A/N: Well it was pretty obvious who the winner would be. I suppose it was foreseeable since "Natsu and the Dragon Egg" was really just a flashback episode. Not much room for Ben in there. Besides, "Changeling" was super funny and I most likely would've written it anyways.
I guess I should tell you this so you don't get confused, but since characters are getting body swapped in this chapter, I'll be writing the name of the character who is speaking, a slash, and then the name of the previous character's body they inhabit. For example, if Ben and Elfman get switched, I would write it like, (Ben/Elfman) when Ben talks and (Elfman/Ben) when Elfman talks.
Hope that's easy to understand; FYI, Ben won't get swapped with Elfman.
…
Ultimate Fairy
Chapter 8: Changeling
…
Magnolia
In the Fairy Tail Guild Hall, the newest member of the Guild, Ben Tennyson, was sitting at the bar. He was drinking a very fruity, non-alcoholic drink. The closest thing he could get to a smoothie in this universe. Inwardly, that confused the shape-shifting hero. There were all kinds of magic in this world, yet no one had ever invented the smoothie?
Inwardly shaking his head from that thought, Ben reminisced on recent events. Yesterday, he and Fairy Tail's strongest team had just arrived back from Galuna Island, and he was told the tragic truth to why he couldn't return home. Though Ben was really bummed that he probably wouldn't see his friends and family for a long time, he stayed positive; in fact, Ben had a gut feeling telling him that this is where he needed to be.
Back home, crime and evil was at an all-time low thanks to the Galvan supplying the Plumbers with new, highly-advanced weapons. His hero career had begun to die away, not that Ben minded. He was mature enough to know that was good, but with all his powers, what was the point in having them if he couldn't use them anymore? However, in this universe full of magic, there was always something bad going on. This was the perfect place for a superhero like Ben Tennyson to be.
Today, Ben had become an official member of Fairy Tail, and this morning he had had his mark "stamped" on him. The teen hero had the Fairy Tail symbol, which was green with a black outline, placed near his left upper arm, near his shoulder. But when Ben noticed that everyone's Guild mark was where it could be seen easily, he decided to have another stitched to his jacket. Mirajane kindly stitched a white Guild mark above the two stripes on his right jacket sleeve.
Currently, as Ben sat on a stool and sucked down his drink, near him were Wakaba, Elfman, Mirajane, Macao and Cana. He was telling them the story of how he defeated the Highbreed; the adventure that made him famous throughout his universe.
"No way," Wakaba said.
Ben smirked. "Yes way."
"You saved your entire universe from these Highbreed?" Cana said in a stunned manner.
The emerald eyed teen nodded. "Yep, and I even used the Omnitrix to reconfigure their DNA and save them from extinction."
"Wow!" Elfman exclaimed, and then he smacked his hand into Ben's back. Ben grunted as his gut was slammed into the counter's edge. "Finally, we have another man in this Guild besides me!"
As Ben straightened up, he said, "Uh…thanks, but remember when I said I wanted to be a man in one piece?"
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Macao accused indignantly toward the white spiky-haired giant.
"You know what it means you little wuss!" Elfman yelled.
Suddenly, before anything else could be said, the front doors to the Guild opened. Stepping inside was Erza with Gray, Natsu, Lucy, and Happy behind her. The ice mage and Dragon Slayer were wearing their usual attire whilst Lucy had changed into a blue shirt with brown shorts.
"Is Master Makarov here?" Erza asked in her commanding voice. "He never could get around to punishing these four yesterday."
"Still with the punishment thing?" Ben asked, folding his arms over his chest.
"Hey! Why isn't Ben getting punished?! He's a member of our Guild now!" Gray demanded.
Erza turned and gave him a glare, which made the ice mage flinch back in fear. "Because Ben wasn't a member of Fairy Tail at the time you fools went on that quest, thus he can't be punished for his actions."
Ben smiled slyly as he folded his arms behind his head. "Tough break for you guys."
The three mages and cat looked to the floor with downcast looks. "Shut up, Ben." Lucy mumbled.
"I'll ask again, where is Makarov?" Erza demanded.
"He went out of town for some kind of last minute council meeting or something like that." Macao answered.
"He just left a few hours ago." Ben added.
Immediately, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Happy let out collective sighs of relief.
"Well, that was a close one!" Natsu beamed brightly.
"Yes," Gray fist-pumped, "we won't have to deal with that until Gramps gets back."
"Oh thank goodness!" Happy added, crying in joy. "I was so afraid of staring in the face of death!"
"I CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE!" Lucy shrieked, pulling her blonde hair in frustration. "YOU GUYS ARE REALLY FREAKING ME OUT! HOW IS HE GOING TO PUNISH US? I'M SO YOUNG AND I HAVE SO MUCH TO LIVE FOR!"
"ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!" Erza commanded.
The group instantly ceased their talking and shivered in fear. Natsu and Gray even held onto each other, both afraid from the redhead that haunted their nightmares. Ben even felt a little startled from the power in her voice.
"Do you know when the master is planning to return?" the scarlet haired mage inquired.
"No," Mira replied, "but I would imagine he'll be coming back any time now. The meeting place isn't too far away."
Erza nodded, placed her hands on her hips in an authoritative matter, and turned to face the four behind her. "Okay listen up, you're not getting off the hook!" she said in a raised voice. "You broke Guild rules by taking on that S-Class quest, prepare to be punished."
Natsu, Gray, and Happy immediately hugged each other in support, whimpering in fear.
"How do I prepare myself when I don't even know what's going to happen?!" Lucy screamed.
Ben cocked a brow. 'Geez, Erza sure does have a way in striking fear into everyone.'
"Well, it was nice knowin' yah." Wakaba joked. His smile then turned into a frown as he looked away. "It's a crying shame. Those two boys are one thing, but I can't believe Lucy's getting punished too. Oh you poor girl,"
Lucy paled, a sweat drop running down her face. "Oh you poor girl?"
