Apologies for the delay, things have been hectic these last few months. Plus, I also got hooked on playing Persona 5 Strikers, which I highly recommend to anyone who has finished playing Persona 5/Persona 5 Royal.
Also on another note, today marks the 10 year anniversary since I joined Fanfiction. It's unbelievable how fast time flies.
Anyways, without further ado, here is Chapter 4 of Fire Fairies.
Special thanks to The 3rd Dragneel for helping with edits.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or Fire Force!
Fire Fairies Chapter 4: Flare Up
The crowd was abuzz with excitement as they prepared for the announcement of the first day's battles. Shinra puffed his cheeks out of irritation with his arms dangling from the side of their observation gallery.
"Something on your mind, Shinra?" Maki asked her teammate, who seemed to be in a sour mood.
"Nothing much." Said Shinra. "Just wondering what's taking Arthur so long. I mean Hinawa should have found him by now."
"It's a pretty big stadium, but I wouldn't be too worried about it, Shinra." Obi said, patting his underling on the back.
"Yeah, but you never know. Hinawa might have gotten distracted by something like… well I don't know. Maybe one of those stupid pumpkin hats that they sell at the gift shop. I mean I can totally see Hinawa getting one of…" Shinra stopped talking when he noticed that Obi and Maki had gone completely stiff, with Maki having a nervous look on her face.
"What's up with you gu…?" Shinra stiffened when he suddenly felt a cold chill go down his spine. "…He's right behind me, isn't he?" Shinra asked as he started to sweat, while a nervous smile unconsciously manifested on his face.
Both Obi and Maki nodded slowly. Shinra slowly turned his head, coming face to face with Hinawa and his cold unblinking gaze. Under his arm, Hinawa was carrying Arthur, who was sporting a large bump on his head.
He looked up and gave his teammates a nervous wave. "H-hey guys." Arthur greeted with blood running down his head due to the bump.
Shinra ignored Arthur, instead choosing to maintain his focus on the much bigger threat before him. "H-Hinawa, nice job on finding the idiot knight! For a second there, I thought we would have to go and…" Shinra never got the chance to finish as Hinawa landed a karate chop on his head causing him to go quiet. A second later, Shinra was squatting on the floor groaning in pain as he clutched his aching cranium.
Hanami walked past Shinra and handed the dangling Arthur to Obi, who quickly took him off his comrade's hands.
"Glad to see you were able to find him Hinawa. So, where was he this time?" Obi asked as he gently put Arthur down.
"He was talking to the Fairy Tail mage Gray Fullbuster." Hinawa said with a professional tone.
"Oh, great!" Hibana said from the edge of the balcony. Everyone turned their attention towards her as she closed her fan. "Please don't tell me that Arthur spilled everything to him?" Hibana said with an exasperated tone.
"Hey, give me some credit. I didn't reveal anything major to him." Arthur said with an offended tone. He then blinked when Hibana walked towards him and pointed her fan at his face.
"That just means that you still told him something you shouldn't have. So, out with it." Hibana said with a stern tone.
Arthur grumbled. "I just gave him a bit of a stern pep talk and told him that we had high expectations of him and his guild and that we may have our eyes on Fairy Tail." Arthur said that with his trademark expression.
Arthur quickly raised his hand to block a kick from Shinra. Arthur quickly pushed back, causing Shinra to backflip away.
"Have you completely lost it, you idiot knight? Why would you tell him something like that and let them know that we are watching them?" Said Shinra with a scowl.
"Honestly, I don't think it's that big a deal." Arthur said obliviously.
"What?" Shinra growled preparing to kick him again. Thankfully, Obi was able to get in between the two rivals to prevent things from getting out of control.
"Take it easy, Shinra. While Arthur needs to be more careful not to let sensitive information slip, I agree that what he told this Gray guy is not a big deal. I mean think about it. All Arthur said was that we have our eyes on them. Even if their reputation is not what it once was, the fact that all their strongest members have returned after a seven-year gap is bound to get a lot of attention. In this case, what Arthur said could easily be taken as just a friendly way to say that we expect them to put up a good fight." Obi explained fully.
