Guys, when I meant suggestions, I mean for the fight, not the story. :3. I have the story planned out until the Tenrou arc, so I think I'm covered on that end.
To the lovely guest who suggested One Word To Change The World, yes, I have read that, and it's one of a group of stories which inspired/made me write this because I kept thinking (but I'd do this instead...).
I was going to list all the stories at the end (because most of them are incomplete, and I was hoping they'd be updated by then).
One Word To Change The World is funny, and sad as hell. Just a warning; I sobbed my eyes out completely.
As for the fight, I said 'fuck it' and left it up to the flip of two coins.
Two, because my brother said I couldn't toss a coin, and then he got the same fucking result. Enjoy.
Also, yay, two chapters for you guys!
Chapter Eighteen - Gildarts, Part Two
Nine days later, the bells began ringing and the ground began shaking.
I didn't recognize it, but there was only one thing it could be; the Gildarts Shift.
"Are you guys ready?" I asked them. "Get into positions!"
Juvia nodded determinedly, and though Levy looked scared, she also looked a bit excited. Laxus was giving me a look that screamed, Why Elle? Why would you do this to us?, and I could tell he was worried. Freed looked confident, double checking the barriers on the ground so he was sure that they would stay locked in – Gildarts wouldn't be able to leave until he fought us and someone won.
Cana looked the most nervous of all. I put a hand on her shoulder. "Stop worrying. What did I tell you? It'll be fine!"
She nodded, and hugged me. "It'll be fine," she repeated to herself. "It'll be fine."
She moved to the front of the guild and we stayed on the field, activating the invisibility runes on our bracelets.
"Come on, Gildarts, I have something I want to show you!"
"Cana, I'm-"
"Please? It's important!"
We smiled as we heard Gildarts sigh. Since our bracelets were connected, we could still see each other.
"Alright, I'm coming!" he sighed, and was right behind Cana when the door slammed open. Following behind them was a large majority of the guild, also interested in whatever this 'important thing' was. Also, Gildarts was back, so everyone wanted to spend time with him.
Macao, Wakaba, Enno, and Makarov were at the forefront. Makarov was looking at us and smirked.
I winked at him.
It wasn't really that surprising that he alone could see us.
"Come on!" Cana said, leading Gildarts onto the field. I smirked as they passed the rune line.
"What am I looking at?" Gildarts asked, leaning forward. Cana moved behind him and activated her invisibility rune when he wasn't looking.
"Cana?" he asked, turning around and searching for her.
The sound of giggles permeated the air. Cana and I were the loudest, but Juvia and Levy joined in soon enough.
"Where the hell did she go?" he asked the guild.
"She just vanished," Macao said. "We should all go back inside before something horrible happens."
"Yeah," Wakaba said. "Elle's probably up to something."
I started snickering at that.
"Yep, we should go inside," Enno said.
"Alright," Gildarts said, stepping forward and slamming into the rune wall. "What the-"
"It's simple," I said. My voice echoed in the air. "You aren't allowed to leave the battlefield until you fight us and one side is declared the winner."
"Elle, you're insane!" Macao yelled.
Wakaba's pipe fell out of his mouth.
"Well, um…Elle, is it?" Gildarts asked. "You sound very young, and I don't want to fight a kid…"
"I'm nine years old," I told him. "And I'm not the only one here. You're fighting the entirety of Fairy Tail's newest generation."
"Elle, are you sure about this?" Makarov asked.
"Yep," I said. "I'm positive. We'll be fine, Master."
"Yeah, Jiji," Laxus said. "I trust Elle. Even if she is insane."
Gildarts looked around. "Laxus, is that you?"
"Yep," he said.
"Elle, when you say the newest generation, do you mean all six of you?" Macao asked.
"You got it!" I smirked, though he didn't see it. "I decided to upgrade to a stronger opponent when I easily kicked your and Wakaba's asses."
My fucking mouth...
"You both fought a nine year old and she won?" Gildarts asked.
