Speech "This is an example"
Thoughts "This is an example"
Word Emphasis "The word in italics has emphasis"
Sounds *Sound*
Spells "This is an example"

The night at the resort was uneventful, not so much as a knock at the door for the whole time someone was watching over Natsu. Natsu's body was looking visibly better, but still far from being totally healed. It was safe to assume he had totally overtaxed his healing magic and it was having 0 effect from this point on. On top of that he hadn't eaten in almost 2 days now yet his stomach didn't so much as rumble. The resilience of his body was showing in more ways than anyone had expected.

While Erza was on her watch she had taken notice of the massive metal case in Natsu's room, the box was stood upright and inside was a padded layer outlining the shape of his armour. Included in the case was strange mechanical arms and tools that Erza could only assume was to affix the armour to Natsu.

Erza knew it was wrong to look through his things while she was watching him, but it was one small brown folder that caught her eye. -CLASSIFIED- AGENT: D BRIEFStamped across the front told her enough as to what was inside, Natsu's exact orders for what just transpired. She also knew how the Bureau referred to him now, 'Agent: D' She could only assume the D stood for Dragon Slayer or something along those lines.

She glanced over to the bed where Natsu was laying for now to see if he was still resting, truthfully she wasn't sure how he would react if he had caught her with the folder but for now that didn't matter.

The small seal was already broken so Erza simply had to pull it open and as soon as she grabbed hold of the papers inside she realised what she was about to do. Natsu was quite secretive about his mission details up to this point, so continuing like this was a massive betrayal in her eyes. She quickly put the folder back in its correct place and returned to Natsu's side.

She didn't do much for the remainder of her watch and when morning broke Lucy, Gray and Juvia were quick to gather in the room as Natsu woke up. With everyone gathered and Natsu actually able to understand them they were able to talk properly.

"How are you feeling Natsu?" Lucy hadn't really seen combat on any major scale, so to see what fighting to the limit had done to Natsu was a bit of a shock to her, but also an indicator for just how much further she could be pushing herself.

"I'm feeling better, I've got a bit of my magic back and I think most of my serious wounds have been taken care of." He wasn't perfect and a full recovery would certainly take some time, but it was good to see he wasn't out of it in the same way he was when he fought Jose.

Erza rose from her seat "That's good to hear, we need to get you back to the guild and to Porlyusica, she was responsible for treating master Makarov so she may be the best person to turn to."

Natsu already knew the answer to that "It's okay Erza, I can make my own way." He was good enough to fly the short distance assuming the weather was decent. Trying to traverse a storm in his condition wouldn't end well.

"Natsu you're in no condition, we'll accompany you." She couldn't believe Natsu wanted to go by himself in his current condition, but he was already on his feet and making for the nearby window.

Natsu stretched his arms out to his side and pulled them back, loosening off some of the stiffness that was surrounding his bones "I'll see you guys back at the guild." His voice didn't exactly sound chipper and he wasn't going to stick around to listen to their arguments.

"Sheesh, that guys not right in the head I swear." Gray said, rubbing the back of his head trying to imagine what sort of conversation Erza's going to have with him when they eventually catch up to him.

Frustrated, Erza began packing her things immediately "Well let's hurry. The trains are more than likely disturbed after what just happened so we'll need to try and make up time. Let's go everyone." And she was entirely correct, the trains were done for. Between blind panic at the resort and the excess bodies from the ships of freed slaves, the transport lines were in total lockdown.

A mixture between magic cars and walking would take them a few days to get back to Magnolia where hopefully Natsu would already be well rested and back to his old self. Truthfully they weren't expecting to hear anything about Natsu or the tower for quite a while, at least until they got back to the guild. However on the second day of their journey while passing through a small town Erza saw a newspaper with 'COUNCIL IN RUINS AS ZEREF CULT TARGETS WIZARD SAINTS' And while the information was partially wrong, it meant someone had told the masses.

It was also then that the group learned that the Council had been destroyed moments after Etherion was fired, undoubtably Jellal's doing.

