Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail
...
When the Strauss siblings and Laxus returned to the guild, the sight they saw was both one of pain and despair. Everybody carried an injury of some sort, yet they seemed ever so slightly grateful that they had gotten away with the damage they had caused. Two people were going around from mage to mage, changing towels on burns and bandaging up cuts to the best of their ability. "Lucy!" shouted Lisanna at the sight of her blond haired friend who looked towards the entrance at the sound of her name being called.
"Lisanna," she said joyfully as she placed two glasses of water on a nearby table for Alzack and Bisca before heading to where Lisanna stood, not noticing the awkward moment when both the gunslingers reached for the same glass and touched fingers momentarily only to look away in embarrassment. "I'm so glad to see that you're alright," she said giving the Take Over mage a hug.
"Looks like we're going to need more than a roll of bandages to get you fixed up," said the other temporary nurse as she looked at the battered body of Elfman. While he hadn't seemingly taken any damage while in his Beast form it was mostly due to the fact that he couldn't feel the attacks in such a form. Now however, it was clear that out of all the people who had participated in the battle it was he who had sustained the most damage.
"Take care of him Ul," said Laxus as he handed Elfman off to the fellow member of Fairy Tail. As Elfman was helped to a nearby bed, the lightning mage had a look at the surrounding area in search of his relative. "Hey blondie, where's Master?"
Lucy gave him a quick glare of dagger eyes but said nothing against the minor insult knowing that she held little power against such a competitor. "Master got taken into the woods for special treatment," she said, recalling the information she had been given earlier.
"Good, that's probably the safest place for gramps," said Laxus as he made his way deeper into the room, looking for some way to help out as Lucy just stood there stunned momentarily.
"Are you okay Lucy?" asked Mirajane who was the only one standing by her side as Lisanna went to check on her friends.
"What did Laxus mean when he said 'gramps?'" asked Lucy.
"Laxus is the master's grandson," explained Mirajane, the resolution of which took several seconds before the information truly sunk in and the hall was filled with Lucy's shriek of horror.
...
"Alright, I've been in contact with Erza, she'll do her best to get here as quickly as she can," said Lisanna as she joined the group, having gone off to make the call in the corner of the room.
"Alright, we need to make a battle plan while we wait for her to get here," stated Ul as the semi recovered members of the guild stood around a large table.
"Are we going to go attack them again?" asked Macao.
"I'll be sure to bring explosive lacrima this time!" claimed Wakaba intending on doing some serious damage this time round.
"No, our plan won't be based on how we're going to attack but rather how we're going to counterattack when they come for us," explained Ul which resulted in a mixed reaction as people became frightened by the prospect of being attacked so soon.
"Why would they attack us?" asked Cana.
"As far as I can tell, Jose has had it in for Fairy Tail for as long as I can remember," explained Ul. "At my inauguration for becoming a member of the Ten Wizard Saints, he tried to provoke a war right there but thanks to Master the situation was calmed down before anything drastic happened."
"What happened?" asked Loke.
"He poisoned me," said Laxus which startled a number of people immensely. "Gramps took me to the ceremony saying that in ten or so years it would be me standing in front of the council and getting such an honour. At the time I considered it a mere dream and still do to some extent. Yet Jose was there and while we were watching the ceremony he slipped a deadly poison into my drink. Thankfully due to their being several medics nearby my life was saved and while a number of people believed it was Jose, nobody had any evidence to back up their claim."
"He would go that low," growled Grey as he clenched his fist angrily.
"There's another reason why he might strike but it's not important," said Ul shooting a brief glance at Lucy who was sitting on a nearby barrel. During the conversation they had had earlier, they had managed to deduce that Lucy was the target but for what purpose they were unsure. Turning her attention back to the map that lay upon the table she pointed out several key areas. "It's not likely that they will storm the town, but we can't rule that out as an option. If so we're going to need holder-type wizards to make vantage points here and here."
"I see," said Wakaba, "You want to lead them down this path for an ambush."