"Honestly, this fight could go either way," Makarov said. "Who would like to bet?"
"You're serious?" Gildarts asked.
"They aren't kids, they're monsters," Wakaba said.
"Well, Levy is sweet," Macao said.
"Thank you, Macao-kun!" Levy shouted.
"Yeah, but Elle is evil, and she's like their leader or something," Wakaba retorted.
I cackled evilly. "Thank you for the compliment!"
Though they didn't know it, the rune wall had slowly been draining some of Gildarts power since he entered. Usually, Rune Walls can stay on their own, and are supported with the magic in the air. This one instead enhances it's own strength by taking some of Gildarts power.
He either doesn't know about Rune Walls, or he's doing it on purpose so he can go easy on us.
Gildarts turned back to Makarov, who was busy writing out the bets on the fight. "Are you really going to make me do this?" he asked.
"Yes," Makarov said.
"Onee-sama, why are they betting on us?" Juvia said.
"Because we scare them," I answered.
"But you said we would lose," she said sweetly.
"What?" Enno shouted. "Ellie-girl, why would you do this then?"
"Because it's fun, and it's good for us. This will help us get stronger. Look, I may act arrogant about a lot of things, but I know when I'm gonna win or lose. And besides. Sometimes you need to fight, even if you can't win."
"Good answer, Elle," Makarov said.
"As expected of Ella-sama," Freed said.
"Hey, Elle-nee-chan, are we gonna fight yet?" Cana complained.
They're doing that on purpose, I thought.
"Well, you weren't kidding when you said that she was their leader," Gildarts muttered. "Can I at least know your magics before we fight?"
"No," I said. "Besides, you already know Cana and Laxus's magic."
"All the bets are in!" Makarov announced.
"Here we go," I said quietly to the others. They nodded. Cana squeezed my hand.
"Ready…set…begin!" Makarov yelled.
Laxus started us off. "Lightning Dragon Roar!" A blast of electricity went storming for Gildarts. He dispelled it with his crash magic, but his eyes were widened.
"Oops," I said. "Alright, so maybe you don't know Laxus's magic."
"Since when were you a dragon slayer?" Gildarts asked.
"It's been over a year or so," Laxus said.
Gildarts hadn't seen the beginning of another spell. "Summon Lightning; Aerial Attack."
Bursts of lightning came from all direction and struck him, shaking him violently before he used his crash magic to break the cards.
Cana was wide-eyed, and looked extremely proud of herself for affecting him.
"What the hell was that?" he asked, still frazzled.
"Cana's newest spell," I smirked.
"Damn, kid, that certainly packs a punch," he said.
Cana's smile grew.
Juvia went next. We had agreed to attack him individually at first, and then all at once. This was more than just a fight for us; it was a demonstration of our strength.
"Water Lock!" Juvia yelled, ensnaring Gildarts in her sphere of water. Gildarts tried to break through it, but was unable to because it was liquid. He frantically searched for us (hoping to take down the caster) but he was unable to see us.
Honestly, I was extremely surprised at what he did next, though he probably didn't have a lot of options...
He used his Crash Magic on himself, and he split into a bunch of tiny Gildarts. One of them escaped the Water Lock and he reformed himself outside.
"That's the first time I had to do that," he said.
Levy and Freed were going to work together, since they were still new.
Since he was still learning and was not allowed to use Dark Ecriture, Freed had to use the original spell, "Rune-Write; Freeze." Levy followed up with a, "Solid Script; Explosion."
A huge explosion went flying to Gildarts, who couldn't move and had to take the hit.
Of course, it was Gildarts, who was extremely durable, but we got a few scratches on him.
My turn. "Earth's Green Fist!" The fist shot out of the ground and Gildarts tried to stop the spell by using his crash magic. As the fist fell apart, I reinforced it, and it came back together and smacked Gildarts before he could dispel it again.
All of us had done one of our most powerful attacks.
