A/n Well, almost forgot to edit and post this chapter, oops. It will be a few weeks before the next chapter is uploaded, as I have a few other stories to update before I do the next one. Hope you enjoy!

The group of friends were greeted by the other members of Fairy Tail, who were also checking in. They got in line, but then noticed Makarov waving at them to join him in a private room. With food, it looked like. They exchanged looks and shrugged. They entered the room. The door was closed behind them. Gajeel and Mira were already there.

"Glad you could make it. I've been going over the rules since I got here a few days ago in preparation," Master Makarov started as they took some food to eat.

"This year, the teams consist of five members and a substitute if someone is too injured to continue or withdraws for any reason. There is no limit on teams, so while I have openly already signed up a team consisting of Erza, Natsu, Gray, Juvia, Elfman, and Cana as their substitute, I am going to sign up another team, for our best chance at winning, and failing that, regaining some of our reputation. Currently, I have Laxus, Lucy, Gajeel, Mira, and Wendy down for the main team, and I would like one of you three," he gestured at Bixlow, Freed, and Evergreen, "as the substitute."

Laxus looked up, contemplative. He would like the chance to try out his new improvements on some different opponents. It could be interesting, at least. "Is there anything we get out of this if we agree?" he asked.

"Hmm... well, depending on how much of the money we up actually using, all members on the winning team will get a share. And I suppose... I suppose that the losing team will have to pay a forfeit to the winning team, of the winning team's choice, of course. And they could be to certain individuals."

Gajeel got a malicious grin and cackled. "I'm in."

"I was considering it before the incentives," Lucy shrugged. "Definitely ready to go for it."

Wendy agreed quietly, but confidently while Mira agreed serenely. Laxus was the last to give his agreement, though his friends knew he had already made up his mind long before that.

"Excellent. Now for the substitute." He turned to the candidates for that. "I would like to hear your input before I make a final decision."

The three thought for a bit. They were left in silence as everyone was still eating anyways. It wasn't until they were done that one of them finally spoke up.

"I don't think I want to show off my new skills in front of a huge audience," Evergreen admitted. She didn't look at Mira or Gajeel, not wanting to see their reactions. She knew the guild thought of her as one of the sorts of people who would never pass up an opportunity to show off, but that just wasn't what she wanted to do with the dragon slaying magic. She had improved a lot, sure, but she wasn't really ready to show it off yet.

Everyone turned to look at Bixlow and Freed. The two looked at each other. With a sigh, Freed spoke first.

"I would not mind being on the team, especially as a substitute."

"Neither would I," Bixlow added quickly. "So, who's the better choice between the two of us?" He figured it was probably Freed, as Freed was smarter, and better about how he used his magic. Arguably, he might even be stronger too. It's hard to tell these days, even with the dragon slaying magic making the differences a little more obvious.

Laxus leaned back. "Depends on what we need on the team. We got strength, and smarts, and even strategy. Wendy's good at defense and healing. So ideally... I suppose we need someone who could replace anyone on the team, just in case, even if me or Gajeel aren't likely to be injured that badly, or at least for long..." He crossed his arms and looked at Bixlow and Freed. "And after all that training, I suppose both of you could fit that bill, though you don't match us in strength. It's really, mostly, can you handle the responsibility of filling any spot on the team? When we don't know what kinds of things we'll be facing beyond there at least being some fights that are probably one on one."

Bixlow slumped as he thought about that, his babies coming to hover around him in response to his sudden dip in mood. Freed looked down as he seriously thought about the question. There was silence for a bit while everyone waited. It was only broken by Belle talking with Panther Lily while Carla listened.

Finally Bixlow sighed. "I'm not sure I'd be able to live up to everyone if I was substitute. I'm confident in my skills and power, but not that confident."

Freed looked over at him with a frown before sighing. "I think I can handle it. I have improved a lot from where I was during Fantasia, and I did not do too badly against Mira." He nodded to her. "So I guess then I will be substitute."

"Excellent. Now that that's settled, I'm going to go register you. Once I have that done, I'll have the team instructions, which include rooming instructions, so do not go get a room yet." Makarov disappeared out the door.

Lucy sat up, a thought occurring to her. "Well... if we're going to be a team, we should probably talk about our strengths and weaknesses..." she suggested. Really, it was just a roundabout way of saying that she wanted to tell Gajeel and Mira about her dragon slaying magic before the Games started.

"Not a bad idea."

"Who made you leader?" Gajeel grumbled.

Laxus raised an eyebrow at him. "What, you want to be in charge and keep everyone in line?"

"Ha. No."

"That's what I thought." He glanced at Mira who didn't have any objections either. "I actually know Wendy, Lucy, and Freed's, since we were training together, but I suppose you two do need to know too."

"I'll start," Lucy volunteered quickly. "I picked up a new spirit where we were training- there's more to celestial spirits than silver and gold keys. This spirit is good with plants. I can summon three spirits for a fight, and even four spirits if I have to, though that might be overkill. The biggest thing neither of you two know yet..." She grinned sharply, showing off her teeth. Gajeel did a double take. "I picked up a book on dragon slaying in October, and have been training myself in celestial dragon slaying. I think I've gotten pretty good at it too."

