Battle of Fairy Tail; Part 4

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

October 15, x784.

With the announcement ending the first match, Gray and Lucy were quickly set free from Bisca's [Net Shot] before returning to the rest of their team with dejection in their expressions.. Meanwhile, Alzack was taken to Ren to have his injuries checked out.

"Sorry, Erza, we lost." Gray said with frustration in his tone.

"Yeah, we let you down." Lucy added while hanging her head.

Erza, wearing a stern expression, took a step forward after her teammates apologized. Then, she raised both her hands.

Thinking they were about to be hit, Gray and Lucy both closed their eyes. To their surprise, however, they were both pulled into a gentle embrace instead.

"You may have lost. But you fought well." Erza said in a soothing tone. "So, there's no reason to feel as if you've let me or anyone else down. I'm proud of both of you."

While Lucy teared up from the praise, Gray simply smiled, enjoying the warmth Erza's embrace brought with it.

Meanwhile, in the bleachers, Laxus watched the members of Team Natsu for a moment before shifting his attention to Team Alzack When he heard Bickslow speak.

"That was not how I expected that match to end." Bickslow said while the rest of the crowd went wild over the completion of the match.

"Hmph!" Laxus snorted in disdain. "It only ended that way because they are lucky."

"But their strategy and teamwork were worthy of praise." Fried replied.

"If they were stronger, they wouldn't have had to rely on luck, though." Laxus said, defending his point. "If those two had not rolled off the ring, or if the spirit had realized they were falling off the ring, things would have ended differently."

To that, Fried had no retort.

Meanwhile, Evergreen looked as if she were growing more and more annoyed as time went on.

"Would someone please shut that guy up?" Evergreen finally running out of patience, snapped out.

In response, Laxus, Bickslow, and Fried could only shake their heads. They all knew who "that guy" Evergreen was referring to was Jason from Sorcerer Weekly. And although they were all also annoyed by the constant shouting of "cool," They knew that there was nothing they could do about it. Well… Nothing they could do about it without gaining the ire of most of Fiore.

In any world, attacking the media was a good way to have your name dragged through the mud by nearly every media outlet.

"*Sigh* Erza's already out of the tournament." Mirajane said after tending to Lisanna's burn. "It looks like we won't be able to settle our rivalry here."

"You say that as if she would have beaten Alfonzo and Elicia." Lisanna said with a chuckle. "It's too bad Natsu lost so early, though. Worst of all, he wasn't even conscious to see it."

"Yeah, I can only imagine how he'll react when he finds out." Mirajane said with a wry smile on her face.

"He'll definitely be upset that he couldn't fight Alfonzo." Elfman said. "He was looking forward to a tough fight, just like a real man."

"*Sigh* I guess Juvia's comment wasn't enough to cure him." Mirajane and Lisanna said simultaneously.

"Hold on a minute.' Gajeel said, approaching Team Strauss. "Are you saying that we're gonna lose in the next match?"

"Unfortunately, she's probably right, Gajeel." Levy said from behind Gajeel. "They're stronger than us… for now."

"Speak for yourself, Pipsqueak." Gajeel replied without turning around. So, he missed the glint of determination flashing in Levy's eyes.

"For once I have to disagree with you, Levy." Jet chimed in from behind Levy. "We can beat them."

"Yeah, they're not invincible." Droy added.

"Ha! Actually, I already knew we were gonna lose in the next round." Gajeel said, sneering at Jet and Droy as he turned around. "I can only do so much with deadweights on my team."

In response, Jet and Droy gritted their teeth as they glared at Gajeel.

"Then why did you even join our team if you think the three of us are dead weights?" Jet asked angrily.

"When did I say anything about the three of you?" Gajeel asked, his sneer widening. "I meant the two of you."

"What did you say?" Droy barked back.

"Maybe if you two spent more time training seriously than trying to one up each other for the pipsqueak's attention, you would be a lot stronger." Gajeel continued without paying attention to Droy's question. "Hell, out of the three of you, she's the strongest. So, even if I weren't on the team, you'd still be holding her back."

In anger, Jet and Droy flared their magic power. Meanwhile, Levy's face blushed slightly. With Jet and Droy around to draw most of the attention on quests, most people had never realized how strong she was. But having Gajeel mention it, even if he didn't do it very nicely, was nice.

Unfortunately, neither Jet, Droy, nor Gajeel was paying Levy any attention at this point. But Mirajane and Lisanna saw everything and their eyes lit up with the thought at some possible future gossip.

