It's FINALLY here my fellow readers. I thank you all for your patience and apoligize for long it took but personal issues, work and the usual matters in real life had kept me busy longer than usual. Also this chapter was pretty tricky to write and required some outside assistance. So I hope you all enjoy what this chapter has to offer cause it's the begginning of what will lead to a much bigger event.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: I will taking a break after this chapter so I can rest and plan ahead for the coming chapters. I'M NOT QUITTING! I am mearly going to rest and plan a few chapters before I start writting them. This way I'll have some ready and post them on a proper schedule so that this long wait doesn't happen as often. So with that please R&R.
Fairy Tail: Omniverse Invasion
Chapter 26: A Meeting of Opposing Darkness
Aboard the Hammer
Absolute silence reigned over the room as the aliens stared down the trespasser who dared invade their ship and base of operations.
D'arkes, who still had his saber aimed at the now known Ultear raised an eyebrow after hearing her identify herself. His eyes then trailed down to what she was wearing.
Ultear wore a revealing sleeveless blue dress that was slit and exposed plenty of her legs, especially the left one up to the thigh. The dress was trimmed in the center, exposing a lot of the center of her chest and well-developed breasts while still maintaining her modesty. She had a black sash tied around her slim waist with a small red ribbon as well. She also wore attachment sleeves with large frills on the end where her hands where, a white band around her upper arms and gold and red hair bands that tied her dark purple hair into two ponytails.
D'arke held back a whistle tone that threatened to escape his lips after he finished gazing at her complimenting attire and body, especially when his eyes stayed a moment longer than necessary on her ass. Now was not the time to flirt with their new guest… yet.
Finally the silence was broken when Vilgax spoke up. "So you said your name was Ultear. Well then now that we know the name of our pest, you can kill her D'arkes."
Ultear narrowed her eyes at the declaration as she looked back to D'arke who looked a little hesitant to carry out the task. However it wasn't out of fear but rather disappointment, like a child who just had their newest present taken away before he could even unwrap it.
"Ahhh do I have to? I hate having to kill of a fine woman like this." D'arkes whined with unhidden displeasure as he clearly wanted to get to know her better, both knowingly and affectionately before disposing her.
"I gave you an order so do it!" Vilgax bellowed out angrily.
"Huff fine but you're going to owe me after this." D'arke said before he slowly pressed his saber closer to Ultears neck to slash her head off when she suddenly did a small gesture with her hand.
"Sorry about this love but if you wanted to meet with us you should've made an appointment. Now I'm sad to say that I'm going to have to hack off that pretty… UHHH!" D'arke halted in mid-sentence as he groaned out painfully when he felt something hard strike the back of his head. The force of the impact caused him to drop his saber and falter forward where Ultear reacted and got out of his hold before flipping over him and kicking him in the back with her right foot, sending him face first to the floor, adding more head trauma to his injury.
The other three aliens observed her actions and saw what looked like a crystal ball or sphere floating next to her which was what hit D'arkes.
"Owww, anyone get the license plate on what hit my head." D'arke said before lifting himself up and turning back to see Ultear and what hit him. "Oh so that's what hit me." he realized after seeing the sphere.
"You're quite a rude person Vilgax. I only came here to talk and yet you already try to execute me." Ultear commented with a hint of her own displeasure.
"I just don't take to cocky trespassers in my presence, I already get enough of that from Tennyson and I won't be tolerating it from another." Vilgax remarked before his eyes light up red and fired his Omega Beams at the female mage.
Ultear narrowed her eyes and waved her hand in the air in front of her and to everyone's surprise the Omega Beams suddenly stopped in their pursuit and seemed to remain frozen in their place as if caught by an unseen force that halted them.
"That's impossible, no one has ever stopped Lord Vilgax's Omega Beams with such ease!" Psyphon thought in disbelief at what he was seeing.
"Wow gorgeous and strong, I like that in a woman." D'arke thought with an inner smirk while observing her movements to try and learn how her skills work.
"She's not normal, not even by wizard standards and that power she used… I wonder…" Albedo thought with a calculative look as he began to decipher what her magic type would be.
"Impressive, most people try to avoid or block my Omega Beams but you're the first one to stop it in its tracks." Vilgax commended before he took a more serious look and clenched his fists as his arms and body began to grow and expand with new muscular strength however they stopped before reaching the usual maximum size as Vilgax was now only slightly more bulky but not as much as his full transformation. "However let's see how you do against me when I fight with full strength."
"Hold on boss man." D'arke interrupted as he got between them. "You're seriously going to fight inside the ship when we're close to finishing the repairs, if you start ducking it out in here you'll damage the ship and we'll be behind schedule again." He then turned to Ultear and gave a flirty smile which she responded to with a raised eyebrow and curious look. "Besides, this lovely young woman said she came here to talk, so how's about we listen to what she has to say and if you don't like it then you can get rid of her like you want."
"Well I guess it's no question what this guy's weakness is." Ultear thought in amusement while being pleased at the turn in the situation as she waited for the leader's answer.
"You and your damn hormones." Psyphon berated. "Must you always get attached to anything with a pretty face and a double XX chromosome?"
"Yeah well at least I actually show interest in the opposite sex unlike everyone else in here who's only got world conquest in their mind." D'arke shot back with annoyance at the jab of him being a ladies man.
Vilgax ignored the bickering as he silently gazed at Ultear with an analytical look. There was no question he would prefer to end her life but D'arkes words did hold some convincing.
"There's nothing a hate more than a cocky and overconfident human." Vilgax thought in annoyance while glaring at Ultear. "Still she's clearly not an ordinary mage and she may hold some information that is of value to me and my plans."
With that final thought, Vilgax relaxed himself as his arms and body reverted back to their normal size. "Very well, you may speak up but know that your fate will be decided upon what you say to me." he threated the last part aggressively while his eyes glowed for a moment.
Hearing his response Ultear smirked before dropping her defensive stance and looking back to the Warlord.
"Well nice to know one of your men have manners and consideration." Ultear remarked while smiling at D'arkes who returned it with a charming smiled and a hint of lust in his eyes. "As I said before my name is Ultear."
"We know that already so get to something we don't know." Albedo commented with his arms crossed. "Like how did you even get in here and get through our security?" (AN: He was still in his other human disguise which is why Ultear didn't recognize him as Ben or someone that looked very much like him)
At hearing that question a smirk grew on her beautiful face before gesturing to outside the room. "Why don't you ask them and see for yourself."
At that the aliens turned their attention to the outside hallway where they saw the remains of Large Drones that were now multiple pieces as if they had been taken apart by Jury Rigg.
"I see you took our bots down. Anything else you'd like to share?" D'arke remarked with a grin as he surveyed the supposed damage the drone had suffered but from what he saw, all the parts were there and undamaged. They simple looked like they had been disassembled as if by a professional engineer.
"Well I don't know if you remember but I was a member of the council you threatened when you sent your little message to them, demanding their immediate surrender." Ultear revealed, getting raised eyebrows from everyone at that piece of info.
At hearing this Vilgax's mind thought back to his conversation with the supposed council leaders, trying to see if he could recall seeing her. He remembered that most of them were elder looking except for two that were much younger. One had blue hair and the other….
"Yes I remember you know." Vilgax recalled. "I recall seeing your presence in that room when I spoke with those elderly fools. So have you been sent here by your leaders to surrender?"
Ultear giggled at hearing that. "Hardly. You see; even though I agree with you on them being fools, suffice to say that I'm no longer a part of their government since I defected after blowing my cover as an infiltrator."
