Hellooooooo…! Happy New Year's Eve!
Been quite a sticky kick that I've been in, with the holidays coming around, moving around in places with no internet, and a whole bunch of other stuff that you guys probably have no care for listening to!
So, onto the actual story!
Welcome back to the Null Fairy! The fifth part of the Tenrou Island Arc! Let's get to catching up with the news and reviews, shall we?
1. Yes. I do plan on making the fight between Lisanna and Mirajane against Azuma a bit more interesting. I can't have one of my favorite characters going down so easily when I've given a whole new category of Take-Overs! Speaking of which, there's gonna be some new forms for her in the upcoming chapters, so stay tune for costumed versions of the aliens!
2. I'm still considering having Meredy and Ultear sticking with the Tenrou Island group while the Fairy Sphere spell goes on. If you recall in canon, it was due to them being outside the radius of Mavis' magic that allowed them to eventually create Crime Sorcière, as well as their assistance in the battle against the Dragons in the GMG Arc and the war against the Alvarez Empire. What do you all think?
3. I generally don't mind about harems… But I really see too many of them in all kinds of media, and it really doesn't play well in regard that the supposed love triangle is between children. I'd say that I want to keep the relation to that of Ben and Wendy, as that was the main plan I had when I was originally making this story as a whole.
HOWEVER… IF IT THE NEED TO MAKE SUCH A THING REALLY IS REALLY THAT OF A GOOD THING THAT YOU GUYS WANT TO READ… I may consider making some… "AU's" of the Null Fairy. With…yes, a harem. Probably with Ben, Wendy, Sherria, and Meredy after the actual Arc comes into play. You guys… Holy Mavis.
4. Regarding the fight with Ben and Acnologia, a suggestion from Sb2282490 did recommend that it would go similarly to that of the Igneel and Acnologia battle. However, seeing as though Ben has access to a full-powered Dragon form as compared to the weakened Igneel, I'd say that the fight will be slightly fairer… With Acnologia winning of course.
5. Ah… I feel silly when I type in the wrong names for characters. Purehito is obviously Precht, but I just follow the subtitles placed within the anime itself, so I kind of typed the names as they were. Worry not, I'll fix them. Actually, I've been thinking of fixing up all of the previous chapters for this story. Adding a little more to them (some of them are only four thousand words, good gosh), adjusting them to the current formatting that I'm currently using, the latter and stuff. It'll probably take a while… And it'll be cringing to read the stuff I've wrote down before, but it shall happen!
Also, regarding stories that take inspiration from my own. I really don't mind, as long as you don't take my ideas for yourselves, or the typical stuff that you guys shouldn't do, someone should explain to me the rights I have probably... I've already seen some attempts on using my various Bens in crossovers, and they're alright. Just make sure to credit me for stuff I suppose.
6. And yes. Regarding on how the seven years will play out for the group, it's really a decision to placing them within the Celestial Spirit World, or in the Omnitrix itself. The CSW's time configuration can make for time skipping easy, and even the Omnitrix itself can be tweaked with a careful bit of writing. Wait… What if I transported them into the Omnitrix, but the device is in the Celestial Spirit World? Huh… That's an interesting thought. They can explore the vast amount of alien planets, yet still be unaware of the time effect...
7. An Akame ga Kill story… I REALLY WANT TO. Though the question is… What kind of Ben should I make it? Will he have the Master Control? How will the killing of people affect him? Will he be with the Revolutionary Army, or the Empire? So many things to think about… But can I even do so?
Anyhow, enough said and done, get to reading, everyone! 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! Thanks for waiting, as well as nearly 1,700 reviews, over 700 Follows and Favorites, and nearly 400,000 views!
Chapter 52: Tenrou Showdown (Tenrou Island 5)
…
"…What was that?" Loki looked around his shoulder. "It felt like a wave of magic just blew up all of a sudden!"
"I don't know… But it kind of felt familiar." Lucy said. "Strange…"
"…CAN WE FOCUS ON THE ENEMY IN FRONT OF US?!" Cana barked as she drew out some cards. "We've still got this goat guy to beat!"
"What she said!" Gray growled as Caprico dodged another one of his ice attacks. "Damn it all! Why can't I hit him?!"
"You are too weak to fight meh!" Said Kin responded as he kicked him in the chest.
The surge of energy that resulted from the transformation from Ben was felt throughout the entire island. While it wasn't exactly identifiable by most standards, most of the people on Tenrou Island could feel an anomaly of Ethernano being drained and spread around the perimeter of the area for a short spurt of time.
Even on the edge of the island, Natsu felt that wave for a little bit as his fight with Zancrow started. Speaking of which…
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu growled as he aimed a flamed fist at Zancrow, though the latter dodged it with swift timing.
The two were in the middle of a fist fight; an exchange of flame enhanced punches and kicks between the two of them as the Exceed trio watched over from the sidelines. Natsu's blows weren't connecting however, while Zancrow's were.
After dodging a spin kick from the pink head, Zancrow grinned as he lowered his body, and then rose up to deliver a solid Fire God enhanced fist to Natsu's face, blasting him into the air.
"You're wide open, Dragon! You move around too much!" He cackled as Natsu landed a few meters back. "Is that really all the power you need to hunt Dragons? Give me a serious fight!"
"Pssh…! You're a real pest, aren't ya? Well, at least you've finally got my body all warmed up compared to those other guild members of yours!" Natsu gave a snarky grin in response as he wiped off from smut from his cheek. "Fine, let's go!"
"Natsu…" Carla looked over.
"Don't you worry… This isn't a problem for Natsu. After all, he hates to lose!" Happy reassured her.
"But his attacks aren't doing squat to him. Who is that person?" She asked however.
"He said that he was a God Slayer, if I recall…" Lily answered. "Are there individuals like these all around Earthland?"
"Oh, kitty cat!" Zancrow glanced over. "I'll answer that for ya!"
"Oh please…" Natsu grumbled with a pissed grin.
"I'm one of Grimoire Heart's Seven Kin of Purgatory! Call me Zancrow; I'm the Flame God Slayer!" He properly introduced himself.
"Then you can call me one of Fairy Tail's Dragons! They call me Natsu; the Fire Dragon Slayer!" The pink head said in return.
"Kek! I knew that already! Your reckless endeavors are infamous even in the Balaam Alliance!" Zancrow chuckled, which made Natsu flinch.
"Wha…?! Reckless?" He uttered in comical surprise.
Lily however was unfamiliar with the term. "The Balaam Alliance? What is that?"
"Aye! They're a circle composed of some of the most powerful Dark Guilds." Happy answered first.
"It's led by the top three of them: Oración Seis, Tartaros, and the one we're currently facing; Grimoire Heart." Carla answered lastly.
"Yep. Natsu and the rest of the allied Guilds took part in a successful mission to take down Oración Seis, but it's kind of hard to believe that the seeming strongest one of the three suddenly approached here on the island…" Happy further went on.
"Oh… I see." Lily nodded.
"Tell me about it. Destroying Lullaby, intercepting the resurrection of Deliora…and even scraping the R-System and Nirvana. Jellal. Master Zero, right? Well, ya beat those nobodies and you think you're suddenly some hot stuff, eh?" Zancrow taunted. "Ooooh boy…"
"Oh, whatcha want to say about that…?" Natsu clenched a fist.
"The widdle widdle Dwagon Swayer gots a big ol' head!" Zancrow said in a mocking tone. "Ever heard of…overconfidence, my good man?"
"…Ha. This son of a bitch…!" Natsu chuckled darkly as he cracked his knuckles. "God Slayer my ass!"
"Oh?" The blond smiled as Natsu dashed at him with flamed fists.
"So, were you taught by a God then?!" He growled.
Exchanging another flurry of punches, the two then flew off from one another after exchanging a pair of roundhouse kicks.
"Well… If you were to call Master Hades a God, then I suppose you could say that! I did receive this Lost Magic from one!" Zancrow answered with a shrug.
