In the hotel room, Erza sat on one bed while Lucy, Gray, and Natsu were sitting on the ground.

"You guys...where have you been wandering around up 'til now?!" Erza asked.

"Just another boring dinner..." Gray looked away from her eyes.

"Well...it's complicated...well...I mean...err..." Lucy stammered.

Meanwhile, Natsu was thinking about Sting and Rogue.

"If the main event ends up being a battle, I'll show you...what the true power of a Dragon Slayer is." Sting said.

"What the true power of a Dragon Slayer is." Rogue said.

Happy was thinking about what Lector said.

"That cat that's with that outdated Dragon Slayer reeks of stupidity, doesn't he?" Lector shrugged, smiling.

"Fro thinks so too."

Boiling with anger, they both said, "I'm gonna get those guys back, no matter what!"

Meanwhile~~~~~~

After Sting, Rogue, Lector, and Fro left, Muu and Sin let Sora go once they were sure she was calmed down. After a few hours, they decided it was time that Sora got to her room. Arriving there, Magi left her besides Muu, who was worried for her.

"You okay?" Muu asked.

"Yeah..."

Silence ensued. Nervous, Muu patted her on the head and left. "Man, that was one awkward moment..." he mumbled.

With Sora, she opened the door. Closing it, she was met with an annoyed Mira. "Hey, Mira."

"Don't 'hey, Mira' me. Where were you? We were worried something bad happened to you." Grabbing her by the hair, she made her kneel down. Punishing her, Laxus put a hand on Mira's shoulder.

"Hey, we need her for the Games."

"...Fine..." After Sora stood up, Mira said, "Next time, get here a little earlier."

"Okay!" Turning to Laxus, Sora smiled at him. Before he could react, she hugged him. "Thanks for saving me from her wrath!"

Awkwardly, he patted her on the back. "Uh...Your welcome..."

Letting go, she sat on a bed. Laying down, she closed her eyes, smiling at the softness of the bed. Feeling it weigh down, she opened one eye to see Gajeel sitting on the edge. "Hey, Steel. Get off. They're other beds to sit on."

"Let's just say this is the best one." Laying down, he turned his back from her and crossed his arms over his chest.

Smirking, Sora pushed him off the bed with her feet. As she watched him fall, she laughed at him. However, she abruptly stopped her laughing. Blinking, she inched away from him. "Gajeel, l-look, it was an a-accident."

Getting up, he slowly made his way to her. "Accident my but!" Running after her, he saw she hid behind Jellal.

Sweat dropping, Jellal tried getting out of this. "Now...why don't we calm down...?"

"She started it!"

"Sora...don't you think you should apologize?"

Crossing her arms over her chest, she looked away. "Nope. He should a gotten off when I told him to."

"Why you little- Come 'ere!" Grabbing ahold of her, he held her waist with his arms. As she struggled, he smirked. Tickling her, she hit his arms telling him to stop.

"Anyways, why were you late?" Jellal asked.

Abruptly stopping, Sora blinked. Getting out of Gajeel's arms, she stood in front of everyone. Telling them about Sting and Rogue, she clenched her fists. "Those jerks don't know anything about Achnologia! They even killed their own parents!" As her brows furrowed from her anger, Mira smiled and put her hand on her fists.

"Sora, we'll show them the power of Fairy Tail."

"Yeah."

"I know. But I'll still crush them if I get the chance to battle 'em!" Sora said.

Meanwhile~~~~

"Anyway, where's Wendy?" Erza asked.

"That's right..." Lucy looked around.

"She's late..." Gray said.

Standing up, Happy put his paw out. "She should be with Charle, so I don't think they're lost."

"It's almost 12, though..."

"That little girl is out there all alone..." Lucy started to imagine Wendy and Charle as delinquents, taking over a car. "Aaahh...what should we do..." She trembled with fear.

"Do all writers have this overactive imagination?" Gray asked.

Knocking on the door, Lisanna and Elfman came in with snacks and drinks.

"Yo! We brought snacks." Elfman said as he ducked under the door frame.

"Tomorrow's almost here." Lisanna smiled.

"Elfman, Lisanna!" Gray said.

"Are you back from your mountain stay?" Natsu came towards them, smiling.

