Fairy Tail: Metal and Threads

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.

July 6, x790.

{"And it looks like Team Final Fantasy is the second team to be eliminated in full!" Loli shouted enthusiastically. {"And I have to say, receiving 35 Points in their first appearance in the Grand Magic Games is quite impressive."}

{"That's right, Loli."} Yajima added. {"But it's a little more literal in their case than most. Because not only was this Final Fantasy's first time participating in the Grand Magic Games proper, but this was even the first time they took part in the preliminaries. So, in essence, they did something that only the eight teams who made it to the main event in the very first Grand Magic Games had done. Actually, now that I think about it, Sabertooth has gained the very same honor. This year really is an extraordinary one, isn't it?"}

{"That's right! It certainly is!"} Loli shouted. {"However, as much as I'd like to talk about what the ninth team to do so means, I think we should check out the battle that's been heating up between Contestant Marin of Team Fairy Tail and Contestants Jenny and Kai of Blue Pegasus. Things are really looking bad for Marin at the moment. Will she be the first member of Team Fairy Tail to be eliminated?"}

As Loli asked his question, the majority of the screens set up around the Domus Flau changed to show Marin's battle with Jenny and Kai from different angles. And as Loli said, Marin did not look like she was in the best shape at the moment.

Covered in bruises, burns, and cuts, as well as torn clothing, Marin was breathing heavily while standing in an area of the town that looked as if it had just been demolished and holding up her two double-bladed kodachi towards Kai, who was standing in front of Jenny with several cuts and a slash in the visor of his space suit, and Jenny, who was wearing what appeared to be a suit of Pegasus inspired full-plate armor with a minigun attached to her left arm and a magic power blade extending from her right.

Going back about ten minutes to when Jenny and Kai showed themselves after Jenny eliminated Yuka with a sneak attack, they both jumped off the building they were standing on.

"Sorry, Marin." jenny said with her usual smile on her face. "But we're all competitors here. But I'll make it up to you after you get out of the infirmary later, okay?"

"Oh, you seem really confident that the two of you can beat me." Marin said, her slight scowl after her, so-called, kill was stolen turning into a playful grin. "I hope you didn't just let your mouth write a check that your butt can't cash."

'You know, when Fonzie says stuff like that, it doesn't sound so awkward.' Marin muttered internally.

["That's because he doesn't censor the saying."] Nova said from Marin's inner world.

'Wow! It's been a long time since you talked to me when I wasn't alone, Nova.' Marin replied.

["I just wanted to remind you that you should take this seriously."] Nova shot back. ["Even though I'm not saying that Yuka and Toby are weak, they're not on these two's... Well, Jenny's level. Remember, Jenny is using weapons Fonzie made. So, you need to be cautious."]

'I know.' Marin replied. 'I'm already prepared to release you if things get too hairy for my liking.'

["Good."] Nova said, nodding her head in Marin's inner world. ["Just make sure that you don't wait too long. If you're too spent, it won't matter if you release my powers or not."]

'Got it.' Marin said, focusing all her attention on her opponents from Blue Pegasus once again.

Because Marin's and Nova's conversation happened at the speed of thought, there was no lull in the conversation Marin was having with Jenny.

"Well, can you blame me?" Jenny asked while pushing a few strands of hair out of her face. "Not only am I quite talented myself, but I have some of the best weapons that can be bought in Fiore, as well."

'Fonzie might be a little upset if you only limit it to Fiore, though.' Marin thought to herself while trying not to smile at her own thoughts.

"I think you've spoken enough, Jenny." Kai said while looking at Jenny with a fawning smile through his suits helmet. "But we have a bit of catch up to do if we want to come out on top this time."

"I know." Jenny said, rolling her eyes as she did so.

'Oh, it's clear to see that Kai now has feelings for Jenny after being so thoroughly rejected by Sun.' Marin thought to herself. 'But I doubt he knows that Jenny likes Fonzie. I wonder what he would think if he knew that both the girls he's fancied are into the same guy. There might actually be a real fight between them this time.'

