A/N: I wanted to say I'm ecstatic by how popular this story has become. I got nearly sixty reviews on the last chapter alone. That truly is something to be proud of. Thank you, my loyal sla –uh, I mean readers.
Note: a line of dialogue in this chapter was taken from the movie, Big Stan.
Hope you enjoy this newest addition of Ultimate Fairy!
...
Ultimate Fairy
Chapter 18: Settling In
Ben's New Home
…
On the day that followed after Ben and Erza's return from their S-Class mission, the Ultimate Team had set out on a house hunting trip for Ben. They had looked at all the available houses and apartments in town, but none of them really piqued Ben's interest. It was then that they decided to switch their attention to available houses outside of town.
At the end of the day, Ben had finally found the house he was looking for. It was a quaint one-story home, plus a basement, that resided on a rocky shoreline cliff that overlooked the large body of water that was Lake Sciliora. It strongly resembled a ranch-style home and was built out of white stone brick and had dark green roofing and shutters. At the back of the house, was a nice porch space that provided a spectacular view of the lake.
The down payment of the house was a hefty two million Jewels, but Ben bought it anyways since he had plenty of money to spare after the Peony job. In addition, by using Grey Matter's smarts, he calculated that by devoting at least thirty percent of the money he makes from jobs to the remaining amount left on his house note, he should have the entire house paid off within a few months – depending on how many jobs he takes, of course. Also, he figured that if he was going to be in this crazy magical world for an unknown amount of time, he should live comfortably.
The day after, the Ultimate Team had set out for the shopping establishments across Magnolia to acquire food, more furniture, clothes, and other essentials for Ben. The trip had taken all day and Ben now had a lot of stuff to take back. Thankfully, Erza was kind enough to lend her wagon to pack all of his stuff in. When they got to Ben's house, Ben changed into Fasttrack and placed all his things where they were supposed to go in less than a minute; much to his team's surprise.
Three days after Ben and Erza's return, the former was settling in quite nicely in his shoreline house with a view.
At the present time, Erza, Gray, and Lucy were walking down a dirt path that cut through a forest that led to Ben's place. The team had decided to throw Ben a potluck party, where each guest would bring a random dish of either food or refreshments. Erza was carrying a pink box that had a bakery's logo on the top, Lucy was bringing a bag of chips and salsa, and Gray had a pack of sodas in his left hand.
Natsu and Happy, however, were nowhere to be found.
"I wonder where Natsu and Happy are." Lucy wondered.
"Who cares?" Gray said nonchalantly. "Any day I don't have to see flame-brain is a good day for me."
"Where are your clothes!?" Lucy yelled.
True enough, Gray had miraculously stripped down into his boxers in less than a second. His eyes bulged out as he danced around frantically. "CRAP!"
"I'm sure Natsu and Happy are at Ben's place." Erza inputted.
"I wonder if the idiot remembered to bring anything." Gray said. "It is a potluck after all."
"Knowing Natsu he probably ate it on the way there." Lucy noted. The blonde haired wizard then turned to Erza. "So, Erza what are you bringing?"
Erza smiled as she opened the lid. "It's a strawberry cheesecake with white chocolate icing over it." She replied cheerily.
"Wow! That looks good." Lucy said brightly.
But then, Gray and Lucy both noticed something peculiar about the desert. There was a triangle-shaped piece outlined with regular chocolate frosting.
"How come you have that piece marked with chocolate icing?" asked Gray.
"That's Ben's piece. Everything else is mine." Erza answered.
"Wait. You're not gonna let anyone else have a piece except for Ben?" Lucy inquired incredulously.
"Yes. This delicious substance is too good to share; however, I couldn't have accomplished that Peony mission without Ben so I will reward him with a piece." Erza stated. She then looked at the duo with a scary expression. "Is there a problem with that?"
"NO MA'AM!" Gray and Lucy shouted frightfully.
Suddenly, their attention was caught by the loud boom of an explosion that shook the ground.
"What the hell was that?!" Gray yelled.
Erza looked forward and could see a black mushroom cloud billowing in the distance. Its point of origin appeared to be coming from…
The warrior gasped in apprehension. "That came from Ben's house! Let's move!"
Erza, Gray, and Lucy rushed down the narrow path until they arrived in a large, grassy clearing that was Ben's front yard. In the middle of the field was a newly formed shallow crater with a large smoke cloud rising into the sky. Orange fire burned around the crater's rim and licked away at the air.
Without warning, a small blue cat crashed at the trio's feet with slightly singed fur.
"Ugh," Happy moaned with swirling eyes. "That was a little much. Don't yah think, Natsu?"
The trio shifted their gaze back to the field and saw their pyromaniac teammate standing fifteen yards to the left of the billowing crater. The expression on his face could be summed up with one word: hungry.
"Is that all yah got, Ben?" Natsu challenged.
"Ben?" Erza said, wide-eyed.
All of a sudden, a seven-foot-tall, plant-man with a fiery head design stepped out from the smoky crater. The burns that Swampfire had suffered on his chest and torso instantly healed up.
Swampfire locked his emerald eyes on Natsu, and grinned confidently. "Hardly, dragon boy."
He slapped the Omnitrix on his chest and four clamps stuck out from the dial. In a flash of green, standing in Swampfire's place was a greyish-brown humanoid tree with three blue, gooey shells on its hunched back. His flame-patterned head was inside one of the frontward facing shells. The Fairy Tail mark was stamped on his left shoulder.
"In fact," Ultimate Swampfire ignited his wooden-like fists with cobalt fire, "I'm just getting warmed up."
"What are they doing?!" Lucy shrieked fearfully.
"Natsu must've really ticked Ben off for him to be doing this." Gray deduced.
Natsu clenched his fists and grinned hungrily. "Hit me with your best shot, tough guy!"
"With pleasure," Ultimate Swampfire sneered.
He extended his arms and fired an enormous blue blaze at Natsu; much to Erza, Gray, and Lucy's shock. The azure torrent forged a burning trench in the ground and instantly vaporized the grass and dirt in its path; however, Natsu stood calmly as the powerful inferno came at him.
Natsu tilted back his head and inhaled deeply, sucking the blue blaze right into his mouth. When the Dragon Slayer finished consuming the fire, he let out a satisfied burp before turning his gaze back to Ben.
"Well?" Ultimate Swampfire asked. "How was it?"
Natsu grinned brightly. "That was the best damn fire I've ever tasted."
"Really?" Ben said, "Even better than Heatblast and Beelzebash's?"
"Heatblast was good and all, I'll admit. And Beelzebash…" Natsu shivered in disgust. "…don't get me started on how nasty those flames tasted!"
"What is going on here?" Erza shouted.
The Dragon Slayer nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Erza's voice. The duo turned their attention to Erza, Gray, and Lucy. Erza was at the head of the group and she had a fist clenched while her other arm held her cheesecake.
