A/N: dun dun dunnnnnn

Lucy stood in the audience as Max, the sand wizard, began the highly anticipated contest that everybody has been waiting for.

"Why would you be interested in this?" Gray muttered to Natsu who sat next to him eating steak.

"Why are you here?" Natsu glared at the stripper. "There's free food ice breath!"

"He's a man!" Elfman shouted from the far distance of the man land.

Lucy sighed as she sat on the other side of Gray, purposely away from the fire mage. Nothing personal...

Lucy watched as Max called in the first contestant: Cana, the drunk mage... She transformed her clothing into a swimsuit, causing the audience to go up in an uproar. It was a nice swimsuit.

Then Max called in the second contestant: Juvia, the rain girl.

Juvia glanced at Lucy for a second with hearts in her eyes before transforming her body into water, until she was wearing a blue polka dotted swim suit. It suited her. Contemplated her pale complexion. (Imagine Erza giving Juvia a dirty look from behind a curtain)

Max then called in the third contestant: Mira, the poster girl. This got the entire guild in an uproar of whistles and cheers. Mira was definitely the favorite with her famous smile.

Lucy had barely contained her laughter when Mira had changed her head into Happy. It was a funny sight.

When she did her second transformation, Lucy had almost choked on her breath when she transformed into Gajeel. Well that was awkward. Happy was the only one having a fit of laughter with a weird sense of humor.

Then Max called in the fourth contestant: Erza, the Titania.

Lucy had to cover her ears as the audience screamed, excited to see the strongest girl in Fairy Tail. Erza made eye contact with Lucy before requipping into an outfit that she had saved. It was a goth-loli outfit. It looked really sexy.

Lucy never seen Erza in those type of outfit, but she looked good in it. But she felt weird hearing and seeing all the men screaming with hearts in their eyes. Lucy wanted to beat them up, why? She just frowned.

The fifth contestant: Levy, the intelligent.

Levy used her solid script magic, creating snow magic, butterflies magic, and flower magic. Lucy thought it was beautiful. She wanted to see more of it, so memorizing.

The sixth contestant: Bisca, the sniper.

Bisca had showed off her snipping skills by shooting holes in four coins in one shot. Lucy thought it was quite impressive. Sharp shootings girl!

"Entry #7" A feminine voice suddenly called out, as soon as the audience calmed down, and it was not Max's (obviously! 💅🏻). "I am the definition of a 'fairy'. I am the definition of 'beauty'. Yes, I am the definition of everything. This victory goes to me, Evergreen! Okay! This ridiculous contest is now over."

Lucy gasped as soon as she heard the name. Since when did she get back? If she was here, that means the rest of the group is here. But where?

Silence filled the air, so Evergreen turned her head and looked at a confused Bisca. With a small smirk, she lifted her glasses off a little and her eyes shined in a glimmer of yellow light. And in an instant, Bisca was turned to stone, frozen in place of pure fear and confusion etched onto her face.

"This is bad! Everyone! Run for your lives!" Max yelled in panic and dived into the audience trying to get away from being turned to stone. It was evident that he feared Evergreen's power.

Everyone, except for the Fairy Tail mages, ran out of the building in a total state of hysteria and fear.

Master Makarov walked toward the stage, flabbergasted as tall civilians was running past him. "What do you think you're doing, Evergreen?! Are you trying to spoil the festival?"

Evergreen laughed as she looked down. "All festivals need some sort of entertainment." Evergreen said, and as if on cue the curtain behind her was lifted.

Lucy's eyes trembled as she looked upon the figures of the girls who had just been turned to stone. They all have the same expression: surprised and confusion. And Erza was among. "Erza!?"

"You fool! Turn them back this instant!" Makarov ordered with anger, red in the face with his fists clenched.

Then there was a blinding light, and a lightning bolt hit the stage. When the light dies down, the figure of Laxus stood before all other mages, sporting a smirked filled with malice on his face.

"Hey there, you Fairy Tail losers. This festival is just getting started." Laxus smirked as the other other mages were just speechless.

"Laxus!" Makarov yelled and glared at Laxus.

"Let's play, old man!"

"Cease this nonsense. Turn them back at once!"

