Poisoned by Choice
Chapter 14: The Strongest Guild
Disclaimer: I own neither Fairy Tail nor Naruto they belong to Mashima Hiro and Kishimoto Masashi respectively
"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Demon/Dragon Talking"
'Demon/Dragon Thinking'
"Telepathic Conversation"
'Flashback'
Magic/Magic Item
Location/Time Change
Phantom Lord Guild
Erza cursed under her breath as her mace was deflected by Gajeel and she was forced to backpedal away from the Iron Dragon Slayer. He was living up to his reputation as Phantom's ace and was pushing Erza to her limits. His ferocity and brutality were well balanced by the defense that his Iron Dragon Scales provided to turn the man into a force of nature. Erza was glad that she was the one to confront Gajeel instead of one of her other guildmates. If they attempted to fight him she was sure that it wouldn't end well. Only Naruto's poison or maybe Natsu's flames would be able to damage the mage through his armor.
Sharpened nails thrust forward in an attempt to remove her eye and Erza ducked out of the way. Gajeel had quickly realized that her armor's defense was nullifying his magical attacks and had switched to just his fists early on. It was proving to be quite difficult to counter since if her weapon got close to him he could grab it and tear a chunk off as a snack. Erza's armor had several bite marks in it and she was missing her right gauntlet—having fallen off after Gajeel had eaten enough of it.
"Come on, Titania! Is this the best you've got?!" Gajeel taunted while unleashing a flurry of blows that she blocked with her mace. Gajeel then gripped one of the spikes and jerked it aside while throwing a heavy haymaker into her ribs, "Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!"
Erza gave a short cry of pain while she was pushed back. A glance down saw that part of the armor was cracking and her mace was now down a spike. She couldn't afford to keep wearing her Purgatory Armor. The increased defense and power wasn't worth it if she couldn't hit Gajeel. All she was doing was letting him get a power boost. While he was waiting for her to move, Erza requipped into her Flight Armor. A light armor that consisted of a small breastplate and small armor pieces on her left arm and leg in cheetah print, a thin blue clothing covering her arms and legs, a yellow cloth over her left thigh, and she now had a cheetah tail and matching ears as well. Instead of the usual swords she used with her armor, Erza now had a pair of wooden tonfas in her hands.
Without preamble, Erza rushed forward at twice her previous speed thanks to her armor's properties. Gajeel was caught off guard and took a hard smack across his face that sent him sprawling. Erza didn't let up and began to unleash rapid-fire blows with her tonfa ends to Gajeel's body. The Phantom Mage was being pushed across the war zone that the guild had turned into as the blunt force of Erza's hits were able to be felt past his scales.
Gajeel was growing frustrated, but waited until he adjusted to Erza's new speed to make his move. His hands snaked out and grabbed onto one of her tonfas while the other was deflected away. He slid his hand down the weapon and got a grip on Erza's hand so that she wouldn't pull away. Sharp nails drew blood and Gajeel began to land his own counter blows to Erza's body. Her light armor now a disadvantage that let Gajeel land several damaging hits.
Erza twirled the tonfa in her free hand and shoved it into Gajeel's face. The Dragon Slayer bit down on the end while giving Erza a twisted smirk. His face then turned into confusion at her smile before she pulled the concealed trigger in the tonfa handle and shot Gajeel in the mouth with a magic bullet.
He released his hold and cursed in pain while smoke wafted from his mouth. Erza used his distraction to requip into her Giant Armor. Yellow armor with blue trim appeared around her with the armor on her right arm being significantly bigger than the rest of her armor. Usually Erza used this armor to help her throw spears, but this time she had requipped a large hammer. Gajeel sensed the change and looked up in time to watch Erza hurl an oversized hammer at him. He was unable to dodge in time and was crushed by the hammer and carried into the opposite wall.
Erza requipped back into her normal armor and observed her work. She was confident that even with his Iron Dragon's Scales Gajeel wouldn't be able to walk away from a crushing blow like that. She turned to attempt to find Naruto and see if she could save him from Aria when the sound of ripping metal reached her ears. She turned around and her eyes widened in shock when she saw Gajeel emerge from the wall.