Shinra groaned as he kicked the ground while glancing away. "Well, when you put it like that, I guess it's ok." Shinra said with hesitant acceptance.
"Alrighty then, in that case, let's sit back and wait for them to announce the battle pairings." Obi said with a satisfied chuckle. He then turned towards Hinawa.
"Thanks again for helping to find Arthur. I think you should head back now. I don't like the idea of leaving poor Tamaki and Iris alone with Benimaru and Burns. They can only do so much to keep those two in check after all." Obi said while tapping his comrade on the shoulder.
Hinawa nodded. "Agreed. I'll head back now." Hinawa said as he turned to leave. "One last thing by the way." He said as glanced behind him. "Please make sure to keep a better eye on Arthur and make sure he does not wander off again." After saying his piece, Hinawa jogged his way out of their observation area and back to the other members.
Obi chuckled at his comrade's warning and was about to turn around when he stopped. "Oh, that reminds me. Shinra, you know that little girl you brought to that doctor last night?" Obi asked, getting Shinra's attention.
"Oh yeah. Because of how crazy everything's been, I haven't been able to check up on her after she was attacked. Did you hear something, Captain?" Shinra asked in anticipation.
Obi nodded. "Yeah, I talked to Hinawa earlier right before he left to find Arthur. He mentioned that that young girl was taken in by her guild. She's being kept in the infirmary assigned to the Fairy Tail Guild." Obi told him.
Shinra smiled at the news. "Wow, that's good to hear. Thanks, sir. Wait, how exactly was Hinawa able to get that information so quickly?" Shinra asked.
"After we started the preliminaries, Hinawa checked in with some of his old military contacts stationed here in Crocus." Obi said.
Maki frowned. "You don't suppose it was the White Clads, do you?"
"I doubt it." Hibana said. "Considering what happened to her, it sounds like this was the work of some small-time thugs. Plus, if that little girl had come into contact with a White Clad, odds are she would be either dead, burned… or the worst-case scenario, she would no longer be human anymore." Hibana said the last part with a menacing frown.
"Yeah, that's true. But while I agree that she may not have been attacked by the White Clads, there's still the possibility that those thugs that did may have been hired by a proxy of theirs. So, I was thinking of going to try and ask her some questions to get a better idea of what happened." Obi informed everyone with a serious tone.
"I'm planning to go see her after they announce the matchup for our team. I don't want to risk going earlier in case they call my name and I'm not here." Obi said getting a nod from everyone.
Just as he said that, the center of the stadium came to life as giant visual monitors appeared hovering over the center of the stadium, with the names of the different guilds projected on them.
"Alright folks. Without further ado, we are ready to announce today's matchups for the first-day battles of the Grand Magic Games!" Chapati announced, earning cheers from the crowd.
"First up is Fairy Tail Team A's Lucy Heartfilia vs Raven Tail's Flare Corona!" Chapati announced as the names on the screen were replaced with images of Lucy and Flare.
"Looks like Fairy Tail's going up first." Maki said with an excited look on her face. "I can't wait to see what Lucy can do."
Hibana closed her fan and narrowed her eyes with a pensive look as she focused on Flare. The redhead calmly made her way towards Lucy, all the while her eyes remained wide, and her head tilted, giving her a deranged appearance.
"Something up, Hibana?" Obi questioned, getting her attention.
"I just have a feeling that the deranged redhead down there is going to be trouble. She gives off the vibe of someone who knows how to handle herself, but is also capable of doing something desperate or crazy when pushed to the edge. Also, her name… Flare Corona… I feel like I've heard that name before…" Hibana said while staring at Flare, who was talking to Lucy.
"Maybe you crossed paths with her before and just don't remember? I mean no offense, but this wouldn't be the first time that you forgot about someone you thought was beneath you." Obi stated bluntly, causing Hibana to wack his helmet with her closed fan, creating a loud dinging sound.
