Ultimate Fairy: Volume II

by pyrohelixdrago

Ben Tennyson has found himself in another universe, one filled with magic he never imagined. He comes across a few wizards who invite him to their guild, Fairy Tail. With no immediate ways to return home Ben must adapt to this new world, form new bonds, and grow stronger with his teammates to overcome many obstacles. Adopted from Ultimate10

43. Chapter 43

...

Ultimate Fairy

Chapter 43: Oracion Seis

Part II

...

Last time on Ultimate Fairy...

"I'm sorry, guys," Ben turned to the Strauss siblings, "but we're gonna have to cut this training trip short."

"Don't be!" Mira replied curtly. "Go help your team!"

"Yeah!" Elfman added. "All of you better come back victorious like real men, ya hear?"

Ben nodded before quickly activating the Omnitrix. After finding the head-icon he desired, he swiftly slapped down the core and, in a flash of brilliant emerald, he was replaced with...

"Jetray!"

Jetray immediately soared high into the air; several hundred feet above the ground. He altered his flight path to the northeast, keeping the lacrima firmly in his right claw's grip.

With his girlfriend and comrades' lives in danger, the Aerophibian didn't waste a second to rapidly increase his speed. With a thundering boom in his wake, he easily broke through the sound barrier.

Fairy Tail's otherworldly hero would soon be entering the fray against the Oracion Seis.

...

Brain watched the scene that unfolded in front of him with indifference. His guild, the Oracion Seis, had swiftly defeated the enemy wizards dispatched to destroy them. The dark guild master was quite disappointed by the guild wizards' lack of coordination and foolhardiness.

Did the Magic Council and guild masters really believe that these wizards would be capable of defeating his guild? He honestly felt insulted by the notion.

'No matter. The Council's arrogance will ultimately be their downfall...' Brain thought smugly.

The Allied Forces laid scattered across the ground with various injuries sustained from the fight. Natsu, Gray, Erza, and Lyon cracked their eyes open and glared daggers at the dark guild. Their bodies pulsed with pain from the beating they had just received. In Erza's case, it was the venom coursing through her right arm.

The Oracion Seis lined up behind Brain and observed their handiwork with haughty expressions.

"How pathetic. It's insulting that you believed such a headstrong attack would best us." Brain stated. "Now, prepare for oblivion's embrace... Silicus Mi-"

Brain stopped casting his strange spell as he noticed Wendy cowering behind a nearby boulder. She had been hiding behind it since the start of the battle as she was too scared to fight. Carla and Happy were beside her; the latter of the two holding a wooden stick as a weapon. The darkness mage's eyes widened in shock as his spell immediately faded; much to his allies' confusion.

"What's the matter, Brain?" Racer asked, confused.

"You gonna cast your spell or what?" Cobra demanded.

"Wendy..." Brain was awestricken.

Upon hearing her name, Wendy's teary, fearful eyes widened slightly. "Uh... yeah?"

"Do you know her?" Cobra asked curiously.

"No doubt about it," Brain calmed down slightly as he narrowed his eyes. "That's Wendy... the Maiden of the Sky."

Wendy continued to cower behind the rock and placed her hands above her head in fear. "What does that mean?!"

"I was gonna ask you," Happy said, equally bewildered.

"To think we simply stumbled upon her here. We've made quite the find, my friends!"

Brain held out his stave and summoned a magical circle from which an eerie green tendril appeared. The tendril extended toward Wendy, morphing into a large hand before it grabbed her, much to the Allied Force's surprise.

"Wendy!" Carla and Happy exclaimed.

The hand began to quickly pull Wendy toward Brain while Carla and Happy both desperately tried to sprint to her rescue.

"Unhand her now!" Carla shouted.

"I'll save ya!" Happy assured. "As soon as I catch up!"

"Striking while we're down!? That's not fair!" Natsu yelled indignantly.

"All is fair in money and war! Oh yeah!"

Hoteye raised his left hand and summoned an orange magical circle. The ground beneath the tattered and beaten group of wizards began to liquefy and sent them tossing and turning inside a funnel comprised of mud.

Wendy continued to be pulled towards Brain as the felines chased after her.

"CARLA!" Wendy cried.

The white feline lunged toward the blue-haired girl, extending her paw out to her. "Grab my paw!"

Wendy stretched out her arm to grab onto said paw but had unintentionally grabbed Happy's instead - leaving the young girl and blue feline dumbfounded.

"What? Uh-oh..." Happy uttered.

"You've got the wrong cat!" Carla snapped.

Upon reaching Brain, Wendy and Happy were sucked into a green void. Wendy let out a terrified scream as Happy called out to his best friend.

"NATSUUU!"

Wendy and Happy then disappeared completely.

"WENDY!" Carla cried.

"HAPPY!" Natsu panicked.

Brain aimed his stave at the Allied Forces as green energy emanated from it while a faint pink glow shone off his body. "I have no use for any of you. Prepare for a slow and agonizing demise. Silicus Milez Sasitatio!"

A mixture of pink and green magical energies swirled around Brain's stave and discharged from the bottom of it, pulsating deep into the ground.

Out of nowhere, Jura appeared on the scene and outstretched his right hand toward the dark guild. "IRON ROCK FIST!"

A large arm comprised of rock, with an appearance reminiscent of a gauntlet, surged from the ground and extended toward the Oracion Seis. It struck the ground in front of the dark wizards, throwing up a cloud of dust and earth. As the dust settled, the six wizards were nowhere to be seen.

Jura narrowed his eyes. "Gone..."

'What was that power just then? Something felt very off about it...' the Wizard Saint pondered.

"Huh?! Where the hell did they go?!" Natsu shouted upon seeing that their opponents had suddenly vanished into thin air.

"They're long gone by now," Gray answered. "They probably teleported or somethin'."

"What?! We let 'em get away!"

Carla took a few steps forward, expressing extreme worry on her visage. "Oh, Wendy..."

