Author's note:

Hello once again! This chapter we begin the Battle of Fairy Tail arc. Overall, this arc goes pretty much how the manga goes except for the final battle. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. That privilege belongs to Hiro Mashima

Fenris awoke that morning in a state of anticipation. One week from today it would be the Magnolia Harvest Festival. This was always an enjoyable time of the year. The guild held a huge party for everyone in Magnolia and there was even a parade that all the members participated in.

Fenris always loved going to the parade as a kid and, when he got older, he even got to participate. He, Kalea, and Faelen usually created their own float each year. Each one was different from the last and, that morning, he was supposed to be meeting up with Kalea to decide what float they'd be doing.

But as he got dressed, he was falling short on ideas. Normally by now, he had something in mind but he just couldn't. Think. Of. Anything.

The entire walk to the guild was spent in silence, Fenris using every possible brain cell he could to think of something. When he arrived at the guild hall, he got some breakfast from the bar and sat down with Faelen, continuing his thought process.

As he sat there contemplating on float ideas, he felt something poke his back. He looked up and saw Kalea. She had a strange look in her eyes as she watched him warily.

"Something wrong?" he asked her.

She hesitated before saying, "I'm low on rent again this month. Levy has her half and offered to help me with mine but I can't do that. It's not fair."

"Oh. I'm sorry. If you aren't accepting anything from her I assume it'd be pointless for me to offer?" he said.

"Yes it would be. I need to be able to do things on my own Fenris," she said before adding, "but thank you."

He smiled at her and indicated the seat next to him. She sat down and started eating. Finally distracted from the float, he thought of some way he could help her out. As he thought, Mira passed by them and handed them a flyer that described the events going on during the Magnolia Harvest Festival. Fenris lazily scanned the paper, still thinking of a way to help Kalea, when he spotted something.

Miss Fairy Tail Contest… first prize is… 500,000 JEWEL!

He gaped at the flyer. 500,000 Jewel… he thought. That'd be more than enough to cover her rent for a while. But…the Miss Fairy Tail Contest isn't something he saw Kalea as wanting to do. It was too much exposure. She didn't like being the center of attention. But that money was no joking matter so maybe it was worth a shot.

"Kalea…look at this," he said, handing her the flyer.

She took it and started to read. As she read the paragraph indicating the prize, her eyes widened and her cheeks reddened.

"I-uh…" she stuttered.

"I know you aren't really into this kind of stuff but that prize money may be worth it," Fenris said reassuringly.

"Fenris…I can't do this. That money would be great but I just…can't do that. I'm not good at that kind of stuff. I'd have to dress up and wear a bathing suit and I…just can't," Kalea said.

"I know it's a lot…but I honestly think you'd have a shot Kalea," he said. "Your magic is so unique. That's a big part of the competition. And I know you'd have to dress up and stuff but…you probably wouldn't look that bad in a nice dress," Fenris finished awkwardly.

Kalea's face deepened to an even darker shade of red. "I-I-d-do you mean that?" she asked.

He looked away from her and said, "I mean yeah. I'm just saying I think you'd have a shot at winning. The prize money would set you up for a few months of rent and it seems like a good opportunity. You don't have to obviously but I just saw this a-"

"Okay," Kalea said.

"Hm? Okay what?" he said.

"Okay. I'll do it," Kalea said, not looking him in the eye.

"Really?" he asked, slightly surprised.

"If…you think I can do it. I'll do it," she said.

"Oh. Well…I mean yeah! You can definitely do it," Fenris said.

She gave him an awkward smile and got up. "A-alright. Well I guess I should go get ready for that then. I'll need to find some things to wear. Do you mind thinking up something for the float? I'm gonna need all the time I can for this contest now."

"Yeah don't worry! I got it," Fenris said.

Kalea nodded and said goodbye, leaving him with Faelen.

"Back to square one I guess," Fenris said to Faelen. Faelen ignored him, chewing on a bone Mira had thrown to him earlier.

.

.

.