Natsu and Gray, meanwhile, overheard Wakaba and started walking toward him with angry looks.
"Hey! What's the deal, man?!" Natsu demanded furiously. "How come you don't feel sorry for us?!"
"Why are you involving me with this loser?!" Gray added.
Before anyone could stop it, a fight broke out between Natsu, Gray, and Wakaba. The former two traded insults back to one another as they fought Wakaba and each other. Ben watched this spectacle in bafflement as a sweat drop rolled down his face.
'People around here sure like to fight.' Ben mused; however, that thought made him reflect on when Natsu and he (had) fought a few days ago. 'Well…he called me out. It's not like I went looking for a fight.'
"The big part of being a man is owning up to your actions." Elfman stated. "You hear that you two?! It's high time for you to man up!"
"It's not fair!" Happy cried as he flew around, trying to get the others' attention. "I'm the cutest one here! Why doesn't anyone feel sorry for me?"
"Will someone please tell me what's going to happen to us?!" Lucy said in an obvious panic.
Ben couldn't help but smirk. Though these people were crazy, they did provide quality entertainment that you had to pay for back in his universe.
…
Later, Ben, Natsu, and Gray were standing in front of the Request Board. It was a board on the wall with various wizard jobs posted all over it. However, the trio was mainly focused on a particular job request in the center. The request was printed on black paper with white ink, had two eyeballs at the top, and a bunch of indecipherable scribbles all over it. The only thing readable was the big "Read This" at the top and a "500,000J" reward at the bottom.
Needless to say, it quickly caught their attention. That was a lot of money, and Ben was beginning to realize he would need to start earning a wage. After all, he didn't plan on staying in the Guild's storage room forever. Nevertheless, this request was really drawing blanks with the three. It was kind of hard to accept the job when you couldn't even read the request.
"That's a weird looking job request." Natsu commented.
"Yeah, it is." Gray agreed.
"I don't even think my brainy aliens could decipher those words...if that's what they are." Ben added.
"You guys are back. What's up?" a voice said.
Ben turned around to see a teenage boy around his age. He had orange hair, glasses, and wore a dark green jacket with white fur trim around the hood. 'What was this guy's name? Oh right! Loke,' Ben thought.
"Not much man," Natsu replied nonchalantly. "What the heck? I can't even read it."
"Read what?" Lucy asked, stepping forward to see why they were gathered around the Request Board.
All of a sudden, Loke flinched away in shock. His eyes were wide open while his jaw looked ready to fall off his face.
"Whoa! You're back too Lucy?!" Loke shouted.
"Geez, it's really nice to see you too." The celestial mage said sardonically. "What is your problem with me?"
"I…uh…nothing," Loke quickly turned and made a break for it; however, he smacked straight into Erza and fell on his back unconscious, groaning in pain. Ben couldn't help but wince from the impact Loke had with Erza and then the floor.
"No way!" Erza yelled, ignoring the knocked out Loke on the floor. "You two will not be taking any requests!" She was of course referring to Gray and Natsu.
"Real smooth," Lucy commented.
"Do they have to be so noisy?" Cana asked, sitting at a table while drinking a mug of beer.
"Who cares? They're like the coolest, especially that Take-Over mage." A black haired kid sitting by Cana named Romeo, said.
Cana looked at Romeo incredulously. "You're kidding me, right?"
"Decipher this text and I'll increase your wealth by five hundred-thousand jewels." Natsu read out, and then turned to Happy. "This sounds like a winner to me, what do you think?"
"Sure does!" Happy agreed.
"So it's a translation job?" Gray inquired. "That's a weird request for a Guild."
As the ice mage studied the paper further, he noticed something odd about the writing. "Hey wait a second, that's some crazy ancient stuff. No one's gonna be able to read that." He then turned to Ben. "Ben, you gotta any transformations that could read that?"
Ben shrugged. "I don't know. Grey Matter or Brainstorm might, but like you said, that writing is ancient…so there's no guarantee."
"Hold on, it's written in modern letters too." Happy noted.
"I thought I told you no jobs." Erza stated firmly.
"Yeah, I can totally read that!" Natsu said, ignoring the redheaded mage. The pink haired wizard looked down at the paper and read out, "Ugo deru rasuchi boro kania…" Natsu groaned as he grasped both sides of his head. "What?! That's crazy!"
Suddenly, the request paper began to (shine) brightly, casting different colors of the rainbow on the group who were transfixed on the glowing paper. The light show caught Macao and Wakaba's attention as they sauntered closer to it.
"What's going on?" Macao asked quietly.
"That's just sad." Wakaba commented. "Those kids are so scared of the master's punishment that they're sweating rainbows."
"That's enough booze for you." Macao replied.
A few seconds later, the light died away. The group stood there momentarily until…
"What gives? I'm so cold." Gray remarked, wrapping his body with his arms as he shivered.
That statement puzzled the other mages as their eyes opened slightly. Since when did Gray get cold?
"What? Ice mages don't get cold you big cry baby!" Elfman shouted.
However, Gray was chattering his teeth as his body shook to the core. "I-I'm serious, I'm super cold right now!" Gray shivered.
All the wizards present stared at the raven haired teen, dumbfounded.
"What the?" Natsu snapped out of his stupor, his face sweating a bit. "What's going on? Why do I feel so…hot?"
"Uh…Natsu, are you alright?" Macao asked stupefied. "You've never complained about being hot."
"What are you…?" Gray trailed off. When he caught sight of Natsu, his mouth fell to the floor. "What the heck?!"
"Oh wow!" Lucy squealed happily; however, her cheeks seemed rosier than before. "Check me out, Natsu!"
"Hey! Did you guys get taller or something?" Happy, who was standing on the wooden table, inquired. Suddenly, his eyes widened a bit. 'Uh…what happened to my voice?' The blue cat brought up his paws to his face. His jaw almost fell off from shock.
