As promised, here it is! A happy…well, late Halloween since I'm uploading this so late. I apologize once again… You may hit me if you'd like.
Anyways… Welcome back to the Null Fairy! Hope you guys are happy with your days so far. Let's see what some of you guys had to suggest since the uploading of the last chapter! And that was a loooong while ago, so let's take a good portion of time to go over, shall we?
1. Regarding some of the fights, like I've said before, I wanted to bring in different scenarios, but I don't want it to make such a difference that it kind of diverts from canon. Altering the fight between Juvia and Meredy to that of Ben and Wendy to fight her instead is already something that'll change the originality of the story by a bit. That doesn't mean it might be fun to add a little to it. Perhaps the fight between Azuma and the Strauss siblings can go a little differently.
2. For the Grand Magic Games, it's really a point in which team what Ben will be in. I know that Fairy Tail Team A will consist of Erza, Lucy, Natsu, and Gray, and since Wendy canonically gets taken out due to Raven Tail early in, Elfman replaces her for a good portion. For Team B, which had Laxus, Gajeel, Mira, Juvia, and Cana… I'm kind of leaning towards replacing either Cana or Juvia, but since they play some kind of role, like Cana and Fairy Glitter, it's kind of hard to choose where to place. I do want him to either be able to go absolutely bat-shit crazy after Raven Tail after what they did to Wendy, and for him to kind of…change how the battle between Wendy and Sherria…kind of want to make a it a three some… Wait, that sounded wrong.
3. Yes. I want to make Mavis an older sister type of character. Serious, yet more ditzy and casual than Erza. Like she can relate to kids that are around Ben's age, yet be known to be a serious strategist when the mood swings for it.
4. Now I might be a little unsure of how this might work out… Buuuuut… I wanted to give a chance for the Anodite transformation to come into play in this Arc. It'll be kind of like Nanomech. Even though Anodites don't exactly have DNA per say, they still do have things that are basically the equivalent to it, and that in turn can make a possibility of creating a Human/Anodite hybrid transformation. You know how most Anodites are free-spirited, and most don't take life as seriously as most humans do, to the point that some Anodites disregard the morality of their actions and would rather satisfy their own personal pleasures… I kind of wanted to make it so that Ben's human part covers for it, allowing him to stay rational.
5. As you could see in the new cover art… I'm going to make it so that Wendy will have her first taste of Dragon Force. I mean, the reason she could do so in canon was due to the air being filled with dense Ethernano or something, correct? Wouldn't Tenrou Island be the perfect catalyst for the triggering of her transformation?
I have so much more to discuss, but I'll leave it for the text at the end of this chapter. So for now, please enjoy this new chapter!
Let's get into the story. Once again, thanks for all of your continued support. As usual, I own nothing related to the subject of Ben 10 nor Fairy Tail. Please support the official releases, and happy reading to you all! I would like to thank you all for waiting once again! Many thanks for over 1,600 Reviews, over 630 Favorites and Follows, and over 350,000 views!
Chapter 51: Attack!
…
"Huh? Hey Mest-san, what's that signal flare up there for?" Wendy pointed up towards the sky. The "member" took a moment to gaze up at the red flare that Erza sent out, but as to feign ignorance and confusion on his own accord, he…
"I… Do not know! I wanna know, I wanna KNOW!" He answered in a pathetic matter as he attempted to chew a nearby boulder.
"Eeeeeh? You've forgotten too, Mest-san…?" Wendy frowned. Ghostfreak narrowed his eye as he observed the red flare. "A-And by the way, you shouldn't try to put everything in your mouth…"
'…That red flare means that the situation has now turned into a Code Red… Intruders have crossed the borders and are beginning to invade the island.' He inquired. 'But where though?'
'Craaaaaap…' Mest thought to himself. 'This is bad. Should I make my move before the main forces come and arrive here?'
'Now then, what should I do no—Hm? Oh, looks like we have unexpected company.' Ghostfreak was about to debate on his next course of action, from the corner of his eye he began to see puffs of white and black flying near them towards the cliff side.
"WENDY!"
"Aw fuck…!" Mest cursed to himself as Wendy looked up.
"Carla? Lily-san?" The Dragon Slayer identified the cats as they flew down to meet up with her. "What're you—"
"—You need to get away from that sicko this instant! Where the hell is Ben when you need him?!" The white Exceed growled as the two landed between Mest and Wendy.
'Hm. Did she figure out that Mest isn't really a member of Fairy Tail?' Ghostfreak wondered as he hovered next to them, ignoring her little temper tantrum.
"M-Maybe we should calm down a little—"
"—Let me talk, Lily!" Carla barked at the former Edolas Commander. Pointing at Mest with a guilty expression, she glared as he turned around. "Mest! Who are you exactly?!"
"E-Eh? Who am I? Well, I'm Mystogan's disciple and—"
*SMASH!*
"Woah." Ghostfreak blinked.
"…Alright, that drew the line." Pantherlily growled as he smashed his fist right into the wall Mest was sitting against. Mest's feigning expression immediately disappeared as the Exceed transformed into his former body and nearly popped his head off.
"W-What the…" Mest gasped.
"You are lying. Out of all the people in Earthland, there wouldn't be a single person that he would declare as his disciple. I would commend you on choosing a person that is no longer present in this world, but your cover story is quite weak Mest, if that's even your real name." Lily grunted with a dominating voice.
"H-Hey! What's with all this sudden violence!" Wendy stuttered in shock.
"Wendy, be still!" Carla scolded her.
'Huh, I should probably make my appearance soooo… Huh? What's this energy reading I'm getting?' Ghostfreak began to look around as the Omnitrix began to beep. It was getting another energy reading, but not the same one as when the other Bens encountered Zeref. '…I'm getting a bad feeling about this.'
"You… Who the hell are you?" Pantherlily began his interrogation.
"W-What are you talking about?" Mest feigned ignorance once more.
"…He's a mage who can manipulate the memories of people." The eerie voice of Ghostfreak finally made his debut as he deactivated his invisibility. Appearing next to Wendy and Carla, the two girls nearly fell over as they flinched.
"B-Ben?! You've got to quit scaring me…!" Wendy pouted. Ghostfreak sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, before turning back to Mest.
"…As I suspected. We appear to had thought the same thing, Ben." Lily said in response. "He casted a spell on the guild members and made them think that he was one of them."
"But when this concerns Mystogan though, that all goes down under the bridge. He was a man of mystery; he would never bother trying to do such a thing and teach someone magic of his caliber." The Ectonurite went on.
"Indeed. I can't think of anyone else that you might be connected to. And also… Not knowing the meaning of the flare that was sent up? You can't talk your way out of that." Pantherlily further glared at Mest as he listed reasons to prove him guilty.
"Wait, guys! Give a second to—Wait a minute…!" Mest tried to argue with them, but his eyes widened for a split second when he suddenly sensed something.
'…Bleve.'
"Yeah, so why not tell us where you—Wait… INCOMING! SIX O'CLOCK!" Ghostfreak also quickly noticed the beeping of the Omnitrix as it indicated him an incoming source of magic. Turning around and slapping the dial, he landed behind Wendy as he blocked an incoming explosion. Mest also stood up and dived to the side to avoid the aftereffects.
"Rocks!" Ben yelled as he named his form.
"What the?!" Lily barked as he grabbed Carla and flew into the air.
"Kyaaaaa!" Wendy screamed out as the noise from the attack blasted against her ears.
As the smoke cleared out and Lily landed back on the floor, Wendy opened her eyes to see Ben now taking on the form of what seemed to be a humanoid golem made of rock. His inner structure was made of dark yellow stone, while his outer layers were golden yellow in nature. Having the Omnitrix on his chest, he waved out the remaining smoke as he began to look around.
"What's happening—"
"MOVE!" Mest yelled as he pushed the two out of the way. Another chain of explosions quickly went down on a line, and as they recovered, everyone began to look in the direction that it started from.
"Y-You protected them?" Carla frowned.
"Grr… Who's there! Show yourself!" Rocks ordered.
From across the cliff side where the explosion came from, right at the start of the line was a single, undisturbed tree. Rocks and Mest seemed to be quite suspicious about where the attack originally started from, so the figure decided that it was better to just come out, literally. Coming out of the tree in a fashion just like how Wildvine could merge with plant life, the structure of a head started to morph out of the tree's core, coming out partially but not revealing the actual face of the culprit.
"…Interesting. You two have done well seeing through me." The attacker congratulated Mest and Rocks.
"Hyaa! A person's talking out from that tree!" Wendy squeaked as she hid behind Rocks' leg.
"Who are you, intruder?!" Pantherlily demanded. The culprit mage cracked his neck from within the tree as he stretched his face out a little bit further.
"My name is Azuma. I am a member of Grimoire Heart, and one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory." He revealed.
"G-Grimoire Heart?" Wendy said with a worried tone.
"A Dark Guild." Carla clarified.
"Not just any Dark Guild mind you, but the last of the Balaam Alliance, the strongest of the three." Rocks further added.
"So, that signal flare that was just launched a few moments ago was to warn everyone on the island of an incoming attack?" Mest guessed. "Then…"
"That would be correct…" Azuma said as his body began to come out of the tree. Until his entire figure was out of the tree's body, his appearance still seemed wood-like. "However, I would believe that you all have realized far too late."
"What in blazes is going on?!" Pantherlily growled in growing confusion. "Ben?! Mest?!"
"Well…" Rocks started as he stood in front of Wendy's body.