The days leading up to the Festival went by in a blur. Everyone was busy frantically getting ready. Preparing the guild hall, making food, sending out invitations to everyone in Magnolia. Fenris only saw Kalea in brief glimpses during the week as she was busy getting ready for the contest.

On the day of the Festival, the town was packed as Fenris made his way to the guild. The first event of the day was the Miss Fairy Tail Contest and he wanted to support Kalea. It had been his idea in the first place and he knew she wouldn't feel very comfortable during most of it.

On his way over to the guild he saw Kalea slowly walking ahead of him. He shouted out her name, causing her to stop.

When he caught up to her she was staring at the ground. "What is it Fenris? I'm running late for the contest," she said.

"Uh-I-I just wanted to say good luck. I'll be rooting for you," he smiled at her.

She looked up at him, slightly taken aback.

"You-you're going?" she asked.

"Of course! I'm gonna be rooting for you," said Fenris.

Her eyes widened. After a few moments she said, almost too quietly for him to hear, "O-oh. T-thank you."

He smiled at her again and, a second later, she smiled back. Then looked away quickly. She saw the time on the large clocktower and said, "Oh no! I gotta get going I'm late enough as it is!" She quickly said goodbye and she ran off in the direction of the guild. Fenris looked after her, smiling again. Then he made his way to the guild after her.

On his way, he admired the ever growing crowd around town. There were so many people! People from all over Fiore came to the Festival. It was one of the biggest spectacles in any town and Fenris was proud that his guild was able to hold such an event. It got more and more popular as the years went by.

Faelen was also a pretty popular character around this time of the year. Children were constantly running up to him and trying to pet him and jump on him. And, Fenris always admired, Faelen loved the attention. He would run around and play with anyone who came up to him.

In fact, at this very moment, a little girl was riding on his back, laughing and pointing at all the different tents with food and games. Fenris smiled down at the girl, admiring how carefree she was.

Because of the growing crowd, it took him longer than usual but he eventually arrived at the guild around mid-morning. He heard loud noises inside and realized he was late. He just hoped he hadn't missed Kalea's introduction yet.

The moment he threw open the doors, his ears were bombarded with noise. People were cheering and whistling and it seemed like half of Magnolia was packed into the guild hall. Up on stage, he saw Mira waving to the crowd.

No wonder everyone is cheering so loudly… Mira's always been pretty damn popular.

He also saw Max a few feet away from her.

I guess he's announcing the contest. Makes sense he's always been a pretty good people-person.

"-can make all the men on Earth drunk, Mirajane!" Max was shouting.

Fenris heard all the guys in the crowd wolf-whistle and say things like, "The favorite!" and "She's cute!"

As he walked up closer to the stage he heard Mira say, "I'm very skilled in transformation magic! Next, I'll perform… Face Transformation Magic!"

She proceeded to transform into Happy and then Gajeel. The entire audience sweat dropped. Fenris started cracking up.

"Now for our fourth contestant! The strongest woman in Fairy Tail, Erza Scarlet!" shouted Max, distracting everyone from the Mira fiasco.

As Erza walked up on stage, everyone started cheering even louder. Erza said, "I'll let you witness… the ex-quip that I preserve…"

She equipped an outfit he had never seen before. A school girl outfit.

Everyone broke out in the biggest cheer yet. Fenris felt his face heat up for a second then looked away. That… was awkward, he thought.

Fenris finally reached the front of the stage by the time Levy and Bisca had taken their turns. Then he heard Max say, "Only two more contestants ladies and gentlemen! Up first! The bashful yet strong-willing, lovely young lady who's magic really steals the show! Kalea Baak!"

The entire crowd cheered. Even Fenris clapped his hands this time until he saw Kalea. He froze in place. She was wearing the most stunning dress he had ever seen. It was a dark pink color and had a huge skirt with multiple layers ending in white frills. She wore her hair down and had two golden bracelets on her wrists. She looked absolutely amazing.

She looks… so… beautiful… he thought.

The crowd cheered so loud, one of his eardrums popped. He flinched but it didn't bother him. He was entranced by her appearance. He couldn't take his eyes off her. She was waving to the crowd and then their eyes met. Her hand froze in mid-air and it seemed as if time stopped. The two of them in their own little world.