Ren pushed himself off the ground with a grunt. "They wiped the floor with us..."

"Well, they're a lot stronger than we are," Eve replied, sounding dejected. "We never stood a chance against them."

"The Oracion Seis... what unbelievable power..." Lyon commented.

"Their magic is stronger than the rumors suggested," Hibiki said seriously.

The group diverted their attention to a large pile of metal wreckage in the woods below the plateau they stood on. Earlier, the magical bomber, Christina, had been blown out of the sky by the Oracion Seis – immediately foiling the Allied Force's plan of attack.

"Just look at what they did to the Christina," Sherry said solemnly.

Shaking his head from his earlier musings, Jura stated, "According to Angel, the woman who peers into the minds of her targets, they know everything about our mission. We're lucky that no lives were lost."

"Yeah... that's one positive thing out of all this," Gray agreed.

"What about all the people inside?" Lucy sounded worried.

"Don't worry, pretty lady," Ren replied.

"Christina is equipped with a remote-control, so there's no need for a pilot." Eve smiled.

"We were gonna climb aboard once we'd found their base, but as you can see, we never made it that far." Hibiki finished.

"I see." Lucy sighed in relief. "That's good to hear..."

Lyon clutched his aching left arm as he approached Jura. "Glad to see you made it out unscathed."

"Not quite," the Wizard Saint turned to the white-haired wizard, "In fact, I barely made it out alive."

"You're wounded!?" Lyon's eyes widened in shock.

Jura turned away and shut his eyes. "Their power terrifies me." He then looked ahead to Ichiya, who was posing dramatically with scratches and bruises all over his face, and multiple tears across his white suit. "I hate to admit it, but if it weren't for Sir Ichiya's Pain-Killer Parfum, I'd be on the ground in utter agony right now."

"Detestable Oracion Seis," Ichiya spat, "instead of bravely facing your foes, you decided to flee. Which means we win by default!"

"THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS, YOU WEIRDO!" Gray furiously exclaimed.

Ichiya turned to Gray with a serious expression. "Look, pal, we may be battered but we are not beaten." He pulled out a vial of liquid from his jacket. "Here... Take a whiff and let my Pain-Killer Parfum ease your discomfort!"

Ichiya popped the cork off, allowing a green fragrance to waft to the group. Surprisingly, their pain and discomfort were indeed lifted.

"Wow... what a lovely scent," Sherry commented.

"And it works," Lucy smiled, "my pain is fading away."

"Maaaan," Ichiya started performing various poses.

Lucy groaned in exasperation. "If only he could cast the spell without all the weird posing..."

"How dare those punks run off with Wendy and Happy!" Natsu stood up and proceeded to run off into the forest. "I gotta go find 'em!"

"Hey!" Lucy yelled out. "Get back here, Natsu!"

Natsu was abruptly stopped when someone pulled on his scarf from behind, causing him to fall to the ground. He and everyone else was surprised to see the culprit was Carla with a pair of angelic-like wings sprouting from her back.

"You mustn't be reckless!" Carla chastised. "You need to calm down and think this through."

"That's a whole lot to ask for," Gray remarked.

"Those wings..." Lucy was mildly surprised.

"Was she hiding them?" Sherry wondered.

Carla turned back to the ground. "You've never seen Aero Magic before? Well, in that case, I suppose it's only natural you would find it surprising."

"You're tryin' to copy Happy, aren't ya?" Natsu accused.

"As if, dimwit!" Carla retorted angrily.

She shook her head and refocused on the situation. "Though I am concerned about Wendy and the tomcat, this is not a foe to be taken lightly. We cannot face them until we've come up with a plan of attack."

Jura nodded. "I wholeheartedly agree, Lady Carla."

"Maaan," Ichiya replied in agreement.

"But first..." Carla and the others turned their attention to Erza, who was slumped against a tree while clutching her right arm in pain.

"Hey... are you okay?" Natsu asked with growing concern.

"GAHH!" Erza shuddered and cried out in pain.

"It looks like the snake venom is spreading..." Lucy noted anxiously.

The Trimens turned to Ichiya.

"Master Ichiya?" Eve said expectantly.

"I've got this, men." The troll-man replied confidently. "I know what you need, my honey..."

"Don't call me that!" Erza hissed through her teeth.

Ichiya ignored her response, and continued, "A little Pain-Killer Parfum! Aroma Increase!"

He increased the effects of his fragrance as it drifted towards Erza.

"Huh... I'm no doctor, but since when are painkillers an antidote for snake venom?" Lucy inquired.

"His parfum does more than ease pain; it also has a cleansing effect that'll help her body expel any toxins," Hibiki answered.

Unfortunately, Ichiya's supposed remedy had no effect as the sickly purple venom on her arm spread even more.

"It's not working!" Gray exclaimed.

"It looks like she's in even more pain now!" Natsu added fretfully.

"Huh? You think so...?" Ichiya said hesitantly.

He received his response as Erza clutched her arm tighter and screamed in agony. Immediately losing strength in her legs, Erza sat down and leaned up against the tree behind her.

"Oh... man..."

"What the? I don't get it." Hibiki stammered in surprise. "His Pain-Killer Parfum has never failed before!"

"Erza... Hang in there. Please," Natsu pleaded.

"What're we gonna do?" Lucy worried.

"Lucy," Erza strained to look at the blonde, "I'm sorry... but I need to borrow your belt."

"Wait a minute... WAHH!"

Without waiting for a response, Erza swiftly grabbed Lucy's belt – causing her skirt to fall down. The Trimens instantly became excited by seeing Lucy in her underwear. She quickly pulled up her skirt and kicked the three men onto the ground hard. "LOOK AWAY!"

Erza tightened the belt above the venom-infected area of her upper arm.

"What are you gonna do with that?" Lucy asked.

"It's harsh, but it's the only way I can keep fighting." The redhead bit down on a piece of cloth from her outfit before stabbing her sword in the ground in front of her. "Somebody cut it off!"

