Chapter 7
Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail
Part II
Reedited
Magnolia
Nighttime
The cool air blew through the quiet city, gathering a small collection of dust and debris from around the area. The atmosphere around the city mirrored the inside of a cave, dark and secluded with almost no signs of life. The moon perched itself at the highest point in the sky, giving a sign that it was midnight.
Many of the citizens already found themselves in deep sleep from their exhausting day.
All except for one small group at a two-story apartment complex. The only sign of life throughout the whole town, one lit window.
Inside of that room was the small group of Fairy Tail mages, who after the attack on their guild, decided to bunk together for protection.
Lucy's Apartment
Inside
The wide-awake group found themselves trying to pass the time after eating their big dinner. Natsu found himself taking a nap, snoring softly while lying his head on the table. Sitting next to his head, his partner Happy had begun eating some of the leftover fish.
On the desk, Gray immersed himself into a story that he found in one of the drawers. All he focused on was what the story was delivering, keeping him in suspense the more he continued reading.
Erza, who took a bath not too long ago, sat down on top of Lucy's bed with a look of serenity. Her appearance consisted of two towels, one covering her hair and another around her waist. All she was doing was enjoying the comfort of the soft mattress.
Trixie found herself lying down next to the scarlet haired mage, out cold and hugging the bottle of watermelon wine. It was empty yet she held it tight like there was still some in there.
Rodin found himself sitting down in one of the nearby corners. After finally getting into the swing of this small party, he ate and enjoyed the time. The silence gave him the perfect change to do some mediation.
The quiet atmosphere soon broke when the sound of an open door and footsteps emerged. From the door to the bathroom, it opened to reveal Lucy, who had finish taking a bath of her own.
From her regular attire, she now donned a simple white tank-top and pink sweats. Behind her was her celestial spirit partner, Plue. Though he seemed a bit more loose than the others, which resulted in his head almost deflating from the relaxing that he endured.
"Okay Natsu, you're up, I'm all done with my bath," She stated to the fire dragon-slayer.
All he did was snore once more, leaving him unresponsive.
"How about you Gray? You up for taking a bath?"
The black-haired male simply shook his head and continued reading.
"Rodin? How about you?"
The stone dragon-slayer opened his eyes and looked over to the blond-haired girl. "Oh, thanks for the offer Lucy, but no thanks. Me and Trixie won't be staying here much longer actually".
Both Lucy and Erza gave a confused look at each other, then back to the man on the floor.
"Is that such a good idea? You know that-" Erza began explaining, but found herself cut off when Rodin stood up and stretched.
"Yeah I know about Phantom Lord, but the thing is, I hadn't told anyone about where we would be staying. Even if they knew about us, only person that knows the location is Makarov," Rodin interjected.
In some way, what they suggested made sense to the two girls, making them seem less worried about their decision.
Lucy made her way to the table, pulling out a chair and looking around her neighborhood. She had an annoyed look on her face by how her friends easily made themselves at home. Though she didn't feel that way towards Rodin and Trixie.
"Geez, glad the rest of you are all feeling so comfortable here," Lucy stated.
"Haha. Well I suppose I should get dressed properly," Erza replied to Lucy's remark.
Standing up from the bed, her body suddenly starting to glowing entirely with a blinding yellow light. From the glow, a magic circle manifested itself into the bottom of her feet. After a few seconds the glowing stopped, revealing that Erza had now changed from the towels she had on to a purple pajama top and bottom with miniature sword designs on it.
"Is this more fitting?".
"Is that really how you change your clothes?!" Lucy yelled in shock, leaving Rodin to look at her in awe.
The stone dragon-slayer had seen some interesting forms of magic before, but never something like that. He made his way to an empty chair and sat down.
"What exactly was that? Some form of magic?" Rodin asked with curiosity.
"Ah yes, seeing as how today was our first meeting, you wouldn't know what kind of magic I could use. What you saw was magic known as Requip, it allows me to open up a special pocket dimension where I can store just about anything, and switch them when I need them," Erza explained.
Rodin started thinking now about what other surprises Fairy Tail had. He knew that the guild had quite a collection of individual mages. Even so, he didn't know what half of them could do.
His curiosity soon stopped when he heard Lucy clear her throat.
"Sorry to interrupt the conversation, but I wanted to ask you something Erza. Do you have any idea why Phantom attacked us out of the blue like that?" Lucy inquired.
Rodin also turned to Erza, wondered the same thing.
"I'm afraid not, we have had our fair share of scuffles in the past. Yet this is something that hasn't happened before," Erza answered in a serious tone.
"If Gramps wasn't so scared of them, we could wipe out those punks once and for all," Natsu added angrily.
The group looked at him with surprise, thinking that he was still sleeping.
"Since when are you awake?" Lucy wondered.
"Come on, you know master isn't afraid of them Natsu. You seem to forget that he's a member of the Ten Wizard Saints," Gray added.
Lucy gave a look back to Gray, suddenly realizing what he had in her hand.
"I never gave you permission to read that! Gimmie!" Lucy blurted out. She quickly stood up and went to grab the manuscript from his hands.
"You can't snatch that out of my hands. Not without at least telling what happens next," Gray complained.
"Yes I can. I promised Levy she'd the first to read it so you're just going to have to wait," Lucy huffed. She held the book tightly against her chest.
Erza cleared her throat and extended her hand out, insinuating that she wanted a chance to read it herself.