["Like that would be a real fight."] Nova shot back. ["That little merman would get himself taken apart. Then, Alfonzo would leave him lying out in a wide-open field after taking that ridiculous suit off of him."]

'That's probably true.' Marin replied before abandoning that thought process and readying herself for the attack that she knew was coming.

*Whirl!* x 3

And just as she expected, Marin heard the sound of whirling coming from the three guns Jenny was equipped with. In response, Marin quickly dropped to one knee before stabbing both of Nova's blades into the ground.

*Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!* x 3

In the next instant, the sounds of all three of Jenny's guns firing could be heard. Luckily, Marin was just in time to use her [Transformation Magic] to [Transform] the ground. As a result, a relatively sturdy wall rose from the ground in front of Marin.

Just as the wall grew high enough to cover Marin from the gunfire, the sound of the wall cracking echoed around the arena. Yet, it withstood the barrage without falling.

Now, normally, if Marin were to raise a wall like that, it would not be particularly sturdy, as her [Transformation Magic] only changed the shape of whatever it was she was transforming. Basically, a defense like the one she just made would be all show and no substance. However, Marin went the extra mile, this time. As a result...

*Crumble!*

"What in the...?" Kai uttered as he felt his footing giving out from underneath him.

"Kya!" Jenny yelped as she too lost her balance, causing her aim to become erratic.

... the ground under Jenny and Kai crumbled under their weight, causing them to fall into a somewhat deep sink hole.

And the reason for this turn of events was simple. Marin also used her magic to [Transform] the ground under Jenny and Kai, without affecting the surface, compressing it and adding it to the wall she erected to defend herself. So, with the ground under the two Blue Pegasus wizards hollowed out, it collapsed under their weight.

"Alright, and the next move is to---" Marin said as she started channeling her magic power into the ground through Nova once again.

"That was unexpected." Kai said, his voice carrying from the sink hole. "But not enough to defeat me."

Yet, before Marin could do what she was planning to, fill in the sink hole with the material she took from it to create the wall, Kai, after leaping off the pieces of the surface that fell along with him and Jenny, re-emerged from the sink hole, his fist drawn back, ready to break Marin's wall.

"Well, I'd rather take Jenny off the board first." Marin said, her expression turning resolute.

*Bang!*

And just like that, the wall in front of Kai disappeared, surprising him. Yet, with his momentum, he was unable to stop. Nor did he have the intention to. So, as soon as he was in range, he threw his fist forward. Luckily, Marin was able to pull her blades from the ground and get them up in a cross to try and defend against Kai's fist. Unfortunately, because of her hasty defense, she was unable to completely divert the force of his blow.

As a result, Marin was thrown backwards. And because of Kai's downward force, she was slammed into the ground before bouncing and rolling away from where she stood.

However, instead of following up immediately, Kai turned back to see that the sink hole he had just jumped out of had been filled up, though the surface was in a mess, as it had already fallen into the hole before Marin refilled it.

"Jenny! No!" Kai cried after seeing that Jenny was unable to make it out. He then turned back to look at Marin with new found hostility.

"Hey, don't look at me like that." Marin said as she stumbled to her feet. "Man, that really hurts... Anyway, I didn't bury her alive down there. I just trapped her. I even left holes for air to get in."

Hearing that, kai visibly relaxed. Even so, his expression still remained solemn.

"Well, I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions." Kai said after taking a breath. "I should know that Fairy Tail wizards aren't like that. Even so, I'm afraid I still have to engage you in battle. This is for my guild, after all."

"Of course." Marin replied with a nod as she took her fighting stance.

"I knew you'd understand." kai replied. "[Body Enhancement Magic: Full Body Enhancement]. [Requip]."

Though she could not see any difference in Kai's body after he cast his first spell, thanks to his space suit, Marin could feel his magic power circulating around his body at high-speed, undoubtedly strengthening it to a high degree. But since she was acquainted with several merfolk, that did not surprise her.

What did surprise her, however, was the fact that Kai used [Requip Magic]. And when he did, a sheathed katana appeared in his left hand.