"Just how many of them will survive until the Fantasia parade?" Just then, a lightning bolt raged toward the spot next to a stoned Bisca (no not from weed 🙄)

It was clear to everybody that the girls were hostages, and Laxus was using them. What kind of sick game does this guy wants to play? Makarov was angery and disappointed, and the other mages were afraid and tensed for the stoned mages.

Laxus wrapped his arms around Bisca and making himself comfortable. "I'm taking these girls hostage. Break the rules and they'll shatter one by one. Like Evergreen said, this is entertainment."

Lucy desperately wanted to believe that Laxus was just playing a mean cruel joke. Because if they were to be shattered, then they will die. (oBvIoUsLy!)

"I've had enough of your jokes, Laxus!" Makarov yelled, stepping forward couple of steps, filled with anger.

"I'm completely serious." Laxus said with a straight calm face. "I'm always serious."

"Let's find out who the strongest member of Fairy Tail is." A new voice was heard as a new mage stepped onto the stage, revealing Freed.

"Let's have some fun!" Yet another voice yelled as a masked man jumped onto the stage from above, revealing Bislow.

"The rules are simple. Whoever's still standing at the end wins. A battle of Fairy Tail!" Laxus leered through crazed eyes.

Here's what is going through everybody's mind (think you can guess who is who? 🤔😉)
'What?!'
'Bastard!!' '
'Give me back my Bisca you bastard!'
'Levy-san!!'
'Levy-san!!'
'Why did he changed so much? This isn't the Laxus I knew before'
'Mira looks kinda sexy like that... and I'm probably going to hell for thinking that'
'LAXUS FIGHT ME!'
'You won't get away with this you bastard!'

There was a sudden crash as a table was smashed to pieces. All heads turned to see Natsu with a fired up look. "Sounds good to me. Nice and simple. I'm all fired up!"

"I like that 'raring-to-go' side of you." Laxus smirked. "But can you even beat me you fire garbage?"

Lucy looked at Natsu who was grinning, possibly thinking about that rare chance to fight Laxus. She doubted that he even knew what was even happening. Guessing he got all exited with the word "fight". Such a lost cause...

Natsu proceeded to light his fists on fire and lashed toward Laxus, eager to spar with someone powerful. Almost instantly, a lightning bolt appeared from above, raging straight toward Natsu. Natsu's head was stuck in the floor but he didn't move. He was instantly knocked out.

Lucy figured that was going to happen. Natsu's such an idiot for not grasping the situation.

"If you want to turn these girls back to normal, you will have to defeat us first." Evergreen mused with a smirk, clearly having fun with messing around with the mages.

"There's four of us, and close to a hundred of you." Bixlow added, obviously loving the odds that we're stacked against him in terms of numbers.

"You have three hours. Take any longer and these girls will turn into sand." Evergreen informed, gesturing to the stoned girls.

Three hours? Lucy wondered if Evergreen has gotten tired of Erza always beating her in terms of popularity. Maybe that's why she's so cranky and eager to play the game with the use of her statue powers.

"All of Magnolia will serve as the battlefield. Once you find us, the battle begins." Freed added, starting the rules to get things started.

"Laxus!" Makarov uttered angrily before he started growing in size, transforming completely into a old giant. "I've had enough of this!" Lucy always wondered how the clothes managed not to rip as he grew in size. It's like that anime version of One Punch man. (A/N: Oh wait... it is)

"I told you before, just shimmer down. It's entertainment for the festival. Let's enjoy it." Laxus cackled before making his body emit a bright light, blinding everyone in the room. "Let the battle of Fairy Tail begin!"

When the light died down, Laxus and the thunder legion was gone. The fairy mages were now alone with the stoned mages.

Lucy just stood that as countless mages ran out of the building, fully intent on saving the hostages. She knows exactly how strong they are. Truthfully the members would be no match to the Laxus as his puppy followers. Three hours wouldn't be enough. It's a race against time.

Still dazed, she looked upon Erza, and wondered if she could fight. Could she even fight? Her injuries haven't fully healed. She could always try using her celestial spirits. Would they mind? Making them fight a such a scary battle, she didn't want her spirits facing such battle.

Staring at Erza again, Lucy made up her mind. Her celestial spirits will have to suck it up. She didn't want to lose her. And the other mages as well, obviously. (......)