"I suppose I should mention that she shared the book with Bixlow, Evergreen, and I as well," Freed spoke up. "And I picked up dark dragon slaying. Bixlow ended up with plant dragon slaying, and Evergreen with fairy."

Mira smiled. "I knew something was different about all of you before the S-Class trials. It's easier to tell now, even if your clothing choices aren't all that different."

She was right; the biggest difference was that Lucy and Evergreen had taken to wearing leggings under their skirts in their preferred colors and designs to prevent everyone from getting a good view. They had also gained some muscle definition, but overall their appearances had not really changed. Meanwhile, Freed and Bixlow had not really changed their outfits at all. They had made some adjustments for the movement involved with dragon slaying, but that was it. And they had muscles before, they were just more defined now. The biggest difference lie in how they were perceived. They felt more dangerous, more wild. Just like the other dragon slayers.

From there, the discussion was more relaxed. None of them revealed any secrets but they did cover the basics of strengths and weaknesses along with a basic fighting style, if that had changed at all. By the time they felt confident about being able to easily fight together, Makarov returned.

He handed the instructions to Laxus, then passed out room keys to the team. "Alright, everyone on the team including the substitute is to be in their room by midnight. No one else in that room. And everyone must be there. I don't have any other details than that."

Laxus nodded, looking over the written instructions before handing them off blindly, knowing that Lucy or Freed would grab them. Maybe even both would try to take them. He was too busy thinking about Belle, and how this meant she'd have to sleep separately. For the first time since he had found her.

"Bix and I better go get a room then. Exceeds are welcome to stay with us." Evergreen stood up and headed out the door. Bixlow shrugged and followed. Carla moved to talk to Wendy for a bit about this while Laxus talked to Belle and reassured her that she'd be fine. It wasn't until it dawned on her that she'd be having a sleepover with Carla and Panther Lily that she relented. She was more mature, but that didn't mean the emotional impact of having to sleep away from her protector wasn't strong.

Lucy and Laxus put their bags in the team room, both relieved to see it was a suite, with two bedrooms. The others joined them and they quickly decided how they would be sleeping. Lucy, Wendy, and Mira decided to share a room, while Laxus, Freed, and Gajeel shared the other. There was one king size bed in each bedroom, and if anyone was uncomfortable, they could always take the couch, either in the room, or in the living space between the bedrooms.

After that, Lucy and Laxus snuck off so that they could spend some time together before they had to be in their rooms. That, and they were ready for dinner. It took them a while to find a place that didn't seem too popular. They wanted some privacy, and didn't want to run into people they knew. After all, they hadn't really had the chance to tell anyone besides their friends that they were dating now.

They then took a nice stroll around the city, sticking fairly close to the hotel so it was easier to return to later. They found a park and walked around there, staying out of sight and trouble so that they could hold hands, exchanging small smiles as they just enjoyed each other's company. Before they headed back, they shared a quick kiss, to their own surprise. Both grinned at each other giddily afterwards and then that was it. They didn't even notice that they were still holding hands as they headed into the hotel and up to the room. The Fairy Tail members at the bar of the hotel certainly noticed though, generating a lot of gossip.

When they got to room, they were surprised to find that only Wendy was in the room. None of the others had returned to the room yet. They probably had also gone for dinner, but that didn't explain why only Wendy was in the room. Lucy shrugged as she took out a book to spend some time reading. Since they didn't know why they had to be in their room by midnight, she wasn't going to risk any part of her manuscript for her book. She had brought it along because she hadn't wanted to go months without writing anything, and then they went straight to Crocus.

"So, where is everyone? Why are you here alone?" Laxus asked Wendy as he sat down, not really planning on doing anything. Sometimes he would read, but he had already read all of his books. And a good portion of the ones Lucy had brought along. He wasn't touching what Freed, Bixlow, and Evergreen read. They had... different tastes.

"Oh, I got dinner downstairs and came back after catching up with Erza and Lisanna, but I think Mira decided to join Freed, Ever, and Bixlow for dinner out, and I'm not sure what Gajeel is up to."

"Probably bothering Levy, since he wouldn't have seen her for months," Lucy commented idly, looking up from her book. "What?" she asked at the looks Wendy and Laxus were giving her. "He does bother her a lot back at the guild, he volunteered himself to partner with her out of everyone who was initially missing a partner for the trials, why not Juvia? And it's possible he may have been developing an actual crush on her. He just doesn't know how to express any emotion."

"Oh, I hadn't noticed." Wendy was thoughtful.

"How did you notice?" Laxus asked Lucy.

"Well, considering that I spend a lot of time with Levy because our tastes in books are similar and we're pretty good friends, it's kind of obvious. Gajeel when he's not on missions or being competitive or trying to sing is usually at least lurking near her table."

"Huh. Fair."

Laxus and Wendy started a conversation about different dragon slaying styles. It was briefly touched on in the book, but not elaborated on. Probably because it would've taken far too long to go over the styles for a more long ranged magic than a short ranged magic, not to mention magic that would allow a dragon slayer to transform parts of their body versus the more elusive energy based magics. It was something that came up often, but the two didn't really get to talk about it like this- not with the way Freed and Lucy would get into it. Lucy meanwhile had her nose stuck in a book while she got comfortable on the couch, occasionally changing positions without even consciously registering that that was what she was doing.