"Eeeeh? Then all that happened is that you got that Magic from a human then, buddy." Natsu rose an eyebrow, radiating his magic in the form of flames a second later. "While I on the other hand was actually taught by a real Dragon! Dragon Slayer Magic!"
"Speaking of which…! Dragons? Ya means those things? The ones that fly and have little spiky things all around them? Kinda like this thing's cousin?" Zancrow asked humorously as he spotted and picked up a juvenile Rollidillo.
"Igneel ain't a gecko, ya dumbass!" Natsu retorted as he jumped up.
Aiming for an axe kick, Zancrow quickly responded by lighting his body in flames, repelling him back in response. Natsu quickly recovers however as he lands on his hands and back flips behind him with the others in his line of fire.
"Oi, you guys! Back away from here!" Natsu ordered as he began to charge his flames.
Zancrow gave him a look of intrigue as he took a stance and began to charge his own flames in his palms. "Oooh! Alright then, bring it! Show me your finishing move!"
"A-Aye! Let's move!" Happy encouraged everyone to move.
Transferring the flames around his body into his hands, Natsu conformed his magic into his palms. "I got flames in my right hand, and flames in my left…!"
"If you burn down the west, and burn down the east…!" Zancrow chanted.
"When you combine the flames together…"
"When the burning collisions come as one…"
"Fire Dragon's…!"
"Fire God's…!"
"RUN!" Happy yelled as he activated his Aero and began to carry Lily and Carla.
"Brilliant Flame!"
"Kagutsuchi!"
With the completion of their chants, both Natsu and Zancrow released devastating spheres of flame at each other, and in a split second, the two spells began to collide against one another. The heat generated between those two fire spells blew even towards the cats as they hovered meters away.
"S-Such incredible heat!" Lily couldn't help but stutter.
"The power of a Dragon and God are colliding against each other…" Carla commentated.
"Hnnnrghh…!" Natsu grunted.
"Kehehehe…!" Zancrow seemed to be putting some effort as well, but it looked like he had begun to take the fight as his magic began to push against Natsu's.
Skidding back ever so slightly, Natsu gritted his teeth as he struggled to push back against Zancrow's Kagutsuchi, but eventually the power between the two were too great, and the blond exerted one final spurt of magic that blew apart the Brilliant Flame and Natsu together.
"Oh no!" Happy cringed.
"Natsu-dono!" Lily yelled in worry.
"He got pushed back?!" Carla exclaimed in shock.
"Hey!" Zancrow grinned as he turned to them. "You kitties are making quite the racket!"
"Ah, crapbaskets!" Happy cursed as the blond casted a blast of flames towards them. "We're going down!"
Taking the blast fully, the trio yelped as they landed back down on the island. Zancrow chuckles as Natsu begins to get up from their previous clash. "Ha! Too weak, I tell ya!"
'Shoot…! It's incredible that he can withstand the power of a Dragon Slayer wizard the same as Gajeel… Is this the power of Lost Magic?' Lily wondered.
"You little crapper…!" Natsu growled as he got up, breathing in for his next attack. "How about this?!"
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" As he released his Roar, Zancrow however simply stood in the way, just like Ben did when the two fought against one another.
"…Hey, did you know? It was the Gods who gave man intelligence, who gave man fire. It wasn't people or Dragons that gave birth to fire…"
"It was the Gods!" He muttered as he let the attack hit him full blast.
A giant explosion followed upon the Roar's descent to Zancrow… Or so it seemed. Just like Natsu, Zancrow himself began to slurp up the flames of Natsu's Roar like an evening snack.
"What?! Oh, bullshit man!" Natsu swore. "Tell me this ain't happening…!"
"…*Burp*!" Zancrow gave a sigh of joy as he licked his lips. "'Cuse me."
"…My word." Carla blinked. "He ate Natsu's flames!"
"Woah! Your flames tasted quite good!" Zancrow smiled as he patted his belly. "Those rampaging flames that consume everything in their path… But even if they have the power to kill a Dragon, it ain't gonna do squat to kill a God!"
As he stretched, Zancrow then gave out a dark chuckle as a black magic circle appeared in front of his face…a very familiar sense of attack was coming into Natsu's mind immediately as he did so.
"Now then… Let me show the power of Grimoire Heart's magic!" Zancrow proposed as he began to mimic Natsu's previous actions.
"…Uh-oh." Natsu uttered, taking a step back.
"Fire God's… Bellow!"
Blasting out an absolutely massive fireball of flames, it completely demolished the cliff side the four were on within mere moments of exploding in front of their faces.
The explosion resulting the attack managed to blast Natsu off the cliff, sending him flying down into the forestry underneath. As the cats and Dragon Slayer fell into the greenery, Zancrow grinbed as he overlooked the end result of his work.
"Ha! Nothing like taking a good blast of fire out! Got rid of a pesky lizard as well, so that's a bonus!" He laughed. "But…time to go clean the mess I made… Pretty sure he isn't dead just yet."
…
"…I'm sensing something around here…" Mira alerted Lisanna as the two finished off their share of lower Grimoire Heart members. "…Come on out!"
"…And once again, I've been found." A familiar voice sighed as he exited from a nearby tree, revealing it to be none other than Azuma. "And it looks like I drew the short straw again in this situation."
"Short straw?" Mira glared at him as she and Lisanna took a fighting stance.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lisanna asked.
"Hmm… I suppose I should recall my previous experience… I believe it was "first it was cats and children". And now… I'm facing women." Azuma explained. "I had hoped to fight some tougher opponents…"
"Cats and children…? Wait, those are…" Mira's eyes widened.
"Wendy and Happy!" Lisanna also realized.
"Oh. Perhaps it would be better had I not said anything, since you two will also be defeated here, by me." Azuma declared as he aimed a palm at the sisters.
Sending off a Bleve, before the spell could ignite, the Strauss siblings leaped back before they could get caught. Lisanna sweats a little as she observes the destruction caused by Azuma's attack.
"That's a lot of power coming his magic…" She noted.
"Lisanna, are you okay?" Mira asked.
"Yeah! Same, Mira-nee?" The other sister yelled back.
"We better watch out. This man is a powerful opponent." Mira warned.
"I know. That's why I won't hold back!" Lisanna promised as she leaped into the air. "Partial Take-Over: Harpy!"
Morphing her arms and lower legs into avian-like parts, Lisanna dived down towards Azuma with her claws out. However, it proved to be useless as the latter stopped her motion by catching one of her toes with just a hand, though the use of Take Over magic interested Azuma a bit.
"Oh? Take-Over? So, you can use some interesting Magic." Azuma admitted.
"That's not all though!" Lisanna smirked as her entire body began to shine and grow in size. "Take-Over: Penguin!"
Expanding into a giant penguin in an instant, the difference in mass forced Azuma back, which surprised Mira greatly as she watched the Kin jump back in retaliation.
'Lisanna can chain her Take Overs in an instant now? Since when could she do such high-level techniques?' She wondered.
"Bleve!" Quickly recovering, Azuma swiped his fingers around the transformed Lisanna, who began to shine again as the spell exploded.
"Take-Over: Rabbit!" Bouncing high into the air as a giant purple rabbit to avoid the blasts, Lisanna then glowed once more. "Take-Over: Werecat!"
Lisanna quickly dived down at Azuma as a Werecat. In this form, she was mostly humanoid, with her white hair growing down to her shoulders and some amount of striped skin concentrated around her forearms and feline-like pads on the surface of their palms and sharp claws at her finger tips. Wearing a dark blue jumpsuit, she also sported feline ears, nose, whiskers, a blue choker, and a long tail.
Clawing at him right as she landed, Azuma's eyes tracked left and right as he began to dodge Lisanna's barrage of swipes.
"…Up. Up. Down. Down. Left. Right. Left. Right. Base. Arm. Side…" He whispered the attack patterns at spots that Lisanna tried to aim for as he dodged. "Aaaaand… Bleve."