"This isn't like that. While I can tell she's not much power-wise, I would remember meeting a woman like her." Hibana said with an annoyed tone.
"Now let's Rumble!" Mato suddenly announced, getting their attention just as a gong was struck.
"Here we go." Shinra said as Lucy made the first move and pointed one of her keys at Flare.
With the rest of Fire Force, they calmly watched as Lucy and Flare began their battle. Lucy started by summoning her celestial Spirit Tauros. He moved in to attack Flare, who dodged by jumping back. Lucy quickly followed up by summoning another spirit, which manifested into the spirit Scorpio, who fired a cyclone of sand towards Flare.
The redhead simply laughed as her hair extended, moving erratically around her. Then right before the cyclone hit her, her hair burst into flames, which she used to block the cyclone.
While the younger members of the guild were surprised by what Flare did, Benimaru merely raised an eyebrow.
"Huh, that's new. Never seen a pyrokinetic use their hair to manifest flames." Benimaru mumbled with a bored expression while leaning his face on his fist.
"Those aren't ordinary flames." Burns commented, getting Benimaru's attention.
"You say something, old man?" Benimaru bluntly asked.
Burns sighed as he turned away from the match to look at Benimaru. "Are you telling me that girl doesn't look familiar to you?" Burns asked.
Benimaru looked bored as he answered. "How the hell should I know?" Benimaru asked in a nonchalant tone.
"If you'd been paying attention during our meetings back at HQ, then you would know that Flare Corona is one of the mages of interest that our guild's been keeping an eye on."Burns explained to the lazy man.
"Wait, that girl?" Benimaru asked looking back to the match in time to see Lucy have both of her spirits combine their attacks to unleash a massive sandstorm that sent Flare flying.
After watching Flare tumble down in surprise by Lucy's attack, Benimaru looked back to Burns.
"You serious? That Flare chick doesn't seem especially strong to me. Unless you think she's some kind of cannon fodder for the White Clad?" asked Benimaru.
"Her strength isn't what's important, it's the properties of the flames her hair possesses." Burns turned his eye towards Benimaru.
"According to the research we've done, that girl's hair was blessed by the Eternal Flame." Burns said, causing Benimaru to blink.
"Wait… you're telling me that deranged-looking woman is from the Sun Village of the giants? How are you even sure of that?" Benimaru asked.
"The members of my company were quite thorough. Not to mention that Hibana also had her company look into this as well. Honestly, I'm surprised that you of all people failed to keep tabs on Flare and were unaware of her connection to the Sun Village." Burns said apathetically.
Benimaru twitched. "Whatever. So, what's a girl like her doing with punks like Raven Tail? Think she's a spy for the White Clad?" Benimaru asked.
"That part, I don't know. We'll definitely need to keep our eyes on her too." Burns said as he and Benimaru returned their focus to the match.
They looked back just in time to see Flare's hair strike into the ground, only to appear behind Lucy. Lucy was unable to avoid Flare's hair as it wrapped around her legs and then proceeded to whip her around the stadium. However, Lucy quickly retaliated by firing some kind of magical whip of her own, which wrapped itself around Flare's legs. What followed was a crazy tug of war between the two females that sent them both flying through the arena and Flare even set the hair around Lucy's legs on fire.
Eventually, their little tug of war ended and both fighters went tumbling to opposite sides of the stadium. However, Flare looked genuinely shocked when Lucy got back on her feet, removing the burnt boots she was wearing.
"Huh, blondie's tougher than she looks." Benimaru said while stroking his chin. "She looks pretty fragile, but it turns out she can duke it out just fine with the crazy-looking redhead."
"I know right? She's so amazing!" Iris exclaimed with stars in her eyes. "I heard that Fairy Tail mages were incredible, but seeing them in action is an entirely different story."
"Yeah, and there are supposed to be mages that are even stronger than her, right? I can't wait to see what else they can do!" Tamaki said with a look of awe on her face.
Suddenly, Flare gave a loud shriek and then her hair stuck itself into the ground.