"Fine… Let me start first." Mest sighed as everyone made sure to keep a close watch on Azuma. "I thought that if I could sneak into Fairy Tail's Holy Grounds, I would find a thing or two that I could exploit."
"H-Huh?" Wendy turned to him.
"…But with the sudden appearance of Grimoire Heart and Zeref the Black Mage, things are starting to play out poorly. Cursed Lady Luck…" He growled out.
"Z-Zeref?" Wendy and Carla's eyes widened slightly. Rocks seemed to narrow his eyes slightly in reaction as well.
'So… He knew about that surge of magic as well.' He glanced back for a second. "So, I suppose I can say that you're one of them then?"
"Ha! Took you long enough to realize." Mest grinned darkly.
"W-What do you mean, Ben?" Wendy asked her mate.
"You haven't realized yet, little one?" Mest started. "I'm from the Magic Council! I infiltrated Fairy Tail to find dirty secrets to destroy you with…"
"WHAT?!" Carla hissed.
"But… That's…" Wendy murmured.
"Oh… Well then…" Azuma smirked in interest.
"However, that's all coming to an end." Mest then turned to Azuma. "Now that we've finally found the impossible-to-find Dark Guild Grimoire Heart… If I finish you all off here, then that promotion's as good as mine!"
"…Huh, no wonder why I saw a few ships off in the distance before I came onto the island." Rocks revealed.
"A few? Hmph, as if. I made sure to ask the Council to station a whole fleet of warships from the Enforcement and Detention Corps just in case, Null Fairy." Mest responded otherwise, mocking Ben by referring to his nickname. "We'll round you all up! Devils and Fairies alike!"
"Warships, you say? Are you talking about those?" Azuma folded his arms.
Looking forward from where he was on the tree, Mest and the others began to spot the aforementioned fleet that was supposed to be approaching towards Tenrou Island. With a snap of his fingers though, Azuma closed his eyes as the entirety of the fleet simultaneously exploded.
"WHAT?!" Mest's jaw dropped in disbelief.
"What just?!" Carla glared out.
"What did he just do?" Wendy peeked out, only for her eyes to contract.
"…That's some crazy magic that he's got." Rocks said to no one.
The ships were completely decimated. Any sign of the crew that were aboard them were neigh impossible to spot. Sails ripped, decks destroyed, the massive explosion caused by Azuma was still evident by the massive amounts of flames burning on the ocean surface.
"...The ships!" Mest was visibly shocked from what he just witnessed as he continued to watch the flames.
"That's… Impossible." Pantherlily muttered.
"Hmph." Azuma sighed as he stepped out from the tree.
Azuma appeared to be a tall, muscular man with tanned skin and thick brown hair that looks like long, dark, leathery strips of confetti jutting out in all directions. He had brown eyes and a straight dark streak running over his left eye, which extends up to the top of his forehead and down to his mid cheek. Each of his ears were adorned by a large earring shaped like a round crescent moon pointing down.
He wore an outfit decorated by tribal-like motifs. The chest piece was simple, with the central section highlighting his prominent abdominals and pectorals underneath it being light green, separated by the dark green parts on his sides by a pair of thin white lines framing it on both edges. With the chest piece came a pair of large, dark-colored shoulder pads. The left shoulder pad bears Grimoire Heart's symbol.
As everyone turned back to him, he tapped the ground a few times to get a feel of the floor. "Ahem… As I was going to say… Let's start with the introductions once again, shall we?"
"Soo… What do we now?" Wendy mumbled. "He blew up those ships like they were nothing!"
"All of those ships… Absolutely devastated…" Mest uttered.
"Well Sky Maiden, I'll ask your little friend over there." Azuma answered as he turned to Mest. "I suppose this is an appropriate time to start my job, Mr. Official?"
"Stay back everyone! Ben, with me!" Pantherlily blocked the three behind him as Rocks came up to form a two-man wall.
"So… Alright Lily, this should be easy if this is close combat. So, let's just play it by the book. Why don't you flank from the left and then I can—"
"RAAAAAAH!" Ignoring his pep-talk, Lily rushed in like a puma…or whatever kind of Exceed's equivalent to an animal. Watching him charge in, Azuma simply dodged the initial punch that Lily released, swiping his head to the side and countering with a punch of his own to the Exceed's face.
"Or you could just charge in and get immobilized first." Rocks rolled his eyes as Lily got up. "Okay, Lily, let's stick together this time and—Oh for the love of…"
"GRAAAAAAAH!" Once again, Lily got up and blasted forward, only to get slugged in the gut, grabbed by his arm and thrown back towards Rocks. As the Basalt caught him, he sighed as he placed him on the ground.
"What's the story? Am I the only one that knows how to talk?" He inquired in a rhetorical fashion.
"Uh… My rage blinded me?" Lily said as he rubbed his temple. "Sorry. Let's coordinate this time."
"…Idiots." Carla sighed as the two finally began to charge at Azuma together.
Going ahead first this time, Rocks swings his fist towards Azuma, but the Dark Mage pushes his bulky arm aside with a well-timed slap and punches him in the jaw and then onto the ground. As Lily comes in, Azume kicks Rocks to the side as he tried to get up, and soon after began to engage in a fist fight with the Exceed.
"Go down, you son of a… Woah!" Lily yelped.
As he dodges another one of Lily's punches, Azuma swings him over his head and kicks him towards Rocks as he got up, knocking them both down.
"Ouch…" Mest said as he cringed a little.
"Geh… Lily, launching!" Rocks growled as the two got up. Lifting him up and throwing the Exceed at Azuma, the Dark Mage's eyes widened slightly from the impromptu move.
"Lily?! Ben, what're doing?!" Wendy turned to Rocks.
"Experimenting!" Rocks quickly answered as Lily got right up in Azuma's face.
"TAKE THIS!" Lily yelled as he rocked his fist back for another punch.
"Oh?" Azuma hummed as he raised a single palm. "Let's see how you take this then. Bleve!"
Extending his arm forward, right as Lily was about to slam his right into his face, he was engulfed in a large explosion, just like how the ships were a few moments ago. The attack went on a for a few more seconds, but as the smoke cleared out, Lily was seen rising out with little to no signs of scratches.
"…!" Azuma's eyes contracted slightly as Lily took the moment of temporary shock to give the Dark Mage a sharp uppercut.
"How's that?!" Lily barked.
"…It's not over just yet." Was all Azuma said.
As he snapped his fingers again, suddenly, orbs of light appeared around Lily, almost as if the spell that he just casted had an aftereffect. As the Exceed flinched from the sudden appearance of the new light, they all exploded, creating an even large range of effect than before.
"GAaa…!" Mest was sent flying backwards, but fortunately for Wendy and Carla, Rocks cradled them and prevented the duo from getting knocked back by the shock wave.
"Lily! You good?" Rocks yelled out as the dust cleared. Lily was seen to be fairly fine, but he was clearly annoyed by the magic that Azuma was using.
'Grr… If only I had a sword…' He muttered in his mind, before blinking. 'Wait, that's it!'
"That was even bigger than the last time…" Wendy whimpered as Rocks released them. As she took a look at Lily, the Exceed gave her a look of request that seemed to correlate with his dilemma. "Huh? Oh!"
"Sheesh, I feel like he should be screaming bloody murder with… Huh?" Rocks grumbled to himself, only to feel Wendy patting his leg for attention. "Wendy? What's up?"
"I have a plan. I need you to follow my instructions." She ordered.
"Uh… Alright then." Rocks blinked in submission as he tapped the Omnitrix dial. '…Do I like it when she has that commanding tone?'
Reverting back to human, Wendy began to whisper into his ear for the steps in her plan. As he nodded, Lily took notice of Azuma as he got up.
"Got it?" Wendy asked one more time.
"Of course." Ben grinned as they turned forward. "Let's go! Lily!"
Running forward and activating the Omnitrix, Azuma covered his eyes as he slapped the core down and transformed into Diamondhead. Taking his arm up and morphing it into a giant sword, he snagged it off and tossed it to Lily. As the Exceed caught it and regrouped with Diamondhead, the duo stared at Azuma as Wendy prepped her own magic.
"Ben, Lily! Here we go!" She called out.
"Right! Okay now… Time to test out one of the new guys!" Diamondhead announced as he slapped the Omnitrix dial.
"…Let's see what this is all about." Azuma said as he took a stance.
As the Omnitrix's light faded, a brand-new alien was revealed. It was a blue jellyfish-like alien with six long tentacles that functioned as two pairs of arms and a pair of legs. He had green eyes with no pupils and white swipes on his body resembling lightning streaks. His main body had three segmented, skirt-like parts; one for his head, chest and abdomen. With a black and green top, he wore the Omnitrix on his chest as he floated above ground.
"AmpFibian!" He called out. "Now then. Wendy!"
"O swift wind that dashes through the heavens…! O strengthen of arm to cleave the heavens!"
"Oh?!" Lily looked down as magic circles began to appear underneath him and AmpFibian. "What's this? Support Magic?"
"Lily, get ready!" AmpFibian ordered as Wendy began to finish her incantations.
"Vernier! Arms!"
"NOW!" Lily screamed as he activated Aera. Sprouting his wings, he and the jellyfish alien blasted forward at enhanced speeds.
"Bleve!" Azuma casted.
Sensing the chain of explosions, the duo flew in the air while simultaneously dodging the incoming magic. Azuma was now busying with his occupation of the two, giving Wendy enough time to initiate the next part of her plan. Blasts of electricity and swings from Diamondhead's sword kept Azuma occupied for the time being.