"I'll ask again, what is going on here?" She demanded with a serious expression.
"Yeah, why are you two fighting?" inquired Lucy.
"Let me guess, did Natsu burn something in your house, Ben?" Gray implied.
"Huh?" Ultimate Swampfire and Natsu said with question marks over their heads.
After Natsu had composed himself after his fright from Erza, he and Ben looked at each other in bemusement before turning back to the trio.
"Fighting? We weren't fighting." Ultimate Swampfire replied.
"Yeah," Natsu explained, "Ben and I got bored waiting for you guys to eventually show up so I suggested I'd try how the fire from all his fire-guys tasted to pass the time."
"Huh?" the group remarked, dumbfounded.
"W-wait," Lucy stuttered, "so…you weren't fighting? But…what happened to Happy?" She motioned at a lightly burned Happy, who was steadily getting back to his feet.
Natsu shrugged. "Little guy got too close when I used my Fire Dragon Roar earlier. Sorry buddy."
Gray cocked a brow, confused. "If you two weren't fighting then why were you breathing fire, hothead?"
Natsu glared back at his icy rival. "I WANTED TO SEE IF BEN'S FIRE-GUYS COULD BOOST MY ATTACKS! WHAT, YOU GOTTA PROBLEM WITH THAT, YAH ICY FREAK?!"
Gray got in Natsu's face, an icy-blue aura emanating off his body as he glowered back at his rival. "You better watch your mouth, yah scaly mouth breather!"
"Oh yeah?! Well what're yah gonna do about it, yah pervy flasher!" Natsu retorted angrily, the flames around him growing more intense.
Ultimate Swampfire sweat dropped. "Are those two seriously about to fight right now?"
"Aye," Happy responded, his dizziness having faded enough to allow coherent speech.
Before a fight could break out, Erza stepped between them and pushed the two apart. "ENOUGH!" She ordered sternly.
Natsu and Gray both jumped back in terror, the fiery and icy auras that had surrounded them swiftly vanished. "AYE!" they both cried frightfully.
"Man. All she had to do was say one word and they both backed down instantly." The ultimate Methanosian commented.
"That's the mighty Erza for yah." Happy chirped.
"Would you knock it off with that already?" Lucy exasperated. "It's really getting old."
Ultimate Swampfire tapped the Omnitrix dial and, in a green flash, changed back to Swampfire, and then back into Ben. Instead of his usual attire, he was wearing a green short-sleeved workout shirt, black athletic shorts, and his sneakers.
Erza sighed and closed her eyes while shaking her head. "If you wanted to pass the time you should do something more productive…like training."
Ben, Natsu, and Gray looked at each other and grinned excitedly. Lucy saw this and sweat dropped, realizing what was going to happen.
"Oh no," the blonde wizard muttered.
Ben smirked cheekily. "Well, now that you mention it, I could go for a few rounds."
"Wait! I have to try that fiery Big Chill's fire next." Natsu mentioned.
Ben knew Natsu was referring to Ultimate Big Chill. "Ugh," Ben sighed, "Natsu, Ultimate Big Chill doesn't breathe fire it's…"
"C'MON! STOP WASTING TIME AND TURN INTO HIM ALREADY!" Natsu shouted, a vein throbbing on his forehead.
The teen hero frowned at the pink haired mage. "Fine," He shrugged.
He activated the Omnitrix, scrolled through the playlist, and slapped down the dial. After the usual green flash, standing in Ben's place was a black and blue humanoid moth with its wings folded over his body, giving it the appearance of a sinister cloak. Without shouting his name, Big Chill slapped the Omnitrix dial again, causing four spikes to pop out and another emerald light to consume his body. The only noticeable change to Big Chill was that his body color had changed to an assortment of red, orange, and yellow to give him a fiery appearance.
"But you asked for it, Natsu." Ultimate Big Chill whispered eerily.
Ultimate Big Chill exhaled a fiery torrent at Salamander, who then reared back his head and inhaled it. All of a sudden, before Natsu could react, his entire body was encased within a large chunk of ice.
The hyper-evolved Necrofriggian groaned and shook his head. "I tried to warn him."
"He never learns." Erza remarked.
"I still don't get how fire freezes things." Lucy noted.
"Yah know," Gray smirked cockily, "I think he looks better that way."
Without glancing at him, Ultimate Big Chill asked annoyingly, "What happened to your clothes?"
Gray immediately freaked out when he realized he was in his boxers again. He quickly raced to pick his clothes off the ground and put them back on.
Suddenly, the ice around Natsu began to steadily crack away until finally the ice chunk shattered into tiny fragments. His body was shrouded in flames as he glared angrily at Ultimate Big Chill.
"YOUR STUPID FIRE IS NOT EVEN REAL FIRE!" Natsu yelled.
Ultimate Big Chill groaned. "That's what I've been trying to tell you."
"That's it!" The flames around Natsu began to increase as he jumped at Ultimate Big Chill. "NOW IT'S TIME TO FIGHT! HRAAGH!"
Ben slapped the Omnitrix dial again. In another flash of emerald, standing in his place was a large, round alien with white skin and yellow plates on his back, arms, and head.
"Cannonbolt" Ben shouted.
Just as Natsu was about to punch him with his flaming fist, Cannonbolt wrapped Natsu up in a tight hug before he curled himself into a yellow plated ball. The sphere spun in place quite rapidly, forging a smooth crater beneath himself.
A few seconds later, Cannonbolt uncurled into his humanoid form and dropped a thoroughly dizzy Natsu onto the ground. His face was green while his eyes were swirling madly.
"Here's an important rule of combat, Natsu," Ben chastised, "never charge in head first, brain last. I used to do that in my early days, and always had to have my butt saved because of it."
"Hmm…yeah that sounds like Natsu's style." Gray commented.
"Ah, I can't believe Natsu fell for the same thing twice." Happy remarked.
"I can." Lucy retorted.
"Natsu, you should listen to the advice that Ben gives you." Erza advised. "He's been in enough battles to know what he's talking about."
"Aye," Natsu moaned sickly.
Lucy, Happy, and Gray both blinked, surprised that Erza was praising Ben by telling Natsu to listen to him. They hadn't expected that at all. It made them wonder what else could've happened between Ben and Erza on their Peony trip.
Gray shook off his surprise as an idea came to mind. He placed his sodas in Lucy's free arm. "Hold this, Lucy."
"Wait, what?!" Lucy inquired.
"So," Gray ignored her as he turned his gaze to Cannonbolt, and smirked. "Natsu and Erza both got to fight yah Ben, and they both lost." The ice mage got in a stance and summoned a magic circle in front of him. "Wanna see how yah do against me?"
Lucy sweat dropped. "You're about to fight Ben too!?"