Vilgax's interest was now slightly more peaked. "A spy?"
"And clearly a dam good one at that if you had them fooled for so long." D'arke complimented.
"You flatter me." Ultear said with a cheerful smile aimed at D'arkes before resuming. "And yes I was a spy. My real allegiance is to the Dark Guild Grimour Heart. Have you heard about us?" she questioned in curiosity to see how well they knew about them.
Vilgax, Albedo and Psyphon showed no recognition at the name but D'arke's eyes light up as he recalled something about that name.
"Ah yes, I remember that name now." D'arke spoke up getting everyone's attention on him now. "While I was out gathering info on this world I learned about a certain coalition between 3 dark guilds who were on the top 10's most wanted list. I believe the names of those guilds were: Oracion Seis, Grimoire Heart and Tartaros. Supposedly Tartaros is the strongest among the three with Grimoire Heart a good close second and Oracion Seis as the third and weakest of the three."
"How did you learn about this?" Albedo asked in puzzlement.
"Well when I was experiencing my yearly… you know." D'arke emphasized the last part which worked as Albedo nodded. "Well, after I… dealt with it, I managed to learn about this through a woman in a bar who was more than gracious to give me this info and keep my visit to herself after I gave her a big tip… among other things." He said the last part with a grin that surfaced on his face.
"So she's from one of the most wanted." Vilgax took in the info before turning back to the female. "So what is it that you came here for?"
"Well to be frank and to the point, my Master wishes to set up a meeting between you and him in order to speak and perhaps even come to an agreement on a possible business deal or even allience." Ultear flat out revealed earning different reactions from the group of aliens.
Psyphon was showing surprise and seemed to like the idea if it meant helping his master gain more followers and military power to overthrow this world.
Albedo showed a neutral expression as he seemed more untrusting of Ultear the possible hidden motives she or her guild may have for wanting to speak with them.
D'arke was in a similar state. While he did find Ultear to be one of the best looking babe's he's seen so far, probably in his top 20 but he wasn't dumb enough to just trust her word. She may or may not have noticed but when he looked into her eyes he could see more than what she just showed. He saw lust for power in them, confidence and intellect.
Vilgax however was expressionless as he shut his eyes in thought about what he just heard and crossed his arms. The leader of a renowned dark guild wished to meet with him to discuss a possible alliance. While the idea was pleasing even to him, the fact that it was them who came to him and not the other way around made him suspicious of any ulterior motives they may have. Still, this was a rare opportunity for him and there could be other benefits even if he didn't form an alliance with them. However if this was some kind of trap to try and acquire everything he possessed then he couldn't afford to risk losing even some of his tech, especially when they were limited in quantity. He knew this world wasn't as advanced as their original dimension and that tech like there's would be a gold mine for this era which is why he had to make sure none of it fell into other hands otherwise they might figure out how it works and learn to use it against him.
Ultear had stood calmly and patiently for 5 minutes, waiting for Warlord to make up his mind until she felt he had thought to himself long enough. "So what is your answer?"
Vilgax opened his eyes as resolve were now shown within them, having made his choice.
The next morning in Magnolia
Ben was sitting at the fountain at the park; the meeting place to where the girls said they'd meet him at. Although considering it was a girls shopping day, Ben wasn't exactly dressed for a date, not that it could even be considered one since Erza would be with them the whole day. He was just dressed in his usual get up, of his black and green shirt and long brown pants. He left his signature green jacket behind due to it being sunny and a bit hot out today. Thankfully it wasn't as hot as the scorching horror from weeks ago. His arms were crossed, and waited patiently for the girls to show up.
"Where are they," Ben asked himself as he looked around to spot any sign of both Erza and Juvia. "They said to meet up here at noon, but so far they're a no show."
Neb just stood there, relaxing all casual-like, and simply said, "Don't worry, Ben. As a wise philosopher once said: 'All good things come to those who wait'."
Ben sighed, "Obviously this philosopher didn't meet many girls." He looked at his watch as he grumbled, "Because if he did, he'd know girls take a while to get ready for these kind of things." But as he waited for the girls, a thought came into mind. "Y'know, come to think of it, I don't know of any time when Juvia was off from Fairy Tail, let alone Erza for that matter." He chuckled, "Maybe Erza will pop up in armor or something."
"Ben!"
Juvia's voice rang in Ben's ears, as he pulled himself up, and turned around to scold them, as he frowned, "You two realize you're late, ri…" but was cut short as he saw the two.
Erza wasn't wearing her armor today, as she usually did, but had on instead her white sleeveless blouse and blue skirt with her black boots. A nice change from her hardened and shielded self.
But Ben stopped in his tracks as he saw Juvia. His jaw nearly hit the ground and retracted back again as he saw what Juvia was wearing. She was wearing black boots that ended below her knees, a blue dress that ended above her knees, a blue shirt, a white cotton jacket, with a blue choker around her neck. But the thing that got Ben stunned…was the fact that she was wearing makeup. Her lips had a touch of pink lipstick on and her cheeks had slight powder that gave them a healthy pink flush to them as if she were blushing, which would definitely help hide her real blushing as long as it wasn't on her whole face.
Juvia smiled at him and shyly said, "I'm sorry…I wanted to make sure I looked my best today."
Ben just dumbly nodded, "Um…Okay."
Neb, on the other hand, just went bug eyed and slack jawed at her, as he screamed in his head, "OH MY GOD, SHE'S PULLED OUT THE BIG GUNS AND IS WEARING A REALLY CUTE OUTFIT HERE!"
Juvia giggled as she ran over to Ben, as she smirked, "I'm really sorry if I kept you waiting so long."
"Eh, no. not that long at all," Ben politely fibbed, but then asked, "Um, Juvia. The outfit…"
She blinked, as she pulled away and grabbed her shirt, "Oh this? I wanted to look more normal today." She twirled a little, as she smiled, "What do you think? Do I look ok in this outfit?"
Ben blushed a little "Uhhh… yeah… it looks on you. But I thought we were just shopping today?"
Erza relaxed, as she walked up, and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "We are. She's just a little excited, is all. After all this is her first time shopping with friends."
Neb shrugged, as he scampered off, "Well, I'll catch you all later. See ya tonight…" But then turned around as he devilishly smirked at Juvia and Ben. "Just don't do anything too naughty when I'm not around. Ehehehehe." And then bolted out of there.
Ben instantly shouted out to the cat, while Juvia blushed ferociously, "WE'RE NOT DOING ANYTHING LIKE THAT, YOU CRAZY CAT!" He finally calmed down a bit, as he looked to the girls; one being amused by this, while the other was having those fantasies, as always. He then sighed, "You guys wanna start now?"
Erza sympathizing with him nodded "Why not. You can change into a form to help with heavy lifting, if you'd like."
"Thank you," Ben replied sarcastically at basically having the role of pack mule, as he switched on the Omnitrix, and pushed down the dial.
And in a green flash… Ditto appeared.
Ditto looked at the scene, as he groaned, "Ditto? I wanted Fourarms and Muscle, not Ditto and Multi-dysfunctional." He said before splitting into three.
The now existing Ditto 2 shrugged, "Lighten up, pal. At least the girls have an army of bag carriers." He turned to Ditto 3, and noticed he wasn't there. "Hey, where'd he…?"
"So, after the whole shopping today, you got plans later tonight," Ditto 3 said, as he was using two new Dittos to elevate him up to Juvia's eyelevel, as he was currently flirting with her.