Mira watched with horror as the tanned man blasted back Lisanna with a well-timed Bleve to the face after moving out of the way from her last swipe. She heard her sister utter a feline-like scowl as she flew back, however she didn't appear to had suffer much damage as she landed on her hands and back flipped back to her.
"Tsk… Pesky explosions." The transformed Lisanna hissed.
"Lisanna, wait—"
"—Mira-nee! Stand behind me!" Before Mira could first finish her sentence, the younger Strauss swiped a paw in front of her. "This one's tough!"
"So, your fighting capabilities are higher than I expected." Azuma admitted. "Hm… Then perhaps I shall now teach you the differences in the levels between you and I."
"What do you mean by th—"
"—GET DOWN!" Lisanna barked as she grabbed her by the waist.
Leaping back, Azuma casted an enormous Bleve, destroying the area in front of him by a couple of meters. Lisanna's instincts managed to save the duo even as the blast blew them back. Before they landed, the white-haired mage managed to bounce off a tree to reduce the momentum of Azuma's attack, rolling as she hit the floor to stop all motion afterwards.
"This guy…" She looked on.
"…Oh? I'll commend you for that. However, spirit and attitude alone do not make for a me a worthy opponent, I'll have you know." The explosive user said in response.
"Of course. Battles are fought at the risk of one's life, correct?" Lisanna smirked as she canceled out her Take-Over.
"Yes." Azuma returned the gesture. "Don't you think they should stir one's heart? The thrill of battle gleaming between two fighters?"
"I'd agree with that… But even with a seemingly difference in power, you have to understand that all we're doing right now is protecting the home that we'd like to return to." The white-haired teen answered as she stood up.
"Then I suppose that in turn is your faith, or belief perhaps… But I'm afraid that will only serve to—"
Before he could finish though, Azuma suddenly felt a rise in magic power and sensed a body behind him. Eyes widening slightly as he placed a protective guard on his right side, he cleanly guarded a sucker punch from Mira, who somehow managed to blast behind him in an instant.
"Mira-nee?!" Lisanna looked at her sister in surprise. "What was that?"
"Go, I'll keep him busy." Mira ordered. "You go and search for everyone else."
"What? No, I can't do that!" Her sister argued. "Not against this foe!"
While the two were bickering against one another, Azuma took the time to look at the older Strauss sibling in question. 'What was that just now? This woman, who've I barely sensed a thread of magic power from… For a moment, I felt an incredible amount of pressure from her.'
"Instead of that, let's fight together!" Lisanna then proposed. "If we combine our powers and attack together, we're sure to win!"
That made Mira smile. "Oh you… You're the same as you were back then."
"…Then I suppose there's no need for me to hold back anymore then?" Azuma asked. Mira merely growls a little as she begins to let her magic flow, which actually made Lisanna shiver a bit.
"Oh yes… You'll pay for underestimating the power of our Guild… Our family!" The elder Strauss answered as she began to crack her knuckles.
'…Huh, so the Mira-nee in Earthland is starting to come back to being her usual self?' Lisanna chuckled inwardly. '…I guess I have to thank the Ben from this world for that!'
…
"Ow!" Natsu's groans of increasing discomfort could be heard as he continued to collide into several of the large trees that he smashed and bounced off of. "Ooof!"
"Ugh… That piece of shit…" When he finally landed on solid ground a few seconds later, his entire body felt a little sore as he rubbed some of the bruises from his earlier encounter with Zancrow.
Looking around as he got up, he sighed a little as he began to wander around while lamenting. "Sheesh, that just happened. It's been a while since I've actually felt fire that was "hot", for crying out loud…"
It was then that he noticed his surroundings though.
"Wait, where in the heck am I?" He asked out loud. "And…*Sniff* What's this smell? It feels really—Wait…"
As he continued to sniff the air, he recognized this scent, and it only made his expression drop as he began to run towards the direction of it. Carrying his damaged body closer to where it originated from, after a minute or so, after coming out into what seemed to be the sight of a recent battle was Makarov. He was badly hurt and laid down in a small crater, wearing his Guild Master outfit as well.
"…Gramps? Gramps!" He yelled out as soon as he saw the old man, though he was devastated by how he looked. "H-Hey… No way…"
"Gramps, you alright?!" Running at him, he tripped right as he reached the laid down master of Fairy Tail, though all of his bantering seemed to had awoken the pained individual as his eyes began to twitch.
"Nat…su…?" He uttered in discomfort as he heard him get up close to him.
"G-Gramps! Damn, you're hurt pretty bad… Hold on, I'll take you to Wendy… But wait, maybe moving ya might be a little dangerous—AND WHERE IN THE FUCK AM I ANYWAYS?!"
"Natsu…" Makarov called out.
"Gramps, stay still! Who did this to you?" Natsu asked, but to no avail as the old man ignored his question.
"…Listen well." He said slowly as he opened his left eye.
"This is a battle… We will surely…lose."
"…?! W-What are you talkin' about, Gramps?! You ain't thinking straight!" Natsu barked around in a fit.
"…Who gave you those wounds of yours?" The old man asked as he observed the damage Natsu got from Zancrow.
"W-What, this? This ain't nothing! Next time, I'm totally gonna win!" The pink head answered irrationally, which only made Makarov sigh in return.
"Oh, for the love Mavis… Natsu, please. Take everyone, and get out of here!" He urged his beloved guild member.
After seeing the desperate look on his face again, Natsu's goofy exterior vanished, and his true look underneath began to show as he also sighed. Slapping his fist into the ground, Makarov could see his arm shaking.
"Don't… Don't say that. What about the S-Class Exam? You're Fairy Tail's Master, aren't you, Gramps? Don't say we can't win!" He growled.
"Sometimes… The only option… Is to retreat." Makarov slowly answered.
'R…Retreat…' Thinking of what happened prior to this, as he got flashbacks of the battle against Zancrow, Natsu's body began to twitch in fear; in fear of not only how badly he was beaten by a fellow Fire Magic user…but something else.
"I… I—"
"HELLOOOOOOOOOO!"
With the flash of black flames interrupting his words, Natsu and Makarov looked over to see a zip of black and yellow crash down to the ground in front of them, causing the floor to tremble slightly. With the clearing of dust and smoke, a familiar tone of laughing was heard from the center as Zancrow revealed himself.
"Y-You… Why you little…!" Natsu growled.
"Yo! Ah, Master Makarov! Got beat up by Master Hades?" He asked with a smirk.
"…Master Hades?" Natsu mumbled as he stood up.
"…Get away, Natsu. He's too much for you." Makarov warned.
Natsu glanced back at the old man, and then at Zancrow. The red eyes of his opponent triggered recent memories as he balled his fist, shaking eerily once again. "Well… E-Even if I'm no match…"
Makarov then noticed this little thing going on, which surprised him a little despite all the injuries paining his body. The pink head was even sweating a lot; his eyes contracted and showing the very emotion that Makarov never thought he'd ever see from the Dragon Slayer.
'Fear?! Natsu… He's actually afraid? Him, of all people?' He thought.
Zancrow seemed to notice his twitching as well. "Oh? What's wrong, Dragon Slayer? Your whole body's gone under a cold sweat!"
'Yeah… I know.' Natsu narrowed his eyes as he breathed in. 'But… It's like what Gildarts said.'
As discussed from before, out of the three S-Class mages that the applicants had to fight, Natsu unfortunately had to have the pleasure of duking it down with Gildarts: Fairy Tail's strongest member. Many people noticed that when he was amongst the crowd for the second round of the exam's gathering, he showed an unexpecting aspect. He was actually silent for the time being, as if he were taking in something that just happened to him and recalling it.
This very moment was when those thoughts came back to Natsu. Though many were shocked to find out that Natsu had somehow gotten pass Gildarts and managed to pass through; in truth, that actually didn't happen.
Natsu did fail to defeat Gildarts…yet he managed to pass, and with a very important lesson given to him by his idol.
'Fear is not evil… It in fact tells you what your weaknesses are.'
