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Ultimate Fairy
Chapter 9: The Phantom Lord
Part I
…
A couple of days had passed since the Changeling spell incident. It may have taken a while, but everyone had been returned to their rightful bodies thanks to Ben and Levy. After getting transferred back to their bodies, Ben had gone Grey Matter and taken a look at the request.
He concluded that Levy did have it right by saying the spell backward; unfortunately, she hadn't pronounced it correctly, which in turn caused the other guild members to be switched amongst each other. However, the incident had been resolved and now everything was back to normal…well as normal as things could get for a superhero and team of wizards.
Right now, Ben, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Happy and Erza - or the "Ultimate Team" as some had christened them as - had arrived back in Magnolia from a successful mission. Ben found the mission to be quite enjoyable, enabling him to work out some frustration on the bad guys. Although he didn't make a big sum of money, that mattered little to Ben. He was just happy he could help people again.
The Ultimate Team was walking down the street. Erza was at the back of the group, pulling her cart full of suitcases. Ben never could understand why she brought so much stuff with her on jobs, or even how she possibly carried it around all the time. The teen hero though decided to look past it, since there were many things in this world full of magic that he didn't really comprehend yet.
"Was that an awesome job or what?" Natsu laughed with rosy cheeks.
Ben smiled. "I had a good time. Felt great getting to beat up on the bad guys again."
"Yeah, especially when you transformed into that big bird guy and started kicking those dudes all over the place," Natsu added brightly.
"You mean Kickin' Hawk? Yeah, that was pretty fun." Ben grinned.
Gray scoffed playfully. "Face it; you guys are just lucky that I decided to come along."
"We're lucky that you begged to come with us?" Natsu countered. "How do ya figure?"
"Because you're as helpful as one of Erza's suitcases," Gray responded.
The Dragon Slayer and ice mage got in one another's face with angry looks. "You better watch your mouth or I'm gonna pack you like a suitcase, pal!" Natsu growled.
"That doesn't make any sense." Gray retorted.
Ben leaned to his right where Lucy was walking, and whispered, "Are they always like this?"
"Pretty much," Lucy deadpanned.
Instead of wearing her usual attire, she was sporting a tight pink shirt with a black skirt. Also, in her arms was her Celestial spirit, Plue. Ben noticed that she tended to summon the little guy during their R&R time.
Erza got between the two and forced them apart easily. "Enough boys!" she then turned to Gray. "Now please get dressed."
It was true. Gray had somehow stripped down into a pair of black boxers within the blink of an eye. This still amazed and creep Ben out. He really needed to put a handle on that disturbing habit.
Gray's expression fell into shock. "For crying out loud how does this keep happening?!"
"Piece of advice, Gray," Happy suggested, "Never get in a fight in your underwear."
Ben laughed. "I second that. Not exactly the best strategy going in a fight with just boxers."
"Uh guys, hate to interrupt your conversation, but…" Lucy intervened.
"What's up?" Natsu asked.
She held up the request, which depicted a five hundred jewel reward. "When I took this job, I was hoping for it to be a solo mission. So, why did you all come along?" She asked sheepishly.
"Oh come on, isn't it obvious?" the Dragon Slayer said.
"No, I don't think so," Lucy titled her head.
Natsu gave her his trademark toothy grin and a 'thumbs up'. "We're Fairy Tail's new Ultimate Team, so we have to stick together."
"Aye sir," Happy agreed.
"And don't you forget it," Gray added.
Erza only nodded in agreement.
"What about you, Ben?" Lucy turned to the brunet hero curiously. "Why'd you decide to come along? I'm sure their were other jobs you could've taken. Not that I'm complaining you came along!" she quickly corrected herself, not wanting to offend the guild's otherworldly member.
"No offense taken," Ben reassured. "But I'll be staying here in Earthland for the next foreseeable future, so I need to start getting used to taking job requests and learning how to work in a magical guild. I figured since we've already worked together before, I could tag along with you guys and get more experience with that."
Lucy nodded in understanding. "Okay, I get it. Your kind of in the same boat as me actually since I haven't been in Fairy Tail long myself."
"No worries! We'll get you two caught up to speed!" Natsu stated with confidence. "There's no job that's too tough for us. We're the Ultimate Team, after all!"
"I dunno if that name will catch on..." Ben commented.
As the team strolled down the street, passing Magnolia citizens stared at them and whispered to one another. Ben wasn't new to people staring at him; however, these people seemed to be giving them empathetic looks from what he could tell.
"Why's everyone staring at us?" Gray voiced.
"It's not the good kind of staring." Happy commented.
"They feel so pity…" Erza said. The redhead then looked forward and quickly stopped in her tracks.
The rest of the group followed her gaze and were dumbstruck. From the distance, the guild hall looked very peculiar. They couldn't see much, but from here there appeared to be large poles sticking out in random spots all over the building.
'Well, that explains why everyone is looking at us sympathetically.' Ben thought. 'But what in the world happened?'
"What? Why does the guild hall look so…bizarre?" Erza inquired.
"Only one way to find out," Ben replied. "Let's get a closer look."