"If we weren't facing an enemy whose number could be dozens of times larger then us, that would be the simple solution," stated Ul. "It all depends on how many of his members Jose rallies for his cause. If he attacks with everything at his disposal then we're going to need a divide and conquer strategy, breaking up larger groups and sending them out of the way until we are ready to face them."
"Before that though," said Laxus as he turned his attention to a number of guild members with broken arms and other battle wounds that would keep them out of the upcoming battle, "Anybody who cannot fight, head to the safe house down in the eastern suburbs."
"We can still fight!" proclaimed Nab despite having his left arm in a sling, having received a fracture during the previous fight.
"No, not only would you endanger yourselves further but you would also endanger us," stated Ul. "While I admire your courage, we would have to have one eye on the battle and one eye on you lot to make sure you're safe. Also to be on the safe side I want Reedus, Lucy and Loke to guard you guys in case information about where all you guys are hiding gets leaked out."
"Understood," said Reedus calmly as those who couldn't participate in the fight prepared to head towards the safe shelter. Lucy looked like she wanted to protest but then quickly understood what Ul was getting at in that she would be safest away from the main battle considering she was potentially the final goal.
"Why are we leaving now? It could be days before Phantom strike," exclaimed Nab.
"He'll want to kick us when we are down," said Laxus. "He won't give us time to recover, especially if he doesn't want Gramps to enter the equation."
"So we need to start planning now otherwise..." started Ul but she was cut off as the ground shook violently causing several people to fall to their knees.
"What was that!" exclaimed Grey.
"Everyone, outside!" shouted Alzack as he stood at the entrance to the beer hall. It didn't take long for all the members of Fairy Tail to evacuate the beer hall and look out towards the ocean only for their jaws to drop in fear. Before them atop the waves stood a castle walking atop eight mechanical limbs clawing it's way ever close to where the members of Fairy Tail stood.
"So this is how they attack us," said Mirajane as her features became more focused on the task at hand.
"Everybody who can't fight, get to the safe house now!" shouted Ul, the guild members in question not needing to be told twice as they made a mad rush away from the immediate threat. Ul then turned to the trio she had assigned to look after the wounded, "You three are not allowed anything to happen to them, got that?"
"Understood," said Loke, for once not finishing the statement with a declaration of beauty. Reedus quickly painted a picture of a boar and wagon on his chest, the image bursting to life moments later. With the help of Loke, those who were unable to make the journey themselves were loaded onto the back of the wagon, the most noticeable one being Elfman.
"I'm sorry I can't be a man in this battle," he said solemnly before Laxus put a hand on his bandaged shoulder lightly.
"There will be another time, remember we got the festival to look forward to soon," said Laxus with a smirk. "I'm sure you can show just how much of a man you are in that contest."
"Let's go," said Reedus as he cracked the reins on the boar, the purple pig responding instantly as it darted forward through the streets. Looking away from the retreating wagon, Laxus observed the building as it grinded to a halt.
"So the last plan of action went out the window, what now?" he asked Ul. Before Ul could answer however a panel of the building began to slide downwards, revealing a large cannon that extended towards Fairy Tail.
"Do they mean to blow up the whole town!" exclaimed Bisca frantically as magical energy began to concentrate inside the cannon.
"That's not just any cannon, that's the magical focusing cannon Jupiter," said Mirajane analysing the weapon before them.
"How does knowing what it's called going to help us?" asked Wakaba.
"Because the amount of magical energy needed to recharge such a weapon will give us the perfect time to counterattack," said Ul as she watched the magical energy grow larger in diameter.
"Why aren't you worried about the attack that's going to be coming at us right now!" exclaimed Happy.
"You think something like that scares me," said Ul with a comforting smirk as she looked over her shoulder while she walked forward in front of where the rest of the guild stood. "Once it's fired I reckon we have about ten minutes to get in there and stop it from firing again. We'll need a strike force to go in and stop it before going on and stopping Jose for good. The assault team will consist of myself, Laxus and Mirajane."
"All three 'S' class mages!" said Laki in disbelief.