"What the?! I'm a cat?!" Happy shrieked.
"Uh…yeah…Happy, that's kind of a given." Wakaba noted, though in a bewildered fashion.
The azure cat turned to him and glared. "I'm not Happy, I'm Lucy!"
"WHAT?!" Wakaba, Macao, and Elfman all shouted in unison.
"Why is everyone behaving so foolishly?!" a male voice demanded.
The wizards turned to see Ben standing tall, firm, and more composed than ever. The green jacket-wearing teen was staring hard at the group in a way the other mages had never thought possible. Although, the way he was looking at them did remind them of one person…
"Uh… guys?" Everyone) turned to see Erza. She was holding out her armored hands, studying them as well as the rest of her body in a perplexed matter. She looked at them and asked, "Um…why am I in a girl's body?"
The present group of Fairy Tail wizards, minus the Ultimate Team, looked at the redhead strangely. However, the second Ben caught sight of Erza, his composure faltered while his green eyes widened tremendously.
"W-w-wha…" Ben stuttered in shock.
"Uh…I'm no doctor but I would guess it's because you are a girl, Erza." Macao implied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
Erza cocked a brow. "I'm not Erza, I'm Ben."
"WHAT?!" everyone cried.
That was the real shocker. First Happy says he's Lucy and now Erza was saying that she's Ben. What in the world was going on?
"Oh wow!" The groups turned to Lucy and were met with a shocking sight. "I could be wrong, but I don't think I've always had these. Have I?" The blonde mage remarked, fondling her large breasts.
Wakaba, Elfman, and Macao were left dumbstruck; they were hypnotized and drooled in excitement. Happy, meanwhile, was absolutely appalled as his eyes bulged out. Immediately, the blue cat eyed down the blonde angrily. Happy quickly leaped off the table, flying straight toward the blonde girl.
"Why you!" Happy yelled furiously. "Lucy kick!"
The azure feline landed a direct hit in Lucy's stomach; however, Happy's blow only caused Lucy to grunt a little while he himself received more pain. Happy collapsed to the floor, his right leg throbbing in pain. Lucy and the others stood above him.
Lucy/Happy rolled over to her paws and knees. "What's going on here? Why am I, Happy?" Lucy/Happy mumbled softly. "I'M TOTALLY FREAKING OUT HERE!" she yelled out.
"Ugh…" Loke finally came to as he steadily got up from the floor. "Man, my head." As the orange haired teen's vision focused back to normal, the first thing he saw was a certain blonde mage in front of him.
When she turned away from Lucy/Happy on the floor to look at him, she smiled and waved sheepishly, "Hi!"
"AAHH!" Loki cried out, flinching backwards before bolting in the other direction, leaving a confused Lucy behind.
"That was weird." Happy/Lucy commented.
Elfman, Wakaba, Macao, and Mirajane were left dumbfounded and speechless over everything they were seeing.
"What's going on here?!" Lucy/Happy cried. "First I'm a cat and then there's this creepy lookalike of me!"
"Uh? What are you talking about?" Gray/Natsu asked, cocking a brow in confusion.
"How could all of you be so foolish?" Erza/Ben demanded sternly, standing in front of them. Her voice obviously sounded like Ben's but with a more commanding tone to it. "Isn't it obvious? We've all switched bodies!"
"WHAT?!" Lucy, Gray, Natsu, and Happy shouted simultaneously.
Ben/Erza wasn't as shocked as the others. This wasn't the first time he got body swapped with someone. It had happened to him and his cousin Gwen when they were only ten. So, in reality, this was actually Ben's second time getting switched into a girl's body. Talk about awkward.
Natsu/Gray stepped closer to Ben, panic in his eyes. "Stop fooling around, Ben!"
"I'm Erza you dimwit!" Erza/Ben retorted.
"W-wait…" Lucy/Happy stuttered, "So…you mean…"
"Yes," Erza/Ben replied. "Natsu and Gray, Lucy and Happy, and Ben and I, we've all switched bodies."
"HUH?" everyone in the Guild, besides Ben/Erza, said in astonishment.
"Well," Ben/Erza shrugged, speaking in Erza's voice, "this wouldn't be the first time I've switched bodies."
"HUH?" Lucy/Happy gasped, looking at the redhead speechless. "You've actually switched bodies before?!"
The others overheard what Ben/Erza said and looked at him incredulously. "Yeah," he explained nonchalantly, "it happened to my cousin Gwen and me when we were ten. Long story short, this is my second time being in a girl's body."
Erza/Ben glared at him intensely. "And don't you even dare think about getting any ideas." She growled in Ben's voice, which was kind of strange for the teen hero currently occupying Titania's body.
"I wouldn't dream of it." Ben/Erza smirked, and then threw her a playful wink.
Erza/Ben lightly gasped and turned away, a bit of red flushing on her face. Thankfully for the strong female mage, no one had seen that. Otherwise, their predicament would've just gotten more awkward. Nevertheless, Ben/Erza had seen it and was left confused.
'Okay…I was just fooling around with the wink. I wonder why she blushed a little bit.' Ben thought. However, he was sincere when he said he wouldn't mess around while in Erza's body. He was a gentleman and respected her; besides, he was kind of defenseless without the Omnitrix and not knowing how to use Erza's powers.
"The ancient Unpela-ese spell has been cast." A wise, grave voice said.
Everyone turned to see Master Makarov standing at the front doorway, his head down and his hands grasping his smiley-faced cane behind him.
"You kids not feeling like yourselves today, huh?" Makarov quipped.
The Ultimate Team walked up to the aging master.
"Master, you're back!" Erza/Ben said in relief.
"I had noticed that request on the board." Makarov explained. "By reading what was written on that page allowed you to cast a powerful personality transference, and that spell is called the Changeling."
"Sounds really scary!" Lucy/Happy commented.
"So you're really Natsu, right?" Gray/Natsu asked.