"Mest-san!" She called out to the Magic Council member. Bringing him out from his shock, he turned to her. "Please help me!"
"What? What are you saying? I'm an official from the Council!" He tried to argue, but was quickly cut off by Wendy as she glared at him.
"That doesn't matter! We're going to protect this island and the guild!" She barked back.
"Weren't you listening?! I came here to destroy Fairy Tail, you doof!" Mest yelled back, but quickly backed up upon seeing the Dragon Slayer pick him up by his collar.
"Destroy?! I don't care about that! And besides, even if you all try to do that, Fairy Tail WON'T be destroyed! Now get on your feet and help me!" She ordered.
As Mest gulped, he quickly stood up on her orders. After quickly giving him the info he needed, they prepared for the final phase as AmpFibian and Lily looked down from afar up.
"Looks like they're wrapping things up. Lily you stay up here. I'm going to go for a pincer attack back down." The alien said.
Zooming down, Azuma raised his arms up for another round of explosions. Approaching on ground level and flying at the Mage straight on, Lily began to dive down as Mest teleported behind Azuma.
'This is it. Taking out this guy first is the smart thing to do!' Mest mused as Wendy began to breathe in.
'Got you!' AmpFibian and Lily grinned as they began to charge their attacks.
'Sky Dragon's Ro—'
"…This is getting boring."
"Eh?" AmpFibian blinked as he stopped right in front of Azuma.
As the Dark Mage changed the position of his arms to aim at Lily and AmpFibian, he instead extended them out to his sides. As a green magic circle appeared underneath his feet, AmpFibian's eyes widened upon sensing the enormous amount of magic that was about to be released.
He immediately turned back to Lily. "LILY, GET BACK!"
As he yelled, everyone else was about to retort on his comment. But before that could happen, AmpFibian quickly slapped the Omnitrix dial and grabbed Wendy, as she was point blank behind the Dark Mage as Azuma released his next spell.
"Tower Burst!"
Summoning forth an enormous tower of explosive flame in his immediate vicinity, it expanded out at a blazing rate, reaching high into the sky as everyone was caught in the explosion.
Right before Wendy could be damaged, AmpFibian transformed into Cannonbolt and wrapped himself around the blue haired girl. The shock of the explosion blasted the two out of the area, leaving Lily, Carla, and Mest being driven back to the edge of cliff.
As the explosion died off, Azuma sighed a little as he looked up. The yellow sphere that was Cannonbolt was seen flying off into the distance as everyone else laid on the ground. Looking around, he folded his arms as he began to walk off.
"Ugh. I made too much of a racket… Now the noisy ones are going to come." He grumbled.
…
"Ah, there's the pillar of light…" Rustyrose pointed.
"Well, technically it's a pillar of fire." Zancrow corrected.
Most of the other Seven Kin of Purgatory were watching from the deck as Grimoire Heart's ship grew closer to Tenrou. Ultear herself came out from downstairs, this time wearing a battle outfit as she zipped up her voluptuous cleavage.
The battle suit was sleeveless and skin-tight, being divided into 3 sections; the main body of the suit and the legs of the suit from the thigh down are both white with black patterning, with the space between them being a deep brown. The entire suit was trimmed with gold patterns, and Ultear sported a matching white headband. On her arms, Ultear wore long black sleeves, with the section from her elbow down bearing chunky, gray wrist-guards, from which she can produce her characteristic Lacrima.
"Ah, Ultear-san. I see you're really getting into this." Zancrow noted.
"Of course. This is a war, after all." Caprico replied in response.
"It's time to head off to the Eden known as Battle…" Rustyrose echoed off. Meredy rose an eyebrow as she spotted something in the distance.
"Ah! Look, Ul!" She then pointed out.
"…Don't call me Ul, Meredy." Ultear glared at the young girl, making her flinch as she backed down.
"I-I'm sorry…" She mumbled. Zancrow noticed this, patting her shoulder to cheer her up.
"Aw come on, little one! Don't be so nervous." He grinned. "What did you see Meredy? What's wrong?"
"…I see the island." She answered to him, smiling a little. "The island of Fairies."
The island was nearly in sight. However, as the ship drew closer, everyone began to notice a figure starting to grow in size as it came out from the water. Hades narrowed his eyes as a familiar guild emblem appeared on the chest of this new assailant.
"Huh? What's that?" Zancrow asked.
"Er… A Giant?" Rustyrose guessed.
"gersbasefgvs…" Hikaru mumbled.
"…Big." Meredy blinked.
"…So, you've come, Makarov." Hades smiled in amusement.
"…You cannot pass. Turn back to the shadows…"
"No." Hades replied as he took hold a microphone Lacrima.
"Go away…!"
"I shall not." Hades replied once more.
"Leave!"
"…Is he really doing this?" Zancrow turned to his fellow Kin.
"Leave, I won't." Hades went on.
…
…
"Leave."
"No."
Makarov stood still from his position in the ocean as a vein popped on his forehead. The Seven Kin of Purgatory repeatedly looked back and forth from the duo for a while as they continued their little argument, but after a few more attempts of resistance, Makarov finally lost his cool.
"…Very well then. Fly, you fools."
"…Uh-oh." Meredy gulped.
"Evasive maneuvers, members." Hades ordered the lower members of Grimoire Heart via radio. Everyone looked forward as Makarov raised an arm as the ship drew near.
"Incoming!" Ultear held onto a nearby rail as Makarov swung his arm out.
"YOU... SHALL NOT... PAAAAAAAASS! "
Smashing right into the right-wing segment of the ship, everyone on deck and below began to stumble and fall around as part of the ship's maneuvering gear was damaged. Smoke was being led off from damaged parts as the vehicle began to lose altitude.
"Huge damage to the right side! Magic Generator number 2 was eradicated!" A member monitoring the ship's condition alerted Hades.
"He shredded through our reinforced hull like it was nothing!" Another cried out.
"Remain calm." Hades ordered. "Increase our speed and swerve to the side. He's attacking once more."
Pouring more magic in the ship's generators, as Makarov released another punch meant to crash the ship, Grimoire Heart's vessel quickly boosted and skid to the side, narrowly dodging Makarov's attack.
"Our attack, Master?!" Ultear turned to Hades.
"Yes. Activate the Magic Beam Cannon, Jupiter." He ordered.
As Makarov turned back to look onto the ship, his eyes widened when the deck of the ship opened up. Rising from the core of the ship was none other than a gigantic barrel of a cannon.
"That is… JUPITER?!" The Giant Master cried out as it began to charge up.
He didn't have enough time to stabilize his balance, as all the added mass to his figure slowed him down. However, even as it was beginning to fire, he had enough momentum to raise his left arm up.
"Fire!"
'Oh this is gonna…' Bracing himself for the impact, Makarov clenched his arm as the blast began to numb him.
Fortunately, the attack only lasted for a couple of seconds, and it didn't harm Makarov's body to that of a degree surprisingly. Taking this moment while the ship was busying recharging from firing Jupiter, Makarov stepped forward and gave the ship a kick from below, causing even further damage to the point that it was going to…
"OUR SHIP!" A member cried out in horror. "The monster!"
"So this is the power of the Makarov?!"
"Remain calm." Hades ordered his crew. "Ultear!"
"Yes, Master!" Ultear responded.
Closing her right eye, from her left, a symbol of magic appeared inside it as her eye glowed. Crossing her arms, a magic circle appeared underneath her as she casted her magic.
"Arc of Time: Restore!"
Just as she casted her spell, Makarov began to see the effects of it. The damaged airship that was about to explode was sudden enveloped in an aura of purple. Moments passed, and the damaged parts began to repair them… No, not repair, but rather…
'Time… Time Reversal? Just like Ben? No… This is… This is Lost Magic!' Makarov analyzed the situation as Grimoire Heart's airship was completely revitalized.
"It's time to move out. Caprico, lead the troops and take everyone to the island." Hades ordered. Caprico turned around after recovering from Makarov's attacks, nodding in response.
"Of course. But what shall you do, Master Hades?" The goat man asked in return.
"Hmph. I shall deal with Makarov." He answered as he stood up. "Prepare your magic."
"…As you wish." Caprico bowed slightly as a yellow magic circle spawned in front of him.
Clapping his hands, all the members of Grimoire Heart presently inside the ship were encapsulated into orange bubbles. As Caprico then walked over to a nearby armory located in the throne room, he took out a magic jetpack and quickly strapped it on.
"Then… I shall depart." He nodded as a sunroof on the ceiling of the ship opened.
Blasting out of the ship, Makarov's eyes followed Caprico as he flew into the island. However, it didn't seem to phase him that only "one" member managed to infiltrate into Fairy Tail's domain. Turning back to Grimoire Heart's ship, he brought his hands together…
"It matters not where you lot run off to…!" He roared as a familiar light began to emit from the middle of his palms.
'…Oh, he's doing that.' Hades narrowed his eyes.
…
"As it is in the tradition of Fairy Tail… I shall have a count to three before rendering my judgement upon you."
…
It was none other than the light of Fairy Law that was beginning to form within Makarov's hands. The bright orb of magic caused Hades to squint his eyes as he walked off from his seat.
"…That magic… One that only affects those in which the caster deems as an enemy." He explained the effects of the spell.
"…One…"
"Hmph. Fairy Law, is it? Based on the original, but improved upon to counteract the side effects…" He scoffed, but smiled afterwards.
"Bring it on then, boy."
"Two!"
