The 24-Hour Endurance Road Race

There never failed to be a festive atmosphere around Magnolia, and Fairy Tail had staged a lot of fun events. Such as the Fantasia Festival or the Miss Fairy Tail contest, that day's event was no different. Many of the main guild members were standing in front of a balloon arch that read 'Fairy Tail's 24 Hours Road Race.' This was also an effort to raise money after the damage caused in the battle between Fairy Tail and the Fire Nation.
Natsu and Aang were there, Momo hung on the Avatar's left shoulder while Happy stood below them, looking cheery as ever. The power duo seemed pretty excited going into this. Gray, Elfman, and Sokka looked serious as they were stretching their limbs.
On the girl's end, Juvia and Toph looked confident, while both Katara and Lucy looked ahead with serious expressions.
Gajeel was his usual mood, just plain unhappy while holding a lump of iron in his hand, presumably a pre-race snack. Hen stood next to him and cracked his knuckles. Freed and Zuko stood behind them.
Macao was waving to his son Romeo, while Suki in the background was stretching, she was without her Kyoshi Warrior face paint. She was with Ty Lee and Mai with the former trying to psych up the latter.
Levy looked like she was explaining the rules to Wendy, Carla, and Chun. Wendy and Chun looked confused while Carla understandingly nodded.
"So Coooool!" Jason from the Weekly Sorcerer showed up and was going to be the announcer for the race. He held a microphone so everyone could hear his commentary. "It's that time of year again! This grand event is here! Fairy Tail's traditional All-Wizards Mandatory Participation 24 Hours Road Race!" the blonde reporter had a crystal lacrima which was on top of a turtle-shaped pedestal, it had shown several faces of the guild members. "I'll be giving you the cool scoop on this hot event!"
And what of the guild's newest member? Well, she was standing on the side-lines while listening to Jason's, what she would call, ear-splitting commentary. She looked drained already. "Why did you drag me out here again?"
Mira who sat next to her on a bench with an umbrella to guard against the hot sun responded to her. "So you can watch the race, it would be boring if you sat in the guild all by yourself."
"You say boring, I hear: 'You don't want me snooping in there, messing with all your guys' stuff." Azula replied. "Plus I heard the word, 'Mandatory' as in everyone in the guild. So why are we just sitting out here like a couple of bored park-goers?"
"I don't have to run and I volunteered to keep an eye on you, we all felt it too soon to include you in the race."
Azula put her hands behind her head and looked up. "That's Smart, there is no telling what I'd so. Especially when something like this would be so, so easy to sabotage,"
Ignoring Azula's disturbing comment, Mira offered to bring some levity. "Would you like some ice-cream?" she happily asked.
"Do I look like a child? I can go buy some myself!" she stood up. "In fact wait here, I'll go get us some."
"Do you know where the vendor is, or have any Jewel?" Mira asked.
Figuring out that Mira was referring to their currency, Azula quickly remembered she had no money, nor did she familiarize herself with the park. So she didn't have the means to get ice-cream. "Shut up…" she conceded defeat and let Mira stand to lead them. "This is humiliating; I should be leading the Fire Nation to glory. Instead, I'm here being treated like a child!"
Jason continued reporting on the pre-race. "Here he is. The unbeatable titleholder for this road race, Jet!" He excitedly said while Jet was preparing himself. "Rumors say he's compensating for being mostly useless on quests! Especially since the Fairy Tail's Elemental Wizard arrived!"
Jet looked annoyed by this and glared at Jason. "Hey! I can hear you!"
"Hehe, just rumors, man!" he said waving back to him.
A shirtless Gray looked at Jet while looking annoyed. "Damn that Jet… He thinks this year's gonna be a walk in the park again."
Natsu chuckled. "Oh yeah! I wouldn't be so sure of that! Victory is mine!" he declared.
Sokka chuckled. "Please, you're all nuts if you can beat Aang." He put his arm around the Avatar. "In fact, I'd say he's the favorite to win!"
Aang was sweating nervously while scratching his cheek. "Um, well… I'm not out here to win really…"
"That's what they all say!" Hen said. "Look at you trying to be modest. You don't think the rest of us have a chance do we!"
In response, he held up his hands defensively. "B-but… that's not…"
"You should just stuff it," Gajeel said. "Anyone who is the favorite usually doesn't win. And you Salamander…" he glanced his red-dragon eyes to Natsu. "What makes you think you can win?"
Natsu's confident smile remained. "I gots me a super-secret weapon. I picked it up during my fight with Azula."
"Really now?" Toph asked. "Not that it matters. I'm gonna knock all of you out of the way on my road to victory!"
"I'd like to see you try," Gray said. "It's not like rocks can help you win anyway." He said looking to both Hen and Toph.
"Hey, I'm not only restricted to rocks!" Hen said. "I've got my own way of going super fast, so I'd like to see any of you stop me, ha!"
Natsu, Hen, and Toph smirked with confidence while Gajeel, and Gray both growled at their competitors. Aang was in the middle of it, a bead of sweat fell down his face. "This isn't going to end well, is it?"
Cana meanwhile had just finished chugging a barrel of her favorite alcoholic beverage. Lucy and Katara were shocked with the latter's eyes turning white.
"Alright, let's do this!" she said while tossing her barrel to the ground.
"You're drinking? Right before we start the run?" Lucy questioned.
"How? Will you even see straight?" Katara asked.
"What? You expect me to run without my fuel?" Cana countered.
They both decided to just let it go, Lucy put on a smile while Katara let out a sigh.
"I figured you'd say a thing like that, Cana," Lucy said.
"As long as you're not falling and passing out… I guess I won't judge." Katara said with a shrug.
"I guess everyone is fired up huh?" Lucy said.
"Why is that though?" Katara asked. "It's just a race, I mean for the guys and Toph I can sort of get. They'll take any chance they get to one-up each other."
"I heard that, sugar queen!" Toph yelled.
Happy floated to them with his wings extended. "Of course, No one wants to face the punishment, after all." Happy's tone quickly changed to that of fear as he remembered the punishment. "Last year was terrible." He had his paws on his cheeks.
"W-what punishment?" Lucy and Katara fearfully asked.