The group gasped in shock from the knight's request. Was she being serious? Apparently, she was as she had her right arm fully extended.

"What the hell are you saying, Erza?!" Gray yelled in shocked anger.

"It's the only way to stop the venom from spreading..." Erza replied through clenched teeth.

"Don't be so rash! At least give us time to find an antidote!" the ice-mage asserted.

"We... don't have time..." Erza seethed. "It... can be fixed later. Right now, we have to stop the venom before... it kills me..."

"And cutting off your arm WON'T?!" Gray strongly retorted. "Even if you did survive, how do you think you'll fare in a fight with just one arm?"

Erza didn't respond as she shut her eyes while biting into a piece of fabric from her outfit.

The ice-mage sighed heavily before turning to face the others. "Look, guys, enough is enough. We have to face the facts... we're in over our heads here." He shifted his gaze to Natsu and Lucy. "I say we contact Ben. He'll be able to heal Erza; plus, he's been on plenty of missions like this before, so he'll know what to do."

"Yeah... but Erza already tried contacting him several times today and could never get through," Lucy noted.

"Then we try again!" Gray argued.

"We don't have time for any of that, Gray," Lyon stepped forward and lifted Erza's sword from the ground. "We have to handle this situation ourselves before it's too late. I'll do it..."

"How kind of you," Sherry praised.

"Put down the sword, Lyon!" Gray ordered, stepping between him and Erza.

"Just do it!" Erza barked.

"NO!"

"Lyon... are you seriously gonna do it?" Lucy timidly asked.

"We can't afford to lose one of our strongest when we're facing such a powerful foe," Lyon plainly stated.

"The Oracion Seis is gonna be the least of your worries if you don't put down that sword!" the onyx-haired wizard threatened.

"Oh, c'mon! Would you quit whining already?" Sherry shouted in annoyance. "Your friend's gonna die if you don't do something now."

"YOUR friend's gonna die if he doesn't put down the sword!" Lucy snapped while getting in the pink-haired girl's face.

"Why is that? This is just his way of showing love..." Sherry softly replied.

"Don't! Do you really wanna be known as the one who maimed Erza!?" Hibiki exclaimed in panic.

"You don't have to do this!" Eve called out. "Please, stop! We'll find a cure!"

"No," Jura held out his arm to stop the Trimens' advance. "We have no right to interfere with her wishes."

"Just hurry up!" Erza cried. "Before it's too late!"

"Very well..." As Lyon stepped toward Erza, Gray swiftly summoned an ice-sword in his right hand and blocked Lyon's path, assuming a stance and ready to attack.

Lyon narrowed his eyes as his nostrils flared angrily. "Move aside, Gray! Is her arm more important to you than her life? Where are your priorities?!"

"Use your head! If we cut off her arm, we'll just be trading a bad situation for an even worse one." Gray sternly countered. "Her stump could get infected, or worse she could bleed to death! Don't you remember anything Ur taught us about frostbite and the dangers of trying to play doctor on ourselves?!"

There were many who believed that if Ur was alive, she would have been a Wizard Saint. It wasn't just her power and skill that made her worthy of the position, but also because of her pragmatic nature. Something that seemed to be lacking in many powerful wizards.

Ur believed in teaching her students not just magic, but basic survival skills and being practical about things that were beyond a person's knowledge and skill. She had seen the folly of other wizards whose arrogance had hastened their deaths from trying to substitute medical expertise with minimal medical knowledge.

Students of other Ice-Make Magic wizards, who had not yet gained the resistance to the cold, had found their end at one time or another from amputating frostbitten limbs while lost in blizzards. It was a lesson that Ur was sure to drive home to her students, to never assume that they had the same expertise as those who had dedicated their lives to medicine just because you had some basic knowledge.

A fool's arrogance only brought death, not salvation.

"Of course I remember!" Lyon curtly responded. "But the troll over there has his pain-relieving fragrance, does he not? We can use that to treat the pain while your Dragon Slayer friend utilizes his flames to cauterize the wound."

Natsu lowered his head and looked at his hands uneasily. He understandably felt conflicted over the situation. He didn't want Erza to slowly die from the venom; on the other hand, he didn't want to see her be maimed either. In addition, the idea of using his flames to leave a permanent scar on her body (even if it could save her life) was unsettling.

"While it's true my parfum can treat pain, it wasn't exactly meant for emergency surgery." Ichiya pointed out. "Maaan... It may be enough, but I'm not for certain."

"So, you don't even know?!" Gray turned his glare back to Lyon. "See? Even the troll doesn't think this will work!"

"Maaan... I take offense to that name!" Ichiya snapped, still striking a pose.

"Even if it did," Gray continued, "that still doesn't cover the other problems. Cutting her arm off and cauterizing the wound would cause excessive pain. That parfum of his relieves pain but doesn't prevent it. That won't stop her from going into circulatory shock. I don't know about you, Lyon, but I'd rather put my faith in absolute certainty rather than some half-assed ideas!"

"'Absolute certainty'!? Are you referring to Ben? Do you honestly expect me to blindly believe in someone who couldn't even bother to show up for this mission!?" Lyon yelled indignantly.

"He does make a point," Ren agreed.

"Besides, I seriously doubt that a Take-Over wizard would be qualified in dealing with a snakebite," Eve added.

"I don't wanna see Erza's arm get amputated either... but don't you think you're putting a little too much faith in someone who isn't even here?" Hibiki implied.

"You see, Gray? Even they agree. Face it, you're just as spineless as ever." Lyon glowered. "Nothing's changed since we were kids. Relying too much on others to save you."

Gray bared his teeth in anger. "I thought you had changed... but you're just as shady as ever."

"That's enough!" Carla snapped, flying in-between the two ice wizards.

Before she could continue, Erza let out a scream as a wave of agony overwhelmed her. She laid back against the tree, unconscious.

"Erza!" Natsu rushed to her side in concern.

