c h a p t e r f i v e
      e c l i p s e

"We're in first place!" Natsu cheered loudly along with Ace, the two with arms around their shoulders as they danced in the dark hallway with their two teams after having a little meeting.

"Take that, Laxus!" Ace flicked off the blond, who in returned scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I can't wait to order him around." The two fire users cheered loudly once again, both imagining having Laxus as their little piggy.

"Natsu," Erza called out to the dragon slayer. "Don't you have something to do?"

"Oh yeah!" Natsu quickly dashed away, leaving Ace cheering on his own.

"Who do you think should take the next round?" Gray asked with a smirk, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Ou! Let me!" Ace volunteered. "I've been sitting out for the past three rounds, I'm starting to get bored."

"Very well then." said Erza with a smirk. "Just make sure to not fail."

"You got this, Ace!" Wendy cheered excitedly for the man she now considers her older brother.

Ace smiled down at his little sister and ruffled her hair affectionately, "Thanks kiddo. You be careful now, okay?"

Wendy nodded, "Of course."

"Watch after her for me." Ace told Mira, who sweetly smiled and nodded. "Of course." She said.

"Let's go!" Wendy ran off behind Natsu, Mira right on her heels.

"Alright, so now let's just win this thing and hope Lucy and that Yukino girl are okay." said Gray.

The master of Fairy Tail joined the two teams along with their first master, Mavis Vermilion.

"Masters." Erza was the first to acknowledge them.

"For this last round," Mavis started. "You will all participate. It's basically a battle royale."

"What?" The men were the ones to stare at the two masters in disbelief. "Awesome!" Ace and Gajeel grinned.

"I have a plan." Master Mavis stated. "So I want all of you to listen carefully."

"A plan?" Laxus raised a brow.

The participants listened attentively, nodding determinedly after their first master finished with her plan.

"You got this, dear!"

Gray and Gajeel screeched, "Juvia, where the hell did you come from?!"

Juvia chuckled dryly, "what do you mean? I was just taking a stroll."

"You're only saying that because you want to admire pretty boy." Gajeel told her, causing her to blush profoundly.

"What? Of course not."

Ace sighed, "Let's be honest. I'm prettier."

Gajeel and Laxus snorted.

"Assholes. You're just jealous."

"As lastly, Fairy Tail!"

The five contestants came out of the shadows, each holding a smug smirk on their face.

"I can't wait to beat somebody's ass." Ace grinned mischievously.

"I bet you I can beat more than you." Gajeel challenged him with a smirk.

"Oh, you're on."

"This isn't a contest between ourselves." scolded Erza before a smirk of her appeared on her face. "But if anything, I'll make sure to beat you both."

"When did this become a competition between the five of us?" Laxus snorted.

"Thought it was only against other guilds." Gray snickered.

"If you two wanted to join all you needed to do was ask." Ace smirked.

"Begin!"

Unlike the rest of the guilds, the Fairy Tail members stood on their spot. Patiently still.

"What's going on? Why are they standing there?!"

Whilst ignoring the crowd, the team received their respectful coordinates and once after sitting up from their team, Ace found himself surrounded by Bacchus Groh from Quatro Puppy and Ichiya from Blue Pegasus.

"Only you two?" Ace said smugly. "We're definitely gonna have a lot of fun here."

"Don't get too cocky, pretty boy." Bacchus let out a laugh.

"I'm sorry, Ace." Ichiya aimed a dramatic finger at him. "But just because you're my friend and friends with my dear Erza does not mean I will go easy on you."

"Hey, man." Ace raised his hands. "Who said I want you to go easy on me? I know I'm new at this but I can still hold my own y'know."

"I'm sorry." Bacchus stepped forward and turned to face the short male. "I really don't want you to be offended for this," he got in position to strike, however, it went unnoticed by the confused ichiya. "But I really want to fight him myself."

Before the Quatro Puppy wizard could attack, Ichiya was thrown back— but that wasn't enough to knock him down. Ichiya was soon back on his feet , glaring at his attacker.

"Jura!" He bellowed dramatically.

"Awe man!"  Bacchus whined. "Another one? Come on, man. I'm just trynna fight Fire Fist alone. I promise I'll fight one of y'all next once I'm done with him."

Ace let out a chortle, "You heard the guy! Let him take me out. Flame Fence!"

The two were now in the center of a fire circle, still being in view of everyone.