The Ultimate Team continued down the path that led to the guild hall. When they finally reached their destination, they were dumbstruck. Several giant iron pillars were protruding out everywhere across the pagoda-shaped building, one was even sticking out through the Fairy Tail sign above the front doors.
"No way," Gray muttered.
"What's happened to it?" Erza asked.
"No," Lucy whimpered lightly, holding her hand over her mouth. "I don't understand."
Ben frowned as he stared at the damaged building. He may not have known the guild for very long, but they opened their home to him - giving him a place to eat and rest until he could get settled in on his own. He didn't appreciate someone coming in and trashing their guild hall.
"Our guild," Natsu snarled, clenching his fists. "Someone did this to our guild hall."
"But who would do such a thing?" Erza wondered.
"It was Phantom." a female voice answered.
The team, minus Natsu, turned around to see Mirajane standing behind them, ready to break into tears at any moment.
"Are you serious?" Gray said calmly.
Natsu turned to look at Mirajane with a look of pure fury. "You mean Phantom did this?" he growled.
"We couldn't do anything to stop them. They got us good." Mirajane sobbed.
Ben cocked a brow in bewilderment. "Who's Phantom?"
Gray turned to Ben, and answered, "Phantom Lord. They're a powerful rival guild. We've never been on the best terms with those jerks…as you can see."
"Oh..." Ben nodded in understanding. "A little school rivalry, huh?"
The group proceeded into the building and headed down a flight of stairs leading to the basement. The basement was usually used for storage but since there were iron pillars everywhere, it was the only place in the guildhall unaffected by the devastation.
The rest of the guild was sitting at storage boxes or barrels either eating, drinking, or moping about. The morale was obviously very low. Ben could even see that his teammates were disheartened too. It bothered seeing his new comrades, who were usually so lively and cheerful, in a dismayed state.
"Yo! What's up kids?" Makarov slurred, holding a mug of beer. It was clear he was drunk.
"Uh…hi," Lucy said awkwardly.
"Sorry that we couldn't be here sooner." Erza apologized.
"Why the heck are you all just sitting around down here?!" Natsu demanded angrily.
Natsu was ignored as the old mage shifted his gaze to Ben and Lucy. "How did it go, yah two? Did ya finish the job?"
"Yeah, it was easy enough," Ben replied with Lucy nodding in agreement.
"Are you okay though?" He asked the old man with concern.
"I'm fine, my boy! Never better!" Makarov hiccuped.
"Right..." Ben trailed off, unconvinced.
"Master," Erza said firmly, "do you not understand the gravity of this situation?"
"The guild hall has been completely destroyed!" Natsu inputted.
"There's no need to get yourselves worked up," Makarov responded. "It's not like it's the end of the world or anything." He then took another big gulp of beer.
"What?" Gray asked.
"Hmph," Makarov continued, "just goes to show you how cowardly those dunderheads in the Phantom Lord guild really are. They struck when no one was here, is that anything worth bragging about?"
"No one was here?" Erza queried.
"It was after everyone had already left for the night." murmured Mirajane.
"Well, that's a bright side. No one got hurt, at least." Ben stated.
"Yes," the Fairy Queen agreed. "Thank goodness for that."
"We shouldn't trouble ourselves with people who don't even have the guts to face us head-on." Makarov asserted. "Forget about those fools."
Suddenly, Natsu slammed his fist into a wooden crate, putting a huge dent into it and sending wooden chips flying. Ben was forced to sidestep the stray pieces of wood that went flying his way.
"Ain't gonna happen, gramps!" the pink haired mage shouted. "We can't just let them trash our place and get away with it!"
"We're not talking about this any longer," Makarov replied calmly. "We'll handle job requests down here until the upstairs is repaired."
"We shouldn't be worrying about-"
"NATSU!" Makarov yelled. "That's enough out of you!"
Unexpectedly, the old man reached out his hand and slapped Lucy's rear.
Ben stared, dumbfounded. "Um... you missed..."
"W-why...?" Lucy lightly whimpered, covering her rear.
"Hands to yourself, master!" Mirajane admonished.
Makarov pulled back his hand and laughed sheepishly. He then jumped off the crate he was sitting on and ran across the room.
"Where are you going?" Natsu demanded.
"Oh, keep your dress on." Makarov retorted. "I gotta take a leak."
Natsu's ire deemed a bit as he lowered his gaze to the floor. "I don't understand why he's being like this."
"Listen," Mirajane spoke up, "this is just as hard on him as it is for you. He's mad, but conflict between guilds is strictly prohibited."
"But that's not fair!" yelled Natsu. "Those Phantom creeps started this!"
"I know, but that doesn't matter." The white-haired beauty responded.
"If the master's decision is to not retaliate, then we must respect it," Erza stated, albeit with a hint of reluctance in her voice.
Ben looked around and, aside from Natsu, could see the downcast expressions on everyone. He didn't like it one bit. The teen hero wished there was something he could do to raise their morale. All of a sudden, his face lit up as an idea came to mind.
The jacket-clad teen turned to Mirajane. "If you want, I can repair the guild hall for us." He offered.
"Huh?" Mirajane gapped lightly. "You can do that?"