"You're not getting it either!" Lucy protested, putting her work somewhere safe and away from wandering eyes.
Seeing what happened, Rodin gave an honest laugh at how they all reacted.
"So what's with these Ten Wizard Saints anyway?" Lucy inquired.
"It's suppose to be this very special title," Rodin commented before Erza could speak. The reply made the others look to him with curiosity. "Its given by the Magic Council to ten individual mages worthy of it, all of them considered to be the strongest in all of Fiore".
"Really?" Lucy blurted out in surprise at what he heard.
"Phantom Lord's Master, Jose, is one of the Wizard Saints himself," Happy added, finishing the fish.
"Yes that's true, and so is he..," Erza muttered softly. She began to picture a mental image of a blue-haired person with whom she knew from the past. All that she pictured was the sadistic smile that was plastered on his face.
A hand suddenly slammed on the table, causing everyone to see a look of irritation on Natsu's face. They could tell the conversation was getting him irritated. "He's afraid, the old man's scared that Phantom's got too many members for us to handle".
"Could you please use your inside voice?" Lucy requested timidly, trying to calm him down. She knew how bad his temper was and wanted to avoid having to find another apartment building.
"That is not true and you know it," Gray retaliated. A sharp pain entered his body, making him hold his arm close to his bandaged chest. "It's just like Master and Mira said before, the consequences of us going to war with Phantom are nowhere near worth the fight. The order of the magical world is at stake here".
"But I don't understand why, are they that strong?" Lucy questioned.
"They ain't got nothing on us, we can take those clowns," Natsu boasted with confidence.
"No. If we were to engage them in battle, neither side would survive," Erza admitted, making Rodin looked on with concern in silence.
Due to his status, he felt like there wasn't much he could add himself. Especially considering the fact that not everyone trusted his opinion.
"Phantom's Master, Jose Porla, is a member of the Wizard Saints, which means he's on par with our own Master, Makarov. They've also got an elite group of mages similar to our S-class called the Element 4.Though, despite all of that, their most powerful asset is said to be Black Steel Gajeel. I believe he was the one who destroyed the guild hall and is known as the Iron Dragon Slayer".
"He's a Dragon Slayer too?! I thought Natsu was the only one?!" Lucy questioned with shock in her tone.
The fire dragon-slayer simply scoff at Erza's remark, annoyed by the fact that he wasn't the only dragon slayer around.
That single sentence caused a shift in the air around Rodin, making some of them look over towards the disturbance. Each one gave a look of surprise by how he looked. Plastered on his face was the look of seriousness that left some people shaking with fear. For them however, they only felt surprised by the change their new comrade had.
"A third dragon-slayer huh," Rodin commented. They all gave a confused expression, leading them to wonder what that had to do with him.
"What do you mean by that Rodin?" Erza asked, feeling that the guy was hiding something.
"Well, in a way, I guess the best thing would be to say that I'm similar to Natsu and that iron prick," Rodin answered honestly. He stood up from his chair and went towards his backpack. After opening it and pulling out his black-silk bag, he reached in to pull out a gray-colored rock. It was longer than his middle finger, but the size was that of a small mouse.
"Although, stone's much more powerful than iron or fire in my opinion".
With that, he easily demonstrated his magic and easily bit off a piece of the rock. It made them all realize what he meant by being similar to the other two dragon slayers.
"You're a dragon-slayer too?!" Everyone exclaimed with shock. All he did was nod before sitting back down. The group never expected that the new addition to Fairy Tail was another dragon slayer. Mostly due to the fact that Rodin didn't act like a typical one.
"Yes, more specifically, the Stone Dragon-Slayer," He admitted. After finish the rock, he turned to see Natsu giving a glare. His fists tightening and the aura around him beginning to burn.
"Listen up rock head!" Natsu yelled in annoyance. He stood up and looked Rodin right in the eye before continuing to speak. "There's only room for one Slayer in the guild, and that's me! So find your own thing and get lost!".
Erza was about to speak out when Rodin stood up to Natsu's level with his eyes now glaring back.
"Get this through that thick skull of your's flame brain. I'm part of the guild whether you like it or not, and I'm a dragon-slayer whether you like it or not, so you can just shut up and deal with it," He declared.
The air around them grew tense each second, making the others look on with worry about what might happen. Erza knew this feeling before, one that symbolized a challenge between two powerful forces. It engulfed her more times than she could count.
She knew that if no one stepped in, both would try to defeat one another. On that day, fate smiled down on Erza.
As if answered by a prayer, the clock began to chime, signaling the time change from midnight to twelve-ten. Rodin stopped his staring contest with Natsu, realizing that it was late.
"We'll settle this another time. I better get going to my apartment to catch some sleep for the job requests I want to do tomorrow". He acknowledged.
Before going to grab his stuff, Rodin turned to Lucy and bowed.
Lucy, again I'm sorry for coming in uninvited," Rodin apologized. The blond-haired mage raised her eyebrow in surprise. It was the first time anyone had actually apologized for breaking into her apartment.
"It's fine really, I know it wasn't intentional," Lucy replied to the stone dragon-slayer, making him smile and nod.
He went to grab the bag he brought and walked to Trixie, gently picking her up and carrying her like an infant in his arms. He put away the silk bag into his jacket pocket and walked to the front door. Grabbing the handle, Rodin pulled it down and pushed forward, entering the third floor hallway. After closing it, he made his way downstairs with ease.
