "Men!! I hope you know, I will not allow to take a win from me so easily. Men!!"
"You look like an outdated Ken doll." Stiyl muttered. "It kind of makes it hard to take you seriously when you keep posing like that."
"I will make you eat those words!! MEN!!! (I wonder if Erza and Mikoto are watching...men...)"
"Begin!!" shouted Mato, backing away quickly from the battlefield.
Immediately, Stiyl wasted no time in attacking. He held out his hands to his sides and chanted: "Ashes to ashes.....and dust to dust..." Stiyl's hands immediately became engulfed in intense flames.
"SQUEAMISH BLOOD ROOD!!!!!" Stiyl swiped his hands in an x-like manner, causing two massive blades of flame to whip themselves at Ichiya.
Ichiya sped out of the way, leaving a dust cloud trail. "AH-HA!! MEN!! I have already put my Fleet Foot parfum to use!! You won't catch me!!" Ichiya pointed at the two vials of perfume he had stuck up his nostrils to make his point.
"Yeesh...annoying and weird." Said Stiyl with a grin. "I'm gonna enjoy frying you, ya prissy pervert. "
Ichiya sped at Stiyl Magnus in a blur of extreme speed. "MEEEEENNNN!!!!"
Stiyl crouched low to the ground and brought out his hand. "Flames....A gift of pain for the giant."
A flaming sword blazed into existance in Stiyl's hand and he slashed outwards with it, causing a massive blast of fire to come outwards and clash straight into Ichiya head on in a wave of destruction.
Ichiya jumped back to his feet, a little candle of flame still burning on a crooked hair. "Hmm...you are quite strong..but none can defeat my ultimate Parfum of Power!! MEN!!!"
Ichiya took out a vile of perfume from his sleeve and opening it. He inhaled the scent deeply...then he began to yell with battle power as his body bulged and grew larger and larger, tearing apart his shirt until he was a massive muscle man almost as large as Gore Beastwalker.
"MEN!! I will crush you!! MEN!!!"
"Jeez." said Stiyl looking slightly shocked by this sudden change. "This world's magic is off the charts weird."
"MEEEEEENNN!!!" Ichiya charged at Stiyl with his fists raised, ready to smash the priest into the ground.
Stiyl rolled out of the way. As he rolled, he stuck one of his rune cards to Ichiya's side. When Ichiya was a considerable distance away from Stiyl, the rune card glowed and Ichiya was swallowed by a massive explosion.
"*Koff* *Koff* Men!!" Ichiya waved the smoke away with his now massive hand. "That won't save you....Men!!"
"No..." Stiyl admitted. "But this will....."
Stiyl spread out his hands, and a multitude of rune cards flew out and stuck themselves all over the stadium.
"Hmmm...what's this?" said the announcer. "Stiyl seems to have plastered some sort of paper all over the place.....Any ideas Yajima?"
"I'm afraid even I'm clueless on this one." said Yajima. "I've seen a lot of magic in my day, but this action is a new one to me."
"Men...." said Ichiya cautiously. "What is he trying to do? Men..."
Stiyl began to chant.
"One of the five great elements from which the world was constructed....The great fire of the beginning.....It is a light of blessing that creates life and a light of judgement that punishes evil...It overflows with blessings and misfortunes that destroys cold darkness...It's name is fire and it's role is the sword....Take shape and devour the energy of my body so that you may raze all of existance!!"
All of a sudden, a massive swirling flame erupted in front of Stiyl. The flame blasted upwards like an intense geyser and began to shape itself into a monstrous humanoid form. Talons formed on it's flaming hands and a fanged mouth and glowing eyes could be seen within the flames. The flames coming from it were so hot, that the ground around it began to glow molten.
Innocentius, The Witch Hunter King gave a massive flaming roar that could be heard all over Domus Flau.
"M-Men!?" said Ichiya stepping back. "Wh-what kind of spell is this!?"
"Oh...I don't suppose anyone from this world besides Fairy Tail has ever gotten a good look at Innocentius.." said Stiyl. "Don't worry though....I'm sure he'll be more then happy enough to give you a nice close-up view."