The rest of the team and the guild who overheard Ben's offer all turned to him bemused and slightly amazed. A few of the guild members muttered comments, some which questioned Ben's sanity. Though their skepticism was granted; how could one person fix an entire guild hall?
"Yeah," Ben elaborated, "I have a transformation that can repair the damage in no time at all."
"Really?" Erza cocked a brow, folding her arms over her chest. She was unconvinced.
The Omnitrix hero only nodded.
"Well," Mirajane's tone seemed to perk up a bit. "If you can do it, then please do. I'm sure everyone would appreciate it."
A few minutes later, Ben and the rest of the guild made it out of the basement to stand outside the ruined building. They gave Ben a little room as per his request. The otherworldly member stood in front of the main doors, looking over the damage that had been inflicted.
'This is pretty intense…but nothing I can't handle.'
He tapped the Omnitrix dial, scrolling through his alien playlist. When he spotted the form he wanted, he tapped it and slammed down the core. In a flash of green, in Ben's place stood a large, copper-colored robot with long, thick arms, stubby legs, and a clock winder on its head. The Omnitrix disk was positioned on a green hole in its chest, which showed gear-like mechanisms inside.
"Clockwork" he shouted in a German accent.
The Fairy Tail mages all stared in shocked confusion. What was this form, and what could it do? Natsu looked blankly for a moment until he finally remembered.
"Hey!" he smiled. "I remember that guy! You're gonna use your time powers to fix the guild, huh?"
Clockwork glanced back at the Dragon Slayer and nodded, or the closest thing he could to a nod since he had no neck.
"Time powers?" Erza furrowed her brows. "I find that unlikely."
Clockwork heard the redhead's comment and smirked.
"This is gonna be a big job, but I can handle it no problem." The copper robot declared confidently.
Clockwork held out both arms and fired beams of emerald light at the guild hall. The entire building was bathed in green light. Concentrating on his abilities, Clockwork began to reverse time around the guild hall.
Suddenly, the iron columns sticking out from the building began to vanish. The damage done to the wooden structure started disappearing as well. The mages all watched in awe as the guild hall was being fixed before their very eyes.
Another ten seconds passed before Clockwork ceased firing his time beam. As the emerald light faded, in its wake was a fully repaired Fairy Tail guild hall. Some wizards gasped in shock while others like Erza stared in amazement. The guild's spirits quickly lifted into joy from the sight of the repaired building.
Clockwork fell to his hands and knees, panting heavily. In another green flash, Clockwork reverted back to Ben. He was sweating a little bit as he breathed deeply. The rest of his team came to him with concern; Natsu leaned down by his side.
"You okay, dude?" Natsu asked.
"Y-Yeah," Ben panted. "It's just…using Clockwork's power like that…tires me out quite a bit." He took in another breath as he continued, "I'll be fine."
Natsu offered Ben a hand, which he accepted and returned to his feet. Erza gazed at the fully repaired building as the rest of the guild flooded in with raised spirits, thanking Ben on their way in.
"Good work, Ben." Erza complimented. "That was very kind of you."
She then grabbed Ben's head and lightly slammed it into her armored chest. It was her way of showing gratitude or apologizing to her friends, in this case, both. When she let go, Ben stood up a bit, with his face flushed.
"Uh…no biggie," Ben grinned nervously.
"Yes, it is," Erza argued bluntly. "Forgive me. I'm sorry that I doubted you, it won't happen again. If you want, you may punish me."
Ben's paled slightly. He chuckled lightly as he held up his hands in a placating gesture. "No, that's unnecessary. Apology accepted."
"Smart move," the others commented.
…
After nightfall had arrived, Lucy was walking down a street that ran across a canal that went through the city. She was pulling her suitcases behind her. Her faithful companion Plue was in front of her. The blonde mage was thinking about the damage done to the guild by the Phantom Lords, even though it had been repaired by Ben.
"Well, that was certainly something, wasn't it, Plue?" Lucy asked.
"Huh," the little spirit uttered.
"I didn't know that Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail had such a rivalry between them." She continued.
"Uh-huh," Plue remarked, starting to dance around her with a large smile on his face.
"Honestly," Lucy admitted, "I thought about joining Phantom in case I couldn't get into Fairy Tail. They have a reputation that's on par with Fairy Tail's, after all" the blonde-haired teen then smiled. "But I love our guild, and I don't regret my decision at all!"
"Fairy Tail's kinda like my family," Lucy confessed as she opened the door.
As soon as she entered, her eyes bulged open. Sitting at her dinner table eating a large, cooked fish was Erza, Gray, and Ben. Erza was at the front while Gray and Ben were on opposite sides of the table. Natsu and Happy were on the floor, the latter was eating a fish of his own.
Ben had taken off his green jacket and hung it up on a coat rack in the corner of the room. Erza wore a white shirt with a blue skirt. Gray sported a pair of black pants and a white buttoned up shirt. Natsu was in his regular attire.
"Very nice place you have here." Erza admired.
"YOU CAME IN WITHOUT ASKING FIRST!" the blonde then threw her at suitcase at Natsu, which Ben winced at. "WHY ARE YOU HERE?!"