"We planned on it increasing our strength a lot...but we made a bad choice...Uwaah! Me, too! Me, too! I wanna show off for Lisanna!" Elfman trembled as his eyes were closed.

As Lisanna set the snacks down, Lucy asked, "Hey, do you mind if I ask you a favor?"

"What?"

"Well...Wendy hasn't come back to our lodging yet..."

Standing beside her, Gray scratched the back of his head. "We probably shouldn't go anywhere after 12."

"What happens at 12?"

"I'm not really sure, but the rule said to 'be here at 12'..." Looking at the clock tick, he put his hands in his coat's pockets. "...Speaking of which...it's 12 now."

"What's gonna happen?" Natsu asked.

After a few minutes, a hologram of the pumpkin mascot appeared in the center of town. "To all the Guilds here for the Great Magic Games, good morning! In order to reduce the participating teams from 113 down to 8...we will now begin a 'Preliminary Event'!"

"Preliminary?!" Gray asked.

"No one said anything about that!" Erza said.

"What's that?! It's huuuge!" Natsu said.

"It's like a 3d projection!" Lucy said.

"A pumpkin~!" Happy said.

Let's just say, all the Guilds were freaking out while others remembered last year for the first event.

'113...?! Huh?' Lucy's brows furrowed. 'That sounds like way too many Guilds for Fiore...'

'If they were going to have a Preliminary Even, they should have told us...This whole setup is mysterious...' Erza thought. 'And too many Guilds...A mysterious magical presence...maybe its the event organizers we should be suspicious of...?'

Back to the hologram, he continued. "Every year, more and more Guilds come- that's a sign this event was starting to be taken too lightly~ This year, we've brought the number of final competing teams down to 8~ The Preliminary rules are simple!" Before anyone could react, the buildings starting to change. "You will all now compete with each other. The goal is the event grounds, Domus Flau! The first 8 teams to make it will participate in the Even."

"Look! The other lodgings, too!" Gray said.

"Transformations are what being a man is all about!" Elfman said.

"Your lodgings will be the starting line for this Preliminary Event." Lisanna said.

However, a path started forming from their window.

"A path!" Gray said.

"So we're supposed to follow that?" Erza asked.

"Feel free to use any magic you like. There are no restrictions. As long as you're one of the first 8 teams to make it. But, if all 5 members don't make it there, you still lose." Pumpkin started smiling. "And...one...more...thing...we take no responsibility for anyone who loses their life in the Labyrinth..." Hanging in the air by chains was an enormous circle full of the buildings squished together. "The Great Magic Games' Preliminary Event: Sky Labyrinth has begun!"

"What's that?!" Natsu asked.

"So we're trying to make it up there to the goal..." Lucy said.

"If this is a competitions, we'd better hurry..." Gray said.

"Wait. The rules are that '5 members' need to be at the goal. Wendy is still missing." Erza said.

"Wendy~!" Natsu yelled.

Elfman smirked. "If Wendy's not here...you've got a man!" Before they could react, he took them in his arms. "Let's switch members~!"

"Elfman!" Lisanna stood beside a shocked Happy.

Frowning, Gray's brows furrowed. "We don't have a choice...there's no time to wait for Wendy."

"Thanks, Elfman!" Natsu smirked.

"Leave it to me!"

Turning back, Erza said, "Lisanna, Happy! Go look for Wendy! And try to stay out of trouble!"

"Okay! We'll go see who all the Guild members are here." Lisanna said.

"Good luck, everybody~!" Happy waved his arms in the air.

In the Labyrinth, they all smirked and started running up the steps. "Team Fairy Tail! Let's go!"

Time skip~~~~~~

After going through the Labyrinth, they finally made it to the goal. Arriving there, Pumpkin congratulated them.

"Congratulations on completing the Preliminary Event."

"All right!" Natsu said.

"Of course! It totally worked out for us..." Gray said.

"So, I'll bet we got first place, right?" Lucy asked.

"Nope. You just barely made 8th place."

"Ehh?!"

Meanwhile, Lisanna and Happy searched for Wendy.

"Where did Wendy and Charle get off to?" Lisanna asked.

However, as Happy flew, he saw something. "Ah! Over there!" Walking to it, they found Wendy's bag.