Innocentius roared again and began to raze itself over to Ichiya, bearing it's talons in a ferocious flaming fashion.
"MEN!!!" Ichiya regained his composure. "I won't let one measely fire monster defeat me!! MEN!!"
Ichiya's hulking form jumped into the air and he brought both his fists down on Innocentius. "SMILING SMASH!!!!!!!!" The fists smashed through Innocentius, tearing the fire monster in half.
Ichiya leapt back howling in pain. "IT BURNS!!!! IT BURNS!!!! MEN!!!"
The flames gave a massive swirl and Innocentius instantly reformed itself, roaring in flaming rage.
"Not a bad move." said Stiyl. "But it ends here."
Innocentius held out one hand and a massive glowing flaming cross appeared in it's talons. Innocentius raised the cross above it's head and then brought it crashing down on Ichiya in a massive explosion of flame.
When the smoke cleare, Ichiya was back to his normal form.....and he was completely out cold, lying in the middle of a charred crater.
Innocentius roared for a moment before dissapating into nothingness.
"And that is that.." said Stiyl. "Not my cleanest brawl....but it'll do."1
"W-WOW!!!" said the announcer with his jaw open. "It seems Stiyl has won!! And now Cross Arcana earns itself 10 points, skyrocketting it into second place right behind Fairy Tail.....WOW!!!"
Yajima didn't speak. Instead he stared long and hard at Stiyl, scratching his chin. That magic...it wasn't of this world.....Yajima thought to himself. However.....I'll watch a little longer....
Back in the stands. Gray looked up at the giant Lacrima scoreboard which now showed the scores of all the guilds. Currently, the leading 3 were Fairy Tail in first with 17 points, Cross Arcana in second with 15 points, and Fright Face in third with 10 points.
Gray looked across the stands until his eyes with Leivinia Birdway's
Birdway gave Gray a cunning knowing smile. Almost like she was saying, "Your move, Fairy Tail."
"Not gonna lose to you...." murmered Gray. "You'll see."
Meanwhile, Mikoto was sitting in her seat, still staring at her hand. What had happened...and why did those black sparks seem so familiar.....? Something was begining to knaw at the back of Mikoto's mind....like something didn't seem right.
"What's happening to me....?" Mikoto murmered clenching and unclenching her hand, as if afraid the black sparks might appear again.1
Later that day, the entire Fairy Tail guild decided to go out sight seeing. Mikoto thought it was a bit funny, mainly because she had suggested it the first moment she came to Crocus. But now everybody was in full swing. Nobody wanted to sleep in.
"Let's go to the water park!!" Said Kuroko observing a brochure. "I hear all the rides are real good!!"
"Is that really why you wanna go?" Said Mikoto suspiciously. "Or are you looking for another excuse to rub lotion on my back?"
"Teeheeheeheehee...." Kuroko giggled as her eyes sparkled mischievously. "You won't like it unless you try it Sissy...."
"You're really weird Kuroko." Said Elli from her position on top of Mikoto's head.
"Anyways....." Said Mikoto. "I couldn't go anyways since I didn't bring my bathing suit..."
"OH!!!" Both Erza and Lucy looked at Mikoto with delight.
"That means we can go buy one for you!!" Said Lucy cheerfully grabbing Mikoto's arm. "It's been sooo long since I've gone shopping!!"
"It's only natural that I should come along!!" Declared Erza taking Mikoto's other arm. "I know exactly what kind of fashion that would suit you!"
"W-wait!" Mikoto exclaimed. "I-I'm not exactly sure we should be...."
But before Mikoto could finish her sentence, Erza and Lucy dragged her off with cheerful sparkly looks in their eyes.
10 minutes later, Mikoto found herself inside a swimsuit store having her arms loaded by Erza and Lucy. "Here, how about this one?"- "This one looks cute! Here!" - "One of your kind of taste would surely appreciate this one!"- "This one is definitely your style!"
"Ummm...guys?" Mikoto said as her arms wobbled under a 10 ft pile of swim wear. "Can we not buy the entire store out? I don't have that much money...."