They looked at each other. Then Kalea blushed. Her face was as red as a tomato. Fenris had never seen her blush as deeply as that moment. And he thought it made her look even more amazing. Their brief moment was interrupted by the loud cheers from the crowd. Time resumed, and she was back to waving at the crowd. Her face also resumed its normal coloration.

Then she combined Natsu's fire magic and Gray's ice magic to create the words Fairy Tail directly above her. The crowd cheered even louder. Still waving, Kalea began walking off stage. Right before she disappeared behind the curtain, she caught his eye again. She quickly looked away and hurried off stage.

Fenris seemed to have dazed off thinking about her outfit because next thing he knew Lucy was on stage colliding with Max. He didn't understand why she had run into him and before he could figure it out, someone behind the two said, "Number eight."

"Wait, I haven't even started yet…" said Lucy.

"If you talk about Fairy, then it's me. If you talk about beauty, then it's me. That's right, it's all ME," came a voice Fenris recognized.

Evergreen.

She walked out on stage, looking as pompous as ever. "The champion will definitely be me, Evergreen! It's boring, so we'll end the beauty contest here!" she shouted.

Fenris tensed up. He noticed Gray and Elfman next to him do the same. What the hell is she doing here?! They hardly ever show up to the guild…he thought.

"Quit playing around! This beauty contest concerns my living," he heard Lucy shout at Evergreen.

He saw Evergreen begin to lift up her glasses and reacted. Just as Gray shouted for Lucy to not look into her eyes he jumped onto the stage. But before he could reach her, Lucy was turned to stone. Suddenly, the room was in a panic.

Max began shouting for everyone to run and it was a nightmare. Bodies collided everywhere, people were screaming and panicking. Fenris turned on Evergreen, saying, "EVERGREEN! What the hell do you think you're doing?! Turn Lucy back NOW!"

She smirked at him. "Oh, but what about the others?"

Then the curtain disappeared. And behind it… every contestant of the Miss Fairy Tail contest had been turned to stone. Fenris looked at all of the girls as his mouth fell open. Then he saw Kalea. She too had been turned to stone. He stared at her, seeing the look of shock on her petrified face. Then, he began to get angry. His body began shaking and he lunged at Evergreen.

Before he reached her there was a loud explosion and the ground started to shake. A lightning strike shot through the roof of the guild, right in front of Fenris. When the smoke cleared from the strike, Laxus stood in front of him. He smirked down at Fenris. Then he turned to the crowd, where the Fairy Tail members stood.

"Hey! Fairy Tail idiots… the REAL festival begins now!" he shouted. Behind him, seemingly out of nowhere, Freed and Bickslow appeared.

Damn. When the hell did they get here?Fenris thought.

"Why don't we play a game old geezer?" he said to Master Makarov.

"Don't do something stupid Laxus. We have to get ready for Fantasia. Turn them back to normal now!" Master shouted.

"Fantasia is late at night. If we hurry, people might get to see it," Laxus said with an evil grin.

Suddenly, another shot of lightning came down from the roof and landed only inches away from where Lucy stood. Laxus appeared behind her.

"I'll take these girls as hostages. I'll destroy them one by one if you break the rules. Like I said, this is the main show," he said.

"There are things that can't be taken as a joke, Laxus!" yelled the Master.

"Of course I'm serious.It's a game. To find out who is the strongest here in Fairy Tail. The rules are simple. The last survivor wins! Fairy Tail fight starts NOW!" he yelled.

Suddenly a table shot up into the air behind everyone. Fenris turned around and saw Natsu standing up with his arm raised.

"Isn't this great?! This is way too easy to understand! I'm pumped!" he exclaimed.

"Natsu. Your arrogant way of talking… really pisses me off," said Laxus. Fenris sweat dropped.

"Let's start!" yelled Natsu. He sprinted at Laxus.

"Natsu, wait you've never been able to beat Laxus!" shouted Fenris.

"That was when I was a little kid!" he laughed.