Looking at his shaking arms, Natsu began to feel the fear that was currently going through his body was not the same kind as he had during his encounter with Gildarts. No, this wasn't even close to that; it was completely different.
"So… This…is fear." He thought out loud.
"…Natsu." Makarov looked from below.
Zancrow however simply gave the pink head a look, before cackling as usual. "Haha! Yes, that's it! That's what you've got! You have fear running all over you!"
"When faced with an absolute power, people have no choice but to stop and cower in fear because of it!" He went on.
"Enough… Natsu, please, escape…!" Makarov begged.
Zancrow's cackling continued on as he watched Natsu's body continued to shake, but it wasn't long until it stopped. The Dragon Slayer simply growled then as he began to cover his body in flames, glaring at the blond in front of him with livid eyes.
"No… That's not the type of fear I was going about, pal." He argued back.
Clenching his fists, he breathed in. "Indeed. It's true that what I'm currently experiencing is fear. But the one that Gildarts told me about is completely different than what I'm feeling."
"…Huh?" Zancrow blinked.
"Gildarts…?" Makarov questioned. 'What does he have to do with this?'
"This shaking is me bein' afraid… That the guy who gave Gramps the wounds he has right now is someone other than me!" He explained.
"Alright, then what're trying to say?" The fire blond asked as he grinned again.
"Master Hades… I'll be the one to crush him. He will be defeated by these hands; MY hands! He thinks he'll get away scot free?! I'll never forgive that! I'll smash his ass into the floor!"
…
…
"Beat Master Hades?"
Zancrow's infamous grin turned into a frown immediately as he said that. The two Fire users bashed each other's foreheads as Zancrow himself began to douse himself in flames, his expression now becoming a stern look as the two glared off at one another.
"That's so funny that even I'm not laughing…" He growled.
"HRAAH!" Roaring, Natsu leaned back as he balled his fists together, landing a double axe handle on Zancrow's head, and quickly adding a hard left to send him skidding on his heels.
"I told ya, your attacks don't even hurt!" The blond cackles back.
As he plants his feet firmly back on the ground, Zancrow began to hear Natsu hopping through the trees while being doused in flames. As he zipped back and forth and flew above him, the Dragon Slayer growled loudly as he attempted to strike him with a flame enhanced roundhouse kick.
"Fire Dragon's Talons!" He yelled as Zancrow blocked the kick with a left arm covered in flames.
'Black flames?' Makarov observed. 'He's a Fire Magic user as well? I've never seen such a color…!'
Zancrow grins as he pushed him off, igniting his palm as he rocked his hand back. "Like I've said; there's a difference between the flames of a Dragon and the flames of a God!"
"Fire God's Fajin!" Placing his right arm back, a magic circle appeared in his right palm as he bashed it into Natsu's chest, blasting him backwards with an explosive push.
Hearing his wail of pain, Zancrow grinned as he began to cast his next attack. Swirling his arms in a circular motion, once his flames began to conduct themselves into a full circle, he brought them together into his palms, molding the flames into a giant scythe made of black fire.
"The flames of a God do not burn… They are wrath incarnate, destroying all before them!"
"Fire God's Scythe!"
Curving his hips as he gripped his weapon, he grinned savagely as he swung it in Natsu's direction, slicing apart the gigantic trees behind off their trunks in a wide while continuing his signature cackling.
'A fire scythe?! That's fucking cool! Wait, what am I doing complimenting this jerk for?!' Natsu groaned to himself.
As he was forced back again, Natsu noted the positioning of the cut-up trees behind him. As he landed on one, he briefly touched it, before using it as a jump pad to leap between them. As he then spotted one of the trunks that was nearly on top of Zancrow, he gritted his teeth as he lit his fist and gave it a good punch.
The flame enhanced punch was successful in propelling the already descending trunk down onto Zancrow, who hummed as it drew close. As it was about to land however, Zancrow grinned as he lit up his right arm and his feet. While Natsu thought the attack had done the blond in as he landed firmly on the log, Zancrow in fact began to dig through the tree, erupting out of it by using his flames to jet him out as he socked Natsu in the gut with an uppercut.
"Ho ho! How's that, Dragon?" He asked deviously as his attack made the Dragon Slayer hack a few strands of saliva out of his mouth.
Zancrow took a few seconds to land back on the floor, a few meters in front of Makarov in fact. While Natsu was still busying clenching his stomach, the blond saw this as an opportunity as his hands began to become engulfed in flames once more.
"And here's another fact! The flames of a God also like to devour the likes of wizards as well!" Zancrow notified as the fire on his hands expanded out into jaw-shaped figures.
Bringing his arms together, his flames acted as though they were a mouth; chomping together a few times before consuming Natsu into a sphere of black fire.
"Fire God's Supper!"
Grasping his hands together as his fire engulfed Natsu, he could hear the pink haired mage screaming out in pain as he was captured.
"How'd you like that? Once your caught inside of this attack, these flames will eat at you until only your ashes remain!" Zancrow grinned.
"N-NATSU…!" Makarov reached out helplessly towards Natsu as he managed to gain the strength to turn over onto his belly.
"GRRRRR…! Then… I'll just have to eat these flames then!" Natsu retaliated.
"Oh, please… You already tried that once, and that didn't work out so well for you!" Zancrow argued back. "Dragons aren't strong enough to devour the flames of a God, I told you that already!"
And to the blond's expectations, even as Natsu tried to suck up the black flames inflicting a constant source of damage on him, the moment they entered his throat he immediately began to cough them out. The flames were merely choking him as he tried to absorb them into his body.
Clenching his throat, to Natsu, it was like trying to drink hot oil or a hard dose of liquor. A burning sensation invaded his mouth as he suffered the consequences of trying to get Zancrow's flames to work in his favor, which only made the blond cackle once more.
"See?! I keep telling and telling, but you don't listen! Now, why don't you go and—Ugh! What the—" Looking down on his lower body, the first thing he saw was a giant hand grasping onto him and beginning to squeeze tightly.
"Giant?" He uttered with a mild sense of surprise.
"Gramps?!" The prisoner in the fire yelled as well.
Natsu also seemed to had heard Zancrow's response as he opened an eye in his fiery prison. Looking behind him, Makarov had stretched his right arm, gripping onto Zancrow with an iron hold as he tried to squeeze him with sheer force.
"No more of this… JUST TRY HURTING THAT BOY ANY MORE IN FRONT OF ME! IF YOU DO SO, I WILL CRUSH YOUR BONES UNTIL THEY'RE ALL PIECES!" He roared as he made Zancrow wail with a tighter squeeze.
The red eyed mage yelled in response as he lit his body, and in turn Makarov's hand, in flames. "GAAAH! O-Oh yeah?! I see you've got enough strength in ya! Fine, then how about this, Makarov?!"
"Uuuurgh…!" The Giant grumbled as this newfound pain started to surround his arm.
"Come on, let go! Otherwise that arm of yours is gonna be crisp and eventually gone!" Zancrow threatened.
The pain was indeed growing worse by the second. If one were to look right at Makarov, they would see that his forehead was literally pouring out sweat. However, even if the fact that his hand was burning away, instead of letting go…Makarov only proceeded to go through it.
Growling loudly, he tried to ignore the pain as he sent more magic into his arm, tightening his hold on Zancrow even further. The blond gasped in return, glancing back at him in shock.
"What?! Y-You're squeezing even harder than before?!" He croaked in between grunts of growing discomfort.
"YOU'LL HAVE TO KILL ME IN ORDER FOR THIS HAND OF MINE TO LET GO!" Makarov screeched. "JUST TRY ME, PUNK!"
"STOP IT, GRAMPS!" Natsu pleaded from with the Supper.
"OWW…! Why you little…!" Zancrow growled in annoyance.
"GRAMPS, LET GO, PLEASE!" Natsu begged Makarov.
"Don't underestimate the power of… FAMILY!"
"Gramps…!" Natsu shook as he heard his Guild Master roar out those words.
