'Battle of Fairy Tail' my ass Mason thought as he ran through the streets of Magnolia with Myrrah following behind. To Mason this felt more like a culling than an actual battle. With every street the duo passed, they saw more and more bodies of their guildmates. It didn't make any sense. If the whole point of the 'competition' was to defeat the Thunder Legion and Laxus. Why the hell were people fighting each other? Mason suddenly stopped in both motion and thought process when he realised who he had just found. Trying to hide his excitement as best as he could he shouted out to the wizard.
"Bickslow!"
The mage in question turned around and began to laugh out loud.
"Well if it ain't my favourite shrimp in the guild!" Bickslow could see the annoyance growing on the boy's face and threw out his arms wide. "Well? Are you going to give me a welcome home hug or are you too old for that kind of stuff now?"
Mason's inner thoughts commanded the boy to stay on guard, but he just couldn't help it. Ever since joining the guild he saw Bickslow like a big brother and even told Bickslow about it once. Which was a big mistake because now the man would tease him about it every time he came home. Mason ran forward with his own arms out and closed his eyes, preparing himself to hold his 'big brother'. However, rather than colliding with the man's body, his face collided with Bickslow's fist instead and was sent flying, crashing into a nearby stall. Myrrah yelped at this and ran to check up on the boy, but as soon as she did that, the area the two were in was surrounded by runes. Trapping them inside a small cubed area of the street.
Mason pushed himself up and began throwing numerous punches at the runed 'wall' in a fit of rage screaming.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING"
In a normal situation Bickslow would laugh at his opponent for getting caught so easily off guard, but this time was different. Bickslow was just as angry if not more so than the young boy.
"THAT SHOULD BE MY LINE!" Hearing the rage in Bickslow's voice, Mason ceased his flurry of punches and began slightly shaking. He had never seen him this angry. Seeing that the boy had stopped, Bickslow continued talking. "What the hell did you do with THAT voice kid?" Mason paled at the question. There was no way that Bickslow could have known that he gave his body to the voice a few days ago. Bickslow sensing the boy's uneasiness sighed and calmed down. "I thought we promised that you wouldn't use it, and don't tell me you didn't because I see it." Bickslow removed his hood to use his figure eyes on Mason. The second that Bickslow used his eyes, Mason could feel him staring into his soul. Bickslow continued talking to the boy while peering into his soul. "Whatever that thing is it's grown inside you since I last saw it. Keep this up and it will take over all of you." Finished with his little lecture Bickslow went to put his helmet back on, but just before he did, he noticed something different dwelling inside Myrrah and couldn't help but laugh at her situation.
"What's so funny?" Mason wasn't sure to be annoyed or confused at Bickslow's sudden change in emotion.
Bickslow just stared at the boy for a minute before realisation seeped in. "Oh my god you don't know do you?" Bickslow started howling with laughter before abruptly pointing towards Myrrah. "That little lady back there has got a few extra souls growing in her!"
Mason couldn't quite catch onto what Bickslow meant but it wasn't until he turned to face a mortified Myrrah who was currently trying to hide her face with her paws, did Mason understand what he meant.
"You little harlot." Mason couldn't help but laugh out loud due Myrrah's soft whimpers of embarrassment. "Is that what you've been doing when you sneak out of my room some nights?"
Bickslow couldn't help but enjoy this weird little 'family' moment before growing more serious, realising that he had wasted too much time on Mason and needed to continue with Laxus's plans.
"I'm sorry for this but Laxus's orders are absolute. Forgive me kid."
Mason didn't have enough time to even turn around before Bickslow's babies used a Barion Formation blast on Mason, knocking him unconscious. Bickslow went to turn around and continue walking up the street in order to hunt more fairies, but before he left, he propped Mason's body in an alleyway so that he would be more comfortable and apologised to Myrrah for everything. Bickslow managed to get halfway up the street before his babies informed him about a new target that was just his type to play around with.
"A cheerleader huh? Let's go babies!" Bickslow broke into a sprint laughing to his babies while making plans on how to ambush the newest recruit to the guild.
Myrrah watched Bickslow leave and couldn't help but feel conflicted. On one paw she wanted to try and take him down for pulling such a dirty move on Mason, but on the other paw she understood why he did it. Like he said Laxus's orders were absolute to him but at the same time he didn't want the young boy to suffer. She also knew that fighting will be off the table unless necessary due the lives that were beginning to form inside her. The only thing she could do right now lie down next to the boy, getting ready to defend him if need be.
A whirlwind of emotions passed through Mason when he first awoke. Pain, confusion, uneasiness, betrayal, and finally fatigue. Mason looked down at the curled form of Myrrah and opened his mouth.
"I don't know about you, but I think I'm done with all this. Wanna just go home?"
Myrrah picked herself up and stretched before leading the way. Clearly, she was just as tired as he was. Their walk home was cut short unfortunately from a voice inside his head. However, this wasn't the usual annoying voice inside his head, it was Warren. Warren was broadcasting to what must have been every member in the guild, explaining that the girls were safe and that Laxus activated something that was known as the 'thunder palace' in the sky. Mason couldn't help but whistle in awe at the sheer number of floating spheres that surrounded Magnolia. Warren's voice soon descended into a clusterfuck of every guildmate shouting and swearing at each other due to the fights they had against each other, clearly still angry at their opponents. Mason could understand this though, not only did he lose to Bickslow. He wasn't even strong enough to take one attack. Mason felt truly pathetic. During his Lament, a voice broke through and caught his attention. It wasn't Warren this time, it was Lucy, and what came next was a beautiful speech about the guild and what it means to be family. Just as quickly as it started, all the anger between guild mates dissipated and was replaced by a feeling of comradery. After Warren finished explaining how to deal with thunder palace, Mason and Myrrah ran to their designated spot and prepared themselves to take down two spheres.
Mason stretched his arms out in front of himself and felt the electricity coursing through his body and connecting between his two palms. With great concentration Mason began moulding the electricity into a spear that he could control in the air so if he misses his target, he could use his magic to change its trajectory mid-air.
The spear was finished, and Mason psyched himself up in order to pierce the sphere. Before the order to attack was given Mason came to a realisation. These belonged to Laxus which meant that the spheres were going to be incredibly durable right? Just in case they were Mason decided to put as much power into the sphere as he could, he didn't want to look weak twice in a day. Warren screamed the order to attack and with as much force as he could muster, Mason threw the lightning spear towards a sphere. It didn't take long to realise that the spheres were fragile. Incredibly fragile, and what was meant to take out one sphere destroyed five of the floating spheres.
Mason, who was thrilled about his destruction began celebrating with Myrrah. Their cheering was soon cut short by electricity surrounding the boy, as the electricity surrounded him, Mason realised why the spheres were so fragile. It was a type of link magic. Destroying one meant that the person who caused its destruction would be electrocuted. Instead of being terrified, Mason smirked. After all electricity doesn't affect him as much as other magics, with this newfound confidence Mason sat on the ground and waited to be 'lightly zapped' forgetting that he destroyed five instead of one. This was really going to hurt.