Ch. 5- The Ultimatum

Fairy Tail © Hiro Mashima

Story and OCs © Me

Haru was horrified. She knew Phantom Lord would actually bring the fight to them... and worse, there were still so many members who were injured, including Elektra, and Makarov was still critically ill. Even worse... Erza had just taken the full impact of Jose's Magic-Focusing Cannon, Jupiter, with her Adamantine Armor... and now, she was left weakened.

Haru felt like she was living a nightmare, right now... and it felt like she wasn't going to wake up, anytime soon.

"Attention, Fairy Tail!" Jose's voice boomed from the intercom. "In 15 minutes, I will fire the Jupiter Cannon, again... but I will stop it on the condition that you surrender Lucy Heartfilia to me! You have no choice!"

"Screw you!" Haru yelled as she pointed at the fortress. "No way are we gonna give Lucy up!"

"I will not ask, again!" Jose demanded. "Surrender Lucy Heartfilia, at once!"

"You're full of it!" Alzack barked. "That's not gonna happen!"

"Like anyone would give up one of their own to a bastard like you!" Bisca shouted.

"You hear that?!" Macao questioned. "Lucy's stayin' put!"

"There's no way I'm giving one of my kids to you!" Elektra yelled.

Soon, the entirety of the Fairy Tail Guild began to shout their agreements... and in the midst of it all was Lucy, who trembled as she watched everyone stand up for her. It was so touching... it actually made her feel loved by everybody here. However, at the same time, it only increased her guilt even more.

'Maybe I should just... go with him...' she thought. 'Give myself up... it'll make things easier on everyone...!'

However... it was what Erza said next that really clinched it for her.

"We would NEVER betray her like that! YOU'D HAVE TO KILL US FIRST!"

"YEAAAAAAAAAHH!" the Fairy Tail members all shouted while Lucy gasped in disbelief.

"You hear that?!" Haru questioned. "We'd rather die than give Lucy over to you, you Phantom Creeps!"

"You can stop askin', now, 'cuz we're not giving you any other answer!" Natsu shouted. "WE'RE TAKING EVERY ONE OF YOU JERKS DOWN!"

Lucy's eyes were welling over at full force by now. She knew that everybody here cared about her... but she didn't realize how much they cared until this very moment. Everyone here... they were willing to risk their lives for her sake.

However... Jose wasn't very moved. In fact, this act of defiance only served to irk him even further.

"In that case, you can spend the next 15 minutes wallowing in terror!" he shouted. "SHADES! ATTACK!"

Soon, a number of shadowy figures brandishing all kinds of weapons came jumping out of the fortress, all of them flying over the ocean and heading toward the Fairy Tail Guild!

"Now you have two choices!" Jose exclaimed. "Be my killed my Shade Troopers... or be killed by Jupiter!"

"Is that guy planning to take out his own troops along with us?!" asked Max. "I mean... it's gotta be some kind of bluff, right?!"

"He's not bluffing!" Cana answered. "Those are Jose's Shade Troopers! They're not human... they're ghost soldiers that only obey him! Somehow... we have to stop the Jupiter Cannon from firing, again!"

"Then I'll just go in there and rip it apart!" Natsu declared as he punched a fist into his palm. "15 minutes? That's more than enough!"

"I'm going, too!" Haru exclaimed as she went to join her brother.

"No, Haru!" Natsu replied. "You gotta stay back!"

"What?!" Haru questioned. "But I can help!"

"Yeah, you can," Natsu began, "by getting Lucy somewhere safe!"

Haru gasped silently as she stared at her brother, who gave her a serious expression.

"I'm countin' on ya, sis," he said. "I'm leaving Lucy in your hands, got that?"

Haru paused... before she soon put on a determined face of her own and nodded her head.

"Leave it to me!" she declared, causing Natsu to smirk proudly.

"Happy! Let's do this!" Natsu called out.

"Aye, sir!" Happy answered as he flew by and grabbed his partner by the back of his vest, flying toward the fortress, and Gray and Elfman were not too far behind them. Cana and Loke stood at the front, determined to hold their ground against the Shade Troopers. As they did, Mirajane grabbed Lucy as she, Haru, and Blue Fang all stood behind the ruined guildhall.

"Listen to me!" Mirajane said as she held Lucy by her shoulders. "You're gonna go with Haru! She'll take you somewhere safe, understand?! Just until this battle is over!"

"No, I can't leave you guys!" Lucy argued. "I should be fighting here with all of you! It's my fault that this-"

"STOP SAYING IT'S YOUR FAULT!" Haru shouted, causing the Celestial Spirit Wizard to freeze. "I keep telling you, over and over! No one here blames you for what's happening here! Don't you understand by now, Lucy?!"

"...We're all angry," Mirajane said. "We're doing this for our home that they destroyed... the members they hurt... and because we all wanna protect you! That's the kind of fight this is, Lucy... and we're going to fight it with honor!"

"So please, Lucy," Haru began, "just do what we're asking you to." She then walked over to Lucy and hugged her tightly, much to her surprise. "I refuse to let them take my new best friend away!"

"...Haru...!" Lucy whispered before she sighed and hugged her back. "...Thank you..."

Soon, Haru and Lucy were both sitting on Blue Fang's back while Mirajane had assumed the latter's form.

"Be careful you two, okay?" asked Mirajane.

"We will," Haru answered. "Blue Fang, let's go! To the East Forest!"

Blue Fang barked in agreement before he soon dashed away, being sure to take the back alleys so as to avoid getting seen by the enemy... but as they made their escape, they didn't realize that the whole time, someone was watching them from the shadows.

"...Gihi...!"

Sorry if you were expecting a longer chapter, but the next one will be a bit longer, I promise!

Review, please!