Exiting the building and going on the streets, the stone dragon-slayer felt the cool air press against his face and felt relief from being out of Lucy's cramped apartment. Due to moments in his past where he found himself buried under rubble, he grew up liking open spaces a lot more.
His attention dropped down to the feline in his arms, who still had the empty bottle in her hand. Rodin couldn't help but chuckle at her position. The two began their long trek back to their home, wanting to enjoy the sweet comfort of their own bed.
Although, when they woke up, both would be introduced to the dark side of being part of a guild. A lesson that would be etched into their minds for years to come.
Oak Town
Phantom Lord Guild Hall
The atmosphere of the guild was one of darkness and malice with most of the light in the room produced only by small candles. Each one placed on the tables across the entire guild's main hall. In the far corner, Gajeel Redfox had sat down, far away from everyone else with only plates of iron in front of him. The light on his table illuminated his face, revealing a large amount of scrap metal he was chewing in his mouth.
His serenity in the darkness broke when a random mage came towards him.
"So Gajeel, I heard you made a mess of the Fairy Tail Guild Hall," He began.
The iron dragon-slayer did his best to simply ignore him, focusing on enjoying his meal.
"Oh man! I wish I could've seen that, they probably ran home crying to their mommies. Oh no, someone broke our club house-"
The man's rambling stopped abruptly when a large iron club stretching forward, hitting the man right on the cheek. All that could be seen by the others was a figure in the darkness flying across the hall.
The reaction made most of Phantom Lord break out in sadistic laughter.
"How many times have I told you?! I don't like people bugging when I'm eating!" Gajeel roared out. He stood up and glared at the man on the floor. "I don't care what those scumbags did, all I know is they ain't got a chance in hell of challenging us".
"The die has been cast," a voice proclaimed in the darkness. Every mage there turned their attention to the stairs, looking towards a figure. Gajeel released his iron club, turning his hand back to normal and walked towards the figure. "I compliment your excellent work Gajeel".
"I didn't think we were hard enough on them, so with the princess's help, I decided to leave them a little something as well: A present, that's sure to get their panties in a knot" Gajeel replied sadistically. He stopped there and saw the figure, realizing that it was Jose Porla, Phantom's Guild-Master.
"Excellent work my boy, and you as well my dear. All goes according to plan, but be sure to remember our goal. No harm must come to the target of our client's request," He addressed to them them.
Gajeel gave him a look of excitement after hearing it, wanting more action.
"Meanwhile, Angela, gather two of the Element 4 and go to Magnolia. You three will be picking up our special guest and bringing her to me, alive and unharmed, understood?" He stated.
"Yes Father," Angela acknowledged, bowing to her father.
After his declaration, she headed upstairs, secretly hoping that someone had already found the team that Gajeel defeated. All she could hope was that her small action would give them a chance to survive.
Flashback
"Geez, this was a shit-job after all," Gajeel uttered in boredom.
After defeating Team Shadowgear without trouble, the duo went to South Gate Park with their prisoners. At Gajeel's suggestion, he and Angela hung the trio on the biggest tree there. The only thing keeping them up were iron staples the slayer wrapped around their arms, pelvis, and legs. To add insult to injury, Angela painted the guild-mark of Phantom for all to see.
"Quit complaining. We're already done with this, so no big deal," Angela retorted.
"Whatever, I'm over this," Gajeel stated before beginning his walk back to their guild.
The black-haired female stayed behind to look over everything, making sure all the preparations was complete. However, she had another agenda in mind. After making sure her partner was far away from listening distance, she quickly took out a piece of paper with a pencil. Angela scribbled down a few things and pinned it right on the tree.
With her task finished, she bowed in forgiveness and rushed out to catch up with Gajeel.
Present
Third Floor
A few minutes of walking, she ended up at the guild's lounge and library area on the third floor. Looking around the area, two of her targets came into view. Two members of the Element 4 sitting in different areas.
Near the window, one member looked on to the window, seeing the rain pouring down on it.
The member was a pale young woman with blue long hair, tightly curled at the base. She had on a navy blue coat, a fur shawl with a teru teru bōzu attached to it. She also had on a tall cossack hat on her head.
The other member, located at one of the tables, was an adult male with a tiny, pointy, mustache and green hair pointing upwards.
He had on a unique attire on. The man sported a monocle on his right eye. His formal attire consisted of a brown suit with a ragged collar. It bared six prominent protrusions jutting outwards, three on each side, over a white shirt paired with a black tie plus a cape.
The two heard a whistle, turning to spot Angela waving them over to her. A few seconds of walking, both members stood in front of her, bowing in respect.
"The master is assigning the three of us to retrieve a target immediately," Angela stated. "We're to head over to Magnolia, capture but to do not harm, understood?"
The two nodded in agreement.
With the team now assembled, they exited their guild and departed towards their objective.
Early Morning
Magnolia
The morning fog set down at every corner and alley of Magnolia, delivering a calm and soothing atmosphere for those who awoke early for their jobs. Some were needed for attending the community gardens. Others had planned early morning trips.
After an hour passed, the once dense fog disappeared with the arrival of the sun rising. It's piercing light shined through the clouds, parting the fog to reveal the path. One path in particular lead the city caretaker to South Gate Park.
Walking the path, he eventually found himself right at the entrance, seeing the morning dew shine from the grass itself. He took a deep breath and exhaled, enjoying the smell of grass.