"Hold it, I'm coming to," said Gray boldly. "I'm going to show you just what I can do."
"If you say so," said Ul with a shrug of the shoulders.
"Hey, I don't want to ruin the moment between the two of you but that thing is about to fire!" shouted Macao turning his attention back to the cannon. Not a second after he had raised the alarm did a beam of pure magical energy explode forth in their direction causing a number of people to shout out in fear. Ul however remained calm as she lowered a fist into her palm, magical energy beginning to concentrate around her.
"Ice Make: Wall!" she shouted as she cast her spell a split moment before the magical energy crashed into the newly formed defensive barrier. Standing nearly a hundred feet tall and a dozen feet in depth, the ruthless assault struggled to break past the barrier that had been conjured, Ul constantly reinforcing the structure whenever she felt the beam from Jupiter gain even the slightest ground. Eventually the attack came to a halt and vanished, causing the members of Fairy Tail to shout in joy.
Inside the Phantom headquarters, several of the wizards who were controlling the cannon could hear their master grumble under his breath. "So, you've gotten even stronger since we last met," said Jose with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "It doesn't matter, the result hasn't changed."
"Wow, you actually stopped it," said Lisanna in disbelief as the wall of ice shattered into nothingness.
"Lisanna, we're going to need your help to get Grey over there," said Ul. "Mira, are you fine to carry me?"
"Piece of cake," said Mirajane as she activated her Take Over magic, Lisanna doing the same as they both transformed.
"Race ya," teased Laxus as his body flashed brightly before he shot himself directly towards the nozzle of the cannon.
"Why you!" growled Mirajane as she grasped on to Ul arms and tossed her skywards before flying underneath the ice mage so that before Ul could begin her descent she had been caught in a piggyback position before they too flashed across the sky.
"Let's go," said Lisanna as she grasped Grey with her talons before taking to the sky. It didn't take them long to reach the entrance but by that stage the other three had already vanished to the depths within. "Give them hell," said Lisanna cheekily before taking off to assist with the defence.
"Maybe I should have asked if she wanted to join in," muttered Grey as he watched the retreating form of his friend. Realising there was no way to call back to her now, he merely shrugged his shoulders before sprinting down the nozzle of the cannon. It took him no more than twenty seconds to catch up to where his three compatriots were standing.
"We were wondering when you'd get here," said Laxus keeping his eyes focused ahead at the task at hand.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," said Grey with a small smirk adorning his features.
"Well you didn't miss any of the fun," said Mirajane as the four of them surveyed the challenge before them. Standing in the centre of the room was a large spherical lacrima, the purpose of which seemed relatively easy to understand. In between the four of them and the lacrima however stood a hundred able bodied Phantom Lord guild members, each of them knowing that if they failed to protect the lacrima the punishment they would receive would be much fiercer than anything the Fairy Tail mages could do.
"We have ten minutes before Jupiter is ready to fire again," analysed Ul observing the large clock in the background. "A hundred men between us and our goal."
A sense of fear ran through the spines of all of the enemy guild members as all four of the mages started channelling their magical energy, the presence of such a force was overwhelming and a slight smell of fresh urine was present in the air. "Shall we?" suggested Laxus and in a single moment the mages of Fairy Tail struck fast and hard.
The clock hadn't even counted another minute before the lacrima was destroyed.
...
Hope you enjoyed.
Kokuja-Fafnir: I understand what you're saying with how people believe pairings are a necessity but that's what I like about Fairy Tail, they are literally one big family and as such pairings aren't really needed, in my opinion at least. There may be pairings later on in this story but we'll see as time goes.
Miroh: I'll see what I can do.
Nance-chan: All in good time.
Huggler: There was a time when I considered making this a yuri story and while I'm sure I would have gotten quite a bit of thanks and praise, I probably wouldn't have been able to keep it going on a decent wavelength.
Jekyll N Hyde: Oh. My. God. Another aussie is reading and reviewing my fic, glorious days!
Ultimate Black Ace:...thanks for such an in-depth review.
Until next time, peace out.