AN: Thank you Goku275 and MDM11. MDM11, I do think that Jenny could use her Machina Soul on Wall. His body is a machine, and the fact that every other type of Take Over uses living beings (animals, demons, etc.) gives me the impression that the only impact Wall's sentience would have on the spell's success would be him resisting it like how Mirajane was initially unable to Take Over Seilah (Chapter 380).
Back in Fairy Tail's guild hall, everybody was celebrating. Well, aside from Natsu (who was still unconscious) and Ajeel (who was still a prisoner).
"Another signal from the 12 went down in the south!" announced Warren enthusiastically.
"That means only seven of them are left!" counted Droy.
"We're winning! We're winning!" chanted several other Fairies.
This continued for a bit, only ending when Mavis and Makarov called for everyone's attention.
"As you can see," spoke the Fairy Tactician, gesturing to the display of Warren's Magic Radar. "The two remaining Spriggan approaching from the east are getting close to our guild hall. To minimize damage to Magnolia Town, we will be sending a small team of four mages to confront them a small distance beyond the edge of town."
"Keeping in mind the defeat of four Wizard Saints," continued Makarov. "I will be a part of this team. With me, I will take…"
"How much longer until we reach Fairy Tail?" Brandish asked Jacob. She was getting bored of walking, in part due to the hill they were currently ascending.
"Just a little bit further," replied Jacob, a few feet ahead of her. When he reached the top of the hill, he spoke again. "In fact, I can see it from here, Brandish."
"Finally," muttered Brandish. However, when the lazy woman reached her comrade, he grew serious.
"I figure I should warn you," spoke Jacob, confusing the other Spriggan. "I'm an assassin by trade, as well as one of the Spriggan 12… Jacob Lessio."
"So much for a surprise attack," said Makarov, moving out from behind a rock formation along with three more Fairies. "I suppose it only makes sense that someone who uses stealth to kill unsuspecting victims would be able anticipate such attacks."
"Why can't things ever be easy," groaned Lucy, her Celestial Spirit Gate Keys in hand.
"Where would the fun in that be?" asked Cana, half-jokingly, half-serious.
"It doesn't really matter to me, as long as we punish that one," stated Minerva as she pointed to Brandish. The Fairy recognized her from the Dragneels' account of Caracole Island, where a member of the Spriggan 12 beat up Millianna.
"Hmm? Punishment?" went the Spriggan in question. "I don't remember meeting you before. Although, I feel certain I've seen her—" Brandish gestured to Lucy "—somewhere. But… it isn't coming to me."
"You can figure it out later," Jacob tells his comrade. He then turns to Makarov. "Now, your speculation as to how I detected you was incorrect. You see, I don't bother with stealth. Care to guess why? It's because I don't need to hide. I make the bodies and witnesses vanish instead. That way, there's nobody left."
As he spoke, the Spriggan brought up his hands, keeping them a few inches apart.
"Bodies and witnesses?" echoed Cana, confused.
Rather than explain his words, Jacob clapped his hands together to activate his Transport magic. The Fairies, caught off guard, were unable to stop the Spriggan's spell, resulting in an intense wave of light washed over them.
Brandish stared at the sight before her, perplexed. The familiar-looking girl was now crammed inside a Celestial Spirit whose body resembled a grandfather clock.
"H-how lascivious!" exclaimed Jacob, his face scrunching up as he averted his gaze.
Also, the girl was naked.
"Here in the nick of time, was I not, Lucy?" spoke the Celestial Spirit. The Fairy answered, saying something that Brandish couldn't hear. "I felt a warp in the dimension… You ask why you are completely nude? Because this defensive magic requires it. But it will be some time before I can use it again, so please be careful."
With that, the Celestial Spirit vanished, leaving the Fairy behind. Still naked.
Brandish let out a giggle. "Oh my! That must be so embarrassing for her! She has absolutely nothing on her, aside from her… keys…"
The female Spriggan's blood ran cold as she caught sight of a certain golden key in Lucy's possession. Aquarius.