However, when he walked into the park, his happy morning would turn to horror at what he discovered.
He found three badly beaten people stuck on the tree, all of them having unconscious. He felt his body shake with shock, trying hard to yell out but finding it almost difficult. His attention then turned to the young girl's stomach, seeing the emblem of Phantom Lord and a note stuffed into her pants.
Mustering what courage he could gather, the caretaker moved his hand towards it. He grabbed it and pulled it out, trying his best to open it despite his hands shaking like crazy. All the note said was:
Call Fairy Tail, get help
With what the note asked, the caretaker dropped it and took off running with all his strength. All that could be heard was his cries for help echoing through the town, unaware of the disappearing letter that he left behind.
One Hour Later
The familiar duo of Rodin Clark and Trixie could be seen walking down the streets, enjoying the sun shining down on them. Although for the feline, she appeared to have one mother of a hangover. Each person that walked by saw her riding piggyback her partner's backpack.
Rodin on the other hand, had a smug smile on his face when he heard Trixie moan for someone to kill her.
"I told you to take it easy with that stuff. You know what it does to you," Rodin commented.
"Shut up. when the store's selling watermelon wine, you know I splurge on it," Trixie replied with annoyance. The reply made her cover her mouth with her paw, not wanting to throw-up last night's dinner.
"Yeah, that's why we never go near those places..." Rodin began explaining, but stopped when they were getting close to the park.
The duo noticed that there was quite a large crowd in that part of town, making them wonder why so many were there this early in the morning. Curiosity got the best of Rodin, making him walk towards the place to see what all the fuss was about. Upon arriving, all he could hear from the crowd were murmurs.
Trixie decided to get a better view and fly over the crowd, while Rodin made his way through.
The slayer pushed his way through, trying his best to politely ask people to move for him. He caught a glimpse of his partner landing near the front and hurried his pace. Finally, he reached the front of the crowd and looked to his partner on the ground.
However, the slayer saw horror plastered on Trixie's face.
"Trixie? Are you okay?" Rodin asked, getting only her pointing forward as a response.
Rodin followed her arm, looking right at the tree, giving the same look Trixie had on. All he could see was his close friends stapled to the tree, all three of them covered in dry blood and wounds.
"LEVY! JET! DROY!" Rodin yelled in horror.
Tossing his bag to the side, the slayer summoned up his scales on his hands. Claws poked out his fingertips, allowing him to climb up the tree towards them in a hurry. He stopped at Levy, lifting her head gently and looking at her unconscious face with guilt.
"Don't worry, I'll get you all off of here," Rodin whispered, grabbing the staple on her arm. With all his strength, he gripped and pulled it, feeling the nails coming loose until they popped off. Without the staple, her arm dropped down to her side. He did the same thing to the rest of the staples and caught her before she fell.
Rodin dropped down with Levy in his arms and placed her gently on the ground. He went up and did the same with Jet and Droy.
"I need someone to call Fairy Tail Now!" Rodin yelled out
"Someone already sent word, the master will be here soon," One of them remarked, making Rodin nod in thanks.
All the slayer could do was stare in disbelief at what he was in front of him. Team Shadowgear, the very first people that helped him and Trixie, were all hurt badly and unconscious. For Rodin, any time someone helped him with something big, they earned his respect and loyalty. He got down on one knee to look at the three of them.
"Don't worry guys. I'll find whoever did this to you, and annihilate them from the face of the Earthlands," Rodin muttered in anger.
The sounds of rushing footsteps could be heard coming towards his direction, making Rodin turn his head to see everyone making way for Makarov and Mira. Both saw that Rodin had gotten the trio down and rushed to his side. Mira gave a quick look over, trying to assess their injuries and how bad they were. The rest of Fairy Tail, including the group Rodin was with last night, stayed back to look on with anger plastered on their faces. All except for Lucy, who had tears coming down her face.
"How bad is it?" Makarov asked, looking to Mira.
"It's very serious. I can't make heads or tails on what they have at all, they need serious medical attention," the bartender remarked.
"...Phantom Lord did this..." Natsu whispered in anger, trying his best not to lose control.
Makarov stood there in shock, looking down at the three with shadows covering his eyes. His children looked on, wondering what he was thinking about right that second.
"Master..." Erza muttered, waiting for any kind of response.
"I can take our Headquarters being reduced to rubble," Makarov began to say, causing Rodin to suddenly felt the spike of magic energy starting to crawl up from the master. The area around him began to slowly shake, getting more intense with the aura glowing more brightly. "But I will not let harm come to my children without taking REVENGE! We have no choice but to go to WAR!"
The master's bellowing triggered a shaking that could almost be categorized as an earthquake, causing most of the citizens to run away in fear. Although the others had already known the master's terrible power, Rodin still found himself sweating and shaking from the experience. In all his life, he had never felt such raw power, it was second only to his own grandmother.
The emergency response team of Magnolia hospital appeared on the road. They exited their vehicle and rushed over with three stretchers. After securing them safely on, they transported them to the vehicles and drove off, heading towards Magnolia Hospital.
The rest of Fairy Tail just stood there, brooding over what had happened to three of their fellow comrades. All they knew was that their master declared war, which meant that there would be a powerful storm coming. All they could do was be ready for when it hit.