Teleporting onto the roof of his air ship, it was then that Makarov's final countdown ended. Clapping his hands together and covering the orb of magic in his palms, the blinding light began to seep out of the cracks within the crevices of his large arms as Hades stood afront.
"…Three!"
"Oh please. Would you stop that?" The Dark Guild Master snorted.
That was all that Hades said as Makarov began to cast the almighty spell. Right as the old man was going to release the light that would burn all who he deemed as a heretic in his eyes, similarly to his own spell Hades began to form what seemed to be an exact polar opposite in his own palms.
A staggering glow of darkness pulsing out from Hades' hands. That was what Makarov saw as his eye widened slightly in reaction to the phenomenon in front of him.
"Grimoire… Law."
"…WHAT?! Wait…" Makarov gasped as he canceled out Fairy Law. "T-T-That Magic…! That voice…! It can't be…"
"Hooo… So you can at least recognize something like that." Hades smirked darkly as he canceled out Grimoire Law. "Do you recognize me?"
"You… But…" Makarov was astounded as the identity of his enemy became clear in his eyes.
"Indeed. It's been a while…boy." Hades made emphasis on that last word as Makarov's jaw dropped slightly.
"Master… Purehito…?"
…
"Heeeeeeeeey…"
*Poke* *Poke*
"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeey…"
"…No, not today… Five more minutes…" Ben's voice could be heard, grumbling from what seemed to be slumber.
"Hey! Listen!"
"Urgh…"
Ben's eyes began to slowly flicker open at the sound of crickets chirping. As he opened them, he had to shield his eyes from the sunlight. Once his eyes had adjusted, he wearily looked around, still in somewhat of a daze. He was now lying in a marsh zone somewhere on the island, and was back in his human form. The Omnitrix must've timed out while he was unconscious due to a sudden level of pain exceeding its parameters.
"What happened...?" He asked the voice that was speaking to him as he rubbed his temple.
"Well, you crashed all the way here like a cannonball!" The voice proceeded to explain. "Or… Whatever you were at first! I've never seen a black and yellow roly-poly."
As much as Ben wanted to listen to this mysterious female voice speaking to his mind, he wasn't exactly wondering who or what was doing so for the moment. He slowly sat up straight, and took a better look at his surroundings. After looking around for a few moments, his eyes went wide when he remembered what happened prior to blacking out. Looking around once again, the first thing in his mind was—
"Wendy?!" Ben called out to the Dragon Slayer.
In response, small, cute sounds of snoring could be heard next to him as he felt a tug on his shirt. Blinking a few times, he blushed a little bit as Wendy laid on the ground next to him, sleeping away as if there wasn't a war waging between the two Guilds known as Fairy Tail and Grimoire Heart.
"…Neheee…" Wendy began to smile while gripping Ben a little harder. The Omnitrix wielder flinched as it grew to a grin and her hold on him grew tighter by the second. She was even drooling by then…
"W-We…Wendy?" Ben looked down at the adorable puff of blue next to him.
"Heheh… Since I won that battle… You're gonna do whatever I want you to…" She giggled in her sleep once more.
"Er… Huh. I wonder what's she dreaming about…?" Ben scratched his cheek as he chuckled a little.
"I wonder what I should have you do…first?" She asked herself as she snuggled against his body. "I'll push you down… Tie you up… And then I'm gonna do stuff… Ben."
"…Okaaay then." Ben gulped. "Er… Hey mystery voice, where am I anyways?"
"Well… About that… I'd wake that girl and look up if I were you."
"Huh? Why's that?" The brunet asked as he began to shake Wendy awake.
"Because it's raining enemies! Good luck!"
"Wait, what?!" Ben gawked as he immediately cocked his head upwards. Frowning at the sight of Caprico continuing to drop more and more Gimoire Heart members, Ben quickly turned back down to Wendy and pinched her cheek. "Wendy, wake up!"
"Nauu… Ow, ow, ow!" Wendy squeaked as her eyes opened. Yawning a little, she turned to Ben and blushed a little. "A-Ah, Ben! W-What's up?"
"Snap out of it, Wendy." Ben conked her head lightly as they both stood up. "We've got enemies inbound."
"Huh? O-Oh, right." Wendy shook her head and slapped her cheeks away.
Raining like cats and dogs, Caprico briefly flew over and deployed another batch of orange bubbles. As they drew closer to ground zero, they popped and the mages inside them began to grow in size. Right as they landed, many of them scoffed and snickered as they branded several types of magic weapons at the duo. Magic melee weapons, magic guns, the likes of which Ben seemed very familiar with as he and Wendy prepped their own arsenal.
"Enemies left and right… Great." Ben sighed a little as the couple went back to back. "So, what do we do afterwards, strange lady voice?"
"I think she wants us to fight off these guys first." Wendy answered as she prepped the Omni-Tool. "Get ready."
"Oh, you could hear her too? Huh, strange." Ben retorted as he activated the Omnitrix.
"Wait..." Wendy looked around the area. "Where is everyone?"
"We got hit by that Spell Azuma casted." Ben quickly reminded her as he began to turn the dial. "That damn Tower Burst or whatever it was called."
"Hey, jerk face!"
"Ah, I remember now. And… That was nice of you to cuddle me up at first though." Wendy smiled. "Thanks for that."
"Well, priority goes for you first, then the others. Cannonbolt only has enough room for one person." Ben sheepishly admitted as he smiled.
"HEY! I'm talking to you!"
"Huh?" Ben and Wendy turned to one Grimoire Heart member, who wore a pair of magic bracers on his arms and legs.
"Yeah, you green eyed kid!" The member growled.
"Well, I heard jerk face and… I must've thought you were talking about someone else." Ben shrugged.
"B-Ben…" Wendy sighed upon realizing that he was starting to mess with the growing anger of the lower Grimoire Heart member, as well as others.
"…Beauty, is in eye of the beholder." A member next to him quoted, seemingly unfazed by the angry conversation.
"Right… Anyways… So you're that Null Fairy guy we've heard so much about recently. And your little girlfriend too, the Sky Maiden." The bracer wielding member identified the two while ignoring his friend.
"There's so many of them now that I've taken a good look around." Wendy noticed as she glanced everywhere. "How're going to get through? There must be dozens of them, all experts in the weapons they're wielding probably."
"…The truth lies, in the mastery of a single art of fighting." The quoting member spoke.
Both Wendy and Ben tilted their heads awkwardly, and the member next to him sighed as he begun to explain his friend's strange way of speaking.
"Don't worry about that. That's just how he communicates. Don't know how he got recruited into the Guild with that kind of nomadic attitude though…" He brushed off.
"…The only way we can truly communicate, is through the ancient art of combat. And more specifically, our fists!"
"…"
"…"
"Yeah okay, this is getting awkward." The member scratched the back of his head as he stepped forward. "Let's just start."
"Oh, finally. I was getting bored." Ben spread his arms out in excitement as he slapped the core down. Due to all the Grimoire Heart members wearing masks, the light from the transformation didn't blind them as much as Ben was replaced with Water Hazard.
"Alright, come at me!" The red and black alien gestured.
"…I wonder why they aren't all coming at us at once." Wendy sweat dropped as the member dashed at Water Hazard with intent to roundhouse kick him.
"It's cuz' we know he's gonna get beaten in a 1-on-1!" A random member yelled out to answer.
"Enough! Take this!" The masked member brought his leg towards Water Hazard's face as it began to light up. "Magic Bracers: Activate!"
Wendy and everyone else were expecting the Orishan to block the incoming attack, but to their surprise, all he did was stand there with a listless expression… I mean you couldn't tell because Water Hazard wasn't really capable of making expressions. Regardless, the masked member reared back his foot, and slammed it into the side of Water Hazard's face as it glowed with an eerie red light. Upon contact, his attack erupted into a chain of explosions, making it impossible for anyone, himself included, to see the result. The melee fighter landed on the ground, and leapt back and out of the smoke, waiting for it to clear so he could see his handiwork.
"Ha! How was that?!" He grinned behind his mask.
After a few moments, the smoke cleared, and everyone was shocked by what they saw. The fact that Water Hazard didn't budge whatsoever was a surprise by itself, but he appeared to be completely unfazed by his explosive attack. There was no mark whatsoever due to Water Hazard revealing that he had a retractable visor under his hood with green transparent spots resembling eyes. It covered the explosive attack completely as the attacker frowned.
"Heh… Come on!" Water Hazard yelled as he his visor retracted. "I know a knucklehead with pink hair who can give you a rundown on how poorly that works."
"…I don't think Natsu-san will enjoy hearing that." Wendy said with a honest tone.
"Wendy, I've got at least five different ways to make him keel down to the ground." Water Hazard replied. "Trust me."
"And the thing is… I know you're probably not lying…" Wendy sighed.
"He's making of me?" The masked mage asked himself. "He's making fun of me!"
"Alright… My turn." Water Hazard brought his palms forward and aimed them at the mage.
At a moment's instant, he blasted two jet streams of water right at the fighter mage's body, forcing him off his feet and causing him to slam hard into a tree behind him. The impact instantly caused him to black out as he slid down slowly.
"Next!" Water Hazard took a stance.
"Alright! After him!" One other member ordered.
While Wendy and Water Hazard were about to engage the enemy hit squad, before anyone could make a move, the water laying on the floor began to float up, engulfing all the members of Grimoire Heart in a spherical capsule of H2O. All the members struggled to breathe and reflexively dropped their weapons as to hold their throats in desperation.