"Layla's daughter?" uttered Brandish, the puzzle pieces all clicking together in her head.
Lucy swiveled toward Brandish, so shocked that she lowered the arms that had been covering her body. "Huh? Did you know my mother?"
"Hey!" shouted Jacob, extremely flustered. "How could a young lady even think to—"
His words were cut off by another Fairy punching him with a fist coated in a rainbow-colored energy.
"Minerva?" went Lucy, surprised that her guildmate was also okay. "You're still here?"
"At the last second, I was able to use my Territory to shield myself from his magic," explained Minerva. "Of course, nobody noticed with how distracting your impromptu strip show was."
Lucy began to protest the 'strip show' comment, only for Minerva to cut her off.
"You won't be able to protect yourself if he tries that trick again. I'll take care of him, so you deal with Brandish."
"Got it," accepted Lucy, turning to face the female Spriggan with determined eyes. Minerva left, chasing after the enemy she knocked away.
"I never thought I'd stumble upon you here," said Brandish, her prior laziness gone. Her eyes and voice were both full of hatred. "Prepare to die."
As soon as the word 'die' passed Brandish's lip, Lucy found her body shrunken to the size of a doll. Before she could process this change, the Spriggan's hand wrapped around her body and brought her up to chest level.
"What did my mother ever do to you!?" demanded Lucy.
"It's too much of a pain to explain," responded Brandish. The Spriggan started to tighten her grip and crush the Fairy's body.
"Star Dress: Leo Form!" cried Lucy, a dress materializing around her body. "Regulus!"
A blinding light shone from Lucy's body, forcing Brandish to avert her eyes. In the process, the Spriggan's grip loosened, allowing the tiny Fairy to break free.
"Open Gate of the Golden Bull! Tauros!" shouted Lucy. The Celestial Spirit appeared, the same size as his summoner. "Take her left leg while I get the right one! Regulus Lucy Kick!"
As Lucy kicked Brandish's right shin, Tauros headbutted the Spriggan's left shin. The strikes were not enough to seriously injure her, but they did knock Brandish onto her butt.
"Tauros, Gate close! Open Gate of the Ram! Aries! Trap her limbs with your wool!"
As the newly summoned spirit carried out Lucy's command, the Fairy ran up to the Spriggan and touched her leg.
"Star Dress: Gemini!" yelled Lucy, changing powers. "Copy: Command T!"
Imitating Brandish's magic, Lucy restored herself to full size. The first thing she did was throw a punch at the Spriggan's face, only to get shrunken again.
"My Magic Power is far greater than yours," said Brandish. She shrank Aries's wool and stood back up. "I can instantly undo any changes you make with it."
Lucy clicked her teeth. So much for being normal-sized again. Luckily, she now had an idea of how to win.
"Aries, Gate close! Open Gate of the Scorpion and Gate of the Maiden! Scorpio and Virgo! Scorpio, stall Brandish while Virgo digs!"
"Sand Buster!" shouted Scorpio, blasting the Spriggan's face with sand as Lucy gave Virgo her orders.
Brandish shielded her eyes as the sand hit her. Grimacing she began using Command T to compress the attack in front of her. "You're nowhere near the 12's league! Command T: Expansion!"
With those words, the Spriggan decompressed Scorpio's spell in the direction it came from. Scorpio protected Lucy with his body, taking the brunt of the attack and getting sent back to the Celestial Spirit World. However, Lucy did not escape unscathed, getting battered by the grains of sand (which were, relatively speaking, the size of rocks).
After the sand ran out, Virgo emerged and reported to her mistress. "Princess, I have fulfilled your task."
"Great work! Now, we can beat this Spriggan!"
Brandish heard this and snorted. "I'm starting to think you're all looks. You must have heard about what I did to Caracole Island, so why do you think you can beat me by digging away the ground under me?"
"Who said I was having Virgo create a pit trap?" replied the Fairy, grinning. "No, I was having her make a pathway to an underground river. Star Dress: Aquarius."