Eventually the others returned from whatever they were doing and tried to relax, though as the time ticked closer to midnight, they were all getting impatient or jumpy. Lucy kept touching her keys to reassure herself that she had them, though she knew that she wouldn't be helpless if she lost them. Laxus and Gajeel started pacing. Wendy was jumping at sounds, but looking determined most of the time. Mira was trying to remain calm but she was all tense as she stared at the clock. Freed was muttering magical theory under his breath as if that would help him later on.

Finally, at midnight, there was a sound, and the building shook. Lucy was the first to notice the change at the window. "Look!" she stated quickly, moving to open the window. "It's... a path..." She looked up. "And it looks like there's a labyrinth of some sort."

The rest of the team moved to join her as she climbed out the window and onto the path. They looked around curiously and cautiously, spotting a couple more platforms at their hotel, as well as many at the hotels scattered throughout the city. Suddenly the platforms started moving and it took them all a moment to keep their balance. They were rising into the sky into the labyrinth proper.

"Welcome to the Preliminaries of the Grand Magic Games! There are over 200 teams that have entered, and as such, we need to eliminate most of them. The first sixteen teams to make it out of this labyrinth will be named our competitors, and will also each receive starting points, reflecting the order in which they made it out. The rules are simple: You have the rest of the night to make it out, so long as there are not sixteen teams that have already made it. If you fall off, you are disqualified. Fighting is allowed, should you meet another team. Good luck to everybody!"

At that point, they stopped moving. Their platform still connected to the path, but it quickly disappeared into the mess of paths in front of them, many of which went upside down. Gajeel and Laxus both started moving, but Freed and Lucy stopped them.

"Wait, we need a strategy. I suspect that the gravity will shift with the paths we take, so I would not worry about the ones that go in strange directions. However, my bigger concern is that this whole set up with shift at times, on a much wider scale than just bringing the platforms up and out of the city."

Lucy nodded. "He's right. We should also be working on a map, and hopefully other teams will be doing the same. That way we can use their maps to show us where not to go. I don't have any spirits that are good with directions, just a couple that are good at tracking. That's not going to help us here... We also need to consider that we need to be ready to compete in the morning, the first Games are supposed to take place at 10am. Depending on how long we get stuck in here, we could be sleep deprived, and if we use too much magic, we'll be low on it. I suggest Freed take point since he's the sub and the least likely to have to compete tomorrow, and the rest of us can alternate positions behind him and at the back for sneak attacks."

"That's a good point. We do need to get through this quickly. Any ideas on what we're going to be looking for?" Laxus asked.

"I'm not sure, but if we need to beat other teams, shouldn't we try to stick to paths where we can't smell anyone? We could still get lost and need to backtrack, but with our sense of smell, we should be able to find the door..." Wendy spoke up quietly.

"Good thinking." Laxus nodded. "So us dragon slayers need to be on the look out."

"I wonder..." Mira spoke up. "I think we might want to aim for the direction of the arena. I thought I saw a path extended out from there as we were rising, it would make sense for us to have to end there, too. I think if we can try to keep ourselves oriented in that direction it would help."

"Alright, I think that's enough for us to go on. Who's going to be working on the map?"

"I got it," Lucy volunteered, pulling a paper and pen out.

"Then let's go."

They started moving at a quick pace, whoever was nearest to Freed helping him decide which path would be best based solely on scent, though it was hard to tell in the beginning. After all, everyone was starting off at varying sections of the maze. Eventually, they met a team, but between Freed and Laxus, who had been the one behind him, that team was knocked off fairly quickly. Laxus moved back and let Lucy take his spot so that he didn't have to use his magic again for a while.

That system worked for them. As they made their way across the labyrinth at a faster speed than the teams they were coming across, they defeated multiple teams. Their preferred strategy was just getting them to fall off, as that meant less magic had to be used than actually trying to defeat them properly. Mira was the one who kept finding the arena again, confirming that them always taking the path without any scents on it was the right one as they were generally always moving in that direction, even when they were upside down thanks to whatever magic had been put into the labyrinth.

An hour into it, and they realized they were in the final stretch. Ahead of them was a single path, leading right to the arena. Lucy, now covering the back, confirmed that there was no one near them to see them sprint the final lap. They didn't notice at first, but there was a team almost to the arena already.

Freed left a rune trap for the next team before they continued on, sprinting the last distance. It was further than they realized, but they just wanted to go to bed now. Because while there was a team in front of them, that didn't mean they were going to be too late. It had been only an hour, after all. They arrived minutes after the team they had seen in the distance.

"Two teams this fast?" The person(?) with a pumpkin head stuttered when he saw them burst into the room set aside for this event.

"Does that mean we got second place?" Laxus demanded.

The pumpkin head nodded. "Yes. Now please exit, and follow the path to the number 2, that will be your box for the Games. Once you do that, report to your guild master who will have uniforms ready, and then you may return to your hotels. The Games start at ten, but we expect all competitors to be here at nine in the morning for the official opening, where your placement and the placements of the other successful teams will be announced. The remainder of the time, you will be expected at 9:30 am. And substitutes are expected to participate in the opening ceremony as well, though it is their choice on if they wish to remain with the team in the box or join their guild."