"This is bad..." Lucy said anxiously. "We gotta do something quick or she'll die."

Carla turned her gaze to Lyon. "Cutting off her arm will just make things worse as we have no safe method of treating her afterward." She then shifted her attention to Gray. "And although I don't discount the fact that your friend could help, the fact remains in how he's not here and we don't have time to contact him or wait on his arrival. Nevertheless, we do have another viable option... Wendy. She can save your friend."

Gray broke off his glare from Lyon and turned to the white feline in shocked confusion.

A moment of silence passed before Carla continued, "We need to work together to devise a plan to rescue Wendy... and I suppose the tomcat too."

"Wait a sec," Eve spoke up, "you're saying that she's got some kind of Anti-Venom Magic?"

"Not just anti-venom. She can cure fevers, relieve pain, and heal wounds."

"Um, excuse me," Ichiya posed nervously, "I feel as though my role in the group is being threatened and I find that rather unsettling."

"That's crazy!" Sherry exclaimed, ignoring the midget, "Everyone knows that healing spells are Lost Magic. There's no way the kid could use them."

"I'm guessing this power has something to do with the whole 'Maiden of the Sky' thing, right?" Gray inquired.

"Yes. You see, that little girl is the Sky Dragon Slayer."

Everyone's eyes bulged in shock from Carla's statement.

"She's a Dragon Slayer too?!" Natsu shouted, dumbfounded.

"I'll give you all the details later. But, to be honest, there's really not much else you need to know." Carla explained. "Wendy is the only wizard among our group capable of saving your friend. We need her now. Unfortunately, the Oracion Seis feel that they need her for some reason as well..."

"In that case," Lyon dropped the sword to the ground.

"There's only one thing for us to do," Hibiki added.

"We're gonna have to rescue Wendy," Eve stated.

"We'll do it for Erza and Happy's sake! Okay! Are you-" Natsu paused as he sniffed the air a few times. He turned his attention to the forest behind him; his expression scrunching up into a glower.

"What's up?" Gray asked.

"We got company," Natsu growled.

On cue, the sounds of multiple footsteps and rustling of leaves could be heard; strangely, there were also monkey sounds. Out of the tree-line stepped a large group of people who possessed hairy simian facial features. On their attire was a maroon crescent moon with a hollow hole inside of it.

However, there was something else that had caught the Allied Force's attention. Mixed in amongst the ape-like men were seven-foot-tall humanoid rock creatures standing on stubby legs with robust upper bodies. In addition, peculiar pink lines stretched across the creatures' torsos, arms, and faces in intricate patterns.

The group stopped just fifty yards from the Coalition's position, and the rock-golems stepped forward to form a wall in front of the ape-men. There had to be at least a couple dozen of the stone-men.

Lucy couldn't help but shiver in fear from the sheer number of dark mages and rock-monsters now standing before them.

"Oh man... this isn't good..." Lucy whimpered.

Jura narrowed his gaze. "These must be the Oracion Seis's underlings."

"Whoa! What's with all the monkeys?!" Natsu's eyes bulged out.

Two of the ape-men stepped forward in front of the rock-golems; both towered over their comrades and were quite robust.

The one to the left had dark skin, long pointy ears, and a ridiculously large black afro with the same crescent moon symbol emblazoned in the front. He was dressed in a white tuxedo suit, purple boots, and a red collar. To complete his look, he had a pair of silver shades guarding his eyes.

The one to the right was larger than his counterpart. He had lighter skin, a large set of ears that spread out like an elephant, pointy blonde hair with a red tip, and the crescent moon tattoo on his nose. His attire consisted of a pair of large orange shoulder pads, a brown cloak, green-and-orange stripped socks and brown boots.

"So, these are the wizards the boss-man was talking about. Uh, big bro Zato," the ape-man on the right said.

"Oh yeah!" Zato replied. "Just like he said! They oughta be easy pickings, big bro Gato."

Several of the men behind them grunted in eager excitement.

"So, these are the wizards the boss-man was talking about. Uh, big bro Zato," Gato turned to his comrade.

"You already said that, big bro Gato," Zato deadpanned.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't realize I did, big bro Zato," Gato replied dumbly.

"Oh, man! Those two have got to be the dumbest monkeys I've ever seen!" Natsu claimed excitedly as he moved his arms in a simian fashion.

"Hey, don't go messing with Naked Mummy!" Gato yelled. "We're with the Oracion Seis."

"Yeah," Zato followed up. "You wizards got a death wish?"

"Sherry," Lyon kept his eyes trained on their adversaries, "those rock-golems... can you take control of them? If we can turn them against the dark wizards, it'll be less work for us."

"Brilliant thinking, my love," Sherry smirked as she held up her hands. "It'll be easy peasy...WHA?"

Focusing on the golems, Sherry discovered that her Marionette Magic was having no effect on them; much to her shock.

'What?! This can't be!' She inwardly shouted.

The pink-haired maiden concentrated harder on her abilities, moving her fingers in a manner reminiscent of a puppeteer. A brief moment passed and she couldn't help but gasp in shock.

"No... it's... impossible..." she murmured.

"Why? What's wrong?" Lyon asked, concerned.

"My magic... it's not working on them..." Sherry trembled.

"What?!" Lyon snapped his head toward her in surprise. "I thought that your magic could control anything that wasn't human!"

"I – I can't explain this. I'm... I'm sorry, my love..." Sherry sniffled, a few tears falling down her cheeks. Her love had asked her to do something, and she couldn't do it.

Lyon clenched his teeth. "Well, this just got more difficult." He turned his gaze to Jura, who was staring hard at the enemy group. "At least we have him here."

"Hey!" One of the ape-men stepped forward, pointing accusingly at Lucy, "I remember you! You're that blonde girl from the Fairy Tail guild! You ruined our-"

"Oh, I remember now. She's that girl who ruined our plans in Acalypha," Gato flatly said.

"Why me..." Lucy sweat-dropped nervously.