In his jaw was her hammer—slowly being devoured—and in his eyes was murder. Gajeel's eyes never left Erza's as he finished eating her weapon and swallowed obviously. Green magical energy began to waft off of his body and his Iron Scales, which had been cracked all over, once again were unblemished and in perfect condition. "Thanks for the meal," Gajeel growled out before rocketing across the guild and burying his fist into Erza's gut, crumpling the armor covering her with an awful screech. She was launched backwards and Gajeel cracked his neck in satisfaction. "You done warming up, Titania?" he called out.
His response was Erza's sword clashing against his hands and her furious scowl meeting his cocky grin. An armored knee slammed into his gut and she disengaged from his hands and thrust a spear with two heads connected to a wheel at him. Gajeel tanked the attack as usual, but then cried out in pain as his body was shocked by thousands of volts from the spear. A wave of water then slammed into him and sent his body rolling. He looked up at Erza and saw that she was now holding a crystal sword in her other hand that had a fin-like guard. "Yes, Gajeel, I am done warming up," she coldly told him.
A psychotic grin covered Gajeel's face and he climbed to his feet, "Now that's what I'm talking about! Show me what your puny guild is made of, Queen of the Fairy Trash!"
The two rushed forward at each other, one a knight trailing a mix of lightning and water and the other a metal monster with jagged blades for hands.
Naruto vs Aria
Aria recovered from the unexpected attack and held up his hands to launch Zetsu only for Naruto to rocket forward again and slam an uppercut into his gut. The taller mage let out a burst of air and doubled over only for Naruto to grab him by the neck and slam him face first into the ground. The blond didn't let up and then began to throw several punches into Aria's downed form until it disappeared. He snapped his head up and began to wildly glance around. His nostrils flared, but he couldn't detect a whiff of Aria, even with the boost from Kyubi's chakra. The strong negative emotions that were invading his mind was making it hard to concentrate on anything other than 'punch Aria until he stops moving'. Using his chakra cloak for the first time in the middle of a giant battle probably wasn't the best idea.
Aria reappeared above Naruto and dropped his Air Form. He wiped a trickle of blood off of his chin and glared down at the Dragon Slayer from behind his bandages. He claimed to be using something called chakra which must be the cause of his new foxlike appearance, but it seemed to make him rely more on instinct than rational thought. He could use this. Aria raised his palm at Naruto and began to send his airspace at him.
On the ground, Naruto suddenly felt an explosion slam into his back and he was knocked forward. He turned around to face his attacker only for more explosions to slam into him. After they subsided, Naruto shook his head in frustration and glared up into the rafters. He could make out Aria's large form hovering up there and the sight of him pissed him off. He leapt to the side and began to rush up the wall on all fours. Aria's magic was fired at him again, but now that he could see where he was, Naruto was able to avoid the attacks. He leapt at Aria with his fist cocked and prepared to swing a vicious haymaker only to be hit with Zetsu and knocked away.
Naruto flipped in midair and landed on one of the rafters. He held on with one foot and a hand while glaring up at Aria. He wanted to rush up there and beat his face in, but now that he was becoming used to the angry emotions he was beginning to think clearer. He couldn't just keep running at him while trying and failing to punch him in the face. The Fairy Tail mage needed to use his head for this. Aria was capable of long-range magic that caused explosions so he would have to be cautious. He had already been able to outrun the explosions, but if he got too close then there wouldn't be enough time to dodge.
Naruto's fist tightened on the rafter and he felt the wood begin to break beneath the extra chakra he was pumping out. He looked at the mark the chakra left in the rafter and got an idea. Naruto began to rush up and around the rafters surrounding Aria. The large man watched in confusion as Naruto began to turn into a red blur as his speed constantly increased. Naruto continued to pump more and more chakra into his feet and hands. When he put too much chakra into the tree climbing exercise then he'd get launched off, so he figured that if he did it on purpose and angled himself correctly he could use that force as a boost. The downside was that his eyes couldn't actually keep up with the speed he was using. Fortunately, Aria hadn't moved and was ripe for the pickings.
Naruto abruptly pivoted at one of the rafters and launched himself at Aria, breaking the rafter behind him with his chakra. The red blur slammed into Aria and sent the pair rocketing into the guild floor. Before he could recover, Naruto placed both hands on Aria's chest and focused his chakra into them as if Aria was a tree. Naturally, he put too much chakra into it and the chakra burst pushed Naruto back and Aria even deeper into the ground.
