Sorry it took so long. Here you go. Enjoy!

Chapter 21: Facing Destiny Once Again

Ben was holding up a clearly exhausted Summer in his arms. He knew he could count on her to finish the job. He looked at the rest of his Fairy Tail comrades and suggested, "I think everyone but me, Egon, Natsu and Happy should escape. We're going to take this mega weapon down."

Nobody said anything. No one was sure what to say. Not only was Ben making a big promise, but it seemed as though he was expecting them to just get up and leave. None of them would readily agree to that. Suddenly, a voice made itself known. "What do you plan to do after you stop Edward?"

Everyone looked to the voice's origin. It was Thomas. Ben asked, "What do you mean?"

"As soon as you send the good doctor back to where he belongs, this behemoth is going to fall out of the sky. We're already above dry land. The force of this thing falling out of the sky could easily decimate an entire town at least," Thomas pointed out as he struggled to get to his feet. "Wow, I really overdid it, huh? Where's Braixen…?"

"We have her. She really helped save our skins back there," Hannah reported. Blaziken held the Fox Pokémon close to his chest. "She had taken a major beating in Arley's chamber."

"That's my girl…" the bespectacled Ranger rasped. Using both Xarion and Tempest to the extent that he did in the battle with Hocus had taken a lot out of him.

"You shouldn't be moving around!" Hannah exclaimed in concern.

"You nearly died back there," Erza added.

"As far as my mental health is concerned, my death was ruined. Still, it's good to be alive. Hocus being put in his place is all that matters, though," Thomas responded dryly. He turned his attention back to Ben. "Back to my question. What are you going to do about the Sky Fortress falling? How are you going to protect all of those lives, Ben?"

"Simply put," Ben confidently replied, "Natsu and I should have enough manpower to completely destroy this thing before it hits the ground. Egon and Happy will be a huge help, too."

"Ben…" Summer mumbled worriedly.

"I like the sound of that!" Natsu exclaimed as he cracked his knuckles. His huge grin told everyone that he was ready to rumble.

"Aye, sir!" Happy happily agreed. Egon nodded in approval.

"That barely sounds like an idea; it hardly constitutes a plan," Carla muttered, holding her head with a paw as if she was in pain.

"Carla, are you okay?" Happy asked out of concern, walking over to her and taking her other paw in his own. "You don't look so good. You look like you have a headache. Do you want me to get you something?"

"You're not in any sort of position to get me anything," Carla reminded him. Sighing, she said, "Thank you, Happy. I'm fine. I think I overused my new eye magic."

"Your father's eyes…" Shagotte pointed out as she walked over to Carla, knelt down and gave her a hug. "He'd be so proud of you…"

"Mother, m-my vision is blurry…" Carla admitted, on the verge of tears. "Am I going to go blind…?"

"No, baby… Your eyes are just tired. Your father used to overuse that magic all the time. It'll pass, I promise," Shagotte assured as she stroked the back of her daughter's head. "I wish you had gotten to meet Daddy…"

"Her father must have been a very good tomcat, Miss Shagotte," Wendy said softly, taking them both into a hug.

"I'm here, guys!" Kellyn exclaimed as he burst in, Zane right behind him.

"Great! Just in time for us to get out of here!" Thomas replied as he stood, his legs wobbling. Hannah held onto him for support. Hana had Aaron's head on her lap.

"You mean…?" Ben slowly said. His comrades exchanged an extensive series of glances before nodding at him, Egon, Happy and Natsu. Pichu was strumming his ukulele and Charmander was humming along.

"Don't die on us," Lucy ordered as she hugged Natsu. "Please… Fairy Tail wouldn't be the same…"

"C'mon, Lucy, this is us we're talking about! Ben's a Top Ranger and breaking stuff is a specialty of mine!" Natsu cheekily reminded the blonde wizard.

"Char, Char!" Charmander added with the same confident charisma that Natsu had.

"Wow, that Charmander really takes after its Trainer," Happy pointed out. "Makes me feel lucky, but that's my papa, so I'll just keep on being me."

"Um… I don't think I know what you're talking about anymore," Carla admitted, at a loss as to how else to respond.

Aaron's golden eyes fluttered open and he tried to get up. His body wouldn't respond to his commands. The gray cat started to panic, "W-what's wrong with me…? I can't move!"

"Shh, shh, it's okay, Aaron," Hana soothingly said as she stroked his face, which made him blush.

"Yeah, buddy, Happy said this is normal," Egon added as he held up Aiko, who had been roughed up in the explosion of Kasa's chamber.

"I got you," Zane said as he flew over. The brown Exceed hoisted the immobile gray Exceed into his arms. "There. Now how are we getting everyone out of here?"

"Can you fly?" Summer asked Staraptor, who gave an affirmative nod.

"I should have enough magic power to turn anyone who can't fly on their own into a card," Cana reported.

"We'll head back to the bottom and round up our friends on the way. Don't do anything too stupid," Gray advised. It had occurred to everyone at this moment that Gray was only in his boxers.

"Says the guy with no pants!" Natsu cried out.

"Where did they go

"Zane, please…take care of my brother," Egon requested, distraught concern lingering in his sea green eyes.

"As if he were my own, Egon," Zane assured with a kindhearted smile.

"Brother, when I can move again, I'm giving you a huge hug," Aaron promised with a small grin and tears in his golden eyes. "W-we're not letting anything come between us! We promised each other that when Mom died. Brother, I…I saw Mom and Dad…but it wasn't real. This is real. Our new family is real. Mom and Dad are waiting, but they don't want to see us yet."

"Yeah," Egon agreed, flying over to Zane and hugging Aaron. "We'll make them proud. You and I… We're going to continue Dad's research. We're going to help Ben and Thomas make their dreams come true. We'll start families and do all sorts of fun things as a family."

"Yeah… Yeah, we will… Provided I ever get married," Aaron said with a hint of doubt in his voice.

"Y-you will, Aaron-kun!" Hana said with a scarlet blush coating her cheeks. She hid behind Hannah's leg.

"Aww! Kitty love!" Hannah cheerily exclaimed and picked up her Exceed friend.

"And I have got you, friend!" Erza exclaimed as she held Thomas like a bride.

"I'm not sure Hannah would approve!" the bespectacled swordsman cried out. In spite of the awkwardness, they were in an emergency. Thus, Hannah gave Erza a thumbs-up.

"Triumph!" Erza exclaimed, requipping into her Black Wing Armor.

"Ben, be careful," Summer cautioned as she leaned on Staraptor.

"We're counting on you," Kellyn reminded the two Fairy Tail wizards. One by one, with gradually greater reluctance, mages left the lobby chamber.

Finally, it was only Happy, Natsu, Ben, Egon, Ukulele Pichu and Charmander. Ben took a deep breath and turned to the door. The completed seal was glowing brightly on the door. All he had to do was unlock it. Putting his Styler into Sign Mode, he aimed at the door and poured his heart and soul into the Capture Disc. This would be the last time he ever had to go up the stairs that awaited him.

"Let's send this guy back where he belongs," Natsu said.

"So I can eat fish and fawn over Carla in peace," Happy added. Egon, Pichu and Charmander gave him a funny look. "What? Too selfish? Egon, I've seen the way you look at Aiko!"

Ben took another deep breath. "Ranger Sign!" He shot the disc at the wall and guided it along the continuous figure that was the seal. Once he got from one end to the other, the entire door lit up and the three pieces of the door separated. His Capture Disc shot back into the Styler.

"Okay," Ben said, taking a step, "this is it."