Getting her head back into the world of the living, Lucy took a deep breath and turned to the entrance, resolved to leave. But the. She spotted Makarov, Natsu and Happy in front of the entrance looking very stressed and agitated. Everybody else was gone.

"Master. What's going on? Why are you still here? And I'm surprised Natsu's still here." Lucy interjected, looking at Natsu with a confused look. Surprised that Natsu didn't want to fight.

"Lucy." Makarov whispered to himself. "I cannot leave this place. Fried had created an enchantment around his building, anyone above 80 cannot leave. And for some reason, Natsu cannot leave as well."

"So...Natsu's an old man?" Lucy questioned, not believing it staring at the fire boy. "He looks like a bratty 10 year old. I'm not seeing old people signs"

"No!" Natsu complained and crossed his arms across his chest. "Stupid enchantment."

"It's a mystery, but we'll get around that once we deal with the situation Laxus created.

Lucy looked at the entrance and sighed a little. If Natsu and Makarov are both on the bench, it'll be a little tougher.

"Fried had also set enchantment traps all over the city, causing members to fight each other." Makarov added, feeling defeated, like a mouse caught in a trap.

"Is this the battle of the Fairy Tail Laxus was talking about?"

"It would seem so."

So Laxus's plan was have members fight each other one by one by using Freed magic. Clever, but cruel considering that he was doing to to his own guild.

"Lucy, will you fight?"

Lucy looked at Makarov with conflicting eyes. In truth she wanted to stay here where it's safe. But the others are risking their life and fighting for their friends. She should do the same and not be a coward. "

"Can you really do it?" Natsu picked his nose, with a jokingly tone.

The celestial girl wanted to punch him for that comment. But she decided against it, it wasn't worth it.

"I have my celestial spirits. I can do this." Lucy declared with an uneven tone. She's going to walk out of there no matter what.

She gave the statues mages one last glance, especially at Erza. There was a strong feeling building up inside her, wanting to free them, but most of it was centered toward Erza and Erza alone. She get bad for feeling like that. But no one else has to know that...

Erza has saved Lucy numerous times. Now it's her turn to save Erza.

Then she turned and walked out of the guild with a hesitant determined look. It's time to do the saving this time.

...

She hated it. She hated this game that was forced on her friends. Friends fighting each other for the sake of the others. They're losing their logical minds as they can only focus on doing what Laxus has forced them to do.

Lucy stumbled through the streets, trying to ignore her pained sides, walking pass the members who were knocked out by the other members. Then she came across Elfman who stood in perfect form of a statue, with Evergreen standing in front of him with her victory smirk.

In her panic, Lucy hid behind the closest thing she could, which was behind a crate.

She was extremely scared. It reminded her when was was hiding from...him. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to look beyond the crate. Evergreen was gone, leaving Elfman alone in all of his glory.

And she was alone too as well. Damnit. She had a chance to beat the crap out of Evergreen and to free the others. She's definitely being really helpful isn't she?

Today, as of this moment, Lucy is feeling such a failure. A complete failure.

Tears started forming in her eyes as she cursed herself. She can't do it. She can't do anything. Lucy wondered why she even walked out of guild and into the battlefield. Why did she even do it?

You had come a long way.

Lucy stopped breathing for a moment when she heard a voice.

You shouldn't push yourself.

Erza?

Believe in yourself.

Great now she's hearing things. A ghost convincing her to do the impossible.

"Shit." Lucy muttered with a silent cry. "Time to listen to the voice." Mostly because it was Erza's voice. Believing in herself is harder than she realized. But Erza seems to believe in her.

Damnit.

"You can do this, Lucy." She silently muttered to herself.

"You need to do this."

"You can do it." Lucy closes her eyes, taking couple of deep breaths. Just a blondie about to face danger with a cup of 'this is the most stupid thing ever'. Don't be stupid, stupid...

"Yeah!"

"You can do this!"

"Yeah!"

Upon hearing unknown voices, she opened her eyes and turned her head to see three floating dolls above her. It didn't take long for Lucy to figure that these dolls belong to Bixlow.

The dolls started to do move with irregular movement, and Lucy managed to dodge before they landed a lasered type attack on her.

Lucy got back again, and wondered what she could do next. That was when Bixlow himself appeared on a roof nearby, clearly comfortable and having fun with the so-called game.

"You must be the blondie responsible for the destruction of the guild." Bixlow grinned.

