Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.
July 2, x791.
"Natsu, Gajeel, and Sting aren't gonna have a good time in this event, are they~?" Elicia asked in a sing-song tone.
"Not at all." Marin said with a giggle. "I mean, having such bad motion sickness is gonna make this game torture."
"I kinda feel bad for them." Sun added, watching the three Dragon Slayers through the Lacrima-Vision screens with pity as the eight contestants made their way towards the outskirts of the city along the circuit of chariots.
"You should really feel bad for everyone other than Ur. Alfonzo said while using his [Archive magic] to work on the schematics for the magic tool he would use to travel to the Future Lucy's and Future Rogue's timeline. "I mean, she kinda outclasses everyone in this event… In every category."
"Yeah, I kinda wish she had used that line Ever did back in the first Miss Fairy Tail pageant." Elicia said with a smile. "I can remember it now. As soon as she walked into the locker room, she asked who was coming in second, as if first place was meant for her."
"Ooh! Sun exclaimed excitedly as she clapped happily. "I remember that, too."
"Yeah, me, too." Marin added with a smile. "And that made it all the more hilarious when she lost and got dragged away by Ur when she got mouthy at the end."
After saying all that, Elicia, Marin, and Sun could not help giggling at the memory. Even Alfonzo, who was not there for the line in the locker room cracked a smile at the memory of Evergreen being dragged away in the dark after calling Ur a violent old hag, or something to that effect.
"By the way, how are you planning to make a magic item that can get the two from the future back to where they belong, Fonzie?" Marin asked curiously.
"You just had to ask, didn't you?" Elicia asked as she face-palmed at Marin's inquiry.
"Huh?" Marin intoned with confusion written all over her face.
"Well, I plan on starting with the Anima as a base." Alfonzo replied casually while continuing to work. "But just that won't be enough. Currently, those are set to move only from Earth Land, our Earth Land, to Edolas. So, to fix that, I'll be…"
And like that, Alfonzo went on for the remainder of the time it took the contestants to reach the starting line for the Chariot event. Along the way, he even stopped to make sure that Marin was paying attention whenever he felt her going into a daze.
Meanwhile, Elicia looked at Marin with an expression that practically screamed: "You did this to yourself." Sun, on the other hand, was trying to follow along with Alfonzo's explanation. However, as time went by, her eyes started to spin in their sockets while steam started to escape from the top of her head and her ears.
Luckily, it did not take too long for Ur and the others to reach the starting line. And when they did, Elicia, Marin, and Sun had the perfect excuse to make Alfonzo stop his long-winded explanation.
{"It looks like the players have reached the starting line!"} Loli shouted, his enthusiasm causing Alfonzo to stop his explanation as he looked towards the Lacrima-Vision screens. {"Is everyone ready for another exciting event?"}
"Okay, the game is about to start, Fonzie." Elicia said, shushing Alfonzo by putting a finger over his lips. {"let us concentrate on what's going on. We don't wanna miss anything."
"Fine~." Alfonzo said, his tone making it clear that he was annoyed that his explanation was interrupted.
The three ladies immediately sighed in relief when they heard that. Then, they all focused on the Lacrima-Vision screens with high intensity.
{"The three Dragon Slayers, Natsu, Gajeel, and Sting aren't looking so good."} Loli said after noticing the states that the three were in. {"Will they be okay?"}
{"Who knows."} Yajima replied with a shrug. {"Unfortunately, since they chose to enter this event, if they give up now, they will be disqualified."}
On a side note, Yajima's statement about not knowing what was wrong with Natsu, Gajeel, and Sting was true. Because despite being an old friend of Makarov's, Makarov never thought it was necessary to tell him the weaknesses of the members of his guild. So, the secret about Dragon Slayers having terrible motion sickness after they reached a certain level of strength was never disclosed to him.
{"Well, we'll just have to see how things play out, I guess."} Loli said, his enthusiasm coming back with a vengeance. {"Well then, since everyone looks like they're ready, I'll count us down to the starting signal. In fact, everyone counted down with me!"
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
"Go~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"
*Bang!*
At the same time the count down, which nearly the entire audience participated in ended, a loud explosion sounded, marking the beginning of the race.
"[Ice-Make: Floor]." Ur chanted, slamming her hands into the ground in time with the signal.
Immediately, the entire roof of the chariot where everyone started the race was covered in ice, causing Sorano, Bacchus, Rei, and Rangiku to all slip, nearly falling face first, just as they started running.
Undoubtedly, Natsu, Gajeel, and Sting would have faced a similar fate if they weren't so nauseated due to their motion sickness that they could barely move. Instead, they simply fell to their knees, trying not to vomit.