In the crater, Aria coughed in pain and spat out blood. The blond bastard had managed to do some serious damage with those last attacks and he was pissed. Aria ripped off his bandages to reveal his dark eyes and their strange pupils that shined with power. "How sorrowful," he said to himself, "That the life of the Basilisk ends here."
Naruto got back to his feet and felt the magic power emanating from Aria's position. It seemed as if the large man was preparing to end it. A smirk covered Naruto's face as he began to inhale. Kyubi's chakra cloak was speedily devoured and Naruto felt magic power flow through his system again. It was like a warm fire. And like fire he was going to destroy everything in his path.
Aria floated up out of his crater as the air around him began to spiral inwards. He held out his hands and specks of golden light started to float towards Naruto, "Can you survive the airspace of death, Zero?" he asked, obviously doubting Naruto's chances.
Naruto made no response other than to crouch low and gather his poison around him, "Secret Dragon Slayer Art, Toxic Overflow: Sludge Wave!" Naruto gathered poison around his arms and shoved forward. A large wave of purple poison was released from his hands in a constant stream that formed into a wave. Aria's airspace was overrun by the magic and the man himself shortly followed. When Naruto's attack finished, Aria was left unconscious against one of the guild walls with a sickly pallor to his skin.
Naruto dropped his hands with a sigh of relief. While he had been able to use Kyubi's chakra cloak, it felt weird to the mage to rely on nothing but his chakra like that. He couldn't see himself using it again like that in the near future, even if overloading his chakra to launch people was cool. Hearing the sounds of fighting, Naruto remembered that he was still in the middle of a battle and went off to find his friends and crack some Phantom skulls. Hopefully including one made of scrap iron.
Magnolia Town
"Sanji, take Lucy back to the guild!" Loke shouted before tossing Lucy up into the air. He rushed forward with his rings shining, confident that the cat would listen to him. He cocked his fist back and punched Juvia in the face. He was temporarily surprised when she didn't make a move to dodge, but then his fist went through her face and his body followed. "What the hell?" he said after catching his balance. He turned back and watched as the water churned and reformed into the Phantom mage.
"Juvia is a water woman. Your attacks will have no effect against Juvia," she tonelessly told Loke.
He grimaced, "Shit." A wave of water was sent at him and he dodged out of the way before yelling to Gray, "Gray, switch!"
The dark-haired man set up a wall of ice to block Sol's attack and glanced over to Loke. He saw that his friend was struggling against Juvia and understood why when he saw his fist pass through her. He formed a cannon out of ice and took aim, "Ice Make: Cannon!" The ice cannonball went through Juvia and gained her attention.
Gray and Loke ran forward and slapped hands while changing opponents. Gray stood in front of Juvia and eyed the mage carefully, "I don't care if you're a woman or a child I won't go easy on anyone that hurts my friends."
At Gray's words Juvia's face gained a blush and she turned around and began to walk away. "Juvia has lost this battle. Farewell," she said with a slight stutter.
"What the hell?!" Gray cried out in surprise. She was just giving up like that? Not if he had anything to say about it. "Hey. You can't just leave like that after attacking us," he said while grabbing her shoulder.
Juvia whipped around in surprise and formed a sphere of water around Gray out of reflex, "Water Lock!"
'Dammit, I let my guard down,' Gray cursed in his head. He had taken the woman's surrender seriously and had easily fallen for her trap. Who was he, Sanji? Gray froze the sphere and glared at Juvia, who jerked back at his fierce face. "You won't take me out with a trick like that," he warned her before thrusting his hands out, "Ice Make: Lance!"
In the air, Lucy struggled as Sanji took her away from the fight, "Dammit, Sanji, put me down. I'm can't just let them fight by themselves."
"Sorry, Lucy-chwan, but you're not strong enough to fight those guys yet," he told her. They were S-class mages from Phantom Lord and Lucy hadn't even been in the guild for a month. She wouldn't be ready to fight anyone on that level for a while.
"We can't just leave them there. If we work together we can take them," she insisted. "Isn't that how Fairy Tail works? We stand together and nothing can touch us."
Sanji faltered in midair at her words. She was right, that was how they did things. It went against what he stood for as a Fairy Tail mage to run from a fight, but Loke had told him to get Lucy to safety. Before his internal conflict could be resolved, he saw an out. Elfman and Mira were running through the streets towards the source of the conflict. Sanji dropped down and let go of Lucy in front of them.