"Quiet, everyone!" Makarov yelled. He stood on the stage looking down at all of the Fairy Tail members. "All members of Fairy Tail! A wizard is one with both strength-of-mind and body! I wish for you to utilize those powers to the utmost in today's competition!"
"Do we really need smarts for this?" Elfman asked.
"Yeah… seems more like a physical test to me." Toph added.
Makarov started to explain the rules while pointing to the mountain in the distance, far from Magnolia with an excited expression. "The rules are simple. You will run as fast as you can from the start line. You will follow the course that leads to Mt. Ivor! For this year, I have left Wyvern scales at the top of Mt. Ivor. You will take one of those scales, and return here within 24 hours! I won't accept any dropouts! If you are a Fairy Tail Wizard, then you will run the distance, all the way to your next job tomorrow."
Toph playfully jabbed Sokka's shoulder. "Try and keep up."
Sokka let out a defeated sigh. "I should have just pretended to be sick. This is going to be very painful isn't it?"
Makarov continued. "Furthermore, I am imposing a new regulation that was urged by many… flying magic is forbidden!"
Of course, this new rule was widely accepted, much to the chagrin of Happy, and Evergreen, who could only look in shocked as their one advantage in the race was taken away from them.
"Other than that, any type of magic is allowed!"
"Which includes our Bending." Hen said. "This is going to be good, hah!"
"He's one crafty old fox," Reedus said, he stood next to Wakaba.
"Year on year, he just goes overboard…" the smoker said.
"And of course…" Makarov looked forward with his eyes closed. "The person who comes in last… will face a punishment of which there is nothing scarier on the planet!" he said, seemingly looking forward to punishing the poor soul who would come in last place. Of course, most faces were terrified of the said punishment.
"Isn't this all because the master looks forward to giving out the punishment?" Macao said.
"Last year was awful…" Alzack added.
"But… it's only one person… like the person in last place only gets punished, right?" Sokka asked, of course fearing that the punishment would come to him.
"That is a logical way of thinking," Erza said, walking in, arriving late to the race. "But it's far too negative."
"What do you mean?"
"I compete only to win." A gold light surrounded Erza's body, as she was making use of her special magic. Her usual armor and skirt were replaced with a red tank top and yellow shorts. She had a cap on her head with sunglasses covering her eyes; the look was completed by a pair of running shoes. "This is a special outfit that reduces my muscle fatigue, which allows me to run continuously for a long time."
"Huh, of course even you're taking this seriously," Sokka said.
"Looks like just a change of clothes to me, nothing special…" Hen said.
Iroh had chuckled to himself, while Zuko stood next to him. "Makarov is pretty serious isn't he?"
Lucy grew concerned when she saw Iroh stretching. "Hey, are you sure you should be doing this?"
"Heh, why wouldn't I?" Iroh asked, sensing where the conversation was going.
Lucy grew nervous, she didn't want to flat out say it, and she tried to dance around the subject while beads of sweat were starting to develop. "Well, it's just… I don't mean to sound disrespectful or anything, but wouldn't it be bad for your health or…?"
At that point, Iroh knowingly smiled. "You think I'm too old for this, don't you?"
Lucy shrunk more into herself, she didn't want to face him. "Sorry, I didn't mean…"
"Hah!" He laughed. "It's quite all right. Your concern is well appreciated, but it's not really necessary." He removed her robe, and while he wore his pants and shoes, his well-built body was revealed to her.
Lucy's wide eyes indicated her shock, he had never even hinted at this peak of fitness before. "HOLY CRAP! You're the most ripped old man I've EVER MET!"
Iroh was quite amused by her reaction. "I didn't earn the title: 'Dragon of the West' for nothing."
Natsu had looked at both Happy and Aang. "Aang, Happy. Today only, we're rivals. I ain't gonna go easy on you."
"I know that!" Happy said. "But…" he closed his eyes in anger. "This new rule sucks big time." A dark aura was emanating from him, and this even made Lucy back away.
Katara looked to both Natsu and Aang. "Being competitive is all well and good but… I feel like I have to remind you what happened, the last time you two fought against each other."
Aang chuckled. "That was different, plus I don't plan on using the Avatar State to win."
"Heh, that's all loser talk to me," Gajeel said. "If you're going to hold back, then you're going to eat my dust."
Aang only closed his eyes in annoyance as he knew Gajeel was only trying to provoke him.
"Oh no… I hope I don't come in last place…" Wendy said feeling nervous. So Chun stepped in to help her.
"I've got your back Wendy, just stick by me. We'll get to that finish line in no time." She said.
"Thank you, so much Chun."
Chun looked back to Carla and winked. "You too, Carla."
The white feline closed her eyes and folded her arms.
"And now, the race is about to start. Everyone to the start line!" Jason said.
All the Fairy Tail wizards walked to the start line, and everyone looked serious accept for Natsu and Jet. The latter was looking behind him, particularly to Levy.
"Levy, watch my start!"
"I don't have time for that!" she replied.
"He just wants to show you how cool he is," Lucy said with a wink, of course hinting about Jet's possible feelings.
"He liiikes you!" Ty Lee said, opting for a less subtle way.
"Hey, who's stealing my line!" Happy yelled.
Levy only smiled at them and explained. "You probably don't realize, but I couldn't watch him at the start if I wanted to."
Makarov was going to announce the start. "Ready! Bam!" A small burst of light magic shot from his finger and as soon as he said it, Jet blasted away from the start, catching everyone in an explosion of dust.
"Here I go!" he yelled, taking the early lead and leaving everyone behind. "High Speed!" he took off using his magic.
While everyone recovered. Toph was livid at the outcome. "OH YEAH!?" she stomped hard on the ground and made a large rock grow out of the ground in front of him, but Jet only jumped and vaulted over with his right hand, while performing a flip.
"Nice try!"
"Dammit!"
"Pulling away right at the start is Jet again this year!" Jason announced.
While everyone was dazed, Levy chuckled slightly. "See? Couldn't see him, right?"
"No kidding," Lucy said.
"Gotta hand it to him, he really wants that win," Aang said.
Suddenly there was an explosion of fire in front of all of them. Natsu was running forward, his arms were hanging back while flames shot out from his fists, propelling him forward.