At the end of it, Gildarts clothes were pretty messed up, but he was fine, though with a few scratches. He pulled himself off the ground, and he was smiling.
"Alright," he said. "You kids are pretty tough. That being said…why don't we introduce ourselves properly?"
He sent out a wave of crash magic that, surprisingly, didn't affect us. Instead, it cracked through the runes on our bracelets, rendering them useless and making us visible again.
"If you would?" he asked.
I stepped forward first. "My name is Eleanor Rigby. I tend to go by Elle, though people have been known to give me variations of my name. As I said before, I'm nine."
Juvia gave a quick bow. "Juvia is Juvia Lockser. Juvia is five."
Levy smiled. "Levy McGarden, and I'm five!"
"I am Freed Justine, and I am two years younger than Ella-sama," Freed said proudly.
I sweatdropped. "Freed, you're eight."
"I was born in X764. You were born-"
"In X763," I deadpanned. "In May. We're a year and several months apart. Just because you were two years younger when we met doesn't mean I automatically turned ten when you turned eight. I literally just said I was nine."
Freed blushed.
"Alright, let's get started," Gildarts said, smiling. He waved his hand casually. "Crush."
A wave of crash magic came towards us. Laxus turned to Lightning, Juvia used her water body, and I used Earth Rock Shield to take the blast for me, Cana, Levy, and Freed.
He looked surprised that we were all still standing.
I smirked. "Number 3, go!"
We split up and ran. I had come up with 6 attack plans for Gildarts, and depending on the situation, I would call them out. In these variations, we would usually break off into groups, though I always had Levy with Freed, even on one where we all went solo.
Number 3 had Me and Cana, Laxus and Juvia, and Levy and Freed in group off to the side.
"Melting Earth!" I shouted, plunging my fist into the ground.
"Cards Volley!" Cana yelled, throwing a group of cards into the air which shot out a series of explosive blasts.
The ground under Gildarts turned into liquid and Cana's explosive blasts came right at him. He went to block, but before he could cast a spell, Juvia shot a Water Whip at his hand.
"Solid Script; Geyser!" Levy shouted, casting it at Gildarts feet.
"Rune-Write; Enhanced Explosion!" Freed cast, causing the geyser to explode and fling Gildarts into the air as Laxus shouted "Lightning Dragon Breakdown Fist!" The lightning mixed with the water from the geyser and gave Gildarts a large electrical shock.
We waited for the steam to fade and we saw Gildarts stand. He smiled. "That's very impressive, kids. And good teamwork."
Freed was a bit frozen. "We hardly even fazed him…" he whispered.
Cana collapsed a bit beside me. "I can't…I'm not…"
"Dammit," I said before yelling. "Guys, Number 7!"
While I made 6 attacks, I also made one in case Cana froze up, because she felt small compared to her father's power. The other four would attack and I would wake Cana back up.
"Cana, listen to me," I said, ignoring the shouts of "Water Lock," and "Solid Script; Freeze Water." "I know what you're thinking," I said. "And it's stupid."
"But…I'm not…"
"You are worthy," I told her. "Cana, you're six years old and with a group of other kids, two of which are younger than you, you're still holding your own against him. You saw the damages your attack did to him. Be proud, not scared."
She stood up as Gildarts broke through a frozen sphere of water.
"Formation Number 2, go!" I shouted. While this formation was the same as Number 3, it focused on different attacks.
"Solid Script; Blizzard!" Levy shouted, with Freed backing her up. "Rune-Write; Freeze."
Laxus and Juvia were holding hands as they resonated.
"A Unison Raid?" Macao asked.
"Unison Raid; Electric Water!" A humongous magical circle formed above the two, and a blast of water attacked Gildarts, shocking him immensely.
"Arms of the Earth," I yelled, pinning him in place so he got hit by it.
"Air Blades!" Cana yelled, slicing him up and particularly missing the vines holding him down (something that took the two of us hours to get right).