Ditto 1 looked flabbergasted by what he was seeing while the other Ditto next to him just stared in disbelief and Erza looked at the scene with a raised eyebrow and interest at seeing Ben… or at least one of him showing real interest in Juvia for once.
As for Juvia however she was now blushing slightly at Ben… no Ben's flirty representation… no his copy… of his… ARGH TOO CONFUSING. She was just standing there flustered and too confused about what to do. She looked to Ditto 1 who was clearly the original and closest to Ben's natural personality for help since he needed rescuing from… himself?
"OKAY THAT'S ENOUGH FROM YOU!" Ditto 1 shouted as he pushed Ditto 3 of the others and knocked him down on the ground earning a grimace from all of them from sharing their sensations.
"Hey what's your deal man!?" Ditto 3 shouted to Ditto 1 for the interruption.
"You that's what! Stop flirting with Juvia!" Ditto 1 ordered.
"Oh why's that, do you want to ask her out yourself?" Ditto 3 teasingly asked earning a blush from Ditto 1 before he shook it off.
"No you idiot, I want you to stop cause if you flirt with her and we go back to being one being she'll be confused on who exactly was asking her out, my real self or some copy that can't keep to himself! Not to mention that we're supposed to just be friends so stop messing things around!"
"Says you." Ditto 3 said disbelievingly.
"What's that supposed to me?" Ditto 1 questioned indignantly.
"I'm not repeating what Neb already told us." Ditto 3 simply said.
Ditto 1 was now officially getting aggravated. "I should kick your butt."
"Ya can't kick my butt without kicking yours in the process." Ditto 3 reminded of their shared sense of pain.
"God do I wanna strangle him right now." Ditto 1 thought through hidden gritting teeth. "Just keep yourself in check or I'll reabsorb you." He threatened before walking ahead of the girls towards the mall.
Erza and Juvia soon followed, along with the Ditto 2, 4, 5 and 6 while Ditto 3 stayed in the back for a moment before smiling to himself.
"Well this should be fun." He mumbled to himself before walking and joining the others.
They walked up the mall which was a large round glass tower that showed the people walking inside where it was interlocked between two larger concrete structures that expanded a larger area. The mall looked to be over 250 feet tall amazingly and had a lovely fountain at the front area with sculptures of a female angel holding a chalice that was spilling water to a field of stone flowers. The fountain had some benches around it for those who wanted to sit down and wait before entering or after a long day at the mall.
The people around them gave the Ditto's some strange looks but the duplicating aliens paid them no mind. When they went inside Ben had to admit it looked bigger from the inside. The interior was colored mostly white and there were pillars that supported the structure.
"So where shall we go to first?" Ditto 2 questioned while looking around to see what stores the mall had.
"Hmmm." Where the humming thoughts of both girls as they thought to themselves before Erza snapped her fingers as realization struck her. "I know where we should go."
Weapons Store
The first stop was a weapons store that Erza wanted to stop at. Turns out that this was the shop she frequently visited to gain new armors and repair them.
The shop was a relatively averaged sized place with multiple weapons organized and on display in the glass window and the interior walls but with all of them behind a glass case to keep from being stolen and having idiots try them inside the store. At the end of the store was where the owner stood for customer purchase who was behind a glass display table.
Ben who had reverted back to human form was browsing around seeing what the place had to offer while Juvia was just standing in one spot since she didn't really have an interest in weapons. Erza on the other hand was being more interactive.
"So how long will it take you to fix them?" Erza asked the shop keeper and owner who was surveying her Heaven Wheel and Flame Empress armors.
The owner was a relatively tall man who was about 5.9. He had a muscular build like an athlete or swimmer, black hair styled like a military buzz cut, yellow eyes and wore a dark blue long sleeve turtle neck shirt with matching navy blue pants. He had a scar that ran from above his right ear down his cheek which stopped before his chin. The man had a presence and posture that spoke of being a former soldier.
"For you Erza it'll take me about 3 days to fix them. Thankfully not that much of the armor had been shattered otherwise it would take me longer to re-forge it completely. What caused this anyway?" The man asked in mild curiosity for what could've done this since the armors suffered different damages. The Heaven Wheel had parts of it shattered while the Flame Empress had scorch marks from an element that clearly wasn't fire.
"Just some fights against strong individuals, that's all. Nothing for you to worry about, I can promise that I'll try to be more careful." Erza waved off none chattily.
"Hmp." The man scoffed with a smirk. "I hope not since you're my best customer."
"Hey Erza," Ben called out. "Check me out."
Erza turned her attention to Ben, and saw that he was modeling an extremely stylized and complex suit of heavy, spooky, and shiny armor. "Pretty slick, eh?" Erza looked a little alarmed, but remained her composed state, as he stated, "You'd look great in this. And all you need to complete the outfit is a light saber."
Erza shielded her eyes, as the armor was a bit too shiny, as she asked, "I'm unfamiliar with that kind of weapon. What's a light saber?"
Ben held up a sword handle that lacked a blade and swung it around, as he explained, "Well, it's where you get a special sword handle. And then pressing a simple button you create a round blade of light that can cut through just about anything you can imagine except for another light saber. These weapons were popular in a series from my world and some people made them into reality."
Suddenly, the heavy armor creaked a little, and then began to fall over. Ben, unable to move anything but his arm, started to panic. Erza tried to stop him from falling, but the armor hit the floor, causing Ben to hit his head against the helmet he wore.
Ben grumbled "Well… what do you think?"
Erza thought about it and honestly pointed out, "I think I'll stick with what I have. I may have some armor that's bulky like this but I don't really use them for combat that much for obvious reasons."
"Umm can someone please help me out of this?"
Clothing Store
The now returned Ditto thought that when Erza went shopping, it would be a simple dull task, which would be a nice change from the recent incident with Laxus and his Fairy Tail battle royal. However, shopping with Erza turned out to be more like entering a warzone. Her senses went on high alert, and she wasted no time in zeroing in on the most profitable target, after assessing the situation and she then went in for the kill. And anyone who stumbled into her warpath, found themselves in desperate need of back up before falling into the sweet oblivion that came from being trampled over the red headed Juggernaut that was Erza.
Ditto and his duplicate brothers certainly winced when Erza "casually" elbowed an obnoxious woman trying to grab a scarf out of Juvia's hand. Shortly after that Erza then entered into a tug of war battle with another woman when they both grabbed onto the same turtle neck sweater, which only ended when Erza flung the woman into wall on the opposite side of the store. It was a good thing the stores forbid magic from being used during these sales cause otherwise this store would be wrecked or flooded.
And speaking of flooded Ditto was left stunned when he saw Juvia start to show her own ferocity when she spotted a dress and ran to it along with another woman from the other end. Her opponent was about to reach it first before Juvia had screamed and leaped into the air where she tackled the woman to the ground and restrained her arms before putting her in a scissor lock that slowly squeezed the poor womans windpipe until she tapped out and surrendered the dress.
It was clear on this day that he would learn to NEVER get in the way of a woman during a low rice sale. He doubted any of his aliens could stand up to an army of crazed women, especially if they were all wizards.
After several hours of watching the Erza battle her way through the warzone, over the best possible bargains and outfits. The Dittos were loaded up with various outfits Erza picked out for her and Juvia. And Ditto noticed that a few of them were, rather on the thin and revealing side.