"Who's Naked Mummy again?" Natsu asked dumbly.

"Don't you remember, Natsu? They're the Dark Guild I fought in Acalypha when I thought my dad was in danger." Lucy answered.

"Oh yeah..." Natsu recalled.

"Honestly, man," Gray sighed. "Try paying attention for once."

"Hey!" Natsu ignited his fists with flames. "Where are you hiding our friends Wendy and Happy? Spill!"

"You think a little fire is gonna scare us?" Zato angrily replied.

"Don't go messing with Naked Mummy! We're with the Oracion Seis!" Gato declared.

"You already said that, dummy!" Natsu yelled, irritated.

"This is the end of the line for you, wizards!" Zato haughtily proclaimed.

The members of Naked Mummy started beating their chests and grunting in a simian manner together.

'Those rock-monsters... the magic coursing off of them...' Jura had a flashback of Brain casting that peculiar spell before the Oracion Seis had retreated. '... it has the same feel as the spell that the Oracion Seis's leader cast earlier. Are they connected somehow?'

Jura shook his head to refocus himself. Now wasn't the time to ponder on that.

"Everyone!" Jura shouted out. "Prepare yourselves for battle! Those of you that aren't fully recovered, protect Miss Erza."

"Right!" the Coalition replied.

"You boys know what to do." Zato barked out.

"So, these are the wizards that the boss-man was talking-"

"ATTACK!" Zato ordered, cutting off his brother before he could repeat his earlier statement.

With that, the rock-golems charged forward with Naked Mummy following behind them, running on all fours like apes.

Jura slammed his right foot down, causing a wave of rocky spikes to shoot out of the ground and split the golem wall in half.

"I'll show you easy pickings!" Natsu roared as he ran through the opening Jura created with his fists ablaze.

"Lucy," Gray looked back, "let's stay back to guard Erza. I'm sure Natsu and the others can handle these monkeys!"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah, sure thing." She pulled out one of her keys and thrust it forward. "Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!"

With the sound of a bell, a giant cow-man appeared out of a plume of smoke. "MOOOOO! What can I do for yOOOOu, Miss Lucy?"

"We need to keep these creeps away from, Erza." Lucy pointed to a couple of stone-men charging to their position. "Got it!?"

"You bet! Watch my mOOOOOves!"

Taurus pulled out his large battle-ax and swiped it at the golems, splitting them in half at the torso. They immediately collapsed into piles of pebbles.

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu slammed his flaming fist straight through the torso of a stone-golem, blasting it into tiny pebbles.

"Yeah! How do you like-"

Before the pyromaniac could finish, a rock-hand burst from the ground and grabbed him by his left ankle. A stone-golem burst through the ground beneath the Dragon Slayer, holding him upside down by his leg.

"Hey! What's the big – WHOA!"

Natsu was harshly slammed into the ground side-to-side before being promptly tossed away. Before he could shake off the daze from the blows, more of the strange stone creatures surrounded him and continued their assault.

Several ape-men individuals surrounded Ichiya with sneers on their faces.

"Ho-ho-ho! Can't believe they let a shorty like him join their group." One remarked with simian hoots.

"They've must've been short on members. Ho-ho-ho!" another jeered.

"Maaan! You should know that despite my stature," Ichiya posed dramatically, "I am a force to reckon with. Here, let me show you!" He popped the cork off one of his vials and a thick green plume surrounded his immediate area.

The ape-men were forced to step back and cover their faces in disgust, letting out simian cries from the painful stinging in their eyes.

"AH! It stings!" one cried.

"And it smells too! What is this?!"

"Maaan! This parfum of mine is a special blend of-"

Ichiya was interrupted when he was suddenly picked up off the ground by the back of his jacket. He turned to see one of the rock humanoids staring at him with its pink mindless eyes.

"Oh, maaan... I see that you're not affected by smell – MAAAN!"

The stone-golem ripped his belt of vials off of him and tossed it to the side. It then promptly slammed Ichiya into the dirt, forming a small crater. Ichiya's face was bruised as stars began to fill his vision.

"Maaan..." he groaned. "Not... the face..."

"Hold on, chief/boss/teacher!" the Trimens shouted as they started running to Ichiya's position.

However, a group of thugs suddenly appeared and blocked their path.

"Ha! Going somewhere?" a man laughed.

"As a matter of fact, we are. Air Magic: Aerial!" Ren chanted.

As a hazy black dome was cast over the Naked Mummy members, they fell to their knees and cried out from pain while holding their ears.

"Can't breathe!"

"MY EARS!"

Ren's spell Aerial drained the oxygen and changed the atmospheric pressure within its dome, which would effectively stop anyone who needed to breathe.

"Go! I'll handle – what the?!"

Without warning, a rock golem burst from the ground beneath Ren's feet and tossed him to the side. As a result, he lost concentration on his spell and freed the thugs from the dome; however, they couldn't regain their bearings immediately as they had to catch their breath.

"Ren, just hang on! Snow Magic-" Eve was unable to complete his spell before a wave of water engulfed him, washing him across the field. The source was from a wizard holding a magical staff.

"Ha! Got 'em!" He cheered.

Hibiki paused, taking a moment to survey the battlefield.

Lyon, Sherry, and Jura seemed to be holding their own just fine against the wizards and the strange rock creatures. Lyon's Ice-Make Magic allowed him to keep enemy wizards at bay and destroy the stone-men. Sherry took control over a tree and used it to toss her foes around. Jura completely overwhelmed his enemies with his Earth Magic.

However, more stone creatures seemed to be popping out of the ground no matter how many they destroyed.

Natsu was, of course, using his magic to blow away the baddies around him with explosive results. Again, the rock-golems seemed to respawn out of the ground.

It was then that Hibiki came to a realization. 'On their own, these wizards aren't that tough. We can easily handle them... but those strange rock golems are making things harder. They keep spawning out of the ground, which is dragging this battle out. We can't last much longer; especially after getting our butts kicked by the Oracion Seis earlier. We need to finish this now!"

