…
Ultimate Fairy
Chapter 35: Fighting Festival
Part II
...
Nearly an hour had passed since the Battle of Fairy Tail had begun. All over Magnolia, guild members were being forced to fight each other due to Freed's enchantments – which seemed all but unavoidable. One-by-one, more and more members fell; it wouldn't be long before the entire guild had defeated itself.
Currently, the otherworldly superhero was jogging down the street, a frustrated frown plastered on his face. 'So far it doesn't matter what I do. I can't seem to avoid these stupid enchantments.'
Ben had tried flying over town, trekking through the sewer system (as unpleasant as it was), and using Brainstorm in an attempt to predict where the next set of enchantments may be placed. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful and found no way to avoid the enclosures, giving him no option but to fight whoever he ended up being trapped with. Despite that, he made sure to end every single fight quickly and painlessly by utilizing Gutrot or Swampfire's knockout gasses.
Regardless, it didn't make him feel any better being forced to play along with Laxus's game.
Suddenly, a pile of wooden crates near an alleyway was smashed to pieces. Ben stopped as a cloud of dust hovered over the street. The dust quickly settled to reveal one of Ben's guildmates in a tight, black bodysuit leaping from the street to the roof of a building on the opposite side. If Ben remembered correctly, the man's name was Vijeeter.
"Hey! There's one of them now!" a man cried.
Up ahead was a coffee shop and three people were standing outside by the remains of their table, which had been smashed by the force of Vijeeter's landing. Understandably, they were not pleased at all.
"You punks better stop wrecking our town!" an old, bald man yelled angrily.
"The townspeople aren't getting caught in the enchantments... I guess this Freed guy made it so that the rules only apply to members of the guild." Ben presumed.
Ben was promptly snapped out of his musings when something crashed into one of the stands in front of him with a cloud of sand in its wake. As the sand dissipated, the brunet was slightly surprised to see Max lying in the pile of broken wood, unconscious and groaning.
"Max…?"
He was about to run over to check and see if he was okay until someone landed on the sidewalk close by.
The Omnitrix bearer turned to see Warren on one knee, breathing heavily. "I'm sorry Max…but I had no choi—"
Warren stopped mid-sentence when he lifted his head and saw Ben standing less than fifteen yards in front of him. The Telepathy Mage grimaced slightly as he promptly stood back up.
"B-Ben…?!" he gasped.
"Warren, right? Look, I don't wanna hurt—" Ben said nonchalantly.
"Look! I-I have Telepathy Magic…I can see your thoughts, so don't think you can take me down easily!" Warren stammered, placing his two index fingers on both sides of his temples.
Ben could see that the guy was clearly nervous about facing him. "Telepathy, huh? That's impressive…but if you can see my next move, then you already know you can't avoid it..."
Warren tensed up, a couple beads of sweat racing down his face.
"I'm sorry. I'll make this quick." Ben said sincerely.
He swiftly activated the Omnitrix and slammed the dial down, filling the street with emerald light.
…
Meanwhile, inside the guild hall, Makarov, Happy, and Natsu continued to look at the live updates of the Battle of Fairy Tail via the floating symbols at the building's main entrance.
"'Max vs Warren. The winner is Warren. Vijeeter vs Nab. The winner is Nab. Laki defeats 4 others. Macao vs Wakaba, in progress. Ben vs Warren. The winner is Ben.'" Happy read out loud.
Makarov's whole body shook in anger as he clenched his fists tightly. "Foolish children! What do they think they're doing?!" he raged.
"They really have no choice but to fight each other. Those enchantments are hidden all over town, so they're impossible to avoid…" Happy explained, disheartened. "It's just like Laxus said, this is the Battle of Fairy Tail."
Natsu stepped forward, sharing an equally furious expression with Makarov. "But why?! It doesn't make sense!" He gritted his teeth and struggled to control his growing anger.
"Natsu…" Happy said sympathetically.
Suddenly, the pink-haired wizard slammed his face against the barrier. "I WANNA FIGHT TOO!"
"IS THAT ALL?!" Makarov and Happy shouted simultaneously.
"Aw man, you suck! Go away, you invisible wall!" Natsu raged, glaring hard at the stubborn barrier.
Makarov increased the size of his left hand using his Titan Magic and chopped the top of Natsu's head. "Why do you wanna fight your friends!?" Makarov yelled.
Natsu recovered quickly and replied, "Because it's a tournament to see who's the strongest!"
"THIS IS NOT A TOURNAMENT!" Makarov then lowered his voice and folded his arms over his chest, adorning a serious expression. "It's nothing but a trap. Laxus is playing you like a bunch of pawns. If we can't beat the Thunder Legion in time the girls are going to be smashed to pieces. I know that everyone is trying to prevent that from happening, but they're going about it in the wrong way."
"Yeah, but apparently even Ben can't escape those enchantments. Otherwise, you'd think he would've found a way to avoid them by now." Happy mentioned. "And since Erza's a statue, he must be extra determined to find Laxus…even if it means beating up his friends."
"Yes, but even so… if we keep fighting amongst ourselves, there will be no one left and the girls will be as good as finished. We can't let Laxus win." Makarov stated determinedly.
"C'mon, gramps. You don't seriously think he would hurt them, do you?" Natsu smirked confidently. "I know he can be a real pain sometimes but he's still one of us. This is obviously a bluff."
"You think so?" Makarov said, unconvinced.
The Dragon Slayer turned back to the barrier and slammed his palms against it in frustration. "There's a fighting festival going on out there! So, why do I have to be stuck in this dump?!"
"Beats me. I can go through just fine." Happy said, flying out of and back into the building without issue.
"Does this mean I'm over eighty and no one ever told me!?" Natsu began to panic. "'Cause I'd know if I was a stone statue, right?!"
"And here I thought we knew each other, Natsu." Happy remarked.
'You still think of Laxus as part of the guild? Even after all this, you don't believe he'd harm his fellow members?' Makarov thought, taken aback by Natsu's conviction in Laxus.
The trio then turned their attention back to the displays.
"'Time remaining…Two hours-eighteen minutes. Participants remaining…forty-one…'" Happy read.
"That can't be all that's left…" Makarov uttered in surprise. "That means more than half the guild has wiped itself out in less than an hour."
…
"I'm tired, but I can't give up." Reedus said determinedly as he ran along a dirt path on the outskirts of Magnolia. "I gotta get to the East Forest. The master is counting on me to get that remedy from Porlyusica. I've gotta do it for the girls!"
Without warning, the rotund wizard was stopped in his tracks by an enchanted barrier. He knew what it was due to the red symbols that appeared in the air where his body hit the barrier.
"No, it can't be..." Reedus turned to look back at Magnolia. "Don't tell me Freed set up an enchantment around the entire town!?"
Reedus froze as he felt a magical presence appear behind him. A bead of sweat raced down his face when Freed's voice spoke up.
"You're not attempting to break the rules of the game, are you?" Freed asked darkly.
Reedus spun around to face Freed, who had his left hand covering all of his face with the exception of his left eye.
"What do you mean?" Reedus asked.
"As Laxus said, the entire town of Magnolia is your battlefield and your guild allies are now your opponents." Freed lowered his hand to stare at Reedus ominously. "If you are a wizard, you must fight."
Freed held up his index finger like a finger gun at Reedus, which had purple runes circling around it.