"Don't tell me she's going to try and attack her from underground again?" Tamaki questioned with a surprised look.
For several seconds nothing happened. Then, Lucy suddenly looked to the side and it seemed like she was about to yell something. However, Flare's hair appeared from behind Lucy, gagging her and sending her to the ground.
Lucy got to her knees as Flare slowly began to approach her. Flare's back was to them so they could not see her face, but they did see the terrified expression on Lucy's face.
Then suddenly, Flare unleashed a flaming barrage onto Lucy, causing her to cry out in pain.
Tamaki and Iris looked worried as Lucy suffered under Flare's harsh blows. Meanwhile, Hinawa and Vulcan were looking at the match, with the latter frowning as Flare toyed with Lucy by tossing her around like a rag doll.
"Something's not right. Why isn't she fighting back?" Vulcan asked. He looked towards Hinawa sitting next to him. "Hinawa, can you see what's going on?"
Hinawa's face appeared neutral on the outside, but those who knew him could tell that he was frowning in his own way.
"Her vicious attacks aside, it doesn't look like Flare Corona has done anything else to Lucy Heartfilia… However, there is one thing that bothers me." said Hinawa with his arms crossed.
"What's that?" Vulcan asked.
Hinawa pointed towards Flare. Pulling out some binoculars, Vulcan focused his vision on Flare. Hinawa then moved the binoculars to a certain direction, and Vulcan soon saw the same thing his comrade did. Aside from the strands attacking Lucy, one extension of Flare's hair was still buried underground.
"She still hasn't pulled out that strand of hair from the ground yet." Hinawa said cryptically.
Back with Shinra and the others, he and Maki were shocked by the brutal display taking place before them.
"What the hell just happened?" Maki asked incredulously. "Lucy had her on the ropes just a second ago."
After dragging Lucy through the dirt again, Flare once more launched a barrage of flaming hair at her. Each strike making an audible snap as the flaming whips impacted Lucy's skin.
"Something feels wrong here. Lucy should have done something to attack her by now." Shinra growled as he clenched his fists, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight before him.
Even Arthur's normal façade looked shaken by the sight before him. Just as Flare moved closer to Lucy, Arthur saw something that caught his eye.
"Hey, guys." He said getting everyone's attention before pointing towards Flare. "Have you noticed that some of her hair is sticking into the ground?" Arthur asked.
Maki and Shinra blinked as they tried to focus on where Arthur was pointing. Noticing that they were having trouble, Obi stepped forward and put his arm into the confines of his coat, before pulling out a pair of binoculars. Bringing them to his eyes, Obi focused on where Arthur was pointing.
"He's right." Obi said. "Some of her hair is still hiding somewhere underground."
"What the hell does that have to do with anything?!" Shinra yelled.
Before Obi could answer, Flare stopped whipping Lucy and let her hair fall back. Lucy had her head lowered and she was shaking from the pain of having received so many harsh blows. It looked as though she was trying to say something, but without warning, Flare's hair wrapped around her mouth again, as well as grabbed each of her limbs, lifting her into the air.
Then to everyone's shock and horror, Flare's hair transformed into the emblem of Raven Tail and starting glowing red hot. Lucy looked terrified as Flare moved it closer to her body.
"This isn't even a fight anymore!" Arthur yelled. "It's nothing but torture!"
"Something is definitely wrong. No one just stands by and takes something like this without trying to struggle or fight back." Hanabi said with a frown, having lost her usual calm façade.
From within his helmet, Obi narrowed his eyes at the sight before him. Looking through the binoculars, he focused on Lucy, then back to Flare, then to the hair still in the ground. Suddenly, Obi's eyes widened as he moved towards a part of the stadium where the Fairy Tail guild was located.
'Don't tell me that she…' he thought before zooming in on the guild in question. He quickly looked over each of the members in attendance before doubling back to a little girl wearing a cowboy hat. Unknown to the girl or the two people next to her that he assumed were her parents, there was a small strand of red hair waving back and forth behind her.