Natsu/Grey glanced back at him. "Yeah?"
The pink haired mage grabbed the onyx haired teen by the shirt. "You idiot! This is your fault! Because of you now I'm stuck in your body, loser!"
"Hey, all I did was try to read the stupid job request, ice prick!" Natsu/Gray countered.
"That's enough, Natsu…uh…I mean, Gray." Makarov corrected. "However, this spell does more than switch bodies, it switches magic too."
"What?!" the group shouted.
"There's one thing you should know." The old man said grimly. "If the Changeling spell isn't reversed in thirty minutes from the time it was initially cast, you will never return to the way you were before. Or so says the legend, at least."
"WHHAAA?!" the team cried out.
Even Ben/Erza was shocked over this frightening realization. He certainly didn't want to be trapped in Erza's body for the rest of his life. A man being stuck in a woman's body would be extremely awkward!
Natsu/Gray ran up to Elfman and Mirajane, who were standing a fair distance behind them along with the other Fairy Tail mages present. "Do you know how long we've been mixed up for?" He asked hysterically.
"Sixteen minutes," Mira answered, "which means you have fourteen left."
This only caused the group to scream even more, shocked by how much little time remained. They immediately turned to their orange and blue clad master again.
"Gramps, isn't there anything you can do to reverse the spell?!" Gray/Natsu cried frantically.
"Hmm," Makarov scratched his nose in contemplation. "Since this is such an ancient magic it would only stand to reason that I…don't know."
Suddenly, the group's eyes became bigger than dinner plates while their jaws fell to the floor, expressions of horror plastered on their faces.
"I must say I am very disappointed." The old mage sighed. "I was looking so forward to punishing you…but it looks like you've got your hands full right now!"
"What?!" Ben/Erza yelled, waving his arms around frantically. "I wasn't even supposed to be punished!"
"Hmm," the master nodded. "Yes. It is rather unfortunate that you got caught up in this Erza…uh, Ben."
The short old man then walked away. "Well, best of luck to you kids." He said in a cheery tone.
The team was left dumbfounded. Natsu/Gray and Lucy/Happy were both lying on the floor, their bodies twitching in shock. Gray/Natsu was on his hands and knees; he too was too horrified to stand. Erza/Ben was standing firm; although, her fists quivered in anxiety while her attitude displayed absolute apprehension.
"THAT'S IT!" Gray/Natsu yelled. "I can't take it anymore!"
Gray/Natsu swiftly pulled off his black vest and threw it aside, leaving his toned upper body exposed. He was just getting ready to take off his pants too until Natsu/Gray tackled him to the floor.
"Keep it together, perv!" Natsu/Gray exclaimed, wrestling with himself. Excuse the pun.
"Huh," Ben/Erza commented. "Even in Natsu's body, Gray still likes to take off his clothes."
"It would appear so." Erza/Ben agreed, watching the two guys wrestle.
Lucy/Happy sprouted a pair of white, feathered wings from her back and flew a few feet off the ground. "I gotta say flying sure is fun, BUT I DON'T WANNA BE STUCK AS A CAT FOREVER!"
"What's so bad about being stuck as me?" Happy/Lucy accused, crying a little bit.
"HEY!" Gray/Natsu cried out, ceasing his fight with Natsu/Gray. Everyone looked to see fire drooling out from his mouth and onto the floor. "What's going on?! I got fire dripping out of my mouth!"
"You idiot!" Natsu/Gray shouted. "Control it!"
"I can't!" Gray/Natsu said; suddenly, the former ice mage's panic caused the flames to come out in torrents, lighting the floor on fire.
The fire began to grow larger and more intense, causing the group of mages to step away.
"Gray…uh, Natsu!" Ben/Erza called, which grabbed his attention. "Use your ice powers to put out the fire!"
"I don't know how!" Natsu/Gray replied. Just to humor him, he held out his hands and fiddled with them. Instead of blasting ice like he wanted, he coughed up ice cubes from his mouth. "Aw man!"
Ben and Erza both sweat dropped in frustration. The fire began to expand. If something wasn't done soon, it could burn down the entire Guild.
"This looks like a job for Big Chill!" Ben/Erza stated, slapping his left wrist. However, as soon as he noticed there wasn't any green light, he mentally slapped himself for his stupidity. "Oh…right…" he muttered.
Ben/Erza swiftly turned his head to Erza/Ben.
"Erza, turn into Water Hazard or Big Chill and put out that fire!" Ben/Erza commanded.
Erza/Ben only looked at him strangely. "Who?"
He groaned as he face-palmed. 'Of course she's confused.' Ben thought. 'She doesn't know me that well or my aliens.'
"J-J-Just transform into somebody!" Ben/Erza shouted.
Erza/Ben lifted up the jacket sleeve to see a white and green watch strapped to her wrist. She knew that Ben's powers apparently came from this device; however, she really had no clue on how to use it.
"Uh…" Erza remembered Ben tapping the faceplate, so she did that. The watch beeped as a green holo-ring popped up. Titania looked at the icons blankly. 'How many forms does he have?!' She thought. 'He has just as many forms as I do armor!'
Taking a guess, she pressed an icon and hesitantly slapped down the core. The Guild Hall was shrouded by emerald light. When the light died down, standing in Erza/Ben's place was a nine foot tall, humanoid, tailless tiger. On its upper left arm was the Fairy Tail mark in black.
"Rath!" Erza/Ben roared.
Ben/Erza's mouth dropped as he stared at the Appoplexian in disbelief. "Seriously?! Rath? Out of all my forms, it had to be Rath?"
The Guild mages gasped as they took fearful steps back. Those who had witnessed Ben first transform into this form remembered how angry and aggressive he was. If the mighty Erza was now turned into this form, then this certainly wouldn't bode well.
Erza/Rath glared at Ben standing off to the side. "Let me tell yah something, Ben Tennyson, who happens to be in my body! Rath doesn't know how to use your magic watch! Or better yet, what your forms look like!"