Reedus tensed up in fear from the green-haired swordsman's answer.
"Sorry, that's the rule." Freed said, without expressing any emotion.
Reedus's body shook in trepidation. After a moment, the Picto mage finally had enough and ran the other way, going down another path with stone walls on either side. He didn't know where the path led nor did he care at the moment. He just needed to get away.
Freed merely watched Reedus run, showing no desire to chase after him immediately.
After a full minute of running, Reedus found himself at a dead end with stone walls all around him. In a shower of purple runes, Freed appeared right behind him and effectively trapped the large man.
"This is the end of the line." Freed stated.
"Hold it right there!" the familiar voice of a woman shouted.
Freed turned to see Lucy Heartfilia standing behind him. She was dressed in a maid outfit and was armed with a whip, which she held with both hands.
"We're gonna settle this fight, man-to-man!" Her voice suddenly became distorted, similar to an old video tape. "I mean, man-to-girl!" she corrected.
Freed was silent for a moment as he stared at Lucy with a blank expression, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I thought you had been turned to stone…"
"The magic wore off, so I came after you!" Lucy replied, snapping her whip.
"You can't keep a good man, I mean woman! You should know you can't keep a good woman down!" Lucy said. "This man I mean, girl, is a lot stronger then you think." She stretched out the whip in front of herself and laughed haughtily.
Freed looked at her with a deadpan expression before turning around to see Reedus trying to climb over the wall; however, his giant gut was impeding his escape.
"Oh-uh!" Reedus exclaimed, seeing that his escape was foiled.
Freed swiftly pulled out his sword and slashed across Reedus' chest, leaving a glowing mark. Reedus cried out, falling to the feet of Lucy, who kept laughing until she faded away. She was just an illusion made by Reedus' drawings.
The Picto mage laid in pain on the ground, one eye shut while looking up at Freed with the other.
"Thought you could trick me with one of your creations, did you?" Freed asked rhetorically. He slowly walked towards Reedus, his sword held out to his side. "I know your magic gives you the ability to bring your drawings to life," he pointed his sword at Reedus. "It's rather unfortunate, really. Things could've gotten 'interesting' if I'd been surprised."
Reedus trembled lightly and opened both eyes, lifting his head to look up at the mint-haired wizard. "Freed, stop. I'm begging you," he pleaded. "Please don't do this to your friends. You're hurting them..."
"Tch" Freed frowned.
"I know deep down, you're not the kind of guy who'd do this." Reedus groaned before he finally passed out from the pain flaring in his body.
Freed stepped away and murmured, "Only thirty-nine wizards remain. Victory will soon be ours."
…
Meanwhile, Gray was running down a street in a blind search for the Thunder Legion. Needless to say, he was very annoyed with how little progress he was making.
"This sucks! Where's the Thunder Legion hiding?" Gray remarked irritably.
The ice-wizard received his answered when two flying totems appeared behind him.
"~It's Gray!~" the first one said in a happy, high-pitched voice.
"~Sup, Gray?~" the second added with a dull, high-pitched voice.
The area where the totem's mouths were painted glowed green before they fired two green magical beams at Gray. He managed to dodge the attack and jumped into a nearby clothing store dubbed Fashion House Musyan Yoka.
"Those are Bickslow's sidekicks." Gray grunted.
"Yo!" a nonchalant voice said.
Gray turned around to see Bickslow standing behind him with the rest of the totems floating around him.
"What do you say we have some fun, huh?" Bickslow asked with a manic grin, his tongue sticking out.
…
A couple minutes earlier, the display above the guild hall doorway shifted and gave another update for the game.
"'Evergreen vs Elfman. The winner is Evergreen. Elfman KO'd.'" Makarov read.
"I thought he'd have no problem beating her…" Happy noted.
"Ragghh…Now it's saying Gray's fighting against Bickslow? Why he's gotta hog all the fun?" Natsu complained.
"It also says Freed is fighting against Reedus." Happy added. "The Thunder Legion is really making their move…"
"No update on Ben yet…" Makarov mentioned. "He hasn't been beaten; otherwise, we would've been informed."
"He must not have fallen into one of those enchantments or he hasn't come across anyone else yet." Happy suggested.
"Dangit! This really sucks!" Natsu remarked, frustrated. "Ben and Gray are hogging all the action. It's not fair!"
Before the guild master or flying cat could comment, the scribe board updated itself once more. The new results were not what the group wanted to see, however.
"Oh no! They took out Reedus!" Happy shouted, dismayed.
"I knew it! He never could've beaten Freed. That guy is good." Natsu said excitedly.
"I know he's cool and all, but you're cheering for the wrong side!" Happy reprimanded. "Now we're not going to be able to get Porlyusica's help."
"We don't need it." The fire-wizard said offhandedly. "Laxus is just bluffing about turning the girls to dust."
"I'm just bluffing, am I…?" All of a sudden, Laxus appeared behind the two wizards and flying cat out of thin air. However, his body was oddly semi-transparent, similar to a hologram. "You sure about that?"
"Where'd you come from?" asked Natsu.
"It's a Thought Projection!" Happy exclaimed.
"Natsu…what're yah doin' hold up in this dump? Are yah scared?" Laxus taunted.
"I'm not scared! I'm stuck!" the pink-haired wizard shouted.
"What do you want?" Makarov demanded with a serious tone.
"How's it feel, huh? You think of the guild members as your children, right? Must be tough watching your 'little kiddies' tear each other apart…" Laxus snarked. "It's too bad Natsu and Erza can't join the game, 'cause you don't have anyone left who's strong enough to take on the Thunder Legion. You ready to throw in the towel?"
"Are you sure about that, boy?" Makarov countered, narrowing his eyes. "Have you forgotten that Ben is still in play? If I recall, you had to make several rules just to keep him from crashing your little game from the start."
"Yeah! And don't forget that Gray is still in the game too! And he's just as strong of a wizard as Natsu!" Happy proclaimed strongly.
"He's as strong as me?! NO WAY, MAN!" Natsu yelled angrily.
"Sorry, but you're in denial." Happy bluntly replied.
"The newbie and Gray, huh? I'll admit, I had to take a few more precautionary measures for the upstart then I would've liked to. But Gray?! You're gonna put your hopes on that loser?" Laxus said smugly.
"I wouldn't underestimate either of those boys' powers if I were you." Makarov stated.
…
Gray jumped out of the way as the totems fired magical beams at him, which struck the spot where he had been standing. A cloud of dust from the vaporized floor was thrown into the air from the impact. The wooden totems continued to chase after Gray and fire shots at him.
"Line Formation, Babies!" Bickslow called out.
"~Oh. Yeah. Oh. Yeah.~"
All of the totems cheered as they stacked on top of each other's heads to form a totem pole and discharged a single vertical beam straight at Gray. The Ice-Make wizard jumped to the side once more, causing the blast to hit the wall he'd been in front of, collapsing it in an explosion of smoke and wooden debris.
"Oh yeah! You're not too shabby." Bickslow commented. "Now, give me a Victory Formation, Babies!"
The helmet-wearing mage paused in concern when his 'babies' didn't respond to his commands.
"Hey! What's the matter?" Bickslow called out into the smoke.
As the dust settled, he saw that his 'babies' were trapped in blocks of ice.
"Crap! They're frozen solid." He remarked.