"Understood." Freed nodded as they left the room to more mutters of how fast two teams made it through- apparently they had predicted it would take at least two hours for the best teams, and as many as five for the final teams to succeed.

Lucy stretched as they walked. "Well, that's one success. Sure we didn't get first, but we don't need that right right away, we have more chances."

"Yeah, so long as the other team didn't fail too badly, anyways."

"If they do better than eighth place, it should be fine. Besides, our primary goal is showing everyone that Fairy Tail is not weak. Both teams doing better than eighth will go a long way towards restoring our reputation. And that is only if one of the two teams cannot get first by the end of the ten days. I believe we will be fine."

"Who cares? I just want to have a good fight," Gajeel grumbled. "None of the teams we faced put much of one up."

"That team that beat us is probably pretty strong, so I don't think you need to worry about that..." Wendy spoke up.

They arrived at their box and examined it. The chairs looked fairly comfortable, there was plenty of space if they wanted to stand, and it had a good view of the arena. There wasn't really much to see, though. Mira decided that she'd bring lunches for all of them, since it was unlikely it'd be easy for them to grab something to eat while the Games themselves were going on.

With that over, they returned to the hotel. There were a couple of teams knocked out on the streets, having fallen from the labyrinth at some point. They were ignored. Master Makarov looked pleased to see them so soon, and handed off the uniforms he'd prepared for the team.

They each took the time to try them on, but then all immediately went to bed. At that point it was just about two am and they wanted to get some sleep, considering they had to be back at the arena by nine. That only left them with about six hours of sleep, unless that person thought he or she would need less time to get ready.

By 9am the next morning, they were back at the arena, waiting for the opening ceremonies to start. They were in their box, as apparently they would just be entering the arena in the reverse order of finishing. They watched the coordinators rush around making sure everyone was properly in place at their box, and that everything was properly set up for the morning's announcements. Not to mention whatever the day would bring for the competition. Mira passed out some sandwiches for everyone with a smile. She had prepared several sandwiches for everyone, even getting up early to do so. They had been rushing around too much to get breakfast before arriving at the arena, so they were all grateful for the snack, even Gajeel.

Thankfully, the Opening ceremony started at 9:30 am. They followed instructions and got in line with their flag for the guild behind the third place team with the first place team joining them. Lucy frowned as she looked at both the team in front of her and behind here. She was familiar with neither. She didn't recognize anyone on either teams. The team who got first seemed smug and full of themselves, while the team in front of them seemed focused. But they also kept glancing back at Fairy Tail.

Laxus growled suddenly. "That's Raven Tail," he stated quietly, barely loud enough for the team to hear. "The guild my father created. I recognize that symbol. What are they doing here? Don't tell me they're a legal guild now..."

"Seems like it," Gajeel grunted.

"Just what we needed," Lucy sighed as the line started moving with the announcements of the team. They had completely missed what the opening statements were before they moved onto introducing the team. Probably nothing terrible, since they had already been told that the rules would be explained after all the teams were in the arena. Maybe an explanation of the prelims that occurred overnight.

"In sixteenth, we have Golden Griffin! Following them, with fifteenth, is Noble Centaur. Quatro Cerberus B with fourteenth." All the teams shuffled forward with each new announcement. "In thirteenth, White Unicorn! In twelfth place, Twilight Ogre!"

"Those guys," Mira uttered, narrowing her eyes. "Surprised they're competent enough to make it."

"In eleventh place is Banshee Wail, followed by Phoenix Feather in tenth. In ninth place we have Quatro Cerberus A, and then in eighth place Sabertooth B." The cheers for that team were deafening.

"Only eighth? The master is not going to be pleased. They were supposed to get top four." The dragon slayers heard muttered behind them. Which really meant that only Mira needed to be told what was said later.

"In seventh place, Fairy Tail A." In contrast to the previous team they were met with boos. Wonderful, even getting seventh out of the over two hundred teams that tried wasn't enough to start earning some respect.

"In sixth place we have Mermaid Heel. In fifth is Blue Pegasus. Fourth place is Lamia Scale, followed by Raven Tail in third place."

Fairy Tail Team B braced themselves to start walking, probably to the same boos the other Fairy Tail team had gotten. "In second place, Fairy Tail B." As they walked out, heads held high while Freed controlled the flag, they were met with stunned silence. No boos for them this time, apparently second place was good enough to be noticed. Lucy grinned and waved to the other Fairy Tail team as they stared in shock.

"And in first place, the reigning champions, Sabertooth A!" The cheers were deafening.

Lucy winced at the same time as Freed and Wendy, though Laxus and Gajeel hid their discomfort better. "Well, guess we know who the team we need to really look out for is," Lucy murmured quietly, eyeing them once they were at the spot they were supposed to stop at. The sixteen teams were all around the arena, nearer to the wall than the center, and therefore, somewhat spread out.

