Fairy Tail Next Generation: Thrown Back

Chapter 20 - The Reason to Compete

Day 2 of Grand Magic Games
Nashi:

My eyes cracked open only to be blinded by the sunlight. I sat up in my bed and stretched my arms. The windows were open, letting in a light breeze. It was a perfect day from what I could tell. I reflected on last night's events and found myself cringing at mine and my team's behavior. I was surprised that I din't have a nasty hangover to go with all the whiskey I drank last night.

That was when I realized that everyone was gone. It was just me and Kali in the room that was supposed to be housing 4 other members. I looked at the clock on the wall, 10:23!

"Kali, get up we're late for the games," I swung my legs over the bed and began to pull on my boots. I heard a soft groan from the other side of the bed. Before Kali could even open her eyes, I grabbed the exceed and ran for the door.

"Oi," Kali squeaked. "What's the rush?"

"It's almost 10:30, we're late," I ran to the room where the rest of my team was sleeping and banged on the door. "Reiki, Gale, Storm, we're late!" I shouted. I heard several groans from inside. Without further warning, I opened the door to the room.

The sight was not good. Reiki was leaning over a trash can, throwing up. Storm was upside down on the floor, head between his legs. Gale was half in the bed and half on the floor, eyes spinning.

"How hungover are you guys?"

"I don't even know," Reiki rubbed his crusty eyes and wiped his mouth of the vomit.

"Get up, we're late. I'll meet you guys at the coliseum," I said sharply. I threw Kali across the room, she landed on the bed where Gale was. Shutting the door behind me, I ran out of the inn and into the streets of Crocus.

- - - - -

"I'm here, I'm here," I announced as I ran in. Erza, Gray, and Lucy were all standing by the edge of the stadium, they turned as they saw me run in. I stopped in an effort to catch my breath and gain my composure. 

"We were wondering when you were gonna show up," Lucy smiled. 

"Why didn't anyone wake us up?" I asked.

"We figured, you'd wanna sleep off your hangovers," Gray answered. I thanked him for that, although it seemed that the rest of my team would need a little while longer to get over their's. 

"So what'd I miss," I pondered. Walking towards the edge, I saw on the lacrima screen a long line of moving carts being pulled by a larger cart. Wizards were running and fighting in order to make their way to the finish line in the center of the arena. 

"Your Father," Lucy scoffed.

"He didn't,"

"He insisted,"

I peered into the arena and spotted Natsu's pink hair and purple coat. He was in the back barely moving, in front of him was Gajeel, and in front of him was Sting Eucliffe. None of the dragon slayers were moving, they were all on the verge of throwing up. I rested my hand firmly against my forehead. Everyone knows that all dragon slayers get motion sickness.

"This is embarrassing," I muttered.

Towards the front, the actual fight was taking place. Bacchus slammed his foot into the chariot, breaking it and two more behind it. He ran at full speed and became the first to reach the finish line. In second place came Raven Tail's Black Snake, Lislee from Mermaid Heel took third while Yuka from Lamia Scale scored fourth and Ichiya ran in fifth. 

"That just leaves a three way battle for last place," Chapati announced. I looked back at the Lacrima screen with Natsu, Gajeel, and Sting. They were barely moving at all. Sting was trash talking Gajeel who slammed Natsu and Sting at the same time.

"I can't believe this is happening," I groaned.

"Do you get motion sickness?" Lucy asked. I nodded sullenly. Motion sickness was something that seemed to affect every dragon slayer. It was a weakness that could never be overcome.

"I'm not gonna lose like this," Natsu grunted. He and Gajeel were practically on all fours, grunting and shouting their way forward. 

"Talk about uncool," Sting taunted. "Anyone can see you got no strength left, you're just making fools of yourselves," Natsu and Gajeel ignored the light dragon slayer and crawled their way forward. "Fine whatever, I didn't need this win anyways so I'll just let you guys have it. Saber Tooth's just gonna keep racking up the points after this, in the end one measly little point isn't gonna change the outcome,"

"One point is nothing to scoff at kid, don't you  forget that," Gajeel countered. Sting gave him an annoyed yet perplexed look. Natsu and Gajeel pressed forward in agonizing pain.

"I don't get it, can you explain something to me," Sting questioned. "Why do you even bother entering the tournament? Seriously, I mean you're nothing like the Fairy Tail guild I knew growing up. You're obsessed with how tough you are and what the rest of the world thinks of you. What happened to the Fairy Tail of my childhood? The guild that did whatever the hell they wanted, whenever it wanted. They never cared what anyone else said or thought of them."

"The reason we're here," Natsu grunted, struggling to speak. "Is for our friends. The ones who waited for us, for all the years we were gone. Who fought through the pain and the heartache. They were humiliated, but even so, they stayed strong! and they kept our guild together. We're doing this for all of them! And we're gonna make sure that everyone here knows, THE FAIRY TAIL GUILD NEVER GAVE UP! NOT FOR AN INSTANT, SO THERE'S NO WAY I'M NOT GONNA GIVE UP NOW!" 

Everyone was crying at Natsu's testament. I was even getting a little teary eyed at the outburst. The heartfelt statement warmed everyone in the crowd, they weren't booing us anymore. 

"That ain't the only reason though," Gajeel pointed out. "We've got a future to get to, things to do and places to see. We're here to set the example for the next generation who'll look back at this. They'll be proud to say that we made a comeback. They can hold their heads high and be proud to say that they come from Fairy Tail,"

"That's right, the future team can be proud of us here and now. You hear that guys! This is for you!"

Tears slipped out of my eyes as I clutched the white bandanna wrapped around my neck. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Lucy. I hugged her tight and sobbed into her shoulder. I heard a shout from the Fairy Tail section.

"WE HEAR YOU NATSU!" Gale called out. 

"WE'VE ALWAYS BEEN PROUD OF FAIRY TAIL," Reiki shouted.

"PAST OR FUTURE, WE'LL ALWAYS BE A PART OF IT," Storm added.

"THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO MAKE US SAY OTHERWISE," I cry over the crowd that had grown silent.

Natsu and Gajeel tried to smile through their grim expressions. They continued to push their way to the finish line, Natsu got 6th and Gajeel got 7th. They both collapsed the instant they crossed the line. We were all so proud of the two dragon slayers who fought their hardest just to keep their lunch down and cross the finish line. The crowd started clapping for both Fairy Tail mages. This was when things were gonna turn around for us.

"Well this has certainly taken an interesting turn of events," Chapati claimed. "A heart warming sentiment from Fairy Tail's Natsu and Gajeel could have just altered the crowd's opinion of Fairy Tail,"

"And what of that last comment," Yajima pointed out. "It seemed as though Natsu and Gajeel were calling out a few of Fairy Tail's members specifically,"

"Right you are Mr. Yajima," Chapati acknowledged. "Could it be that Fairy Tail has a future team in their midst?"

"While time travel is possible, it's not likely that some of their members are here now," Yajima countered. 

"But look at these four," Jason interjected. On the lacrima screens appeared images of Gale, Reiki, Storm, and I. "These four mages have never even been heard of, nor seen at all since the start of the games. Is it possible that this is the future team being referred to by Natsu and Gajeel?"

"That will remain a mystery for the rest of the games I suppose," Chapati said. "Up next is our first battle round of the day. Up first is Raven Tail's Black Snake vs Lamia Scale's Toby Horhorta. It's snake vs dog in this battle, who will come out on top,"