Chapter 79

Never Give Up

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Magic"

Flashback

Location / Date / Time Skip

Erza and Elfman leaned against the railing before footsteps made them turn to see Natsu running over. "How's Lucy holding up?" The red head asked.

"She seems fine. She said she was going to take a shower." Natsu answered before rushing to the barrier. "Please tell me I didn't miss anything else?"

"You're in luck, the second match is already started." Erza replied.

A small blast kicked up dust before the fighters came through. "It looks like you've improved from last year's games, Arania." Ren chuckled.

"Is it alright for a Pegasus man to attack a woman?" The Mermaid Heel member teased before blasting Ren with her Web Magic.

"What are you doing, Ren!?" Sherry shouted from the Lamia Scale stands.

"Don't go cheering for a rival team!" Ooba shouted, spinning everyone else with her magic. "I don't care who you're engaged with!"

Ren broke through the webs and jumped around avoiding more shots. "As long as she's watching... I can't lose! Aerial Phose!" An orb of wind erupted around and blast Arania, sending her high into the air. It tossed her around in the breeze before sending her crashing to the ground.

"And with that, Ren Akarsuki is the victor!" Chapati declared as the crowd cheered. "Blue Pegasus now has a total of 14 points, while Mermaid Heel only has 3." The Web wizard pounded the ground in disappointment before forcing herself up.

"I knew you could do it, Ren!" Jenny cheered from the announcer stand.

"As expected, he's improved over the last seven years." Erza mumbled before glancing over to the side. "But what I don't understand is person in the rabbit costume."

"Good, I'm not the only who think's its weird." Elfman sighed in relief.

"With the grounds clear, we will continue with the third match of the day." Chapati said as a poncho-clad wizard stepped forward. "Quatro Cerberus' Warcry vs Sabertooth's Orga Nanagear!" The opponent walked out and the crowd erupted into cheers for the reigning champion.

"Everyone here is sure excited, so let's get this match started!" A gong ran out and the fight started. Orga just stared at the Cerberus mage as his tears started bubbling up.

Orga merely raised his hand and an orb of black clad lightning blasted the man, instantly knocking him out as Laxus raised an eyebrow. "And just like that, the match is over!" Chapati shouted as the crowd erupted, ignoring the injured man lying in pain. "It was all over in a flash! Orga's black lightning seared those tears in an instant!

"The victor is Saberthooth's Orga Nanagear! This makes a total of twenty points in just the first day! Quatro Cerberus has only two points." Orga turned and walked back to his stand, making the crowd cheer eve louder.

"In terms of strength and popularity, it's truly the strongest guild..." Mavis mumbled.

"I... I hate to admit it, but they're amazing." Romeo confessed.

"Well then, at last we've arrived at the final match of the day." Chapati declared.

"The remaining teams are Fairy Tail B and Lamia Scale." Yajima added. "In the past, the strength of these two guilds were pretty well balance, so this should be an interesting match."

"The final match of the first day is Fairy Tail B's Laki Olieta vs Lamia Scale's Jura Neekis!" The crowd erupted in cheers over the Wizard Saint.

"Crap, are you sure Laki can handle this?" Elfman asked Natsu.

"Have some faith, dude." The pinkette replied.

"The fabled Green Woman of Fairy Tail revealed her Dragon Slayer prowess years ago, but now she has to face off against one of the Ten Wizard Saints!" Chapati added some backstory to the fight as the two fighters walked out. "These two fought alongside each other during the Nirvana Incident years ago, but now wood and stone are about to clash."

"Talk about unlucky..." Laxus mumbled.

"Is that baldie really that strong?" Gajeel asked.

"If you brought out me and Erza, I don't know if we could win." Mirajane confessed.

The two reached the center of the arena and stared at each other. "On a personal level, I'd like to wish Fairy Tail the best of luck, but our master has been nagging us quite a bit." Jura explained to the girl. "So I won't be going easy on you, miss Laki."

"I wouldn't want it any other way." Laki replied before charging forward. Jura merely waved his hand and stone pillars rose up, launching Laki into the air. Jura folded his fingers in and the pillars rose up and curved, trying to crush her. Laki jumped over the closest one and rode it. "Wood Dragon Splinter Shot!"