Cannonbolt grinned and slapped the Omnitrix dial again. In another green flash, standing in his place was a combination of a rooster and a hawk. It had sharp claws on its toes and talons on its hands, as well as two larger talons protruding from his forearms. It had a short beak, brown feathers across its body, and a white Mohawk. It wore a green mask, a green belt with a white stripe, black underwear, and a green strap vest with the Omnitrix symbol on the vest hooker.
"Sure, I'll fight yah, but yah better be ready, cause I'm about to kick your teeth in." Kickin' Hawk grinned.
"Big talk coming from an overgrown turkey," Gray retorted, an icy aura casting off his form. "Ice Make: Lance!"
A barrage of icy lances fired from Gray's magic seal and straight toward Kickin' Hawk, but the highly agile alien swiftly crouched low and leaped over the attack.
"I'm not a turkey, I'm a hawk. A Kickin' Hawk." Ben retorted as he landed back on the ground.
"Ice Make: Arrows!" A giant icy crossbow appeared in Gray's arms. He held it out and fired a bombardment of ice arrows at Kickin' Hawk, but he swiftly jumped over the incoming projectiles.
Lucy squealed lightly and took a couple tentative steps back until she was by Erza's side. "Uh…Erza, don't yah think you ought to stop them?" she suggested.
"Hmph," Erza smirked as she crossed her arms over her breastplate. "I think it's best if Gray learns his lesson the hard way."
Kickin' Hawk landed in front of Gray and delivered a wicked kick to his chest, which sent him careening back a few meters till he crashed into the ground.
"I saw that attack coming from a mile away." the Omnitrix bearer stated.
Gray groaned as he got back to his feet, clutching his aching torso. He had to admit, the kick from this form definitely packed a punch.
"The key to victory is to know your opponent, Gray." Kickin' Hawk said, "If he's good in close quarters than you must fight him at a distance; if he's good at a distance than you must fight him in close quarters."
"Yeah…then what do you do if your opponent's good at close quarters and at a distance?" he asked.
Kickin' Hawk crouched low and jumped into the air, landing right in front of a surprised Gray. Without warning, his right leg shot up, grabbed Gray's head with the talons on his foot, and lifted him up. He then stomped the ice wizard's head into the ground, much to Lucy, Erza, and Happy's shock.
"Then you're up to your eyeballs in three-month-old kitty litter with your mouth wide open." Kickin' Hawk replied.
"That didn't take long at all." Lucy muttered.
"Aye," Happy agreed. "Gray got his head buried in the ground in less than a few seconds."
"Like I said," Erza said, "he needed to learn his lesson the hard way."
With a surge of strength, Gray finally pulled his head out of the ground. After getting the dirt off his face, the ice mage stared coldly at Kickin' Hawk. "Okay, no more messing around." He got in another stance and summoned a magic seal. "I'm freezing this bird!"
"Good," Kickin' Hawk spread his feet in a battle ready position. "You're angry. Let's see how you channel that anger."
Erza saw that the fight was about to get a little more intense; needless to say, the warrior girl definitely wanted in. She handed her bakery box over to Lucy, who now had her arms full of food.
"Hold this, Lucy." Erza ordered.
"Are you kidding?! Since when am I the pack mule?" the blonde mage shouted.
"If you two are going to fight…" Erza said as she ignored Lucy's rant. Golden-white light enveloped her body and when it died away, she was attired in her Black Wing Armor. "…then I want in on it too."
Kickin' Hawk smirked. "I'm game. Are you Gray?"
Gray smiled. "Damn straight I am. I'm gonna enjoy wiping the floor with you two."
"Big talk, Gray" Erza smiled slyly. "Let's see if you can back it up."
For a moment, the three stared at the other, waiting for one to engage first. Then, the trio let out battle yells as they charged at one another simultaneously. Gray called upon an Ice Hammer; Erza reared back her silver sword, while Kickin' Hawk was prepared to kick someone's lights out.
A small shockwave was created when the three forces collided. Lucy and Happy stood by and watched. The former's jaw was dangling off her face in shock while the latter was flying at head level, bursting with excitement.
"Wow!" Happy remarked as Kickin' Hawk jumped up and performed an axe kick on Gray, sending him crashing into the ground again. "This is awesome!"
"This is insane!" Lucy shouted. "Those three could tear this whole cliff apart!"
Happy turned to the blonde wizard. "Aren't you gonna train too, Lucy?"
Lucy chuckled nervously, and then set the potluck dishes in her arm on the ground. "Well, I think it'd be best for me to stand back and provide support with my overwhelming beauty." She got in a sexy pose as if she were shooting to be a supermodel.
"Oh boy," Happy sighed, "looks like she's gone delirious."
Lucy gnashed her teeth and glared daggers at the blue, flying cat. "OH YEAH!" She grabbed Happy by his knapsack and threw him into the battle. "Let's see you train with them!"
Happy cried out as he went hurdling toward the intense three-way fight.
Meanwhile, Natsu had finally gotten over his motion sickness and jumped back to his feet. He ignited his fists with flames, and was itching for payback. "OKAY! LET'S FIGH-"
Suddenly, Happy smacked into Natsu's head really hard. Both the Dragon Slayer and azure cat fell to the ground with bumps on their head and swirls in their eyes.
Lucy saw this and blinked. She then composed herself and smiled proudly. "And that's two knocked out with a single blow."
…
Half an hour later, Ben, Erza and Gray finished their training. The latter had received quite a butt whooping from the former two, though he did manage to sneak a few hits on his opponents. After he slammed into the ground again courtesy of a kick from Kickin' Hawk, that left the shape-shifter and armor-clad mage to duke it out.
Kickin' Hawk and Erza gave each other a good fight but were both stuck in a deadlock. As a result of their spar, a few craters were scattered across the grassy field. To prevent any more damage to Ben's new cliff-side property, they decided to call it a draw.
After the spar, Natsu and Happy had finally regained consciousness and the former was not too happy about missing the training session. Ben, Natsu, Gray and Happy were walking up the path to Ben's house. Gray had recovered quickly and there were only a few scrapes on his body from the sparring session.
"C'MON MAN! THAT'S SO UNFAIR! I WAS OUT COLD THE WHOLE TIME YOU GUYS WERE FIGHTING?!" Natsu bellowed angrily. "I WANNA A REMATCH RIGHT NOW!"
Happy sweat dropped. "You still want to fight him after getting beat so many times?"
Ben and Gray both groaned, miffed. "Maybe some other time, Natsu" the former said. "I need to cool down for a while."
"Well, I don't need to. I'm already cool." Gray remarked.
Ben smirked in response. "Cold puns, huh? Not bad."
Meanwhile, Erza and Lucy were walking ten feet behind the guys.
"Erza, don't yah think you, Ben, and Gray may have overdone it with the training?" Lucy asked, pointing toward the multiple holes and upturned dirt in the field.