Lucy/Happy flew in-between them. "You guys, that fire is kind of getting bigger." She said sheepishly.
Erza/Rath turned her glare to the growing fire on the wooden floor. "Right…" she said. "Let me tell yah something, stupid fire! Nobody dares try to burn down this Guild without getting a major beating!"
With that, Erza/Rath rushed to the blaze and began throwing punches at it. She didn't get burned; however, her attacks were obviously doing nothing to stop the fire. Ben/Erza sweated and moaned in annoyance. The other Fairy Tail mages looked on, dumbfounded. Was Erza really trying to put out a fire by punching it?
'Geez, is Rath really that dumb?' Ben/Erza mused.
Ben snapped out of his musings and tried to think fast. The fire was really starting to get out of control. 'Okay, I don't know if Erza has any armor that can put out fires, and even if she did, I wouldn't know how to summon it. But…I know someone who can.'
Ben/Erza turned to Gray/Natsu who had finally stopped himself from hurling fire. "Gray, inhale the fire like Natsu does!"
Gray/Natsu looked at him dubiously. "Are you kidding?! I don't know how to do that!"
"Just do it!" Ben/Erza yelled; sounding a lot like Erza, which made the ice mage turned Dragon Slayer flinch.
Gray/Natsu stood before the flames and closed his eyes, concentrating. Letting out an exhale, he reared back his head as he inhaled deeply. Amazingly, the hot flames were pulled into Gray/Natsu's mouth. In mere seconds, the fire was gone as Gray/Natsu had consumed it all. He let out a big burp, rubbing his mouth.
"Wow," Gray/Natsu breathed. "That actually tasted pretty good."
Natsu/Gray crossed his arms over his chest. "Nice job, ice prick. You almost burned down the Guild."
Gray/Natsu glared back, "What'd you call me!"
Ben/Erza, ignoring their bickering, smiled. "Good work, Gray."
Erza/Rath looked around bewildered. A second ago she was fighting the fire, now it was gone. "Let me tell yah something, cowardly fire! Come back and face your punishment!" She bellowed.
"Erza," Ben/Erza sighed, "just transform back."
The bipedal tiger scowled at Ben/Erza. "Let me tell yah something, Ben Tennyson, nobody orders the mighty Titania around!"
"Erza!" Master Makarov shouted, who was sitting on the bar table drinking a mug of presumably alcohol. "That's quite enough."
Erza/Rath growled in irritation before she acquiesced. "Fine. Whatever. Rath was done with the fire anyway."
Remembering how Ben shifted back, she tapped the green hourglass dial on her chest. In a flash of emerald, Erza/Ben reverted back to human form. She held her head, allowing a groan to escape her lips.
"Seriously?!" Ben/Erza shouted at Makarov. "You've been sitting there this whole time?"
Makarov laughed. "Well…I was amused."
Erza/Ben turned to Ben/Erza, the memories of what she did as that powerful tiger form, Rath, were hitting her like a freight train. "Did I…really try to punch fire?"
"You sure did." Wakaba said, standing with the other mages.
"As manly as it sounds, trying to beat fire with your fists is just plain dumb!" Elfman added.
"Don't worry about it." Ben/Erza said, walking over to her and laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. Well, technically it was really his shoulder. "Rath isn't…really the brightest of my forms."
Erza/Ben turned to him. "How can you possibly accomplish anything with him? And by the way, how many forms do you have?"
Ben/Erza smiled as he rubbed the back of his awkwardly. "Rath's one of my strongest transformations, despite his…well…you know…anger issues. As for that second question, I guess the others didn't tell yah, but I have seventy forms."
Erza/Ben's eyes widened. She was very impressed. Before Ben and the others left for Galuna Island, she remembered Mirajane telling her that Ben possessed many forms with different abilities. But seventy? He had just as many transformation as she did armor and weapons!
"Impressive," Erza/Ben commented, "but since I wasn't here for when you first came to the Guild, do you mind me telling me what all they can do?"
Ben/Erza smirked. "Super-strength, super-speed, flight, regeneration, elemental powers, invulnerability…" he paused, "It's really a question of what powers I don't have. Well…you actually since you're in my body."
Erza/Ben was left dumbfounded. If what Ben said was true, then he was just as powerful as she was, if not potentially more!
"Great," Lucy/Happy moaned sadly, still flying at eye level with everyone. "All of our magic has been switched but we all stink at it. I hate this. Why me?"
"No need to worry, Lucy!" a feminine voice called out. They all turned to see a petite, blue haired girl named Levy standing by the front doors with the other two members of her team, Jet and Droy standing on either side of her.
"Levy it's you!" Lucy/Happy squealed happily.
"Levy?" Natsu/Gray said.
"Don't worry! The Shadow Gear team is here to save the day." Droy stated confidently. "You guys will be back to normal in no time."
"Oh yeah," Jet added with the same level of confidence as Droy. "We got this, no sweat."
"Now, do your thing Levy." Droy and Jet said together.
"When you guys said 'we got this', you really meant her, huh?" Mirajane joked.
In response, the two men only chuckled.
"You're so kind to help us!" Lucy/Happy said, flying around Levy in joy.
Levy laughed a little. "Anything for a friend; besides, I really want to read your novel. And it would be kinda weird talking about it in front of Happy." She whispered.
"What are you gonna do?" Natsu/Gray interjected.
Later, Levy was seating at bench holding the request paper in her hands. A few books are stacked around her. The others gather behind the blue haired mage.
"Well, I do know a little about ancient texts." Levy explained. "I'll start with what was written on the flier itself."
"Sounds good," Gray/Natsu said, "but do it quick!"
Erza/Ben walked around the table to stand in front of the group. "Listen up everybody; we need to let Levy work in peace."