In fact, some of them were even lingerie! He hadn't even seen Erza go to that section yet, but the sight of the frilly items sent the blood rushing to Ditto's head and that of his offshoots who felt what he felt. This feeling was only magnified when imagines of Erza and Juvia wearing and showing off the various garments popped inside his head. Had he been in his human form, Ben was certain that his head wouldn't be the only part of his body that his blood would be rush up into.
"Well, I think that's enough for now," Erza declared to a dazed Juvia, (who had been dragged along by Erza to the underwear and swimsuit section), shocking the group of Ditto's.
"Are you sure? I'm sure there's three more truckloads you could pile on us," Ditto two snarked while carrying more than a dozen different outfits.
Erza gave the Ditto in question a discomforting smile, which made the Ditto involuntarily gulp.
"Don't tempt me." Erza warned with clear possible intention of changing her mind and doing just that.
"Juvia, errrr... I appreciate you taking me shopping Erza." Juvia shyly remarked. "I...have never really gotten a chance to go shopping with friends before." she shrugged bashfully, "No one ever wanted to buy clothes with me before because Juv-I kept getting them wet all the time."
Erza smiled and placed an arm around the blue haired girl wrapping her into a warm hug, she could only do this since "HER" arms were free of clothes, thanks to the small army of dittos that followed them around.
"Well, you've more than gotten a firm grasp on your powers," Erza said in praise. "Cause here we are all high and dry…so to speak."
"Yeah, with a water mage, it's normal for "SOME" wetness to happen." Ditto 3 cracked who was carrying the least amount of cloths compared to the others.
"Thank you, Erza..." Juvia thanked the scarlet maiden.
"Well, now we "ARE" friends and friends go to buy and try on new clothes together," Erza said, pulling the water mage closer to her.
Erza then sent a sneaky wink in Ditto's direction and proceeded to pull Juvia along to the changing room.
"I have a feeling this could go VERY good, or very bad..." Ditto 1 muttered under his breath, while he and the 'others' stumbled under the bulk of clothes to follow after the two girls.
"Come on, boys, hup-two! hup-two!" Ditto 3 chanted. "And maybe if we're lucky, we'll get to see them in some of these outfits."
At the mention of this, the other Ditto's quickened their pace at the possible chance of getting a sneak peek of the girls changing.
Ben's mind flummoxed at the dirty leer, and waggling eye ridges of his copies. And wondered, with a gulp, if that was a part of his personality he wasn't aware of, coming to light.
When they reached the changing booths, Erza quickly grabbed a few bags from the Ditto's before taking hold of Juvia's arm, who attempted go to another changing booth, but was instead dragged into Erza's one, who then closed the curtains behind her.
After closing the curtains, the two girls began to undress themselves. While unbuttoning her top, Juvia glanced over at Erza, who was removing her shirt. "Erza-san, do you think Laxus-san will be okay, after master banished him from the guild."
"Laxus should be fine, despite the injuries he suffered from the battle, he should be more than strong enough to take care of himself. However I would be more worried about Master. Laxus recent actions have affected master greatly, not only causing his recent heart attack, but emotionally as well. I can only imagine just how hard it was for him to banish his only grandson."
In response Juvia nodded silently, as she took off her skirt she heard Erza ask if she could help her with her bra, having just removed her top.
Nodding Juvia unclasped the hooks to the woman's bra and watched it slide off the woman's shoulders, freeing her bosom from their restraints.
Although Juvia was quite happy with her own impressive breast size, she still couldn't help but feel threatened by Erza and her slightly larger bust size. She knew that men generally went after girls with the biggest breasts and was fearful that Erza may use them to seduce "her" Ben from her, especially when she considered how close the two seemed to be starting to get.
Even despite her recent tie in the Miss Fairy Tail contest with Erza, the young water mage still had confidence issues when she compared herself with other girls like Erza or Mirajane.
After finishing changing into their dressing, Erza pulled the curtains away to revealing their first outfits
Erza was dressed in a vibrant floral red and orange print white dress, which went well with her bright red hair, which fell down loosely to her lower back. The dress was held up by slim straps and fell just above her knees. The fabric was fairly light and was perfect for warm spring and summer weather.
Juvia was dressed in a flowy, blue cobalt dress that matched her hair perfectly in shade, flaunting a surplice neckline, a gathered waist and a painterly floral print that fell just above her knees.
Upon seeing the girls' clothing, both Ben and his Ditto clones stared in admiration, as the dresses suited both girls perfectly.
"So what do you think?" asked Erza almost playfully before giving a slight twirl, while Juvia just stood there and smiled shyly.
"Both of you look great!" responded Ditto 1, to which all the other clones nodded in approval.
Upon hearing this, Juvia felt her heart skip a beat, and her confidence grow at hearing Ben's praise.
Smiling herself, Erza then replied, "Well if you like that, wait until you see our next outfit." After which she then pulled Juvia back into the booth and closed the curtains.
It took a little longer than last time for the girls to change, but the he heard the curtains slide open again, Ben felt his eyes, and those of his Ditto clones, almost pop out of their sockets when the two girls stepped out of the booth.
Erza wore a long floor-length strapless Black lace dress that left her shoulders completely bare, (save for a white pearl necklace around her neck), giving a more than generous view of her cleavage, for anyone bold or foolish enough to take a peek. The sheer waistline, and lined skirt of the dress inspired an air of onyx mystery around her that would enchant anyone that saw her.
Juvia on the other hand wore a more formal royal blue sheath, embellished with an embroidered bouquet of rainbow-hued flowers. Although not as showy as Erza's, Ben and the clones where no less captivated by it, as it showed off Juvia's form perfectly. While keeping to the girl's more modest style.
I take it from your stunned looks, you approve of our dress?" Erza asked with knowing smile, to which the Ditto's all nodded simultaneously in perfect synchronization.
"Y-You really think so?" Juvia asked nervously. "Erza's dress is much more elegant than Juv-mine."
"Yea, but the dress really suits you" Ditto 2 replied.
"No doubt," added Ditto 1. "Both of you look stunning; you'd have any guy eating out of your hands."
Again Juvia couldn't help but smile at the Ditto's praise, before joining Erza back into the booth, who suggested that they try something a little different from their previous outfits.
Shortly after the curtains closed again, Ben and the Ditto clones could heard the girls talking from behind the curtains, and so he moved a bit closer to make out what they were saying.
"Juvia could you help me tie this, I can't seem to quite get this around."
"I will try…I think you might want to get a slightly bigger size, as your breasts are a bit too big for it."
"Strange, this is a bit bigger than I usual get, I suppose they must have grown from the last time" replied Erza. Shortly after a surprise "Eep!" was heard from Juvia.
"What are you doing Erza?!"
"I'm just admiring your skin, you really do have lovely white skin."
"Y-Y-You really think, so?" asked the girl, who clearly sounded more than a little embarrassed by the remark.
"Really" purred Erza, in a rather seductive manner. "And it is so soft as well," after which another embarrassed "eep" was heard coming from Juvia.
Needless to say, both Ben and his Ditto clones all suddenly developed a severe case of multiple nosebleeds, as several rather inappropriate imagines, involving both Juva and Erza, formed in his collective mind from his clones, confirming the young man's previous fears about himself. These thoughts only grew, as he and his clones moved closer to the curtains and heard more than a few provocative sounds and moans coming from behind the curtains.
However the group quickly jumped away from the curtains just as it was about to open.
Fearing that they would be accused of trying to spy of the two girls while they were changing, the Dittos quickly tried to make themselves look as natural as possible, and looking at anywhere but the changing booth.
"So what do you think?" asked Erza.