"Water?" Wendy blinked. "This Magic is…"
"Water Lock!" Juvia chanted as she and Erza came in to join with the duo.
"And…!" Erza was still in a black bikini, but quickly ReQuipped into her Lightning Empress Armor. "Lightning Shield Strike!"
Spinning her spear, she then stabbed in into the ground, summoning a magic circle that spawned out wild bolts of electricity. Zapping all of the surrounding Grimoire Heart members to a crisp, they all fell to the floor like flies once Juvia released her Water Lock.
"Erza-san! Juvia-san!" Wendy greeted them. "You're all safe!"
"Yes. It's good to see that you're unharmed." Erza nodded as she changed into to her Heart Kreuz set. "But where is Mest?"
"Mest? You mean that Magic Council member?" Water Hazard corrected as he reverted back to Ben. "I reckon he's still on that cliff side where the others were."
"Magic Council?" Juvia repeated in confusion. "Juvia requires an explanation, Ben-kun."
"Well, that'll have to wait for later." Ben said otherwise. "We need to find everyone else. I assume the rest of them are all fighting off against members of Grimoire Heart and those Seven Kin of Purgatory."
"Wait, you've fought one then?" Erza asked, curious to his wording.
"And he was the reason we were blown all the way here." Wendy explained. "I think his name was… Azuma I believe. He uses some kind of fire and explosive Magic it seems."
"Fire and explosions, huh." The redhead noted. "Alright then. Can you two handle yourselves?"
"Well, as long as I'm not caught off guard again. You have a better layout of the island than I do Erza, so you should go and search for the other members of the Guild since they probably don't know their way around." Ben suggested.
"And you, Wendy-chan?" Juvia asked the Dragon Slayer.
"I'll stay here and keep Ben company. I'll be able to relay to him the locations of enemies through their scent." Wendy gave the girls a thumbs up. "And I can fight! I've been learning a lot from Natsu-san and Gajeel-san!"
"And you've unfortunately took note of their motion-sickness." Ben snickered, earning him some playful pounds to his body.
"I-I can't help it! It's because I'm a Dragon Slayer!" She pouted.
"...Right." Erza's eye twitched in comedic anger. "We'll be off then. Please make sure not to do anything…unwanted, while I'm not around."
"Y-Yes ma'am!" Both Ben and Wendy flinched and saluted to her. Juvia also was a bit astonished by Erza's regularly scare tactics, but nonetheless decided to join her as she went off in another direction.
The two watched the redhead and water mage walk off into the distance, and Wendy finally sighed in relief as she folded her arms, glaring at Ben with an adorable face. Ben was going to give a snarky reply, but was stopped by the sound of another bubble popping above them. They turned up to see a single girl above them.
The two stepped back a few times as the girl landed, revealing herself to be none other than Meredy. She landed with barely a sound before standing up. Meredy narrowed her eyes slightly as she began to identify the two individuals in front of her.
"A girl?" Ben asked, reaching for the Omnitrix. "She looks as old as us."
"Yes." Wendy said, aiming the Omni-Tool at the pink head. "But I believe that she may want to engage with us."
Wendy and Ben waited for this new opponent to make a move, but it seemed as though Meredy was merely in a phase of recollecting information regarding the two as her eyes glanced from Ben's face to Wendy's.
"Wendy Marvell… A former member of the guild, Cait Shelter. Nicknamed, the Sky Maiden." She started as she turned to look at Wendy, and then at Ben. "And the Null Fairy, Ben Tennyson. A recently ascended and popular member of Fairy Tail with the ability to use Transformation Magic."
"She seems to had researched us, Ben." Wendy noted to Ben.
"Mind telling us who you are then? We seem to be relatable and at a standstill. We don't have to fight." Ben offered.
Meredy stared at Ben's face. Wendy seemed to be eerily…bothered by the amount of attention this new girl was giving to Ben. Call it a woman's intuition, but the Dragon Slayer seemed to be feeling that Meredy wasn't exactly your normal type of young woman.
"…Unfortunately, I believe that we will have to engage in combat regardless." Meredy apologized. Her magic began to radiate as an aura as the duo in front of her took a stance. "But if it is desired… My name is Meredy."
"Meredy, huh? We really don't have to—"
"Battle, start."
"…?! Get down!" Wendy grabbed Ben and tackled him down to the floor. Right as she was doing do, Meredy lifted an arm up and snapped her fingers, summoning a pink magic circle that spawned a ring of glowing blades.
"Maguilty Sodom!" She casted.
Launching the blades, Wendy was able to make the two of them avoid most of the blades, but even as quick as her reaction timing was, one of the blades managed to embed itself into Wendy's shoulder.
"Gaack!" She yelped in pain. "I wasn't fast enough…!"
"But…wait, there's no wound?" As Wendy laid down on Ben while the two were on the water, he looked over his shoulder to see the blade inside her body, but with no cut or blood emerging out. "What's that about?"
"…These blades attack the sense of pain directly." Meredy quoted as the rest of the blades faded. "You may give them the name, "sensory blades"."
Wendy groaned as she clenched her shoulder. As Ben got up and helped her onto her feet, the two took another look at Meredy as he activated the Omnitrix.
"Okay… Since you're not wearing a robe and using unique magic, I'm going to assume you're one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory." Ben decided. "Am I right?"
"That is correct." Meredy answered with her seemingly emotionless voice. "But I have to ask you to cease your questioning."
"And might I ask why?!" Ben yelled as he slapped the Omnitrix's core down, morphing into Blitzwolfer.
"…Because I don't want to hurt the one I'm interested in too much."
…
With some of the other members, Lucy, Cana, Gray, and Loki were busy running up through another part of the island's terrain, notably a part of the geography that bore ruins and signs of ancient civilization.
The island housed some ruins, seemingly the remains of a village. Cracked sections of stone wall, column capitals and stone architraves seem to be scattered here and there. A stone road, although largely covered by grass, was also present among the ruins, which also include almost intact buildings, still retaining arched windows with decorated frames and stone carvings on the walls. Some of such ruins, distinguished by large arches, were located along a rocky wall facing the sea and the coast, while a lighthouse-like structure, consisting of a tower flanked by some minor buildings near it.
This village was remarkably close to the Tenrou Tree itself as the group began to cut through the stone road. They were heading towards the Resting Zone as instructed by the red flare launched by Erza.
"Oh come on…! Where's this darn meeting point again?!" Lucy whined as the four continued to sprint on.
"It's at our portable base, the resting point! Didn't ya pay attention to the explanation on the boat?!" Gray sighed.
"According to the map we've memorized, going through these ruins is a bit of a short cut to said location." Loki added on.
"But why are we doing this when we should be looking for a grave!" Lucy wailed about still. "What's this red alert or whatever thing about?!"
"This is ridiculous..." Cana growled. "Of all things to happen now, why this?!"
"C-Cana…" Lucy quickly zipped her lips. "Sorry…"
"Oh, I… Never mind that…" Cana sighed, not meaning to raise her voice.
As the four continued to go off on this straight road, Loki began to sense an unusually…familiar energy. As he was the person in front, he quickly signaled everyone to stop as he looked up. As they followed his orders, it was then that everyone began to see the zooming figure of Caprico deploying a number of bubbles down on their location.
"Uh… What're those…"
As they rained down to the crowd, the first one happened to land near Lucy as they began to pop, revealing the Grimoire Heart members inside as the first one revealed a sword wielding member. He nearly cleaved Lucy in two, and would of if Loki didn't pull her back a few inches.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Lucy barked.
"People are coming from the sky? And popping out of bubbles?" Loki said in a confused tone.
"T-The weather forecast didn't mention anything about this…" Lucy gulped.
"It's the enemy…" Cana glared at the soldiers continuing to rain down.
"Oh come on… Give me a break here." Gray observed their new enemies. "Are all of those guys humans? They're Dark Guild mages then…"
As they watched them all drop in, they formed a cluster in front of the exit that they were going to take. They even started to surround the four with their sheer numbers, something that started to piss Cana off even more as she took some cards out from her pouch.
"You pieces of shit…" She said darkly.
"Uh-oh." Loki and Gray both said as they suddenly ducked. "Lucy, hit the deck!"
"Huh, what're—"
"Icicle!" Cana roared as she spun and threw a row of cards in a full circular arc.
The cards she had thrown quickly reached their intended locations, flashing brightly and transforming into waves of large icicles. As they barraged the first few rows of enemies, those who were hit were instantly frozen.
"Let's get rid of these jokers! Come on!" Cana ordered.
"O-Of course!" Lucy and everyone complied.
Gray quickly conjured up some magic as Loki enhanced his fists with Regulus' power. Lucy also took this time to crack her magic whip as the first few Grimoire Heart members began to attack. While they weren't tough and were pretty easy to defeat if you kept your distance, it was the large amount of them which made this battle starting to become tedious.
Even as Gray froze and blasted away waves of enemies, and Loki pounding away from his side along with Lucy and Cana, they were starting to feel the burn.
"Grrr… Stop messin' with me!" The brunet scowled as she threw a bunch of more cards at some members in front of her. "Wind Edge!"
The howling of the enemies could be heard as she threw two cards. They fused together as they landed on the ground, flashing brightly and bringing out an ascending torrent of wind that blasted the members unfortunate enough to be in front of her several meters away.
As Cana growled once more, she was beginning to pay too much attention to what was in front of her, leaving her open for some other members which took note of this. Luckily, as they attempted to get at her back side, as Lucy took out one of her Zodiac keys, she whipped them all away in a flurry of strikes.