"Oh, and this one would look absolutely adorable!!" Said Lucy throwing another swimsuit onto the pile.
"Are you guys even listening to me?"
Suddenly a voice came from behind Mikoto. "What sort of foolishness is this?"
"Huh?" Mikoto turned around awkwardly. But the massive pile of swimsuits blocked her vision. "Um.....sorry, I can't exactly see anything at the moment-."
A massive clawed hand made of moaning energy slashed through the pile of clothes. Mikoto jumped back in shock. Nicole Mavros deactivated her Ghost Dragon Slayer talons.
"It is quite obvious I'm going to kill you.....yet you continue to play around like you have your whole life ahead of you."
"Mikoto stay back!!" Erza moved in front of Mikoto and drew her sword. "Why are you here!?"
"If one is planning to defeat their opponent, one must first learn all they can about the enemy." Said Nicole. "Yet so far, all I have observed is that you are a weak childish fool.....how you were able to fight Hades I will never know."
"Mikoto's not weak!!" Shouted Elli angrily. "She's going to kick your butt!!"
"Hmph.....fools. Come Maverick....we're leaving."
The purple exceed that Mikoto had seen the first night she had met Nicole followed his partner out the door. Before Maverick left he turned around and gave Mikoto an evil grin. "Best be counting down your minutes...cause you're dead meat...."
Maverick flew off.
"Now that was an unpleasant surprise...." Said Lucy glaring after Nicole. "I hope the manager doesn't make us pay for all the ruined clothing.....Mikoto?...Mikoto?"
Lucy and Erza turned to find that Mikoto was on the floor curled up and groaning in pain as black electricity crackled and burned around her. Elli was next to her with tears in her eyes.
"P-please!!" Cried Elli," someone help her!!"
3rd Event: Music Master Relay...Mikoto And Her Violin
Academy City. Judgement Offices. Afternoon of Grand Magic Game's 2nd Day.1
Uiharu was never the type who tended to go on field missions. Ever since she had first joined Judgement, her sole job had been to sit at a desk, work some computer magic, and stay out of the way as much as possible when dealing with law breakers in person.
Not that she complained much on the subject. Uiharu was no complainer. (She left that part to Kuroko.) But sometimes she wished she was more then just some person watching a bunch of security cams. But you know what they say.....Be careful what you wish for.
Uiharu was on lunch break at the moment. Instead of going through the trouble of packing herself a bento box this time, she had made herself an ordinary sandwich. There wasn't much point in making a complicated lunch when most of your friends weren't around to share it. Kuroko and Mikoto and Fairy Tail were off at the Grand Magic Games of course. Saten had to go to some sort of extra credit class today. And pretty much every single other person she knew was either out on patrol for Judgement or home sick with the strange flu that had been going around.
So here she was, sitting alone at a computer chomping on a sandwhich while finishing up a load of paperwork she never thought someone of her middle school age should have to do.1
"It's so boring...." Mumbled Uiharu as she adjusted the numerous flowers she had adorned in her hair." I wish I could have gone to the Games.....they sound like so much fun....."
"They are fun." Said a voice. "But I have something a little more important on my mind right now."
Uiharu nearly screamed as she fell out of her chair in surprise. Laxus Dreyar was standing right behind her.1
"H-how did you get in here!?" Uiharu stuttered. "I didn't see you come in!!"
"Your window was unlocked." said Laxus jabbing a thumb back at the open window. "Look, I'm sorry for bothering you...but I kind of need your help....it's important."
"Er...right, no problem!!" said Uiharu, nervously scrambling back into her chair. "Any friend of Mikoto's....eh you know....hehe.."
Laxus reached into his coat and took out a flash drive. He handed it to Uiharu. "Do you think you can track down the last person that owned this flash drive?"
"Well it might be a little difficult...."said Uiharu tentatively. "I would have to track down every single flash drive that was made and bought around the same time this model was bought, and then narrow it down from there....."
"And how long would that take?" Asked Laxus.