"Huh!" Levy gasped.
"Seriously!?" Lucy yelled.
"Why does that seem familiar?" Aang asked with a question mark over his head.
"Check out my secret weapon! I call it. Fire Dragon's Iron Fists Boosters!"
Azula watched with an eye twitch while she held a vanilla ice cream in her hand. "Is… is that oaf…? Is he seriously… stealing one of MY TECHNIQUES!" she angrily yelled with blue fire surrounding her.
"Oh my… your ice cream is melting…" Mira said while keeping her ever-present smile.
In anger; Gray, Elfman, Toph, Hen, Erza, Gajeel and Ty Lee followed after them. "Jet, Natsu! That's totally not right!" Gray yelled.
"You two are going to eat bedrock when I catch up to you!" Toph yelled. Happy and Sokka were trying to keep up while looking very panicked.
"Coming through!" Aang suddenly sped past them while on an air scooter putting him in third. And this made the others even angrier.
"If you're gonna do that Twinkle Toes…" suddenly there was a burst of explosive debris that rose from the ground, causing everyone to scatter. Toph found herself pushing herself forward with an earth wave on each of her feet. "There's only room for one winner, and it's me!"
"Don't think you've won this you blind brat!" Gajeel yelled while the others chased.
"Heh!"
Lucy, Levy, and Katara continued to look forward to the others as they ran. "I suppose we should have expected this."
"S'cuse us!" Chun, Wendy, and Carla had jogged past them. "But we're not getting punished, so see you at the finish line!" Chun yelled.
"Today, everyone is our enemy, so you shouldn't be polite today," Carla said, particularly to Wendy.
Soon it was just Katara, Lucy, and Levy at the start line.
"Huh, Crap!" Lucy yelled.
"W-what is it!?" Katara asked.
"We're the last ones!" Levy yelled.
Makarov looked on at the three girls. "Now then, who'll be getting the punishment? I can't wait!" he said, seeming very excited to punish the last-placed runner.
Katara got up. "Quickly, we've got to catch up!"
"Right!" Levy and Lucy yelled.
"Hmm, now I'm curious to see who gets punished," Azula said. "I can only hope that it's Natsu, but that's a slim chance considering he's using my technique… so I guess I'll have to settle for the dumb blonde."
"Oh, my," Mira said, while still smiling. She did find Azula's words somewhat humourous if not spiteful and scary.
…
Out in front, Jet led with Natsu following, still shooting flames from his fists. Aang was close behind on his air scooter. Toph was pushing large clumps of rock on her feet to push her forward. The majority of the guild followed while Chun, Carla, and Wendy brought up the rear.
Much farther back was Lucy, Levy, and Katara. The three girls ran past a struggling Happy who was already sweating as he couldn't keep up with everyone.
"Sorry Happy!" Lucy said.
"Good luck!" Katara yelled.
This left Happy plum last, and subject to Makarov's punishment.
----Back at the guild, Jason was commentating from inside the guildhall, looking through his lacrima to view the action of the race. Mira, Azula, and Makarov were there too. The guild master decided it was the best time to have a drink.
"Jet is in the lead, followed by Natsu, then Aang, and Toph!"
"Tch, watching a bunch of idiots race each other, wasn't how I planned to spend my day," Azula said. She looked to Makarov who still took a swig from his wooden mug. "This punishment better be worth it, old man."
Makarov giggled in anticipation. "Oh… it will, heh."
"It looks like Natsu is able to stay with Jet!" Jason announced. "The idea of using his Dragon Slayer magic as fist boosters is totally cool!"
"Listen, pest!" Azula said getting in Jason's face. "Natsu stole that technique from me, so if you're going to praise anyone it should be me!"
Jason took a step back but kept his excited demeanor. "Whatever you say."
"Calm down Azula." Mira calmly said, still keeping her smile.
"Aang and Toph aren't too far behind, then there's Erza, leading a pack behind her." Said pack consisted of Gray, Gajeel, Elfman, Hen, and Sokka who wasn't that far back. The Lacrima also viewed Chun, Wendy and Carla, and Lucy and Levy who were behind them. "Who will it be that makes a break for it? Now let's hear from our expert Mirajane."
"Jet is so fast…" they looked to the crystal lacrima and they could only see his dust trail. "We can't even film him," Mira said, with a hint of astonishment that the filming equipment couldn't even keep up with him.
…
The race had spread to the mountainous region outside of the town. Of course, Jet still led as he sprinted across a bridge in less than a second, further increasing his lead. Natsu, Aang, then Toph, then the rest of the guild followed.
Reedus ran behind both some of the others and painted a picture of a hole in the ground, on his stomach. After triggering his magic, it had the unfortunate effect of makes some of the racers fall in an actual hole on the ground that appeared in front of them. He chuckled when he saw it work. "Heh, everyone fall." He painted yet another hole on his stomach, presumably to catch everyone. "Pict Magic-" *BAM* he couldn't finish because he was suddenly kicked into the first hole he made.
Gajeel ran right past him. "That's what you get for layin back and paintin'!" he said darting his pupils behind him. However, a pillar smacked him in the face, flooring him. Hen slid as he looked like he was surfing on a line of lava with a board made of rock
"That's what you get for not watching where you're goin'!" he increased his speed to try and catch Jet.
Gray watched this going on and formulated a plan to stop Hen from getting to the front. "Nice try, Ice-Make: Floor!" his hands shone bright blue and placed his palms on the ground, instantly freezing the ground below, reducing the traction of everyone who was in front of him. Those caught in the ice floor comically slipped to the ground.
The ice spread over to Hen and his momentum was stopped instantly. "Huh!" he noticed his feet were trapped in the ice. "HEY!" he watched Gray skating past him.
"Haha, all's fair!" he said looking back at his competition.
"I'll get you, you son of a-"
"Beast Arm:-"
"Yipe!" Hen ducked as Elfman stuck his black beast arm through the ice to propel himself towards Gray.
"-Iron Bull!" he threw his non-beast fist to Gray. The hard punch knocked him out and he was sent sliding back past the rest of the competition. Juvia just happened to slide past everyone and questioned what was going on.