"Sanji, Lucy?" Mira said in surprise, "What are you two doing here?"
"We just came from a fight. Lucy is being targeted by Phantom and Gray and Loke are holding off two of the Element Four," Sanji quickly explained. "Lucy-chwan, stay here with Mira-chan. I'm heading back to help."
"As a man, I can't let you go alone," Elfman declared.
"Thought so, follow me." Sanji reverted to his normal size to conserve magic and began to lead Elfman through town.
"Wait!" Lucy called after them to no avail. She stopped her foot in frustration as the pair disappeared from sight. She turned to Mira, "We have to follow them."
Mira put her hand on Lucy's shoulder, "If they're really after you then we should return to the guild in case there are more Phantom members out here," she gently said.
Lucy shrugged her hand off, "I can't just let them fight for me like that. I'm a Fairy Tail mage too," she said while flashing her guild mark.
Mira chewed on her lip while regarding Lucy. She understood her frustration. She hadn't been able to use her main magic since Lisanna's death years ago and sometimes the feeling of helplessness and uselessness got to her. Lucy's eyes shone with those same feelings, not as strongly, but enough for Mira to emphasize. If she didn't fight she'd blame herself for anything that happened to the others. Gray and Loke were strong, but Elfman and Sanji weren't on their level and Mira wasn't sure if any of them were on the same level as the Element Four. The former S-class mage made a decision and straightened her shoulders, "Okay, let's go."
Lucy's face lit up, "Thank you so much, Mira!" She quickly hugged her in gratitude and began to lead the way, "Follow me, I remember where it is."
The pair quickly were able to make their way to the fight and were met with a frightening sight. Gray was struggling against Juvia by himself since none of the others could touch her with their magic. The water mage had gotten her water to a boil and Gray had several burn marks covering his shirtless body. Across from them, the other three were having trouble against Sol's hit-and-run tactics. The man would disappear into the earth and pop out to take a potshot before disappearing again.
Lucy quickly reached for Taurus' key and pulled it out, "Open. Gate of the Golden Bull, Taurus!" she shouted. A bell chimed and Taurus, a black and white minotaur with a nose ring and speedo, appeared with his large axe slung over his shoulder. Lucy pointed to where Sol was fighting against the others, "Taurus, help defeat Sol!"
"Yoooou've got it, Lucy," the spirit said before jumping into battle. He raised his large axe over his head and brought it slamming down onto the ground that Sol had just disappeared into. The Phantom Mage was forced to jump out of the ground at the attack and Loke took the opportunity to nail him with his glowing fist.
The ring mage looked over at Taurus in surprise and shock at his appearance and glanced over to see that Lucy and Mira were watching them from the alley entrance. 'Fuck!' Lucy was supposed to have been taken to safety by Sanji. He wanted her out of the way and, more importantly, her spirits far away from this fight. This was really, really bad. If Taurus recognized him then he'd tell Lucy his identity or even worse, the other spirits. Loke quickly turned his back to Taurus and thanked the Spirit King that his hair was shorter and he had stopped wearing suits. As long as he kept Taurus from seeing his face then he'd be fine.
The Fairy Tail mages regrouped and watched Sol carefully. "Thanks for the assist. You're a real man!" Elfman, with his arm covered in rocks, told Taurus. They were getting their asses kicked by Sol, especially Elfman since he wasn't as fast as the others.
"Noooo problem."
Around them the rain began to pick up and they lost sight of Sol. They swore to themselves and unconsciously grouped closer to prevent being attacked from behind. Unfortunately for them, no matter how close they kept the circle Sol was still able to slip in behind them. The thin man appeared in the middle of the group and launched his attack, "Roche Concerto!" A swarm of small rocks pelted the four fighters and broke them apart. They whirled around to face Sol, but he had already disappeared. Sanji flew into the air and looked around, but didn't see them anywhere.
"Where is he?" Loke asked aloud. They continued to look for him to no avail. He had seemingly disappeared.
Then they heard a pair of screams.
The four all immediately looked to the source of the screams and saw that Sol had found Lucy and Mira and attacked them while they were searching for him. The two girls were slowly being petrified from the bottom up as their eyes stared off into the distance, minds currently in a place only they could see.
They cried out to them, but there was no response. "Non, non, non," Sol said while shaking his finger at them, "You won't be able to break them out of my Merci la Vie."