"Could take hours.....days....even weeks." said Uiharu. "Depends on how many total of this flash drive was made and sold around the same time."1
"Don't worry about that." Said Laxus. "I have a feeling that this brand might be pretty exclusive....."
Uiharu examined the flash drive and then began typing away on her computer. "Okay, the database is currently searching.....you might have to wait for a little-"
Before Uiharu could finish what she was saying however, the computer gave a beep and several windows opened up on her screen."
"Wow!" said Uiharu in surprise. "That went by faster then I thought..... According to this, only about 300 of this flash drive were ever distributed, only 3 having been distributed in Academy City. Those three were each sent to a lab that was working on some sort of secret project."
Laxus observed the screen. "It says here that the labs were destroyed about a year ago....."
"Yeah." Said Uiharu. "It says that...oh my gosh!, It says that Mikoto destroyed those labs herself!!"
Of course, thought Laxus. Those labs must have been ones that were participating in Project: Radio Noise. But if Mikoto had destroyed those labs....then why were there flash drives being distributed from supposedly ruined labs?
"Look...." Said Laxus. "Think you can give me directions to those facilities?"
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to see if those labs really have stayed destroyed....and if they haven't...I might just have to keep them destroyed...."
Crocus, Morning of Grand Magic Game's 3rd Day.
Porylusica had never been more baffled about something in her life. She had always been able to find the source of her patient's ailments. But this.....it was something else entirely.
Porylusica watched as Mikoto slept on the infirmary bed, a wet towel had been placed on her head to bring down the intensely burning fever that had erupted. 12 hours ago it had been nearly impossible just to put that towel on her forehead. Mikoto had been convulsing so violently that Lucy and Erza had to help restrain her. Erza even donned her Lightning Empress armor so she wouldn't be seriously injured by the massive bolts of black lightning blasting outwards.
Finally after some time, Mikoto had stopped convulsing and the back electricity had died down....yet after some examination, Porylusica couldn't find a single thing wrong with Mikoto....even the fever seemed to have sprung out of nothing.
"Mmmm.....urgg...." Mikoto shifted a little and opened her eyes slightly. "Wh-where am I....?"
"You're in the infirmary..." Said Porylusica. "For the second time this week I might add..... How do you feel?"
"Every part of me hurts a little.....but I think I'm okay..."
Porylusica sighed. "We'll that's a relief...at any rate, I recommend you probably shouldn't participate in the games anymore..."
"NO!!" Mikoto got up with slight difficulty. "I can still.....ow!"
"Don't be foolish!" Said Porylusica. "Tomorrow is the final battle event before the big finishing event.....and as the crowd loves to save the most dramatic battle for last...I'm sure you know who you'll fight should you continue...."
"That's why I need to keep going!!" Mikoto growled. "I'm not letting some cruel heartless thing like her intimidate me!!"
"..."
Mikoto got up from the bed and shook her pain off. "I'm not giving up....not because of some stupid freak pain...."
Mikoto opened the door still gritting her teeth from slight pain, and walked out.
"Hmph...." Said Porylusica. "So Markarov.....you really do rub off on your children.....I can see your stubbornness practically etched into this one."1
2 hours later Mikoto sat with the rest of team Fairy Tail, still gritting her teeth with slight pain.
"Mikoto?" Wendy said tentatively. "Are you sure you should be up and about?"
"I'm fine!" Mikoto said doing her best to smile through the pain. "Honest!!"
"That's the spirit Mikoto!!" Said Natsu. "No way should you have to miss this!!!"
"And welcome back to the third day of the Grand Magic Games!!" shouted the Announcer. "As usual we have another spectacular event planned out for you!! And get ready for a surprise! Today the event is a tag team effort known as the Music Relay!!"
"Tag team!!?" Said Natsu. "Awesome!! I'm sooo taking this one!! Who else want's in!?"
"If only Mira were here..." Said Mikoto. "She's great with music."
"So you're in!?" Said Natsu, apparently mishearing Mikoto. "YEAH!! LETS DO THIS!!" Natsu grabbed Mikoto's arm and sped down into the stadium.
And so the ones participating in the Music Relay event were as follows.