"Since the guild has been attacked," Erza answered calmly, holding up a cup of tea, "we can assume that there are still Phantom Lord members in town."
"They probably figured out where everyone in Fairy Tail lives by now," Gray added.
Lucy flinched. "Where we live?!"
"Mira said it would be safer if we grouped together." Gray clarified. "You know… strength in numbers."
"I guess you're right." Lucy agreed.
"That's why everyone in Fairy Tail is having a slumber party tonight." Happy exclaimed.
"You are a very attractive teenage girl, after all," Erza explained. "I wasn't entirely comfortable with you being here alone with Ben, Natsu, and Gray. I felt like I could only relax if I stayed here as well."
Ben looked at Titania and crossed his arms over his chest with a frown. "You do remember that you convinced me to come here, right? I was fine with guarding the guild hall."
"It's not time to relax!" Natsu inputted angrily.
"So it was already decided that these three would stay with me?" Lucy inquired.
"Only Natsu and Gray," Erza corrected. "As Ben mentioned I convinced him to come along. After all, we are a team and must stick together."
"But why'd they have to come to my place?" demanded Lucy.
"Whoa!" Happy started going through a basket of laundry. "You sure have a lot of dirty clothes."
"Hey!" Lucy shouted. "You better get out of my stuff or you're dead meat!"
As Happy went through Lucy's laundry, Plue had picked up a pink lollipop off the ground and started licking it. This quickly caught Natsu's attention.
"Hey Plue," Natsu yelled, "Did you find something to eat? Oh come on, don't be hogging it all!"
"Ahh…" Plue said, still licking at the candy.
"Ooh, look Erza! I found some frilly panties you might like." Happy offered mischievously, holding up a pink pair of small panties.
Erza took them and examined them with wide eyes and a bit of sweat dripped down her face. "I can't believe you would actually wear something like this, Lucy." She chimed.
Plue eventually found a box full of sweets, which he and Natsu began to devour happily.
"I'm gonna catch some shuteye," Gray laid down on Lucy's bed, "so could you please keep it down?"
"That's not even your bed, Gray, and where are your clothes?" Ben leaned back in his chair by the table. The ice mage panicked when he realized he was in nothing but his boxers.
"You guys are taking this 'make yourselves at home' deal a little too far." Lucy moaned.
"We have a serious problem here." Erza glanced back, looking at the three teenage boys. "You boys' hygiene. I refuse to sleep in a room that reeks of sweat."
"But I took a shower this morning." Ben protested. He then sniffed his armpit. "And I don't smell bad!"
"I don't wanna take a bath right now," Natsu added.
"But I already got into bed," Gray whined.
Erza brought the three together. Natsu and Gray on the outside while Ben was awkwardly caught in the middle. She stood behind them with her hands on Natsu and Gray's outer shoulders.
"Come on, boys," Erza urged. "Do we have to take a bath together like we did when we were kids?"
Ben's eyes widened at this. 'Say what?!' he shouted inwardly.
Erza then looked at Ben coyly. "As for you, Ben, you may join us if you would like."
"I'll pass!" Ben shouted, feeling very flustered.
"What kind of relationship do you guys have?!" Lucy shrieked, equally as stunned as Ben.
"Erza's ultimate team!" Happy commented.
"More like strangest team!" the blonde countered.
…
At least an hour later, Lucy and Erza had finished with their baths. Ben, Gray, and Natsu were still a bit reluctant to go. The former couldn't help but blush when Erza came out with just a pink towel covering her form, light reflecting off her wet body. Thankfully, in Ben's case, she didn't see him blush, but what really caught his eye was when she re-quipped into a pink set of pajamas with purple crosses all over it.
'That's gotta save time in the morning.' Ben mused.
Later, Natsu was sleeping with his head down on the table while Ben and Lucy sat around him. Gray, meanwhile, was sitting at Lucy's desk while Erza took a seat at Lucy's bed in front of the table. Excluding Natsu, the group was discussing an obvious topic, Phantom Lord.
"Do you have any idea why Phantom attacked us out of the blue?" Lucy asked.
"I'm afraid not," Erza replied. "We have had our fair share of scuffles with them in the past, but never on anything of this sort of scale before."
"If Gramps wasn't so scared we could wipe out those punks once and for all," Natsu mumbled.
Ben looked back at the Dragon Slayer and cocked a brow. "Since when were you awake?"
"Come on Natsu, you know Master Makarov isn't afraid of them." Gray scolded lightly. "You seem to be forgetting that he's one of the Ten Wizard Saints."
"I didn't give you permission to read that!" Lucy shouted at Gray, who was holding a stack of paper in his hand. She quickly snatched it from him and held it close to her.
"You can't just snatch it out of my hand without at least telling me what happens next," Gray complained.
"Yes, I can," Lucy stated. "I promised Levy she would be the first to read it, so you're just gonna have to wait."
Unexpectedly, Erza held out a hand, expecting for Lucy to give it to her. "You're not getting it either!"
Ben chuckled lightly at the scene. "Okay, there's something I've been meaning to ask. What are these Ten Wizard Saints?"