"Yeah," Lucy/Happy agreed, although her voice was muffled. She then realized that she had a fish in her mouth and gasped in shock. She lowered her wings and fell to the floor on her hands and knees in disappointment. "Why do I have a fish in my mouth?"
"Because they're yummy!" Happy/Lucy replied, and he too had a small fish in-between his teeth.
Levy begins reading a book, her red reading glasses casting a beam of rainbow colored light over the pages, allowing her to read much faster. "Okay… ugo deru…" she mumbled.
"Please hurry," Gray/Natsu said calmly though his expression displayed panic. "We only have ten minutes left."
"You sure it's okay to be saying those words out loud?" Ben/Erza asked, crossing his arms over his armored chest.
"Don't worry," Levy responded nonchalantly, looking between her books and the request. "It's totally safe as long as you don't read everything in the correct order."
"There's not much time!" Natsu/Gray shouted hysterically. "Ugh…I can't take it! I can't take being so cold! Change me back!"
"So how's it going Levy?" Lucy/Happy flew up to the stand on the table edge.
Levy was silent, still looking at the request paper.
"Have you figured it out?" Natsu/Gray asked.
"No," Levy replied disappointed, "I'm stumped!"
Natsu/Gray and Lucy/Happy both let out frustrated yells. Ben/Erza's eyes widened a bit. 'Oh no. This can't be good at all.'
"No!" Lucy/Happy cried. "I can't stay as some (strange flying) cat forever!"
"What's so terrible about that!?" Happy/Lucy demanded indignantly.
Erza/Ben whimpered. "Surely my fate isn't to remain in a man's body for the rest of my life."
Ben/Erza looked back at her. "This is no picnic for me either, yah know."
"NO!" Natsu/Gray roared. "I hate this! I can't remain in this ice bastard's body forever!"
"Hey!" Gray/Natsu shouted, getting in his rival's face. "I don't wanna stay in your body either, loser!"
"You wanna fight!?" Natsu/Gray demanded.
Erza/Ben groaned gallingly as she fixated a deadly glare upon the duo. "SILENCE!" she yelled, which immediately made them hug one another and shiver in trepidation.
'Whoa,' Ben thought. 'I didn't know my voice could get that powerful.'
"Look I know you guys are freaking out, but I'm still working on it, okay?" Levy reassured the panicking mages.
Natsu/Gray turned to Macao. "How much time do we have left?"
"Eight minutes," Macao answered, holding up a board with the number eight on it. "Hate to say it, but you might wanna start preparing for the worst."
That statement made the whole team freeze in fear. The possibility of actually being trapped in another person's body was frightening. Even Ben found himself unsettled by this. Being stuck in a girl's body was certainly not how he wanted to spend the rest of his days.
A moment later, the newly dubbed 'Ultimate Team' was seated on a bench across from Levy as they left her alone to let her work. Her teammates Droy and Jet were cheering her on behind her. The team was dead quiet and remained that way for a couple minutes.
"So what happens if we wind up getting stuck like this?" Gray/Natsu inquired, his chin resting in his hand.
"UH…what do you mean by that?" Natsu/Gray cocked a brow.
"Are we just gonna try to adjust to our new bodies and go back to work?" Gray/Natsu clarified.
"Well, yeah I'd guess we'd have to, it's not like we have a bunch of options." Natsu/Gray said.
"Whatever happens is totally fine with me!" Happy/Lucy smiled.
"WHAT?" Lucy/Happy shouted. "No one asked for your opinion, now did they? Stupid cat! I just want to be a cute girl again."
"Take it easy there, Lucy." Ben/Erza consoled. "No one…"
Suddenly, Ben/Erza paused as a realization came to his mind. This made the others look at inquiringly.
"What? What is it, Ben?" Erza/Ben asked.
"I just realized something." Ben/Erza said. "None of us know how to use our powers. If we were to take a job, we wouldn't be able to finish it."
Shocked looks crossed over the team's faces.
"OH geez you're right!" Natsu/Gray agreed. "We stink, and that means…"
"WE'RE THE WEAKEST TEAM IN FAIRY TAIL NOW!" they shouted simultaneously.
It was true. If the spell wasn't undone, they would be trapped in another's body with no knowledge on how to use that person's powers. And being trapped in another person's body would not only have ramifications on their missions, but their personal lives as well.
For Ben, he had spent years unlocking aliens and learning how to use their abilities. But now, trapped in a female redheaded mage's body, Ben would not only have to learn how to utilize Erza's magic, but his life would be completely awkward too. After all, a man being stuck in a woman's body was certainly not something easy to adjust to.
"OH MAN I HATE THIS!" Natsu/Gray bellowed violently. "What's the point of living if I can't burn anything anymore!?"
"I'm a cute Celestial mage! I can't be stuck as a cat forever!" Lucy/Happy cried out.
Happy/Lucy turned to her with an angry look. "You're mean! I happen to like being a cat!"
"This is unacceptable!" Erza/Ben shouted. "I'm an S-Class wizard and I refuse to be a part of Fairy Tail's weakest team…if only I was back in my body."
"Will you guys calm down!" Ben/Erza exclaimed as he stood up, drawing all eyes on the team to him; more importantly though, his yelling also made them shut up. "Listen, I don't like this anymore than you, but sitting here complaining about it isn't gonna make it any better. If we have to adapt to our new bodies and powers then fine…that's what we'll do."
The team looked at Ben/Erza in shock. The way Ben yelled and solaced them with a commanding voice, sounded much like Erza, even though he was in her body. Erza/Ben looked at him blankly; the way he took charge and tried to reassure everyone that everything would be fine appealed to her.
However, before anything else could be said, Levy cried out, "Yes that's it!"
Immediately after that exclamation, the team crowed around Levy with a mix of excited and relieved looks.
"Really?" Natsu/Gray asked excitingly. "So you can lift the spell?"
"Go on! Do it!" Gray/Natsu added.