"CANA! Please, control yourself!" She scolded her.
"Woah… And here I thought for a second that Cana was in a really fighting mood today…" Loki chuckled nervously. "But Lucy-sama is indeed my master after all."
"Please. These jokesters caused the exam to become delayed, and they had the nerve to come to the sacred grounds of Fairy Tail!" Gray barked as he slapped away a dozen foes with the swing of a giant ice hammer. "We're not going to let them off easy, ya hear?!"
"S-Sorry for that." Cana was surprised by Lucy's annoyance. "I lost…my cool back there."
Jumping to the middle of their circle, the members of Grimoire Heart just continued to pile on and on against them. They were going at it with a good amount of damage, but it just seemed like they had the manpower to keep backing themselves up.
"Sheesh, there's no end to these guys. I don't think we can keep this up." Gray grunted in annoyance.
"Hey, at least they aren't tough." Loki said otherwise, attempting to alleviate his concern.
"All they have is an advantage in numbers." Lucy noted. "And they have so many different types of weapons as well."
"Meaning this is just going to continue being a pain in the rear for us… Hey, speaking of weapons, I reckon Ben would probably like to look at some of these." Cana then mentioned.
"Later, Cana." Lucy glanced back. "If we're going to continue fighting like this, we'll run out of magic power as well as stamina. I should probably summon big to get rid of them in one fell swoop… Maybe Taurus or Sagittarius…"
"Now wait there, Lucy." Loki turned to her as the blonde was going to activate her magic. "You of all people should conserve your energy."
"Well it doesn't matter…" Gray shouted, taking off his shirt. "If these chumps are gonna want to pick a fight with Fairy Tail, they oughta bring someone tougher then these guys!"
"Then you shall fight meh then."
"—I was joking!" Gray retorted.
As the mystery voice called out to them, the four heard a single clap. Suddenly, all the members of Grimoire Heart, except for their weapons that they dropped, teleported away in pops of yellow flashes.
"Wait, they're gone now?" Loki blinked.
"Falling from the sky, and now the sudden teleportation? Sheesh, these guys know how to get around…" Cana looked around.
"Wait, who's that up there?" Lucy pointed up at a pair of stone arches.
Turning to where she pointed, everyone bored their eyes to the sight of Caprico as the goat-being took off his jetpack and tossed it aside. He seemed to be fairly disappointed in his allies as he sighed.
"After all of those waves of troops, and still they cannot beat you… What a waste of time. I shall dispose of you all meh self." Caprico threatened.
"A… A goat?" Lucy cocked her head.
"I…think it's a goat." Cana was unsure as well.
Loki seemed to reacting with a stern look in turn, which Gray caught notice of as he glanced at his partner. "Hmm? What's up with you?"
"Oh, I… Well, it seems that he's different from all the grunts that we were fighting before." Loki brushed his concern off. "Anyways, it's time for round two. Get ready!"
"Hmph…" Caprico huffed as he leaped down in front of them. "Come."
"This guy… I'm sensing some disturbing Magic radiating from his body." Gray took note. "Who is he?"
"…I am Caprico, and I am one of Grimoire Heart's Seven Kin of Purgatory." Caprico introduced himself as his magic began to bulge out in waves.
"One of the Seven…? There's six other guys like you then?" Lucy sweat dropped in concern.
"It doesn't matter! Wreck him!" Gray hustled forward. "Ice Make…"
"Foolish." Caprico dashed at the ice mage as he finished his casting.
"Ice Bazooka!" Crafting his launcher of ice, Gray then tried to blast the humanoid goat with several projectiles. However, they all seemed to miss right to the single millimeters as Caprico merely ran pass them without any effort. "What?!"
"I told you so. You cannot hit MEH!" Caprico exclaimed as he kicked Gray in the stomach, sending him crashing back towards Lucy.
"Gray!" The blonde cried out as she caught him. "He's fast!"
"He kicks…like a donkey…!" The ice mage groaned in pain as he clenched his lower torso.
"How about this then…?" Loki said as he clamped his arms forward. As his fists glowed, they quickly brightened as they released a beam of light. "Regulus Howl!"
"…Regulus?" Caprico's expression changed for a second. As it forwarded itself in his direction, as compared to dodging Gray's attack, the goat man actually took a leap upwards with full intent on avoiding the attack.
'…He actually tried to dodge that.' Loki took note. 'Then I must be right. That magic, and that form…'
"You bore me!" Caprico quickly dived forward while Loki was still busy casting his magic. Before he could cancel his attack, Caprico landed on his head, flipped backwards, and then swiftly kicked Loki off to the side with a roundhouse kick.
"The face?! Come on!" The spirit growled as he was launched a few meters back.
"Grr… He's just toying with us." Cana said as she took some cards out. "Lucy, back me up for this?"
"On it!" The blonde nodded as she took out one of the Zodiac keys. "Ready?"
"Wait, Lucy don't—"
Drawing three cards that read out "Lightning", "Reverse Tower" and "Lovers", Cana swiped them out in front of Lucy as she began to utilize her magic. As she swiped her key, a magic circle was summoned to release Scorpio onto the battlefield.
"We are! Hey there, Master!" Scorpion gestured. He then noticed Loki on the ground as he grinned. "Oh! And you too, Leader!"
"N-Now's not the best time for casual gestures, Scorpio…" The lion spirit sighed. "Mind concentrating on the battle at hand?"
"Right! Scorpio, concentrate your magic to coordinate with Cana's, please!" Lucy then commanded.
"I gotcha." The tanned spirit nodded as he looked down at Cana's cards as they started to merge and glow. "Ah… Lightning Magic, huh?"
"Right. You cool with that?" Cana asked.
"No problems!" Scorpio grinned as he then looked at his opponent, only to narrow his eyes a little. "…Wait, don't I… Nah, it couldn't be…"
Ignoring his assumption, Scorpio proceeded to go down on his four limbs, in a stance which is reminiscent of a real scorpion's, and then pointed his scorpion-like stinger at Caprico. A large amount of sand was subsequently fired from it in the form of a powerful sand tornado as Cana's cards activated, swirling the sand attack in a vortex of electricity.
"Sand Shocker Upsilon!" Sending the devastating attack at Caprico, instead of trying to dodge like Loki predicted he would, this time instead he had no problem sweeping away from it without a care in the world again.
Dodging to the side, both Cana and Scorpio were visually annoyed by the way he just avoided their Unison Raid, and all the while Loki continued to make his observations as his guildmates began to get assaulted by the goat man.
'He couldn't just wisp out of my attacks, yet when Scorpio and Cana attacked together… What the hell's going on? What kind of magic are you using… Capricorn?!'
…
*BOOOOM!*
"Come on, ya jackasses!"
Back on the cliffside, Natsu finally arrived and regrouped with the Exceeds, who were wide and awake. Mest however, was nowhere to be seen as Grimoire Heart members deployed themselves around the Dragon Slayer.
"Natsu—Behind you!" Happy called out as he rammed his head into the back of a Grimoire trying to stab the pink haired teen in the back.
"Ow! What the, a cat? What's a cat doing—GWAAA!" As he instinctively retorted to Happy hitting him, it gave Natsu enough time to turn around and sock him right in the mask, cracking it as he swiveled down onto the floor.
"You guys think you could go nuts in someone's backyard?!" The Dragon Slayer roared. "You assholes!"
"There's so many of them though. What're they after here on the island?" Happy wondered.
"WHO THE HELL CARES! LET'S BUST 'EM UP! ALL OF THOSE GRIMEY WARTS!" Natsu blurted out.
"It… It's actually Grimoire Heart…" Lily tried to retort.
"Lily, don't bother trying to tsukkomi through everything that fire head says. That's Ben's job to do." Carla sighed as she told Lily to quit it.
"SMASH!" Natsu growled as he surrounded his fists with magic power. Whacking away at the Grimoire Heart members like flies, Happy would gather more of them around by taunting them, flying around with Aera to give Natsu another target to smack down.
"So, we're just waiting here?" Lily asked Carla.
"There's nothing we can do. We have to wait for our magic to recharge." The white Exceed explained.
"That's right!" Happy flew by. "That's why you gotta hide. Just leave it to Natsu and me!"
"I understand." Carla reluctantly agreed, looking away in embarrassment. "I…hate to say this, but I'm counting on you, Happy."
"Very well…" Lily sat down. "We'd hold everyone else back as we are now."
"See? Just eat a fish and sit down! This'll be a piece of steak!" Happy nodded.
"Steak? I think steak can be pretty tough, you know?" Lily once again retorted as he glanced at Carla, looking for confirmation. "Isn't it?"
"D-Don't encourage him please…" Carla pleaded. 'And isn't it supposed to be a piece of cake instead of steak? What a meat headed male…'
"COME ON! I STILL GOT TWO FISTS TO KICK ALL YOUR BUTTS!" Natsu galloped around in the background.
"YOU DON'T USE FISTS TO KICK, YOU PYROMANIC!" Now the cat couldn't help but retort against him. "Ugh… I've been hanging around Ben too much."
"Does it matter?!" Natsu growled as he kicked another member to the ground. "I'm still pissed because some guy turned by precious white scarf all black! I need to punch some more faces!"
"W-What? Why're you takin' it out on us then?!" One scared Grimoire Heart mage stuttered.
"What a cruel guy…" Another one sighed.
"Then let's turn this chump into charcoal then?!" One member announced as he leaped behind Natsu. He extended a palm towards his face as a red magic circle appeared. "Fire Bullet!"