"Actually," said Erza, "that was only a light spar. We were just having fun is…all…"
The Fairy Queen trailed off from her sentence when her brown eyes locked on Ben's backside. His tight, green short-sleeved shirt disclosed his broad shoulders and well-toned back. When her eyes traveled lower, she felt her face become hotter. Ben's attire was certainly showing off his firm, well-muscled body.
"Wait! Seriously? That was a light spar?!" Lucy shrieked.
The blonde mage then took notice that Erza wasn't listening and was gazing forward with a blush on her cheeks. Lucy looked to where her redheaded friend was staring. In front of them, the guys were talking animatedly. Natsu was on the left shouting, indignantly demanding a rematch while Happy was flying next to him, trying to tell him it was a bad idea. Ben was in the middle and talking with Gray on his right; both were simply ignoring their pyromaniac companion.
Lucy glanced to where Erza's eyes appeared to be honed in on, and lightly gasped. The Celestial wizard then grinned slyly. She was definitely going to have some fun with this.
"Ooh, I see what you're doing, Erza. You enjoying the view there?" Lucy teased.
Erza instantly snapped out of her daze. "W-w-what?! N-No! I wasn't staring at Ben!"
Lucy smirked. "I never said you were, Erza."
The blonde wizard smiled and inwardly giggled. 'Oh wow! I never thought that teasing someone like Erza with this kinda stuff would be so much fun!'
Erza's blush deepened as she turned away with her eyes closed. "I-I…" She stammered. Erza then reopened her eyes and turned to Lucy, a dangerous aura that promised pain was emanating off her. "You will keep this to yourself. Am I clear?"
Lucy squealed fearfully. "YES MA'AM!"
'It's not so fun anymore!' Lucy cried inwardly.
The guys heard Lucy's squeal and glanced back. The quartet was confused as to why Lucy was paler and Erza had a scary air wafting off of her.
"What's with them?" Ben asked.
Gray shrugged. "Who knows."
"Yeah, I'll never understand girls." Natsu said.
"Aye, sir" Happy agreed. "You sure won't."
…
Later, Ben was standing in his living room with a befuddled and flustered expression as Natsu, Gray, Erza and Happy rummaged through everything in his house.
In the living room were two couches that were parallel to one another, a coffee table in between them, a bookshelf to the bottom right corner of the room, and a couple small tables on either side of the couches; both had lacrima lamps on them. On the opposite end of the living room from the front door was a glass sliding door that lead to the patio outside, and beside it to the upper right corner was a brick fireplace.
To the right of the living room was the kitchen that came with a stove/oven, refrigerator, a variety of appliances, a pantry, a big table with six chairs and a bar counter with three bar stools. There were a few windows that gave a good view of the cliff and lake.
To the left of the living room was a hallway with four rooms and a door to the basement. The doors on the left side of the corridor consisted of a small guest room on the end, a guest bathroom in the middle, and a door to the basement below – which was relatively empty. Ben still hadn't decided what he would use it for yet. On the right side of the corridor was a laundry room that had a washing machine and dryer; much to Ben's surprise since he hadn't thought that this low-tech world, at least compared to his original world that had interstellar travel among other things, had washers and dryers. The last door on the right was the door to the master bedroom, or Ben's room in this case.
As soon as the team came in and laid their dishes on the table in Ben's kitchen, they immediately began going through his things; such as and not limited to, opening drawers, going through his laundry, and probing various items.
"So, Ben you got anything to eat in here?" Natsu asked excitedly as he opened up the fridge.
"Man," Happy called from the laundry room, "you sure got a ton of dirty clothes in here, Ben."
"Ugh," Gray groaned as he lay down on the couch behind Ben, wearing nothing but his onyx boxers. "I'm gonna lay down for a bit. Wake me later, 'kay?"
Ben blinked in disbelief. "Don't you guys understand the meaning of personal space?!" He nearly yelled.
Lucy, who was sitting on a couch in a polite manner, sighed in exasperation. "Welcome to my world."
The Celestial wizard had summoned Plue earlier and he was now sitting on her lap with the goofiest smile on his face.
The shape-shifter turned to her, cocking a brow in bemusement. "I came to this world at least a couple months ago, Lucy. That welcome's a little late, don't yah think?"
After that statement, Ben noticed something off: there was one person missing. He could see Natsu devouring the food in his fridge, Gray napping on his couch, and he knew Happy was going through his laundry. Lucy was, of course, in the room with him. That left only…
Ben turned to Lucy. "Where's Erza?"
"I think she went into the hallway when you weren't looking." Lucy answered.
The Omnitrix bearer walked into the hallway and glanced into the laundry room; much to his annoyance, Happy was rummaging through all his unwashed clothes.
"Seriously? What is with you guys?" Ben muttered irately.
Ben opened the doors to the basement and guest room, but both rooms were empty. The door to the bathroom was wide open and was vacant as well. That left only one place Erza could've gone. He swiftly opened the door to his bedroom, which had a queen-sized bed with two bed tables on the left and right side, two chests of drawers, a coat rack that his green hero jacket currently occupied, a walk-in closet, and a bathroom with a shower and tub. On the other end of the room was a long window that stretched down the wall, providing a spectacular view of the lake.
Ben's immediately spotted Erza standing by one of the chests of drawers, delving through his clothes.
"I must say, Ben," Erza said, "You have quite a nice room. The view from here is just beautiful."
"Erza!" Ben yelled, agitated. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"Hmph," Erza seemingly ignored Ben's question as she looked through the drawers of clothing. "You sure have a thing for t-shirts and jeans, Ben."
It was true. Most of Ben's clothes consisted of black t-shirts, blue jeans, and other casual wear; however, she did find a few nice polo shirts, brown slacks, dress shoes, and a dress jacket in his closet. Unbeknownst to her, Ben had gotten them just in case he needed to wear something nice in the future.
Ben groaned, frustrated. "It's my style, okay! Just like armor, skirts, and knee-length boots are your style. And why are you going through my clothes anyway?"
Suddenly, Erza pulled out a pair of gray boxers and held them in front of her, looking at them in an intrigued manner. Ben yelped and felt his cheeks redden in embarrassment.
"I didn't know you were a boxer kind of guy." Erza said with a hearty blush.
Ben ran over and snatched the underwear from her. He closed his eyes and yelled, "You weren't supposed to know that!"
When he opened his green eyes, Erza had disappeared from her previous spot. He frantically looked around the room, but his redheaded friend was nowhere to be seen.
"W-what the? What?! Where'd she go!?" Ben then slumped his shoulders in frustration, a trail of steam hissing from his head.
Without warning, a high-pitched squeal rang through the house. Ben swiftly ran out of the room and down the hallway until he saw the others gathered in the kitchen and ran in there with them.
"What? What is it?" Ben asked.