After 4 days they arrived back at the guild and didn't waste any time in heading to the hall. The streets of Magnolia were busy and the outside of the guild was flooded with reporters all trying to get any details on the new Wizard Saint that joined Fairy Tail, better known as Natsu Dragneel.

After fighting through the crowd and pushing away any reporters that tried to follow her in, Erza slammed the door shut behind the rest of her group and greeted the guild hall, she was scanning for any combination of 3 people. Master Makarov, Natsu or Ultear.

It was Ultear the first came into view who was standing next to Levy holding a few stacks of folders and files, it was only when she spotted Erza that Ultear began marching towards her "SCARLET!" She yelled from across the hall as she closed the distance.

It took Erza a second to notice just how angry Ultear seemed to be and before she could ask about what was bothering her Ultear slammed a folder onto the table next to Erza, pointing at it "What the fuck do you call this?!"

Erza recognized it as a folder similar to the one Natsu had in his case that detailed his mission, the main difference being the fact that it wasn't a brief it was a report. Erza picked it up and pulled the file out, given the Ultear was still pointing at it and whatever was inside was guaranteed to have Erza's involvement.

"Mission… failed?" She read slowly, trying to understand what part of that was deemed a failure. The Tower was destroyed, slaves were successfully saved, Zeref wasn't resurrected and no nearby town or cities got destroyed. What could possibly be called a failure in that?

"Not once in the years that Natsu's ran missions has he ever failed one. Not once!" She emphasised again "And yet the second he's on a mission with Fairy Tail members it all goes to hell, plus I know when Natsu's been lying and he was lying pretty consistently through this report so you're going to tell me exactly what happened!" Ultear was taking no prisoners, not when Natsu's safety was at stake. Having never failed a mission it was unclear what the Bureau would do to Natsu after this.

"I still don't understand why it was deemed a failure though." Erza was truly on the defence and her voice showed it

"Jellal's body wasn't there as proof he was killed and several of his lackeys were spared according to the report. Natsu stated they had escaped to an unknown location during the battle. Do you have any idea how hard it is to actually get away from someone with the sharpest senses on this planet?" Ultear knew from personal experience how hard it was to evade Natsu for any length of time.

"So the bureau suspect he let them escape, but outside of Jellal those people won't cause any more trouble they've been shown the error of their ways-" Erza and Ultear's conversation was cut short when the guild doors burst open and Laxus strolled in with Bixlow, Friend and Evergreen at his side.

"I thought Fairy Tail was supposed to have started preparation for the Festival, or have you all finally stopped behaving like clowns now that we've got someone who's actually strong in our ranks?" His tone was so condescending as he addressed the hall of mages.

"Laxus this is no time for your foolishness, Natsu has gone missing!" Erza announced

"He isn't missing he's at the Bureau, that's the issue! I'm going to get him out-" Ultear turned round and started making for the door, only for Laxus to step in her way promptly. Ultear stopped mere centimetres from him. "You'd be wise to get out of my way Blondie…"

Laxus smirked at the woman "Y'know I'm not heartless, I've acknowledged Natsu's strength and regardless of the outcome of my little game, Natsu will still be a member of my Fairy Tail." His eyes shot over to Erza who was ready to re-quip a sword at a moment's notice

"But just because I've taken notice of Natsu, doesn't mean I'm okay with his lapdog!" Laxus swung his fist at Ultear, the appendage coated in lightning that was summoned instantly. He never really intended for the attack to do damage, just to knock her back and put a bit of distance between them.

The attack landed and Ultear hadn't budged a bit, the fist collided with her cheek and succeeded only in blowing the dirt off of her boots via the shockwave. Stunned by the ineffectiveness of his attack, Laxus took a few steps backwards.

"Y'know Natsu may be the poster boy of the Bureau, the up and coming Wizard Saint, the mighty Dragon Slayer!" She boasted aloud, raising her hands and spreading them at her side "But I don't ever recall saying he was the stronger one of the two of us." She had no need to raise her voice, no need to flair her magic. None of the usual things a powerful mage would do, she was simply that confident in herself.