Road to Oak Town
Several members of Fairy Tail, including Makarov himself, all left the town of Magnolia to make their way to Phantom's Guild Hall. The air around them had a heavy tension, which left most of them being silent during their trek there. Most were furious at what happened, but none of them could match the fierce anger that Natsu had. With each step he took, the ground beneath him lit on fire, making some a bit anxious for the fight.
However, near the far back, Rodin didn't have any sense of anger or frustration. All he could think about was what happened after they went to the hospital, thinking back on what the doctor told them.
Flashback
Magnolia Hospital
"They're stable for the most part," the doctor replied to Makarov and his children.
Only a handful of Fairy Tail mages had gone to the hospital, each of them being Team Shadowgear's closest friends and allies. Though upon arrival, they couldn't see their friends for long. Only a few could go in and visit them.
After seeing them, they were forced out by the doctor, who was now talking to Makarov about their situation. "We managed to stabilize them and keep them comfortable. Though for now, we must keep them here until we can be sure nothing is permanent".
"I understand doctor. Just...thank you for all that you've done for my children," the guild-master remarked.
They both bowed to each other, leaving the doctor to walk away and go check on his other patients.
"I can't believe this is happening," Lucy whispered with tears in her eyes.
"No one could've seen this coming. We didn't expect Levy and the others to be blind-sided by those bastards," Rodin added. Before he could say anything else, Natsu had already gotten up from his chair, walking right to meet Rodin.
The two now stared face-to-face with one another, both wanting to hit the other.
"Don't talk like you know our beef with Phantom Lord, asshole!" Natsu yelled out in frustration.
"Screw you!" Rodin replied in anger. He pushed the fire dragon-slayer away from him before he continued. "Don't forget, it was me that got them down and helped them, Where the hell were you at, bastard?!"
Both glared at each other with anger, getting ready to fight with each other and settle their dispute once and for all.
Before they could get it on, one large hand stretched forward and gripped them both. The hand began putting the squeeze on both of them, making them struggle to get out of the master's grip.
"Show some respect you two! We're in a hospital, and Natsu, leave Rodin alone! If it wasn't for him, Levy and the others would've been much worse off," He commanded Natsu.
He released the two slayers after they calmed down, leaving Natsu to scoff at his fellow slayer before moving away from him.
"The Master is right. We owe you so much Rodin," Erza acknowledged with Gray and Lucy added a nod.
That remark made Rodin feel happy, something he hadn't felt in a long while. "Anything for my fellow guild-mates".
"So, what exactly do we do now Master?" Trixie asked with concern, making Makarov turned his head towards her.
"I'll be taking some of our strong members of Fairy Tail with me to Oak Town. We're busting down Phantom's door and teaching those bastards a lesson they'll never forget".
The master's cold tone sent shivers down the feline's spine.
"In the meantime, Lucy, I need you and Trixie to stay in the hospital with Levy and the others. Help the doctor out in anyway, but most importantly, make sure to protect them".
Both girls turned to the master and nodded in agreement.
"The rest of you get ready, we leave for our destination as soon as possible," He announced, walking out of the waiting room.
The rest followed their leader, except for Rodin, Trixie, and Lucy. The trio went walking to Team Shadowgear's room, opening the door softly to see them covered from head to toe in bandages. Each of them appeared to be in a deep sleep with peaceful looks on their faces despite the horror's they endured.
Lucy went to one of the chairs close to the window, turning her head to look at them. "Droy...Jet...and Poor Levy," She began with tears pooling in her eyes once more again. "Phantom Lord is heartless, how could they do this?"
The celestial spirit mage looked in the distance to the guild-hall, still broken and destroyed by their hated enemies. All she could think about was how much longer this would last? And if anything could stop them.
"They're nothing but cowards who would do anything to get what they want, even at the price of lives," Rodin answered Lucy. The girl could see his fists tightened with rage, enough to cause a small bit of blood to drip down. "I should've gone with them, if I did-"
"You would've gotten hurt as well trying to save them. Rodie, even you can't do everything alone," Trixie added before he could finish his sentence.
"Doesn't make up for the fact I shouldn't have left anyone from Fairy Tail alone".
Lucy looked at Rodin with sadness, feeling that he was being too hard on himself. She was going to agree with the feline, but stopped when she noticed him taking out his black silk bag in his jacket pocket. Opening it, the Slayer pulled out three different shaped black stones he kept inside of it. Walking up to the trio's beds, he put each one of the rocks near their heads.
After he completed his task, Rodin closed his eyes and put his hands together.
"What are those?" Lucy inquired.
"My grandmother once told me that these special rocks had a magic beyond normal understanding. If you put them next to someone who's sick, it could heal them and keep them safe," He remarked. "In truth, I knew she only did it to keep me hopeful. Though in this situation , a little hope isn't a bad thing".
"I think so too," Trixie added, bowing in the same manner as Rodin.
"Well, here's hoping that our friends get better," Lucy added, mimicking what Rodin and Trixie did.
The nurse came in, telling them that only two people could stay. The stone dragon-slayer said his goodbyes and made his way to the door. Before he left though, Rodin gave a worried look to both girls sitting down.
"Trixie, Lucy, please be careful. I don't want anymore of my friends getting hurt." Rodin begged, secretly hoping that nothing bad happened to them.
After finding his way through the main entrance, he stopped outside the door and exhaled a breath of frustration. Even with what his friends told him, Rodin couldn't help but feel guilty with what happened. He knew that the iron dragon-slayer would pay for what did, even if it meant him becoming something he never wanted to be, a killer.