When everything finally cleared, he was still standing, though he looked like shit. "Impressive," he said. "Definitely impressive, especially for your age. You could take down most adult wizards with skill like that."
"Geez, I know he's Gildarts but this is ridiculous," Laxus said.
He sent out another wave of powerful Crash Magic, and I was too far away to block Levy and Freed.
As it came towards us, I shouted, "Number 6, everyone!"
Number 6 was the craziest plan I came up with, just because it was so ridiculous (for the most part). This one planned for him directly attacking us like this.
Freed jumped in front of Levy and sent a "Rune-Write; Barrier" in front of him. Laxus and Juvia activated their powers and defensive elemental forms.
I activated Pluto's Body and Cana sent out her Funhouse Cards, which was a set of cards that directly let her use the effects of a funhouse. This is what we were counting on.
Cana's mirrors reflected the attack, and sent the magic back to Gildarts, who easily dispelled it. Despite that, it surprised him, and what surprised him more was the rest of our reactions. He saw me turn into shadows, which did not connect in his head, because up until then I had only used Earth Magic. Cana's Funhouse Cards also ended up causing a type of illusion to her target; in effect, it made them drunk, or high, and ended up affecting their abilities.
I gathered my magic (and yesterdays) and took a deep breath.
"Crack…of the Earth!" I screamed, and the Earth underneath Gildarts feet split in two.
Juvia went next, sending a wave rushing through the ravine that Gildarts was trying to climb back up. He fell back down, but kept trying to climb back up.
Laxus sent a current of electricity through the water, shocking him and dropping Gildarts in the ravine again. Despite that, I could tell that he wasn't done yet, and he tried climbing again.
Despite the fact that Gildarts was climbing up the sides of the ravine, most of the guild was on the ground from all the shaking, demonstrating just how powerful this spell could be.
"Levy!" I shouted.
Her face blushing the same shade as Erza's hair, she shouted out one of her newest spells. "Solid Script; Underwear Attack!" A series of sexy underwear and bras exploded outward and attacked Gildarts, who started sweating and turning red.
"Finish him, Cana!" I yelled as I (still) maintained the earthquake, already burning through four magical storage cards.
She grabbed her cards and threw them at him, as he tried hanging onto the edge of the crack to pull himself onto the still shaking ground. "Sexy Lady Card!"
Several extremely attractive young girls in swimsuits appeared and began to hug Gildarts and rub themselves all over him.
His face grew redder, and nose exploded in blood before he passed out.
I stopped the earthquake, and collapsed on the ground, exhausted.
I had burned through six cards, in total.
"We did it!" Cana yelled.
Well, sort of. I was counting on the nosebleed, and I had Cana imbue the girls with Sleep Magic. I had also has Freed write Runes that would enhance both the Sleep Magic and the blood loss.
And, as I mentioned before, the Rune Wall was leeching power from him.
But no one else in the guild needed to know that.
The six of us cheered as we gathered.
The rest of the guild stared in awe.
To be fair, they did just watch a bunch of children take on the strongest wizard in the guild, do a unison raid, and create an earthquake.
I haven't mastered it; it still takes way to much energy from me, and I only did it because of the magical battery cards Cana gave us.
But I was still able to pull it off, and it felt amazing.
Macao and Wakaba went over to Gildarts and tried to pull him out of the ground. They looked at the huge crack. "Uh, what are we gonna do about this?"
"I'll fix it when I get my energy back."
I'm glad that I wasn't strong enough for a real earthquake, otherwise I would have destroyed all of Magnolia.
Though I could have used some of the extra energy to fix the damage, our containers get bigger when we let it refill naturally. After allowing so much of my own energy to run through me (like I was a magical jumper cable), it would be better (and I would get stronger) if I let it replenish on its own.
Wakaba dropped Gildarts's prone form on the ground. "Could someone explain what just happened?"
"More than that, can we talk about Cana having a card that summons hot chicks?" Macao asked.