He looked down on the conflict going in front of him. Zancrow was clearly in pain as was he, but Makarov was probably going through worse. His hand that was being burned by the black flames was even starting to change color a little, which only proved to make Natsu even more worried.
What could he do? If Makarov didn't let go like Zancrow said, his hand would be burned to crisps, and would eventually be gone entirely. He couldn't break out of the Supper through anything physical, and his flames can't hope to match the intensity of Zancrow's flames.
What was there to do?! There was no way to eat those black flames of his normally, so what was preventing him from doing so? Was it the fact that his flames were rejecting his, or…
…Wait.
…That was it.
That could work…
Natsu gave this idea of his a hard thought. It sounded crazy…but crazy enough to work. And at this rate, there really wasn't anything to lose… So hell, he decided and went to give it a try.
Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, Natsu yelled loudly as he began to muster the remainder of his magic power. The flames of Zancrow covered what was happening inside the sphere, so the blond could only grin at this predicament the three were facing.
"K-Kek… Will it be the Dragon hunter, Makarov, or me?! I wonder which one of us will kick the bucket first!" He wondered as he struggled to breathe.
Makarov could sense Natsu's power being brought out. After a few more seconds…as well as some more ear screeching screams, he could slowly feel it growing smaller and smaller, until all of it was erased a couple of seconds later on.
Makarov… He felt nothing from within the Supper. Absolutely nothing from the Dragon Slayer.
"…Natsu's magic power… It's vanished!" He murmured.
Zancrow took this seemingly to heart, letting out the wildest cackle he did yet. "HA! SO, THE DRAGON HUNTER BITES THE DUST FIRST!"
Or so it seemed… Zancrow and Makarov waited to see if anything was going to happen, and to both their shocks, they heard a small chomp coming from the middle of Zancrow's Supper.
"Huh?!" Both men looked over.
The sounds of chomping and slurping grew louder, and Zancrow began to notice that his sphere of fire keeping Natsu imprisoned was getting smaller by the second. Even more so, Natsu's silhouette began to show that his mouth was opened…and that his flames were starting to be devoured.
The two watched as Natsu began to completely absorb Zancrow's flames into his own body as his feet touched the ground. It was a complete shock to the latter as Makarov reacted similarly as well, but for a different reason.
"N-No way! How is he eating the flames of a God?!" The blond demanded an answer.
Makarov in turn knew the answer, but was more impressed and shocked by seeing Natsu actually performing the feat.
'…He emptied his magic power completely for a moment… That left the vessel of magic in his body to be exposed to the new flames that he couldn't eat before! The boy created a new vessel to allow different flames to be eaten!' He explained while his eyes contracted immensely.
After gulping down the rest of Zancrow's Supper, Natsu grinned as he wiped his mouth. As he absorbed the flames, Zancrow and Makarov noticed for a moment that his eyes glowed red for a moment as his face was obscured by a dark shadow; the typical trait of Dragon Slayers when they began to power up.
Natsu's body then flickered into a mixture of black and red flames; a unison between the absorbed God Flames and Dragon Flames in his body.
"I see… So, there really is a trick to eating some other kinds of flames." He simply said.
'Tri… Trick?! That was more than just a mere trick! That kind of battle plan…' Makarov was shocked to hear him say that. 'Emptying your own magic power while in the midst of your enemy's…'
'You… Youuu…!'
"YOU COMPLETE FOOL! ARE YA TRYIN' TO KILL YA SELF?!"
Humorously enough, once the threat of Natsu being burnt to crisp was gone, Makarov swung Zancrow into the air him a childish fit of anger. Zancrow himself didn't seem to mind though, in fact, he was completely amused by the fact…as well as astounded to say the least.
"…I have no plan on dying. Not here, nor anytime in the future. No one's gonna die on my watch. We're all going home, to Fairy Tail." Natsu gently answered, before growling loudly.
Gathering God Flames in his left hand and Dragon Flames in his right, he proceeded to jump in the air, right in front of Zancrow as the flames on both ends grew larger.
"He ate…ma flames… Holy shit…!" Zancrow chuckled in a silly manner.
"Join together, the flames of a God, and the flames of a Dragon! Burn from the west, and gather from east!"
"DRAGON GOD'S BRILLIANT FLAME!"
The moment the Natsu's flame enhanced hands were brought together, a gigantic explosion was generated as the two flames mixed together. The attack was so devastating that it destroyed the surrounding area and blew its target a considerable distance away from Natsu.
Zancrow himself was launched far, far away, burrowing against the island stone for a while until he slammed back first into a giant stone wall. His entire body reveled in agony as he laid on the floor…though unfortunately, he was not out cold.
"This… Wannabe Dragon Hunter…beat me?" The blond growled as he struggled to sit up.
Makarov sighed, but smiled in return. 'This foolish boy… Emptying his magic power to allow a new type to be absorbed by him. I'll have to give him a good scolding later on.'
Natsu exhaled softly as he landed. Looking down on his lands, he clenched them as this new feeling drilled itself into his core. As he closed his eyes once, he looked onwards.
"…Gramps. When we get the chance… Let's fight." He proposed.
"…Natsu?" Makarov was confused by what he was trying to say.
"…I know there's times when falling back is the best way to go. That's what Gildarts taught me during the first trial… However, this isn't one of those times." Natsu explained.
"These bastards dared to choose Fairy Tail as their enemy… So we all have to make them realize the power that we have. Not just as a Guild, but with all the heart and soul it has."
As he said those last words, the fatigue he gained over the battle finally got to him. He almost passed out, but he managed to hold on as he breathed heavily while leaving a huge grin of satisfaction on himself.
"…Ha, Dragons are superior to Gods, huh, blond boy?"
…
Elfman roared as he and Evergreen backed away from a powerful fist that shattered the flooring they were just on. "DOOOOOOOOOOOOODGE!"
The duo had the pleasure of encountering one of the Seven Kin: Rustyrose specifically at that. The beast in front of them growled loudly as it attempted to pull its fist out from the stone floor in jammed itself into.
"What kind of monster is that?!" The Strauss grunted as he landed on his feet, crouching onto his knee all the while.
"Monster? Look who's talking, you big goof!" Evergreen retorted in response to Elfman's kind of Take-Overs.
Rustyrose smiled as he stood on some nearby ruins behind the giant beast in front of him. An enormous, heavily-armored, and physically powerful creature, it had a humanoid form with a jet-black upper body. Yellow stripes were present on its elbows, as well as its shoulders as it extended down its arms to all five of its fingers. It had a metal mask with glowing red eyes, with a pair of horns present on the top. Its legs were metallic, and sported several bumps and spikes on its knees as its feet retained an organic look.
"This is a spell from my Lost Magic: The Arc of Embodiment. This is a favorite of mine, the Sacred Guardian Beast: Belcusas the Thunderclap."
Belcusas grunted as it pulled its fist out, and quickly swung it towards Evergreen and Elfman in a sweeping form. The two clenched their teeth as they barely were able to limbo in time for the attack to miss and smash into the nearby ruins where they stood beside to.
"Belcusas the Thunderclap…?" The brunette repeated in confusion.
"It's even got two names?!" Elfman barked in response as he leaned back to an upright position.
Rustyrose smiled and nodded in response as he readjusted his glasses. "The encounter between the devils and angels is an unavoidable destiny. It…is fate."
That only proceeded to make Elfman respond with a few blinks of his eyes. "I don't know anything about some kind of fighting between angels and devils, but if you're a man; then fight me fair and square!"
"Belcusas, do as the man says, please." Rustyrose answered instantly with a command. Belcusas flexes in response, making Elfman facepalm.
"I mean you, grey face!" He barked in retortion.
"This is stupid…" Evergreen groaned as a yellow magic circle spawned in between her hands. "Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!"
Splattering the rain of bullet-like rays of light, they were thought to do damage against Belcusas…but all they did was bounce off his metallic-like body with clanking noises and annoying explosions. Clearing the attack's effect with a single swipe of its hand, it grinned in response.