"This year, the Grand Magic Games will last for a grand ten days! There will be five days of competition, then a two day break before we return for the final five. Each day will consist of two events. The first will be some sort of game, designed to show a wizard's skills in varying situations, while the second is a randomized battle. The battle portion of the day will be random chance on who faces each other. While most of the battles will be one on one, the later days may have battles with more than that. Also, anyone who participates in the first portion of the day will not be up for the battle in the second portion. And before we get started, the teams have been awarded points for their placements in the preliminaries, as a nice bonus. Here's the scoreboard." It showed that the points awarded were 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0 for last place.

"Now, are we all ready to begin?" The stadium roared. Lucy winced again, resisting the urge to rub her ears. She really hadn't thought about how loud this would be to her sensitive hearing. Bixlow and Evergreen were probably suffering just as much. Freed looked really uncomfortable as well. And then the announcer had to try to get the crowd to go louder. Gajeel and Laxus were glaring at him. As were two of the team from Sabertooth. Lucy noted that as interesting. They had sensitive ears, which meant they could be dragon slayers. She decided to keep an eye on those two as they did strike her as the most dangerous, aside from the woman who had been carrying the flag.

Once he was satisfied that everyone was ready, the announcer turned his attention back to the teams. "The first event is a race. Please select your first competitor, and then return to your boxes for the event."

"A race huh? So... Mira or Laxus."

"How do you figure that, bunny girl?" Gajeel asked. Lucy rolled her eyes at the nickname, but Freed beat her to the explanation.

"A race meant to challenge wizards? Laxus can teleport or use his lightning to be fast, and Mira has her demon form to fly with, and is also insanely fast."

"Mira would be better," Laxus stated finally. "We don't know if there will be rules against teleportation."

"That's fair." Mira agreed serenely before turning and joining the others already in the center.

The rest of the team retreated to their box to watch. Gray was already in the center. He stared at Mira then greeted her cautiously before turning to look at their other competition. Lucy leaned over the edge of the box, to observe. One of the two who were potentially dragon slayers had joined them, the one with dark hair. A... person in a bunny costume, of all things. She blinked in surprise when she recognized Yuka from Galuna Island.

Eventually they were all introduced, but only after all sixteen competitors had gathered and their teams disappeared to their respective boxes, but she really only caught a couple of names; Rogue from Sabertooth A, Nichiya from Blue Pegasus (she shuddered, remembering that exceed), Araña from Mermaid Heel, and Rocker from Quatro Cerberus A.

"Now for the rules of this race. There is a path set up along the city, you start here, and end here. If you step out of the boundaries, you automatically get 0 points for your team. You may use magic to help you along, as the goal is to get back here the fastest, but you must hit certain checkpoints along the way, so be careful about which magic you use to get to the finish line. The checkpoints are stars on the ground that must be touched. If you miss even one, you will be dropped at least once place in the standings. Good luck, everyone take your places. Three, two, one, go!"

Lucy watched as Mira took on her takeover form instantly and started flying off. Gray started gliding along the ground using ice, the Sabertooth guy melted into the shadows, the bunny took off his costume revealing an exceed who looked strikingly like Ichiya who took off after Mira. There was other magic being used too; someone used beast takeover, there was light and smoke flashing around, some earth was moving... It was actually chaos at the starting line. Thanks to their methods, and to not trying to slow their opponents down right away, Rogue, Mira, Nichiya, and Gray were actually quite a bit ahead of everyone else within a minute.

Shortly after, the smoke cleared a bit, enough to show that Araña from Mermaid Heel was ahead, and using webs to slow her opponents down. The guy from Raven Tail was just ahead of her and able to dodge out of the way pretty easily. And... there was a semi-familiar figure.

"That bastard joined another guild..." Gajeel stated, looking amused. "Sol was in Phantom Lord. Did anyone catch which guild he is apart of now?"

"Yeah, I think it was Banshee Wail?" Lucy offered then looked around for the guild.

"And there's Aria. Huh. Didn't see that coming. That'll make things interesting."

Wendy looked confused until Lucy promised to tell her the story later. Nichiya caught up with Mira, but only because she kept having to land to touch a star then leap back into the sky. He started... flirting with her. She turned with a very scary look, making everyone in her guild terrified, before punching him out of the sky. She continued on. Gray was still running along below, occasionally sending attacks behind him whenever he felt like someone was getting too close. He had given up on gliding on the ice as it was just easier to run most of the time. There was no catching up with Rogue, he reached the arena again first.

Mira dove through the air across the finish line, just before Araña, who's technique served her well in passing everyone, even Gray. The guy from Raven Tail was next, followed by Gray and Yuka, almost tied. Then the guy with the beast takeover who was from Sabertooth. Nichiya followed, looking a bit put out. Then Sol. Then the rest of the pack, almost all at once, still shooting magic at each other. It was actually entertaining to watch.

The final results had Sabertooth A in first, Fairy Tail B in second, then Mermaid Heel, Raven Tail, Fairy Tail A, Lamia Scale, Sabertooth B, and Blue Pegasus. Then for the bottom half there was Banshee wail, Golden Griffin, Twilight Ogre, Quatro Cerberus A, Quatro Cerberus B, Noble Centaur, White Unicorn, and Phoenix Feather.