Out of the dissipating smoke, Gray came flying out and rammed his knee up into Bickslow's chin. He let out a grunt of pain before he was sent hurtling backwards, landing on his back.
Gray slammed his fist into his open palm. "ICE-MAKE: HAMMER!"
The icy mist around his hands formed to make a large hammer, which he intended to bring down on Bickslow. However, the helmet mage just grinned and crossed his arms over his chest.
"X-Formation, Babies!" Bickslow shouted.
"~X-X-X!~" Five familiar squeaky voices cried out.
All of a sudden, five mannequins flew out of nowhere and rammed their heads into the ice-hammer, shattering it into pieces.
"What the!?" Gray exclaimed, surprised.
"~X-X-X~" The mannequins called out.
"I guess you never heard about my Seith Magic, huh?" Bickslow said with his tongue lolling out. "I control my babies' souls."
Gray looked stricken as his eyes whipped from Bickslow to the mannequins floating in the air.
"Freeze them and I'll just move their souls to another doll." Bickslow smugly explained. "I got an immortal army on my side."
"~On his Side! On his Side!~" The totems parroted.
"Man…this is gonna be a real pain, isn't it?" Gray stated with gritted teeth, a bead of sweat rolling down his face.
"Do you get it now? You can attack my babies all day, and it won't do you a lick of good." Bickslow remarked.
"Well, since it won't work on them, I'll just freeze you instead!" Gray stated. He held out his hands and fired a blast of icy white mist. However, the mannequins intercepted the attack as Bickslow fled from the battle scene.
"Go ahead and try, if you can catch me!" Bickslow taunted.
"DON'T RUN AWAY! COME BACK HERE!" Gray bellowed, giving chase to the Seith Magic user.
Bickslow laughed manically as he ran away from Gray.
"FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!" Gray shouted angrily.
As Bickslow turned down into an alleyway, Gray followed behind him and stopped when he saw no sign of him. "Crazy freak. Where'd he run off to now?" he wondered, looking around.
"Getting warmer."
Gray looked up to see Bickslow above him with both feet stretched outwards and planted into the walls of the alley.
"Peek-A-Boo." He taunted.
"Real funny. What are you trying to pull here anyway?" Gray asked, annoyed.
"I just want to fight someone on my level. A shame you don't make the cut." Bickslow jeered. "My babies are getting bored; it's time to spice things up a bit!"
Without warning, a wall of purple runes appeared at the entrance of the alleyway and in front of Gray, trapping him in a box formed between the alley walls and runes.
"Another enchantment." Gray noted uneasily.
"Guess you're out of luck," the Seith mage commented. "You're not allowed to use magic as long as you're inside that barrier!"
"One of Freed's traps, huh?" Gray stated while the purple symbols disappeared, but the barrier was still active.
"Sucks to be you. You're trapped in there all by yourself, but it's a party out here!" Bicklsow grinned. "Babies!"
As soon as he said that word, Gray instantly remembered about his sidekicks. The mannequins flew in front of the entrance to the alley.
"~Party! Party!~" They chanted simultaneously.
They fired green magical beams from their mouths, causing various explosions on impact and clouds of dust to be thrown up into the air.
Bickslow grinned in satisfaction. "Ha-ha-ha-ha! I don't think I'd bother getting up again if I were you!" he bragged. "You can't win without your magic."
"Oh, you think so?!" Gray's voice called out from the smoke.
The onyx-haired mage leapt out of the dust without his jacket on, which had been torn up in the explosions. He jumped off each wall until he was way above Bickslow, who looked up in mild shock. How did he manage to avoid all those explosions?
Gray was making a fist and pulling his arm back, ready to punch the Seith mage as two mannequins flew up behind him.
"You want some?" Gray asked, looking over his shoulder. However, his attention was then drawn to a window off to the side. He could see a pretty, little girl with brown hair looking out the window in shock. Her big brown eyes were wide and her hands had been planted against the glass.
This distraction was long enough for the two mannequins to fire a blast. The beams struck Gray and sent him crashing into another nearby wall, a cloud of dust obscuring him from view.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha!" Bickslow laughed. "Don't tell me that's all you got?"
To answer his question, Gray flew out of the dust and sucker-punched Bickslow in the face with all his remaining strength. The blow sent him crashing down to the hard ground below.
Gray's right eye shut as he glanced up at the window where the little girl was still watching. With that, he collapsed to the ground with a loud crash.
The little girl was stunned by what she saw, but her mother came by – unaware of the fighting taking place outside their home - and led the girl away for lunch, despite her protests.
After a moment, Bickslow recovered from Gray's punch and lifted himself up, turning around to look at the raven-haired teen with a peeved expression. "Listen, yah jerk! When my babies hit you like that, you're supposed to stay down!"
He received no response as Gray laid on the ground, unconscious. Bickslow walked towards him cautiously and planted his foot on his chest, applying a little pressure to confirm if he was really knocked out. To his relief, the Ice-Mage wizard was completely insensate.
Bickslow let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad I wore my helmet today. That punch could've done serious damage to my handsome face…and nobody wants that." He jeered.
As he proceeded to walk away, another thought entered his mind. "Of course, we're lucky if Gray here decides to wear anything. Hahaha…"
…
Ben rounded a corner and ran down an empty street. Along the way he came across the unconscious bodies of several guild members lying in the alleys or on the sidewalks. He took a moment to briefly check them to make sure they were okay before continuing on. Thankfully, no one had been seriously hurt; of course, they would be feeling sore for a few days.
The teen hero figured going down paths where the most defeated wizards lied was the best option to avoid falling into the enchantments. So far, it turned out to be working. Without any conscious opponents in Ben's path, the barriers wouldn't activate. That, or perhaps since the traps had already been triggered they couldn't be activated again. Ben wasn't sure how exactly the enchantment spells worked nor did he care at the moment.
There was another reason he was going down the path filled with his defeated guild members. He knew he would eventually come across Laxus or one of the Thunder Legion. With the number of wizards in the game rapidly falling, it was only a matter of time before he found them…or they found him.
'So, if I was an egotistical jerk like Laxus forcing everyone in the guild to fight each other, where would I go to watch it all unfold?' Ben wondered.
Before he could muse on that thought any further, a twinkle of light above him caught Ben's attention. The Omnitrix bearer immediately jumped back and back-peddled to avoid several yellow energy blasts striking the ground where he previously stood.
He looked up to see the individual who fired the shots land on top of the three-story building right in front of him.
"My, my, good reflexes." Evergreen said. "I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised though. One doesn't get this far in the game without having some skill."
Ben didn't offer any witty remark; instead, he shot the fairy-like woman a serious glare. "Evergreen," he gritted out.
"Such a scornful look you're giving me. It's actually kind of scary." Evergreen smirked, covering her mouth with her fan. "I'm so happy I get to be the one to face you, Ben. Because after the way you fought Laxus a few weeks ago, I've been meaning to pay you back." She lowered her fan to reveal a displeased frown. "No one defies Laxus like that and gets away with it."
Ben's serious expression didn't falter. "I'm not afraid of you, Evergreen…or Laxus, for that matter. Now, I'm gonna ask nicely…turn the girls back to normal…" he slapped the Omnitrix and, in a flash of emerald light, transformed into Blitzwolfer. "…or else."
Evergreen sneered. "Is that so? Well…if that's how you wanna be," She shifted into a fighting stance, "I'll show you why I am the true Fairy Queen."