Evergreen gasped a little as she clenched her fists. "Tsk… It had no effect!"
Before she could enact her next move, Belcusas sprung forward, jumping and clenching its fists together to perform a double-axe handle. Evergreen's eyes widened as it drew close, and it would've connected, if it wasn't for Elfman's intervention.
Dashing in front of her, his arms began to glow as he brought them up. "Partial Take-Over: Stone Bull!"
Belcusas and Elfman's arms clashed with one another. With a loud growl, he pushed his arms up, forcing Rustyrose's summon back. He looks back to Evergreen, who was seen covering her face as she tried to defend herself from the would-be attack on her body.
"What are you doing?! Just turn this guy into stone with your eyes!" He barks.
Evergreen, after lowering her arms, flinches for a second before stuttering. "T-That kind of magic only works on humans!"
"What? No, you dolt! I mean the guy behind him, the boss! That guy!" The Strauss points to Rustyrose as he jumps down behind Belcusas.
"Well, I can't! Excuse me, but that guy's wearing glasses!" Evergreen barked back.
"What?! Oh, for Pete's sake, you're utterly useless!" Elfman growled in response.
"What'd you say?! Hey buddy, do you wanna be turned into stone first?!" A vein popped on Evergreen's forehead as she threatened him with that statement, daring to take off her glasses.
"Just try me, you darn—" Elfman was about to spout something else as he began to spin one of his stone arms, as if starting a move to slam her down.
"Ah… Supposedly, when two people argue with each other immensely, they love each other very mu—" While Evergreen and Elfman continued to bicker and send back insults to one another, Rustyrose chuckles, adjusting his glasses before the two retort back at him.
"We don't love each other!"
"Belcusas!" Rustyrose orders.
Because of their instinctive need to tsukkomi back, Elfman barely had enough time to catch another one of Belcusas' attacks. He grits his teeth as he stands harshly by the tips of his toes due to Belcusas' attack nearly pushing him off the ground.
Taking this opportunity with Belcusas distracted, Evergreen suddenly makes a dash for Rustyrose. "Elfman, cover me! I've seen how his type of magic works before!"
"W-What?! What're—Urgh! Fine! C'mere, you big lug!" Elfman barely had enough time to retort, before focusing his attention on Belcusas.
Backing off, the Strauss leaps into the air just as Belcusas tries to lunge at him. Realizing that his opponent is gone, Rustyrose's creation looks up to see Elfman hanging off out of some of the ruins, giving him a salute while grinning. He growls angrily, crouches down and then leaps at Elfman, pulling his towards him as the two climb up onto a higher plane above the ancient buildings. He crashes through a wall and prepares to continue fighting.
Morphing his legs into that of his Take-Over, Elfman leans back and dodges a punch from Belcusas before landing a punch of his own against his face. Growling, his opponent swings with at him with his left arm, but Elfman ducks under it and lands a straight punch and an uppercut in retaliation. He then spins around, quickly landing two punches and a hammerfist.
"Take this!" He then yelled as he prepared his next move.
He jumps up and hits Belcusas with a tornado kick, sending him stumbling backwards. He stops himself by stomping on the ground, sending all backward momentum to a halt. The red eyed creature growls angrily and charges forward with a crescent kick, though Elfman dodges it and blocks the roundhouse kick that came after that. Leaping back, Elfman glances to see a part of the mountainous parts of the ruins, and as Belcusas charges forward and punches at him with his left hand, the attack misses and lodges it in the thick wall of stone. Belcusas tries swinging at him with his right hand but he dodges it and begins quickly punching him.
He kicks the back of his legs, launching him up into the air, before hitting him with a downward double-axe handle, freeing his hand and sending him crashing to the ground.
With a long inhale of air while Belcusas was knocked into the ground face-first, Elfman turns to look down at Evergreen dashing at Rustyrose, who was now seemingly unguarded.
"His magic is the same as Lucy's: Summoning Magic!" She begins to grunt as she draws closer. "And the thing about those who use that kind of magic is that their true bodies aren't suited for combat!"
Gathering some magic, she quickly blasts the ground below her before leaping into the air with her wings. Rustyrose reacted with a slight measure of interest as a large smokescreen blocked his vision. Taking this time to launch an attack from a blind spot, Evergreen reveals herself coming from the back as another magic circle spawned in her hands.
"You're mine!" She announces.
With a smirk of confidence, Evergreen began to draw near. However, right as she was about to land her attack on her recipient, Rustyrose merely smirks to himself as he raises a single arm up. A single purple magic circle envelops his arm as he begins to turn around.
"I am the King of the underworld. This arm cuts through everything with a deep black blade. Disappear to the edge of darkness!"
After reciting his incantation, Rustyrose's arm transformed into a jet-black, claw-like sword. "Jet Black Sword!"
Unable to react herself, Evergreen's eyes merely contracted as she gasped. The magic that Rustyrose employed caused his transformed arm to extend out in an arc, slashing against her body. Elfman flinches upon seeing her being pushed away, falling fast onto the ground as she yelps in pain.
"Evergreen!" He yells with worry.
He attempts to jump down and aid her, but as he tries to leap off, Belcusas growls to indicate its recovery, grabbing one of Elfman's ankles. The partially transformed Strauss yelps for a second, before Belcusas picks him up with one arm and throws him down onto the same floor as Rustyrose and Evergreen. The impact was particularly harsh, as Elfman himself made quite the dent into the stone flooring.
Due to the pain, Elfman's Partial Take-Over cancelled out, leaving him bruised as he slowly looks up to Rustyrose's figure. He watches as Belcusas returns to his side with a single jump.
"What… What is that magic?!" He demanded an answer.
Rustyrose smirks, shrugging in response. "Well… I could explain it to you trash, but if I did so, it would be hard for your kind to comprehend. Hmm… For the sake of you trash…"
"…Trash?!" Elfman glares at him. "What'd you say…?!"
"Well, think of it as this way: It's a type of magic that has gotten close too the abyss of the path of magic itself. And because of that, the magic that I possess has quite the powerful side effect… Oh, what a catastrophic fate that I am fated to be in…" Rustyrose starts to explain, posing gallantly as he says his last sentence.
…Elfman however sweat drops at his awkward movement. '…Huh?'
"However…" Rustyrose smiles as he raises an arm. A small magic circle spawns in a pocket image… That, of a familiar looking man in Elfman's eyes.
"Once we get our hands on the legendary black mage Zeref, that catastrophe will be over, and a new age of magic will come as a result!"
Elfman's eyes contracted as he looked. Memories of the mysterious waves of death began to recall themselves in his mind, as well as his and Evergreen's initial meeting with the young man. 'Wait… He's that guy from before…'
Evergreen, while still bruised and battered, overheard Rustyrose's words as she reacted similarly to her partner. 'Z…Zeref?! The legendary black mage of lore?! That man from before was him?! Wait… I mean, Zeref is on this very island right now?!'
"What… Do you plan to do with such a person…?!" Elfman grunted as he attempted to get up.
The two watch as Rustyrose responds to him with the sickest smile they've ever seen. His head tilts slightly as his fingers begin to made some disturbing moves themselves.
"The Ultimate Magic World…"
"W-What?" Elfman blinks. Rustyrose smiles as he spreads his arms out to respond.
"…The Ultimate Magic World is a place to be ruled by chaos and darkness. Anybody without Magic will eventually die, or live "Hell on Earth"! That sounds wonderful, doesn't it?! A world, just for us mages! Garbage who can't use magic won't be able to exist there! When Zeref becomes the ruler of this world, the Ultimate Magic World will be complete! Those without Magic Power will cease to exist! Ooooooh… I've been waiting forever for such a time!"
"W-What…? You must be crazy…!" Elfman growled.
"That… It can't be…!" Evergreen responded hesitantly.
"OH! BUT I'M COMPLETELY SANE ON THAT DECISION! JUST THINK OF SUCH A PARADISE! THINK! THIIIIIIIIIIIIINK!"
…
"Sky Dragon's Wing Claws!"