"Not bad..." Lucy commented as Mira rejoined them, looking a bit winded. Since she hadn't actually had to fight, she was still in good shape.

"Too bad those shadows were too fast for me," Mira grimaced. "But another second place placing keeps us in second for now, so I guess we can't really complain about that."

There was an announcement about there being an hour break before the battles would start. The team looked at each other.

"So... either we stay here and eat the sandwiches Mira packed for us, or we go find our guild mates and risk them freaking out at us for not revealing the secret plan..." Lucy pointed out.

"Staying here it is then," Laxus declared as he took out the cooler. He opened it and grabbed a drink followed by a sandwich. The others took their turns. Lucy sat close to Laxus as they ate.

After a moment Wendy reminded her of the story about Phantom Lord and Aria and Sol, so Lucy started explaining, with help from Gajeel and Mira. Freed and Laxus listened with interest because they had never actually gotten the full story from anyone. Laxus winced at one or two points, remembering his attitude at the time, but Lucy just smiled at him and nudged him with her knee to remind him that he had changed since then. And while maybe the rest of the guild hadn't forgiven him, she had.

This turned into stories of other events Wendy had missed and had only heard in passing. It ended up being a good way to pass the time while they waited for the battle portion to start. The anticipation in the stadium was high as the time drew nearer. Finally, it was time. All of the audience was waiting eagerly. Who would be facing whom? After the initial greetings of the announcer and a reminder of how the battles worked (thirty minute time limit, a win equaled ten points, a loss zero, and a draw would give each team five points), they activated their randomizer lacrima.

"The first match of the day will be Quatro Cerberus A's Semmes versus Mermaid Heel's Beth!"

Lucy leaned forward to watch, wanting to get a good idea of potential opponents and strategies. Besides she had never seen either of those two before. It was an interesting battle. Semmes used spinning magic while Beth slowed him down with her plant magic. Eventually her patience in slowing him down and constantly moving rewarded her with a win, only five minutes before time ran out.

After that was a guy from Raven Tail versus Toby from Lamia Scale. Despite Toby's questionable intelligence and the fact that he relied on his nails and paralyzing his opponents, he actually won in short order. His opponent surprisingly did not put up much of a fight. It certainly was not what any of them were expecting.

"I think he threw that match," Lucy commented, "he has more magic than Toby... he just wanted to keep his magic secret, I guess."

"Certainly seems that way, but he could've been less obvious about not even trying," Laxus responded. "His teammates don't look happy. Then again, who cares, it's Raven Tail."

They missed the announcement of the next battle. It turned out to be a fight between lightning magic of Banshee Wail and fire make magic of Sabertooth B. The lightning mage did not have nearly the same amount of control and ability Laxus did while the fire make mage was interesting. She apparently could not use fire magic unless she shaped it first, which was typical of make magic. It just wasn't usually seen outside of more sturdy elements (like ice, wood, and iron). It was an entertaining show of fiery animal shapes chasing down lightning. She found more openings than her opponent did, as she was very determined to keep the pressure on him. She earned her team ten points in the end.

Lucy was lost in thought, thinking about the skills shown thus far when the fourth match was announced. Elfman versus someone from Golden Griffin. She decided the names didn't matter, so long as they could recognize their opponents.

"He better win, we can't afford losses this early in the Games, for either team," Laxus muttered.

"I think Elfman will be fine. He did train quite intently," Mira told him, then smiled brightly. "He even let me help him out with his training sometimes."

Laxus conceded the point and waited to see how the match would turn out.

It wasn't the best match up. Beast takeover, versus a wind mage? Elfman was better against opponents he could more easily physically fight. But, he did his best, and used brute strength to force his way forward, even when the wind magic threatened to push him back. His beast form did just fine against other wind attacks, being very durable. Once Elfman actually reached his opponent, about five minutes in, the match was over quickly. The wind mage never had a chance as soon as it became a physical fight. And to the stunned silence of the crowd, Fairy Tail had their first win in battle.

The next match had a poison mage from Noble Centaur against a requip mage from White Unicorn. It ended up being one sided. The poison mage was fairly skilled, but couldn't get his poison past his opponent's armor, no matter what he tried, and then was knocked out once the requip mage got tired of watching him attempt to get the poison to contact skin. A staff was brought forth, one good smack later, and the poison mage was out.

After that there was bubble magic from Quatro Cerberus B versus Ichiya and his perfume magic from Blue Pegasus. Lucy winced when the pairing was announced, before they even took the field. She may not have liked Ichiya, but his magic was stronger than people expected from first meeting him. The average mage wouldn't stand a chance- after all, Gemini impersonating him was able to take down Jura. As expected, his opponent struggled against him, though he did use his bubbles in interesting ways. Including riding on them to avoid the magic on the ground. Until Ichiya unleashed a wave of perfume that popped the bubbles, and then he was fair game.

The next battle was one everyone had been waiting for. Finally, someone from Sabertooth A was fighting. Lucy took note of the name- Rufus Lore- and watched the stands to see who it was. The one who dressed fancy, so not one of the two potential dragon slayers. The others were also watching with interest. It had quickly become apparent that this team was popular, and had probably won the Games the year previous. Maybe even with those exact members. They would be the biggest threat for Fairy Tail.