"Son of a bitch." Obi said, getting Shinra's attention, who snatched the binoculars out of Obi's hands to see what he had seen.
The moment he did, Shinra dropped the binoculars, revealing the look of rage on his face. "That witch! She's holding a little girl hostage!" Shinra shouted furiously, shocking Maki and the others.
Shinra then tried to jump onto the ledge of the platform, but was pulled back by Obi. "Calm down, Shinra!" Obi ordered as he made sure to keep a tight grip on Shinra.
"Let me go, Captain!" Shinra yelled as he struggled to get free. "I've got to stop this match and save that little girl!"
"I want to stop this too, Shinra! But don't just charge in recklessly. Think about it: if you suddenly fly towards where that girl is, Flare is bound to notice and if she's startled, it may cause her to harm both that little girl and Lucy." Obi told him in a serious tone, causing Shinra to stop.
"We'll have to make our way around through the stadium and to Fairy Tail's platform so that she won't see us." Obi said.
However, before they could act, Flare seemed to have made her decision as she inched her brand slowly towards Lucy's hand where her Fairy Tail guild mark is located.
"Captain, we don't have time!" Maki yelled out of concern for her friend.
"She's going to brand her. We have to act now." Hibana said, unfolding her found with flames starting to form around it.
"We may not need to." Arthur said, catching everyone by surprise.
"What the hell are you trying to say, you idiot…" Shinra asked irritably, but was interrupted when Arthur pointed towards where the Fairy Tail guild was located.
"Just look over their dumbass!" Arthur shouted at him.
Shinra and the others looked to where Arthur was pointing. Picking up Obi's binoculars, Shinra's eyes widened just as Natsu suddenly appeared behind the little girl and grabbed Flare's hair. He had an angry look on his face and then proceeded to burn the hair up.
The action seemed to have caught Flare by surprise as she stopped torturing Lucy, who also looked towards where Natsu was.
"YOU'RE IN THE CLEAR, LUCY!" Natsu yelled from the stands.
Lucy appeared to have heard him as she quickly took advantage of Flare's state of shock to reach into the pouch where she stored her keys, which glowed with a brilliant white light.
"Open Gate of the Twins: Gemini!" From her key, two arcs of light shot forth, dancing in the air around her which also freed her from Flare's bindings.
After falling to the ground, Lucy turned towards the two tiny blue spirits that materialized next to her.
"Alright Gemini, get ready to use that!" Lucy said with a determined expression.
"Are you sure?" Gemi asked.
"We haven't tested it in real battle yet!" Said Mini.
"I know, but now is as good a time as any to put it to the test." Lucy urged her two spirits.
"Okay, here we go!" The twins said as they were consumed by a bright light. A second later, the twins assumed a new form. However, the form they took caused Lucy to gasp in shock, while every man in the stadium did a double-take before they started cheering and catcalling Lucy and Gemini who turned into a copy of her. Unfortunately, unlike their master, Gemini was not wearing clothes and their modesty, or rather Lucy's, was only barely concealed by a towel.
With the members of Fire Force, both groups had different reactions.
With Obi and Benimaru's groups, the two leaders merely stared with blank expressions at Lucy's apparent blunder. Iris, was busy concealing the twin's eyes from the lascivious sight, Hinawa and Vulcan were looking away with blushes on their cheeks.
Tamaki, however, was gasping in shock. "Don't tell me she has the lucky lecher lure too?!"
With the second group, Obi, Shinra and Arthur also had some interesting reactions to this unexpected transformation.
"Well... did not see that coming." Obi said as he quickly attempted to look away. However, before he knew what had happened, his world flipped as Hibana kicked him in his helmeted face, forcing him to the ground.
"It's not polite to peep, Obi!" Hibana said, while smacking her fan into her hand and keeping her foot on Obi's chest.
"But I wasn't even looking!" Obi tried to argue.
"That's what they all say." Hibana said.
Meanwhile, Arthur and Shinra were gaping with shock at Lucy's sudden transformation. Arthur's face burned with a fierce blush, while Shinra's nervous smile stretched to creepy proportions.