Turning to her direction, the gang of Ditto felt their jaws it the floor, upon seeing the girls show off their new swimsuits.
Erza's was dressed in a Sexy Black push-up halter top, that seemed close to bursting, while showing off her cleavage in its fullness, along with a matching skimpy black string bottom.
While Juvia wore a playful little deep sea blue push-up wrap halter top, that helped amplify her bust, and wore matching blue Bow Bikini Bottom that looked like it could easily fall off with one small tug on a string.
Ben and his clones did not need to say anything, as their reaction was more than enough for Erza who gave a saucy smile, before giving Juvia an encouraging wink, who felt a little embarrassed by wearing something like this in front of Ben. Trying desperately to hide her body from view, but could not because of Erza refused to let her hid or cover herself.
Wanting to have a little more fun at the expense of the young boy, Erza leaned over and whispered Juvia ear.
After hearing what Erza had to say, the water mage's face immediately turned bright red to the point where steam started sprouting from her ears.
"Juvia can't do that?!" the girl nearly shouted in embarrassment, as the mere thought of wearing "that" in front of Ben too much for her.
"Come on, you saw the reach he got from just our swimsuits, can you imagine how he would react to seeing us in those."
At the mention of this, several rather adult-like imagines began to play inside Juvia's mind, causing the girl face to light up and her eyes roll over as she fell into a dream-like daze, as her brain seemingly shut itself down from overexertion, resulting in steam rising up from it.
Seeing that the girl was in no shape or mind to do anything, Erza pulled the girl back into the changing booth again and closed the curtains again.
Shortly, several embarrassed yelps where heard coming from behind the curtains. Followed by Juvia, pleading for Erza to stop, and that she couldn't. Hearing this, Ben immediately halted his clones from making and further advance towards the changing booth, after catching them trying to move closer and no doubt try and catch a sneak peek of the girls while they were changing.
After about ten minutes, the curtains opened up again, with Erza pushing a mortified Juvia out before following after her, dressed in what could only be describe as sexy lingerie.
Juvia was wore a beautiful, embroidered black bra, perfectly balanced with contrasting floral pattern. The Bra perfectly exposed the fullness and size of her breasts and wore a cute matching thong and only helped to highlight her fine toned stomach and shapely figure that would arouses the sense of any red blooded male who saw her.
After being pushed out of the changing booth, Juvia desperately tried to cover herself with her arms, too humiliated at her current state of dress to even look at Ben or the Ditto clones. But Erza refused to let her, as she grabbed her arms and stood next to her.
Erza on the other hand wore a crimson red translucent chemise with a bind at the front in one set with strings. Sensual lace, delicate tulle and intricate bows gave it an out of this world effect when joined this way, exposing her breasts and perfectly underlining her feminine body shape in a way that would cause any man who saw revert into a drooling zombie.
Needless to say when Ben and his clones saw the two girls, a shower of blood erupted from their noses with such force that they rocketed a few feet of the ground before they all fell backwards and hit their heads at nearly the exact same time. After which the clones returned to the original, right before Ben reverted to his normal human, unconscious and currently nose bleeding self.
Hours Later
Undisclosed Location
The clouds drifted lazily overhead in the large expanse of blue that they occupied. The birds sung sweet tunes from their perches in the tall trees of the large forest lands that stretched across the eastern Fiorean mountain region. Within this forested region, towering far over the mighty pieces of vegetation was a great stone castle. Castle Drake.
Castle Drake was once a mighty and well-known stronghold once upon a time. It once housed the legendary Drake family, a member of the Fiore's oldest forms of royalty and were thus very powerful, both in military might and in ancient Fiorean politics. They controlled a vast majority of the eastern portions of the Fiorean lands and their greatest knight and master of the lands, Lord Draconus the Third, held it all under control with an iron fist just as his father had done and his father's father before him.
With each passing year, the Drakes grew stronger and stronger, expanding their borders until they were well off enough to form an autonomy and became a small nation. Many wished to claim the lands, to plunder and pillage it, to take everything from Lord Draconus III and proudly show their dominance by putting his head on a spike atop the very walls that protected him. However, those walls were actually very good at protecting. Only the greatest of warriors had ever seen the walls of Castle Drake up close and it was upon seeing them that now knew why those walls were deemed impenetrable. They were far too high to climb, too thick and sturdy to break and not to mention getting to the castle itself was a task due to being surrounded by the forest lands and resting atop a rather difficult incline thus giving its occupants the ability to repel any and all forms of foes that wished to attack.
Lord Draconus III defeated enemy after enemy, leaving fire and death in his wake whenever he went onto the battlefield himself. He was not injured for the blood he returned to Castle Drake with was never his own. His battle cry was like a bestial roar. A monster that could not be stopped or opposed. As a result, Lord Draconus earned himself the moniker of The Berserker King.
However, the Berserker King and Castle Drake soon found its walls to be rather fragile when the Dragon War began. The dragons that were against the act of living in cooperation with humans were quick to break through the walls of the castle, turning them into rubble and then setting the entire household ablaze. While much of the castle was broken down and burnt, most of it was actually still standing.
Upon finding it on chance, Grimoire Heart had decided to take advantage of its abandoned status and use it as one of their hideouts. They used a few resources to clean and rebuild the castle and make it just as strong and tall as it was in the days of old, four hundred years ago. And now, it was currently the site of a rather unprecedented meeting. A meeting between a man and an alien.
Vilgax was currently sitting at a conference table within what was the den area of the castle, the area where hunting trophies and many a gathering was once held. Though it lacked the hunting trophies, the great, stone fireplace was able to be re-made and placed into working order as a fire lachryma now set the kindling ablaze, casting large shadows within the room. The snaps and crackles of the kindling being broken down by the red-orange flames echoed throughout the den as the Chimera Sui's red eyes glancing around the rebuilt Castle Drake.
A few paintings of scenery: mountain ranges, lakes, forests and even one of the icy tundra of the northern areas of Fiore, decorated the walls of the den and there was also a single plant, a fern was what it was called if memory served the alien warlord correctly, sat off to the side near the entrance to the den. The large mahogany doors were left open so as to not make Castle Drake's den feel too stuffy.
With the room properly surveyed Vilgax turned back to the opposite end of the table where Ultear Milkovich stood...as well as the one that had wanted to meet with him.
He was a tall, elderly man with long, slicked back, silvery white hair, revealing his forehead. He also had a mustache, and a similarly long yet mildly thin and curly beard, reaching down to his lower chest. He had some wrinkles on his face, as evident of his extremely advanced age; nonetheless, despite this age, his figure was muscular and well defined as if he were still in his prime. His right eye was covered by a simple eye-patch.
His attire consisted of a dark shirt paired with armored shoulder pads and shiny gauntlets, as well as chain-mail covering the parts of his arms remaining exposed, simple light pants with flames near the edges - held up by what looks like a light belt composed of two straps with the relative buttons, possibly part of the pants themselves, and dark, simple shoes/boots. Over this outfit he wore a large, dark cape, bearing a symbol on the back and sporting a mantle with a high collar, lighter-colored borders and jagged lower edges. He was also seen wearing a helmet matching his armor, with a prominent metal plate protecting his forehead, with two lines of studs on the front, siding his face and jutting out in a protrusion on each side, and a darker rear part, adorned by a crest reminiscent of those seen on Greek helmets. This was Master Hades: the Guild Leader of Grimoire Heart and unknown to almost everyone else, the former second Guild Master of Fairy Tail before he passed on the role to Makarov.