"You're seriously looking down on me like this huh?" Laxus narrowed his eyes at Ultear and clenched his fists, lightning dancing around him as he prepared for a fight, it was only when the bright light from Erza's re-quip brought his intention back to why he had come here "Evergreen, now!"

Evergreen's eyes lit up and focused on her rival, instantly turning Erza to stone in front of the whole hall "Y'know I'm actually gonna keep you in this game despite your insolence."

"I'm not taking part in some stupid game devised by an imbecile." Ultear was starting to lose her patience with the band of idiots standing in her way, standing between her and Natsu to be more accurate.

"Why you little-" Evergreen had lifted her glasses yet again, her eyes summoning her magic as she turned Ultear to stone, the statue standing with a defiant smirk as the spell finished and the stone set.

Laxus let out a deep sigh "Well had to be done, anyway for the rest of you-" Before Laxus could begin his big speech a shard of rock hit him that had been sprung from Ultears cobbled state.

On Ultears wrist was a greyish magic circle that was spinning rapidly in place, something Ultear had set on herself at all times throughout the day, the magic circle was rapidly affecting the stone she was cast in and the material faded into nothing, leaving Ultear standing exactly as she was before.

The air began to cool rapidly, even Gray could feel goosebumps beginning to grace his skin, The chilled air whipped around the guild hall and began to centre around Ultear "Natsu and I are like fire and ice, he's so warm and pure you could put your everlasting faith in him, and I'm so cold and spiteful that I'll leave you a quivering mess the second you stumble into my storm." Slowly Lacrimas began appearing around her, popping into existence one by one.

"RAGING VOLT!" Laxus was done holding back, he swung his arm back and summoned an incredible bolt of lightning, thrusting it at his opponent and watching as it accelerated towards her. The short distance between them meant she had no hope of evading it.

The yellow bolt of lightning seemed to stop dead against the extended palm of Ultear, as if it had been pulled to a complete stand still. "What did you-" Laxus began to question, but even he wasn't sure how to finish that question. Never had anyone in the hall seen anything like it.

"How did I, what?" Ultear mocked "If it exists in this world it is affected by time, and if it's affected by time then it exists to be manipulated by me!" It was only now that Ultear seemed to raise her voice as she began to let herself get excited by the challenge. The hit had stung, she wouldn't pretend it didn't. 'He's got some pretty decent power behind him I'll give him that.'

Moments later the door upstairs burst open, the small master Makarov charging out "What is all this ruckus?! I'm trying to work up here you brats!" His usual complaint that would often kickstart some banter around the guild was his default, but as soon as he saw Erza encased in stone and the plethora of Lacrima surrounding Ultear he realised something may be more serious than he had initially anticipated.

"Laxus, what is the meaning of this! Undo what you have done to Erza this instant!" He slammed the base of his staff down, his magic pressure kicking up and lighting the whole room up a bit.

"Dream on old man, this guild has grown weak under your management, so it's time for a switch up! I'll be the one to take Fairy Tail to new heights and restore our stature as the number one guild!" The proud declaration from the S-Class mage was irritating to many of the members that he regularly belittled and bullied, seeing their new member stand in his way was an uncommon and worrying sight.

Ultear looked over her shoulder towards Erza, raising her hand and snapping her fingers with a distinct movement that sent a wave of her Magic slicing through her, for a moment nothing happened as the magic began doing its thing, but slowly the stone around Erza began to fade the same as it did when Ultear was first affected.

"Arc of Time." Ultear was so fed up with this ridiculous quarrel Laxus was insistent on starting. Her sole focus was to be retrieving Natsu before the Bureau get their grubby hands on him and start tinkering again.

Makarov had always been cautious of Ultear. Her knowledge of magic and skills were at an incredible level, one far more deserving of Ice Make Magic, no matter how impressive her constructs. 'To think she possessed an Ancient Magic even rarer than Natsu's Dragon Slayer' Truly there was more than one monster in Fairy Tail.