However, both froze as they felt intense pressure from behind them.
"LOOK AWAY, YOU PERVS!" Maki yells as she smacked both of her comrades into the ground.
"Sorry, ma'am." Both males expressed while their heads were buried in the stone floor.
"Why the heck did you transform into that form?!" Lucy cried out to Gemini, horrified by the fact that an entire stadium of people has now seen her practically naked.
"Don't blame us! This is the last form you had us take the last time we copied you." Gemini justified, not at all bothered by the fact that they were being ogled by every male in the stadium.
Lucy cried out. "Screw it! Let's just do it, okay?!"
"Alright!" Gemini replied happily as they and Lucy got into position. They stood side by side to one another and clasped each other's hands as they began to chant.
Oh, stars far and wide that embody the heavens...
By thy radiance, reveal thy form,
I implore Tetrabiblos, Eternal Ruler of the Stars above...
Open the taging tumulteuous gate,
With every word they chanted, both Lucy and Gemini's magical power continued to grow. The amount of magic energy she was gathering was enough to cause Flare to pause in her attack as her formerly overconfident expression was now replaced by one of fear.
"Not bad, this just got very interesting" Benimaru muttered as his and Burns' full attention was now on Lucy as she prepared to cast one of the strongest spells in a Celestial Spirit Wizard's arsenal.
"GO LUCY!" Natsu, Maki, Shinra and all of Lucy's comrades shouted as she prepared to unleash the fury of the stars.
With all 88 Heavenly Bodies...
Shining!
Urano Metria!
A bright light enveloped the coliseum as arcs of light danced through the air and the magical energy condensed into its final form in preparation to attack Flare.
"IT'S OVER!" Lucy and Gemini yelled while Flare screamed in terror as she raised her arms in a vain attempt to protect herself.
Then without warning, the blinding light in the stadium suddenly vanished. The entire crowd fell silent, with only the wind making any kind of noise. Lucy's confident expression was replaced with one of shock, as Gemini disappeared with a flash of light.
"What…happened?" Lucy whispered just as her legs gave out and she collapsed. Flare meanwhile was equally shocked by how her opponent's attack suddenly vanished. Her eyes widened in realization as she looked towards her fellow Raven Tail members, specifically to the blue humanoid figure.
'Obra. You saved me' Flare thought as her smile turned into one of sinister relief. As she stood back up, Flare started chuckling to herself, before descending into a fit of insane laughter.
"HAHAHAHA! HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT BLONDIE!?" She yelled with morbid glee.
"Lucy is down!" Chapati yelled as he finally got over his shock. "That means the winner of the first round is Flare from Raven Tail!" Chapati announced causing the spectators to erupt into cheers once again.
"Mr. Yajima, any comment on what just…" Chapati's commentary ended abruptly, as he and Jenny flinched when they saw the furious expression on Yajima's face.
Maki, Shinra and Arthur stared in shock as Flare laughed at Lucy.
"What the hell just happened?!" Shinra asked incredulously.
"One minute, Lucy's spell was about to hit her opponent. Then the next thing we know, she's on the ground powerless. It doesn't make any sense! Lucy had this in the bag!" Maki ranted as she clenched her fists, her temper getting the best of her, as members of the audience were now starting to insult Lucy and make fun of her defeat.
"Did the princess' spell fail her?" Arthur asked.
"No…" All three looked to Hibana, who had a frown on her face.
"While that girl may be the weakest member of her team, there is no denying that she's got excellent coordination with her spirits and precise control of her magic. What's more, that spell she tried to pull off, her form was perfect and the way she gathered magic into her attack was flawless. By all accounts, it should have hit her opponent." She said watching as Natsu ran towards Lucy, who was covering her face to hide her tears.
Hibana then glared towards Flare, who still has a smug expression on her face. "Furthermore, with all of that magic power she was gathering, even if she failed to properly contain it, the sheer amount of magic wouldn't just disappear like that. If anything, it should have been much more noticeable. In this case, the energy just dropped down to zero." Hibana said while slowly looking towards the rest of Raven Tail. All of whom had sinister smiles on their faces.