Lucy frowned with discontent. "That's in our past!" A past that doesn't matter anymore. Its over.

Bixlow only grinned. "Okay, my babies. Get her!"

"Shit!" Lucy cursed silently as she rolled to the side before one of his dolls could hit her with on of their lasered attack. She grimaced in pain when she dodged that as her sides screamed with murdered pain.

"Do you honestly think our master will let you guys get away with everything you've done!?" Lucy yelled as she stood back up. She was frustrated with how they weren't the people that she knew.

"We don't care what he thinks. By the time this game is over, Laxus will be the new master." Bixlow tittered with glee and excitement.

It took Lucy a lot of effort to avoid countless attacks. Some of it had landed on her already wounded aides. But she had to force herself to keep moving.

She needed to do it. She needed to save them, save her. But the only way to do that was to stop the man in front of her. Stop being a pussy damnit!

Lucy glanced at the flying dolls and grabbed for the keys by her side and summoned Sagittarius for his aiming skills.

"You called, hello?" Sagittarius saluted as soon as he appeared in a shinning golden light.

"Aim for those flying dolls please !" Lucy persuaded, pointing at the dolls in the air.

"Understood, hello!" Sagittarius said as he aimed his bow at the flying dolls and started shooting. One by one, the fools were reduced to dust.

"Oh, my babies!" Bixlow cried. "First you were frozen, and you're blasted to bits!?"

Lucy stood still staring at the man, clearly unamused with his acting skills. She knew better to think the battle was over.

"No! My babies! Oh my babies...my babies!"

Lucy stood there with a blank look on her face. Is he really for real?

"Gotcha!" Bixlow grinned, as he finished pretending.

"Wow...you sure got me..." Lucy sarcastically commented, with a blank look still painted on her face.

Then out of nowhere, Sagittarius disappeared from a large blinding light, forcing him back to the celestial world. That definitely was not expected.

"There is a hobby shop next to us. A treasure of dolls!" Bixlow laughed, seeing the confused surprised look on the blonde's face.

Lucy wondered why Bixlow always has to be dramatic. She reached for another key to summon another spirit, but before she could, one of the dolls slipped down and grabbed her keys and flew away with it.

"Ack! My keys!" Lucy cried, now feeling entirely defenseless as the doll now has her keys.

As soon as she was disarmed, the dolls proceeded to bump into her violently without using an lasers. Bixlow was definitely just messing with her. Each hit had grazed every part of Lucy's body, bruising her even further. One of her old wounds started screaming in pain before it started to bleed. Lucy doubted if she could keep this up or not. The pain was too unbearable.

"There's no turning back now. So sorry, celestial girl." Bixlow grinned as he directed his dolls into a formation. "Give up your soul for Laxus!"

She felt so horribly defenseless and helpless. She needed her keys. She needed her keys to stop all of this. But it had been snatched away from her.

Then she remembered the tower. Someone she had managed to summon Leo without physically holding the keys. She could hardly remember exactly how she did it.

So Lucy mentally yelled to open the gate of Leo, one of his best spirits. But nothing happened. Lucy yelled it again. But got the same results. Shit.

"Baryon Formation!" The dolls chirped before releasing a high level of energy and proceeded by blasting it toward Lucy.

Seeing the high level magic heading straight toward her, and in her state of pain, she didn't think she would dodge in time. So she decided to 'fuck everything' and let loose all of the magic she had left and physically screamed. "I summon thee Leo!"

Just before the attack could hit her, a bright shimmer appeared and disappeared just as quickly, along with the blonde.

"You should be careful of your injuries, my Princess." Leo smiled as he held the young blonde in his arms.

"Injuries?" Lucy wondered exactly what he meant from her injuries. The battle from Bixlow?

"From the tower of heaven."

Lucy was silent for a moment. "So you were the one that saved me."

Leo gently set Lucy back on the ground when it was safe from any surprise attacks. "You were in bad shape. You shouldn't push yourself."

"Thanks." Lucy muttered hesitantly. "Thanks for saving me."

The celestial spirit smiled at the blonde before turning to Bixlow with a angry look on his face. "Get back, Lucy. I'll take care of this for you."

Lucy was almost tempted to get back, behind the back of someone strong. But then she remembered how she wanted (needed) to become stronger to fight and protect her friends. She hated being seen as someone who always needed protection, someone who was weak. Lucy wanted to get rid of that image.

