Face Your Fears (Fairy Tail Fanfic)

A Shocking Fight

{LEXI'S POV}
I'm going to lose. I don't see anyway around it. I can barely use magic when Reiki is with me. Alone? In front of all these people? No way I can.

I doubt Opal will let me get close enough to use my hand-to-hand combat training against him, not that my meager skills are a game-changer anyway.

We stand opposite each other in the arena, the ground still mushy and wet from Lionel and Tear's battle. I ring my hands nervously while Opal is focused on the Mermaid Heel box.

"Go Opal! You got this, babe!" Lynn Angel cheers for her boyfriend. Opal grins up at her like she's the only thing in the world that matters to him.

Watching them, I now understand why Fae Marty is in such a foul mood all the time. It had nothing to do with Avery or even winning. If Reiki got a different girlfriend, I'd be pretty sour too.

Empathizing with Fae isn't going to help me put up a fight against Opal though.

"Let the third one-on-one battle begin!" Chapati screams. Opal raises his hand like a student in class.

Nothing happens. Or so it appears. But the hair on the back of my neck tingles in warning. I leap to the side less than a second before a metal frying pan embeds itself in the mud where I was standing.

Drop magic.

Opal can drop anything (within reason; he summons things from the surrounding area, so a house nearby is now missing a frying pan) on an opponent with a wave of his hand. The ability to summon anything in your vicinity is a bit overpowered if you ask me.

I jump back and narrowly avoid getting clocked by an alarm clock. I look up. I can now see the lawn chair falling towards me.

Near himself, Opal drops a boomerang. He picks it up and takes a throwing stance.

Fantastic. I dodge the lawn chair and crouch behind it for some cover. If I look up, Opal will attack me from the ground. If I watch the boomerang then he'll just drop something on me.

I get all muddy from flailing around on the wet ground to dodge the boomerang and whatever random knick-knacks Opal drops on me. He, on the other hand, is spotless. I can hear most of the crowd is rooting for Opal. I'm unable to give them the flashy magic battle they want to see.

I have to keep moving. I dive out of the way of an umbrella that pierces the ground where I just was. None of the dropped items seem to be despawning, and I notice he hasn't dropped anything that could be used as a weapon, except maybe the frying pan.

I run over and pick it up, then hold it in front of me like a sword. Hopefully the frying pan won't turn against me and I can use it to defend myself.

I've noticed that, the longer I hold out, more people start to cheer for me. My Fairy Tail family is still the loudest of all, boosting my confidence.

I run at Opal, zig-zagging to dodge a live chicken and a port-a-potty. He throws the boomerang, but I dodge and it misses.

Now I'm in range. It'll be ten seconds before the boomerang circles back, and ten seconds is plenty. I use the frying pan that Opal himself dropped and smack him across the face. It resounds like thunder.

A jolt of electricity passes unbidden from me, through the metal pan, into Opal's jaw.

Neither of us is prepared for the magic attack. I stumble from the rebound. Opal is blasted back, his body cracking the wall of the arena.

The audience goes dead silent. Then they explode in shouts and cheers. Several people begin chanting my name like I'm a hero.

"Wha-Wha-Wha-Wha-What's this?!" Chapati yells ecstatically, his wig flying off. "Lexi Dreyar, the girl afraid of magic, just sent Opal Moody flying with a devastating static shock! It was a one-sided fight until now, but could this be the end for Opal?"

I couldn't control my magic. It just activated. I couldn't control it. I drop the frying pan like a hot potato and back away, scared of myself. My hands tremble. I wrap them around myself in a hug.

Stop trembling. You're fine. You're fine. You will not break, Lexi. You're a Fairy Tail wizard!

"Opal!" Lynn Angel screams.

"He's up!" Chapati yells. "Roused by the worried cries of his girlfriend, Opal stood up! And look at that face! He's mad! This fight ain't over yet!"

"To think I went easy on you... I thought you couldn't... you tricked me... not holding back anymore..." Opal mutters darkly under his breath.

I back away. My whole body is trembling now. I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared.

The arena is suddenly covered in shadow. I trip over a doll half embedded in mud. Now that I'm on my back, I can see what Opal is about to drop.

A giant boulder.

He'll crush me. I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared.

The boulder begins to fall. The rational part of my brain tells me it's a bluff. Opal can't kill me, the arena security wouldn't allow it.

I can't help it. I curl into a ball and scream, "No more! I give up!"

The shadow fades. Opal cancelled his magic. Through my panic I can vaguely see the anger fade from his eyes, replaced by horror.

"Lexi Dreyar forfeited the match! The winner is Opal Moody!" Chapati announces, and the crowd yells in excitement and disappointment.

Opal runs up to me. "Gee, I'm sorry! Did you really not intend to use magic?"

He's stopped attacking. There's no magic anymore. I'm okay. It was just a bluff. I was never in danger. Pull yourself together, Lexi Dreyar. Don't you dare cause trouble for others.

I take a deep breath. In. Out. "I meant to."

"Are you sure?" Opal helps me to my feet. He clearly doesn't buy my bluff.

"Positive." I lie weakly, gratefully accepting his offer to help me out of the arena. My knees are pudding.

I'm disappointed in myself. I thought I could do better. How stupid of me. I should've known. I won't be mad at Nashi, Avery, Storm, Reiki, and the rest of the guild if they're disappointed in me too. I caused trouble. I gave up. I failed our team.

I enter the Fairy Tail box hanging my head sadly. Which is why I don't see Nashi when she runs up and bear hugs me, lifting me off my feet.

"Woah!" I yelp in surprise. "What the—"

"That was awesome!" Nashi exclaims. "You looked so cool, dodging all that stuff like a ninja!"

"Opal wasn't able to hit you once the entire match!" Avery agrees enthusiastically.

Nashi sets me down and I feel a warm hand on my shoulder. I look over my shoulder at Dad. He smiles proudly. "You did good, kiddo."

"And honestly, I probably would've given up too when faced with that giant-ass boulder." Nashi hisses in my ear, only to get elbowed hard by Avery. "Ow! You wanna go, metalhead?"

"Bring it, fireface!" Avery yells. A brawl ensues, in typical Fairy Tail fashion.

The last vestiges of panic leave my body. I laugh suddenly, causing everyone to stop and stare before grinning and laughing with me. I should've known. This is how our guild always is.

We're family.

The final score for the day is posted on the giant lacrima-vision above.

Fairy Tail: 28
Sabertooth: 26
Mermaid Heel: 24
Blue Pegasus: 24
Lamia Scale: 14
Quatro Cerberus: 4