"Now we can see just how dangerous Sabertooth actually is," Lucy commented, "I've heard they're the ones who took the top spot out of nowhere last year, but no one has said any details."

Mira nodded. "Which is why it's in our best interests to pay close attention to this fight."

"I hope I don't have to fight any of them..." Wendy whispered. She was more confident in her fighting ability, but she simply wasn't ever going to be as powerful as the other dragon slayers.

Rufus was up against a mage from Twilight Ogre. At first no one could tell what either mage had for magic. Though the majority of the audience and teams probably were aware. Then the guy from Twilight Ogre revealed that he had seeing magic. As in, he could see what was going to happen before it actually did. Which explained why he was dodging all the attacks fairly easily, and was relying on a sword.

Rufus... Rufus just seemed amused. He did not waste time with talking and instead just went with his next attack, a strong lightning technique. This time though, he spoke words that finally gave everyone a clue as to what his magic was.

"Memory make... So, what, this guy can just make any techniques out of his memories?" Gajeel asked grumpily. "What kind of bullshit is that?'

"It probably has its weaknesses, but we'll just have to see how he uses it," Lucy responded as the fight properly got underway now.

Rufus won in under a minute once he started taking the battle seriously. His attacks were simply too widespread and strong to easily dodge for the seeing mage. Even though that mage did have some impressive speed as he attempted to get out of the way of different attacks before they were formed. It wasn't nearly enough in the end.

"Wow... are all of Sabertooth that strong?" Wendy wondered.

"It's likely," Mira stated grimly. "We'll need to be careful."

That was battle number seven. That left two teams to battle: Fairy Tail B and Phoenix Feather. Everyone tensed, ready to fight if they were chosen. Then it was announced to be Lucy. She blinked, then grinned viciously.

"Good luck," Laxus told her, amused. Knowing that she was planning to have fun with this, even if she didn't use her dragon slaying magic for this one. Lucy leaned over and kissed his cheek, thankful he was still sitting so she could reach.

"Thanks." Then she left. Mira started eyeing Laxus with a look of delight. Gajeel just raised an eyebrow at him before turning his focus to the match that was about to start.

Lucy took out her whip and put a hand on her keys as she waited to meet her opponent from Phoenix Feather. She bounced lightly on her feet as she waited. The other mage eyed her with disdain.

"Leggings with that uniform? Tacky."

"Kind of a necessity when otherwise my fighting style will show off under any skirt," Lucy replied casually, tensing.

Thankfully, the battle started shortly after. Lucy dodged to the side smoothly, letting instinct guide her. She frowned. Blue fire... and it burned cold. The air was frigid where it passed. She eyed the still flying fireball then turned back to her stunned opponent.

"I take it that if I get hit with that it'll give me frostbite instead of a burn?" she asked conversationally as she mentally called on Gemini and went over a tentative plan. She didn't know if water would work against cold fire, and she didn't have any spirits that could use fire. Something she hoped to remedy at some point. Fire was just too useful to not have.

Gemini appeared, already in Lucy's form. She nodded to Lucy then turned to their opponent. To their opponent's credit, she didn't let the appearance of another Lucy deter her from continuing to fight.

Lucy smirked and shifted stances at the same time as Gemini-Lucy. They both unleashed a dragon's roar at the same time, easily countering the cold, blue fire and causing damage to their opponent. To her credit, when the dust cleared, she was still standing. But, Lucy and Gemini were already moving. Gemini swung the whip around, powering it up with more celestial dragon slaying magic while Lucy took a different approach with her dragon slaying magic.

She started off with a wing attack, followed by a swift kick powered by her dragon slaying magic. Gemini kept up the pressure on her end, but left the heavy lifting to Lucy. After all, the point was to confuse their opponent until she was defeated. Lucy didn't like taking risks with overdoing it with power just incase their opponent was equally as strong or smart. And it seemed their opponent was somewhat smart, as she used her fire as a smokescreen in order to gain some distance. A quick call to Virgo that dropped her into a hole quickly fixed that.

Lucy resisted the urge to laugh when their opponent realized she was now up against three and was stuck in a hole. With all three coming in with an attack. At that point, she was totally done. Lucy stood up victorious, and not winded in the least. It hadn't been a very difficult battle in the end. She really had gotten a lot stronger.

Gemini revealed themselves as the celestial spirit as Lucy thanked Gemini and Virgo for helping her out in that fight. They responded before disappearing and Lucy headed back to the booth to the stunned silence of the audience. Even most of Fairy Tail was in shock. The silence was broken by first Fairy Tail B, then Gray and the Raijin Tribe cheering before Fairy Tail joined in. She even got a few scattered cheers. She smiled and waved at the crowd before disappearing. The commentators were still talking about her performance, though she paid them no mind. It sounded mostly like shock about her using two celestial spirits at once on top of using dragon slaying techniques.

She missed the complete shock at the Sabertooth booth. They immediately pegged her as one to watch out for. Yukino was good with her spirits, but she couldn't call two out at once yet. Lucy did, and used several dragon slaying attacks in addition to that. She barely looked like that drained her at all. They thought she was definitely dangerous, but figured any of them except Yukino could take her, and the only reason Yukino wouldn't be able to win was the advantage of numbers and the fact that Lucy fought along side of her spirits.