Spiked logs shot out of a magic circle and peppered Jura, only for him to catch the final one and throw it back at Laki. Laki ducked the rebound only to see a giant stone fist flying at her. "Wood Dragon Redwood Fist!" She slammed her glowing fist forward and though the stone cracked, it still hit her hard enough to send her flying to the ground.

"If there was any doubt as to why Jura was one of the Ten Wizard Saints, here's your proof!" Chapati declared as the crowd cheered in excitement.

Laki quickly nipped up and smiled as she pushed her glasses up. "Not bad. Guess I should get serious too." She smirked as a purple mist started rolling off her. Instantly she launched forward and slammed her knee into his face. Jura raised his hand and a stone fist grabbed her leg, only for the stone to crumble and fade away.

"She corroded it?" Jet asked in shock.

Laki turned and braced after herself as stone chunks peppered her. The then froze in the air before they surrounded her and crushed her like a cage. "I'm not done. Poison Wood Dragon Roar!" Shards of wood and poison mist shot forward destroying the stone and flying at the Saint.

"Rock Mountain!" Jura clasped his hands together and a massive figure of rock appeared and blocked the spell as the stone started melting. The roar died and the rock crumbled to dust, showing Jura unharmed. "Let's end this now." Jura shared a smirk and the two started gathering magic power.

"It seems like both wizards are preparing one final attack with everything they have left!" Chapati declared.

"Poison Wood Dra-"

*BA-BUMP*

Her spell suddenly faded but Jura's did not. A massive amount of Magic power rose out of the ground and engulfed her, much to Jura's surprise and horror. He quickly killed the spell and the crowd saw the damage he had unleashed. Torn clothing and battered skin, Laki fell to the ground in defeat. "Laki!" Natsu shouted in concern as the bell rang out.

"And with that, Fairy Tail's Greenwoman has been cut short by Iron Rock Jura." Chapati declared as the crowd cheered. While his guild master cheered, Jura merely raised his head and glared over at Raven Tail. "That's the end of the first day of the Grand Magic Games. Lets see how the teams all stand now."

Sabertooth 20p

Raven Tail 18p

Lamia Scale 16p

Blue Pegasus 14p

Mermaid Heel 3p

Quarto Cerberus 2p

Fairy Tail B 1p

Fairy Tail A 0p

The crowd started laughing at the two Fairy Tail team as Laki walked into her stand. "Laki, what happened?" Mirajane asked as Natsu reached the group.

"Her spell was canceled, wasn't it?" Her boyfriend asked, making her nod. "Raven Tail..." He growled out as she gripped his hand.

"Don't worry, we'll make them pay." She told him as the two nodded. They walked away from the group as tears started forming in her eyes.

Honeybone Inn

"What the hell was that!?" Cana drunkenly shouted from her table. "We've lijed up eveyrone in Fairy Tail and you still lost!"

"Big talk from the woman who went bar hopping instead of cheering us on." Elfman replied.

"The bars had Lacima vision, I wash wtaching!" She shouted back.

"It sure has been an eventful day." Erza chuckled from the bar.

"Safe to say we have our work cut for us." Mira added.

"Tomorrow is going to be my turn to fight!" Natsu cheered next to Laki.

"If Salamander is gonna go, then so am I..." Gajeel chuckled.

Laki hung her head and Natsu sat back down. "Don't worry. We're gonna make Raven Tail pay for what they did to you." He told her again, holding her hand. "And then we're gonna win this whole thing!"

"Yeah..." She replied, leaning against his shoulder.

Juvia stared at the two before her mind replaced them with herself and Gray, making steam leave her head. "She as some issues, doesn't she?" Lucy asked aloud.

"Are you sure you're okay, Lucy?" Levy asked her friend.

"Absolutely! I'm more pumped than ever!" Lucy replied.

"Wendy and Carla doing any better?" Gray asked Lisanna.

"They're still pretty weak, so Porlyusica hasn't left their side." She replied.

Makarov jumped onto a table with a mug in his hand. "Listen well, ya brats! We might have lost today, but tomorrow we will triumph! We'll rise up and show them the power of Fairy Tail! We have never known the meaning of giving up! And we never will! We are the greatest guild in Fiore!"