Hibiki turned back to Gray, who was in the back with Lucy guarding Erza.

He remembered Gray's words from earlier about their teammate, Ben. If he was truly as powerful as the ice wizard made him out to be, then they could really use him right now.

"Hey, Gray!" Hibiki established a telepathic connection with Gray's mind.

"What the?! How did you…?" Gray looked around, hearing a sudden voice in his mind.

"It's me, Hibiki. I'm using telepathy to communicate with you. Listen, I don't know if you realized this yet, but we can't last much longer against these guys in our condition."

Gray pressed both hands to the ground to create a large wall of icy spikes in front of him, sending a group of men flying back. Almost immediately, several rock-golems appeared out of the ground and proceeded to charge at Gray.

"Tch. Yeah, it's all because of those stupid rock things. They just keep coming! Ice-Make: Lance!" A salvo of icy lances shot out of his magical circle, piercing the golems and reducing them to rubble.

"If you can contact your friend, then do it! We need all the help we can get at this point!" Hibiki advised.

Spotting a stone-golem running at him, Hibiki held out his right hand, and chanted, "Force Blast!" Three yellow, hexagonal screens appeared in front of the golem and exploded – sending it careening backward.

Gray turned back to Erza, who was still unconscious. "Lucy, cover me! There's something I gotta do."

"Okay! You heard him, Taurus!"

"MOOOO. YOOOU got it!" The cow-man smirked, holding his battle-ax at the ready.

Gray sprinted to the scarlet knight's position and kneeled by her side. "Erza!" He grabbed her by the shoulders and lightly shook her. "I need you to wake up! HEY!"

Erza lightly groaned as the shaking jarred her awake. She opened her eyelids halfway to look up at Gray. She grimaced from the flaring pain in her arm and the numbing headache she was experiencing.

"Gray..."

"Erza, I know you're in pain but I need you to focus. Where's the communication-lacrima you brought?" Gray quickly asked.

"I... re-quipped it away." She moaned.

"Can you summon it back? We need it to call Ben!"

"I'll... try," Erza closed her eyes and concentrated on mustering any magical power she could.

"MOOOOO!" Taurus yelled as he sent a group of thugs flying back with a single swipe from his ax.

"Good work, Taurus!" Lucy praised.

Before the cow-man could respond, another pack of rock-golems sprouted from the earth in front of them.

Taurus narrowed his eyes while tightening his grip. "These things just keep on coming, Miss Lucy."

"Y-yeah... we just gotta hold the fort for now," Lucy replied, attempting to harden her resolve. "Keep slicing them up!"

Taurus nodded in response.

"AAAHHH!" In a yellow flash, a turquoise orb appeared in Erza's left hand. The scarlet maiden immediately went limp as she passed out from overexertion.

Gray's eyes widened in trepidation as the poison steadily spread up to Erza's shoulder.

'Dammit! Using her magic must've increased the venom's spread. Gotta hurry...'

The onyx-haired teen held the crystal-ball up to his mouth to activate it. "Hey! Ben! Are you there?! Please, answer!"

As the orb blinked three times, Gray was dreading that it would turn red like the last ten times Erza had tried contacting him. He inwardly hoped and prayed someone would pick up this time.

Much to his shocked relief, the orb pinged (signaling it had established a successful connection) before displaying an image of Mirajane inside.

"Hello? Gray?" Mira's sweet voice echoed from the crystal-ball. "Is something the matter? You look troubled..."

"You're damn right I am! Listen, we're in trouble here. I'll spare you the details but Master selected our team to join a Coalition of guilds to defeat the Oracion Seis."

"The Oracion Seis?!" Mira gasped.

"Things didn't end well and now we're in trouble. We need Ben's help right now!"

"Hold on! He's training with Elfman right now. I'll go fetch him!"

"Hurry!"

...

Several Minutes Later...

A few scattered clumps of clouds floated freely in the vast blue sky. The serene view was suddenly interrupted by a thundering boom as an object shot across the sky at an alarming speed. The clouds nearby were immediately dispersed by the resulting sonic boom.

The source of the disturbance was none other than Jetray. He looked down at the hilly, forest terrain below. "Guess this is the Worth Woodsea."

Thanks to his impressive speed, it had only taken the otherworldly hero less than a couple of minutes to fly from Mt. Hakobe to his destination. Now he just needed to find his comrades' precise location in the forest.

He glanced at the lacrima in his right claw's grasp, displaying his location and his friends – the former was shooting across the map. 'I better slow it down. Don't wanna overshoot them.'

The Aerophibian decreased his speed from Mach levels to around a hundred miles-per-hour. He then adjusted his trajectory so that his team's position was directly ahead.

Jetray surveyed the wooded area ahead and immediately spotted smoke rising from the treetops. "I'm gonna hazard a guess and say that's them..."

A fiery explosion surged from above the treetops without any warning, followed by the familiar yells of a pyromaniac.

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!"

"Yep. Definitely them." Jetray remarked.

Jetray flew over the commotion to see a battle unfolding in a clearing.

His teammates and the other guild wizards were fighting a large group consisting of rock-monsters and people who strangely resembled apes in their facial features and stature. However, it wasn't the ape-like mages that had caught Ben's eyes.

"No way," His eyes widened in shock. "It can't be..."

The robust stone-gray bodies, short legs, and the pattern of glowing pink lines across the chest and torso areas... there was no doubt about it. He'd recognize those things from anywhere.

'If those things are here, then there's no doubt about it. They've got to be involved somehow.'

Meanwhile, on the ground, Gray fired ice arrows at an incoming group of ape-men to the right, sending them flying back. Taurus swung his battle-ax at a few stone-creatures charging from the left. The impact of the weapon and the force packed behind it sent them flying back and crumbling into pieces.

"Nice work, Taurus!" Lucy praised.

"MOOOO! Anything to please yOOOu, Miss Lucy!" Taurus grinned lecherously.