"No. I'm going to fight too." Lucy muttered with more determined tone. She really had enough of it. "No one else will be my shield. I'm going to fight by your side."

Leo smiled gently at the blonde. He couldn't say no to that determined look in the blonde's eyes. "Alright then. Then I'll clear a path for you to take out Bixlow. He doesn't seem like a close combat person, so you should be able to take him out easily."

'Should'? Lucy hoped that there wasn't any doubt when he said that. Nonetheless, Lucy brought out her whip, since she doesn't have her keys. She can do it. She can do it. She CAN do it...

A whip should be helpful since she couldn't really move too much. She waited patiently and alert as Leo was focused on making an opening for Lucy.

"Now!" Leo yelled, and Lucy charged, or more realistically, walked a couple steps before lashing her whip and managed to hit Bixlow on the arm. But it wasn't enough to stop him in his tracks.

"You're scary, dominatrix girl." Bixlow sneered with joy. He was having way too much fun.

The ticked Lucy off, and hit Bixlow in the head. Which happened to be a lucky shot.

"Ow..." Bixlow rubbed his head with a frown. "Damn! Guess it's my only option now!" Bixlow muttered before taking his mask off, with his eyes closed.

Seeing his eyes closed, she immediately knew what was coming next. She closed her eyes quickly and shielded herself protectively. Leo, with his great celestial instinct, also closed his eyes and stood next to Lucy.

"Oh, shut your eyes, huh?" Bixlow's voice echoed in the air. "Good I love a challenge."

Then the dolls started to violently bump into both Lucy and Leo. Lucy was having trouble staying on her feet due to her pain. It was all she could do. She didn't want to be caught as dolls to do Bixlow's bidding.

"Lucy! Close my gate for now and use Horologium to strengthen your defense!" Leo yelled as he had his arms raised, defending himself in the process.

"My keys got stolen, you know!" Lucy complained. She can't exactly send Leo back without her keys. She doesn't even know how to.

Bixlow's laugh echoed in the air as he was loving the odds that was stacked against the blonde and the celestial spirit. Lucy had enough. The repeating pain was annoying and it hurts. This was going no where. This needed to end. "Leo! Where are you!?"

"I'm here."

Eyes still close, Lucy made sure to keep her voice low, not wanting Bixlow to overhear her plans. "Leo...blind Bixlow somehow."

It didn't take Leo long to understand what Lucy was thinking and eagerly complied. "Ok, then on my signal, open your eyes and hit him hard then."

"Ok. Do it already!" Lucy cried. She wanted this to end.

Couple seconds later, Lucy could hear Bixlow cry out in pain, and Leo called out to her, signaling that it was her turn now. She opened her eyes and saw Bixlow hunched over in pain. This definitely gave her the chance the land damage on him.

With adrenaline pumping through her veins, she hardly felt any pain as she literally ran toward Bixlow and punched him in the face as hard as she could.

Leo was right when Bixlow was not a close combat person. He was easily knocked out and fell unadmirably to the ground. The dolls that was being controlled by Bixlow clattered on the ground.

Seeing that the battle was now over, Lucy limped to the ground. All of the energy that she had was now gone. And the pain was all she could feel. Summoning Sagittarius and Leo definitely took a lot of toll on her.

"Thanks..." Lucy mumbled, too tired to do anything else. All she could think of was that she actually won. She won.

Leo grinned at the victory Lucy had won. "Look, Lucy." Leo threw his arm in the air, and words appeared in the air. It was read as: 'I Love Lucy.' "At the light of love."

Lucy sighed and leaned against the wall behind her. She wanted to take a small nap.

"Lucy. After all of this, we should go on a date." Leo smiled, fully knowing that he won't get one. But he loved saying it and teasing his owner.

"Date?" Lucy turned to the celestial spirit.

Leo responded by kneeling down in front of her and handed Lucy her celestial keys. "I should go now. I have a date to go soon. Please don't push yourself." Leo disappeared after saying the last word.

She could only nod, and watched as Leo disappeared into a shinning golden light.

Lucy sat there for a view more minutes before remembering that she has something else to do. She pushed herself off of the ground and took a step forward. Not knowing where she was going, she was just hoping that she would run into someone familiar and not wanting to fight her.