The Lacrima that Ultear had been summoning began rapidly circling her, each rotation getting faster and faster until they seemed to create a solid wall of the powerful orbs. The ball she held onto most of the time left her hand and shot out from the top of the wall of Lacrima, making 3 quick zig zag motions and knocked Fried, Bixlow and Evergreen to the floor before returning to her hand.

"Might want to think again, outside the guild hall is my Thunder Palace. If Fairy Tail doesn't go ahead with my game then it's lights out for the town!" Not many people within Fairy Tail knew what the Thunder Palace actually was, it was only really Erza and Makarov that had prior knowledge of it.

Ultear was still waiting on the hot headed mage to attack, his pride and misplaced trust in his strength meant it was a strong certainty he would go heavy on the offensive, making it all that more surprising when he vanished into a blinding lightning bolt and retreated from the guild, leaving his 3 guards still unconscious on the rough wooden floor of the guild hall.

In a few seconds Ultear had summoned all her Lacrima back to herself and brought her power back down "What is this Thunder Palace that idiot was talking about?" Ultear walked outside and it didn't take much time to notice the vast quantity of lightning based Lacrima that were hovering above the outskirts of the city.

Using her Flash Forward Ultear pulled one of the Lacrima to the ground, a small shock was sent coursing through her as she took hold of it and started to examine it. Ultear had learned to live and breathe Lacrima, it wouldn't be far fetched to call her the world's leading expert in the study and utilisation of the magical rock variant. 'These things are insanely high quality, how much time went into creating this many?'

She continued to analyse the signature of it, the markings surrounding it and the internal magic flow patterns of the crystal itself, she was finally able to derive the purpose they were meant to serve to this 'game' Laxus had devised.

She strode back in with the Lacrima still in hand "Laxus intends to hold the whole of Magnolia hostage while we take part in whatever 'game' he's prepared." She declared openly, tossing the Lacrima onto the floor as she fired a compressed beam of her time magic through it, shattering the orb instantly.

In doing so she was hit with the built-in defence mechanism of the Thunder Palace, striking her and charring the floor beneath her "Any attempt to destroy these results in quite a nasty response." An augmented agent of the Bureau could handle the hit no problem, but your average joe from Fairy Tail? Chances are most ordinary people hit by it would be hospitalized.

Ultear had wasted enough time already "Come on Scarlet, you're coming with me to the Bureau." She was still determined to find out what really happened. Something that connects Natsu and Zeref was something she was waiting on for such a long time. 'Natsu, please tell me you never found your darkness…'

Erza stabbed the tip of her sword into the floor beneath her "No, we need to protect the town first. The safety of the people here take priority!" She reasoned back, there was absolutely no way she would leave an entire town to suffer.

"Everyone here can deal with him, I've already taken care of the 3 stooges here!" She yelled back pointing at the bodies near the door, all still unconscious after the heavy blows. "Or are you seriously telling me I need to deal with that spoiled brat too?"

Before Erza could retort, Makarov once again stepped up "It's quite alright. I shall deal with my Grandson personally. The Thunder Palacewill need to be handled with care and caution." However as soon as Makarov got near the doors to the guild he was stopped dead in his tracks by a wall of script, easily recognisable as Fried's handywork.

"Y'know what, screw it. The faster this gets done the faster I can go get Natsu, you lot deal with this trap he's set up. I'll make short work of this." Ultear broke out into a quick run and went straight past Makarov, immediately opening herself up to the magic around her. Laxus was indeed strong, and thanks to that his magical power would stand out enough to make him easy to find amongst the town.

With Ultear already off to handle Laxus, the rest of the guild were left in a bit of a state regarding what this 'game' was. The best guess was that the game relied heavily on Fried's magic to set up given that Laxus isn't suited to that style of setup but with Fried out of the game, it was a wonder how any of this would start.

"We don't have time to worry about this plan Laxus has devised, for now we must attend to the Thunder Palace. Once Fried is awake I can question him regarding the plan, for now I want all available members out protecting the town!" Makarov would have to spread Fairy Tail out to cover as many people as possible. He wasn't sure that he could use his own magic from within the barrier, but for now he would have to try and undo it. Unfortunately, Fried's aptitude for scripts was unparalleled in Fairy Tail, including Master Makarov.