Releasing a large stream of fire straight at Natsu, the Dragon Slayer instantly went from ape shit mad to a shit eating grin as he turned towards it, welcoming it in full glory.
"Oh?! I've been waiting for one of you dumbasses to use a spell like this!" He said as the spell collided into him.
A large explosion occurred as the Fire Bullet smashed into Natsu, making the Grimoire Heart mages believe that he was burnt to a crisp. They even started to cheer and dance around as the mage that casted the spell nodded and began to boast.
"You did it, man!"
"Eat that, jerk face!"
"Ha! Did you know? Fire Bullet is hot enough to melt even stone! It doesn't even matter if you're a fire wizard as well! One smack from this spell and you're—"
"Hmm… Tastes like fish. Rock fish to be exact, huh." Natsu interrupted his gallant speech as he began to casually drink the fire like he was slurping it through a straw. The caster and everyone else slowly turned their heads in his direction as he finished devouring the fire.
"W-Wha?!" The fire mage gasped.
"He's eating the fire?!"
"I can't believe I'm seeing this type of phenomenon! What is he?!"
"Wait, eating fire?! D-Don't tell me he's that rumored…?!" One member then began to recognize this signature aspect of a Dragon Slayer as he nearly fell to his knees.
"Gahehh… HA! Now that I've eaten my share of flames… I'M ALL FIRED UP!" Natsu grinned as he gulped the last of the Fire Bullet. "Thanks for the snack."
"Aw crapbaskets… It's him…" Another member began to realize as well. "The Fire Dragon Slayer… Salamander Natsu!"
"Go, Natsu!" Happy cheered as Natsu rushed forward.
"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" As he stopped in the middle of the crowd, Natsu spun around and released a wave of devasting flames from his arms, scattering the surround Dark mages in a flurry of destructiveness.
"W-What the hell are we gonna do?!" A member wailed as he stepped back in fear.
"Our magic power can't compete with a monster like him!" Another cried out. Natsu managed to catch that though as a vein twitched on his forehead.
"Now who're you callin' a monster…? You don't needuh monsta ta clobba you dair dumbasses!" Natsu grinned as he attempted to run at them.
"No! But maybe yours truly can shut that mouth of yours!"
"Who?" Carla and Lily looked up to a steep looking piece of the island where Natsu was about to smash the remaining Grimoire mages. It was none other than a red eyed blond that appeared to goat the Dragon Slayer.
"Zancrow-sama!" One member cheered out.
Zancrow grinned as he looked down on his fellow members. "Stop what you're doing, you guys. You aren't a match for them. Go search for Zeref, I'll handle this chump all by myself, no problem!"
"Zeref?" Natsu questioned.
"I think I heard it before Wendy and Ben got blown away. Grimoire Heart seems to be after him." Carla notified everyone. "Things are really starting to get complicated now…"
As Zancrow kept an eye on Natsu, the Grimoire Heart mages rejoiced as they began to walk off deeper into the island.
"With Zancrow-sama here, we won't have anything to worry about…"
"Thanks a bunch, sir!"
"That guy's gonna be a crisp once he's finished with him!"
"Even the Salamander's no challenge for our Zancrow-sama!"
"That's right!" Zancrow laughed as he stared down at Natsu. "Grimoire Heart's the strongest there is!"
"Come on then, blondie!" Natsu taunted. "I'll prove I'm stronger!"
"Oh? Like a two-bit, weak little guild can lecture me on strength?!" The blond grinned as a black magic circle appeared underneath him, dousing his body in black flames.
"B-Black fire?" Lily blinked.
"Come and take this then!" Zancrow grinned as another circle spawned in front of him. "The power of a puny Dragon Hunter ain't a match for what I can do!"
Punching the circle, it then released a large torrent of black flames. As one would expect, Natsu merely scoffed as he stood still… But Carla thought otherwise as they came closer to ground zero.
"Natsu! Get out of there! I don't think those flames are normal!" She called out.
"Fire's fire! Fire's yummy in my tummy, ya see?" Natsu ignored her. Zancrow cackled in response though.
"Oh? Then let's see how you can deal with fire when it's a God'sfire!" He challenged as his flames poured onto Natsu.
"Ha! Fire ain't got nothin' on…me? Keek… Gaaah! What's g-going on?! I can't eat these flames!" The pink head gasped as he began to choke on these darkly colored flames.
"Burn more, why don'tcha?!" Zancrow suggested as he gathered fire into a large sphere. "Take this!"
"Fire God's Explosive Flame!" Punching the ball of fire at Natsu, as it gathered onto the burning flames that were already surrounding the Dragon Slayer, Zancrow snapped his fingers, prompting the sphere of flames to explode.
"EERRUUGH…!" Skidding back as the two fire attacks canceled each other's flames out, Natsu could be seen still trying to cough out the choking essences of the flames that Zancrow released.
As the blond jumped down to face Natsu face to face, the Dragon Slayer growled at him like an angry dog. "You bastard…"
"So what were you trying to do? You gonna try and eat the flames of a God, which are superior and more powerful than a Dragon's?" He taunted. "That's blasphemy!"
"Curr… Flames of a God? What'cha mean, pal?!" Natsu barked.
"Heh… It's different from your inferior magic. I'm no ordinary Slayer type of mage… You're talking to a God Slayer, scrub!"
…
Now… The real Ben, not the one currently in conflict with Meredy, nor the one who used his energy as Clockwork to protect himself and Natsu from Zeref's attack… He was in another location, that being the grave of the first Master of Fairy Tail, Mavis Vermillion.
The grave could be found through a gallery branching off from the cave containing Gallery E, in a small clearing surrounded by thick vegetation. This was a large and yet sober structure composed of light stone, with a series of three rectangular steps, flanked by four small pillars with square sections; one sitting at each edge, being topped by a pair of vertically-placed, flat carved stones, with small geometrical parts jutting upwards on each summit, on the side nearest to the other stone, and a circular hole being generated by two carved semicircles present on each stone's inner side. Vegetation had grown throughout the structure due to its age, with small plants and moss covering it here and there. Sitting at the grave's sides are two simple, short rectangular stones, similarly covered in vegetation, and leading to it was a pathway consisting of several small, flat stones placed one near the other without an accurate order. In front of the structure, to the pathway's right, is the section of a short metal fence, with the top edges of its poles shaped like rough Fleur-de-lis.
In short… It was a very spiritual and sacred location. Even Ben, who didn't really use Magic himself, could tell that this place was one of the points that made Tenrou Island "divine".
However, the point was that he was still there though, and not out trying to repel Grimoire Heart's invasion.
"Haaa… I don't understand why Master would have me stay here of all places." Ben sighed in boredom as he sat in front of the grave. "He wanted me to protect this grave? To be honest, I wouldn't see the point."
"Now why would you say that for?"
"Oh, welcome back, lady voice." Ben glanced up. "Is Wendy faring alright? How about the other me's?"
"Well… One of you disappeared after he saved your pink haired friend from a…wave of death. The other you is currently with your beloved and fighting off a girl that also seems to be interested in you."
"Wow, that's… Huh. Wasn't expecting those kinds of results. A death wave and a…girl attacking me." Ben blinked.
"Can't you just make more copies of yourself? Using that…er… What was thing you called your wrist again?"
"Omnitrix. It's called an Omnitrix." Ben reminded this voice talking to him. "And I have to turn into a specific form to duplicate myself. I can't do it over and over, otherwise it'll drain the time I have to use the Omnitrix."
"Fooey… Well, it would be cool if you could. Your friends are all fighting some unique individuals calling themselves the Seven Kin of Purgatory. It's a surprise really; they're all using some form of Lost Magic."
"Lost Magic? Now that's interesting. What kind are we specifying about?" Ben Prime then asked.
"Oh you know, the usual kinds. God Slayer Magic, Great Tree of Arc, Arc of Embodiment, Arc of Time, Maguilty Sense, Possession and Subordination Magic, the likes."
"Okay… That sounded very important, yet you said something like that like it was a daily occurrence." Ben rose an eyebrow. "God Slayer… That's probably like Dragon Slayer Magic. The others are unfamiliar."
"That would make sense. After all, they're Lost Magic. Lost Magic is just how it's said; lost to time unless one can obtain it, and that's a rare occurrence in itself."
"Uuuugh… That makes me want to go out even more. By the way… I've been meaning to ask this. I can hear you, but I can't see you, mysterious lady voice. What's that all about?" Ben decided to change the topic after getting a bit annoyed of not being able to move from his position.
"Well, typically… If you were a member of Fairy Tail, in which you are, those with the guild's insignia could see me. But I sense that you are different…"
"You guessed right. I'm…from another world after all." Ben slowly revealed. The voice stayed silent for a moment…only to squeal.
"Wait, really?! You mean you're like a Celestial Spirit? Wait no, your body seems to be human, just like the ones in Earthland… Strange. I bet I could unlock your magic circuits and allow Ethernano to flow into your body then."
"Wait, you could do that?" Ben stood up. "I could use magic then?"
"Well, technically yes. I've never seen an otherworldly human before, but I could try. From what I can tell from your body otherwise… I would put it into one word."
"And what would that be? Strange? Bad? Mysterious?" Ben tried to guess.
"Transformative. That's how I would describe it."
"Well… Transformations do tend to be related to me. Well, if you want to try it out, then I'll all for it." Ben gave permission.
"Then I shall proceed. Please stand in front of the grave, would you?"