Present
Rodin's train of thought came to an end when someone tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to stop and look around. Without realizing it, he found that they all had finally reached their destination. The small army of Fairy Tail now stood at the fortress of their enemies, Phantom Lord. Before making their charge, Makarov looked up to the flag of their enemy with hatred.
He summoned up his Fire Magic, generating a fireball in the palm of his hand. Without any hesitation, he threw it with such force, that it incinerated the flag in one burst.
The signal came and sounded the attack.
Natsu took point, crashing right through the front door with his entire body engulfed in fire. With the sound of crashing, all mages inside the guild stopped what they were doing. Many turned their attention to whoever they thought was dumb enough to attack them.
That action was soon regretted.
"FAIRY TAIL HAS COME CALLING!" Makarov roared out.
Both sides yelled out a war cry and collided with one another, beginning the battle between Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail.
Both sides went directly on the offensive, colliding with one another and hitting each other with their magic. Natsu had found himself in a swarm, but easily dispatched them with his magic, sending them flying away without any trouble.
On another side of Phantom's Guild hall, Rodin was on the offensive. He slammed down his fist into the ground, causing an uproot wave of bricks to emerge and spread outward. The impact of the wave sent a large group of enemies to fly in all different directions.
His attack didn't stop there, focusing his magic again and coating his entire body in scales. The remaining enemies around him took the chance to launch their individual spells.
Many flew and collided together onto their target, creating a large explosion.
Their cheers suddenly stopped when a figure rushed out at high speed. Within seconds, many mages felt a surprise attack delivered. It sent most of them flying in many different directions.
Rodin stopped his attack when he felt a rumbling that vibrated throughout the entire building. When he turned over to where the shaking was coming from, the look on his face turned from one of anger to one of shock.
The kind master of Fairy Tail now stood at nearly four times his own height. It was like he stared at the face of an enraged giant. Shaking his head, Rodin left to continue his fight and leave the master to his own ordeal.
"He's a monster!" one mage yelled in fear. The large crowd attempted to scatter away, but most found themselves caught in the giant's attack.
"And you dared to lay a hand on this monster's children! Are you all foolish enough to believe any of you won't endure my WRATH!?" The master yelled demonically.
After finishing off another squad the stone dragon-slayer turned around to see how everyone else was doing. All he could see were legions of enemies sent flying by his allies. It began to stir something in Rodin he hadn't felt before, a competitive drive. He found himself not wanting to get left behind and took in a deep breath, releasing his Stone Dragon's Roar spell.
With one shot, he managed to break away a large faction, breaking down part of the guild-hall in the process.
Close by, Natsu noticed what his fellow dragon-slayer was trying to do. He gave a quick grin and mimicked his action, not wanting to get shown up by someone he found annoying.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
The blast spread widely across the hall to hit a large squad of enemies. Each of them felt intense pain from the incredible heat that Natsu's fire produced before falling from the attack.
"JOSE! SHOW YOURSELF!" Makarov bellowed in rage. His attention at the moment was trying to locate where Phantom's Guild-Master was hiding.
Close to him, Erza had requipped herself into a new armor, her Flame Empress Armor.
The new attire consisted of her hair in ponytails with a flame-colored armor that had separate sections. Her forearms had two gauntlets that had spikes on the front. Her chest piece reached down to where her pelvis was, having flame-like designs on it. On both her feet, leggings reached down from her thigh to her toes, and had armor pieces covering her entire foot.
"Tell me! Where can I find Gajeel and the Element 4?!" Erza ordered.
In one swing from her sword, Fire Magic produced on the blade. When it collided with the crowd, they all received a deadly wound from her.
Both Rodin and Natsu eventually found themselves back-to-back, surrounded by a large crowd of phantom mages. They yelled out and went charging to them in hopes of destroying both dragon-slayers.
"Geez Matchstick! Could you be any slower? I'm getting all the grunts coming towards Me!" Rodin yelled out.
Focusing magic energy through the scales, it caused them to shed off his arms and float in mid-air. He extended his hand forward, controlling them in the process, and flung them at the enemy.
A barrage of scales hit half the crowd, knocking them unconscious. One small group found themselves sent right into the bar, breaking down the shelves and bottles upon impact
The remaining mages looked at the duo with fury in their eyes.
"Who are you calling Matchstick, Rubble-Brain!" Natsu retorted, sending a fire ball that knocked out the rest.
"I think I'm starting to like this guy. He comes up with great insults," a voice added. It revealed itself as Gray, who jumped back to where the two were. In front of him was another squad rushing forward.
"You got time to make jokes? Hurry up and take them down, stripper!" Rodin remarked with sarcasm.
Gray chuckled when the slayer spoke, making him take his stance and put his fist on his open hand. A blue magic circle emerged beneath him, causing ice to form in mid-air.
"Ice-Make: Arrows!"
The ice-mage swung his hands diagonally, causing the ice forming to fly forward. Each one took the shape of an arrow, hitting their marks. Many of the mages yelled in pain, finding themselves with ice freezing their bodies.
The three went their separate ways, going towards the rest of Phantom's army. All seemed right for Fairy Tail, each of them feeling like the battle was going their way.
Even so, they did not feel the brooding eyes that spied on them from the support beams of the building. It showed to be Gajeel, who stood with his arms crossed in amusement.
"Huh, so Fairy Tail only brought one of their big guns: the legend herself, Titania Erza. I'm guess Mystogen and Laxus were to chicken to come, or did they not care?" Gajeel muttered to himself.