"I don't usually use this to fight." Kai said. "Then again, most of my opponents don't use sharp weapons. So, I'll need something to stop you from damaging, or possibly destroying, my temporary sanctuary from those terrifying, bright, wide-open spaces."

"Tch!" Marin clicked her tongue in irritation. "And I was hoping to take advantage of that little phobia of yours. Sun never told us you could use a sword, though."

"*Sigh* Even though we're not meant to be together, I guess she simply could not bring herself to sell out an old friend."

In actuality, Kai's skill with a sword was so far below Sun's that she completely forgot about it.

"Anyway, that's enough talk." Kai said as he unsheathed his sword before throwing the sheath aside. "Let us settle this."

"If you say so." Marin said as she pointed her left blade behind her. "[Transformation Magic: Blade Rush]."

Marin was then pushed forward at high speed. Yet, Kai was able to track her movements thanks to his current level of [Enhancement].

*Clang!*

So, it was unsurprising that Kai was able to deflect Marin's first strike as she sailed past him.

*Clang!*

Nor was it surprising when he was able to turn and deflect her follow up before slashing at Marin's waist horizontally.

In response, Marin bent her back, limboing under Kai's slash. At the same time, she pointed Nova's blades at Kai's chest.

"[Transformation Magic: Long Suffering]." Marin chanted.

In the next instant, at a much higher speed than when she propelled herself forward, Nova's blades extended towards Kai with the intention of tearing apart his space suit.

"Oh no!" Kai shouted, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.

*Rumble~~~~~~~!*

"Ah!" Marin yelped as she was unable to maintain her posture.

*Screech!*

Yet, before Marin's blades could strike true, the ground began to rumble. And with Marin's unstable posture after limboing under Kai's last attack, she ended up losing her balance and falling onto her back. As a result, though they were not able to completely cut through the suit, Kai's space suit was damaged quite heavily. There was even a scratch across the thick visor Kai saw the world through. Luckily, the cut was not deep enough to completely pierce through. Otherwise, Kai would have been as good as eliminated.

For the next few seconds, the ground continued to rumble. Because of that, and the fact that Kai was still reeling from nearly being exposed to the outside world, Marin took a moment to pick herself up from the ground. She then made sure to get a little distance from Kai to get ready for her next attack.

*Boom!*

Yet, just as she readied herself to continue, thinking to ignore the rumbling, the ground where she buried Jenny exploded upwards. Dust and debris shot up into the air. On top of that, several projectiles with contrails shot up into the air, as well.

"What the...?" Marin exclaimed in shock.

"Ah! It seems Jenny was not incapacitated by the fall." Kai said in a relieved tone. "As long as she survived the fall, I knew she would be able to get out eventually. The only worry was whether she had been buried alive or not. But as you have already assuaged that fear, I put it out of my mind completely."

"Yeah, yeah, that's all well and good." Marin said, still taken aback by what she was saying. "So, you're saying Jenny did that? But weren't the weapons Fonzie made her the most powerful in her arsenal?"

'Darn it.' Marin thought to herself. 'Because my magic power was saturating the ground, paired with the fact that I was focusing on Kai, I didn't notice jenny's magic power or how it changed. This could be really bad.'

"That's true when it comes to anti-personnel weaponry." Jenny's voice replied from the dust cloud, as if she were letting Marin know that her internal thoughts were absolutely correct about how bad things were for her. "However, when it comes to my strongest [Machina Soul], how could it be anything but..."

When Jenny reached that point, the dust obscuring her from view began to settle. When it did, she could be seen in a completely different form. Instead of her revealing dark red and black [Battle Suit], Jenny was now clad in what appeared to be full plate armor with a horse like helmet, a pair of what appeared to be feathered wings formed from metal, gauntlets and greaves that appeared to end in hooves, and thrusters on both her back, between the wings, and the bottom of her feet.

On top of that, flames were shooting out the four thrusters on Jenny's armor. And with that, Jenny was floating above the sink hole she had just been trapped in while smiling at Marin, who was completely dumbfounded by what she was seeing.