Wendy yelled loudly as she tried to swipe at Meredy with her wind enhanced arms. To popular belief, as destructive as the attack seemed to be as it destroyed several trees in front of her, her pink haired adversity easily evaded the attack by leaping above her.
Swiping her fingers, Meredy then summoned another magic circle.
"Maguilty Sodom!" She yelled out as rows of her energy blades blasted out.
"Watch out!" Blitzwolfer grunted as she tackled Wendy and himself out of the way. He panted heavily as he reverted back to his human form.
The two narrowly avoided the attack, and as it ended, Meredy's blades began to orbit around her center body like moons.
The surge of energy created by Ben Prime's transformation was felt by Wendy, and it was beginning to have an effect on the Ben next to her. The young Omnitrix wielder's other self was practically sweating like a waterfall, and it seemed like he was going to vanish away at any second.
"Ben, please don't push yourself…" The Dragon Slayer said in concern.
"I-It's… I'm fine." He reassured her, yet obviously she wasn't convinced. "I can keep going."
"I really don't think so… I felt a surge of magic just now at first… And you were at the center of it. Whatever the other you is doing is affecting the you here; your body can't take much more of this." Wendy insisted.
"Grr… Well this is just great. I feel like my stomach's on fire…" Ben grumbled as he attempted to describe this growing unpleasant sensation he had.
"…This is becoming interesting." Meredy simply said, before turning to Ben. "What is the matter, Ben Tennyson? Please, transform again for me."
'Well, I can't just go up and do that…' The brunette sweat dropped. '…Where's the lady voice when you need her?'
"Stand behind me, Ben!" Wendy stood in front of the kneed brunette.
"…If you won't do so for me, then I shall have to force you." Meredy closed her eyes.
Snapping her fingers, four more rings of blades began to spawn in from two magic circles that appeared next to her. Wendy and Ben watched with looks of astonishment as all five began to circulate around the pink haired Kin, almost akin to that of a Rutherford-Bohr atomic model. Each ring had six blades on their thin, though visible lines as they spun slowly.
"…Aw man." Ben sighed with his famous phrase.
"Maguilty Organon…!" She uttered her next attack.
Leaping forward, the five rings of blades surrounding Meredy begun to gyrate at an alarming rate, cutting the water below her as she flew from within her sphere of blades.
Though it pained him to do so, Ben managed to stand up. While Meredy was going at them, she wasn't exactly moving at a superior speed to say the least, so it gave him enough time to activate the Omnitrix behind Wendy's back as the blue haired Dragon Slayer began to breathe in.
It didn't take long for him to select an alien that might work for this situation, so as Wendy prepared to fire out a Roar, he quickly slapped the core down, flashing the Omnitrix's infamous emerald glow.
"Sky Dragon's Roar!" Wendy casted, blasting a torrent of wind at Meredy.
The pink haired mage's expression hardened slightly as she placed her palms out. As the Roar collided against her sphere of spinning blades, the two struggled to push back once another.
Wendy grunted and faltered a bit after a few seconds. She then felt a sudden wave of weariness wash over herself as Ben finished transforming from behind her; however, it wasn't a bad feeling. Suddenly, after forcing a burst of magic for the last second of her Roar, she canceled her attack and leaped backwards, flying back until she was where Ben stood initially.
Looking up, Ben grunted as he pulled himself up, now revealed to be transformed into Terraspin. Meredy was intrigued to see another form, but she was pulled out of her thoughts as the turtle-like alien began to hover and retract his head into his shell. All of a sudden, the holes in his shell began to eject a power wave of wind, pushing against Meredy with a greater force than Wendy's previous attack.
"The power…of wind." Meredy noted as she covered her eyes with her arms. "…But I was told how to counter this."
While the shelled alien continued to blast the Lost Magic user with his powerful vortex, Meredy began to swipe her fingers again. While four of the five rings of blades continued to resist again Terraspin, her fifth ring of blades began to diverge off; the ring itself beginning to expand outwards in an X-axis coordinated pattern.
Terraspin's eyes widened when he saw that, but they quickly reverted back as he thought of his next action. 'Well… If I'm gonna vanish and leave Wendy here all alone, I might as well give her a head start.'
Terminating his aerokinesis, he then ceased his rotary movements as he went for the Omnitrix dial. Extending his small claws at the tips of his flippers, he took hold of the dial, turning it slightly and then tapping it as the Omnitrix core protruded, which in turn caused his body to become engulfed in the signature green light once more. Both Wendy and Meredy covered their eyes in reaction to this, causing the pink haired girl to cease moving for a moment.
A wave of emerald light went over Terraspins's body as it started to transform into a different form. The first thing that changed was Terraspin's carapace. It first morphed from a smooth, olive green and brown color, to that of a tortoise or similarly known creature, gaining hexagonal bumps all around, as well as razor sharp spikes on its edges on its onyx black coloration. The holes on the middle of his shell went from eight to twelve, being fashioned in a hexagonal matter like the top of his carapace.
His flippers were no longer present; in fact, he now had actual arms and legs, of which had razor sharp claws at their fingertips and toes. Terraspin's head changed as well, garnering teeth inside his mouth.
With the evolved Omnitrix dial being displayed on his chest, the Fairy Tail emblem appeared on his shoulder as he opened his glowing green eyes.
"Ultimate Terraspin!" The alien responded as he took a stance.
"W-What?" Wendy was perplexed. "What happened to you, Ben?"
"Ultimate? I lack data on these types of transformations..." Meredy mumbled to herself as she backed up slightly. "I must proceed with added caution."
Ultimate Terraspin took a moment to observe his body. He didn't exactly have a clue on what this form could do, but he decided to prove this new form through actual combat. Glancing back to gaze at Wendy, he smirked.
"Might want to stand back a little. I'm going to give you a little handicap for your upcoming battle." He said.
Wendy blinked. "W-What do you mean?"
"I don't have much time before I vanish; probably a few minutes at best. Since that's going to happen, I might as well go all out for a little." The evolved Geochelone Aerio explained.
"But…" Wendy tried to argue, but lowered her eyes as she sighed.
With a smile, Ultimate Terraspin turned back to his opponent. Meredy was now more alert than ever with this new transformation exerting itself into her eyes.
Clenching his hands, Ultimate Terraspin's chest began to glow, as it his body was going to exert a large amount of heat through the holes in his shell. This immediately caused Meredy to place a defensive stance as he then began to hover off the ground, retracting all of his limbs into is inner carapace.
However, the strangest thing that appeared to both of the young girls' eyes was the fact that instead of a cool, powerful and cold dose of air being pumped out from the holes in Ultimate Terraspin's chest like his devolved form, dark-green flames started to blast out from all holes on his body. As they began to do so, the last parts to light up were the hexagonal holes in his chest, which opened up as he began to hover on his stomach. A warm exertion of wind kept him up as the flaming holes around his sockets began to make him rotate.
"…Rotation?" Meredy noted with the sense of danger reeking away from Ultimate Terraspin.
The spinning body of Ultimate Terraspin was beginning to become fuzzy due to how fast his body was spinning. Once he actually began to make a dash at Meredy, the Maguilty Sense user could only gasp as a few of her ring of blades were destroyed. She managed to regain her composure however as she leaped back a few times to distance herself between her and the black shell of death in front of Wendy.
"Huh… Well this is cool." Ultimate Terraspin said to himself. "And I'm not dizzy from rotating this fast either!"
"…I probably would though it I got on you." Wendy admitted.
Meredy took another good look at the newly transformed Ben. She wondered how she could engage herself with such a foe in front of her eyes. She probably couldn't even get near him thanks to those flames; not to mention that carapace of his as well.
Before she could think of the next step in her battle strategy, Ultimate Terraspin flew forward towards her with the purpose of inflicting an injuring ram. The pink haired mage barely had enough time to jump over him as he smashed and destroyed a giant tree that was behind herself.