While others were on the ground because they, slipped and fell, were trapped, or knocked out in Gray's case. Happy was sliding through the ice, steadily making up positions as he went along.
Cana and Wakaba were running together and they both looked extremely tired. "This is tough work," Cana complained.
"You drink too much, Cana," Wakaba said, also feeling tired as well.
"You look just as tired as me!"
"I didn't think I'd gotten this out of shape!"
They watched Sokka and Suki run past them. "You? Are you even tired yet!?" Cana asked Suki.
"Are you kidding? We Kyoshi Warriors have to stay in shape."
"Besides…" Sokka said. "All that smoking and drinking was going to catch up with both of you." He mocked, this earned himself a glare from Cana.
Further ahead, Evergreen, Ty Lee, and Mai were running in a group. "After I beat you, Zuko-sama will have to choose me!" Evergreen said looking back to Mai.
A rage tick popped on Mai's forehead. "You're seriously tempting me. Though I suppose Zuko won't have much to look at when I give you a black eye."
"Hehe, you two are really getting into it!" Ty Lee said. "Oh well, see you at the finish line!" she ran faster to try to get ahead, however, she stepped on a rock which triggered a trap she didn't see coming. She ran right into a wall of purple runes. A square of the bright scripture surrounded them, trapping them inside.
"Ow…!"
"What is this?!" Mai asked.
"No! It's Freed." Evergreen said. "He's booby-trapped the course!"
"Of course." They were all shocked when they saw Freed staring at them from behind the barrier.
"Hey! Let us out! Let us out! Let us out! Let us out!" Ty Lee repeated as she banged on the walls of the runes.
"You can't do this Freed," Evergreen said. "I know he said anything other than flying magic is allowed, but this goes too far!"
Freed smirked. "I never said you couldn't go free." He conjured up some reading material for them inside his rune prison,
"What is all this?" Mai asked.
"'Practice Questions for the Magic Four-Wheeler License Exam?'" Ty Lee quoted from one of the books.
"And this one says 'Practice Questions for the Level 3 Four Elements Sorcerer Qualification'… sooo no relation to our four elements?"
Evergreen raged at Freed. "FREED! What is the meaning of this!?"
"To escape from these runes, you must answer all the questions, and get them all correct." He proudly said with his arms folded.
"WHAT?!" the three girls yelled.
"If this race purports to test both physical and mental strength, then this little side game is entertaining as well as fitting." He couldn't pretend to not enjoy this, and he even smiled a little. "If you feel bitter, blame yourselves for falling into my trap." He turned to Runes and disappeared from the three.
"Grrr!" Ty Lee growled. "I'll get you for this!"
"Blame ourselves, he said," Mai said, but she gave Ty Lee a dark look. "That's funny because it was you who activated the Runes. We happened to get caught up in it."
"Hey! I'm not the ones who keep fighting over Zuko half the time." Ty Lee countered.
"What does that have to do with anything!?" Evergreen yelled.
Ty Lee then quickly grabbed one of the books. "Arguing won't get us out of here, so let's answer the questions so we won't get punished."
Evergreen looked darkly at Ty Lee. "If we get punished by the Master, I will personally punish you."
Ty Lee was sweating in fear. "M-Mai…"
Mai was deep into reading one of the books. "I'm still trying to figure out what a 'Magic 4-Wheeler is'. So you're on your own Ty Lee.
Meanwhile, as Freed ran, he noticed Erza running past him. "Hmm, she's brave for not using magic."
Erza looked to have run into a Rune barrier and quickly backed away. "Runes, Freed?"
"Titania!" she looked up as Freed stood on a rock face. "Your senses are as perceptive as ever! You may have noticed the rune trap, however…"
Suddenly he heard fire being lit behind him, he turned his head back to see Zuko reading a fire jab to shoot at Freed. "I figured you might use Runes to trap everyone," Zuko said.
"L-leader? You betrayed us?"
"I saw you trap Evergreen earlier, plus don't treat is as betrayal since everyone is trying to beat everyone."
"So you're working with Erza then?" Freed asked with a nervous bead of sweat.
"Not exactly." Erza continued her run, but she crashed into Iroh, flooring her.
"Hehe, oops. I guess I had no idea where I was going." Iroh said while chuckling.
"Iroh… you broke my rhythm." She quickly got up and jogged in place. "Now I have to get it back! But first..." She generated multiple swords that surrounded both Zuko and Freed.
"Erza!?" Zuko gasped.
"It is everyone for themselves, and I know you set up Iroh to ruin my rhythm… which is a serious offense." She ended with a serious tone.
She continued her jog and Iroh followed. "Huh, uncle! Wait!"
"Sorry Zuko, perhaps I will serve you some tea to make up for it huh?"
So both Zuko and Freed stood still hoping that Erza's swords wouldn't impale them. All the while Happy jogged past them.
…
"Now Zuko and Freed have been trapped by Erza!" Jason announced from inside the Fairy Tail guild. "This race has gotten completely unpredictable!"
"No one wants to face the punishment," Mira noted while smiling.
"I noticed you smile too much," Azula said. "Even when you shouldn't, and it is honestly creeping me out a bit."
"So, what do you think of the race so far?" Jason asked Azula as he put the microphone in front of her face.
"Oh you don't want my opinion, trust me. But if there was anyone to win this race, I certainly wouldn't want it to be those idiots we've been seeing… Maybe I'm rooting for Erza…" she said muttering her last sentence.
"Wait!" Jason said as the Lacrima changed its camera to the mountain. "There is movement on top of Mt. Ivor!" they all saw the familiar dust trail. "Could it be?" The camera moved in front of Jet to see him smirking evilly as he ran. "It's Jet! The pre-race speculation was right on the money, as Jet is the first to reach the summit!"
"Am I the only getting a headache from this guy?" Azula asked. "Or is it just me?"
Jet slid to a stop on top of Mt Ivor, and he picked up one of the Wyvern scales. "And now he's picked up one of the wyvern scales. Now all he has to do is come back!"
Jet smirked and he started speeding down the mountain. "Jet's speed isn't waning in the slightest!" Jason excitedly yelled. "Who will get there next?!"
…
The sun was starting to set, and Lucy was leaning by a tree while panting. "Ah, I can't go on anymore… I need a little break."