Erza was standing by the counter, staring at a familiar white cube-shaped contraption that had a clear see-through tank on top and a nozzle poking out from the front, serving as a drink dispenser.
"You have your own smoothie-maker in your kitchen?" Erza squealed with hearts in her eyes.
Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Wait! That's why you squealed?!"
Ben calmed down a bit, and explained, "Of course. I can't head to the guild hall all the time if I want a smoothie, now can I?"
Erza then noticed a dozen small cups to the right, each of them were filled with a different flavor of smoothie. She picked up one of the small glasses, which had a bit of condensation on it. Erza lifted the cup to her lips and tasted the bluish-purple substance within it.
Once again, Erza squealed happily. "That flavor – it's good! I've never tried that before."
Ben grinned. "That's blueberry-banana. I made that smoothie-maker the night I moved into the house and I've been creating all kinds of new smoothie flavors since."
Gray cocked a brow and crossed his arms over his naked chest. "Yeah? Why's that?"
Ben turned away, a serious expression crossing over his face. A moment of silence passed before Ben finally spoke up.
"Why? Hmph…when I got sent into this world of magic and realized there were no smoothies… that was something I could not allow. Back home, there is a chain of stores called, Mr. Smoothy's. They sold many different kinds of smoothies. Heck, there were twenty-two in my hometown alone." He paused for dramatic effect, and continued, "Now the task of bringing the many wonderful flavors of smoothies to the people of this world falls on me, and I swear, as the universe's greatest superhero, I will not fail!"
Lucy, Natsu, Gray, and Happy stared at Ben blankly, dumbfounded by Ben's love and conviction in a frozen drink. Erza, however, broke out into applause and clapped her hands. She wore a cheerful smile, excited that more delightful tasting smoothies were on the way.
"Wonderful! Wonderful!" Erza applauded.
With those words, Erza Scarlet once again proved that she shared the same love for smoothies, just like Ben.
"Geez," Natsu muttered, "that was a mouthful."
"No kidding. Smoothies are good, but I can't believe someone would be this crazy over them." Gray added.
"Not just him," Lucy mentioned, "Erza too."
"Aye," Happy agreed. "Those two are weird."
Lucy sweat dropped, and remarked, "Like you have any room to talk, cat." She sighed inwardly. 'It seems everyone in our guild has a screw loose somewhere.'
Erza overheard the other's prattling and glared at them. "Clap" she commanded.
The three wizards and flying cat screamed, and then quickly clapped their hands in applause. They smiled as fearful sweat drops went down their faces.
Before anything else could be said, there was a knock at the door.
"Huh? I wasn't expecting anyone else." Ben noted.
He walked to the front door and opened it. Needless to say, he was taken back to see Master Makarov, Mirajane, Elfman, Reedus, Macao, Wakaba, Cana, Levy, Jet, Droy, Bisca, and Alzack waiting outside his door.
"Nice place, Ben. Now, it's TIME TO PARTY!" Makarov shouted.
Without warning, Ben was too shocked to react as the group of Fairy Tail wizards blasted by him and stormed into his living room, and then dropped off their dishes and party favors in the kitchen.
"W-w-what…what are you guys doing here?" Ben stuttered, surprised.
"Oh, we invited a few people over." Natsu gave Ben his trademark toothy grin. "Hope that's okay with yah, man."
"How is this a few people?!" Ben demanded.
Ben looked forward, only to see that the group of unruly mages was rummaging through all his personal belongings just like Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Happy had.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" Ben shouted. "Does anyone in Fairy Tail understand the term 'personal boundaries'!?"
Lucy sighed and sweat dropped. "I ask myself the same thing whenever you guys break into my house."
…
Later, after everyone had looked around at Ben's house, they began to help themselves to the various foods that had been brought over. Ben had tried a little bit of everything, but his favorite was the slice from that strawberry cheesecake Erza had given him. When he found out that she had reserved that piece for him and him only, while she ate the rest, he couldn't help but feel flattered.
Ben was currently sitting on the sofa, eating away at the cheesecake and talking with Team Shadow Gear, Macao, Wakaba, and Cana about his and Erza's battle with John Magtartus's lava-demons and Lavazilla. Needless to say, the group of mages was fascinated by what the shape-shifter and armor mage had gone through.
"And then, Erza reared back her giant, green sword and slashed it across that giant lizard's torso." Ben said excitedly. "All the energy that it had gathered created an explosion that blasted it out of the volcano…"
"…and destroyed it and the volcano itself." Cana finished with a smirk.
"Wow. That's just incredible." Macao commented.
"Yeah," Wakaba agreed, "I've never heard of someone destroying an entire mountain or volcano with a single blow."
"Though Natsu, Gray, and Erza did take out a couple mountaintops when they were fighting that demon flute, Lullaby," Levy mentioned. "At least that's what it said in the news articles."
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Natsu was devouring a giant, grilled chicken leg while Happy sat on the counter by him and nibbled on a fish he had brought over.
Lucy walked by and sweat dropped as Natsu stuffed his face with the cooked poultry. She then frowned in annoyance. "Yah know the point of a potluck is that you're supposed to bring some food too, not just eat everything everyone else brought." She reprimanded.
"We did!" Natsu retorted with a full mouth. He then swallowed and continued, "We bought a pie and brought it over."
Lucy blinked, surprised. "Oh. Where is it then?"
"Natsu ate in on the way over here." Happy replied.
'Wow…' Lucy thought. 'I hit the nail on the head earlier.'
"What's with you? Do you have a bottomless pit for a stomach?!" Lucy shouted.
Back in the living room, Reedus walked up to the couch Ben was sitting on with four framed pictures stacked in his arms.
"Hey Reedus," Ben eyed the frames curiously. "What are those?"
"I painted these for you as a housewarming gift." Reedus replied.
Ben's eyes widened slightly. Did Reedus really go to the trouble of making four paintings for him? He knew that the round man specialized in a magic called Picto Magic, which allowed a wizard to bring their drawings to life. The superhero had also heard from his teammates that Reedus also enjoyed painting portraits of the various members of Fairy Tail.
"Really? You…didn't have to do that." Ben said.
Reedus smiled as he laid the four frames on his coffee table. "Well, I wanted to; besides, I think you'll really like them."
Ben and the other wizards gathered around the table, looking down at the paintings.
The pictures were snapshots of his four victories against Natsu. The first one was a painting of Cannonbolt standing over a motion-sick Natsu. The second was Grey Matter standing on Natsu's shoulder, performing the Hephestan Neuro Grip on him. The third was Gravattack rolled up in his planetoid form with Natsu being spun at insane speeds around him. And the fourth and final one was Nanomech standing on top of the unconscious Dragon Slayer with his arms held high in victory. The frames for the amazing paintings had intricate carvings on them and two were gold-colored while the other two were silver-colored. The Cannonbolt and Gravattack pieces were framed in silver while the Grey Matter and Nanomech ones were in gold.
