It had been decided that you were going to be the champion for the Second Fairy Tail Team, for the second Event of the Grand Magic Games. Sabertooth was currently leading, followed by the First Fairy Tail team, Blue Pegasus, and your team was in 4th. You did not know what the event would be, but it was part of the game. You were confident in your capacities. You goal was to gain to most points as possible without being eliminated. Even one point would be good.

You step in the arena as you hear the commentator scream your name. The crowd roars in anticipation. They haven't seen you fight yet, but since Fairy Tail has delivered incredible performances, they think you will be able to entertain them. You are the second one to enter the arena. The first is some guy from Blue Pegasus. He glances at you and gives you a sign of the head. You nod back, acknowledging his presence. Wait... That's Lyon! What's he doing here? How much bad luck can you possibly have?

You sigh and observe the other contestants enter. There's another guy from Blue Pegasus, a woman from Lamia Scale, a young girl from Mermaid Heel, a masked man from Sabertooth and a man from a guild so pathetic you don't even know how they passed the pre-selection. They are currently last, very far behind the others (their first participant almost died during the first event).

"And for Fairy Tail Team one..." yells the commentator. "Let's applause..."

And then the contestant for the other Fairy Tail team enters.

"Gray Fullbuster!!!"

You are so surprised you freeze for a second. What is he doing here? He can't be competing at the same time as you, right? But yes, he can.

"What the hell are you doing here, Gray!?" you yell at your comrade, walking toward him. He looks at you, surprised as well.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" you scream. "So that you could humiliate me in public?"

"There seems to be some kind of tension between the two Fairy Tail teams..! Could it be a lover's quarrel?"

"Get your freaking info right!!" you yell back to the commentator.

"Look, I did not know you were going to present for this event too," says Gray.

"Well be assured that I won't be losing to you!"

"Want to bet?" proposes the ice magician.

"Bet what," you frown and cross your arms.

"Whoever wins, which means the one who gets the most points between you and me, can ask anything of the loser." Gray smiles to you, drawing out his hand. "Deal?" You think for a short half-second.

"Deal." You shake Gray's hand.

"It seems the two Fairies have decided to make peace for this one!"

"Champions, be ready!"

You take a deep breath. Suddenly, you are teleported out of the arena. You seem to be in some kind of town. It is filled with replicas of the other candidates. Too easy, you think. You've seen this event before. You know exactly what to do.

"The rules are simple," you hear. "You hit a candidate, you win a point. If you attack a clone or get hit yourself, you lose a point. After you get hit, you will be teleported in another section of the map. And here's the last rule: if you can get a champion out of the borders of the area, you get five points, and the candidate is immediately eliminated. Whoever gets the most points after 30 minutes win! Good luck!"

The town is really quiet, still, silent. You know the commentator is talking to the spectators in the arena, but you can't hear him.

You start to walk. It is too easy. You know exactly how to match your footsteps to your other clones. You breathe at the same time, every movement is the same as another. You seem to look forward, yet you are analyzing everything you can possibly see. You do not activate your magic. You continue to act as a clone as you discretely look for others. Something bothering you. The last rule the commentator said did not exist last time. Why did they add it this time?

You suddenly see a young girl running on the roofs of the small houses, visibly pursued by someone. You do not make a different move from the replicas and wait for the pursuer to show up. It doesn't take long and you see the woman from Lamia Scale running after the kid. She doesn't give you a glance. You activate your magic, and it only takes an instant to hit the woman and the girl from behind and to deactivate your magic. You smile internally as you see them get up with difficulty, visibly confused and hurt by your attack. They are teleported a second after they got up. That's two points for you!

You continue to emotionlessly follow the flow of clones, observing around you to be sure no one saw you attack the girls. You have to find someone else before the time runs out. You see movement from your right and quickly hide behind another clone. An ice spear pierces the repliqua's chest and both dissolve into a million pieces. This was destined for you, and you know it. At least your attacker lost a point because he hit a clone. You activate your magic and try to find who threw that spear at you.

"Gray! Stop hiding and face me!" you yell to your hiding opponent. You did not know of anyone else in the event who could use ice magic.

"Gray?" says a male voice, a silhouette appearing on a roof. "No, Gray is not your adversary here. I am."

It's a man about your age, with whitish blue hair and blue robes. He seems calm, yet irritated that you had compared him to Gray.

"Lyon?" you ask, surprised.

He was a very good friend of yours when you were in Blue Pegasus, before you joined Fairy Tail. Your relationship with him was much calmer than the one you had with Gray. You don't even remember if you ever fought with him. You don't think you even had a single argument. Now that you changed guilds, you sometimes went to see him to hang out or talk, but it had been a long time since you last saw him.

"Hello. It's been a long time, isn't it?" He smiles. "Will you do me the honor of being my opponent?"

You see ice appear around his hands. You attack before he does, but he hides behind a transparent ice shield. You swear. You don't know a single thing about his techniques or power. But you know what his attacks are, since you have fought so many times with Gray. He's probably going to use an ice sword first, then will be the arrows, and-

"Ice-Make: Snow Dragon!"

Huh?

A gigantic dragon rushes from Lyon's hands toward you. You are frozen in surprise. What the hell is this attack? It's nothing like Gray's! What are you supposed to-

Hmpf!