Elfman cried out in rage and charged Sol only to be easily repelled. "Non, non, non. You can't save her like that. Just like before, Elfman, you will watch as your sister dies because you were too weak to save her." A cruel smile appeared on Sol's face, "Just like with Lisanna."
"How to you know about Lisanna?!" Elfman demanded while attempting to backhand Sol.
The strange man bent his body past ninety degrees to avoid the attack before answering. "My monocle whispers to me about all of you." He swept his hand out and prevented Loke and Taurus from reaching Lucy with a wave of sand, "Sable Dance." Sol went over to their position trapped in the sand, "And what about you, spirit? Will you allow another summoner to die because of your inactions?"
Taurus was both enraged and confused by Sol's words. None of his summoners had ever died because of him and he wasn't about to let Lucy be the first. But then he noticed that Sol wasn't talking to him. He glanced at the man next to him and got a good look at his face. Through the twisted visage of rage, he recognized him. The spirit that had disappeared from the Spirit World years ago for unexplained reasons, "Leo."
Loke roared out in anger and charged his magic to his hands, ignoring his rings. He didn't care if there was a pretty good chance that it wouldn't work or if it would shorten his life, he wasn't going to let Lucy die. Bright yellow light glowed from his shaking fist that could be seen even through the rain and blinded those around him. He raised his fist up and the light began to increase, "O Regulus… Grant me your strength!" he chanted before launching his fist through the sand and into Sol's face, "Regulus Impact!" Sol was sent flying backwards and the magic surrounding the girls shattered.
Loke collapsed to his knees and gasped for breath. That had taken more out of him than he expected and it hadn't even been that strong. The lion head that normally came with his attack hadn't appeared and he wasn't sure if he had defeated Sol, but that was okay. He was sure that the others could take care of him now. He felt Taurus's hand grab his shoulder and shake him, but he couldn't hear the words. His vision was growing dark and everything sounded muffled around him, 'At least I was able to save someone this time.' Before he passed out, Loke noticed that the rain had stopped.
"Leo, Leo, Leo!" Taurus continued to shake Loke while calling his name. Seeing that there was no response, he stood up and turned to where Sol had been sent flying. His grip on his axe tightened in anger. He was going to split the mage in half, damn the consequences.
"Huh, Taurus, what happened?" Lucy groggily asked. Then she remembered and looked around in a panic, "The Phantom mage! Where is he?!"
"Not sure. Leo sent him flying and saved you two."
"Leo?" The two repeated and then saw Loke, unconscious on the ground. "Loke!" Mira rushed to his side and checked his pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found it. It was weak, but there. Mira looked up to where Sanji was floating in midair, "Sanji, you need to take Loke back to the guild."
"Y-yeah," Sanji muttered out. Mira noticed that he was distracted and asked what was wrong. Sanji pointed over to where Elfman had been standing, "He did it. Elfman finally did it."
They followed his gaze and were shocked at what they saw. Elfman had been replaced with a large hulking beast that had dark red fur, green skin, bird-like legs, yellow spikes on his shoulders that matched the horned crest he now sported, and long shaggy white hair fell down his back and was connected to a beard. Elfman's stitched scar had turned jagged and his pants remained—albeit more ragged.
"Full Body Takeover," Mira said in shock and worry. Elfman had never been able to use a Full Body Takeover before. The one time he had managed to do it he had been trying to take over the very monster before them. He had failed and it had cost Lisanna her life. "Elfman, are you in control?"
There was no response. Mira nervously watched as The Beast looked around at the mages standing there, finally stopping on Sol's fallen form. He lumbered over to where Sol was lying and paused for a moment, then his large fist reared back and slammed down into the Phantom mage's prone body. The Beast began to work up a rhythm as it pummeled the unconscious man.
The others looked on in shock and horror, unable to do anything to stop the monster that Elfman had become. "He's gonna kill him…" Sanji muttered. He was right. The Beasts was like a machine, channeling the small portion of Elfman's mind that was fighting for control and preventing it from targeting his friends. Subconscious fury over the near-death of his remaining sister was fueling The Beast's actions at the moment.