Landing with a splash, she quickly swiped her fingers, and out of them several magic circles blew out long yellow blades, in which she then threw her arms in the evolved alien's direction.
"Maguilty Rays!" She yelled.
'Oof…! This is cool… But I'm losing time fast…!' Ultimate Terraspin grit his teeth as he flew in various directions to avoid the rain of golden energy blades.
Despite his enhanced mobility, the fact that the pain within the evolved Geochelone Aerio was growing to take a toll on his stamina. Wendy could see that after a few more waves of Meredy raining down blades on the black-shelled alien, he was starting to get nicked by a few of them, even picked in his shell sometimes.
As Meredy got a few more blades, Ultimate Terraspin groaned as he ceased to spin, holding his aching chest. "Ugh…this isn't as easy as I thought it would be…"
"Ben, are you alright?" Wendy asked in concern. "Here, let me heal you!"
"Okay, no more messing around…time to go all out." Ultimate Terraspin responded, which only made the Dragon Slayer frown in response.
Ultimate Terraspin clenched his fists, summoned his blackish-green fire around his chest, and launched straight toward Meredy as he tucked himself into his shell. He used his giant body to deliver a quick tackle into the Kin, sending her into a nearby tree. Meredy, while initially caught off guard by that sudden attack, quickly jumped out from the wet debris and summoned her Maguilty Organon, intending to tackle him with a similar attack. Ultimate Terraspin flattened his body and discharged another fiery burst of energy to bash her sphere of blades, causing both of them to slam against one another and push off.
The dark-skinned alien grunted as he flew back into a tree next to Wendy and lost the strength to stay in the air. He landed on his feet and fell to one knee, panting in exhaustion as the evolved Omnitrix dial began to flash.
"Well… This went… Better than I expected." He panted in-between each pause. "Alright Wendy, I think it's your turn now…"
As Meredy got up with a pained expression written on her face, Ultimate Terraspin's Omnitrix dial glowed brightly as he was engulfed in a red light, reverting back to normal Terraspin, and then to Ben. He chuckled a little at Meredy as his body started to glow, fading away into green particles as Wendy and the pink haired girl locked eyes with one another.
"…The Target of Interest has vanished. This leaves with the "2nd" left for me to deal with." Meredy narrowed her eyes at Wendy.
The Dragon Slayer in front of her took a stance in response to that saying of hers. "What do you mean by that?"
"…I do need to answer that, but I shall. Your placement indicates the level that I have decided to kill; in terms of importance as the tier list goes down. You are the in the 2nd place because you are in the way of something I desire." Meredy explained as she responded with a stern look, wiping off a bit of smut from her cheek.
"…Desire? For who—"
Suddenly, Meredy dashed and landed right in front of Wendy. The Sky Maiden was surprised to see the pink haired girl in front of her glaring intensely at her face. Drawing a magic circle, Meredy gripped onto a Maguilty blade and rammed it through Wendy's chest.
Wendy's eyes contracted as a result of the sudden attack, and her face lowered immediately as Meredy's expression turned into a strange one… She was smiling, though in quite a way that would be deemed as at least uncomfortable to the average person. One could definitely say that it was a look of a crazy person had it not been Wendy who saw it.
"…I want Ben Tennyson. I want to make him mine… And you, the one who is the closest to him, are in my way…"
Pushing the blade deeper into her body, Meredy got a wincing response from Wendy; a clear sign that her attack made contact and was doing damage. She smiled sadistically in response to the action.
However, as much as it seemed to have an effect on Wendy, instead of feeling the body of her opponent dropping down to the floor in agonizing pain, the injured Dragon Slayer's hand gripped onto the Magulity blade. Meredy's eyes widened as she watched Wendy begin to squeeze it tightly, even to the point that Meredy felt her weapon was beginning to crumble from where she held it.
"W-What…?" The Maguilty Sense user cringed as her expression did a 180. She could see Wendy's eyes were shadowed by her large bangs as she opened her mouth to inhale a bit of air.
"How dare you..." Wendy spoke in an almost inaudible whisper.
Suddenly, the volume of her voice immediately rose as the blade in her small hand intensified, cracking it immediately and shattering it in half. The rest of the blade immediately dissolved into particles of Ethernano as that happened.
"How dare you claim to do such a thing… RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!"
Growling loudly, Wendy summoned a sky-blue magic circle. When it disappeared, her first was shrouded with whirling blades of wind with an emerald hint on the outside. Wendy then decked Meredy in the face with a powerful right hook while she was still in shock. As a result, she was driven off her feet and was blasted back through several trees. Only the last one was able to contain enough of the initial force to stop the ear screeching blow; but even then, it was barely able to hold onto the marshland as the floor rumbled greatly from the magic enhanced fist that slugged her.
Meredy cried out in agony from Wendy's attack as she sat down in the shallow water, her back leaning painfully against the almost-toppled tree she collided into. When the Dragon Slayer landed her punch, she began to open her mouth and inhale and extraordinary amount of air, draining all of the surrounding Ethernano from the island into her magic vessel of a body.
Her body began to change as a soft vortex of wind began to spin around her. The first thing that changed was the color of her hair. The dark blue coloration slowly began to convert itself into a glowing pink. Her hair itself also grew longer, to the point that it reached down to her waist as her bangs and other close parts started to curve and point upwards. Out from her body sprang white, feather-like scales that appeared first on her wrists and elbows, and then on her ankles and calves. The last of these feathery-like objects proceeded to then sprout themselves on her back, resembling the wings of an angel at first glance.
Meredy panted heavily in-between clenching her aching cheek as she looked onwards towards the now walking Wendy. The wind that spun around began to cease, with the glowing sensation of her hair fading away and leaving its pink coloration as she then opened her eyes. From the shadows of her overlooking stature above Meredy, she could only see a pair of now glowing pink eyes staring daggers with the darkest expression you could ever witness from a young girl of Wendy's age.
'T-This phenomenon…! Wendy Marvell… The Sky Maiden has achieved the state of…' Meredy could stare in awe, as well as growing fear as Wendy looked down upon her.
"Trust me…" Wendy gritted her teeth in pure anger. "…You're going to regret that you said that, and you know why?"
"Well let me tell you something, Meredy, one of Grimoire Heart's Seven Kin of Purgatory… You can hurt me. You can hurt the things I stand for… You can even hurt my feelings… But no one… And I mean NO ONE, gets in the way for contesting my love for MY Ben!"
'Dragon… Force!'
And there you have it!
So, things to clarify!
You can probably tell where I got the inspiration for Ultimate Terraspin. It's from the infamous Gamera of course! The first thing that came in mind for an Ultimate form was directly from Gamera himself, as well as some other ideas. However, Gamera stuck onto me the most, so I decided to go with that!
And regarding Wendy's Dragon Force... If you think about it, Tenrou Island is probably one of the most purest forms for air and Ethernano as a whole. When I was originally looking for scenes in both the manga and the anime for Wendy's transformation against Ezel, she specifically said that the purer the air, the more Ethernano she could absorb. You'd think that Tenrou Island would be the place, especially since its sacred land for Fairy Tail members, yes?
For Ben's Anodite form, of course he won't have control over it. Actually, you could think of some of its side effects being related to that of Shock Rock. The essence of Ben's heritage could possibly transfer onto his forms. As explained in the Ben 10 canon, the Spark of an Anodite can be achieved regardless of the species. That means that since Ben already unlocked his Spark, he could possibly use it within the usage of his alien forms. Heck, I already kind of introduced it for Omni. What do you guys think of it?
For the Grand Magic Games, I think I'll replace Juvia with Ben. I recently rewatched the entire Arc, and I personally didn't really think that Juvia possessed much of a role despite being on the other team. And think about it, I can place Ben on a different team from Wendy, so it'll also make a whole bunch of opportunities for more fluff moments during the Arc! Hey, hey!
Let me know what you guys think of my ideas! I'll see you all later in the next chapter! I hope you all enjoyed this! Please R&R, and have a good rest of your day! Here's to a brand new year! Emiyn, out!