"I suspect foul play here." said Hibana.
"Well, if that's the case then shouldn't we-" Shinra tried to speak up.
"It's not our place." Maki said catching his attention.
"What?! But Maki, Lucy deserved to win the match! We can't just…" Shinra tried to argue, but Maki slammed her hand on the stone wall in front of her, creating noticeable cracks as a result.
"Don't you think I know that?!" Maki yelled as she clenched her fists. "I know that Lucy worked hard to win this round, especially after what that Raven Tail hussy tried to pull… but listen to what's happening around you."
Shinra frowned as the insults of the masses were thrown towards Lucy, along with fits of laughter.
"At this moment, Lucy's pride and that of her guild's has just been dealt a critical blow. This was their moment to take the world by storm and show that they are still as powerful as they once were. But that was taken from them." Maki said with tears in her eyes as she remembered her first meeting with Lucy and how cheerful she was.
"But if we just step in and try to hold their hand, all that will do is hurt them even more." Maki said with resolve as she stood up and stared at Shinra. "As much as I want to help Lucy, we have to let her and her guild stand on their own two feet."
Shinra was surprised at first, but soon nodded as he understood the message Maki was trying to tell him.
"Alright... I understand why we need to stay out of this… but that doesn't mean I have to like it." Shinra said while gritting his teeth.
Turns out Shinra and co. were not the only ones who were angry at that moment.
Burns and Benimaru frowned as their gaze went from Lucy being carried by Natsu with tears in her eyes, and then towards Raven Tail.
While Burns was able to keep his emotions in check, Benimaru was a different story.
"That was pretty pathetic, blondie! I mean seriously, what an epic fail!" A random male spectator cackled from behind.
"Yeah, no kidding. Fairy Tail must be really desperate to have someone like that in their guild." Yelled another.
"Hey I know, why don't you quit being a mage and keep us company instead? We'll be sure to keep you company and show you what a real man can do." A third yelled.
One more followed. "Yeah, who cares about being a mage? All she needs to work is to take that fine body of hers and…"
The spectator never got a chance to finish that statement as intense pressure washed over the stadium, causing all the fans to go silent as the temperature slowly started to rise.
Lucy and Natsu stopped walking as they felt the intense pressure spread past them. The rest of the Fairy Tail teams, as well as their members in the stands also responded with shocked expressions. Makarov and Mavis looked towards the stands where Fire Force was located and it did not take long for Makarov to recognize just who was responsible for this intense heat and pressure.
"Wait a minute... Isn't that Benimaru Shinmon?" Makarov asked with shock in his voice. "I knew he was strong as a young boy, but to think he'd get this powerful in just seven years." Makarov whispered as he managed to keep his cool but still felt some sweat trickle down his brow.
With Raven Tail, their cocky expressions vanished and were replaced with ones of unease and in Flare's case, fear as she felt as though the rising heat in the stadium was trying to crawl through her skin and burn her from the inside out.
All the other teams suddenly had their guard up. Even Sabertooth's mages, who previously looked bored, seemed more attentive at Benimaru's display of power.
Back with Benimaru, his intense pressure rolled through the stadium, but it was mostly focused on the male spectators behind him that were heckling Lucy. All of whom dared not move or even breathe out of fear that the scorching pressure would incinerate them.
All the while, Benimaru continued to remain sitting while his form was hunched over with his elbows on his legs.
"Hey, assholes…" Benimaru suddenly said in his usual bored voice. However, unlike before, this time his voice carried an intense edge to it that caused the targets of his fury to freeze.
"Your voices are annoying…" Benimaru then turned his head towards them, his X-shaped pupil glowing with a violent red light that pierced through each of their souls and causing them to feel intense fear.
"... So shut. The. Hell. Up." Benimaru said with such authority that the hecklers dared not question it.