The two leaders were glaring at one another, possibly hoping to break the other one's gaze. But probably trying to kill each other mentally just to show who's boss. Until finally, Vilgax spoke up, as he asked, "So… you are the one who called for this meeting?"
Hades nodded in confirmation. "Yes, so let me begin with an introduction. I am Master Hades, master of the dark guild of Grimoire Heart. You have already been acquainted with my second in-command and leader of my elite strike force, the Seven Kin of Purgatory, Ultear Milkovich." He gestured to the dark haired woman before turning to a young pink haired girl and a rather tall, black haired man. "These two are another one of my Seven Kin of Purgatory alongside Ultear, Meredy...and my ace mage, Bluenote."
Ultear, Meredy and Bluenote remained still and at attention, but they gave the intergalactic conqueror a nod of acknowledgement. The tentacle faced alien gave no such courtesy as he merely looked at Hades with disdain.
"Enough with these unless pleasantries human." Vilgax stated. "You wished to discuss business, then get on with it. I dislike the, I believe the saying is...beating around the bush."
Hades leaned closer up, as he stated, "Very well then, I've recently learned that you had an entanglement with Fairy Tail. And that from my spy you also mean to overthrow the Council."
"What concern is it to you?" Vilgax questioned in a bored tone at being told what was obvious considering he announced his threat in a manner that wasn't exactly subtle or secretive. Although if the council was keeping his actions a secret from the public then that was understandable.
"Just like you, Fairy Tail is also my enemy as well as the council, although they are more of a nuisance then threat." Hades replied. "So I wish to form an alliance with you."
Vilgax's face never flinched in an iota of anger or desperation, but merely spoke in a glaring scowl, "Flattered. But I already have a growing army at my disposal."
"Yes, but we have recently come into possession on information about a weapon that will obliterate all of that," Hades explains. "Recently a faction of my mages called the Oracion Seis are currently on the search for a Mage's body that may be the key to activating this weapon." It was Hades' turn to frown, as he leaned back in his chair, "But we have been unable to find the remains of this mage that we seek."
Vilgax seemed to get the picture, as he leaned on his right hand, tapping his head, "So… what you need from me is my resources to find this Mage. Is that it?"
"From what Ultear told me… it seems that you already have him."
Vilgax arched an eyebrow, seemingly rather interested in this situation, as he asked, "And… what pray tell… does this mage look like?"
"He's male, blue hair, and has…"
"A tattoo on his face?" D'arke cut in, as he arched his eyebrow. "Yeah, I think Albedo's got his body back in the lab. The guy was in a large crystal like some guy who put himself in cryogenic suspension before we thawed him out to run some tests on him."
Hades arched an eyebrow, as he stood up, "Oh, then you know of what I seek then."
"Looks like it. Although I have a question to ask you." D'arke said with a serious expression at Hades.
"And what would that be youngster?" Hades asked.
D'arke suddenly got a mischief grin as he looked to the older female in the room "Is Ultear single?"
Silence filled the room as different reactions occurred. Hades raised his only visible eyebrow in wonder, Bluenote gave the alien a look of boredom, Meredy was now glaring at D'arke with anger while Ultear shut her eyes in annoyance while palming her face. Before when she flirted with him it was more for responding to D'arke's own flirting game and to distract him.
Vilgax however turned to his subordinate and gave him a small glare.
"What?" D'arke said out loud to everyone who was giving him a look. "Can't a guy ask another guy if a beautiful young woman he's associated with is single for a possible future interaction with me?"
"Not….the….time." Vilgax threatened each word with a brighter glow emanating from his eyes before they died down completely.
"Maybe not but I probably won't get another chance after this meetings over so as they say, go big or go home." D'arke paraphrased with a smirk while looking to Ultear again.
"Ultear is not someone for the likes of you." Meredy spoke out spitefully.
D'arke looked at the pink haired girl before turning to Ultear with a questioning look. "Is this runt your kid?"
No sooner had he said that a shocked looked came over Meredy who lost her anger and now had a look of emotional fluctuation as her eyes unintentionally turned to the time user, wanting to hear her response. Ever since Ultear found her in the decimated town where her own parents died, she took her in, raised her and trained her she'd come to see the time user as a mother figure. She always showed her loyalty and admiration to Ultear and wondered if she viewed her as a daughter.
Ultear meanwhile had a small blush on her face from the direct question before it disappeared and she shook her head, however unknown to Meredy, the subordinate of Vilgax caught what looked like a flash of guilt in the time users eyes before she hid it. "Meredy isn't my offspring but never the less I have cared for and raised her to be the strong wizard she is today" She finished with an affectionate petting gesture to Meredy who slightly blushed and got a pleased smile on her face as she closed her eyes in delight.
"Enough of this, let's resume our business." Hades interrupted as Vilgax silently agreed, wanting to get back on track. "Now then as I said before Vilgax, Oracion Seis require Jellals body to locate the weapon they seek.
"What exactly is this weapon supposed to do anyway?" Vilgax questioned, wanting more specifics on the effects on this mystery weapon. Was it a simple aim and shoot weapon of destructive magnitude or was it something much unique.
Hades hummed in thought for a moment wondering if he should reveal that piece of information before deciding that it was of no concern to him of the warlord knew about it. "Well this weapon is one with an interesting effect on people. It reverses a person's nature, turning them into their opposite."
Vilgax and D'arke both raised eyebrows at hearing that. "Care to elaborate on that? Because I'm not getting what you're saying?" D'arke questioned further.
"What I'm saying is that this weapon changes people from good to evil." Hades clarified while interlocking his fingers. "Just imagine using this weapon to turn all those who would stand against us into our allies. Turning all of the councils military forces into their own worst enemies. With such a change in their forces we would have nothing to oppose us in our grand quests to dominate this world."
Vilgax seemed to have a good bit of interest in this now as the weapon seemed to intrigue him. The idea of instantly turning your enemies into allies was a smart idea from a tactical point of view. If they were advancing on enemy territory and ran onto an enemy's line of defense but then turned them all evil, then their enemies had already suffered a defeat and lose of ground. Considering Albedo was currently at a standstill on Project CHIMERA, this would have had to be a better option. Vilgax smirked, as his scheming devious face appeared, "Well then… let's talk."
"As a common courtesy to you and your subordinate..."
"I'm not a subordinate." D'arke interjected before scratching his head. "Well, technically I am, but I'm more along the lines of hired help. Speaking of which, boss, we gotta discuss a pay raise or something because I didn't exactly sign up for cross-dimensional warfare."
Vilgax's eyes glowed crimson, his menacing gaze seeming to stare into D'arke's soul. The mercenary sighed, crestfallen.
"Subordinate." D'arke muttered out crestfallen.
"Now then, this weapon you spoke of sounds promising enough, however…" Vilgax trailed off. "I get the feeling this weapon may have some factors that reduce it's value."
Hades frowned a bit at hearing that since it was spot on. "Regretfully there is a weakness in this weapons capability for corrupting. While it does have the capability to corrupt any human there are some factors that could prevent them from being affected by it."
"Like what?" Vilgax pressured.
"For starters this weapon cannot corrupt someone who is pure of heart or mind, nor can it corrupt someone with a strong enough will to resist it's effect but the main factor is that if a good natured person isn't feeling or experiencing negative emotions then the weapon has no evil to connect to in people's hearts to enhance their darkness." Hades explained with some distaste due to the multiple weakness of Nirvana.