"It's an honor bestowed from the Magical Council," answered Erza. "It's an extremely coveted title shared by the ten most powerful wizards on the continent."
"That sounds cool," Ben commented. "The ten strongest wizards, huh?"
"Wha…really?" Lucy stammered.
"Phantom Lord's guild master, Jose, is one of them too." Happy added.
'That's true.' Erza thought, her mind drifting. 'And so is he.'
Natsu slammed his palm onto the table, nearly breaking it. "He is afraid! He's scared that Phantom has too many members for us to handle!"
"Could you please use your inside voice?" Lucy suggested weakly.
"That's not true and you know it." Gray rebuked sternly. "It's just like what master and Mira said before. The consequences of us going to war with Phantom are nowhere near worth the fight. The order of the magical world is at stake here."
"But I don't understand. Are they really that strong?" the Celestial mage inquired.
Natsu grinned confidently. "They ain't got nothing on us. We can take those clowns."
Erza stood up from the bed. "No. If we were to engage them in battle…neither guild would survive. Their strength equals ours." She continued. "Phantom's Master Jose is also one of the Ten Wizard Saints, which means he's on par with Makarov. They also have an elite group of wizards similar to our S-Class, known as the Element 4. But the strongest out of all of them is Black Steel Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer, who I believe was responsible for the destruction done to the guild hall."
"W-wait," Ben said, "he's a Dragon Slayer too? So, Natsu's not the only one?"
"Yeah, I thought he was," Lucy added. "So, if he's the Iron Dragon Slayer, does that mean he eats iron? I wonder how that tastes."
"Speaking from experience, I'd say it's kind of like a tangy slab of steak... at least for me, it was," Ben replied, recalling his times as Eatle when he ate something made of metal.
Lucy turned to him with a blank look.
"What?" he asked.
"That was meant to be rhetorical." She deadpanned.
…
The main hall of the Phantom Lord guild was a dark, large stone-walled room with tables aligned everywhere. The torches mounted on the walls were the only source of light in the main hall. Sitting alone at a table was a young muscular man with long, black hair that was spiked up. He wore a shabby, black, sleeveless tunic with silver studded edges, a pair of beige pants, and studded black boots. On his right shoulder was a black wing-like ornament jutting upwards.
This was Gajeel Redfox, the Iron Dragon Slayer; otherwise, known as Black Steel.
The table he was sitting at was covered in a variety of iron materials such as pots and pans. Gajeel was chowing down, not on regular food, but rather from the actual metal items sprawled across the table.
"Hey Gajeel, I heard you made a mess out of the Fairy Tail guild hall." A Phantom mage then smirked. "I also heard that one of their mages completely repaired it. Man, sure sucks for you. I mean, after all that work and to have it all undone." He laughed.
Gajeel ceased his eating and growled. He swiftly turned to face the mage. Shockingly, Gajeel's arm transformed into a grey iron pillar and extended out, slamming into the man's face and sending him careening back. The other Phantom Lord wizards who witnessed the scene all laughed at the man's misfortune.
"How many times do I have to tell ya?" Gajeel growled as his arm reverted back to normal. "I don't like to be bothered while I'm eating! And besides," he stopped as he stood up on his table, glaring at all his guildmates, "whether their precious guild hall was repaired or not, those Fairy Tail clowns have got nothing on us. We're way more powerful than they could ever hope to be."
His guildmates all shouted in agreement.
"The die has been cast." A voice proclaimed.
Everyone looked up to see a tall figure standing by the railing of the second floor, his form shrouded by the darkness. It was the guild master. "I compliment your excellent work Gajeel, despite the fact Fairy Tail's newest member undid it."
"After that little stunt, I realized that we weren't hard enough on them." Gajeel jeered. "So, I decided to leave them a little something extra. A present. One that's sure to get the panties of that guild in a knot."
"Very good, my boy," Jose praised. "Be sure to not bring any harm to you-know-who, if you please?"
Gajeel only grinned wickedly.
...
The next day, the Ultimate Team was preparing to head toward the restored guild hall, until they spotted a disturbance in Southgate Park. They approached a large crowd, composed of a big sum of their guildmates and town citizens, which was gathered at a large tree in the center of the park.
They were concerned, everyone looked horrified. When they spotted the commotion Ben and the other gasped in horror. Hanging from the trunk of the huge tree was Levy, Droy, and Jet. All three of them looked seriously beaten up. Iron clamps were keeping them pinned to the tree trunk, and painted on the tree was the Phantom Lord guild mark.
"LEVY!" Lucy cried.
Natsu clenched his fists, his eyes burning with fury. Ben was feeling a similar sense of anger as he glared at the Phantom Lord mark on the tree. He gritted his teeth, trying to keep his emotions in check.
However, Ben couldn't say the same for Natsu, not that he could blame him. The teen hero didn't know these Phantom Lord guys but they had hurt his guildmates, placed them on a tree like trophies for everyone to see!
'I don't care if I know Phantom or not. They've gone too far!' Ben clenched his fists.