Levy got back to her while jogging in place. "Lu-chan, you have to keep going!"
Katara was drinking from her water skin as she leaned on a tree. "Levy is right, the last thing we want is to get caught up in that craziness back there and have it come to us."
"But my legs won't move!" she turned to Katara. "Can you heal my legs, Katara?"
Katara's eyes turned to flat lines and blue lines appeared on the side of her head. "I… don't think my healing can do that… Maybe if they were wounded, but…"
"Ugh… you two go ahead. I'll catch up."
"Fine, don't rest for too long," Katara said. "Come on Levy."
"Okay, we'll be going now." Lucy watched as both Levy and Katara ran forward.
"My legs hurt…" Lucy said to herself. "Is there anything I can make use of." She pulled out her set of keys. "Anyone good to rely on at a time like this…" She pulled out one of her keys to summon a spirit. "Gate of the Maiden, I open thee! Virgo!" Virgo burst out of the summoning magic circle, and landed in front of Lucy, politely greeting her.
"You called, Princess?"
"Carry me up to the peak!" she said. "And do it on the double!"
"As you wish." Virgo complied with a bow.
Virgo carried Lucy bridal style as the blonde mage set her plan in motion. "Haha, this'll be a breeze! Full speed ahead!" she pointed forward towards the mountain.
"I depart!" Virgo shot off like a bullet, shocking Lucy.
She was so fast she ran right past both Levy and Katara in almost no time at all. "Huh, Lu-Chan?" Levy questioned.
"I'm surprised Lucy waited this long before summoning someone. Come on, we'll fall behind if we don't keep going now."
Levy gave a silent nod.
Farther forward, Lucy's scared screamed were echoing through the forest. "I'm gonna fall! I'm gonna fall! Let me down, I'm scared!" she screamed, as she held onto Virgo for dear life.
…
Juvia was somewhere else in the forest all by herself, she rested her hand in the lake close to her. "What lovely water… the fatigue is washing away." But predictably her thoughts went back to Gray. "Ah, Gray-sama." She thought back to when she saw Gray sliding back after Elfman's punch. "Juvia was also scared of this 'punishment', so she didn't help you, and instead went on ahead!" she closed her eyes and placed her hand close to her face as if to catch a stray tear that might have fallen. "But Juvia is tormented by what she did! So until Gray-sama comes to this place, Juvia will rest herself in this cool water…"
She placed her hand back in the water and she relaxed by the lake, patiently waiting for her precious Gray, so come to her. However, relaxing in water that much had an unforeseen side effect, Juvia gasped and realized her watery body merged with the lake was being pushed downstream, with no way to get out. "Huh! NOOOO!"
On the path close to the lake; Wendy, Chun, and Carla ran alongside it. "Hey, did anyone else hear that?" Chun asked.
"Yes," Wendy replied. "It sounded like Juvia?"
"Ah, the other water-user," Carla said. "While she was soaking in the water, she must have changed herself to water by accident."
Wendy gasped in horror, her eyes grew wide and pupils became black pea-sized dots.
"Whoa, I'd hate to be her right now…"Chun added.
Conveniently, the subject of Juvia's affection caught up with them. "Hey, have you seen Juvia around here?" Gray asked
Chun pointed to the lake. "Well, if you want to find her, you're in for a long swim."
"Seriously?" Gray asked with a gasp.
They heard a bubbling from the lake, and Juvia's panicked voice rang through it. "Gray-sama!"
"Am I the only one getting 'ghost of the lake' vibes around here?" Chun asked while shivering.
…
Night had fallen and near the mountain-top. Natsu was still using his Fire Dragon Fist Boosters to propel him and Aang was behind him on an air scooter.
Natsu screamed and suddenly his flames fizzled out. "Huh?" he slid to a stop and Aang stopped as well. "Out of fuel?"
"I've never had to keep an Air Scooter going for that long. I'm tired. What about you Natsu?"
Natsu tried to make a flame with his fist, but not even a spark generated. "I'm out of gas, Aang. Well, I was going full power all this time."
They could feel the ground moving as if they were in the middle of an earthquake. "Huh?"
"Uh oh." They saw Toph speeding to them while on an earth wave. "Outa the way!" she leaped off the Earth wave and made it exploded under Natsu and Aang, shooting them down one of the mountain-sides.
Natsu looked annoyed while Aang had a bump on his head. "Toph, you bastard…" Natsu groaned.
Aang stood up. "Well, she made this personal." He made a flame above his hand. "Natsu, I have a plan… but we're going to have to work together for it to work, so what do you think?"
----At the guild, Jason continued to be on commentary, despite him doing this for hours, he was still very excited about this. "It's been 12 hours since the start!" he said. "The moon has already risen over the night sky!" Inside the guild hall Makarov folded his arms with an impressed smile, Mira put on her normal smile, and Azula looked a bit tired.
"12 hours… you people… kept this farce going… for 12 hours…" Azula said. "And they are actually taking this seriously… how bad is this punishment exactly?"
"I don't want to spoil it now," Makarov said with a smile.
"Right now, the wizards are taking Wyvern scales one after another and blasting onto the return course!" Jason said.
…
Everyone from the guild by then had picked up a Wyvern scale and were already turning back toward the guild. Happy had watched Lucy, pick up a scale and leave.
"Huh… finally here…" he looked up to see three Wyvern Scales, way too high for his reach. He futility jumped to try and reach it but to no avail. He couldn't get the piece he needed to run back. So he had an idea, even though flying magic was banned, he wouldn't be cheating if no one saw him. He conjured his wings, but one of the Lacrima cameras had flown down to him, almost catching him in the act. He quickly made them disappear and watched the camera fly off as he let out a sigh of relief.
Happy tried to scale the rock, but he slipped off and rolled to his back. He let out a sigh, as he looked up at the scales he couldn't reach.
"Is that Happy?"
"It is!"
He heard Natsu and Aang approach him after a short while, they both stood above him. "Natsu! Aang!"
Aang looked up at the wyvern scales that Happy stared at. "Oh, I get it now." He leaped up and grabbed all three of the scales. He handed two to Natsu and Happy. "Here you go."