"This is what it says: May this eternal exchange provide you with eternal happiness." Levy smiled. "Kinda cute, isn't it?"
"Ahh…yeah it is." Lucy/Happy gushed.
"May this eternal exchange provide you with eternal happiness?" Ben/Erza repeated. He placed a finger to his chin, contemplating on what it could possibly mean. "Huh?"
"Yeah, and?" Natsu/Gray demanded.
"In other words, everyone who has been affected by this spell will live happily ever after!" Levy replied. "You're so lucky! I'm so glad I figured it out."
At that moment, it grew deathly quiet as the horrifying realization hit them like a pile of bricks. Finally though…
"OH NO WAY!" Natsu/Gray yelled. "You're telling me we're stuck like this forever!?"
"We wanted you to lift the spell. Not read it, remember?" Gray/Natsu deadpanned.
"OH, that's right. Sorry!" Levy apologized.
Lucy/Happy flew next to Levy and laid a supportive paw on her shoulder. "You got this. I have faith you can do it. But you gotta work a little faster, okay? Maybe there's a hidden message or code or something like that in the request?"
"Yeah," Levy answered more determined. "Good idea."
As Levy resumed her work, Droy and Jet continued cheering her on, the former banging a drum while the latter waved around a fan.
"GO! Go! Go Levy!" Droy and Jet cheered.
Wakaba stared at this scene with a perplexed expression, a sweat drop falling down his face. "Isn't all that racket gonna distract her?"
"Nah," Elfman grinned exuberantly. "They're just trying to get her pumped up!"
Elfman jumped in with Droy and Jet and began cheering her on.
"Ugh," Levy moaned, "I'm still not seeing any kind of a pattern here. It doesn't seem to make any sense."
Macao pulled out a purple board with a yellow three printed on it. "Three minutes left," he said.
"Three minutes!" Lucy/Happy cried.
"Well this is it." Erza/Ben whined. "This is how I'm gonna spent the rest of my life…as…a man." Erza/Ben fell to her hands and knees and whimpered. "I've worked so hard."
Erza/Ben was about to cry until she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Ben/Erza smiling at her. "If it makes you feel any better, I know how you feel."
"You do?"
"Yeah, being stuck in a woman's body forever doesn't bode well with me either." Ben/Erza admitted. "But I know that's not gonna happen. I'm confident we'll get back in our original bodies."
Erza/Ben looked at him puzzlingly. "How can you be so sure?"
Ben/Erza shrugged. "I just am."
Erza continued to look at him. 'We have less than a couple minutes left before we are stuck in each other's bodies…yet, he's still confident that everything will work out?' She thought. 'Who are you, Ben Tennyson?'
Erza/Ben smiled at him and stood up. 'Whether I'm in this body or hopefully back in mine…I have a gut feeling that I'll enjoy fighting alongside him.'
"You're right." Erza/Ben conceded.
"Have you figured it out yet?!" Natsu/Gray demanded.
Macao held up a white poster board with a red number one in the center. "Your situation is dire with only one minute to go."
Ben/Erza looked at the black haired mage confusingly. "Where do you keep getting all these posters?"
"I DON'T RECALL ASKING FOR THE TIME! SO SHUT YOUR MOUTH, KAY?" Natsu/Gray roared, veins throbbing on his forehead.
"Geez, I was just trying to help." Macao muttered.
Levy, meanwhile, was hard at work trying to undo the spell. "Okay, I think I've almost got it worked out." she mumbled.
Behind her, Droy continued to bang the drums while Jet and Elfman waved around fans.
"Work it Levy! Yeah! You're on fire!" Elfman cheered.
Wakaba sweat dropped. "He's too good at this."
Meanwhile, back with the Ultimate Team, Master Makarov stood behind Natsu and Gray. "Still trying to break the spell, huh?"
They both turned to the old man with annoyed expressions. "Look if you're trying to teach us a lesson here, we've learned it already okay?" Gray/Natsu said.
"OH!" Makarov's face light up as if an idea had popped up in his brain.
Suddenly, the group nearly gasped in anticipation. The rest of the group crowed in front of him immediately with hope in their eyes.
"Yes, master?" Erza/Ben said eagerly.
The orange clad man was silent for a moment before he shrugged, "Woops! Never mind kids, I've drawn a blank."
At that, the group fell over in deflation; besides Ben, who just stood stationary with his arms and jaw hanging down.
"Not cool, dude! Not cool!" Ben/Erza yelled.
"You guys have about forty seconds left," Macao informed, holding up a sign with a big number forty on it. "More or less…starting now!"
"What do you mean 'more or less'?!" Natsu/Gray shouted furiously.
Suddenly, Makarov's face brightened once more. "I just remembered something about the spell!"
"What is it!?" Erza/Ben exclaimed.
The master turned away. "While it can be lifted I'm afraid it has to be done one pair at a time." He then glanced over his shoulder. "Meaning it's impossible to change all of you back at once!"
"WHAT!?" Natsu/Gray shouted.
"Thirty seconds…ish." Macao said, holding up another sign with a 30 on it.
"Seriously! Where do you keep getting those boards?" Ben/Erza asked.
"So, which pair's going first?" Gray/Natsu asked crossly.
"It should be us!" Natsu/Gray answered.
"Hmph, sounds good to me." Gray/Natsu agreed.
"But that's so unfair!" Lucy/Happy cried out. "It should be me and Happy!"
"Hold on!" Erza/Ben shouted, her vein throbbing violently. "Since me and Ben are Fairy Tail's strongest wizards, we should go first. It's for the good of the Guild."
Ben/Erza rubbed his neck sheepishly. "How many times do I have to tell you guys I'm not a wizard?" He sighed.
Immediately, a big argument broke out between five of the six person team, Ben being left out. He only stood to the side, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. 'Man these people bicker a lot!' he thought.
"Hold on you guys!" Levy screamed. "I got it!"