Mira watched in horror as the memories she tried to keep locked away filled her mind. Elfman's previous failed attempt at controlling The Beast and this attempt were overlapping over each other. This time however, he wouldn't be snapped out of his transformation because of Sol's death. He needed to be stopped, but the onsite mages weren't strong enough to stop him, including herself. Mira's fists tightened in frustration and before she knew what was happening she was running at The Beast. The others noticed too late to stop her and then Mira was in front of The Beast.
The giant monster stopped mid-punch and stared down at Mira in confusion as she stood over Sol's extremely battered and bruised body with arms stretched wide. "Elfman, stop this! The fight is over! He's lost!" she yelled at him. She forced a smile on her face as tears formed in her eyes, "Come, let's go home, Elfman."
Inside of the beast, Elfman's eyes opened. Memories of the last time he had lost control, the last time he had heard those words, the last time he'd seen his little sister. Resolve hardened, Elfman began to fight back against The Beast. He wouldn't let history repeat itself. He was going to save his sister from his worst nightmare; himself. Elfman shouted a wordless cry that reverberated through his soul and gained the attention of the Beast. With his magic overflowing, he managed to pry control of his body back from the monster. Finding the last bit of sentience that represented The Beast's will he crushed it with the monster's own hand and vanquished it from his soul.
Outside, Mira watched nervously as The Beast gave a wild cry of rage and pain. Then it began to shrink down. The scar under its eye went from its ragged tear to Elfman's familiar stitched scar. The Beast stopped shrinking, but still towered over Mira. She hesitantly reached out to touch its face, "Elfman, is that you?"
Large arms wrapped around Mira's shoulders and brought her close. There was no pain from being crushed and Mira relaxed when she felt the shudders going through Elfman's body. She reached up and returned his embrace as he talked through his tears, "I'm sorry, Neechan. I just wanted to protect you and, and, and…"
"It's okay, Elfman. You did it. It's okay," Mira reassured her little brother. He smiled at her through his tears and reverted back to his own body.
The others gave the Strauss siblings a respectful distance and examined the defeated mage. Sol was a wreck and looked as if he would need to spend a long time in the hospital. Gray arrived shortly after and reported that he had defeated Juvia. The two Phantom mages were gathered up and bound with chains made by Gray. Next to them was an unconscious Loke. Gray had made him a sled out of ice and was standing at the front of it. "I'll take Loke to Porlyusica's hut and see if she can help him. From what you told me this isn't him just overdoing things."
"I'll help you," Elfman volunteered. "Loke showed he's a real man after beating Sol with one hit."
Gray nodded, "Right. Let's go then."
"Be careful. There might be more Phantom mages out there," Lucy warned them with a nervous look about. She remembered what Sol's magic had shown her while being petrified and shivered. Phantom Lord mages were really bad news.
"Got it."
The duo headed off and Mira, Lucy, and Sanji returned to the guild without an incident.
Phantom Lord
Gajeel panted heavily while wiping blood off of his chin. He spat out the rest that was in his mouth at Erza with a scowl. Things started going south after the bitch started using elemental attacks. He was soaked and still had small sparks of electricity darting over his form. His Iron Dragon Scales were cracked and there were several small portions missing from it.
Across from him, Erza wasn't looking that much better. Her spear had been snapped in half and her sword had been smashed shortly after. Her body was covered in scratches and bruises and she was breathing as heavily as Gajeel was. A quick glance around showed that the fighting was wrapping up and Erza knew she had to finish this now. She began to steady her breathing and reached inside her requip space for a special pair of swords. Her favorite swords that she only drew when she had to. Twin katana appeared in Erza's hands—double edged and held by gold hilts. Erza lowered her center of balance while facing Gajeel, "This is it. I will end this fight now."
Gajeel scoffed at her statement, "I'm not going down so easily, trash," he spat out. Both of his arms turned into swords with jagged edges that began to spin like chainsaws. Gajeel rushed forward with his arms held out to his sides, "Die, Fairy Tail trash!"
Erza calmly took a breath and focused. Gajeel was quickly closing the gap between them and just before he was upon her she struck. Brown eyes snapped open and her swords moved in a streak of light. Both combatants passed each other and stopped. Gajeel's arm blades shattered and a burst of blood appeared from the cuts along his chest. He dropped to the floor and struggled to glare at Erza, "How…?" he croaked out.