He started having second thoughts about whether Jose's plan was working at all.
"No way, Master Jose knew exactly how this was gonna turn out. Even if the fairies fight good, they're still a bunch worthless fools".
His muttering stopped when the iron dragon-slayer noticed that Makarov had shrunk down to his normal size. The Wizard-Saint made his way through the crowd with ease, and began to walk up the stairs.
"ERZA! I'm leaving the riff-raff to you!" He yelled out.
"Yes sir!" Erza acknowledged, hitting another group in her way. "Please be careful Master...".
"Jose is probably lurking on the top floor. When I find him, there'll be Hell to pay," the master muttered in anger.
When he found himself blocked by the door, Makarov's eyes glowed bright yellow. Within seconds, the entire door shattered with only one glace. Almost as if it feared the wrath of the old man.
Gajeel gave a sadistic grin when Makarov continued forward.
"Now that their little boss man is out of the way, It's about time I threw myself into this," Gajeel laughed with excitement. Jumping off from where he was, he found himself dive bombing right into the battlefield.
While the fight continued between both mages, back in Magnolia, events slowly came into play that would give the newly declared war meaning.
Magnolia Market
The streets of the town had become silent like a graveyard. Where there was cheerful banter and life, now stood emptiness and sorrow. Many of the citizens found themselves leaving the streets, heading back to their homes in fear.
Many knew that something was coming.
Nearby at one of the local markets, Lucy and Trixie had found themselves shopping. Due to visiting hours at the hosptial being over that day. The duo decided it was better to keep their mind off things.
"Thank you for your patronage," The merchant kindly told them. He handed the blond-haired mage the bag of food. She thank him in response and walked away. Trixie followed behind, holding a small bag of her own.
"Ugh, I can't believe everyone just took off without us," Lucy proclaimed in annoyance. "Still.. Someone's gotta take care of Levy and the boys, guess that someone is us, right?"
Trixie nodded in agreement.
"True enough, I just hope that they'll be alright,especially Rodin," she wondered.
Lucy look down at the feline with a smug look.
"You're not all cold-heart huh?" Lucy jested with a smile.
"Bah! I'd sooner drink toilet water than care if he was okay," the feline retorted. "He's too much of a block-head without me anyway".
The celestial-spirit mage heard a hint of embarrassment with Trixie's statement. It made her laugh, making the feline look away to keep her friend from seeing her blushing face.
"Aww. I didn't know you cared"
Their conversation abruptly stopped when the sky turned dark and it started raining.
"Wait a minute. Why is it raining only here?" Lucy asked with confusion.
Trixie was about to remark when the sounds of footsteps splashed on the water that pooled on the floor. The duo turned their heads forward to see a figure walking towards them.
When the figure came closer, the duo saw it to be blue-hared pale woman in front of them. She showed to have an oddly-shaped pink umbrella covering her head.
"Drip, drip drop," the female muttered.
"Who are you?" Lucy inquired, getting a strange feeling from the newcomer.
Trixie quickly turning into her humanoid form. Unlike Rodin, the feline had a more natural sense of being able to tell when there was trouble. For her, she took one look at the woman and knew something was off.
"Juvia is the rain one, it's always with me," The woman stated. She started getting closer to the two, "What kind of woman are you?"
"I'm the regular kind?" Lucy uttered in confusion. She didn't know how else to respond.
"I'm the one who doesn't like strangers, especially ones who just appeared out of nowhere," Trixie declared.
Their remarks didn't affect the girl one way or another. All Juvia did was pass them by, giving an indication that she was ignoring them.
"Drip, drip drop," Juvia repeated. "It was nice meeting you two, I'll be going now".
"WELL TAKE THE RAIN WITH YOU!" both girls shouted in annoyance.
"No, no, no, no no no, no no no no no no" Another voice echoed through the area.
Lucy and Trixie looked around where they were, trying to figure out who was talking. A eerie sloshing sound soon made it's way, making the two of them turn back to Juvia.
She had stopped and next to her, the ground began to morph itself like it was water. It rippled across the ground, causing a being to pop out. The being moved like a snake, twisting and turning until it eventually calmed down, solidifying itself into a humanoid shape. After a few more seconds, the shape gained an outer appearance, followed by color.
The two found themselves now staring at a pale man, wearing a monocle and a brown suit.
"I bid you bojur, mademoiselles," The man addressed to them with a heavy french accent.
"Great, another weirdo?!" Lucy huffed out. The feline stayed her ground, eyeing them to see why they were there.
"Juvia, un moment ma chère. You mustn't shy away from the task at hand," the man advised her. His unusual movement made him move left and right when he spoke out.
"Yes, monsieur Sol," she replied.
"My monocle tells me many things ma chère. It tells me that this mademoiselle before us is the cible we seek".
"Does it? So she is the one?"
"Cible, that means target," Lucy realized. The celestial-spirit mage began taking a step back, trying not to make it look obvious.
"Ah Je suis désolé, I have not told you my name. I am Sol of the Element 4, also known as Sol of the Earth, but it'd behoove you to call me monsieur Sol," He informed them.
"I've heard of the Element 4, you guys are with Phantom!" the blond-haired mage blurted out. By that point, Trixie made her way in front of Lucy, hissing at the two with anger.