As expected Vilgax frowned is his displeasure. He had hope this weapon could be used to corrupt Tennyson into his slave but that idea was now dashed. He had no doubt that Ben would have a strong enough will to resist and his good nature would keep his own inner demons at bay.
"Well this is a complete disappointment. I had expectations for this meeting and what you had to offer but this is just a complete waste of my time so far and you Hades are clearly not as capable as I thought." Vilgax proclaimed earning a narrowed look from Hades while his own subordinates gave sharp glares.
"You best watch your tone, Vilgax. You may be powerful, but I am not one of the most feared dark mages in this world for nothing." A dark purple aura swirled to life around the eye patch wearing mage and soon a great deal of pressure was felt throughout the ship. Killing intent and the force of pure presence made even D'arke sweat from the intensity rather than fear or nervousness, but while Vilgax was not visibly affected, his claws did twitch as if he were ready to jump into battle. The power he felt radiating from the man in front of him was certainly impressive and was no doubt stronger than Jose's. This man was certainly not someone he could just challenge without planning his next move.
"However..." The pressure and killing intent vanished as Hades calmed himself down. "...it is one of the reasons why I believe we can benefit from one another. You are powerful and I am powerful, we both wish for things and so I believe an alliance would be something we would both be able to undergo."
"An alliance?" Vilgax asked.
"Yes. We can share in our resources and pool our powers together, become a force to be reckoned with that the world of magic has never seen before." Hades raised his fist and shook it as a way to emphasize his statement. "We would be unstoppable."
Vilgax smirked before releasing a small snort of amusement. "Your words amuse me, human. However..." Vilgax's amused expression quickly turned to one of disapproval. "...I do not wish to partake in such a trivial matter. I am a being from a world where planets themselves have either been destroyed or subjugated under my command. I am a leader, a warlord and a conqueror. A conqueror takes any and all things which he takes and as I plan to conqueror this world, I will not stray from the path. Everything will be mine and I will rule over all with an iron fist. Resources and even the status of leader, it is all mine and I do not plan on sharing that position or power with anyone….including you."
"You dare belittle Master Hades by believing him to be a waste of your time?!" Ultear exclaimed. Vilgax sneered as his towering frame, even in a sitting position, towered over that of the Arc of Time user.
"I do, wench." Vilgax snarled.
"Don't you dare insult Ultear." Meredy hissed, her tone was emotionless, but there was a bit of an edge to it. Meredy raised her hand and a sword made entirely out of pink energy and light was forged from nothing. It hovered above her head, the tip of its blade pointed directly at Vilgax.
"I will do what I wish, child." Vilgax growled.
"Why you..." Ultear reached for her lachryma, but she was halted by Bluenote. The ace of Grimoire Heart gave her a soft smirk before directing that same smirk at the Chimera Sui overlord.
"Now let's not get into any physical confrontations yet, guys." Bluenote exclaimed. "But Lord Vilgax, I'm sure you can understand that as his most trusted fighter and as his second in command, I am the sword and fist of my master. To belittle my master is to incite conflict, so to call him a waste of time is...not exactly something I like to hear. So if you can be so kind as to retract your statement I can promise you that..." Bluenote's magic pressure filled the room, directed solely at Vilgax. "...I won't make you fly."
Unfazed by Bluenote's intense pressure of power, Vilgax slowly rose from his seat and D'arke moved to stand by his master's side. "Is that a challenge?"
"It's not wise to challenge a guy who can crush you like a toothpick, fly boy." D'arke chuckled before walking up to Bluenote. Bluenote mimicked the action and soon he and D'arke were standing before each other. "So...you gonna challenge me now, fly boy?"
"Oh I wouldn't dream of challenging you." Bluenote spoke with obvious amount of sarcasm, complete with his eyes rolling and head tilting.
"Sarcasm." D'arke snorted in amusement. "Cute." His eyes then narrowed dangerously and killing intent leaked off of the mercenary's body. "And also a source of fighting words. You wanna take this outside because I'd rather not show my more wild side in front of a pretty lady and a sweet little girl."
"You do not talk to Ultear or call me sweet." Meredy stated as she summoned forth another one of her glowing energy blades, this one now pointed at the one who dared to look down on her due to her age. "I may be a young girl, but I can assure you that I can kill you."
"You're selling yourself dreams, little girl. I've faced people who could kill me and you my dear are not the newest edition to that list of privileged fighters" D'arke chided, wagging his finger like a parent would a child. Meredy's blank eyes narrowed dangerous before she pointed at D'arke. Her blade responded and it shot forth towards D'arke. The fighter for hire leaped out of the way as the blade stabbed itself into the ground and D'arke landed beside his employer.
"You wish to fight me?" Vilgax snorted in amusement as Bluenote, Meredy and Ultear glared at him. "Very well, children. Show me the strength of the meager human you follow and I will show you just what a planet subjugator can do." Bluenote and Meredy took the bait as they both moved to strike. However, before they could even cross the room and complete their first step, Vilgax had snapped his fingers and suddenly there was a sudden cold front taking place in the room.
The mages on the side of Grimoire Heart were all in shock as a blue colored magic seal formed beneath them and suddenly before they could react Bluenote and Meredy were trapped in ice with their bodies completely enveloped by large chunks of ice that left them trapped inside. Their frozen forms were agape as their eyes were wide, not understand what the hell just happened.
"Wh-What..." A shocked Ultear turned to Vilgax. "What did you do? That was Ice Make Magic. I thought you couldn't use magic since you are not of this world."
"Oh, my dear wench...I am many things, but I hardly lie. Not being able to use magic is one of many truths, but that doesn't mean that I can't exploit the use of mages for my own purposes….especially this one." Vilgax said before he snapped his fingers again and all was quiet for a few moments. However the silence was soon broken when the sound of footsteps against the hard stone floor of the re-purposed castle echoed throughout the room. A single figure stepped out of the shadows and into the light of the flames.
Hades and Ultear, especially Ultear, were caught completely off-guard and were in complete states of shock as they looked at the person standing before them.
"No...No way." Ultear muttered with disbelief and distraught. "That's impossible. She's dead! She's been dead for twelve years! HOW CAN SHE BE HERE?!"
"Ur." Hades spoke the name of the Ice Make Mage that now stood before him, a master of her craft and skilled on a level that would have earned her a place among the Ten Wizard Saints. While not his equal she was definitely someone who could be a worthy opponent to face and deserved his respect. She stood before all present, now dressed in an ice blue t-shirt with a v cut that showed part of her cleavage and long navy blue jeans. She was also covered in what looked like battle armor as she wore a dark blue armored vest with shoulder guards and white outlines that still left part of her cleavage exposed, black metallic boots that reached halve way up to her knees and a pair of armored fingerless gloves that gleaned like steel but looked flexible like cloth fabric. Her short black hair fluttered in the wind generated by her magic energy. But in spite of her magnificent appearance, she looked….hollow. There was no light in her onyx eyes as they stared blankly into the eyes of her one and only daughter. There was no emotion or life in her eyes; it was like he was looking into the eyes of a doll...an empty vessel.
"What have you done?!" Ultear snapped as she launched her lachryma at her mother's reborn form. The lachryma was caught by D'arke and crushed into pieces, but the orb seemed to undergo a process of reformation as its shards came back together to form the whole sphere. "What have you done to Ur?! What have you done to my mother, you son of a bitch?!"