"That was just last year…" Fenris muttered.

When he was mere feet away, Laxus said, "But… your lack of attitude pisses me off more."

And then he struck. A huge bolt of lightning came down and hit Natsu head on.

"Natsu!" came everyone's yells. But he was out like a rock.

Fenris heard Evergreen's voice. "If you want to return them to normal, you'll have to defeat us."

"We only have 4 people on our side. You have almost 100 people. It's not fair for us," said Bickslow

"The time limit is 3 hours. If you can't defeat us, they will turn into sand," said Evergreen.

"What?!" came multiple voices from the crowd. Fenris was even more angry now.

Turn to dust?! Why the hell are they even doing this?!

"The battlefield is the entire Magnolia town. The battle starts when you find us," said Laxus.

Suddenly the Master transformed into his giant form. "DON'T MESS AROUND!" he screamed.

"I say calm down… let's enjoy the main show," said Laxus and raised his finger. Then a bright light appeared in the room and Fenris couldn't see for a few seconds.

He heard Laxus shout, "Let the battle of Fairy Tail BEGIN!"

The light vanished. And they were gone. Suddenly the guild hall erupted in shouts and yells.

"Playing hide and seek-"

Those unforgivable bast-"

Everyone started running out of the hall. Fenris didn't move. He was staring at Kalea's statue. I'll rescue you Kalea… I promise…

Then he followed everyone else out of the hall. "Faelen, I need you to stay here and watch over Ka-I mean the girls. Just in case something happens," he told Faelen as he ran.

Faelen barked in reply and ran over to where Kalea's statue was and sat right in front of her. Good boy… Fenris thought.

He began running through the streets of Magnolia, trying to figure out where the members of the Thunder Tribe were. If he could just find Evergreen, he could get her to turn the girls back to normal.

As he continued running through the street he came upon Wan and Joey. Although he had never really talked to them much, they still got along well enough. They ran up beside him and Joey said, "Fenris! Don't worry man we'll get the girls back to normal! If we team up I'm sure we can take down the Thunder Tribe!"

Fenris was about to respond when he ran straight into a wall. Or what felt like a wall. He couldn't see anything in front of him but it felt like he had run straight into an immovable object. Behind him, Wan and Joey also stopped running.

He placed his hand in front of him and felt the wall. It was definitely there. He just couldn't figure out what it was. "What the hell?" he heard Joey say behind him.

"I don't know what's going on but it probably has to do with the Thunder Tribe," said Fenris.

"Yeah you're probably right. I-" began Joey but was cut off.

"I see you've been trapped within my barriers," came a voice from above them.

Fenris looked up and saw Freed.

"Damn!" he shouted. He had forgotten about Freed's magic. He could create magical barriers with his script magic.

Suddenly words appeared over the trio's head. Only the strongest may exit the barrier, it read.

"What the heck does that mean?" asked Joey.

"Exactly what it sounds like. Only the strongest of you three may exit my barrier and continue on. How you decide that is between the three of you. However, I believe there is only one way to make the decision," said Freed. And with that, he disappeared.

Fenris looked at both Wan and Joey. It took him a few seconds to register what Freed had said. Then it sunk in. I have to defeat them in battle if I want to get out.

He didn't want to fight his own comrades. This was crazy. How could Freed do this to them all? He had never been the friendliest of guild members but he wasn't insane. But if I don't get out… I can't save Kalea…

He made his decision.

"Fenris… we can figure this out man. I don't think we need to fight each other," said Joey. He had figured it out too.

"How? If you can come up with a better decision be my guest. But we have less then 3 hours now! How are we going to save Kale-I mean the girls if we just sit here in this barrier?!" shouted Fenris.

"I-I don't know yet! Let me think!" responded Joey.

"Joey… I'm sorry but this is the only way. We HAVE to save the girls. Otherwise they may actually be killed," said Fenris. And he attacked.

Joey hadn't been expecting this and reacted too slowly. Fenris punched him right in the neck, where he knew his pressure point was. He didn't hit too hard though. He hit him with just enough force to knock him out completely. He wouldn't be getting up for a while.