Happy smiled after taking the wyvern scale. "Thank you, guys!" Natsu gave Happy a 'thumbs up' with his signature grin.
"Happy to help out," Aang replied.
"Well, we'll be off," Natsu said.
"Don't slack off on the way you two." Happy said.
"Well, we're already way behind. So that probably isn't a good idea." the Avatar stated.
Natsu turned to Aang. "So, what's your plan?"
"Uh, how good is your balance?"
"Why?"
"Well if I can make an air scooter you can stand on, you use your booster thing, and it will be like we have double the speed."
Natsu smirked. "Hehe, I like where this is going. Let's do it."
"I'll have to get on your back, you jump and I'll make the air scooter below you."
"Hop on!" Aang leaped on Natsu's back and air was surrounding the pair of them.
"Are you ready?"
"Uh-huh!"
"Jump!" Natsu leaped up and Aang formed a larger than usual air scooter under his feet. The Dragon Slayer was surprised to find himself floating on a sphere of air.
"Haha, it works!" Natsu excitedly said. "Hang on Aang! Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" he boosted them away. They launched away at a speed that rivaled Jet's launch off the start line.
"AHHHHHH!" Aang screamed, he wasn't expecting to be going that fast.
Happy looked impressed as he held his wyvern scale. This inspired him to push on from last place and he chased after the pair at his own pace.
----"And now we're into the second half of the race! COOL!" Jason excitedly yelled. The lacrima camera had shown the finish line and everyone waiting with anticipation. "All the wizards, with Wyvern scale in hand, are racing full-speed toward the Magnolia South Gate Park!"
The camera followed Jet's trail as he was making his way to the finish. "In the lead, as always is Jet! Next up is Erza, who doesn't even look winded!" Erza was jogging, still in her jogging clothes. "And behind her is Toph who continues to chase the leaders." Toph was on her Earth Wave again.
"The next group is Gray, Hen, Sokka, Lucy, and Gajeel, who are still running strong! This race is starting to heat up, Cool! COOL!" the camera panned on the rest of the guild who were trying their best to catch up. "The rest of the pack is still close together. Who will be coming in last?" the group consisted of Elfman, Evergreen, Cana, Suki, Ty Lee, Macao, Wakaba, and Mai. "Who will be receiving the punishment this year? You can't miss a second!"
"Do you eat coffee beans like seeds? How do you have so much energy?" Azula asked.
…
Jet actually stopped running and stood on a rock while surrounded by trees, he held a pear in his hand. "Bunch of slackers…" He said referring to the rest of the guild who couldn't catch him, despite their best efforts. "Let's liven things up a bit." He sat by a tree and leaned back before taking a nap. He was so confident about his massive lead, that he wouldn't need to work hard to take the win.
----"COOL! The race has entered the final stage!" Jason yelled as the night transitioned into day. "The super-high-speed Jet is so fast we've completely lost sight of him!"
Erza and Toph were running side by side in the bright morning. Suddenly there were the sounds of fire and wind coming from behind them. They were coming up to them extremely fast.
…
"What the!?" Toph yelled.
"Look out!" Aang yelled while Natsu was screaming his usual battle cry as they approached closer. They managed to pass everyone overnight, thanks to their combined technique. They shot right past Toph and Erza instantly taking what was assumed to be second place.
…
"What's this?" Jason yelled. "Natsu and the rest are gutsily gaining ground! And Aang and Natsu are working together! Natsu is using his boost technique while standing on air. "SO COOOOOL!"
Azula had pushed Jason out of the way and looked at the Lacrima. "Two of my three greatest enemies are about so win?! SOMEONE STOP THEM!"
Mira giggled at Azula's reaction. "She is finally getting into it."
The camera was focused on the forest where the rest of the pack was trying to close in. "Natsu and Aang look like they will catch Jet in no time! The others are gutsily gaining ground."
"Everyone has worked hard through the night," Mira said while the lacrima focused on Wendy, Carla, and Chun.
"We had better switch to our seats at South Gate Park and get ready to watch the finish!"
…
Happy was still in last place, but he was still determined to make it to the end. He managed to just get to the forest, and he saw Appa by a tree and he was sniffing someone who was sleeping on the trunk of that tree."Huh?" He slid to the person who was sleeping. "Jet!" he yelled, he walked to the knocked out Jet and attempted to wake him up. "Are you asleep?" he leaned on him, trying to wake him up. "Hey, Jet! Wake up, Jet!" the wizard sat up after his eyes opened.
"Hey, Happy, whoa!" he saw Appa in front of him which spooked him. Appa only breathed heavily.
"Should you really be sleeping now?" Happy asked.
Jet suddenly realized what he had done. "I OVERSLEPT!" he screamed, spooking the blue cat.
"Everyone's gone ahead." Happy said.
"Thanks, Happy. I've got to make up for lost time!" he blasted off and his wake blasted Happy back. He hung onto a tree to avoid being blown back.
He fell down after the wind died down and walked to Appa. He climbed on the bison and he smirked. After seeing how Aang and others hold the reigns, he had an idea. "Appa, yip, y-" a camera caught him and he comically screamed, his tail shot straight up. He jumped off the bison and continued to run. "I'M NOT FLYING!"
…
"It's the last spurt toward the goal!" Jason announced. The camera watched a group of Natsu/Aang, Gray, Toph, Gajeel, Hen, Erza and Sokka running through a rocky path that led to the town.
…
"There's Magnolia!" Toph yelled. "But someone do something about Aang, and Natsu already!?"
Sokka had taken out his boomerang and he tossed it. "Is that toy seriously going to work?" Gajeel asked.
"Wait for it…"
The boomerang had swerved in the air and shot down to both Aang and Natsu. It hit Aang in the head with a loud clang. The air sphere disappeared and they both suddenly collapsed on top of each other.
Natsu got up and a rage tick was on his forehead. "OW! WHO THE HELL!?" he saw the rest of the pack catching up to them. "NO! WAKE UP AANG!" he was shaking Aang who had swirls replacing his eyes.
"No… you go on ahead… I'll get to the end myself…" he dizzily said.
"I'll avenge you!" He lit up his fists and shot forward while the rest were chasing. Aang fell behind the lead pack as they rushed forward.