"I call this series, the Dragon Conqueror." Reedus said proudly.
Ben stared in amazement at the color and detail of the paintings. Reedus sure had put a lot of work into them. "Whoa! These are awesome. Thanks Reedus."
"Oui," the rotund man nodded.
"I gotta admit Reedus, those are good paintings." Macao complimented.
"Yeah," Wakaba agreed, "but how did you paint them so fast?"
Reedus shrugged. "I just remembered those particular moments in the fight and put them on canvas."
Erza stood at Ben's right, smiling in approval at the portraits. "These paintings are very good, Reedus." Erza praised. "It wouldn't hurt for Ben to have some art in his house."
"Oui," Reedus nodded in agreement.
Erza wandered around the room and examined the walls, tapping her chin in thought. Lucy noticed this, and asked, "Hey Erza, what are you doing?"
"I'm trying to figure out the best place for Ben to hang his paintings." Erza explained as she walked past her to the other side of the room.
Gray had overheard Erza and cocked a brow, confused. "What? Why would you care where he hangs them up?"
Without turning away from the wall, Erza answered with a smile, "Because this job requires a woman's touch, Ben is incapable of determining the appropriate place to hang them; which means it's up to me."
Happy placed a paw over his mouth to stifle his laughter. When he gained control, he removed his paw and grinned mischievously at the redheaded warrior. "Wow Erza….you sound like you're Ben's housewife."
Erza gasped lightly as a blush appeared on her face. The armor-clad mage turned and shot the blue cat a scary, fierce glare. In response, Happy cried out in terror and flew to hide behind Lucy.
"It was Lucy!" He cried desperately. "She told me to say it!"
"YOU LITTLE LIAR!" Lucy screeched.
Gray looked at the paintings again and smirked cockily. "You did good, Reedus. These paintings are great."
Natsu crossed his arms over his chest and huffed irately. "Whatever," he mumbled.
Ben then noticed something about the frames. "Hey Reedus, why are two frames gold and the other two silver?"
"The ones in gold represent that you beat Natsu with one hit while the silver represents you beat him with his motion sickness." Reedus elucidated.
"Oh, I see." Ben nodded.
Gray's eyes narrowed at the paintings as he scrutinized the paintings. His eyes widened when he realized something; this something caused the ice mage to bust out into a fit of laughter, confusing the other wizards.
Natsu heard his rival's laughter and angrily demanded, "What's so funny?!"
"The forms that Ben defeated you with one hit are Ben's smallest forms!" Gray choked out, pointing toward the gold framed paintings of Grey Matter and Nanomech.
Everyone looked closer and realized that Gray was right. The group began to laugh hard, even Erza smiled and giggled in amusement. Natsu, meanwhile, was growling in fury.
He glared angrily at Gray as intense flames ignited around his body. "The only reason he beat me then was because I wasn't ready! If I were to fight him now I'd totally win!" He stated.
Gray scoffed as a blue, icy mist cast off his form. He got in Natsu's face, scowling. "Yeah right, don't make me laugh even more, pyro! He beat your sorry ass four times in a row and you know it!"
"I know one thing; I can totally whip the floor with you right now, yah icy pervert!" Natsu retorted.
"YOU WANNA GO, PINKY?!" Gray roared.
A dust cloud formed around Natsu and Gray as they fought. Gray sent a powerful punch into Natsu's chest, which sent him careening back into Macao's back. The beer mug Macao had been chugging flew out of his hand and spilled all over Wakaba's face. Wakaba thought that Macao did it on purpose, which led to a fight between them.
"What do you spoiled brats think you're doing?!" Elfman demanded. "You can't fight in another man's house without his permission. Be real men and take it outside!"
Natsu and Gray ceased their fighting and glared angrily at the white-haired man. "OKAY!" They shouted together and both delivered two wicked punches into Elfman's face, sending him crashing straight through the wall.
Instantaneously, a classic brawl normally seen in the Guild Hall erupted in Ben's living room. The only ones who weren't in the fight were Ben, Makarov, Mirajane, Cana, Lucy, Levy, and Erza. Ben spat out his smoothie in shock as the wizards began to tear up his new house.
"STOP TRASHING THE PLACE!" Ben yelled, panicked.
Makarov sat on Ben's kitchen counter and was watching with a beer mug in hand. "Ha! Welcome to my world, Ben." He said, chugging down the brew.
Erza had just finished finding a good place for the Dragon Conqueror series when the fight broke out. She crossed her arms over her breastplate as she felt a vein on her temple throb in anger.
"You fools," she said agitatedly, "this was supposed to be a housewarming party, not a place where you can all gather and fight! I believe it's time for me to teach you all a lesson!"
Erza charged in and delivered a swift kick into Natsu and Gray, sending them crashing through the wall and creating another large hole in it. She jumped through the hole in hot pursuit of her newest victims.
Ben, meanwhile, stood stationary with his jaw hanging low from his face. "I know she's just trying to help, but her methods are a bit…uh…" He trailed off, still in shock.
"Counter-productive?" Lucy suggested.
"Yeah," Ben nodded. "That."
"That's Erza for yah." Happy chimed.
Mirajane smiled at the brawl. "It feels just like the Guild Hall here, doesn't it?"
Cana sat at Ben's kitchen table, chugging down a mug of beer that she had brought over. "At this rate you're not gonna have much of a living room left."
"No kidding," Ben retorted, just as he sidestepped a piece of thrown furniture that was hurled right at him. He then clenched his fists as his demeanor grew serious. "Okay, I've had enough of this."
'Hmm…I could go Rath, but…I don't want to inflict any more damage than there already is. So…I'll need to wrap this up quickly.' Ben thought.
He stepped forward and activated the Omnitrix. Once he found the alien he wanted and the black faceplate slid back, he slammed down the dial.
When the emerald light died away, standing in Ben's place was a mechanical humanoid in a green outfit, with the exception of its head and shoulders being a bluish-purple color. It had four fingers and wore white gloves. It had silver nozzles on its shoulders and head. The white and green belt it wore had a mirror, revealing the green gases inside the being. The Omnitrix symbol was positioned on a type of gas mask in front of its mouth while the Fairy Tail mark was stamped in black on its bluish-purple left shoulder.
"Gutrot!" Ben shouted in a gruff voice.
All the Fairy Tail members present in the room stopped and blinked at the peculiar-looking transformation. It certainly did have a strange appearance; however, the same could be said for all of Ben's forms. They were all wondering, what was this form's power?
"Whoa," Lucy slightly gaped, "I've never seen this one before."
"So, what can this one do?" Droy asked the question on the group's mind.