Once Erza had left the building she finally got a look at the scale of the issue. The rooftops around Magnolia were lined with banners and flags celebrating Fantasia and hovering above them were hundreds of high-powered spheres, each bristling with Lightning magic that would burst the second they were tampered with.

'If Laxus catches on to us destroying these Lacrima then he'll just activate however many are left. We need to hit all of them at the same time… but trying to coordinate that across the town would be a pain.' Erza would need to test the waters with these things and judge how powerful the blast would be. If the defence mechanism of the Lacrima wasn't too severe she could try and destroy all of them with her arsenal of weapons.

The other thing weighing on her mind was Ultear, the woman was still an anomaly for the most part. She displayed an impressive degree of magic power moments ago but Laxus wasn't exactly a push over, especially not when backed into a corner. Was it purely her bluffing Laxus by saying she might be stronger than Natsu, or was that a genuine fact? While Natsu displayed the most combat oriented body possible, could Ultear be an absolute monster with just her magic capabilities, there was too much she wasn't certain on but time would tell. 'Natsu seems to believe in her, so I shall too.'

It would be Ultears first real test as a Fairy Tail wizard, well at least from the side of the guild. It was by no means the first time she had a run in with the guild. While working at the Bureau, Ultear had run a few spy missions on the place. Many organisations were sceptical of the secrets Fairy Tail seemed to hide away, and the Bureau were desperate to find out.

However one of the more regular missions they would run was basic surveillance, following individuals whom could present issues at any point, one's that may make valuable allies or usually just people that could be manipulated. Ultear was assigned to Erza a few years back, as a strong female mage she was creating a large increase in the number of young girls showing an interest in combat-oriented magic.

The very mention of Fairy Tail was enough to get Natsu asking questions, so for obvious reasons he wasn't selected, and a surveillance task like this was a bit below Ultears pay grade but still, it had to be done. The Bureau were interested to know if Erza seemed to be meeting with any kind of organisation, lawyer, council member or anything of the sorts that may have been pulling the strings. Makarov was the initial suspicion but frankly he was too honest to be able to hide ulterior motives behind such an unusual figure.

Ultear had been everywhere with Erza for almost 4 days without so much as being seen, let alone locking eyes or bumping into each other. From the hall, to train carriages, to Fairy Hills and hostels during missions, Erza was barely out of her sight. Naturally this meant that Ultear had a previous chance to see Laxus from the side-lines.

'I already know that bastard is a mess, but he's got more power than he lets on… there's still more beneath the surface I can feel it.' While her initial impression of Laxus was somewhat impressive, she was certain he still had more to give in terms of his power, just how much though.

While Ultears statement previously wasn't a lie, it wasn't strictly true either. Looking at sheer numbers Natsu would mince Ultear in a fight, she could hold her own against a great deal of mages but close-range brawlers like Natsu were the worst kind of matchup for her, and Laxus certainly fit that description too. She would technically appear the stronger fighter, but ultimately loses out in CQB.

The main issue was speed, while Ultear had undergone a different augmentation program than Natsu, she shared some of the same traits as him with heightened senses, faster reactions and a few physical enhancements. Where Ultears augmentation differed was that her magic abilities were given much more attention. Natsu represented a physical beast with breath taking magic. Ultear was tuned more towards being a magical enigma capable of defeating an enemy before they've caught onto her magic.

Speaking of which she hadn't actually had much chance to really flex her Arc of Time recently, aside from the brief moment when attacking the Celestial Wizard King but that was a short-lived moment. This would be a rare chance to truly give it what for against a powerful and driven mage, or so she hoped.

Her tracking was leading her to a very densely populated area around the Cathedral, not that collateral damage was any kind of a worry for her, it was never something she had to be concerned about during her missions, but this was something more personal and thus would require a bit more care than usual.

