"Welcome to the Grand Magic Games! Today marks the second day of competition. As always, your hosts will be Mr. Chapati and myself."Chapati had changed his wig again, though, unsurprisingly, no one noticed.
"Please guide us well," Mr. Yajima said, noticeably more relaxed than yesterday.
"And joining us today," Chapati continued, "is our guest commentator, Jason from Weekly Sorcerer!"
"C-O-O-L!!!" Jason shouted, vibrating in place just as energetically as always.
"Currently, Fairy Tail Team B and Fairy Tail Team A occupy the top two positions on the scoreboard. What changes will we see today?"
As he spoke, the massive screen above revealed today's athletic event.
"Today's schedule includes an athletic round and a battle round. The athletic event is… Chariot!"
Pumpkin Man appeared on cue, gesturing grandly.
"Teams, please select your participants now. The rules will be announced once all contestants have assembled!"
Even from a distance, Rhodes heard Natsu's unmistakable yell from Team A: "I want to enter!"
He didn't catch the rest, but what followed was predictable.
Erza protested immediately.
"Natsu, this is an event called Chariot. Just the name sounds disadvantageous to you."
"I don't care! Gray went yesterday, so today is my turn no matter what!"
Ignoring everyone, Natsu bolted into the arena and raised his fist, effectively declaring himself the participant.
Lucy and the others could only pray silently that it didn't involve actual vehicles.
Sabertooth reacted instantly. Sting strode out.
"If Natsu is entering, then naturally I should be the one to face him."
The rest of Sabertooth sensed something was off, but because defeating Natsu had been Sting's long-time obsession, none of them interfered.
Blue Pegasus, displeased with their performance yesterday, sent out their strongest mage: Ichiya.
Lamia Scale sent Yuka.
Mermaid Heel sent Risley, who claimed she wished to demonstrate "the power of curves."
Shining Sun Guild, sent their captain Locke, who arrived in sweatpants with a perfect bowl-cut.
Dragon's Treasure sent their only female fighter, Viya. She rode a black-bottom, blue-striped hoverboard, carrying a square backpack that looked distinctly high-tech compared to the others.
On Fairy Tail Team B's side, Gajeel declared loudly,
"If that flame idiot is joining, I'm going too! I'll pound him into the ground!"
Rhodes blocked him with one arm.
"The event is called Chariot. It might require riding a vehicle. Are you sure you want to do that?"
Gajeel paused.
"What's wrong with riding a vehicle?"
Juvia raised a hand gently.
"Mr. Gajeel… have you forgotten? You get motion sick."
Gajeel froze.
He still hadn't accepted the miserable truth of his Dragon Slayer motion sickness.
Laxus stood off to the side in silence, clearly not an option either.
Mira raised her hand with a soft smile.
"Let me go this time."
Since his wife had spoken, Rhodes had no objections. Juvia also didn't contest, so Mira was chosen.
With eight contestants assembled, Sting glared at Natsu, and Natsu, forgetting his original bravado, decided to bare his teeth at Mira instead.
Mira only smiled kindly and said, "Good luck," then waved at Risley in greeting.
Risley returned the greeting while trying to sidestep Ichiya, who was attempting to smell her perfume.
Yuka's greeting distracted him just long enough to escape.
Only Locke and Viya were mostly unfamiliar with the rest.
Locke was vigorously stretching, while Viya casually blew a bubble of gum, unbothered.
Rhodes looked at the group, especially the three women among them, and sighed dramatically.
"My wife is so beautiful."
Laxus and Gajeel ignored him completely.
Only Juvia responded with heartfelt envy.
"I wish Master Gray would be that infatuated with Juvia."
Rhodes chuckled silently.
Gray would not thaw so easily, not unless Juvia spiked him with some kind of love potion.
In the arena, Pumpkin Man waved his hand, and a small flying transport ship drifted in from outside, hovering beside the contestants.
"Contestants, please board the ship!"
Natsu and Sting immediately paled.
"What? We're competing on a ship?!"
"No," Pumpkin Man replied cheerfully.
"The event is a race. The starting point is the South Gate of the capital, and the finish line is here. We're simply transporting you to the start."
Both boys exhaled in relief, but they still boarded slowly, dragging their feet while the others stepped on briskly.
"The starting point is the South Gate of the Royal Capital, right? I can just run there myself!"
Natsu shot forward energetically.
But after about ten steps, he was still exactly where he started, because Mira had calmly grabbed his scarf with one hand and the back of his collar with the other.
"Sorry to trouble everyone," Mira said sweetly, dragging Natsu toward the ship like she was carrying groceries.
Natsu clawed at the air in despair, heels plowing twin trenches across the ground as he was towed onboard.
Erza exhaled in relief.
"Fortunately, Mira from Team B is participating. Otherwise, Natsu would've been eliminated before the event even began."
Lucy fretted, "But isn't this still bad? Can Natsu even compete against Miss Mira in this state?"
Gray was even more blunt.
"I'm more worried about whether that idiot can survive until the competition starts."
"Ahh… my head hurts…" Cana groaned, still hungover.
Once Mira dragged the limp Natsu onto the transport ship, she turned with a gentle smile to Sting.
"Would you like some help too?"
"No–no thanks!"
Sting stiffened like a plank and boarded by himself, one cautious step at a time.
Her smile absolutely did not feel like kindness.
The airship moved fast, carrying the contestants to the starting point in only a few minutes.
Chapati used the travel time to explain the rules:
"Although this is a race, it takes place entirely on a line of chariots linked together like a train. Contestants must not touch the ground and may not attack each other.
"It sounds simple, but in reality, the chariots will always be moving, swaying, and turning. Extreme balance is required.
"Particularly dangerous are the joints between chariots, only a thin metal chain connects them. Even Magicians can fall off if they misstep!"
Team A collectively looked like they had seen the end of the world.
They'd been relieved when they heard "race," but now?
Running on a moving vehicle?
That was Natsu's natural enemy.
Makarov frowned.
"They actually put Natsu in a vehicle-based event. Do they even want to win?"
Romeo clutched his head, devastated.
"They probably didn't know the event beforehand… but why does it have to be something like this? I don't want to see Natsu so miserable…"
Team B's expressions weren't much better.
Gajeel raised a hand.
"Uh… this is a race. Mira can fly, right?"
Rhodes nodded thoughtfully.
"We don't know whether flying is forbidden. But even without flying, Mira's speed should be plenty."
The massive screen shifted to show the starting point.
Six energized contestants and two nearly-dead Dragon Slayers stood on top of the first chariot.
When the starting shot echoed;
BANG!
the long chain of chariots lurched forward instantly.
Mira and the five other contestants sprang into action at the same time.
And Natsu and Sting collapsed in perfect synchronization.