…
A few moments prior, the display at the guild hall reported the results of Gray and Bickslow's battle. To Makarov and Happy's dismay, Gray had lost the fight. Natsu looked on with mild surprise that his rival had been bested by Bickslow of all people.
"One more down. Only 27 contenders remain," Laxus read aloud. He tilted his head back and let out a haughty laugh. "Ha-ha-ha! And that chump was gonna save yah?!"
"You cheater!" Happy yelled. "I know you and your pals used some dirty trick to beat him!"
Natsu was speechless. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth in frustration.
"That just leaves one more …Ben, right?" Laxus jeered. "You seriously gonna pin your last hopes on him? After all, there hasn't been so much as a peep outta him for a while. Could it be he got scared and ran off?"
"No way! After what you did to Erza, you can bet Ben's coming straight for you! And he won't hold anything back either!" Happy refuted strongly.
"That so, huh…?" Laxus chuckled, unintimidated.
"And besides, Ben's not the only one who will fight the Thunder Legion. Gajeel will too!" Happy added.
"I don't think so." The blonde-haired wizard dismissed, looking up at the display. "He's made it clear that he doesn't wanna play. Which doesn't surprise me. That guy couldn't care less what happens to the guild."
"What?! Am I invisible!?" Natsu barked angrily.
"You might as well be if yah can't get past the barrier." Laxus mocked.
Makarov finally responded, "I have no reason to doubt Ben's capabilities. However..."
The old master's sentence was cut short by the sounds of the symbols shifting, gaining everyone's attention. Natsu, Happy, and Makarov's eyes widened in shock when they saw the update; the latter letting out a surprised gasp.
"'Evergreen vs Ben, in progress.'" Makarov read out.
"Ha-ha-ha! Oh man…this is perfect!" Laxus laughed loudly. "That loser stands no chance against Evergreen."
Makarov clenched his fists and teeth, a nervous bead of sweat racing down his forehead.
"No…he can beat her. I'm sure he can!" Happy protested.
"Don't count on it. I don't care what that freak changes into. The slightest mistake and he'll end up just like his gal pal over there." Laxus looked down at his grandfather and sneered when he saw the signs of nervousness in his expression. Looks like even he was beginning to worry about Ben's chances. "When the newbie loses, old man, you know there'll be no one left who can take on the Thunder Legion."
"Enough... it isn't worth it!" Makarov turned back and continued, "I surrender, alright?"
"Wait a sec…!" Natsu said, surprised that he was actually considering surrender.
"You've had your fun. Now stop this." Makarov continued solemnly.
Laxus'ss smug grin grew wider. "What's gotten into you? I thought you were the master of the almighty Fairy Tail guild! You can't just give up at the drop of a hat! But, if you insist on quitting, then by all means hand the guild over to me and take an early retirement."
Makarov gasped.
"Why you gotta play dirty?! Why don't you come over here and face us? HUH?!" Natsu challenged.
"I should've known…" the old man growled, his anger steadily reaching boiling levels. "This was your goal all along, wasn't it?!"
"You've only got an hour-and-a-half until the statues crumble… If you really wanna put an end to this, then announce your retirement to the whole town over the guild's loudspeaker. I want you to tell everyone you're relinquishing Fairy Tail over to me! What means more to you, your children or your title? Choose carefully…"
"You're asking for it!" Natsu charged forward at Laxus.
Unsurprisingly, he went right through the Thought Projection as it faded away and crashed into the column behind it. He fell to the ground headfirst with his body leaning up against the wooden support.
"If he wants to be master, he should have the guts to come face me in person! How come he won't fight me?" Natsu rambled.
"It was never the title I valued..." Makarov said.
"Then you're really gonna give up?!" the Fire Dragon Slayer yelled.
"No. He may be strong, but he's not trustworthy. I'd never leave him in charge. It takes more than just magical strength to run a guild. He has neither the conviction nor the heart." Makarov stated.
"We gotta hurry and do something before he turns the girls into dust!" Happy said frantically, looking back at the floating display. There was no update on their battle yet. "There must be someone else who can help Ben fight the Thunder Legion..."
Suddenly, a commotion from the bar area caught the trio's attention. To their shock, Gajeel stood up from behind the bar chewing on a few pieces of metal in his mouth.
"No way! You were here this whole time?!" Natsu shouted incredulously.
"He's eating the dishes too!" added Happy.
"Gajeel, will you fight for the guild?" Makarov pleaded.
"Might as well." Gajeel slid over the bar's countertop, sporting a zealous grin on his face. "I gotta score to settle with that guy." He walked toward the main entrance with a confident stride. "Don't worry. I'll handle him…"
All of a sudden, Gajeel grunted as he was stopped in his tracks by the invisible barrier.
As a result, Natsu, Happy, and Makarov simultaneously let out surprised yells.
Gajeel punched the wall, stunned that the barrier was actually keeping him from passing through. Like with Natsu, the symbols around the iron wizard's body that was touching the barrier were red instead of purple.
"Don't tell me you're over eighty too!" Natsu yelled.
"Do I look eighty to you?!" Gajeel shouted, annoyed.
…
Blitzwolfer leaped to the opposite side of the street to avoid a barrage of Evergreen's yellow energy projectiles. He used his sharp claws to climb up the side of a building, ripped off a piece of a banner hanging across the road, and jumped to the adjacent building's roof all in a swift manner. The Loboan then quickly tied the banner over his eyes like a blindfold.
After witnessing what Evergreen did to Lucy, Ben couldn't take the risk of allowing her to look him in the eyes.
Evergreen floated above the building Blitzwolfer was currently standing on with yellow, sparkling dust cascading off her body. She smirked upon spotting the blindfold on Blitzwolfer's face. "So that's his plan…" she said.
Blitzwolfer's ears twitched as he turned in the brunette's direction. His ears were sensitive enough to pick up her voice despite the distance. He took in an intake of air through his nostrils and, with his impressive sense of smell, was able to locate her in the air.
"Found yah!" Blitzwolfer knelt and jumped straight toward Evergreen, rearing back his right paw to swipe at her.
The fairy-like woman lowered her altitude to dodge the Loboan, letting him fly past her. "Smart move…but I'm afraid someone already beat you to this idea."
Evergreen surrounded Blitzwolfer in tendrils of yellow dust while he was still airborne. The werewolf-like alien was confused when he smelled something strange surrounding him, unaware of what it was due to his blindfold.
"Fairy Bomb Attack: Gremlin!" Evergreen chanted.
Suddenly, the dust particles surrounding Blitzwolfer ignited into multiple explosions. Blitzwolfer let out a painful howl as he crashed into the tiled roof of a building, and promptly fell to the cobblestone street below. A small trail of smoke wafted off of his furry body. The Loboan shakily lifted himself up to sit on his knees, moaning painfully while doing so.
"Crap…that hurt…"Blitzwolfer groaned. As he lowered his head, his now tattered blindfold fell off.
Evergreen landed roughly a couple meters to Blitzwolfer's right with her smug smirk still present on her face. "That brute Elfman tried to find me by following my scent too… It didn't quite work for him either."
'…Guess that explains how she caught on to what I was doing…' Ben thought.
"If you really think you can defeat me without your eyesight, you'll share the same fate as him: an eternity submitted to the beauty of stone…" mocked Evergreen.