"Ah, your mother?" Vilgax gave a look of interest before a dark expression came across his face, a fang filled Cheshire Cat grin, glowing eyes and all. "Well, my dear...I turned her into my soldier. We went to the island where the demon known as Deliora rested, but in an effort to make it mine...a failed attempt, I might add...I ended up earning something of much more value. I must say, your mother is quite a powerful individual and she makes an even greater pawn to do my bidding."
"You resurrected my mother to be a fucking drone?! YOU ASSHOLE! HOW DARE YOU DESECRATE THE DEAD!"
"As if I care about desecration, I use any and all tools at my disposal." Vilgax grinned as he stepped beside Ur. "Your mother is no different." He then gained a knowing and interested look. "Besides aren't you magic users familiar with the dark craft of necromancy?"
At hearing that Hades and especially Ur gained a dark look on their faces, confirming his answer.
"Seems you are, personally I don't see why your angry at me," Vilgax began before he sent a taunting look to Ultear. "Or are you merely angry at me because I resurrected her before you could and now your hope and dreams for a family reunion are shattered?"
As soon as he said that a look outrage and fury crossed Ultears features as she looked like she was about to snap. It was only from feeling the pressure from Hades that she didn't lunge at the Warlord. She looked to the face of her mother, only to meet a blank gaze as there was no reaction or even recognition in her eyes.
"Perhaps you would like to switch allegiances and side with me now that you know you can stand beside your mother once more on the field of battle. Do we have an agreement?" Vilgax suddenly offered.
"Fuck you!" Ultear roared as her magic energy flared. Her hair whipped wildly as ice, an element she hadn't used in years, formed around her. Fires of rage and killing intent burned within her dark colored eyes. Her blood lust only increased when she saw Vilgax begin to chuckle at her display of emotion. She took a threatening step forward and held up her lachryma and a sword of ice, ready to strike at the alien warlord.
D'arke stood on the sideline watching with some amusement as he remained where he was, knowing that his master wouldn't require his help to defeat Ultear. Plus he was interested in seeing what she could do.
"Ultear! Enough!"
Hades's voice snapped her out of her rage induced trance, but she still kept her weapons at the ready. She turned to the elderly mage in shock. "But...But Master Hades, he..."
"I know quite well what he has done, my child." Hades stated with an edge of anger in his own voice. "But you are foolish to try and take some sort of battle of revenge against Vilgax. Now stand down."
"But..."
"Stand… Down" Hades's voice was strong and forceful despite its lack of volume. Ultear looked conflicted as she looked at the helpless, dead-eyed form of her resurrected mother and the one who made her that way. She grip tightened around her ice blade and she ground her teeth together harshly before sighing. She placed her lachryma back on her belt and her ice blade vanished as a cloud of frost.
Vilgax nodded in acceptance of her withdrawal to fight before snapping his fingers. Ur mimicked the action and Bluenote and Meredy were suddenly freed from their icy imprisonments, falling to their knees and shivering while gasping for warm breaths.
"I apologize for the actions of my subordinates. I will make sure they are properly dealt with afterwards, but for now about our deal..."
"We'll be switching roles now, human." Vilgax stated. "The thing that I've come to notice is that you want something from me. I do not need nor care for having an alliance with you and your ilk, but I do believe that in order to construct your airship you would have a great understanding of mechanical engineering and magic in order to do so. So, rather than you making a deal with me...I will be making a deal with you, and you will accept."
Hades moved to speak, but Vilgax continued to talk. "I have this...person that you want. The one who you need in order to activate this mighty magical weapon of yours. I will give him to you, but in exchange I would like a few pieces of information."
Hades frowned deeply, stroking his beard. He did not like being used and he did not like Vilgax's tone but at the same time he was curious on what the warlord wanted. "You are dangerous Vilgax."
"Do not whine, Master Hades. You are far too wizened for such an act." Vilgax rolled his eyes. "You think I have not played this game before? I practically invented the game. The plan was for you to make me out to be a tool for Grimoire Heart, but let me inform you of something human. I am a being of great intelligence and as you can see, my prowess as a conqueror has come to light."
Hades now knew why the Chimera Sui overlord was such a feared entity.
"I know what I have and I know much a being would want it if they are willing to call together a talk to barter. You can try to force it from me, but believe me, Hades...I have years of war time under my belt. I have fought on the ground, from the war room and across the cosmos. With the great power and resources at my disposal, to go to war with me would be a grave mistake as it would cost you the lives of many of your men and a lot of money. So...we let us exchange our things and go our separate ways...but in the end...it is me who is in control. Never you, only Vilgax."
The dark guild master clenched his hands into tight fists. He went through the pros and cons of fighting against Vilgax, trying to reason with him on how to get him to give him Jellal Fernandes, but...he saw no loophole to exploit. Conflict was the only noticeable solution, but the conqueror of ten worlds was correct. Grimoire Heart did not have the resources at its disposal to fund and instigate a war against the Chimera Sui. They could certainly fight but if he lost any of his prized members then it would leave him with less skilled wizards to eventually attack Fairy Tail or the council and right now he needed everyone available. Especially when he was getting close to finding all of Zerefs keys to revive the black wizard.
So...Hades sighed, begrudgingly surrendering as he gestured to Vilgax.
"...And what would those pieces of information be?"
Vilgax sat back down in his seat and leaned forward on the conference table, his clawed fingers interlacing in front of his tentacled face. "The Magic Council. They are the governing body in this world from what I can understand. I want to know where their base of operations is located and I want to know the names of their top senior members."
Hades raised an eyebrow at that, wondering what value that info would be to the warlord. The location of the Council's HQ wasn't much of a secret and the top senior members were all nothing more than a bunch of old fools with no fighting skills whatsoever. What use would they be to someone like Vilgax. Nevertheless he saw no real harm in relinquishing that information.
"Very well. Anything else?" Master Hades asked.
"Yes." Vilgax replied. He sat upright once more as he looked at the bearded man before him. "I wish to know about something. A look through the blue haired man's memories showed something rather interesting concerning a weapon that the Magic Council possesses. Something called... Etherion."
Hades remained stoic and unmoving, however, within his mind, he was shell-shocked. The Satellite Square: Etherion was one of the most well-guarded secrets of the Magic Council. A giant energy cannon that had pin-point accuracy, but would literally wipe out their targets, and anything else caught within the fallout. A literal vaporizing weapon of mass destruction. If Vilgax's bragging held true, and it probably did, then if he ever had Etherion in his grasp, well...things would not go so well in the magical world's war against the alien warlord.
"I want to know where this weapon is found and how it works." Vilgax stated his demands.
Hades sighed, scratching his chin. "Regretfully I cannot give you that information since that is far too valuable to hand over to someone like you."
Vilgax narrowed his eyes at hearing that but inside he had an inner smirk. "So it's that dangerous and powerful huh. You don't wish to tell me about it for fear of what I could do with it in my possession… how interesting." He remained silent for a few moments. He drummed his claws against the hard surface of the conference table before sucking his teeth in disappointment.
"Very well, I will accept your excuse, Hades. However, I would still like my information on the Magic Council headquarters, military strength, level of weaponry and location. Give me those things and the blue haired boy is yours to take."
Hades grumbled internally in thought. While the previous request for information on Etherion was a cause for concern, there wasn't any reason to worry over handing him information on the rest of the things he asked for. Without knowledge on the Etherion there was nothing he could do to gain it. So with that he began rising from his chair and stretched out a hand. "Then we have an accord, Vilgax."
Vilgax clasped Hades's hand tightly in his much larger one. "A pleasure doing business with you Hades."
Next Chapter: The First Job; Age Before Beauty