Yukino and Orga of Sabertooth.
The Coffin Twins of Fright Face.
Kagura Mikazuchi and Beth Vanderwood of Mermaid Heel
Ichiya and Nibiki from Blue Pegasus.
Jäger and Rocker from Quatro Cerberus.
Kaori Kanzaki and Agnese Sanctis of Cross Arcana.
Jura and Toby of Lamia Scale.
And finally Natsu and Mikoto from Fairy Tail.
"Alright!!" Said Mato. "Now as the name suggests....this is a relay race!! The first members of the two person team will race through the track provided!! In the middle of the track will be a pile of random instruments! Kabo!!"
"Instruments?" Said Jura. "Are we supposed to play them?"
"You won't be playing the instrument you select...." Said Mato. "The moment you select your instrument, you will run as fast as you can down the rest of the track!! Those who reach the end of the track will receive 5 to 40 points!! This event will probably provide the most points in the entire games!! Kabo!! But that won't be the end of the event!"
Mato pointed dramatically at a giant round stage in the middle of the stadium. "The second member of your team will be waiting at the finish line....they will have to play the instrument that you bring to them where they will be judged by a panel of judges!! Kabo!! Points will vary based on how good your music is!!"
Mato pointed at a panel near the stage. "May I introduce our judges-"
"Yeah yeah!" Shouted Natsu. "Let's race already!! I'm all fired up!!"
"Er right....Kabo." Said Mato. "Well the track is right here then!!"
The ground gave a tremendous rumble and a massive path made of earth spiraled into the sky and twisted for an amazing length around the entire stadium, criss crossing and spiralling through the air until it came to the edge of the stage in the center of the entire stadium.
"YEEHAAAAWWW!!!!!" Shouted Natsu running up the earthen track laughing. "40 points here I come!!!"
"Aw jeez...." Mikoto shook her head. "There he goes again....."
The other contestants ran after Natsu in a big frenzy, while the other half stayed behind to wait by the stage.
Natsu ran ahead laughing hysterically as Coffin Twin #1 flying towards him like a bullet.
"Teehee!!" Giggled the coffin. "Say goodbye to your lead Salamander!"
The coffin suddenly glowed with a blackish aura. "Deathly Crash!!"
Coffin Twin #1 crashed into Natsu from behind and plowed him into the ground.
"Ack!!!" Natsu shouted. "Darn it!!!"
Natsu engulfed his fists in flame. "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!!!"
Natsu punched the coffin right off of him and continued running. But before he got even 5 feet further, Jura, who was not far behind punched his fist into the track. "Let's see you all get through this!!!"
Massive iron hard earthen pillars erupted at random intervals around the track, smacking into many of the contestants, including Natsu and Coffin Twin #1. The only ones who were able to easily dodge the rocks were Kanzaki and Kagura who leaped around and over the pillars like ninjas.
Kagura leapt at Kanzaki from behind and lashed out with her unsheathed sword, somehow managing to slash a gash into the earth near Kanzaki despite her sword still being sheathed.
"Your road ends here!!" Shouted Kagura lashing out with her sheathed sword again.
Suddenly there was a massive blur of speed and suddenly Kanzaki appeared around two inches behind Kagura with her sword drawn. "I am Kaori Kanzaki...my magic name is Salvare000...and your guard is off."
Kanzaki glowed with intense bluish sacred energy and lashed out at Kagura who was barely able to block in time. The two swords women clashed and sliced at each other as they leapt throughout the forest of iron hard pillars. Their swords created intense sparks as they grinded against each other at impossible speeds.
"Impressive!" Said Kagura. "Erza is the only one who's ever kept up with me at this level....."
"Glad you think so..." Said Kanzaki. "But it's over for you..."
Kanzaki lashed her sword out, and a tremendous blast of sacred energy blasted outwards, destroying massive portions of the pillars that were littered all over the tracks. Kagura hit the dirt hard, somehow managing to absorb much of the blow on her sheathed sword.
Kanzaki sped ahead of Kagura sprinting at speeds that only her God Breaker mode could achieve. That's when she came to the giant bucket. In it were 8 instruments.....noticing the lyre, Kanzaki quickly took the instrument and sped off.