Blitzwolfer growled upon hearing what she did to Elfman. He steadily climbed to his feet, facing away from her. Evergreen took out her fan and placed it over her mouth, readying herself in case Blitzwolfer charged.
"You make a good point. So, I think I'll try something else…"
Keeping his eyes closed, Blitzwolfer turned his head in the brunette's direction and, to her surprised disgust, his muzzle split open into four parts. Before she could react, a green ultrasonic howl blasted out of his mouth and slammed into her. Evergreen let out a pained cry as the soundwaves sent her hurtling back and crashing into a roof several buildings away.
Blitzwolfer ceased his howling as his muzzle reconnected. He then noticed that the windows from the nearby shops had been completely shattered, glass littering the street. Luckily, he could see that there were no civilians nearby to be caught in the crossfire.
'I should probably think about where I am before I do that…' Ben mused, sweat-dropping from the damage he'd have to repair after this fiasco was over.
…
At least ten minutes had passed since Ben and Evergreen's fight had started. During that short amount of time, the twenty-seven remaining contestants had been reduced to a mere three. Freed and Bickslow had made short work of them. The only ongoing battle now was Ben and Evergreen's.
Needless to say, Makarov was stunned that so many of the members had been defeated so quickly. "Only three left in the entire guild?" he said.
"You sure you're not faking being stuck in here?" Natsu shouted at Gajeel. "You trying to copy me?!"
"In your dreams!" Gajeel replied, annoyed.
"Now I'm hungry and it's all your fault, jerk!"
"Quit blaming everything on me!" Gajeel exclaimed.
"Obviously, Ben is one of those three, but who are the other two…" Makarov murmured thoughtfully, ignoring the bickering Dragon Slayer duo behind him.
"If you're not gonna fight then at least go get me some food!" Natsu ranted.
The old guild master turned around to face the two Dragon Slayers, his eyes widening in realization. "No way…" Natsu and Gajeel stopped their pointless argument and looked at Makarov in confusion. "YOU'RE THE OTHER TWO THAT ARE LEFT?!"
"But what about me, master? I'm a member too, aren't I?" Happy sobbed, saddened from being left out.
"That means Ben is the only one left who can take down Laxus…" Makarov said tensely, with a nervous visage. "He can't beat them all on his own…it's all over."
Natsu hung his head while letting out a frustrated sigh. "I got no choice. Guess I'll bring Erza back."
"Do what?!" Makarov said, taken aback.
The old man and Happy both stared at the pink-haired wizard with wide eyes.
"Man, this sucks…" Natsu complained as he walked towards the stage. "I thought I was finally gonna have a chance to show her up."
"Now hold on a second! What are you about to do?" demanded Makarov.
Natsu turned back with a nonchalant expression. "I'm gonna use my fire on her. Yah know, to melt the stone off. That way she can back Ben up."
"Say WHAT?!" Makarov yelled, completely dumbfounded by Natsu's offhanded response.
"She's not covered in stone, she is stone! So, it's not gonna melt off of her!" Happy yelled frantically.
Natsu climbed onto the stage and picked up Erza's petrified form. He jumped back to the floor and gently laid her down. "Won't know till we try. Right, guys?"
"This is madness! You're going to roast her alive!" Makarov retorted.
Natsu chuckled excitedly as his hands ignited into flames. "It's toasty time."
"PLEASE BE CAREFUL!" Makarov panicked.
"No joke. Watch where you put those fire hands, bro." Gajeel advised.
Without warning, a crack appeared on Erza's forehead.
Makarov, Happy, and Natsu all shouted in panicked horror.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to break her!?" Natsu cried out in panic, holding up Erza by her shoulders. "Someone get me the glue! Quick! Help me!"
"Do we have glue?!" yelled Happy.
"That's not gonna do anything, you idiot! We gotta use my iron and your fire to weld her back together!" Gajeel stated, turning his right arm into an iron-club.
"Oh no! When Ben finds out, he's gonna kill you, Natsu!" Happy cried with swirls in his eyes.
The Fire Dragon Slayer froze upon hearing that horrifying revelation. He could only imagine Ben's wrath as he transformed into his titan form with the intent to step on him, pulverizing him until there was nothing left.
Natsu's face was beginning to glisten with nervous sweat. "B-but I-I…I didn't mean to do it!" he stuttered.
"ERZA, NOOOO!" Makarov shouted in dismay.
The crack grew larger and webbed out across Erza's entire face.
Natsu quickly got on his knees with his hands pressed together, bowing up-and-down repeatedly as he begged for forgiveness to the gods. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he apologized uncontrollably.
Then, all of a sudden, the stone around Erza's body shattered. Amazingly, instead of being reduced to dust, she was back to normal and sitting on the floor with a bewildered expression.
The group stopped and stared at Erza's restored form in shock. Natsu's plan actually worked!?
"I feel hot…" she turned her gaze to Natsu as a dark, angry look crossed her face. "It was you, wasn't it?" Erza swiftly got up and delivered a powerful right hook into Natsu's face, sending him tumbling back across the floor. "WERE YOU TRYING TO COOK ME?!"
"Erza's back in business, guys!" Happy cheered.
"Thank goodness," Makarov sighed, greatly relieved. "But how was the spell broken?"
"Honestly, I'm not quite sure." Erza admitted. "But, if I had to guess, I'd say it had something to do with my right eye."
Makarov gasped, recalling that when Erza first joined the guild as a child, Porlyusica had given her an artificial eye to replace her missing one.
'That's it! Her artificial eye must've weakened the effects of the spell!' Makarov realized.
"Erza, do you know what's going on right now?" Happy asked.
"I think so. Even though I was stone, I was still able to hear most of what was said." Erza answered.
Suddenly, everyone's attention was drawn to the entrance, where the runes began to update themselves.
"Look, there's four now!" Happy stated.
"The runes have already added me to the fray. That's impressive. It updates automatically." Erza noted. "But there's only four left."
"Actually, it's just you and Ben." Happy corrected. "Natsu and Gajeel are stuck here because of the enchantment."
Without warning, the number of contestants climbed by one.
"Wait! Now it says there's five!" Happy said, surprised.
Makarov, Natsu, Gajeel and Happy looked at the display in mild surprise.
"It went up?" Gajeel questioned.
"Who can it be?" Natsu wondered, looking back to the stage where the girls were.
"The girls are still stone, so it can't be any of them." Makarov pointed out.
Erza smirked. "Aren't you guys forgetting about someone? A member who's frequently out of town?"
The group looked at Erza for a moment as they tried to deduce who she was referring to.
"Hold on, you don't mean him?" Natsu asked, surprised.
Happy gasped after figuring out who Erza was talking about.
"And he's back right when we need him the most!" Makarov exclaimed.
"He's always been one to make a grand entrance." Erza smiled confidently. "It looks like the real battle is about to begin."
"Someone wanna fill me in over here…" Gajeel said, clueless to the mystery mage's identity.
"We're talking about a man who may very well be the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail." Erza replied. "Mystogan."
…
Meanwhile, inside Kardia Cathedral, Laxus was looking at a set of purple runes floating in front of him. They were identical to those at the guild hall's entrance.
"So, Erza has recovered. And now Mystogan is joining us." Laxus monologued. "With me, that's three of Fairy Tail's elite going head-to-head. You can't have a proper festival without a main event."