Jetray swiftly surveyed the scene and noticed that the Coalition was spread out in a half-circle formation. He presumed Erza would be in the center considering her condition, but he didn't spot her anywhere.

"Where is she-"

"AAAAHHHH!" a feminine cry ringed out across the battlefield.

Jetray turned his eyes to the source and felt his blood turn cold.

A man was pulling Erza by her long hair and swiftly tossed her to the ground on her stomach.

The man was tall and lean-built, had spiky silver hair, and possessed an elongated face with sharp features. Under his eyes were blue triangular tattoos. His attire consisted of black boots, light grey pants, and a dark blue shirt with a long black and yellow coat over it. Slung over his shoulders was a scythe with a very large blade.

He took his blade off his shoulders and placed it beside Erza's head.

Jetray gasped in horror at the scene.

The Coalition stopped whatever they were doing upon hearing Erza's cry and were shocked to find in her in the hands of a dark wizard.

"Erza!" Gray shouted in alarm.

Lucy gasped at the sight of the dark mage. "That's Erigor! What's he doing here!?"

Erigor, the former master of the Eisenwald guild, chortled aloud. "It's been a while since our last encounter, you flies! I trust you've been well."

"Bastard!" Natsu shouted angrily as he marched toward Erigor's position. "Let Erza go or I'll-"

Erigor pulled Erza's hair to lift her head off the ground and hooked his blade right underneath her neck, effectively causing Natsu to come to an immediate halt.

"Or you'll what?" Erigor sneered. "If any of you dare to come any closer... then her head rolls!"

With Erza's life in peril, the Allied Forces could do nothing but hold their positions. Any sudden or wrong movements on their part could result in her death.

Natsu clenched his fist and snarled. "You son of a-"

"I'd hold my tongue if I were you, fly." Erigor pressed his scythe against Erza's skin, causing a little bit of blood to appear. "Your big loud mouth may cause my hands to slip."

Natsu gasped and felt his body freeze up from the sight of Erza's blood.

Gray, Lyon, and Jura glared daggers at Erigor while the others could only look on in terror.

"You vile man!" Carla yelled.

"Surround them!" Erigor barked.

The remaining members of Naked Mummy and their stone-golems followed the scythe-wielding man's orders and completely surrounded the Coalition while drawing their weapons.

Jura gritted his teeth in frustration. They were completely surrounded, outnumbered, and one of their own was at the mercy of the enemy. There was nothing they could do. No one amongst them was suited for a silent takedown aside from Sherry perhaps. But the enemy would immediately notice if she tried to use her magic on any of the surrounding flora or fauna and respond accordingly. With Erza's life at stake, they couldn't risk it.

"Looks like the plan worked, big bro Zato," Gato stated.

"Yeah! Now that we have their weakest link at our mercy, they got no choice but to surrender." Zato declared smugly.

In the air, Jetray snarled at the silver-haired man. He wanted nothing more than to blast this asshole to kingdom come. However, he knew he couldn't act hastily during a hostage situation; especially when said hostage was his own girlfriend.

'Keep a cool head, Ben. Good news is that none of them have noticed me, so I have the element of surprise going for me.' Ben reassured himself. 'I can't change into someone else more suited for the job. The flash will alert them. I just have to wait for the right moment. No one ever expects an attack from above...'

"Ha-ha-ha!" Erigor lifted his right foot and firmly pressed it into Erza's poisoned arm, causing her to scream in pain.

"ERZA!" Natsu, Gray, and Lucy yelled.

Jetray started to breathe erratically. It was taking every ounce of self-control not to react. He just needed to wait for the first opening to act.

"The mighty Titania reduced to such a pitiful state by a mere snakebite. Such irony," Erigor jeered.

The Coalition remained motionless as they could do nothing but watch, feeling completely powerless.

'Ben... please. We need you here now!' Gray frantically thought.

"Oh, how I've waited for this day... to have you pests at my mercy." Erigor applied more pressure to Erza's arm, causing the volume of her cries to increase. He then rubbed the tip of the blade against her collarbone, drawing another bead of blood.

Jetray snarled; his rage increasing exponentially with every cry from Erza's throat and cut placed on her body by the scythe.

Erigor then glanced up and focused his gaze on Natsu. "And you... Salamander... this is even better than I could've imagined. Forcing you to watch your friend suffer while you can do nothing but stand there."

"Is that what this is all about? Revenge!?" Natsu snapped, fire igniting across his body. "You haven't grown one bit, have you!?"

"What?"

"Am I seriously that important to you?" Natsu demanded. "That you would resort to this!? Why don't you just fight me man-to-man!"

Erigor grinned evilly. "You've got it all wrong. This isn't about what happened with Eisenwald or on behalf of the Oracion Seis. This isn't even about you... it's about ME! I'm going to right the wrongs that happened to me. I won't be beaten by you or anyone else!"

Jetray's eyes widened. During Erigor's proclamation, his grip on the scythe's shaft had shifted and unintentionally pulled the blade away from Erza's throat.

Time to act!

Jetray immediately aimed his tail and fired a green laser at his target. Erigor was stunned when a beam descended out of nowhere and cut through his scythe's shaft, separating the blade as it fell to the ground harmlessly. Before anyone could react, another laser-beam shot from the sky and struck Erigor directly in the torso.

The wind mage's eyes turned white as he went flying back from the sheer force of the blast. He crashed into a tree trunk hard and collapsed to the ground unconscious; a thin trail of smoke wafting off of his shirt and burnt flesh wound.

Everyone paused as they stared at Erigor's unconscious form. What in the heck just happened?

Suddenly, another pair of green laser-beams shot from the sky and carved a trench around Erza. The group looked up to the sky and spotted Jetray; much to the Fairy Tail members' elation.

"Alright! Ben made it!" Natsu shouted happily.

The non-Fairy Tail members were taken aback. How in the world did he get here so quickly?