Turning around, Ben carefully stepped up to the grave, nearly inches away from the main structure. As he stood still then, he felt a presence starting to come around him as he felt various parts of his body experiencing a sort of…tingly feeling. It was almost as if she was tickling him if he were to say so himself.
Yet… This felt oddly familiar. He felt this feeling before…
*Beep…* *Beep…*
"Huh?" Ben was pulled from his thoughts as the Omnitrix began to let out a repetitive sound. "Wait, Omnitrix? What's going…"
It was then that the brunette's memory flourished. Back when Loki was about to erode away as a result in staying in the Earthland for three years straight… That small talk he had with the Celestial Spirit King from back then…
'I feel that you are something else other than a human. Though you are mostly that of one, part of you seems to be something else. I cannot specify exactly, as I do not have any knowledge of this apparitional seeing...'
'Am I…not actually fully human then?' Ben thought to himself as the King's words echoed in his mind.
Before he could then discuss these contradicting ideas he was starting to think of, he then felt a tap on his forehead and then suddenly…something seemed to had been broken…
"…!" Ben's eyes suddenly widened as he fell to his knees, feeling a weird sensation starting to pour all over his body. He clenched his stomach, as if it were slowly being lit on fire…
"…Huh. I wonder if I—"
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"…Yipes."
The voice of the lady gulped a little as Ben began to wail around on the floor in agonizing pain. Whatever she did was certainly bringing something out of Ben as he continued to roll around on the floor while screaming out like a lunatic.
As the echoes of his screams continued, his body began to become engulfed in a green aura, just like how it was when he was interacting with the Celestial Spirit King and Lucy back then. This time however, instead of just feeling a "Spark" of this feeling, one could compare this to a thunderbolt or a overcharge of energy release.
"THIS…FEELING… SOMETHING'S COMING…OUT!" Ben gritted his teeth as the field of energy began to expand out in violent bursts. "GUUUUUUURAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
"This sensation… The whole island itself is reacting to this phenomenon… He's literally attracting all the surrounding Ethernano to himself…"
"Hey… Lady…! Back away from… Oh. Here it comes." The sensation was getting worse and worse, and he warned the voice to get away… But it was too late. As much as he could hold it in…he couldn't stop this feeling from roaring out.
The ground started to shake…lightning and sparks of energy rippled around as it continued to leak out of Ben's body. The Omnitrix was know beeping out of control as the "Y" began to flash multiple colors.
"Energy disturbance detected! Energy disturbance detected!"
It kept repeating those lines, but as Ben's sudden transformation began to finally take hold, the Omnitrix's dial glowed green as Ben was engulfed in the signature emerald green light… Only this time it was massively brighter than usual, and pretty much caused the surrounding environment, save the grave itself, to be blown away in a massive surge of wind.
As the energy illuminated brightly for a moment later, it finally broke apart like a shell of crystal. All of the Ethernano that was gathered inside the area around the grave had been transferred into Ben's body, making him look completely different as his figure was revealed.
As Ben slowly opened his eyes, the first thing he felt was…that everything seemed to be eye opening now, yet uncontrollable. If he were to move even a muscle, something would go out of control.
Looking forward at the grave, his eyes widened as a figure began to appear sitting on the main pedestal. His jaw dropped slightly as he looked at this figure, down at his body, and then back at this…girl.
In front of him seemed to be a young girl that had very long, wavy, pastel yellow-blonde hair that reached down to her feet with a small ahoge, which was accompanied by large green eyes with no pupils; peachy skin and a slight child-like build. Wearing a frilly, pink layered robe with a red ribbon tied in a bow around her neck, around the chest part were three blue diamond patterns with two blue triangles above. Each series of these were outlined in a hot pink. She also appeared to be wearing wing-like adornments around her ears, and was barefoot.
"…I feel different." Was all that Ben could say. "And… I probably shouldn't move."
"Well, that's natural, given your current state of being." The voice, finally revealed to have been belonging to this young girl, replied with an intrigued look. "You're body seems like it's literally a conduit for magic…no, Ethernano itself."
"But… Why is it that?" Ben asked, now interested, albeit a bit scared as well. "What am I?"
"Well… I'll tell you this. Right now… Your body is currently half physical, as well as…half ethereal. Essentially, your human side is conflicting with your energy being side." She revealed, before extending a hand out. "Take a look for yourself."
With a flick of her wrist, a magic circle appeared above her palm to summon a mirror. Placing it in front of Ben's face, the Omnitrix wielder nearly fell over from what he saw.
His skin had turned a bit translucent, like his internal structure was consisted of energy, a deep-dark green color variant in itself. His hair turned into a bright green glowing coloration as well, and his eyes turned green with no pupils, just like how his Omnitrix transformations worked. Speaking of the latter, he was now wearing a black bodysuit, over which he wore a short black coat. The Omnitrix was placed on his chest, glowing a myriad of colors, before settling to its default green.
"…Omnitrix. What. Am. I?" Ben asked the device. It seemed to comply with his request as it lit up slowly.
"…Scans indicated traces of analogous substance in correlation to that of DNA samples. Traces indicate subsequent connections to the Anodite race that were forced to amalgamate with that of host gene structures."
"So…essentially, I'm a hybrid between human DNA and Anodite DNA? Where'd I get the Anodite DNA from then…?" Ben asked himself.
"Soooo… You mind telling what you are then?" The young girl rocked back and forth, waiting for Ben to calm down. "Because this is driving my curiosity to new levels!"
'Mom and Dad… No, what I am thinking… There's no way they could have alien ancestry. Then who would… Wait, what about…' Ben thought to himself. The girl pouted as she watched him walk back and forth.
"…Grandpa. That's it!"His eyes then widened in realization. "Whoever was Grandpa's wife…must've been an Anodite. So that's what the Celestial Spirit King was talking about…"
"Oh come on, explain! The suspense is killing me!" The girl whined.
Ben then slowly turned to her, with a sudden realization as he blinked.
"I'm a quarter alien!"He chuckled. "Thanks for letting me realize that, you…um…huh. You know, I've never asked for your name. Who are you?"
"Well it's about time…" The girl rolled her eyes, but nevertheless smiled as she hopped off the grave and landed in front him. "Try to guess."
"Er… You were previously unable to be seen by me prior to unlocking my Anodite heritage…yet you said those with the guild insignia could see you. Wait…the guild mark is essentially a magic marker." Ben started to theorize.
"Getting warmer." The girl smiled.
"…Are… Are you a Thought Projection perhaps? You felt real though when you touched me at first? Who…are you then?" Ben now asked, requesting an answer as his tracks went to a deadend.
The girl simply giggled however as she leaned against the grave, patting it a few times while dusting off some moss. "Well, this is supposed to be my grave, isn't it?"
"Wait… What?" Ben's eyes stared at her as the girl's words echoed in his ears. "That's…supposed to be your grave? Y-You… That means you're—"
"You have your answer, young one!" The girl then grinned as she placed a hand on the Omnitrix dial. The tap caused him Ben to flash back to his human form, and even then, his jaw was dropped to levels that even Natsu and Gray would be jealous of if they saw him.
"But… Wait, you… That wouldn't make any—"
"Allow me to introduce myself, my child." The girl then bowed, lifting her dress in accord. "You may call me a phantom, the echo of a passed era…"
"I am Mavis Vermillion, the first Master of the Fairy Tail guild! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
So, what'd ya think?
So, regarding the scenarios for the upcoming chapters, I've been thinking about roughly these lines. Help me with this if these don't make any sense, would ya?
1. Regarding the first initial fights for the Seven Kin vs. Fairy Tail, we can pretty much see how that works out. We have Natsu vs. Zancrow, Evergreen and Elfman vs. Rustyrose, Loki, Lucy, Cana, and Gray vs. Caprico, Ben and Wendy vs. Meredy, so on and so on. Most of these fights will go on as they do in canon, but what are your thoughts? Perhaps due to Lisanna learning some newer Take-Overs, she might stand for a challenge against Azuma? Or perhaps something else?
2. Mavis and Fairy Sphere… A difficult decision, yes. As you all know, I plan to end the Arc with a final confrontation between Ben and Acnologia, Dragon vs. Dragon. Now obviously since this is Ben's first transformation, and given the lore how Dragon Slayer Magic, and those who are not naturally Dragons have difficulty keeping their rationality in check, Acnologia's vast battle experience plus that will guarantee victory against Ognilogia, of course not without Ben getting a few good hits in.
To travel to the Celestial Spirit World, where 28 days would be 7 years worth of time; or being transported into the Omnitrix and having the environment serving like the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, there's a lot of ways the ending can play out for the time skip. Naturally of course, I want Ben and Wendy to stay their age…but it does make me wonder if Meredy should stay young as well. Perhaps Ultear and here can be trapped in Fairy Sphere as a result…hmm.
3. Regarding the Grand Magic Games once again, the idea that Sean Bruce got for getting a short stick and being forced to join a guild can serve as a funny event. It also brings a lot of opportunities for Ben and Wendy's relationship to get a little more…intimate (Insert Lenny Face) perhaps. Sherria… I might make her a girl that likes younger guys…not exactly shotacon, is it? I mean, she's only 15 as well.
Soooo… Lemme know what you guys think? Give me some more ideas, since I've freshly written a chapter, your thoughts will be better engrained in my memory for future writing. So, with that all said and done, I'll see you all later! I hope you all enjoyed this! I made this an…introduction to a series of battles, so look forward for more fighting and introductions in the next chapter. Please R&R, and have a good rest of your day!