His eyes then wandered down to the set of runes that listed Evergreen's fight with Ben as still 'in progress'. His eyebrows scrunched up in mild irritation. With his arms crossed over his chest, his right fingers repeatedly tapped his left forearm, indicating he was growing impatient.
'What's taking her so long? Don't tell me she's actually having trouble against that loser…' Laxus thought in irritation.
…
Several minutes prior, Blitzwolfer had jumped on top of a building and stared in the direction that Evergreen had been hurled towards via his ultrasonic howl. He was sure that his attack wouldn't keep her down for very long though. The teen hero decided that he needed to figure out a way to neutralize Evergreen's Medusa-like power in order to defeat her.
'I can't beat her like this. There's gotta be a way I can fight her without having to worry about those eyes of hers.' Blitzwolfer thought. He tilted his head and hummed as he contemplated the situation. '…I could use Wildmutt. He doesn't have eyes so her magic wouldn't work on him…then again…I'm not sure he can handle too many of her attacks.'
Blitzwolfer's eyes slightly widened as an idea entered his mind. He recalled the moment when Evergreen had turned Lucy to stone. She had to pull down her glasses to look at Lucy with her eyes directly.
'I wonder…if she has to look at someone with her naked eye to turn them to stone, then what if her opponent was-'
The Loboan gasped when the realization struck him like a freight train. "Yeah…that could work." He resolved, believing he now had a sound strategy to overcome Evergreen's power. "I don't really have many other options. So, I guess I'll have to roll with it."
Blitzwolfer slapped the Omnitrix dial positioned on the green collar around his neck. At that moment, Evergreen flew into view after finally recovering from Blitzwolfer's sonic howl. She was obviously less than pleased with the Omnitrix bearer. Her body was scraped and cut while her clothes were torn in various places due to the intense soundwaves and crashing into a roof.
"Why you?! How dare you-"
Evergreen's rant was cut off as the werewolf-like alien was enveloped in emerald light. The fairy-dressed woman immediately knew he was changing into another Take-Over.
When the flash dissipated, standing in Blitzwolfer's place was…
"Diamondhead!" he shouted.
Evergreen eyed the new Take-Over keenly. She hadn't seen this form before. "My, my…a man made of diamond? Aren't you just full of surprises. However…" she smoothly landed in front of Diamondhead and unfolded her fan in front of her mouth, "if you think you can win me over with such precious stones, you're sorely mistaken."
Diamondhead lowered his head, keeping his eyes closed. "Trust me…"
He placed his right hand in front of his face and extensions of crystal emerged from his palm to spread across his head. Remarkably, the crystals reformed themselves to create a smooth, angular mask that perfectly covered Diamondhead's face; in addition, it had a v-shaped visor that allowed him to see. The lens of the visor were green; in contrast with his turquoise body.
He looked back to Evergreen, who looked surprised by what he did. "…after this, you won't be able to look at diamonds the same way again." He remarked, his voice slightly distorted by the mask.
"Tch," Evergreen grit her teeth, her pompous demeanor being replaced with frustrated annoyance. 'Unbelievable! How did he figure it out!?' she yelled internally.
Diamondhead didn't miss the brunette's immediate change inbehavior and smirked behind his makeshift visor, realizing that his theory had been proven correct.
"What's the matter? Aren't yah gonna turn me into stone?" Diamondhead taunted. "Or…could it be your magic doesn't work on someone if they have eyewear on."
"How did you know that?!" Evergreen demanded with a peeved tone.
"You mean aside from the fact that you just told me? I noticed how when you turned Lucy to stone, you had to pull down your glasses first. You have to look at people with your naked eye for your spell to work, right?" He stated rather than inquired. "It got me thinking…what if your opponent was wearing glasses…"
Evergreen was visibly frustrated for a short moment before her smug smirk returned. "I see…how keen of you. I must say, I'm impressed." She admitted. "But…don't think you've beaten me just yet!" she swiped the arm holding her fan diagonally at Diamondhead, shooting off several yellow blasts at him.
Diamondhead crossed his forearms in front of his body to shield himself. The blasts either struck the roof around him and exploded, throwing up clouds of dust around him, or reflected off Diamondhead's body in random directions.
Evergreen used that short moment of distraction to get airborne, floating several meters above the teen hero. She crossed her arms in front of her as yellowish-white dust sparkled around her.
"Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!" she yelled, extending her arms outward. Torrents of yellow needles that were composed of concentrated dust fired from around her torso area.
Diamondhead brought his right arm up and, as a result, a large chunk of crystal was summoned out of the roof and blocked the barrage. The Petrosapien thrust his arms forward and fired a barrage of crystalline projectiles at the fairy-like wizard. Evergreen was forced to cease her attack and move backwards to avoid the incoming shards.
"Try again," She teased while flying toward a stone castle-like building across the street – which appeared to be greatly decorated for the festival.
"Hey! Don't run from me, you coward!" Diamondhead shouted, running in hot pursuit of the sparkling wizard.
He summoned a crystal platform at the edge of the roof he was running on to springboard himself across the street onto a two-story shop with a flat roof. He held out his right forearm to block the next set of incoming projectiles from Evergreen, which seemed to harmlessly deflect off his crystal skin.
"My, my. That diamond body of yours is perfect for deflecting my thorns." Evergreen commented, yellow light starting to shine from her body. "But I'm just getting started. I wonder…" she came to a stop in midair as dozens of glowing yellow spheres formed in front of her. "…can your body handle twice as many?"
She extended her fan forward and fired a larger torrent of concentrated dust blasts from the yellow spheres. Diamondhead was forced to stop and take a few steps back to gain better footing from the increased onslaught. The attacks weren't necessarily hurting the Petrosapien, but the salvo slamming everywhere across his body was keeping him from proceeding forward.
Evergreen reared her head back and laughed haughtily, believing she was about to win. "From this day forth, I shall be known as Titania…for I am the true Fairy Queen. The one who actually defeated Ben Tennyson!" Her last statement was referring to the time she witnessed Ben defeat Erza in a sparring match. By beating him, it would prove that she was stronger than Erza!
Diamondhead growled, remembering that Erza was a statue because of this crazy chick. It was time to end this already!
The Petrosapien focused on his abilities, growing an octagonal-shaped shield from his right forearm that was large enough to protect his entire body. The thorn-like attacks were promptly deflected in random directions away from him once again.
"What?!" Evergreen shouted, her eyes widening in surprise.
He crouched down and leapt into the air, leaving cracks in the roof from the force of his jump. Diamondhead powered through the torrent of yellow blasts, his shield continuing to ricochet the needle-like projectiles away. When he got close enough, he quickly pulled back his shield and shot an accumulation of crystals from his right hand at the brunette.
In midair, the crystal chunk reformed itself into an x-shaped brace and hit Evergreen directly in her chest area. She let out a cry of surprise as she went careening back and collided with a stone tower structure at the top of the castle-like building.
The four ends of the crystal cross-brace embedded themselves into the stone above and under Evergreen's arms, effectively keeping her pinned up. She chuckled sheepishly while nervous beads of sweat raced down her cheeks.
Diamondhead landed nearly ten feet away, the stone floor cracking from the impact. He stepped forward until he was barely a couple feet in front of her. Even though his face was shielded by that visor, Evergreen could tell he was giving her a strong glare.
"Yah know…Erza's told me she doesn't really care for that Fairy Queen title. If you wanna call yourself Titania, I'm sure she wouldn't mind." Diamondhead noted.