"... [Machina Soul: Magic Bomber, Christina]." Jenny said, finishing her sentence.

"Well... Crap..." Marin groaned after realizing she was not exactly equipped to fight an opponent who could call on the full power of an airship. "Well, at least she'll never be able to absorb the [Machina Soul] of the Blackbird."

"Hahaha! When Alfonzo accepts my love, that will definitely change." Jenny said confidently.

*Crack!*

As soon as Jenny said that, both she and Marin swore they could hear the sound of something breaking. However, when they looked around, thinking that someone might have sneaked up on them, they could not see anyone. Marin was not even picking up anything with [Magic Power Detection]. Yet, when they finally found the source of the sound, all they saw was Kai standing unsteadily while he covered the spot on his space suit directly over his heart.

'Oh, I get it.' Marin thought to herself. 'That was the sound of Kai's heart breaking, wasn't it? Well, I guess I'll get the chance to see if he'll challenge Fonzie to a fight sooner or later.'

"Kai! What's wrong?" Jenny asked, genuine concern for her guild mate in her tone. "Did someone sneak attack you? Hold on, I'll find them and eliminate them!"

With that, Jenny ascended higher into the air, the thrusters on her feet and back raising their output. At the same time, two compartments on her armor's torso, one on each side of her waist, opened, revealing a number of miniature missiles.

'So, that was how she got herself out of the hole, huh?' Marin thought to herself while watching Jenny rise.

["Now's not the time to be considering things like that!"] Nova shouted, breaking Marin out of her contemplation.

'Right, I need to get closer to Kai. Otherwise, I'll probably be within the blast radius of whatever she's about to do.'

With that thought, Marin rushed over to the currently distraught kai, who was clearly having trouble staying on his feet. Meanwhile, Jenny, who had risen to about three hundred feet above the surface, scanned the ground from her vantage point. Yet, she could not find whoever it was that attacked Kai.

In the next instant, the eyes on her horse head-shaped helmet lit up, activating the targeting system inherited from the Magic Bomber, Christina.

"Hmm? Even with the scanners, I can't find them>" Jenny muttered to herself. "Well, if I reduce this whole area to rubble, I'm sure I'll hit them. I just need to make sure that I don't hurt Kai by mistake. Tch!"

As Jenny's onboard targeting system calculated where she should fire her missiles to do the most damage without hurting Kai, she could not help clicking her tongue as she noticed Marin rushing to get close to him. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do to stop her at the moment, as her processors were currently occupied.

"No matter." Jenny muttered to herself as she shifted her gaze away from Marin. "I'll take care of her later. For now, I have to get revenge for Kai."

It would probably be quite interesting to see what Jenny would do when she found out that it was her words that put Kai in his current condition.

"[Full Bombardment, Releasing Payload]." Jenny said as the thrusters on the tails of her missiles lit up.

*Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*

In the next instant, Jenny's missile pods were both emptied. Then, after another moment, all the missiles found their detonation points simultaneously after winding through the air, leaving contrails to let anyone watching know their flight paths. After that, a number of explosions occurred simultaneously, reducing the buildings, streets, gardens, and any other structure within half a mile of Kai in ruins. At the same time, it shook the entire town, drawing every remaining wizard's attention to her for a moment before most of them went back to their own battles.

Meanwhile, after the explosion and the rumbling stopped, Jenny looked in Kai's direction to see if Marin had taken the chance to attack him. However, to her surprise, Kai was standing alone. On top of that, although his pain-filled expression was still present, he was standing straight while staring in a certain direction.

Following the direction of Kai's stare, Jenny eventually opened her mouth wide, as she could see Marin slowly standing up while pushing a way some debris that fell on her. Apparently, Kai had regained his senses during the explosion. He then caught Marin off guard and sent her flying into the explosions.

Yet, despite the damage she had clearly taken thanks to Kai's unexpected attack, the light in Marin's eyes was just as bright. Then, when she was once again standing stably, she raised Nova, pointed the tips of the blades at Kai and Jenny, who had descended to float behind Kai.

And this brings us to the point at which Loli drew attention to the fight.