Meanwhile, Juvia, who had been glaring at Bisca for the perceived interference in her and Gray's love, snapped her head towards Team Steel Threads when she realized that Alfonzo would be fighting in the next round.

"I hope Team Steel Threads wins and makes it to the finals." Juvia muttered darkly.

Even though she did not speak loudly, everyone nearby, meaning the rest of her team as well as Team Shadow Gear, heard her. While the Strauss Siblings could guess why she would think that way, Jet and Droy were quite upset by her words.

Not paying attention to the hostile glares, Juvia continued to mutter to herself.

"If they make it to the finals, I'll be able to teach him a lesson for stealing away my Ultear." Juvia continued, unbothered by the stares she was receiving.

While Jet and Droy continued to glare, Levy could only smile wryly at Juvia's statement. Meanwhile, Gajeel looked on in confusion, not concerned with keeping up with everyone's relationship status.

"But Gajee." Juvia said, turning to Gajeel. "Even though your team will probably lose, I'm rooting for you."

"Thanks, Juvia." Gajeel replied casually.

Although Gajeel was quite stand offish and did not get along well with others, he and Juvia got along pretty well when they were members of Phantom Lord. To the point that Gajeel even let her call him by the nickname, Gajee. But if anyone else tried to copy her,… it would not end well for them.

"Team Shadow Gear and Team Steel Threads, your match is next." Makarov announced to the venue. "Make your way to the ring."

With that, the conversation between Team Strauss and Team Shadow Gear ended as Team Shadow Gear left and made their way towards the ring. All the while, Jet and Droy glared at Gajeel, who could not be less concerned. Instead, he was looking forward to a good fight in the next match.

Meanwhile, Alfonzo, Elicia, Marin, and Sun also stood up and started to approach the ring.

"Hey, Fonzie, do  you think Mystogan will be back for the second round?" Elicia asked curiously as the team approached the ring. "I mean, he ran away pretty frantically."

"He's already back." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "All he had to do was put on a new mask, after all."

"Huh, I can't sense him at all." Sun replied. "How do you know he's here."

"He's still in mist form." Alfonzo replied. "But he's dispersed himself, making it harder to feel his magic power. But since I've had my [Magic Power Detection up the whole time since he ran off, it made it easier to detect him, even if his magic power signature is spread out over the venue."

"Well, let's not worry about Mystogan for now." Marin said in a cheerful, yet determined, tone. "How are we gonna fight the rounds of our match?"

"Well, Either Lici or I will go first." Alfonzo said, outlining his strategy for the match. "Undoubtedly, Gajeel will be the first one up. And honestly, neither of you are a good match for him, considering that you both fight with metal weapons. Though, you'd be able to do some damage with your [Voice Magic], Sun."

"Yeah, and if you could hit him with a [Howling Voice] at close range, you could even win." Elicia added. "But he probably knows that, too. So, he'd definitely keep his distance."

Marin and Sun nodded in understanding.

"for the second fight, one of you will fight." Alfonzo continued the explanation. "And for the third fight, whoever is left will go up. But honestly, I doubt we'll make it to the third fight."

Once again, Marin and Sun nodded in understanding as they arrived at ringside.

"Match two: Team Shadow Gear Vs. Team Steel Threads." Makarov announced. "Both teams, send up your first fighters."

"I'll go first." Elicia said with a smile.

"Sure." Alfonzo replied with a shrug as Elicia jumped into the ring.

And just as Alfonzo predicted, Gajeel, with an excited smile on his face, jumped into the ring without discussing with the rest of his team.

"He really is just like Natsu." Levy said with a wry smile. "Just not as friendly."

"Hmph!" Jet Snorted. "Since he's gonna lose against Elicia, we'll have to carry the team."

"Yeah, we'll put the team on our backs." Droy added.

Hearing that, Levy could only shake her head.

'If they send up Alfonzo in the next round, our tournament journey will end immediately.' Levy thought to herself. 'There's even a good chance that all three of us we'd lose to Sun in a one on one match. And I doubt Alfonzo will send Marin up for a one on one. Her skills are better suited for infiltration. But, she could probably give Droy a pretty good run for his money, though. She's gotten pretty good with those daggers Alfonzo made for her over the last few years. And his plants would probably be cut through pretty easily.'

Meanwhile, Makarov having seen Elicia and Gajeel enter the ring, looked at both fighters.

"Are the two of you ready?" Makarov asked. After seeing them both nod in confirmation, he continued. "Round one of Match two, Gajeel Redfox Vs. Elicia Taylor… Fight!"