Before Fenris had time to feel bad about it, Wan attacked him. Wan had never been the most talkative person in the guild. But Fenris knew his magic well. Irondog magic. It was almost the same as Gajeel's, but he could only transform his arms into iron. And they could only transform into dogs.

But iron still hurt.

Fenris took a blow to the side from his Irondog and the wind was knocked out of him. He staggered backwards and managed to narrowly dodge another blow. He jumped to the side and attempted to punch Wan. He moved, way quicker then Fenris was expecting, and punched him again. This time in the side of the head. Fenris' vision flickered for a second. This is bad I didn't realize how strong Wan was, he thought.

He had to end it quickly or Wan would beat him. He used his "grip" move. He hadn't practiced this very often though and it drained a lot of his magic power because of this. But it got the job done. Wan was held by an invisible force and couldn't move. He had a panicked look in his eyes when Fenris walked up to him.

"Sorry Wan. I won't lie, this is gonna hurt. But it won't kill you," he said.

He punched him just as he had Joey. Wan was out. And the barrier faded around them. Fenris looked down at his two comrades. His guilt rushed forward, making him angry. Angry at Laxus. At the Thunder Tribe for forcing him to do this. And for keeping Kalea trapped.

He started running down the street again. Luckily, no civilians had come upon their fight. That would have probably caused an even bigger scene.

He continued running for what felt like forever, but he wasn't getting anywhere. He had no idea where the heck everyone was. He couldn't find a single member of the Thunder Tribe. And he couldn't find a single member of Fairy Tail either. His use of his "grip" attack forced him to rely on his usual senses and he couldn't enhance any physical abilities.

He checked the time, an hour had already elapsed. He only had two hours left before the girls were turned to ash. After his fight with Wan and Joey, he began hearing fights throughout all of Magnolia. Fairy Tail members were taking each other out.

As he ran, he turned a corner and ran head first into Mikuni. They both crashed to the ground, dazed. When Fenris got a bearing on himself, he looked over at Mikuni. He was staring back at Fenris. Then, a huge barrier formed over the entire block. They were trapped.

Shit… thought Fenris.

At the same time he thought that, Mikuni jumped up and ran backwards. He turned around and took a fighting stance.

"I'm sorry Fenris. I'll have to defeat you here and now," he said.

Fenris jumped up and got ready. Mikuni was a caster wielder of Earth Magic. This wouldn't be easy. The ground began shaking underneath him and then a huge chasm formed underneath him. Fenris jumped to the side before he was swallowed up, which seemed to be what Mikuni was hoping for. For he appeared right beside Fenris and punched him so hard that he flew back and hit the barrier.

Fenris jumped up and prepared for another attack. Mikuni was rushing at him when he used his "push" move. He repelled Mikuni back towards the other end of the block. He used his "malacia" move and threw off Mikuni's sense of balance. He staggered around for a few moments, allowing Fenris to rush him.

But just as he was about to deliver the final blow, Mikuni surprised him and threw a punch right to his gut. The force of the blow was staggering, throwing Fenris onto his back. He tried getting back up but couldn't even catch his breath.

He held his stomach, looking up at Mikuni who was walking up to him, smirking. He lifted his hand and was about to strike Fenris when he used a new spell he had been working on. Force Slow.

He discovered this spell after the Phantom fight. He realized he hadn't actually slowed down time during his fight with Aria. He had manipulated the energy around Aria, clouding his mind, which caused him to slow down both physically and mentally. He still had a hard time controlling the ability because he realized the spell depended strongly on the intelligence and physical attributes of his foe. With this, he was able to get up and rush behind Mikuni. To Mikuni, it seemed as though Fenris had teleported behind him, he was that fast.

"Sorry Mikuni."

He struck his neck just as before and Mikuni was down. Fenris cut off the flow of magic before it got too dangerous. His fight with Mikuni had lasted longer than he had hoped. Taking a deep breath, Fenris started running again, hoping he would get to Laxus in time to save everyone.

Author's note:

Next time we continue to battle our way to Laxus. See you then!