Someone pushes you from beside and you fall on the hard ground. You hear the dragon roar as it misses you.

"Why did you freeze like that?" asks a familiar voice above you. Gray. Who else? He rises up and helps you get up. He shoots a death glare to Lyon and closes his fists.

"Gray! I don't need help!" you protest. But he doesn't react and is still staring angrily at your attacker.

"Seriously? You decided to join us?" complains Lyon. "Well, this is going to get me more points, I guess."

"Be ready to lose," says Gray to the other man with a smile.

"That's my line!" You scream as you punch him on the jaw. "I can defend myself! Leave me alone!"

Gray is very surprised by your blow. He frowns angrily.

"I'm trying to help you here! And you freaking hit me!"

"I only hit stupid people." You snicker. "Besides, I can easily destroy Lyon without you!"

"Says the one who was almost eaten by a ridiculous ice dragon!"

"Huh... Am I disturbing you two lovebirds?" starts hesitantly Lyon.

"SHUT UP!" you and Gray yell at the same time. The other ice mage takes a step back.

"I think I'll just-"

"Let's kill him," suggest Gray with a mad smile.

"You are joking, I hope. Death will be too nice for him," you answer, smiling back.

"Look, huh, I am sorry for calling you two lovebirds, so can we just-"

"SHUT UP!" you scream again at the same time as Gray. You launch yourself at Lyon with your magic and immediately attack him, fueled by your anger. He tries his best to avoid you and your partner's blows, but none of his counterattacks even reach you. He doesn't have the time between blows to use one of his Ice spells. Lyon only has time to conjure up fragile shields to protect himself. And if he escapes a moment from you, he is stopped by Gray's ice magic. Because you always fight against each other, you know all of the other's movements. It is the first time you act as a team, but it looks like you've fought like this for years.

Finally, you manage to give him a blow severe enough to wound him. He falls down on the tiles of the roof, blood rushing out of his injury.

You hear Lyon swear as he is teleported away to another section of the town. You stretch yourself, allowing yourself a moment of rest. You glance at Gray. He seems satisfied with the turn of the events.

"Hey, did that point go to you or me?" you ask him. You see his smile disappear.

"Don't tell me you got it."

"How am I supposed to know..? But I am sure I am winning."

"No way." He shakes his head. "I've already got-"

"5 minutes left, dear fighters!! Sabertooth is presently leading with 7 points, followed up close by Lamia Scale! To put the stakes even higher to the public's content, one rule has been eliminated! Even if you are hit, you won't be teleported! Will you have enough time to change the score? Good luck!"

A huge chronometer appears in the air. It's counting down the time that is left. Gray is as dumb-founded as you are. You have like three points. He mustn't have much more, seeing his face.

"Damn! If I hadn't lost time with Lyon..." he sighs, passing a hand in his dark hair.

"Don't say it like it's my fault! I didn't ask you to interfere!"

"Of course..." He sighs again. "Sorry, but if I wanna win this, I have to get someone out of the limits. That's the only way." He looks away.

"So..?" Then you realize he means he has to fight you. "Fine."

"You're really okay with this?" asks Gray.

"Of course. Besides, we're always fighting against each other."

"True." He takes a deep breath. "We have to hurry. Ready?"

"Never been more ready," you answer as you prepare yourself. You exchange a smile with your friend as you launch a magic spell, time slowly slipping away.

4:23

4:22

4:21

4:20

...

1:13

1:12

1:11

You've been fighting for a couple of minutes now, but no one seems to be winning. You are just beside the limits, trying to push the other out without success. You can't move your right arm, your shoulder having been struck by an ice spear. You managed to make the blood coagulate, but one false movement and the wound might open again. Blood is dripping down from Gray's forehead. Time is running out. One has to win.

You avoid ice arrows by launching yourself in the air, doing a back flip. You immediately hit him back, still in the air, but he hides behind a shield and you land.

0:56

You see Gray look at the time as the same time as you do. You don't have a choice. You did not want to use this technique, but you have to. You take a deep breath, concentrating all your magic in the arm you can still move. You then attack your adversary with all the power and magic you possibly have.

Gray's shield is destroyed by the impact and he gets hit in the chest. He falls back, eyes closed. Wait. This isn't normal. You didn't really mean to hurt him! Why has he fallen!?

0:09

"Gray! Gray! Are you all right?!" You exclaim as you rush to him. He is lying on the ground, immobile, blood everywhere on his chest. You did not mean for that attack to be that strong! You were sure he was going to avoid it, like he always does! Why didn't he?! Why didn't he stop it?!

You feel tears pour out of the corners of your eyes as you kneel beside your friend. He isn't moving. You couldn't have killed him, right? You did not want to hurt him! "Please be all right, please be all right!" you repeat over and over in your mind.

"Gray, say something!" you shake him with your good arm, trying to make him wake up. Suddenly, he opens his eyes and grabs your wrists with force. He pulls you forward. You are lifted up and pushed away. You crash a few meters away from him. Stunned, you manage to rise up, only to see yourself on the other side of the limits. A huge sign appears over your head: "Eliminated"

0:01

You open your mouth to speak but nothing comes out. You don't move, still frozen in surprise. You see Gray rise up as if nothing happened to him. He turns toward you and waves with a huge smile on his lips.

"I win," you hear him say.