As soon as Makarov gave the signal to begin, Gajeel rushed forward. Then when he was halfway between where he started and Elicia, he threw a punch.

"[Iron Dragon's Club]." Gajeel chanted as his right fist turned into an iron rod.

In response, Elicia released threads from the fingertips of both hands. Then, she swung her hands in front of her. A moment later, all the threads she released were wrapped around Gajeel's iron club.

Then, before Gajeel could with draw his arm, Elicia began twitching her fingers. While Yanking herself forward at the same time,

"[Thread Magic: Thread Slicer]." Elicia chanted as she flew forward at high speed.

With that chant, Elicia's threads started vibrating at high speed. On top of that, they began spinning around the iron rod that extended from Gajeel's hand. Then, they slowly started cutting into the iron surface with the speed increasing the faster the threads vibrated.

Seeing the effect of Elicia's spell, Gajeel reacted quickly.

"[Iron Dragon's Spiked Club]." Gajeel chanted, causing spikes to protrude from the surface of the iron rod. While this managed to sever some of Elicia's threads, Gajeel was far from done.

Once all the spikes were formed, the spiked club started to rotate, shredding the rest of the threads. As a result, Elicia was left flying towards Gajeel with nothing she could use as leverage to change her direction.

"I got you now!" Gajeel said in a gleeful tone. Then, he cupped his hands into a trumpet as he raised them to his mouth. "[Iron Dragon's Roar]."

From between his hands, Gajeel fired a mass of spinning metal that carried an immense amount of blunt force. On top of that, there where sharp shards of iron that spun along with it.

A panicked expression appeared on Elicia's face as Gajeel's roar attack inched closer. Then, it eventually slammed into her.

To not only Gajeel's surprise but to all the spectators, as well, The [Dragon Roar] passed through Elicia's body without resistance before Elicia's figure simply vanished, as if it were never there in the first place.

"What the…?" Gajeel exclaimed after seeing what just happened.

At the same time, Elicia's figure, concealed by her [False Appearance] spell, reappeared, crouching in front of Gajeel.

"Up you go." Elicia said softly as her right foot, loaded with her magic power, shot up towards Gajeel's chin.

Caught off guard, Gajeel was not in time to raise any form of defense, other than activating his [Iron Dragon's Scales], covering his body in iron scales. Still, on impact, he was shot up into the air.

Following up, Elicia created a spring out of her threads and shot herself up into the air at a greater speed than Gajeel.

A moment later, Elicia appeared behind Gajeel, wrapped her arms around his arms and torso, and ejected a great number of threads from her hands.

"Fonzie used this move in a fight once. But since he's my fiancé, it's not stealing, right?" Elicia asked in Gajeel's ear. "[Primary Lotus]."

'Besides, Fonzie Stole the move from Rock Lee, anyway.' Elicia thought as she redirected herself and Gajeel towards the ground, head first.

A split-second after being wrapped up, Gajeel had every intention of breaking free by sprouting metal spikes from his scales. Unfortunately, Elicia's next move caused all his plans to come to a sudden halt.

As Elicia changed her and Gajeel's orientation, she also started spinning the two of them at high speed.

Although spinning at high speed like that would be disorienting to anyone, it's especially bad for Dragon Slayers with their heightened senses. And Gajeel was no exception, motion sickness hitting him hard as soon as they started spinning.

A few moments later, Elicia pushed off from Gajeel just before his head slammed into the ring. Then, as she landed not far away, she spun on her feet. And with the threads that were still wrapped around Gajeel, he was spun along with her, even if at a greater distance.

Then, three full rotations later, Elicia released the threads from her fingertips.

"[Thread Magic: Seismic Toss]." Elicia changed as Gajeel's momentum sent him flying out of the ring.

*Shatter!*

A moment later, Gajeel crashed straight through the ice board with the tournament bracket before hitting the ground and eventually rolling to a stop.

When Ren went to check on his condistion, in her capacity as Fairy Tail's nurse, she could only shake her head at what she saw.

Gajeel was unconscious with his eyes open and rolled to the back of his head. At the same time, his iron scales had receded and his expression made it obvious that he was experiencing intense nausea.

"Gajeel has both lost consciousness and fallen out of the ring." Makarov said, announcing the outcome of the fight. "Winner of the first round, Elicia Taylor."

While the crowd cheered excitedly for the end of the round, Elicia showed no signs of happiness. And the reason was simple. Standing next to the shattered ice board was Ur, covered in ice dust and glaring at her intensely.

"Oops." Elicia said with a wry smile on her face before she stuck out her tongue and knocked on the side of her head with her knuckles. "My bad."