"Are you making fun of me or something?" Bacchus growled. "I'll knock that hat out of your head, pretty boy."

"You like me or something?" Ace said with a smirk, an amused expression as Bacchus grew irritated. "Nobody's called me pretty boy before. But hate to break it to ya, I don't head that way."

"Neither do I, jerk!" shouted Bacchus as he jumped and aimed a fist towards Ace.

Ace snickered and dodged the fist that was heading his way, the ground beneath them being destroyed, piles of debris scattering around them.

"Tell me something, Bacchus." His fist ignited with flames and aimed at the drunken fighter, who dodged but managed to get grazed by the fire. "Why are you so interested in me? What makes you want to fight me so bad?"

"I don't really know." Ace got in response. "Something about you interests me a lot, and I'm sure it's got to do with that nasty scar on your chest."

Ace's eyes widened, taken off guard by the answer he received. After their fists collided, a gust of wind filled the arena. The two kept eye contact, a similar smirk on their face.

"My scar, huh?" He chuckled as his legs found support against his opponent's knees, using the advantage to twist himself backwards— causing Bacchus fall to the ground. "Surprise I'm alive showing it off?"

"Honestly?" Bacchus snorted as he got back on his feet. "I am. The hell happened to you?"

Ace tsked as the two continued to dodge their attacks, unaware of Jura and Ichiya silently eyeing them. "War."

As the two continued to fight, Jura and Ichiya started their own battle, every now and then accidentally hitting one of the other two.

"Hey!" Bacchus and Ace would simultaneously shout. "Butt out!"

"Tell you what." Ace grinned. "If I win, you do everything I ask of you for an entire two months. If you win, not only will I do the same for you, but I'll tell you where this scar came from."

Bacchus smirked at the challenge, "deal."

In the end, Ace was tired out but he wasn't giving up. He could hear the loud cheering coming from his newly made family.

"Come on, Acey!" He heard the shout of little Asuka. "Kick his butt!"

"That's my boy!" followed Makarov.

Bacchus huffed, a smug smirk on his face as he noticed Ace's worn out expression, totally ignoring the annoying fireflies around him– even trying to shake some off.

Once Bacchus got ready to attack, Ace let out a soft laugh, "boom."

The fireflies exploded, Bacchus widening his eyes in shock as the flames engulfed him. Once the smoke had cleared, Bacchus was laying on the ground, arms and legs spread out.

"Heh." He let out a dry chuckled followed with a cough. "Guess you win, Fire Fist."

Ace smiled at hearing the name. Natsu sure made sure to let the whole world know and remember him as Fairy Tail's Fire Fist.

"And with that fantastic battle from Ace Portgas and Bacchus, Fairy Tail takes the win!"

Cheers erupted from the audience but Ace was left dumbfounded.

"What?!" He abruptly said. "I only took down one?!"

"Relax." Laxus made his way next to him, followed by a beaten Erza, Gajeel, and Gray. "We have one left."

"I say I can defeat him before any of you." Gajeel said directly to Ace.

Gray snorted, "You're all beat up, man."

"We're all beat up. It'll only be fair if we work together." Erza added with a small smile.

"Who we fighting?." Ace grinned as he followed his team.

"Me."

Heads were turned and they were met with a solemn looking Sting. The dragon slayer from Sabertooth.

Ace grew defensive, "Hey. Weren't you the one that had it out for Natsu?"

Sting sighed solemnly, "I surrender." He said softly.

"What?!" Gajeel and Ace shouted. "Not cool!"

"What? Why?" Erza questioned. "Why give in?"

After a very touching speech and reunion of Sting and his exceed friend, Lector, the feud between Sting and his guild was put aside.

"Hey." Sting looks up at Fairy Tail's team. "Why didn't Natsu participate today?"

The Fairy Tail members eyed each other before they adverted eyes and glanced towards the castle, all hoping for their friends' safety.

"Come on, let's meet up with everyone else." said Erza.

"I'll help ya." Ace stood in front of Erza, his back facing her. "Climb on my back, I'll carry you."

Erza smiled, "Thank you. I appreciate it."

As the team headed towards the rest of their guild, screams start echoing throughout the city.

"you've got to be kidding me!" Gray's eyes widened in shock. "Is that really–?" Their eyes were widened with fear and shock.

"A dragon." Gajeel breathed out.

"Dragons." Ace corrected, his hold on Erza tightening.