The crowd grew silent and cleared a path for Master Makarov. Instead of his usual attire, he was wearing a pair of black pants and a white coat with the Ten Wizard Saint symbol on the back; though he still held his familiar cane in his hand.
"I can take our headquarters being reduced to rubble," hissed Makarov, "but I will not allow harm to come to my children without TAKING REVENGE!" His grip tightened until it promptly crushed his cane's shaft.
Suddenly, golden light began to shine from beneath the old man. Ben took a cautious step back. He had never seen Makarov like this, and he could feel a scary amount of power radiating off of him.
With an enraged scowl on his face, Makarov yelled, "We have no choice but to go to war!"
…
Oak Town, located in the northeastern sector of Fiore, was home to the Phantom Lord guild. The guild hall itself was a large, stone castle-like building that towered above all the other structures in the town. The Phantom Lord members were all lounging around, drinking beer, talking, and laughing.
The biggest conversation topic today was Gajeel defeating three Fairy Tail members singlehandedly and hanging them up on a tree in a city park for everyone to see.
Three wizards were sauntering toward the main doors with smug smirks on their faces.
"We should go pick off a few Fairies ourselves." One suggested.
As they approached the exit, the front doors were suddenly blasted off of their hinges by a flaming inferno, sending the three wizards careening back. The Phantoms quickly turned their gaze to the main doors, and as the smoke cleared, standing in the doorway was a pissed off Natsu Dragneel.
Standing behind him was Ben, Erza, Gray, and the rest of the Fairy Tail guild. Lucy was absent, offering to stay behind and watch over Team Shadow Gear back at the Magnolia Hospital.
"Fairy Tail has come calling!" Makarov declared.
A group of Phantom Lords immediately jumped at Natsu, letting out battle cries. The Fire Dragon Slayer shot out a wall of fire, blasting back the group, their bodies charred and smoking.
"Alright! Who wants to play with fire?" Natsu roared.
Ben stepped forward and swiftly activated the Omnitrix and selected an alien. "And who wants to play with…" He slammed down the core. After an emerald flash, the Phantom Lord guild was taken back to see a seven-foot-tall plant-man with a flame pattern design now standing by Natsu.
"Swampfire!" Ben yelled, finishing his last statement. "It's Hero Time!"
The Phantom Lord mages quickly got over their shock and charged head-on at Fairy Tail. Natsu and Swampfire charged head first at the large pack of enemy wizards, both lighting up their fists with flames and punching the lights out of their opponents.
Meanwhile, Macao held out his hand, and chanted, "Fish Net!" Without warning, several bluish-purple tendrils of energy manifested out from a purple magic circle on his hand and wrapped up several Phantom Mages, suspending them in the air.
Macao turned to Wakaba behind him. "Now Wakaba!"
The green shirt man smirked. "On it! Here comes, Smoke Punch!" Suddenly, multiple pink magic fists fired out from Wakaba's pipe and punched the Phantom mages trapped in Macao's net.
As the various members of Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord battled, Swampfire was in the middle. A random member had used a bench as a springboard to leap at Ben; however, the Omnitrix bearer saw this coming. He cocked back his green fist and delivered a wicked haymaker into the guy's face, sending him flying back across the room.
A couple more charged Swampfire from the side, but he easily summoned fireballs in his hands and fired blazing streams of flame at the duo. He received similar results like from the last guy, they were sent careening back – only this time, these guys were charred.
Swampfire inwardly smirked. These Phantom creeps had nothing on him, and from the way, the battle was shaping out, on his guildmates either. However, before Swampfire could continue his onslaught, he was quickly surrounded by a group of a dozen Phantom mages.
The Methanosian looked around him, a scowl etched on his black face. "Come on you bunch of pansies!" Swampfire challenged. "Attack me if you got the guts!"
"Get that freak!" a Phantom wizard shouted.
Half of the group in front of Ben leaped at Ben, magic circles forming in their hands. Swampfire didn't know what magic they possessed, which meant he wasn't going to take a chance. He held out his arms and discharged two powerful streams of fire. The six mages were quickly blasted back unconscious.
Despite the power that Swampfire was demonstrating, the other half of the group engaged him. One was lifting up an ax to strike him, but Ben dodged the swipe and backhanded the guy to the ground. Suddenly, a mage had managed to sneak up behind Swampfire and stabbed his magic sword straight through his abdomen.
The man behind Ben sneered. "Not so tough now, are you Fairy Tail fly?"
Swampfire smirked. He pulled forward until the sword was removed. The man gasped in shock as the hole in his enemy's torso instantly healed with a sickening suction sound.
"W-w-what the…?" he stammered.
"I'm not a fly." Swampfire lunged at the mage in a blink of an eye and sent an uppercut into his jaw. The wizard went flying backward until he crashed into another group of Phantom mages. "I'm a superhero, dude. Remember it."
In the midst of the fighting, Makarov stood nonchalantly with his arms crossed and his eyes shut. A large mass of Phantom wizards, who surrounded him, all charged at once. Makarov opened up his eyes, bright golden light shining out of them. All of a sudden, the ground began to shake as Makarov's body increased to a height of sixty feet, the same height as Humungousaur fully grown.