Meanwhile, Ur channeled her magic power through her body before kicking off from the ice as if friction was not an issue to her. Then, before anyone knew it, she was four chariots away from the starting line.
"Well, I'll see you all at the finish line!" Ur shouted over her shoulders. "I hope you kids don't keep me waititg too long."
Seeing just how far away Ur had gotten in such a short amount of time, Sorano, Bacchus, Rei, and Rangiku were all momentarily stunned. However, it did not take them long to regain their wits and start chasing after her.
Bacchus was the first to regain his senses. He then coated his palms in his [Palm Magic] before slamming them down on the ice and shooting himself forward, shattering the ice underneath him and rocking the chariot as he did so.
Next, Sorano summoned her [Hammer Angel]. And when it appeared, she grabbed onto its waist as it slammed its hammer down, using a strategy similar to Bacchus as it flung itself and Sorano forward.
After that, Rangiku dug her Zanpakuto into the ice before using it to throw herself forward to the next chariot. Then, she activated the [Flash Step] with all her might to try and catch up.
Finally, Rei jabbed her spear into the ice while channeling her magic power into its tip. And with that, she vaulted forward, using the magic power in the spear tip as a propulsive force to send herself forward. And every time she landed, she repeated the process, picking up speed with every vault.
Meanwhile, Natsu, Gajeel, and Sting were even worse shape than before, the shaking chariot intensifying their motion sickness.
About three minutes after the race started, Ur was the first to reach the finish line. However, it took nearly fifteen more minutes for the next contestant, Sorano, to arrive. And the reason for that was simple, along the way, Ur coated more than a few of the chariots in a sheen of black ice that no one, other than her, noticed on the first pass.
As a result, most of the contestants spent most of their time, after the second time they slipped, Bacchus almost falling off of the chariot, trying to determine whether or not each chariot was slippery.
"You think you over did it a little?" Sorano asked, her hair a mess after all the times she slipped and fell.
"Hmm? Did I?" Ur asked with a smile on her face. "Who knows?"
Sorano could only huff in annoyance at Ur's dismissal.
About a minute later, Bacchus, followed by Rangiku then Rei, reached the finish line, all of whom gave Ur, who was smiling triumphantly, the stink eye while covered in bruises from falling, ice burns and scrapes from sliding across the ice and chariots, and disheveled hair and clothes from everything above.
It took another fifteen minutes before Sting, Gajeel, and Natsu finished the race in that order and the Chariot event came to an end.
{"Alright, folks!"} Loli shouted excitedly. {"That's the end of the day's event. And with that, let's take a look at the scoreboard!"}
With that, all the Lacrima-Vision screens in the Domus Flau switched to show the overall scoreboard.
{Grand Magic Games Overall Scoreboard
Rank Team Score
Fairy Tail A 25 Pts. Fairy Tail C 18 Pts. Quatro Cerberus 16 Pts. Sabertooth 14 Pts. Mermaid Heel 13 Pts. Fairy Tail Rank B 12 Pts. Blue Pegasus 10 Pts. Lamia Scale 5 Pts.}
{"This game really shook up the rankings, didn't it?" Loli said after reading the scoreboard aloud. {"But seeing the scores so close really makes this whole thing more exciting, doesn't it, Yajima?"}
{"Yes. Yes, it does."} Yajima replied while nodding his head. {"It makes the upcoming Battle Round even more exciting than usual, doesn't it?"
{"Undoubtedly!"} Loli replied energetically. {"And as it just so happens, I just received the envelope with today's matchups. So, why don't we get right into it?"}
*Cheer~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
{"It looks like the crowd is up for it."} Yajima said with a smile evident in his tone.
{"Well then, I don't want to keep anyone waiting."} Loli said as he tore open the envelope. He then looked down at the names for the first match. And when he did, his eyes lit up. {"It looks like all the men in the audience are going to be in for quite the show!"}
"It doesn't take a genius to know who's up this time, does it?" Alfonzo muttered while shaking his head.
"What do you mean?" Sun asked while tilting her head in curiosity.
Marin was also curious to know what Alfonzo meant. Meanwhile, Elicia smiled knowingly.
"It looks like the rest of the guild is starting to rub off on the two of you." Ur said as she returned to her seat. "Like the kid said, it's pretty obvious that the next match will be between---"
{"Mirajane Strauss of Fairy Tail Team B and Jenny Realight of Blue Pegasus, please make your way to the arena~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"} Loli shouted with lots of energy, his hair piece popping off in his excitement.
"Yup, that's what I thought." Alfonzo and Ur said in unison.