Evergreen's brow furrowed as she glared angrily at the crystal alien.
"To be honest, after what you did, I'm not your biggest fan right now. But…you're still a member of the guild, so I'm gonna give you one last chance. If you turn the girls back to normal and tell me where Laxus is hiding, then I promise I won't hurt you." The teen hero assured.
The green-clad woman was quiet for a moment until her proud smirk returned. She chuckled lightly and replied, "You're being a bit naïve, aren't you? I'll have you know that my Stone Eyes grant me another ability as well."
"Hmm…" the Petrosapien tilted his head in confusion.
"Remote Control," she revealed.
Diamondhead's eyes widened in shock. If she was telling the truth, then that meant…
"Drop to your knees and bow before me!" she commanded. "If you refuse, I'll use my power to topple your precious little statues and shatter them!"
Ben was unresponsive for a short moment. The image of Erza and the other girls' petrified bodies being destroyed was on repeat in his mind. Evergreen was unable to make out Diamondhead's expression due to his mask, making her feel slightly uneasy; however, if she could see the boiling indignation on his crystalline face, she'd be absolutely terrified.
All of a sudden, Diamondhead lifted up his right hand and summoned several dozen crystal shards from the ground. The sharp projectiles hovered in the air and pointed themselves directly at Evergreen.
The brunette's arrogant expression was immediately replaced with a nervous, apprehensive look. "Eh…?" she weakly uttered.
"I gotta admit, Evergreen, I never thought you'd be the kind of person to die for their beliefs. If you're serious about killing the girls, well…" he spoke in a grave, serious tone, "I've already had to kill one monster in my life. Taking out one more won't make me lose any sleep."
Evergreen gulped fearfully as she began to sweat profusely, her anxiety increasing by the second. Finally, it reached the point where she couldn't contain it anymore. She let out an ear-piercing scream that traveled several blocks.
"AAAAAAHHHHH!"
BAM!
Her fearful screaming was promptly cut short when Diamondhead slammed his fist in the wall just inches to the right of Evergreen's face, leaving a hole the size of his hand in the stone. "If you're gonna bluff, do it right." He said dryly.
'Although, if she hadn't been bluffing…I dunno if I would've been able to control myself…' Ben inwardly admitted.
"Okay…you win…" she murmured in a low, defeated voice.
…
Back at the guild hall, after it was confirmed that Mystogan had returned to Magnolia to join Laxus's game, Erza was about to head out and find Laxus herself. She was hoping to find Ben along the way. He must be worried sick about her and the other girls, and it would certainly help him to see her in order to ease his mind.
"Erza, you gonna help Ben beat Evergreen?" Happy inquired.
"If I can find them in time, I'll try and -"
Erza's sentence was interrupted when the girls onstage were suddenly turned back to normal in bursts of white light. They looked around in bewilderment, completely unaware of what had happened.
"My…what happened to us?" Juvia asked, gazing at her hand in confusion.
"I can't remember…" Levy admitted, equally perplexed.
"Ha!" Makarov smiled.
"They're all back to normal." Natsu said excitedly.
Makarov looked back to the runes and read, "'Evergreen vs Ben. The winner is Ben.'"
Erza smirked proudly. "Looks like he didn't need any help after all."
"Well, Laxus…you're all out of hostages, boy." Makarov said in a victorious tone, wearing a confident smile. "Can't continue with your game now, can you?"
…
In Kardia Cathedral, Laxus was less than enthused to see that Evergreen had lost her match. The signs of his ire were made clear by the red blood vessels appearing in the whites of his eyes and the grinding of his teeth.
"You failed me…" he snarled. The spiky, blonde-haired man punched the stone pillar to his left to vent his growing anger. "I put my faith in you, Evergreen, and this is how you return the favor?! You're actually weaker than that little nobody? Damn!"
"Ben is stronger than you think." Freed noted, standing a few feet behind Laxus. "His unpredictable nature is exactly what I was afraid of. Bickslow and I should've gone after him instead."
Laxus pulled his arm away from the pillar, keeping his back turned to the green-haired swordsman. "Why are you here when you should be fighting?" he demanded angrily.
"Because…the game is as good as over." Freed simply replied. "Without hostages, we can no longer force the master's hand."
Laxus turned towards Freed with a furious glare. Without warning, a bolt of lightning cut across the stone floor just a couple feet from Freed's right. He held up his forearms over his head, instinctively shielding himself. Smoke was thrown up from the fresh scar inflicted on the floor.
He lowered his guard and looked at Laxus in confusion. "What are you doing?"
Small lightning bolts surged around the spikes of Laxus's earphones. He looked at Freed with a hardened expression. "This fight ain't over. If you don't wanna follow me, then you can get lost." He spat. "There's no place for weaklings in my Fairy Tail."
…
Back at the guild hall, Erza had headed out into town to find Laxus and hopefully come across Ben along the way. Meanwhile, Makarov spent several minutes explaining the situation to the unpetrified girls.
Unsurprisingly, they were all taken aback by Laxus's actions. They knew he was a jerk, but to go that far…? Taking hostages and forcing your own guildmates to fight each other… just so you can become Fairy Tail's guild master?!
"He called it the Battle of Fairy Tail?" Lucy asked, surprised.
"Laxus outdid himself this time." Cana commented dryly, sitting cross-legged on the edge of the stage with a bottle of booze right next to her.
"At any rate, it's over now." Makarov said. "I played along with his foolish game because your lives were in danger, but I won't indulge him anymore."
"Master, we can't let him get away with hurting our friends." Mira softly stated.
"Yeah, she's right!" Bisca angrily agreed. "If we don't teach Laxus a lesson, he'll never learn."
"Oh…don't worry." Makarov reassured them all with a serious tone. "I'm gonna give that boy a punishment he'll never forget. He should know better. You can mess with me, but you can't mess with my guild!"
"Hey, now, hold on a sec…" Natsu held out his left hand to interject. "I dunno about taking hostages, but I don't see any problem in finding out who's the strongest. I think we should keep the battle going."
"Huh…?!" Everyone groaned in exasperation from the Fire Dragon Slayer's idiotic proclamation.
"In the end, I bet he was just trying to have a little fun for the festival." Natsu smiled roguishly. "Give 'em a break."
Makarov stared at Natsu in disbelief. 'I don't know what I'm going to do with you, Natsu…'
"Ha-ha!" Natsu punched his left palm in excitement. "So, in other words, what are we waitin' for? We got enough people here! Let's start brawling! C'mon, round two right now!"
"What?!" Lucy, Levy, and Bisca shouted, dumbfounded.
"Don't even think about it, you nincompoop!" Makarov yelled, his patience running thin.
"Aw, c'mon!" Natsu protested lightheartedly, punching the air in front of Lucy. "I gotta do something with all this pent-up energy I've got."
"Give it a rest," Lucy sighed, exasperated. "You're always looking for new excuses to pick a fight."
"If you need to blow off steam that badly, I'm always ready to rumble." Cana commented, sporting a confident smirk.
"Don't encourage him, girl…" Bisca remarked.
"Yah know, I don't think it's nice to beat up on girls; especially when they're your friends." Happy inputted, raising up his right paw.
"A girl, a guy, a friend, an enemy…who cares?" Natsu dismissed nonchalantly.
"Hey! Keep this up and I'm gonna fight yah!" Happy retorted, irritated.