Mercurius

Arcadios bowed to the man on the throne and hung his head. "Your highness, the first day of the games concluded without any incident. As for the second day, is there anything you wish to see in the battle portion?"

"Bacchus..." The king mumbled. "I want to see him fighting. Against the Fairy Tail wizard that changes a lot. El- er..."

"Understood your majesty. This will be a magic battle like no other." Arcadios nodded. "If there are no other requests, I shall take my leave."

"You've worked hard, captain. Rest well tonight." The king declared.

"I don't have the luxury of having time to rest." The knight replied. "We have to complete that soon."

Honeybone Inn

Natsu stood on the table over Max, who was punched out. "Who's next? Give me all you got!"

"How'd Natsu catch up to Max after only three months!?" Warren shouted in shock.

"You ever get the feeling of being outclassed?" Vijeeter asked.

"I got a different idea for a contest..." A man said as he walked over to Cana. He was a tall, muscular, fair-skinned man with straight black hair, which is slicked back and gathered on the back of his head, where it is kept in a bun, hidden away by a white cloth with ruffled edges secured by a similarly colored strip. He has slanted eyes marked by dark lines, with black pupils circled by lighter irises, each bearing five irregular black forms below it (with the central pair of forms being larger than the three on the outsides), and which are topped by black, arched eyebrows.

He also appears to possess sharp canine teeth. Hanging from his ears is a pair of light brown earrings whose shape is reminiscent of a gourd; an object which is commonly employed to drink alcohol, and which Bacchus himself carries around for such a purpose. His Quatro Cerberus tattoo is located on the center of his muscular, exposed back.

His outfit leaves most of his muscular torso exposed, instead covering his arms and shoulders with dark blue armor plates, which join on the upper part of his back and are topped by a wide, arched armored collar in correspondence to his nape. Covering his legs is a very baggy pair of dark pants, which ends below his knees (where it gets tighter) and sports large, light motifs reminiscent of flames on the legs' outer edges, and circling his waist is a light sash tied on his left hip, with its long edges left hanging.

For footwear, he dons dark, plain Chinese-looking shoes with light soles. He placed a full shot glass on the bar and stared at her. "Why don't we go shot for shot, little girl?"

"Ah, sound like fun to me." Cana chuckled.

"This is guy is in for a doomed night." Macao mumbled.

"I don't care who he is, no one can out drink Cana." Wakaba added.

Cana toppled over in a drunken mess as the man finished his shot and then hers. "This can't be happening..." Jet mumbled.

"Cana lost a drinking match!?" Laki asked in shock.

"I didn't think it was even possible." Warren added.

The man reached over and pulled off Cana's top, swinging it around his finger. "And... thsh is mine." He declared as he started walking to the door.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Macao asked. "The minute Gildarts finds out he's gonna hunt you down! Hand it over!" He charged with a punch only for the man to fall over, bounce back up and send both through the floor.

"Is that... Bacchus?" Erza asked as she walked over.

The man raised an eyebrow and nipped up, right into her face. "Why isn't it nice to see you again, Erza..."

"It has been a long time." Erza confessed.

"I see those secen years have been very kind to you." He chuckled. "Man is it a good thing I came here to fight. After seeing Warcry get destroyed like that, I got a spirit burning in me. Thank god I was the reserve memener." Erza stared at her before laughing. "When we meet tomorrow or another day, we'll settle things for once and all."

He walked out the bar and stumbled into some barrels. "Who was that guy?" Laki asked as she retied Cana's bra onto her.

"His from Quatro Cerberus, one of their S-Class members." Erza replied. "His name is Bacchus. They call him the Drunk Falcon and the Master of the Drunk Hanging-Chop Fist. We've fought several times, but there's never been a clear winner."

"Who cares?" Natsu asked as he and Grey fought. "That's all in the past now! She won't lose to him! And if she won't fight him then I will!" The guild laughed at the statement as the party went on all night.