He slammed his palm on the stone floor, trapping a few mages underneath. They all stared up in fear and awe.
"He's…a monster!" a Phantom mage said fearfully.
"AND YOU WOULD DARE HURT THIS MONSTER'S CHILDREN!" Makarov bellowed; golden light illuminating off his body. "WERE YOU REALLY FOOLISH ENOUGH TO BELIEVE THE COUNCIL'S LAWS WOULD PROTECT YOU FROM MY RAGE?!"
The Phantom Lord members all paused, expressions of shock and awe plastered on their faces. They were amazed by the power shown in Master Makarov and the members of Fairy Tail.
"He's pretty strong." One remarked.
"Yeah, and his members are strong too." Another added.
"I didn't know Fairy Tail was like this."
As Fairy Tail continued their onslaught on Phantom Lord, the super-grown Master Makarov glanced around. "JOSE, SHOW YOURSELF!"
Erza, who was in her normal Heart Kreuz outfit, slashing two swords away at her opponents, Re-Quipped into her Flame Empress Armor. This armor was primarily dark red but also sported orange and black parts, with the first ones being shaped like flames and the second resembling the limbs of a Dragon. Her bright scarlet hair was tied into a pair of high, long pigtails. In her right hand was a long red, flaming sword.
Erza cried out as she leaped into the air, slashing her flaming sword at a group of Phantom mages. The attack sent them sprawling back charred and beaten.
"TELL ME!" she yelled. "Where can I find Gajeel and the Element 4!?"
Meanwhile, a man with black spiky hair stood atop one of the many timber rafters on the ceiling. Gajeel smirked at the scene taking place. He had to admit, he was impressed by how much power Fairy Tail was showing, beating up his guildmates like nothing. His eye was especially caught by Master Makarov, Erza, and Swampfire. He didn't know Ben's true identity, only that he was apparently responsible for repairing the damage done to the Fairy Tail guild hall somehow.
"Ah, the legend herself, Titania Erza," Gajeel remarked. "I guess Laxus and Mystogan are too scared to play or do they not care? Either way, Master Jose knew exactly how this was going to go down." He grinned. "Looks like their really good fighters…for a bunch of scumbags,"
As the battle waged on below, Natsu was consuming the fire that Phantom mages shot at him, which stunned them. The pink haired young man burped as a hungry grin spread on his face. "Oh yeah, now I got a fire in my belly!"
"No way! He ate fire!" a Phantom mage cried.
"You don't think he's one of those?" another asked in fear.
Natsu slammed his fists together, a reddish-orange circle appearing in front of them. "I'm gonna blow you away! Fire Dragon Roar!" He put both hands over his mouth like a trumpeter, a huge torrent of flames bursting out. The fire sent the group flying back with burns.
Gray, who wasn't wearing a shirt, stood in the center of a big pack of Phantom mages. The mages all charged at the raven-haired teen, but Gray remained calm. He put his fist on top of his palm and held them out.
"Ice Make: Lance!"
Without warning, a barrage of icy lances shot out from a magic circle in front of Gray. The lances sent the wizards sprawling back uncontrollably.
Erza had Re-Quipped into her Black Wing Armor. It was black with silver trimming with silver crosses in several places, consisting of a silver-edged breastplate and plates flanking her hips that reached down to her waist-guard, and two wings that had black metal "arms" acting as the wings' leading structure. Her hair was tied into a long ponytail.
As she flew through the air, she slashed her silver blade at her enemies and threw them around like nothing.
Eventually, Natsu and Gray were back-to-back, the former's hands covered in flames while the latter shrouded in icy mist.
"You're not doing so bad for being a snowman." Natsu quipped.
"I could say the same for you too, pyro," Gray replied.
Across the room, Swampfire was beginning to become overwhelmed. He had taken care of the first few waves of Phantom Lord mages without a hitch. But now, it seemed most of the remaining mages were turning their sights on Ben. He guessed they were either trying to overwhelm him with numbers or were just stupid…maybe both.
A Phantom mage held up a rod and fired a bolt of lightning at Swampfire. The lightning went straight through Ben's torso, scorching the green parts around it. He grunted in slight pain as he fell to a knee. A wave of weakness overcame him as his body worked to regenerate the injury.
"He's weakened! Take him down!" the wizard who'd shot Ben ordered.
"Yeah, he can't take all of us at once!" another shouted.
Taking their golden opportunity, a squad of at least two dozen Phantoms all jumped at Swampfire simultaneously. Ben lifted his flame-patterned head up and could only watch as the group dog-piled on top of him. While the large clique piled on top of the Omnitrix bearer, ten other wizards surrounded the pile. Some were holding magic swords and axes while others were summoning magic circles.
"He's not so tough after all." A mage commented smugly.
Erza, who was still flying in the air in her Black Wing Armor, witnessed Ben get overwhelmed. "Ben, hang on!" she yelled, taking off toward the large pile with her sword reared back.
Before she got there, though, a familiar green light flashed through the open spaces of the pile of wizards. All of a sudden, a massive azure blast erupted from beneath the pile of wizards and sent them all flying in every direction. Erza made sure to dodge the burnt mages flying past her.