"C'mon, Lucy!" Natsu playfully chased after the blonde, who was trying to stay away from him. "Let's see what you're made of!"
"Ahhh…no way!" Lucy cried.
The other girls laughed and smiled from the display.
Meanwhile, the ex-Phantom Lord members, Gajeel and Juvia, were standing off to the side watching the carefree scene unfold. The blue-haired girl then looked at the Iron Dragon Slayer curiously.
"Why such a serious expression?" she asked.
"It's nothing…" he replied.
However, Juvia could tell he wasn't really being honest. She chose to switch topics. "This guild is rather fun, is it?"
"It ain't boring at least…" Gajeel admitted begrudgingly, looking away.
All of a sudden, the front entrance to the guild hall was filled with glowing red runes. They made peculiar sounds as they floated away from the door and slowly spilled into the main hall.
"Huh…what's going on?" Mira wondered.
"That's weird…" Natsu said.
"Don't tell me he's up to something else," Cana snapped.
"You're going to have to fight us this time!" Bisca added, just as angry as the brunette drinker.
Strangely, the red letters came together to create a huge, eerie-looking skull that nearly took up the entire room. A few smaller runes could be seen cascading off of the skull-shaped creation in random directions.
"Can you hear me, old man?" Laxus's voice spoke from the skull.
Makarov lightly gasped in surprised confusion. What was he up to? Now that the girls were free, his game was over. Wasn't it?
"The rest of you better listen up too."
"What do you want?" Natsu asked, an angry edge in his voice.
"Looks like one of the rules has gone out the window. That's fine. I'll just add a new one. In other words, since I would hate to end the Battle of Fairy Tail early…I've decided to activate the Thunder Palace." Laxus declared.
"Are you out of your mind, Laxus?!" Makarov shouted, his eyes wide open in fear.
"You have an hour and ten minutes. If you think you can win, you better get moving! Unless you're ready to hand over the guild to me now, master. Ha-ha-ha!" Laxus'ss arrogant laugh echoed across the room as the skull broke apart. The red symbols faded away, indicating the connection was now broken.
"THIS GAME HAS GONE ON LONG ENOUGH, BOY!" Makarov exclaimed furiously as a vein on his temple throbbed madly. Sparks of yellow, magical power sparked around the old man as his fury increased. "I WON'T LET YOU DRAG INNOCENT PEOPLE INTO THIS…!"
Suddenly, Makarov's anger was instantly replaced with pain as he clutched the left side of his chest, the area where his heart was…
The group immediately turned to Makarov with expressions of shocked fear.
"Master, no!" Cana shouted fearfully.
"Is he okay…" Natsu asked, sounding nervous.
"What's going on…?" Lucy added anxiously.
The old guild master collapsed to his side, continuing to clutch at his heart.
"Oh no! I'll go get his medicine!" Mira swiftly ran off to the infirmary.
"Master…" Bisca knelt by Makarov's side, "Can you hear us?"
"Hang in there, master! It'll be okay…" Levy reassured uneasily.
"What's he mean by 'Thunder Palace'?" Natsu inquired.
Makarov grimaced from the intense pain flaring in his chest, unable to give a response.
"C'mon, gramps…" Natsu growled.
"Hey!" Mira called out as she descended a small flight of stairs. In her left hand was a large bottle of pills and her right was pointing out the window. "Look outside, you guys!"
A couple minutes later, after getting Makarov to the infirmary, the group headed up to the second floor and out to the balcony. From there, they could literally see hundreds of beachball-sized orbs floating in a giant circle around Magnolia. The orbs had a silver ring with spikes that rotated around a glass casing, and inside the case was a yellow lightning-shaped icon.
"What in the heck are those?" Natsu asked, perplexed.
"They look like lightning lacrima to me." Levy answered, having to put her hand over her eyes to look up to the sky.
"That means Laxus did this." Cana stated.
The Fairy Tail wizards were not the only ones to take notice of the lightning lacrima. The majority of the townspeople and tourists looked up at the floating balls in curiosity, speculating about what they could be.
"They're floating all over the town." Lucy said, feeling uneasy.
"They may not look that dangerous, but they're overflowing with Lightning Magic." Cana explained seriously. "This could get ugly. Let's just hope he doesn't set them off."
"Could this be the 'Thunder Palace' he was referring to?" Juvia questioned.
"Yes, and it's surrounding Magnolia." Cana replied.
"If those things are full of lightning, what will happen if he activates them?" Lucy asked in concern.
"Everything within its boundaries will be burned to a crisp…" she said forebodingly.
…
Ben was currently running down a street with no townspeople in his path. There were only the unconscious guild members scattered along the street. Thanks to Evergreen, Ben now knew where Laxus was hiding out. The first location the smug brunette gave him sounded like an odd, out-of-left-field kind of place.
Just to make sure she was telling the truth, Diamondhead gave her one, last sharp warning to give him the true location. Finally, the Fairy mage relented and told him.
Kardia Cathedral.
He left Evergreen pinned to the castle tower, assuring her he would come back to release her after he defeated Laxus.
The Omnitrix bearer was eager to get to the church using XLR8; however, he was forced to continue down the paths littered with his beaten guildmates to avoid Freed's enchantments. There was also another reason: the teen hero needed time to come up with a plan to beat the arrogant blonde.
Anyone who can take repeated blows from Four Arms to the face so casually was not someone to take lightly.
'I gotta keep my cool.' Ben thought determinedly. 'Now that Erza and the girls are free, I can fight that bastard without having to worry about them.'
"He's gonna pay for this…" He said gravely.
"Huh…?" Suddenly, the emerald-eyed teen's attention was caught by circle-shaped shadows on the street and buildings in front of him. He came to a stop and gazed up, confused by the sight before him. "What are those things?"
Hovering in the air were glass balls orbited by a silver, rotating ring with yellow lightning symbols inside. They may have appeared harmless at first glance, but the longer Ben stared at them, the more an ominous feeling crept inside of him.
"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Ben admitted.
…
A/N: The update is finally here! YAY! For once, you guys didn't have to wait over several months!
Nah, but seriously this'll most likely be my last update for at least a couple months. I'm in my last semester of college and it's going to be more work than I thought. Man…feels like just yesterday when I was starting college. Time sure flies…
Anyways, a big shout out to Vanessa Masters and TallGuy94. Their input was greatly appreciated for this chapter and I couldn't have finished it without them.
I really did have some fun writing the Ben and Evergreen match. Forgive me if this wasn't original enough for yah. But I really believe that some of the upcoming battles in this arc (aside from Ben's upcoming match with Laxus) don't really need to be changed. They were good the way they were in canon. Like I mentioned, the final showdown with Laxus will be changed up in key places due to Ben's presence. I know you guys and gals will love it!
Thanks for all the love you've given the story!
By the way, before I go, I recommend you guys check out this YouTube channel: Kuro the Artist. He's has some good Ben 10 content videos and is even helping write/draw an epic crossover of Ben 10 with Danny Phantom. It's called 5 Years Later.
Here's a link to one of his videos, if you're interested. Pretty much explains why the Ben 10 franchise declined after season 3 of Alien Force. Lot of meddling from Cartoon Network, apparently…
watch?v=cfdzLlEV5oM
Anyways, please leave any comments, critiques, or suggestions in the review box if yah want. Until next time…Ultimate out!