After Lucy's clothes changed, she made water spurt from the hole that Virgo had just exited from. The Fairy put one of her keys into the tiny geyser, fulfilling the conditions to summon her most terrifying Celestial Spirit.
Brandish's eyes widened. Her mind screamed at her to stop what was about to happen, but her body was frozen with fear.
"When I used Gemini's power on you, I caught a glimpse of your memories," explained Lucy. "I know how to defeat you. Open Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!"
"Territory Nihility!" shouted Minerva, throwing a magically augmented punch at Jacob's face.
The Spriggan, having recovered from his shock and embarrassment at seeing Lucy naked, dodged the blow. Then, he grabbed her extended arm and flipped the Fairy over his shoulder, slamming her into the ground.
"An easy win against the Spriggan 12 would be asking for too much," Minerva said to herself. She rose to her feet — wrapping more of her magic around her fists — only to notice that Jacob was nowhere to be seen. "Don't tell me! Did he leave to help his comrade take out Lucy!?"
The Fairy, growing nervous, started to run back in the direction of her friend. However, she didn't get five feet before a sharp blow to her back knocked Minerva to the ground again.
"I'm here," said Jacob from behind her. The Spriggan's right arm was raised, his elbow having just been smashed into the Fairy's back. "And Brandish doesn't need my help to take out your shameless comrade."
"Territory Explosion!" yelled Minerva, rolling onto her back and throwing her hand out in the direction of Jacob's voice. But, as that area exploded, the Fairy gasped. To her surprise, once again there was no trace of the Spriggan. "What is this? Teleportation? No, I'd be able to detect that with my own magic. It isn't a matter of speed, otherwise he'd just overwhelm me with a barrage of swift attacks. Maybe invisibility?"
"Correct," answered Jacob, appearing next to Minerva. He stomped on her head, grinding his foot into it. "However, knowing that doesn't make it any less effective."
"Territory Explosion!"
The Spriggan backed off to evade her spell, disappearing once again. Minerva got back up, eyeing the area around her warily.
"On the contrary, knowing makes all the difference!" declared the Fairy, a strategy already coming to mind. She raised her arms and began the incantation to summon Yagdo Rigora. "Niel Wielg Mion…"
Jacob (still invisible) smirked as he quietly approached Minerva. "She must be trying to use a spell that will affect the whole area to catch me in the blast radius. But chanting like that means leaving yourself vulnerable to an attack!"
Except, before the Spriggan could carry out his attack, a bright light erupted from the Fairy. It cancelled out his invisibility and forced Jacob to shield his eyes.
"Terse Elcan… there you are!" exclaimed Minerva, breaking off her chant now that her enemy was visible. "Territory Drain!"
A translucent, dark-colored sphere appeared around the Spriggan, siphoning his Magic Power. He swayed on his feet for a moment, then grew steady again.
"She pretended to be preparing an attack, when in reality she was producing a light to expose me," thought Jacob, grimacing. "How problematic."
The Spriggan reached into his pocket, then pulled his arm out and swung it at Minerva vigorously. To her surprise, the Fairy's and body suddenly suffered damage without a clear source. She cried out in pain, feeling like she was getting battered by a whip. The mixture of disorientation and injury caused her Territory Drain to fail, freeing Jacob.
"What is this!?" shouted Minerva, raising her arms defensively.
"It's a whip," explained the Spriggan, grinning smugly. "I can vanish and make others vanish. I can see the invisible and hide the visible! That is my magic!"
Omake
As Lucy summoned Aquarius, a certain thought passed through her mind.
"Women's bodies and Aquarius… I never expected these Spriggan to have such huge weaknesses. I don't know whether to be happy for Fiore or embarrassed for the Alvarez Empire."
AN: 7 Spriggan remain in fighting shape, with two captured (Ajeel and Dimaria) and three dead (August, God Serena, Wall). With two more fighting, I suppose that sort of means that we're halfway through the 12. I don't know whether or not the same can be said about the arc as whole, though. Not until I actually write it.
Anyway, that's all. Goodbye for now!