Erza dispelled her swords and turned to Gajeel. She waited a moment before speaking, "Because I fight for my friends while you only fight for yourself. You see everyone around you as trash and because of that you are alone, but when I look around I see Fairy Tail, my friends and family. Gajeel, you are just a single iron bar that makes up your guild. Even if you are the strongest bar there is still only one of you. Even if we are weaker, the bonds of Fairy Tail combine to form one great steel structure. That is how you lost, because you attacked Fairy Tail and one of its members. On their behalf I've cut you down with two strokes, one for each of them," she watched as Gajeel's eyes began to droop and finished before he fell unconscious, "Remember this lesson well, Gajeel: no matter how strong you are you will always amount to just that single iron bar if you don't change." Erza looked up through a hole in the guild building and noticed a flashing of light and felt a warm and comforting feeling that she had felt only once before, "It appears that Master has finished his fight as well," she said with a nod. She turned away from the unconscious Dragon Slayer and began to round up the Fairy Tail mages. Most of the fighting had died down and any that was still left was quickly dealt with by Erza. The news of their master's victory helped to revitalize the mages and they quickly gathered up their wounded and left.
All that remained in Phantom Lord's main guild were the scattered and beaten forms of Phantom mages throughout the wrecked building. Unseen by anyone, a man covered in a dark blue cloak with the hood up, baggy pants, bandages covering his arms and legs and a bag holding several staves to his back walked into the guild. He took a moment to examine the usual collateral damage left behind by a Fairy Tail operation before dropping a pile of different colored flags in the middle of the guild and left. If any of the mages had been awake at the time they would have seen the disturbing sight of all of the flags from Phantom's branch guilds being picked up by a gust of wind and scattered around the guild in a way that was quite similar to how the mages themselves were. Especially since every one of the flags landed right in front of the mages' faces so that they would be the first thing seen when they woke up.
Phantom Lord Headquarters
Jose calmly sat in a chair and sipped at a glass of wine. He could feel Makarov's approach and, more importantly, his anger. The feeling reminded him of the incident six years ago and cracks appeared on his glass as he failed to completely hold back his rage at his past humiliation. But that didn't matter now. He relaxed back into his chair and set his wine aside. Tremors rocked the building to announce Makarov's arrival. A smirk formed on the guild master's face. This time it would be different. He would prove that Phantom Lord was superior than the upstarts at Fairy Tail.
"JOSE!" Makarov bellowed while destroying the large doors that had the misfortune to be between him and his target. Veins throbbed on Makarov's forehead while the magic power he was unconsciously releasing destroyed the décor in his path. The look on Jose's face when he arrived did nothing to cool Makarov's rage.
"Hello, Makarov. Won't you come in?" Jose uselessly asked.
Makarov silently took several deep breaths to calm himself. Jose was still one of the Ten Wizard Saints and should be treated with caution. The fly over here had brought his temper to a boil, but he needed to remain calm. "Why are you doing this, Jose?" Makarov asked after he had gotten a reasonable hold on his temper, "You're risking too much to start a guild war over the title of the 'Strongest Guild'. What's your play?"
Jose's smirk remained even as he lashed out with his magic in a purple tendril of Dark Magic that Makarov deflected with one hand. "It appears to me that you're the aggressor here, Makarov. You're the ones attacking my guild, and myself, in our own base. All because one of your precious 'children' claims to have been attacked by one of mine and he wrecked your guild while defending himself. It appears that you're the one that's looking for an excuse to fight."
Makarov's eyes flashed and one of his veins throbbed at Jose's insults. Not the ones aimed at him, he couldn't care less about that. It was the slight against Naruto that got his blood boiling. A quick Light Bullet was fired from his finger and pierced Jose's shoulder. Not nearly bad enough to kill, but it would hurt like a bitch later. "Don't you dare mock one of my mages like that in front of me. Have you forgotten my lesson from six years ago?"
Jose's smirk soured into a scowl. That damned incident again. He sent a Dead Wave at Makarov as a response, "That's ancient history, old man!" he yelled even as Makarov blocked his attack, "You and your damn guild have gotten uppity since then. Gildarts, Laxus, Mystogan, Erza, Mirajane," each name was punctuated by a magic attack that was easily stopped, "Your reputation spread like a disease! Phantom Lord has always been the best, but now Fairy Tail was held on the same pedestal. A shitty, trash filled guild led by a decrepit old man that should have done the world a favor and moved underground years ago," Jose's teeth ground together and his magic ran wild while his emotions got the better of him. "You've been a thorn in my sides for years! But the final straw was when we were approached by a very powerful man with a very interesting request: to recover his daughter, Lucy Heartifilia. The newest mage of Fairy Tail. That's what made up my mind. The money of the Heartifilia Company in Fairy Tail's pocket? That kind of funding would have finally given you greater power than me!" Jose's eyes were filled with madness and he grabbed Makarov in a magical grip, "That is a sin that I cannot forgive! That is why you will suffer!"