"That takes care of the bald kid, but where is the fast guy?" Gajeel asked.
"Um…" Hen answered. They all saw Jet's familiar wake, as he was catching them. "He's behind us… somehow!?"
…
At the finish line, Jason, Mira, Azula, and Makarov were waiting with the rest of the town's people. "Oh, what's this?" Jason said. "It's Jet, and he's behind?"
"What? Wasn't he in the lead?" Makarov asked, sounding surprised.
Azula shrugged her shoulders. "He had a seemingly unassailable lead, his overconfidence maybe led him to sleep or do something stupid to kill time. If he had stuck to his plan he would have no doubt crossed the finish line by now."
"Some interesting insight from Azula, Cool!" Jason cheerily exclaimed.
"W-what, don't rope me into this! I'm above such!"
…
Jet was trying to catch up to the others as fast as he could. "Why is Jet behind us?" Natsu asked.
"Forget the why! We can actually win this thing!" Toph said.
Jet was running over the others who was in front of him in order to close the gap. He ran through Wakaba and his own teammate Droy. He passed through most of the other guild members, pushing them into the air. He was getting closer to the main lead group.
"Well he's too fast I can't see him well with my feet, any ideas?" Toph asked.
"Just this," Erza said. "Requip!" a gold light surrounded her, and seemingly she was going into one of her armors, but instead she was in a mascot bunny suit.
"A BUNNY!?" Hen yelled.
"Is that your trump card for the last spurt?" Gray asked.
"Why does this scare me even more!?" Sokka asked.
In front of Erza were Gajeel, Gray, Natsu, Hen, Toph, and Sokka. They all noticed she wasn't catching up. "Anyone notice that Erza is slowing down?" Toph noted.
Natsu looked back. "Huh, that's actually really slow for a rabbit." He noted.
"She must have bought it based on the way it looked." Gray surmised.
"Maybe she's more about appearances?" Gajeel said with a smirk.
"She has to be, she is hot after all." Hen said.
"You better hope she didn't hear you say that," Toph said while a bead of sweat fell down her head.
Jet officially caught up with the others. "Wait up you guys!?"
"We wait for no one!" Hen yelled as he cut a path in the ground to use his lava surfboard again, while Toph had earth waves on her feet again, in order to stay out front. They were all shuffling and jostling for the lead and eight of them were very close to each other.
…
"Now in Magnolia, Jet's finally neck and neck!" Jason announced. "The winner had been narrowed down to one of these eight."
…
Natsu pushed forward. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" he boosted himself further as they all raced down the streets of Magnolia.
"As if!" Jet quickly took the lead back from Natsu.
Erza hopped into the lead straight after while still in her bunny suit. "Requip!" seeing that her bunny suit wasn't working she switched back to her workout gear, but she was instantly passed by Toph.
"Eat my dust!"
But Hen suddenly surfed in front of her. "Eat my lava!"
"Come back here you brats!" Gajeel yelled as he tried to catch the two, while Gray tailed behind him. Sokka was struggling to get to the front.
"How is this fair?!" he yelled.
One after the other, they moved into the lead, and then stole that lead from each other.
Natsu flames had suddenly fizzled out again, and he started to fall behind. "Oh no, it looks like Natsu is out of flames, is he out of contention?"
"Heh, I hope so," Azula said over the broadcast.
Natsu's got even angrier that he was losing ground. "IT'S NOT OVER YET!" he yelled and was closing the gap to the lead pack.
"Yeah! Never count Natsu out!" Jason excitedly yelled.
"Seriously, that pink-haired imbecile doesn't know when to stay down, does he?" Azula said.
"You would know that, wouldn't you, Azula?" Mira said.
"Shut up…"
They all got closer and closer to the end, the finish line was well within sight, and they all wanted to taste victory. "VICTORY IS MINE!" they all yelled.
A couple of inches from the finish line, Natsu tripped over a loose tile on the ground and this caused him to fall forward. Unfortunately, this caused a sort of literal human domino effect, causing him to fall into Gajeel.
Gajeel inadvertently punched Hen who tripped up and caused most of them to fall, this caused Toph's earth wave to explode and they were all sliding to the finish line while tied up and sprawled on the ground. They all slid to a stop, just before anyone of them could snap the rope that Mira and Makarov were holding.
"Hah, idiots." Azula laughed as she also stood by the finish line.
"There's a huge crash! Is anyone going to get up and take the victory." Jason exclaimed. But someone else was making their way to the finish. "Wait, who's that cool cat coming up?"
"It can't be!" Azula said.
"It's Happy! Happy has made it!" Jason announced as everyone was watching Happy slowly jog his way to the finish line.
"Happy?" Natsu groaned. Everyone watched the blue cat jog past the others. The crowd was cheering Happy on as he got closer and closer to the finish line. He crossed through the tape and leaped in the air excitedly after realizing he had won.
"Alright! I WON!" he cheered.
"He did it! Happy, won! Happy won!" Jason cheered. Confetti fell across the park after it was official.
"Congratulations, Happy!" Mira said.
Makarov nodded in approval. "Yes! You ran well!"
"Hmph, don't expect any praise from me," Azula said folding her arms.
"Aye!" Happy cheered as he released his wings and flew over everyone in victory.
"COOL Happy is the winner of this year's 24 Hours Endurance Road Race!" Jason yelled. "History has been made! Nothing will ever be the same, folks!"
The eight runners were completely stupefied at what just happened. "You've got to be kidding me," Natsu said.
"How… did this happen?" Toph asked. "We just lost to Happy. Happy! And he wasn't even allowed to fly!"
"The cat… he got us?" Gajeel said.
Erza chuckled to herself, while she stood by Hen and Jet. "Not a bad ending, I'd say."
"Yeah, kind of like a last-minute plot twist, nobody saw coming." Hen said.
"Hehe, he woke me up." Jet said.
"Wait, so that's how you fell behind?"
"Yeah, but it's fine, I'll let him win this time."
The heard the sound of feet behind them and Aang led himself and Wendy across the finish line, while Chun and Carla followed behind.
"Huh! Aang, Wendy!?" Natsu yelled.