Her run turned to a fast walk as she strode through the town, the loud celebrations created an atmosphere she had grown a disdain for. No-one could party like rebels who thought they'd won a fight, it was impossible to count how many people had been killed in an atmosphere that was a carbon copy of the one surrounding her now.

Ultear was getting ready to freeze the place solid and cast massive structures to disperse the crowd, it was only when black steel pillars shot from the ground that the crowd panicked and began spreading out, Ultear recognised the pillars as being the exact same ones from when Phantom attacked the guild.

The recognisable shape of Gajeel seemed to drop from the sky next to Ultear "That Dragon Slayer friend of yours, you're going to see him after you deal with this guy?" His red eyes remained focused on the Cathedral before them as he retracted his magic, the shaking causing various windows across the beautiful building to crack and shatter.

"That's the plan, but I don't remember asking anyone for help." Her response was bleak, not really wanting to entertain the short-tempered man.

"All I'm saying is if I can draw his attacks, you'll be able to pull of something big right? Same as the Natsu guy did to Jose?" Gajeel would never ever forget the sight of a Dragon's Roar being strong enough to counter Jupiter. One of the earliest spells a Dragon Slayer would learn and he had made it strong enough to battle one of the Magic Councils most powerful weapons. No, it's unlikely that memory would fade for the remainder of his life.

"If I wanted to I could carpet bomb this whole city, but I don't think that'd get me in Natsu's good books. But yes, if you can line him up I can end this fast but he'll know it's coming." Ultear took the Lacrima from her hand and raised it above her head, the small orb glowing a deep shade of purple and grey as her magic began flooding it "Parallel Worlds!" In seconds her orb began multiplying around the Cathedral, the plethora of copies simply floating in mid air as they encompassed the entire building creating a ring several feet high.

"Each of those represents the potential future of this Lacrima, whatever one gets destroyed first is where you were going to attack from. So fake it and then change your path of attack, got it?" Something she and Natsu would do time and time again, regardless of the inferiority between then Gajeel was still a Dragon Slayer, and no one had more experience of fighting alongside one than Ultear.

Gajeels hand morphed into a elongated spike that he would launch a lance from as he prepared to move in, he had a rough understanding of how this attack was supposed to go down, so with a loud cry he began to charge, intentionally stopping short and watching as the Lacrima about 4 feet to his right shook and blew up, just as Gajeel snapped to the right before bursting through the wall, a bolt of Laxus' lightning shot through the empty space where the destroyed Lacrima was.

'Did she really just predict the future with those damn balls?!' Awe was the only word to describe his immediate reaction, but it would have to wait as he crashed through the brickwork and into the unsuspecting side of the blonde S-Class mage.

"IRON DRAGONS LANCE!" He thrust his hand forwards and the sharp spike sped towards Laxus, who was fast enough to evade most of the attack, leaving a large tear over his jacket. The surprise attack wasn't exactly over and he had no time to counterattack

"Ice make: Rose Krone." In a moment Laxus was surrounded by the icy thorns that whipped through the air, adding more and more cuts to his body until he leapt upwards and shot back to safety in a bolt of lightning.

The time he was in the air was enough for Ultear to move again, she deconstructed her previous construct and prepared the next, showing off her unmatched speed at maker magic, speed that would put even her mother to shame "Ice make: Venus!" She opened her hands up and mimicked a mouth as she launched a terrifying iteration of a Venus fly trap at Laxus, the head of the ice plant getting with inches of him as it chomped down with tremendous force.

Laxus was forced to raise his hands and stop himself being crushed by the attack 'Shit she's quick!' Opening the jaw of the object and jumping out was the least of his worries as the troublesome dragon slayer once again reared his head "IRON DRAGONS ROAR!" The tornado of iron shards began spewing from his mouth as they ripped across Laxus who was once again forced to retreat into a bolt of lightning and put more distance between them.

Enough distance that their attack would come to a halt and be forced to face him before the fight, their advantage lost and now on an even playing field, Laxus could consolidate his thoughts and fixate on his opponents. It was hard to pull his mind away from his plan, which was now in a complete shambles with Fried gone and none of his games taking place it was a disaster.