"EEEAAAAKKK!" the male spectators cried out in fear sensing their final moments were at hand.
Fortunately for them, they were saved by an unlikely source.
"That's enough, Shinmon Benimaru." said Burns with an authoritative tone. The use of his preferred moniker, along with the authority in his voice, had the desired effect and caused Benimaru to look back to his superior.
"I can understand your frustration, but losing control here won't help the situation. If anything, it will only make things difficult. So, calm down and let things take their natural course." Burns said with wisdom.
Benimaru was quiet as he contemplated Burns's words. His nearby comrades gulped nervously (except for the twins, who seemed giddy at the prospect of Benimaru cutting loose). Fortunately, Burns' words had the desired effect. Benimaru took a deep breath, and a second later, the intense pressure disappeared, and the stadium returned to normal.
"Awwww. Come on, Waka! We want to see you kick the old coot's ass!" Hinata said with a disappointed expression.
"Yeah, come on, Waka! Blow something up!" Hikage said with a pout.
"That's not something anyone wants to see happen, you little brats!" Tamaki cried waving her arms furiously while Iris just seemed lost about how to deal with the situation.
Benimaru stood up, causing everyone to go silent. However, he put his hands in his pocket and began walking towards the entrance.
"Umm, where are you going?" Vulcan asked nervously.
Benimaru did not even stop to look back when he answered him. "Those idiots pissed me off and ruined my good mood. I'm going to get a drink."
With his piece said, Benimaru disappeared into the stadium, leaving behind a few surprised guild members and an arena full of confused people.
"I'm surprised he didn't try to blow something up. He must really be in a bad mood." Hinawa said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Is it really that bad?" Vulcan asked in confusion.
Hinawa looked at him. "I keep forgetting that you haven't known him as long as we have. But usually, that man is always in a mood to blow something up. As you can no doubt tell, he's a bit of a wild child. However, it's been a while since I've seen him this angry." Hinawa summarized.
"Damn, that dude sounds hella scary. I'm so glad he's on our side. Still, I can understand why he's upset." Vulcan said.
Hinawa looked down towards the two Fairy Tail mages, who had recovered from the shock of the event earlier and had just returned with their team with Lucy Heartfilia, who was also making her way back into the stadium.
"That young girl's performance must have impressed him somewhat. Yet another reason we need to keep our eyes on that guild." Hinawa stated.
Meanwhile, in another part of the stadium with Lamia Scale, Jura and the rest of his team calmly watched the events transpire. While Shelia and Toby were huddled together out of fear, Yuka, Lyon and Jura calmly watched the events which transpired.
"That pressure was insane. Just who is that man?" Lyon asked. As an ice wizard, he is confident in his ability to handle fire magic, especially considering his first encounter with Natsu Dragneel over seven years ago. However, the pressure from that mage from Fire Force's gallery felt far different than Natsu's from way back then, or of any other fire mage that he's ever encountered.
"That… was Benimaru Shinmon." Jura said calmly, but Lyon could tell he was a little on edge. Rather than stay in his usual relaxed pose, Jura's arms were by his side and he looked ready for a fight.
Lyon blinked as he recognized that name, "Benimaru Shinmon?" Lyon asked before his eyes went wide as he remembered that name. "Wait, are you talking about that fire mage who's been hailed as the "King of Destruction", as well as a potential candidate to become a Wizard Saint?" Lyon asked with awe.
"Indeed, the very same." Jura said with a serious look on his face. "As I am now, there are very few people I would have trouble fighting against. However, out of all the mages participating in this tournament, he is the last person I would want to fight against." Jura sourly admitted, causing his teammates to look at him with surprised expressions.
Lyon then looked back to the entrance where Benimaru left. "Benimaru Shinmon and Fire Force… just how strong are they?" Lyon asked himself.
And with that, the latest chapter of Fire Fairies has come to a close.
While I was planning on having Fire Force fight this chapter, in the end, I decided that it was better to end things here. Rest assured, the next chapter will feature Fire Force's first battle of the Grand Magic Games.
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