In his grip Makarov's form shook in place. Jose's lips stretched back in a face splitting grin. Now Makarov understood his power. He wasn't the same as six years ago. While the old man had long since reached his peak, Jose still had plenty of room to grow and now it showed. The old man's lips moved, but his words were too faint for Jose to make out, "What was that? Speak up, Makarov," Jose told him with a shake. He wanted to relish the last words of his greatest enemy.
"You started a war over a trivial thing like that?"
"Yes. It was a great opportunity. Not only will I remove you Fairy trash from Fiore, but I'll get my hands on the entire Heartifilia fortune. Jude will pay through the nose to get his precious daughter back and there isn't anyone strong enough to oppose us. The Heartifilia's resources will be Phantom Lord's resources."
Makarov's eyes closed and he let out a heavy sigh. Such a waste. Jose was strong, impressively so, but the path he had chosen was such a disappointment. "So you've accepted your defeat," Jose foolishly misinterpreted Makarov's actions. He had no idea the sleeping giant he had awoken, but by the gods would he learn.
Magic power exploded from Makarov and shattered Jose's restraints along with the building's roof. The tiny man grew to massive proportions and white lightning and light surrounded his hulking figure, "You are truly a fool, Jose. So blinded by your own ambition and grudges that you sacrificed your guild in an attempt for revenge," Makarov boomed. Anger lacing his every word. "To act on perceived slights and poor information is a great folly, but to threaten one of my children to my face is the greatest mistake you will ever make, Jose," The magic in the air spiked and Makarov straightened so that his full height towered over Jose, "Only Fairy Tail customs force me to give you time to repent. I hope you waste it like you've done with everything else today. You have until the count of three," Makarov's hands were held out at his sides as power built up between them, "KNEEL before your judge and executioner."
"One."
Jose laughed at Makarov, "You dare preach to me? You dare tell me to kneel before you as if you were my better?! I am your equal! If there is anyone that should be kneeling here it is you!" he declared while charging his own spell, "Dead Wave!"
"Two."
Jose's confidence evaporated when he saw his magic do the same as soon as it got within ten feet of Makarov. Pure white eyes glared down at the mage who suddenly felt very small and very pathetic in comparison.
"Three."
Makarov's hands slammed together and sealed Jose's fate.
"Fairy Law, activate."
Everything went white.
Later, Fairy Tail Guild
The doors to Fairy Tail were forced open and the mages inside tensed at the sudden noise and action. Tensions were running high after the first attack led by the Element Four members and nearly everyone had some sort of weapon or spell prepped before the doors swung back to hit the wall. A giant toothy grin was the first thing that they could see. "We won!" Natsu yelled.
The reaction was instant. Cheers went up from Fairy Tail and both sides met in the middle of the guild to celebrate. The rationed alcohol was opened and soon a victory party was in full swing. Makarov smiled from his traditional seat on the bar. For a moment the partially destroyed interior and bandages went away and Fairy Tail was back to normal as it should be. He idly sipped at his drink while watching Natsu, Naruto, Gray, and Elfman boasting about their fights with the Element Four. Lucy, Mira, Erza, and Cana were laughing at their antics while Sanji served them drinks. Reedus was painting, Macao and Wakaba were hanging onto each other's shoulders while drinking, Shadow Gear were with Bisca and Alzack, Max, Laki, Nab, everyone was safe. Sure, tomorrow the Council would drop on them like a hammer, but that was tomorrow's problem. Today was a day for celebrating. The alcohol even tasted better. He drained his mug in a gulp and smacked his lips in satisfaction.
Tasted like victory.
A/N: That took longer than I had hoped it would. Fucking finals. But now I'm done and free for the summer. So hopefully I'll be able to type more than I did last year. I'm expecting to update each story except for Silent Leaf (which I'll still be working on) at least once a month—hopefully twice. We'll have to see. Later.