As the smoke cleared, standing there was an eight-foot-tall being that looked like a humanoid tree. Its body was comprised of dark brown, petrified wood. On its hunched back were three blue, gooey shells and his flame-patterned head was inside one of the frontward facing shells. The Omnitrix dial, which now had four prongs sticking out, was still positioned on its chest. And on its left shoulder was the Fairy Tail guild mark stamped in black.
"Ultimate Swampfire!" Ben yelled in a deep, nasally voice.
The Phantom mages who hadn't been blasted away all stood frozen, shaking and muttering incoherently. Erza's own eyes widened from seeing this new form. She could sense a lot more power radiating from this Ultimate Swampfire than the original.
"What the hell is that thing?!" One shouted.
"What kind of Take-Over wizard is this guy?"
"He…he must be very powerful." A guy stuttered timidly.
"WHO CARES!" a brave Phantom wizard shouted. "GET HIM!"
The ten men charged at Ben; however, Ultimate Swampfire stood still uncaringly. As the mages got within range, he held out both hands and discharged a powerful blast of blue fire at them. They cried out in pain from the flames as they were blasted back with burns across their bodies.
Ultimate Swampfire pulled off some blue, gooey balls form his forearm and tossed them at the feet of another Phantom band. Upon hitting the floor, they ignited into blue fireballs and sent them careening back. The teen hero ran forward, tossing countless 'grenades' at his enemies, which quickly subdued them.
Across the area of unconscious, semi-burned Phantom guild members, the blue fire was scattered all over and eating away at the air. Erza descended from the air and landed by Ben, looking his new form up and down.
"Quite an impressive form," Erza commented.
Ultimate Swampfire turned to her. "Thanks," He then noticed Titania's attire. If he were human, he'd be blushing quite a bit. It didn't leave much to the imagination, but he was also confused. How could something like that protect her? "Uh…nice armor…if that's what you call it."
"This is my Black Wing Armor." Erza elaborated. "It grants me flight and better offensive capabilities against my enemies."
The duo refocused on their surroundings as another pack of Phantoms was forming a tight circle around them. Ben and Erza were now back-to-back, the former summoning cobalt fire in his wooden-like hands.
"Well," Ultimate Swampfire said, "care to give me a demonstration for how effective it is? There's plenty of target dummies around."
Erza smirked. "With pleasure!"
The Phantom Lords yelled as they all jumped at the duo. Erza Scarlet flew into the air and delivered a powerful swipe from her silver blade, sending her attackers careening back. Ultimate Swampfire extended his arms and discharged an intense blast of blue flames. His opponents cried out in pain from the hot fire as they flew back and crashed in random places across the trashed guild hall.
Erza landed by Ultimate Swampfire's left side, smiling. "How's that?" she teased.
The hyper-evolved Methanosian only smirked.
The duo ran over to their other guild members, stepping over unconscious Phantom Lord members on the way. Some of the Fairy Tail mages, like Natsu, were taken back when they saw Ultimate Swampfire.
"Whoa," Natsu breathed, "nice form, Ben. This guy feels just as hot as me."
"Thanks," Ben's expression then grew serious. "But we still got plenty of these Phantom creeps left."
It was true. They had successfully subdued a large fraction of Phantom Lord, but there was still plenty left standing. Though they were now wary of Fairy Tail's might, they still surrounded them and were ready to engage. The Fairy Tail guild stood together and prepared to continue their fight.
"We got 'em right where we want them though," Wakaba said.
"Erza," the redhead looked up the stairs that led to the second floor to see Makarov. He had reverted back to his normal size, but that didn't make him defenseless at all. "I'll leave the rabble to you and the others."
"Yes sir," she acknowledged.
Makarov walked leisurely but with a menacing aura casting off him. "Jose must be on the top floor," he growled. "When I find him, there will be hell to pay."
Erza watched as Makarov disappeared from view. "Please be careful." She prayed.
Ultimate Swampfire heard what she said and turned to her. "Will he be alright on his own?"
She turned to Ben. "Jose is strong, but I'm sure Makarov will be fine."
Ben glanced back up the stairs. He knew that Makarov, despite his size, was a very strong person. Nevertheless, he was getting an uneasy feeling at the moment.
'I don't know why,' Ben felt uneasy, 'but something just doesn't feel right.'
Makarov walked up to a wall, and without having to touch it, the stone was blasted away. On the rafters above, Gajeel sneered as Makarov proceeded into the giant hole in the wall.
"Now that their little boss man is out of the way," Gajeel said, "it's time I throw myself into the mix."
The Iron Dragon Slayer then jumped off the wooden girders, descending to the floor below. A hungry, sadistic grin spread across his face.
…
A/N: UPDATE 5-16-2019
I came back to do some minor re-edits. Nothing major outside of dialogue tweaks and cleaning up spelling, grammar, and sentence structure errors were made in this chapter. I plan to do the same for the rest of the Phantom Lord arc.
There won't be any major changes in this arc; however, Ben's impact on the story will start to steadily increase as Ultimate Fairy progresses.
Please leave any comments, critique, or suggestions in the review box below. Until next time!