"Oh~~~~~." Marin and Sun chorused in realization a moment later.
Meanwhile, both Mirajane and Jenny, looking as beautiful as ever, hopped into the arena and started walking towards its center. All along the way, they both waved their hands while smiling brightly at all their cheering fans.
On a side note, Karen was glaring at both of the younger wizards who took her places as the first and second most popular models in Fiore.
However, when Mirajane saw Jenny wink and blow a kiss in Alfonzo's direction, her beautiful smile gained a dangerous hint to it. Though, no one other than the wizards of Fairy Tail, not even Jenny, seemed to notice.
"That girl never learns her lesson, does she?" Irene asked in a playful tone.
"Come on, Big Sis!" Elfman shouted, cheering at the top of his lungs. "Take the win like a real man!"
"Neither does he." Mavis added with a smile of her own on her face.
At the same time, a tick mark appeared on Mirajane's temple, meaning that things would not be very pleasant for Jenny during this fight. Nor would Elfman have a good time after they returned to the hotel.
"Go~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~, Mommy!" Bianca cheered loudly. "You can do it~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!"
Yet, when Mirajane heard Bianca cheering for her, nearly all of the dangerous aura that was flowing around her vanished. Even so, she planned to make Jenny realize why it was such a bad idea to try flirting with her man in front of her.
As for Elfman, well, Mirajane decided not to beat him up right away when they got back to the hotel. She did not want to embarrass him in front of his niece, after all.
{"Are the contestants ready?"} Loli's excited voice rang out throughout the Domus Flau. He then continued after receiving nods from both Mirajane and Jenny. {"Then, without further ado, fight~~~~~~~!"}
"[Take Over Magic: Machina Soul: Bodysuit]." Jenny chanted as she was engulfed in the light of her [Take Over Magic].
A moment later, Jenny reappeared in her maroon [Bodysuit] with the magic power sword affixed to her right arm, the gatling gun on her left, and the vulcan cannons on her shoulders. However, when she could see what was in front of her, her eyes widened in surprise.
"I'll end this quickly." Mirajane said, her right hand reaching to grip Jenny by the face.
Jenny was not the only one surprised to see Mirajane standing in front of her. The entire crowd, with the exception of the Fairy Tail wizards, were also surprised. Especially at how quickly Mirajane covered the distance between her and her opponent.
In the moment it took for Jenny's [Take Over] to complete, Mirajane vanished from her spot, a little over thirty feet away from Jenny, and reappeared within an arm's length from the blonde model donning her [Sitri Soul Take Over].
Then, before Jenny could react, Mirajane grabbed her by her face and pushed forward.
*Bang!*
In the next instant, the back of Jenny's head was slammed into the ground, a cloud of dust shooting up into the air from the impact. Meanwhile, all the spectators could do was stare with their eyes wide open.
"Yeah~~~~~~~~~~! That's how a real man does it!" Elfman shouted as he jumped excitedly in the stands.
"Mommy~~~~~~~~~~~~!" Bianca cheered loudly, her childish voice ringing out clearly, overshadowing Elfman's cry in the nearly silent stadium.
"That ended quickly." Alfonzo muttered, a hint of pity in his gaze as he looked down at the dust cloud in the arena. "I kinda feel bad for her."
"Why, do you like her?" Marin asked curiously. "If you do, I'm sure you could get her to switch guilds with all that charm you have."
As she spoke, Marin nudged Alfonzo with her elbow a few times.
"No, that's not it." Alfonzo replied while smiling wryly. "I won't lie and say that Jenny isn't hot as hell. But that's not why I feel bad for her."
"Then why?" Sun asked just as curiously.
"It's because Mira wouldn't have dealt with her so harshly if not for..." Elicia replied, trailing off as she looked in Elfman's direction.
Immediately, Marin and Sun understood what Alfonzo meant as they, too, turned to look at Elfman, who, at some point, had pulled a banner with Mirajane's face on it and the words, "A Real Man," printed next to it out of nowhere and swung it around energetically.
"Unfortunately, that Blue Pegasus girl just became Mira's outlet." Ur said, a hint of sympathy in her tone. "It was just bad luck, really."
While this conversation was happening, the dust cloud slowly dispersed. And when it did, everyone in the arena could see Mirajane standing over Jenny, who lay in a shallow crater with her eyes rolled back in her head and her outfit reverted back to her normal clothes. Meanwhile, Mirajane, though she was smiling brightly, was staring at Elfman with a sharp gaze.
"Elfman's gonna be in trouble, isn't he?" Sun asked as she pressed her palms together in prayer.