Though they couldn't see his mouth, they could tell that Gutrot was smirking from the look in his green eyes. "Oh, this guy's power is gonna knock you out." He then extended his arms out and sprayed a deep emerald gas from the nozzles on his arms.
"Hey! What do you think you're-?"
Jet's sentence fell short as he felt his eyelids grew heavy and a wave of dizziness wash over him. A couple seconds later, he, Droy, Macao, Wakaba, Reedus, and Alzack and Bisca fell to the carpet floor unconscious. In less than a couple seconds, the brawl was over.
"Whoa," Lucy gawked. "What'd you do to them?"
Gutrot placed his hands on his hips and explained, "I expelled a small concentration of Fluoromethyl-hexafluoro-isopropyl-ether, also called sevoflurane, which can quickly cause anyone who inhales it to become temporarily unconscious."
The conscious Fairy Tail mages blinked, obviously confused.
Gutrot caught on, and asked, "You have no idea what I just said, did you?"
They shook their heads simultaneously. "Nope. Not a word." Happy answered.
Gutrot groaned and simplified his explanation. "In basic terms, I blasted them with knockout gas."
"Oh," Lucy said.
"Why didn't you just say that to begin with?" Happy inquired.
Gutrot groaned in annoyance.
"Hmm…" Makarov tapped his chin in thought. "Knockout gas, huh? That's something we could definitely use next time a pointless fight breaks out at the Guild Hall."
Lucy sweat dropped. "Aren't all the fights that happen at the Guild pointless?"
Before anyone else could comment, Erza walked through a broken hole in the wall while dragging Natsu and Gray behind her. She was clutching onto Natsu's vest with her right hand and clutching Gray's buttoned up shirt with her left. The Dragon Slayer and Ice Make wizard were both knocked out, the duo possessing red bumps on their heads and swirls in their eyes.
"I swear you two can be such nuisances." Erza remarked with closed eyes. "I'm sorry about the damage Ben. Perhaps I can…"
When Erza opened her eyes, she stopped midsentence when she noticed Ben's new form and a group of unconscious mages lying on the floor.
She blinked, and then turned her gaze back to Ben and the conscious wizards. "Did I miss something?"
…
It didn't take but thirty minutes before Gutrot's knockout gas began to wear off and the affected mages started regaining consciousness. During that time, Ben had transformed into Clockwork to reverse the damage done to his living room. After that, everyone but the Ultimate Team began to depart.
Makarov was sitting on Ben's kitchen counter, drinking the last of the booze in his mug. The teen hero walked by him, intending to get a smoothie.
"It's gonna be like this every time they come over, right?" Ben asked Makarov.
Makarov nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid so; however, there is some good news."
After making himself a smoothie, Ben turned to the Fairy Tail master with a cocked brow. "Really? How?"
Makarov grinned giddily. "It'll spare the Guild Hall from so much damage because from now on they'll be fighting over here."
Ben frowned. "Thanks. I feel so much better."
Later, after everyone but the Ultimate Team had left, Ben and Erza were now sitting on a couch while Natsu, Lucy, Happy and Gray sat on the second couch across from them. Ben took a sip from his frozen beverage as he narrowed his eyes at a certain Dragon Slayer and Ice Make wizard.
"Did you two dunderheads really have to start a fight in my new house?" demanded Ben.
"GRAY STARTED IT!" Natsu exclaimed.
"YEAH RIGHT!" Gray disputed angrily. "That's a lie and you know it, dragon breath!"
"WHAT'D YOU SAY!?" yelled Natsu.
Lucy, who was sitting in the middle of the quarrel, sighed in exasperation. "Can't you two go five minutes without picking a fight with each other?"
"ENOUGH!" Erza commanded, immediately causing Natsu and Gray to flinch. "You're both at fault here. You two will be punished when we leave."
Natsu and Gray began to tremble in fear after that statement. "No, please. WE'RE SORRY!" They whimpered in unison.
Ben sighed and shook his head. "There's no need for that, Erza. I'll let this slide just this once." He turned back to the pink haired and raven haired wizards with a serious look. "But…if you wreck something in my house again, you are not gonna enjoy what I do to you."
Natsu shook away his fear and stared at Ben, determined. "Bring it on! I can handle anything you throw at me, Ben!"
Ben smirked. "Oh really?" He then tapped the Omnitrix faceplate and began scrolling through the various head icons on the holo-wheel. "Let's see…I could go Cannonbolt…or perhaps Gravattack…or maybe I should try Gutrot since Dragon Slayers have a sensitive nose."
Just the names of those three aliens caused Natsu to become queasy and his face to turn green. "Okay…never mind." He moaned.
Ben deactivated the Omnitrix and crossed his arms over his chest. "That's what I thought."
"Hmph," Erza closed her eyes as she said, "you two should be grateful that Ben is showing you mercy. I, however, wouldn't have had any to give to you."
"That's scary." Lucy noted.
"That's Erza for yah." Happy chimed.
"So, Ben," Lucy attempted to change conversation topics, "other than one inconvenience, how'd you enjoy the party?"
Ben smiled. "Well, other than my house almost getting wrecked, I had fun. Although," the brunette haired teen looked between Erza, Natsu, Gray and Happy. "Did you four really have to go through all my stuff?"
"Hey," Happy said, "I just realized something…why didn't you use Rath in that fight earlier Ben?"
The teen hero sweat dropped. "Okay, that doesn't answer my question."
"Rath is your coolest form! He could've easily taken down everyone, including Erza." Happy continued.
"What did you say?" Erza growled.
"You only think Rath is cool because he's a cat, Happy." Lucy deadpanned.
Ben groaned. "If I had used Rath I would've no doubt caused more damage than there already was."
'Wait…cat…?' Lucy thought. Suddenly, the events of what happened after Ben and Erza left for Peony played through her mind. 'Oh yeah. That's it! I don't think those two know yet.'
"Okay, I'm gonna switch topics again." Lucy smiled. "You remember Loke, right Ben?"
Ben nodded. "Yeah, but I don't know him that well though."
"Well, you see, something sort of happened to him while you and Erza were away." Lucy said.
This caught the shape-shifter and armor-clad mage's attention. "What do you mean? Did something bad happen to him?" Erza inquired.
"Nope. Not quite," Lucy pulled out a golden key from the key ring on her belt. "Open, Gate of the Lion: Loke!"
Suddenly, after a flash of gold, Loke appeared in the living room right before them. His orange hair was even spikier, he wore a black jacket and pants, a white button-up shirt with a red tie, and a pair of shades.
Loke smirked as he pushed up his shades. "Hey there guys, happy to see me?"
Ben and Erza's eyes had widened as they stared, dumbfounded. It took a moment for Ben to finally regain the ability of speech. "L-Loke? You're…you're a…"
"Celestial Spirit," Loke chuckled, amused by Ben and Erza's expressions. "Yeah, I am. I'm Leo the Lion to be more precise."