"COOL! Aang and Wendy take second and third place! And with that, we have our top three spots!" Jason exclaimed as he stood in front of Happy, Aang, and Wendy.
Soon the rest of Fairy Tail caught up and they were rushing towards the finish line. "Oh crap! We forgot!" Toph said.
"No one wants to face the punishment!" Erza yelled.
"And we're in the way!" Sokka fearfully exclaimed.
The rest of the guild had trampled over the former leading group, in order to cross the finish line to save themselves from Makarov's punishment.
"A battalion of wizards all crossed the goal at once!" Jason yelled.
Azula couldn't help but laugh. "Ok, this is priceless. Looks like today will be a good day after all." But they all noticed that Erza wasn't trampled.
"But quick thinking from Erza, allowed her to cross the finish line before getting trampled" Jason said as she stood on the other side in her regular armor by Lucy and Katara.
"Gray-sama hurry!" Juvia yelled.
"Sokka, get over here, quick!" Katara urgently said to Sokka.
"Natsu!" Happy cried.
"Crap!" Gajeel said trying to get up.
"Well, I ain't coming in last place!" Toph said. "It's bad enough I lost to Happy and Lucy!"
"Get in line." He said trying to crawl his way to the finish line.
"This ain't no joke!" Jet said as he put in a last-minute dash to the line. "High Speed!"
"JET!" Everyone else shared the exact same idea. They clung onto Jet as hard as they could, using him to take them across the finish line.
"You all crossed the finish line together!" Jason announced as they all stood in the middle of the park.
"WHAT?"
"This year was whacked out!" Jason said. "This finish was cooler than cool!"
"So wait… if they all crossed the finish line at the same time. Doesn't that technically mean, they all come in last?" Azula asked.
"You're absolutely right. Coming in last was, incredibly; Natsu, Gajeel, Toph, Sokka, Gray, Hen and Jet!" all seven of them had their pupils shrink in fear. "We'll know who'll get punished."
Azula chuckled to herself as she was waiting for this moment. Mira only stood with a sheepish smile as she felt sorry for them. Makarov looked on, trying to hold in his excitement. "Are you prepared?!" Makarov asked with a raised voice.
"You're kidding, right, Gramps?" Natsu asked.
"Yeah, at least let us have a race to determine who gets punished," Hen begged.
"That race was crap; can't we get a do-over?" Toph asked.
"NO!" Makarov yelled. "I won't hear any more of your pitiful excuses! For a wizard, there are no do-overs for jobs or otherwise! So stop acting like babies and take your punishment!" he said with a serious face. "All seven of you!"
Everyone gasped, and there was a slight silence. There was a snorted laugh from Azula who tried to contain herself.
"Fine! I'll do whatever!" Natsu said walking up to his short guild master, showing a serious face. "Tell us, what's the punishment."
"There! That's the spirit!" Makarov said, excitedly. "I will now announce this year's punishment!" he held out that month's cover of the weekly sorcerer. "HERE!"
"The weekly sorcerer?" Gray asked.
"The magazine with a catalog of all the beauties from Fairy Tail?" Hen added. A rage tick was seen over Chun for a moment.
"Oh, I don't like where this is going…" Toph said.
"Your punishment will be to do a super-embarrassing photo spread for the issue two weeks from now!" Makarov imagined them wearing all sorts of fancy dresses and tight clothing suited for women. Most notably, he pictured Natsu in a bunny costume while Toph was dressed as a maid, Jet wore a kimono, Gray a child's dress, Sokka wore Mirajane's dress and Hen dressed in a black, revealing dress. "A super-magnificent 20 pages, together with a one-week, all-access interview!"
"HUH?!" they all screamed.
"NOOO!" Sokka had clutched Makarov by his collar. "Please, anything!" she begged with endless tears falling down her face. "Chores for the year, cleaning the guild, a fight to the death? Hell, take our job money! But please… for the love all that is great, spare me from the dresses!"
"A super embarrassing photo spread?" Lucy asked.
"This is one weird punishment… still glad I'm not doing it!" Chun said, forming an X with her arms.
Juvia, on the other hand, looked forward to seeing Gray in a dress. "I'll go buy a display and preservation tools, Gray-sama."
"DON'T DO THAT!" Gray fearfully yelled.
Azula walked up to Natsu with a wide smirk on her face. "You know Natsu, with me being a former Fire Nation Princess. I may know a thing or two about make-up and dresses. So I could help you out if you want."
"NO WAY!" Natsu yelled. There were embarrassed blushes on his face. "YOU STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"
Azula pretended to let out a disappointed sigh. "Your loss, as for me. I'll be getting a subscription to this. I want to be the first person to see you in embarrassing clothes!"
"YOU'RE EVIL!" Natsu cried.
She smirked and swung her bangs to turn away from Natsu. "Oh, but Natsu dear. I already know that, tell me something I don't know."
Jason stood right by the victims of Makarov's punishment. "Now then, everyone… Let's go right ahead and start picking out clothes!"
Suddenly all seven of then were running from the park. As if they were racing again.
"They're running again?" Lucy said.
"Seems they still have plenty of stamina," Erza said.
"Plenty to run away from their punishment, it seems," Azula stated.
"I… feel for them actually," Katara said. "Forcing Toph to clean up for this will not be easy."
"Gray-sama's photo spread…" Juvia said with wavy tears falling down her face, fearing she would not see the anticipated photo spread.
"I'll be very… disappointed if they don't get punished. Seeing Natsu in embarrassing women's clothing will be the first step in sating my revenge!" Azula said while blue flames surrounded her.
"Man, she has issues," Lucy muttered.
"It's Azula, it would be scarier if she didn't act this way," Katara said in a low tone.
Happy floated over to Makarov. "So Master, I won. What is my prize?"
"You already won your prize." Makarov chuckled and winked at the winged feline. "You got the joy of winning and everyone's cheers! There is no greater honor, am I right?"
The lack of a physical prize shocked and disappointed Happy. "Wait, seriously? That's it?"
"He probably focused more on the punishment, and forgot about an actual prize," Mai said. "Oh well just be glad you didn't get punished."
"It's not fair…" Happy cried, tears falling down his cheeks like a waterfall. "Why…?"