"After day one, we have Noble Centaur in last place, Quatro Cerberus B in fifteenth, Phoenix Feather and Golden Griffin tied for thirteenth, Twilight Ogre in twelfth, Quatro Cerberus A in eleventh, and Banshee Wail in tenth. White Unicorn is in ninth, Sabertooth B in eighth, Blue Pegasus and Raven Tail are tied for sixth, Fairy Tail A is in fifth, Lamia Scale is in fourth, Mermaid Heel is in third place with thirty six points, Fairy Tail B in second place with forty six points, and Sabertooth A is in first place with fifty points!"

"That's a lot of points just for the first day..." Wendy commented.

"Yeah, well, that's what happens, and that's why we can't really afford to lose any of the battles," Laxus responded. "We'll really start falling behind if we lose any, especially if the first part of the day goes badly."

"There'll probably be a big difference between some of the teams by the end, the ones who consistently end up losing, the ones who win and lose some, and the ones who pretty much always win," Lucy added. "That's why one of the Fairy Tail teams winning is such a long shot, really. If we can make top three, we'll get a reward. And I think if we can stay in the top five we'll start gaining respect back."

"Yeah, that's true..." Wendy nodded. "I just hope I don't have to fight anyone too strong..."

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Now let's go see how everyone feels about my battle," Lucy suggested. She was pretty eager to see how everyone reacted after her fight.

Laxus smirked. "You were brilliant, did I say that yet?"

"No, you hadn't, thank you." Lucy blushed lightly as they all started moving. Laxus slipped his hand into hers without a word or otherwise making it obvious. Mira, of course, noticed, and squealed, getting looks from them, but they didn't say a word in denial either. They silently agreed that letting her spread rumors would be alright. Neither would be comfortable making such an announcement anyways.

They decided to make their way to the hotel rather than try to make it to the guild box or the other team's box. Everyone would end up there eventually, and they would likely want to celebrate a fairly successful start. With all the spectators leaving for the day at the same time, it took them a while to make it back. There wasn't too many people there yet, so Laxus, Lucy, and Wendy all ordered some food while they waited.

Evergreen rushed over as soon as she arrived. "That was amazing, Lucy! You should've seen everyone's faces when they realized what you were doing."

Lucy smiled. "That good?"

"Oh yeah, I don't think any of them know how to react," Bixlow laughed. "They were still talking about it when we hurried ahead of them."

"Most of them are wondering how long you have been hiding it," Freed added.

"I actually kind of wish I hadn't had to reveal it so early," Lucy admitted, then sighed. "But whatever, it was going to come out eventually. And as far as everyone is concerned, we're all unknowns and they're going to underestimate us for it."

"I just hope I get to fight tomorrow," Gajeel grumbled from a few seats down. "It's borin' just watchin' everyone."

"I'm sure you'll get your chance, there's ten days total after all," Wendy told him.

Any further conversation was cut off by the guild descending on them, including Fairy Tail team A. Natsu of course immediately challenged Lucy to a fight. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm eating Natsu, besides we shouldn't exhaust ourselves with a fight right now, not while we're competing," she pointed out reasonably.

He pouted as he sat down near them. "Why is there another team anyways, Gramps?" he complained suddenly, cutting through all the exclamations and comments Lucy was trying to answer about her magic.

"It wasn't against the rules, and in the interest of getting a better chance at winning and improving our reputation, I deemed it necessary. Oh, and did I mention? The team that does the worst between the two will have to pay a forfeit to the other team... of that team's choice."

That was all it took to get everyone on the other team, even Juvia and Cana, determined to try their best to improve their score from that day.

Erza then approached Lucy. "That was a good fight, your new techniques certainly have improved your fighting. I noticed in the fight against Hades, and wondered at their origin, but I suppose that has been answered now. You also had a good and efficient strategy to defeat your opponent."

Lucy shrugged. "I found a book on dragon slaying magic back in October, and started practicing. It wasn't that difficult for me to learn. And of course, I did some intense training over the last two months. And I'm not sure how it'll hold up against a tougher opponent, so we'll see how that goes later on."

"It was still quite impressive. Good luck to you and your team." Erza nodded to them and moved away so she could have her own food.

Lucy spent the rest of the night fielding questions about the dragon slaying and how she came across it. What made it different from regular magic (she kept that answer as vague as possible). She was getting more and more exasperated with all the attention and interruptions until she decided to give them all something else to talk about and wipe that amused smirk off her boyfriend's face. She finished her food and downed her drink, setting the empty glass down with a thud.

Then she stood up and walked over to Laxus and sat down on his lap. She took advantage of his surprise to drag him into a kiss to the stunned silence of the guild. She pulled away, smirking. "There now they have something else to talk about." Laxus just ignored everyone and pulled her in for another kiss.

A/n And there we have it, the changes to the GMG arc. I hope you like them. I think it's more fun to write with more people involved, though I do sometimes ignore some of them. I do have a list of all the magics on each team and who competed in what if anyone is curious. I kind of had to start up a separate document just for keeping track of the competition, and there's a table with all the scores, so that's fun.