The Next Day

"Day two of the Grand Magic Games is here and what a reaction from the crowd!" Chapati declared as the crowd roared. "This is a race today known as Chariot! Competitors must run along these connected war chariots and reach the goal without falling off. The chariots are constantly moving, so even a momentary lapse could lead to a crucial mistake. So who will be the first to cross the finish line right here in Domus Flau!?"

"Why did Natsu enter this one?" Gray asked as his guild stared in shock of how he was doing.

"It's called 'Chariot'. You should be able to tell from the name." Lucy added.

"He said he was competing, and you know how stubborn he can be." Erza replied.

"Did he think he would fight chariots?" Elfman asked.

"Do you think Laxus and Laki also have this?" Mirajane asked.

"Never been a problem for me." Laki answered back, nudging the second gen in the gut. "It must be a male weakness."

The entire arena laughed as all three Dragon Slayers competing suffered from their shared weakness: motion sickness. "Wasn't it just Salamander who gets this?" Gajeel groaned out.

"Up at the front of the pack, this is an extremely dead heat, and it's only getting more extreme!" Chapati declared. "At the front is Raven Tail's Kurohebi, followed by Ichiya, Yuka and Risley in a three way tie. Just behind those them is the reserve member from Quattro Cerberus is Bacchus!"

The Lamia Scale wizard waved his arks and a pair of waves blasted out his palms, propelling him forward. "You won't be able to use magic inside my wave boost!"

"Don't you dare underestimate chubby power!" Risley shouted before suddenly running on the side of the vehicle. Ichiya shoved some vials up his nose and the perfume increased his speed.

"Oh? They're really getting into it." Bacchus chuckled before he hiccuped. "It makes my spirit tremble. Maybe, I'll get a bit serious too." He raised his foot and slammed down on the chariot, creating a massive shockwave that sent the three in front of him flying into the air. "See ya at the finish line!" He chuckled before sprinting forward.

Kurohebi glanced behind and quickly jumped to the side to avoid getting run over. Bacchus reached the arena and jumped off, braking the tape and claiming first for his guild. "When did Goldmine someone like him?" Makarov asked in shock.

"And with that quick sprint, Quattro Cerberus gains ten points!" Chapati shouted over the roaring crowd. "Raven Tail is in second, followed by Risley in third, Yuka in fourth, and Ichiya takes fifth. And all that's left are those three in that pathetic race for last place."

"This... can't be happening." Gajeel groaned out, holding back some vomit. "I've been fine on moving vehicles..."

"Then... you finally joined us..." Sting chuckled. "You are now... a full fledged Dragon Slayer..." The three quickly pushed harder and ran as hard they could, despite the crowd laughing at them.

"I gotta... move forward!" Natsu roared as he and Gajeel pushed on.

"This is really not cool..." Sting groaned out. "He's getting serious without anything behind him." Natsu growled louder as the two pushed on. "Fine! You can have this match! From here on out, we'll win every time! We don't need a measly one or two points! Just answer me this: why did you guys even come to the games?

"I'd never imagine the old Fairy Tail doing that. Now you care how strong you are or what other people think. The Fairy Tail I used to know marched to their own beat. They never gave a crap about what anyone thought."

"It's for my friends!" Natsu shouted back. "For seven... years... all that time, they waited for us. It was hard... they got humiliated, but they just endured it... And kept the guild going... It's for my friends... I want to show them... that the Fairy Tail guild will live on! That's why I gotta move forward!"

His words brought his friends to tears and with one last push, Natsu dragged himself across the finish line. "Our first... points!" He chuckled before passing out.

"And with that, Natsu from Fairy Tail A comes in sixth place for 2 points!" Chapati declared as the crowd started cheering for Fairy Tail for the first time. "Gajeel manages one point for his team and Sting ran out of time so he gets zero!"

The blonde ignored the crowd and walked away into the coliseum. "For your friends? That's just pathetic." He mumbled before going to his team.

Goddamn this was an emotional chapter. First we had Laki fighting Jura which was AWESOME for me to do, and fun for the crowd too. Goddamn Raven Tail had ruin it though, so that's the shame. And then we had an emotional speech from Natsu that brought me to tears IRL. Next chapter should be pure fighting fun, So see ya then.

Beta read by General Feng Xiang