"You! You think you can just show up to this guild and get in my way?!" He pointed an accusatory finger at Ultear as his ego continued to spill out his mouth.

"Need I remind you that it was you who got in my way?" Ultear calmly shot back, resting her hands on her hips in a relaxed stance. She glanced at her new-found ally who seemed ready to go, a good sign. She knew he was outclassed in ways he didn't get understand but at best he'd be an adequate shield for a while.

Ultear would continue to prod at Laxus for a bit, messing with his head before letting the battle continue "I'm trying to wrap this up quickly so I can get Scarlet to come with me to get someone with true strength, something I'm sure you're unfamiliar with." Her arrogant front was enough to seriously push Laxus over the edge.

"That's it!" Laxus yelled as he charged in, straight for Ultear who quickly side-stepped behind Gajeel, who was already preparing to block the attack. When Laxus got within range he threw a devastating uppercut at Gajeel, blasting through his defence and sending him soaring through the air.

Behind Gajeel, Ultear was already preparing her spell for when he gets thrown out of her way and as soon as he cleared her line of sight "FLASH FORWARD!" As she cast the spell the numerous orbs that were surrounding the Cathedral began violently accelerating towards Laxus, smashing through stone and glass alike as they homed in on their target.

The barrage was incredible, each of the small Lacrima were like cannon balls slamming into Laxus, shattering some of his ribs in the process, an excellent result for her opening attack. With Laxus winded she leapt into the air with a powerful jump and grabbed onto one of the orbs, letting it carry her across to the other side of the room where she could continue her attack.

Just before she landed Ultear took notice of where Laxus had been moved to after the attack, directly where a row of seats were before they were turned to splinters "RESTORE!" She called out, focusing her magic on the destroyed bench before quickly returning it to it's original state, at which point she summoned a pillar of ice from under it, throwing the item at Laxus before following it up with the ice structure.

Laxus was yet to cast a proper spell, let alone get a decent hit in against Ultear, but she wasn't alone "DRAGON SLAYER SECRET ART: DEMON LOGS!" Gajeels rapid attack was impossible to dodge immediately after getting thrown by Ultears magic, each hit dealing notable damage to Laxus, despite his incredibly tough body.

Capitalising on Gajeel rush, Ultear summoned a lightning lacrima of her own, throwing it towards Laxus before shattering it with her magic once it got close, the lightning erupted around him and struck home, at which point Ultear immediately figured out what she sensed in Laxus.

In a true moment of desperation Laxus had let all of his barriers go and began to summon his own Dragon Slayer magic, to the surprise of both his attackers. Gajeel watched in awe as scales slowly crept up his arms and his already large body seemed to expand and almost ooze power. "LIGHTNING DRAGONS-" From his crouched stance Laxus snapped his head up towards Ultear, his rage focused on her "ROAR!"

What followed was an almost impossibly fast roar, something that transcended the speed Lightning attacks would typically move at and Ultear only just managed to dodge it, leaning back as far as she could and watching as the beam of lightning clipped her hair which was left swishing by her moves.

Nimbly she rolled backwards and sprung off her hands, standing tall again as she summoned the darker areas of her magic, "Looks like it might be worth me taking this seriously, somewhat. Just don't tell Natsu what I'm about to do." She wasn't specifically talking to anyone, just speaking aloud.

Time was her sword, her shield, her will, her fear. All bundled up into one massive mistake, it was the spawn of her darkness that Natsu had tried so hard to pull her from, a task he almost succeeded in doing.

Only time would tell how she'd be after this.

A/N: Thanks a bunch guys, I'm really enjoying how this story is going, now that I'm getting to expand on the new version of Ultear I'm creating I think it's going really well! If anyone has any comments on how I'm portraying her feel free to leave a review or PM me, any and all criticism is welcome!

My poll on my next potential story is up so feel free to vote on it!

Stay safe until next time guys!

Regards,
ShesTheBoss19