The team instantly ceased their squabbling as they gathered close to Levy's work table. "Really?" Lucy/Happy asked.
"Yeah, but listen, I'll try and explain this as quick as I can."
"And nine…eight…" Macao counted down; however, before he could continue he received a wicked haymaker from Natsu/Gray, sending him crashing through a bench unconscious.
"No time!" Natsu/Gray shouted angrily. "Just change us back! Hurry!"
"Yeah…right, here it goes." Levy said. Suddenly, the request paper that had started this mess began to glow brightly once more. She then held out her arms as she chanted, "Aruboroya tesura rugi gou! Aruboroya tesura rugi gou! Aruboroya tesura rugi gou!"
Rainbow colored light and sparkles descended over the team. Then, an awe-inspiring helix of bright colors and magical ciphers appeared over the page, casting light throughout the Guild Hall. The beam then shot into the sky, where anyone from Magnolia could see it.
After a moment, the light died away and the group let out collective sighs. The Ultimate Team stood still for a few seconds before Ben blinked a couple times. When his focus finally returned, he looked himself over and smiled. He was back in his own body.
"Hey! I'm back to normal!" Ben said boisterously.
Erza, who was standing a fair distance to his side, examined herself shortly and smiled too. "I am as well."
Lucy, Happy, Natsu, and Gray blinked a couple times. They looked themselves over and were pleased to find that they were back in their original forms.
"Hey!" Natsu shouted. "We're back in our bodies too!"
"Aye," Happy agreed, flying above his head.
"Man, glad that's over." Gray sighed in relief; unexpectedly, ice chunks started drooling out of his mouth.
"So now you're drooling ice cubes on purpose now?" Wakaba asked.
Lucy ran up to Levy and held her hands. "Levy you're awesome!" she squealed.
"That's right!" the petite girl fist-pumped.
"Oh yeah," Droy said.
"Our cheering worked, huh?" Jet commented.
"You gotta tell us…" Lucy asked, "How'd you do it?"
"Well, when I realized that the words themselves had no meaning, I decided to read them backwards." Levy explained.
This made the others blink a bit. "Backwards?" Ben inquired.
"It's actually an old trick." Levy elucidated. "Ancient languages such as this didn't really have that many letters. So sometimes they had to be a little more creative with how they used their words. That's why when I reversed the words, I reversed the spell too."
"How cool," Lucy remarked.
"At least that's over." Natsu said.
"We owe you big time Levy." Gray added.
Levy giggled a bit. "Don't worry about it."
"Good work you kids." The group turned and was met with quite a confusing sight. Mirajane was sitting cross-legged on the bar countertop, but she was holding Makarov's cane behind her back.
"W-wha…" Lucy and Levy stuttered.
"Hey guys, something's wrong." Makarov, who was standing on the floor, said a bit girlishly. "Did I get shorter?"
"Oh no!" Lucy cried out. "You don't think that…"
"That Mirajane switched bodies with Gramps?" Gray finished.
Ben's eyes widened from this realization. "How did…" he breathed.
"Wow!" Makarov/Mira beamed brightly. "You won't hear me complaining about this."
"NO!" Mira/Makarov started waving her little arms around in panic. "This can't be happening!"
"Oh no…" Erza muttered. "Who else has been…"
"All of you just need to man up and get over it, okay?" Cana yelled.
However, that wasn't what was grabbing the team's attention. It was Elfman, sitting on a table across from her, chugging down an entire barrel of beer.
"Hey," Cana said, "what's the deal? Why do I smell like a brewery?"
Suddenly, Elfman set down the barrel and looked around with big, wide eyes. "Wait! What! How did I…Ugh…" his face then began to turn green. "Oh man….I…ugh…I think I really need to take a nap right now." With that said, Elfman fell over and passed out.
"Elfman and Cana?" Gray said. "Anyone else?"
"Hey Droy," Droy looked over to Jet only for his face to fall into shock.
"Yeah? What is it now, Jet?" He looked over and was met with similar shocking results.
"Hey!" They both shouted, pointing at one another. "Stop looking like me!"
Ben glared at Gray. "You just had to ask."
"I don't think anyone's gonna be able to tell the difference with you two." Makarov/Mira commented, and then her expression brightened. "But in my case, having a body like this is a dream come true."
"Please help me, Levy! Help me!" Mira/Makarov cried comically.
Levy and the Ultimate Team stared at their fellow, body-swapped friends, who were bickering amongst each other. Dumbfounded expressions were plastered on their faces while sweat drops rolled down their faces.
"Oh no…" Levy gapped. "I think I'm a little in over my head here."
"Oh boy…" Ben exhaled deeply. "This…makes things complicated."
…
"Magic is not a toy. It can turn your world on its head. The very fabric of your being can be pulled from you in an instant. So don't take it lightly. Until next time…"
"Are you seriously gonna end it like this?!" Ben and Natsu shouted.
Ultimate10: "I'm the author…so as Happy would say, Aye!"
…
A/N: Well fellow readers, I hope you enjoyed! I know some of you may be upset with who I had Ben switched with or even Erza, since it was funny when she got switched with Happy. I have to admit, that was my favorite one! It was hilarious. I was actually gonna have Ben switch with Happy at first, but then I remembered, he can already turn into things that are smaller and weaker than Happy…so it wouldn't affect him as much as it would Erza or in this stories case, Lucy. And Natsu & Gray, come on! I just had to!
Before you ask, yes, now that the Fairy Tail stamp is on Ben's body, his transformations will have the Guild symbol on them.
Anyways, I have an announcement to make: I've decided to spend my time on Ultimate Fairy until the Phantom Lord arc is completed. Yay! At that point, I'll shift away to Prime Force where I can start and finish the Orion Pax saga.
If this chapter wasn't funny enough, I'm sorry. I did my best without following the episode exactly. Now we get ready for the Phantom Lord arc! Please leave any comments or critique in the review box. Until then…