'Okay…I did NOT see that coming.' Ben thought.
Happy flew up to Loke with stars in his eyes. "You're the coolest spirit ever!"
"I – I don't understand." Erza admitted. "What happened while Ben and I were gone?"
Lucy and Loke took turns explaining the latter's history. It turned out that Loke was really a Zodiac Spirit and had originally been contracted with Karen Lilica, a Celestial Wizard from the Blue Pegasus Guild three years ago. But after witnessing how abusive and cruel Karen was to Aries, Loke demanded that their contracts with her be terminated and he would stay in the Human World until she did so. However, by staying in Earthland, it prevented Karen from summoning any other Celestial Spirits, which made her incapable of taking jobs.
After three months, Loke grew accustomed to the Human World and had decided that Karen had been punished long enough. Unfortunately, out of desperation, Karen had taken a job and had gotten killed. For violating his contract with Karen and inadvertently causing her death, he was forbidden to return to the Spirit World.
Lucy went on to explain that after spending three years in the Human World, his magic power was rapidly draining away and he was on the forefront of disappearing into oblivion. However, Lucy refused to give up on Loke and had attempted to reopen his gate to the Spirit World. After that, the Celestial Spirit King had appeared before the duo.
The Spirit King explained that although Loke did not directly kill Karen, his actions indirectly caused her death. In an attempt to convince the Spirit King otherwise, Lucy summoned all of her current Gold and Silver Spirit Keys, stating that saving your friends was not a sin. The Celestial Spirit King, seeing Lucy's resolve to save her friend, allowed Loke to return to the Spirit World once he realized that Loke had only disobeyed Karen for the sake of Aries. In exchange, however, Loke must atone for his sins by serving and protecting Lucy.
After the lengthy explanation, Ben and Erza remained sitting on the couch. Needless to say, that was a lot of information to take in. It was hard to believe something like that happened while they were away. Ben couldn't help but feel for Loke and the guilt he was burdened with. He could definitely relate to what he had gone through.
Ben inwardly shook his head, pushing away those dreadful memories. 'Don't even think about it, Ben. It's in the past…but…why does it still hurt so much?' He pondered.
"You know," Happy spoke up, "I just realized something. If me, Loke, and Rath could all team up…we'd make the Ultimate Cat Team!"
Happy's eyes sparkled when he had a vision of him flying between Loke and Rath, heading into combat.
Everyone else, however, groaned and sweat dropped at that thought.
"I wouldn't count on that happening, Happy." Lucy commented.
"Well, it was nice seeing you guys again, but I gotta go." Loke said. He then turned to Lucy and gave her a warm smile. "Like I said before, I look forward to being your most reliable Celestial Spirit, Lucy."
Lucy smiled back. "I do too."
"Ooh," Happy said mischievously, "They're in loooove."
"SHUT UP, YOU STUPID CAT!" Lucy screamed indignantly.
"Oh, I almost forgot." Loke reached into his coat pocket and pulled out six slips of paper. "For helping me, I wanted to give you these, Lucy."
Lucy took the slips and went wide-eyed when she discovered that they were six tickets to a popular beachside hotel and casino called the Akane Resort.
"Six tickets to a resort on the beach?" Lucy exclaimed, shocked. "Loke, you didn't have to do this."
Loke smiled. "I know. But I wanted to…after everything you did for me, it's the least I could do." Loke's body began to shine with gold light. "Well, you guys take care." The Zodiac Spirit then vanished into thin air, leaving the Ultimate Team alone in the room.
A short moment passed before Lucy said, "You know something...I was just thinking...if I was ever in his situation, and I had accidentally caused someone here to get hurt, or worse... I'd be just as torn up about it as he was. But I wouldn't hold on to the guilt... 'cause I know my friends would be there for me. If I ever needed to talk, there's always someone here at Fairy Tail. We're really lucky, you know?"
Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Happy all smiled and nodded in agreement. Ben, however, frowned slightly and looked to the floor with a downcast expression. A pain that he had sealed up a year ago was beginning to leak back out.
He shook his head. He didn't have time to dwell on that. What's done is done. He turned back to the group with a smile, though it was forced.
"So, Akane Resort, huh?" Natsu said. "When do we head out?"
"We'll leave first thing tomorrow." Erza answered with a bright smile. "It is getting late."
"Hey, Ben, are you coming?" Lucy asked. "We do have six tickets."
Ben mulled over her offer for a moment. It didn't take long for the teen hero to come to a decision. "Sure. Sounds like fun. Besides, after the whole Phantom Lord mess, the Omnitrix malfunction, and fighting hordes of volcano demons, I could use a little R and R."
"YEAH!" Natsu shouted, exuberantly. "We're going on vacation!"
"'Bout time" Gray remarked. He had subconsciously taken his shirt off in his excitement. "We've been in need of one for a while."
"I guess we should all start packing tonight." Lucy proposed.
Erza nodded. "Indeed we should." Without warning, the scarlet haired beauty grabbed Ben by his right arm. "C'mon Ben, let's get your things packed and then you can help me pack mine."
The Omnitrix bearer's eyes widened. "SAY WHAT?! Why do I-?"
Ben trailed off from his complaint when he saw the smile on Erza's face. It was the happiest, brightest smile he had ever seen on her in the two months he had known her, and it caused a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach to arise.
It was infectious and it soon had him smiling too. At that moment, Ben really began to notice Erza's extraordinary beauty, and it had him blushing a bit. He ceased his resistance and complaints and went along with what Erza wanted to do. Ben certainly didn't want that smile to go away; however, unbeknownst to him, the smile on Erza's face would soon vanish.
…
A/N: Sorry for being late on this update. This chapter turned out being a bit longer than I originally anticipated, but I'm sure you fine readers are okay with that, right? I mean, it's just more to read.
Anyways, I have four things to announce. One, TallGuy94 has generously made some awesome cover-art for the coming arcs for Ultimate Fairy. I will be uploading the Tower of Heaven cover to my cover-art for this story; however, there will be a link to where you can see it better on my profile page.
Two, the poll for Ben's dragon form is on my profile. Make sure to check it out and vote. The deadline for the poll will be July 14. That's plenty of time for you all the cast your votes.
Three, I'm looking for someone who can make a drawing of Erza's Upgraded Armadura Fairy armor; whether it's by hand or computer, preferably the latter one. If you have any questions, please PM me.
Four, I would like to extend a thank you to Star Saber21 for his awesome input in bringing more hilarity to this story. Thanks again, bro!
Hopefully, I can have the next chapter out in the next week or two.
Next Chapter: Tower of Heaven, Part I
Please leave any comments or critique in the review box. Note: flames will be frozen by Ultimate Big Chill and the person who caused the flames will be blasted with sulfur dioxide by Gutrot. Just warning yah…
Until next time…