Lucy (POV)

Flare has me super stuck. I try to fight back against her, she kills Auska. If I do nothing, she beats me to a pulp till she's satisfied and I lose. It's a lose lose situation. What do I do?

Flare- YOU READY BLONDE?!

I get whipped in the face by her hair and I fall to my knees.

Flare- RAAAAAAAAA

I can't do nothing but curl up into a ball as her hair whips me all over my body nonstop. I do my best to keep my screams of pain to myself as I'm forced to endure this while listening to her maddening laughter.

Flare- SCREAM!! I WANT TO HEAR THAT BEAUTIFUL SCREAM OF YOURS!! AHAHAHAHAHA!!

Her hair wraps my midsection and I'm dragged through the dirt and smashed against the arena wall.

Announcer- And just like that, the fight has switched gears. I'm not sure what happened but Lucy Heartfilia is on the receiving end of a brutal beatdown.

Flare- Still not screaming? How about this? (Hair catches fire) FEEL THE BURN!!!!

Seth (POV)

I look on at the brutality that's going on down on the arena floor. What once started out as a fight has now turned into a public humiliation at the expense of Lucy and its pissing me off to no end. I can feel my blood slowly boiling as I grip the railing harder and harder.

Seth *mind*- This.....this isn't a fight anymore. Lucy isn't fighting back for some reason outside her control. There isn't any other reason for her not to be. Someone needs to stop this right now. For fucks sake where's the towel so we can throw it in?! I can't watch this anymore! Enough is enough!!

I stand up out my seat and look at Mavis. She gives me a nod and that's all the confirmation I need. I turn and sprint out of the Fairy Tail box in the stands and begin making my way down to the arena floor.

Lucy (POV)

Lucy- (shaking from the pain) Ok. That's enough. I surrende-

Flare's hair wraps around my mouth, wrists and ankles.

Flare- I'm pretty sure I said no talking. Did you forget the rules? HOW DARE YOU DEFY ME? (Sadistically innocent tone) You can't surrender during the warm up. Not when I have so many delectable painfully things to try. Now be a dear and take your punishment like a big girl ok? And no talking. But you are allowed to scream and cry. (Releases hair from Lucy's mouth) Now let's see. What shall I have you do first hmmm? Peeling those clothes off and exposing you in front of everyone here sounds fun. Would you like to put on a show? Sure beats having to go to your onlyfans. But then again I'm feeling a bit artistic today a your body would be the perfect canvas. How bout I start with branding it with the Raven Tail emblem huh? Would you like that? Think of it as a souvenir that'll you'll have for the rest of your life. Now where shall I put it? Oh I know. How about I put it right on top of your Fairy Tail emblem?

Lucy- No! Please don't! Put it anywhere but there!

Flare- I TOLD YOU TO BE QUIET.

Lucy- Stop! Im begging you!!

I close my eyes and the brand is about to touch me.

???- LUCY!!!

I open my eyes and turn my head in the direction of the scream. It was Natsu and he had the strand of hair that was threatening Auska. He ignites it and the strand burns to ash.

Flare- HOW DARE YOU BURN MY HAIR ILL KI-

She stops mid sentence and it's like her voice catches in her throat. Instead of the creepy seething hatred she normally displays, it's replaced by absolute fear. Her eyes wide and mouth open screaming a silent scream. Her head seems to move against her will as it turns to face the pitch blackness that's coming from the tunnel that leads to the arena floor. I look there too and what I see will forever be burned into my mind for the rest of my life. Within that darkness I see Seth or something that looks like him.

It morphs into something from nightmares

Just as soon as whatever this is appears, it's gone.

Natsu- You're in the clear Lucy!! Fight!!!

I'm brought back to my senses and I take advantage of the opportunity given to me

Lucy- Gemini!!

The Gemini twins come forth and knock Flare back and free me from her hair binds.

Lucy- We're doing the big one.

Gemini 1- But we haven't practiced enough.

Gemini 2- We're not sure if we can do it.

Lucy- Don't worry just transform into me.

The Gemini twins transform into me but they're in nothing but a bathroom towel

Lucy- Why are you dressed like that?!

Gemini (Lucy)- It's not our fault. This is the outfit you had on the last time we copied you.

Lucy- (facepalms) Oh yeah that's right. That was right after my bath yesterday.

Gemini (Lucy)- (starts taking off towel) I'll get changed.

Lucy- Not here you won't!!

Announcer- I don't know what's going on here but I like what I'm seeing.

Somewhere in the stands Mavis is holding her flat chest wishing she had curves

Announcer- There are now two Lucy Heartfilias on the battlefield and not a single man in the audience is complaining about it. The celestial spirit she summoned must be Gemini, the twins of the zodiac.

G&L- Oh stars far and wide that embody the heavens. By thy radiance reveal thy form. I implore Tetrabiblos. Eternal ruler of the stars above. (Sky darkness and magic circle appears) I asl that you lend your power to me.

Flare- What sort of spell is she casting?

G&L- Open the raging, tumultuous gate! With all eighty eight heavenly bodies shining!

The pupil of my left eye turns to a a star magic circle and the space around Gemini, Flare, and myself turn to that of the celestial stars.

Flare- What's with the starry sky? This doesn't make any sense!

G&L- Uranometria!!

Multiple stars light up the arena as they shoot all around the place

Lucy *mind*- This is it. Checkmate.

The stars disappear as suddenly as they arrive with no final impact. The attack failed and I'm left standing here stunned. Gemini is gone too.

Lucy- Someone countered and dispelled my spell.

Flare looks back to one of her Raven Tail members in a mask.

My eyelids get heavy and my legs start to buckle. I'll the strength I had to keep standing has all but left and the exhaustion is forcibly taking over as I start to fall.

In the shadows of the tunnel
Seth (POV)

I watched on as Lucy collapsed and Flare was declared the winner but I say what happened during her spell. It all goes back to the guy with the beak mask that's apart of Raven Tail. They're not slick. In the end, they needed to cheat to win. So now, hurting Wendy, targeting Gray, and the public torture of Lucy, another of my treasured friends. They just keep digging their graves deeper, and DEEPER, AND DEEPER

Inner darkness- Kill Kill KILL

That's the end of this one. Umm so it looks like whatever this dark thing Seth has going on inside him is slowly becoming a problem as you see here. That ain't good and I fear for whoever or whatever THIS thing has set in its sights. Seth needs help. Hopefully master Mavis can keep it at bay. Anyway, I'm dipping out. Peace