The next one to make it to the bucket was Kagura, who took a flute and sped off after Kanzaki. The next up were Orga, and Jura, who both took an instrument and sped off. Then came Jäger and Hibiki.. And lastly, having only just gotten up after being smashed to the ground by one of Jura's pillars, were Natsu and Coffin Twin #1 came from the rear furiously ramming into each other.
"I'm not letting you beat me!!!" Shouted Natsu.
"Unfortunately for you..." Said Coffin Twin #1. "I feel the same way.....teeheeheeheehee..."
Coffin Twin #1's hinges suddenly gave an ominous creak and opened up with greenish smoke coming out as the coffin opened up. Immediately a strange looking puppet came out of the coffin, riding it like a vehicle....chattering sinisterly.
The doll itself looked like a little boy with neat blonde hair and overalls.....except it was covered in dirt and grime, and one of it's eyes were missing.
"Teeheeheeheehee!!!" Giggled Coffin Twin #1. "Time to lose little dragon....Teeheeheeeheee!!!"
"Whaaa!!!?" Said Natsu in shock. "Evil Pinocchio!!!"2
"Fearful Art: Death Wind!!!" The puppet opened it's mouth and blasted out an extremely dense cloud of pitch black smoke that engulfed Natsu. Natsu fell to the ground koffing.
"What's going on!?" Natsu cried out as he crawled slowly along the track on all fours, his face completely green. "ACK!! Ack!!"
"Teeheeheeheehee....."said Coffin Twin #1. "See you at the finish line...Teeheeheeheehee!!
It took Natsu a total of ten minutes to stagger over to the bucket....by then only one instrument was left. Natsu, trying hard not to choke, pulled out a violin. "D-darn it!...ack....!! I wanted to get Mikoto a keytar....*koff* *koff*..."
Natsu dragged himself to the finish line...taking a total of 20 minutes...Mato and Mikoto waited for him on the other end...
"Oooo..." Said Mato shaking his head....that's unfortunate.....I am afraid as of now, Fairy Tail is now second to last....Kabo."
Natsu held up the Violin for Mikoto to take. "H-here...it's all they had left...."
Mikoto looked at the violin with an oddly happy look on her face. "Actually Natsu.....I think I can work with this...."
One by one, the contestants began to play their instruments for the judges. Agnese Sanctis proved herself extremely skilled with a lyre, earning herself 10 points to add to the 40 they had already won. Beth however, having never played an instrument before only made 3 points. Ichiya earned the most points, making 20 points from his amazing skill with a clarinet. Rocker basically nearly killed the judges and the spectators, doing a keytar solo so terrible that Elli burst into tears and Erza started punching holes in the ground while Gray created ice earmuffs in disdain.
"And now all that's left is Fairy....Fairy..." The Announcer suddenly stopped, his jaw dropping open. "Wh-what is that beautiful melody...?"
Jason stopped spinning in his chair and froze.....a tear welled up in his eye. "Cool....what?"
All the contestants who had already played froze, their eyes wide with amazement.
"That music...." Said Agnese. "Is this what Heaven is like?"
Back in the stands, all of Fairy Tail looked like they had definitely died and gone to Music Heaven.
"That sound...." Said Elfman with tears in his eyes. "IS A MAN!!!"2
"I don't believe it....." Said Lucy. "I know she took lessons.....but...amazing!"
"Yep..." Said Kuroko with a grin. "That's Sissy for you."
Down on the stage, Mikoto was playing the violin Natsu had gotten her. From it, a beautiful melody could be heard.....a melody that had the judges clapping...
One of the judges stood up. "50 points....don't even ask why,....sniffle....just take 50 points..."
Mikoto turned absolutely red. "Wh-whoah! Thanks.....!"
Natsu crawled over to Mikoto, his face still green from Coffin Twin #1's attack. "M-Mikoto?"
"Natsu! Are you alright!?"
"I will be...." Said Natsu. "After you play that wonderful sound.....for at least 2 more minutes."