She walked pass numerous streets, pass the bodies of passed out and beaten mages of Fairy Tail. Civilians on the sidelines wondering what was all of the ruckus was. Lucy only stumbled forward in pain.

"I'm surprised a girl like you could defeat Bixlow." A voice suddenly called out.

Lucy slightly jumped and turned around to see Evergreen. She silently cursed herself. She should've stayed where she was. "Evergreen..."

Evergreen stared at the blonde before reaching toward her glasses and lifting it off. Lucy, seeing the hand motion of the woman before her, immediately closed her eyes.

Couple moments later, she could almost visualize a smirk from the woman before being littered with countless of needle-like attack. It felt like tiny explosives exploding all over her body, and it was NOT pleasant. Lucy fell to the ground, her eyes still closed.

Evergreen didn't stop and kept torturing Lucy with an evil smirk. Lucy couldn't handle it any more than she had. She felt her conscious fading out. She just wanted it to stop.

"Lucy!" A voice of such familiarity rung in her distant ears, but the blonde couldn't move to see who it was.

Then the onslaught of the needle-like attack sudden stopped, followed by a shriek and an explosion. Curiosity getting the best of her, Lucy pried open her eyes and lifted her head to see Erza clashing her sword against Evergreen. Though it all seems too blurry to tell.

But she definitely knew Erza was there.

Lucy did the best she could to when she fought against Bixlow. The last thing she remembered before closing her eyes was when Evergreen looked like she had seen a ghost. Hah... priceless.

Erza on the other hand was filled with rage and anger. Hearing that Lucy has won the fight against Bixlow, she was worried but proud at the same time. Then Evergreen had to go and attack Lucy when she was already hurt. The nerve of that woman!

She wanted to do more than just hurt her. But she knew Lucy wouldn't want that. Instead, she 'politely' asked to reconvert the hostages and Evergreen would be spared. And Evergreen understandably surrendered with the numerous blades pointed at her with a deadly chill.

"It's done... They're free." Evergreen stuttered, still fearing for her life, staring into the eyes of someone who was not yet satisfied.

Erza summoned her blades back to wence they came from and turned away from Evergreen before she did something stupid. She turned to where Lucy was and found her on the ground, unconscious.

"Lucy!?" Erza ran over to her side and checked her injured. It was life threatening injuries. But they looked worse than it was.

"Lucy?" Erza gently nudged the blonde. But she was out cold. "You're going to be okay."

Erza could take her to a nearby doctor. Or just finish this nonsense Laxus started. One more look at the blonde and Erza was dead set on taking the blonde to a nearby doctor.

Before Erza was about to carry the blonde into her arms, she felt a tingly sensation of magic heading towards her. Then a lightning appeared behind her and Erza barely had time to shield herself before being kicked across the street with unimaginable strength.

Standing above An unconscious Lucy was an enraged Laxus. "Damned you."

Laxus stared that the area Erza has crashed in murderously before looking down on the blonde. Seeing how tenderly Erza was looking at her, he figured she was someone special.

A new idea formed in his mind. He reached down and grabbed Lucy's arm, ignoring the winces that came out of the blonde's mouth. "You'll be coming with me blondie."

Erza got back to her feet and back into the view where Lucy was. And seeing what Laxus was doing to Lucy, she summoned two blades. "Let Lucy go!"

Laxus stared at the redhead for a moment, studying the rage in her eyes. He knew he had her right where he wanted. "I'll be taking Lucy hostage. Finish the game as you were intended. Try to cheat, I'll electrocute Lucy myself."

"Bastard! Let her go! She needs a doctor."

"Oh I'll give her my most undivided attention to her injuries" Laxus grinned at the expression Erza was sporting. "Also, you might want to focus what's in the sky right now as well."

Erza risked a glanced and saw something floating in the sky. She immediately knew what it was. For Laxus to sink so low, the innocent bystanders have no reason to so be brought into this. She looked back at Laxus. only to find that Laxus and Lucy had disappeared.

"Lucy!" Erza cried. "Laxus, damn you fucking coward!"

Erza was in a dilemma. To save Lucy or the town. There's to many of those lightning lacrimas in the sky. Erza doubt that she would have enough magical energy to do both.

Shit.

A/N: 👀👀