"Ah, Tre Bien, correct. The two of us have orders to collect and bring you back to the guild at once," Sol remarked. "My main compagnon is a rain woman who is also part of the Element 4. Her name is Juvia Lockser, also titled, Juvia of the Great Sea".
Hearing their statement, Lucy dropped the groceries on the ground. Her first instinct was to grab one of her spirit keys to fight them. Moving past Trixie, she glared at them with rage.
"You're the ones who attacked my friends! Aren't you?!" She bellowed out.
Her answer did not come due to the water beneath her feet began to move. In a matter of seconds, Lucy found herself encased in a sphere of water.
"Lucy!" the feline yelled.
"Aw Contrare mademoiselle, a reasonable guess, but we weren't the ones who did it," Sol commented.
Moving his hand in front of him, he summoned up a magic circle, sending a barrage of flying stones aimed at Trixie. The feline's quick reflexes allowed her to dodge them and break them apart with her attacks.
Though she got blind-sided by another storm of stone, which emerged from another magic circle on the building next to her.
The second attack made it's impact, dropping Trixie to the ground. She found herself soaking wet from the water and covered with deep cuts.
"Then who did it?!" Trixie screamed at the Earth mage, holding her stomach after one of the large stones hit it making her struggling to get back up.
"That honor and the renovation of your Guild Hall was all complements of monsieur Gajeel. Although in fairness, we were with him in spirit as the saying goes," Sol revealed to the duo.
Trixie was about to reply, but heard the sounds of banging echoing. The feline turned to see Lucy trying to break out, struggling to keep herself from breathing in the water.
"Let her go! She's gonna drown," the feline yelled out.
When the two didn't comply, Trixie's anger peaked to her limit. She rushed forward towards the duo to try and defeat them. While enraged, her speed almost doubled, allowing her to move faster than the two could keep up with their eyes.
Reaching them in seconds, she attempted to slash them both, causing them to dodge the attack. Trixie attempted to stop, skidding on the slippery floor. She finally stopped a good few feet from them.
"Come now Madame féline. you have no chance of defeating two of the Element 4 by yourself," Sol retorted.
After his remark, Sol slammed down his hand onto the floor. A magic circle once again emerged, only this time the building walls began to warp. In seconds, pillars of stone pierced through and tried to impale Trixie.
Each one that came at her had been broken by a strike that she delivered, causing Sol to look on in shock. The more he sent to her, the more she broke. When the attack stopped, Trixie still stood tall, giving the man a cocky smile.
"Heh, compared to my partner, your control of the Earth is amateur at best," Trixie retorted.
Before getting the chance to go on the offensive once more, something struck her back. The feline felt the impact, but then began to feel something else.
In a matter of minutes, all her magic energy somehow drained out of her body. With little time before she would pass out, the feline turned her head in an attempt to see who had hit her.
She came face-to-face with the princess of Phantom Lord, Angela.
"Go to sleep," were the last words Trixie heard before succumbing to magic exhaustion.
"TRIXIE!" Lucy bellowed out in the sphere. She attempted to break out of the sphere once more, beating her fists against its solid-like structure. It was no use.
"Don't waste your energy. My Water Lock spell cannot break from the inside," Juvia stated. The water-mage noticed that Lucy was starting to lose consciousnesses.
The blond-haired mage took one last look at Trixie's body. Only to see the feline revert back to her normal form, taken by the black-haired woman. All she could do was mutter an apology before finally passing out in the water.
"Oh, si magnifique!" Sol cheered, beginning to twist around and laugh with an evil tone in his voice. His victory dance stopped when Angela walked up to them and saw Lucy now floating helplessly in the water.
"Do not be afraid, we have explicit orders to bring you back alive. You are nothing but a target for our retrieval mission, Lucy Heartfilia".
"Triomphe!"
"The target's been captured, drip, drip drop".
"Only barley. If I didn't use my Shatterpoint on the creature, she would've been able to break your spell Juvia," Angela warned her, making the blue-haired woman bow in respect.
"I apologize Lady Angela," Juvia muttered. She looked down to see the feline Angela was holding."What shall we do with the creature?"
Angela thought for a minute, knowing that that she couldn't choose to let her go due to two of the Element 4 being witnesses.
"We'll be taking it back with us. I'm sure the Master will be able to find someone who would be willing to buy her," Angela replied with Sol and Juvia nodding in agreement.
The trio began making their way back to their home with the prisoners in tow. They were all unaware at what events were taking place back at the guild, let alone with their comrades. Though with time, both guilds would soon be faced with something that will turn the tide of the war.
Dun-Dun-DUN! Didn't see that coming did you? I hope you guys enjoyed reading Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail: Part II, I apologize if Sol did not follow exactly how his character was. It's hard to work with someone who has little to none background in Fairy Tail, but you won't be seeing much of the Element 4 fights so it's no biggie. Meanwhile, there is two references I've made on here, first was the burning of Phantom Lord's Guild mark in front of the building. I made it similar to the Avatar: The Last Airbender scene with Iroh burning down the fire-nation flag in Ba-Sing-Sei. The second reference was the star wars force ability called Shatterpoint, which can allow someone to focus the force through the weak points of anything they touch. Spoiler Alert: Angela's magic is mainly based on this and one other one that will be revealed later in the series, so hope you guys enjoyed the early gift. Please leave a comment, review, or advice on the review sections and I hope to you see you guys in Chapter 8: Phantom Lord vs Fairy Tail: Part III - Rescuing.