Jetray descended to the ground and was engulfed in a blinding emerald flash. When the light died away, he had been replaced with Diamondhead. The ground caved in slightly where his feet hit the ground.

"What the hell is that?!" Zato shouted in alarm.

"Looks like the plan worked, big bro Zato," Gato said, oblivious to the current situation.

"That statement is no longer valid, bro!" Zato argued.

Taking advantage of their foes' distraction, Jura quickly slammed his right foot down– causing multiple stone pillars to burst from the ground. As a result, the dark mages and stone-golems surrounding them were sent flying across the clearing. The mages let out painful simian cries as they hit the ground hard.

Turning his attention to Erza, Diamondhead quickly summoned crystals from the ground to create a protective dome around her.

'Now that's she safe from these lowlifes...' Diamondhead turned to the enemy group; his expression hardening further (if that were even possible).

"Quickly! While they're disorganized, take them down!" Jura ordered.

"You monkeys are gonna pay! RRRAAGH!" Natsu ignited his hands with fire as he charged at three thugs in front of him.

Diamondhead crouched down and launched himself forward at a speed one wouldn't think was possible for a super-dense crystal-man. He zoomed past Natsu and delivered a wicked haymaker into the face of an unsuspecting mage. He then jumped to the side and lifted up his right leg to kick the second bandit in the chest, and then delivered a swiping kick into the third.

With the three ape-men knocked out, Diamondhead promptly sprinted away to another part of the battlefield.

"Hey, I was gonna do that!" Natsu complained, irritated.

Meanwhile, several stone-golems had surrounded Lyon and Sherry. The former summoned a Snow Tiger while the latter had used her magic to take control of a nearby tree, which now had a scary jagged face on its trunk.

"Ready, Sherry?" Lyon asked.

"Yes, my love. We'll take these stone brutes down to-"

Sherry couldn't complete her sentence as Diamondhead rushed into the fray and sent a roundhouse kick into a golem, the force behind the kick shattering the golem on contact. He then swiped his arm out and skillfully chunked several crystal shards at the remaining stone-golems, stabbing them in the torsos. Without warning, the crystals rapidly expanded and shattered the golems into tiny pieces; much like how freezing ice could split a rock.

Diamondhead dashed to another part of the battlefield while Lyon and Sherry looked on with wide eyes.

"-gether..." Sherry blinked twice.

"Take them down, Taurus!" Lucy ordered, pointing at a band of ape-men and golems in front of them.

"You got it Miss LUUUUCY!" Taurus confidently twirled his battle-ax over his head.

Before the cow-man could attack, however, Diamondhead jumped into view and disconnected a rock golem's head from its shoulders with a powerful kick, causing the rest of its body to crumble apart. The nearby dark wizards couldn't process what was happening fast enough as the teen hero knocked them out with quick, powerful but non-fatal strikes to their face or neck areas. He handled the golems the same as before by throwing expanding crystals into their bodies.

With the group taken down, the Petrosapien hurried to the next nearest group of baddies.

Lucy's eyes widened in mild shock. "Whoa..."

"Moooo?"

Jura surveyed the scene in front of him. Over a dozen armed mages gathered in front of him, accompanied by an equal amount of stone-men.

"Ho-ho-ho! He's the strongest of their group!" An ape-man shouted. "We take him down, then the others will fall too!"

Jura smirked confidently. "Iron Rock Sp-"

Crystal shards, all of a sudden, surged from the earth and impaled the golems' torsos.

"What?"

As the stone-men crumbled apart, Jura received his answer as Diamondhead barreled into the dark wizards seemingly out of nowhere. Several went careening back from his sheer momentum.

The bald Naked Mummy member who had pointed out Lucy earlier took out a shotgun-shaped weapon and pointed it at Diamondhead. "Alright, yah freak!" He pumped his weapon, loading a cartridge into the chamber. "Get a taste of my magic shotgun!"

With the sound of a trumpet, a green magical circle appeared in front of the barrel as a magical bullet was discharged. The projectile, however, harmlessly bounced off of Diamondhead's body. Diamondhead turned to the mage with an unamused expression.

"Oh man! That really should've worked better!" He cried in terrified shock.

Diamondhead slammed his left forearm into his temple, instantly knocking him out.

With a quick and powerful onslaught of punches, jabs, and kicks, all the thugs around Jura were swiftly rendered unconscious. Diamondhead didn't give them a second glance as he ran across the battlefield.

Jura's eyes widened while his mouth was slightly agape.

The Allied Forces watched as Diamondhead danced across the battlefield, singlehandedly taking down the dark wizards and destroying the rock-golems with remarkable speed and precision.

Even Natsu, Gray, and Lucy couldn't help but observe in shock as they had never witnessed Ben fight so effectively and... ruthlessly.

"Where did this come from?" Gray murmured.

Diamondhead lifted his arms up and summoned several dozen meter-long crystal shards from the ground. As the crystals hovered in midair, the Petrosapien turned his sharp gaze to the remaining band of simian delinquents.

"Go ahead... make a move. I DARE YOU!" Diamondhead challenged.

"This guy's really tough. What do you think we should do?" Gato asked in a monotone voice.

"I thought we already talked about this. Or didn't we, bro?" Zato wondered.

"But this guy's really tough." Gato repeated.

"RRAAGHH!" Not waiting on a response, Diamondhead entrapped every thug across the clearing in crystal – ensuring they could breathe but were rendered immobile.

Zato tried to muscle his way out of his crystal restraints but his attempts proved futile. "I don't believe this. The terrifying Naked Mummy guild and all the rock-monsters we had were defeated by one puny wizard!"

"It's unreal," Gato added. "Naked Mummy was taken down by one guy."

"Yeah, that's what I just got done saying that I didn't believe it happened," Zato replied in exasperation.

With the job complete, Diamondhead stood there, taking deep breaths as if he had just run five miles nonstop. His focus then shifted to the dome where Erza's prone body laid.

In his head, he repeated to himself, 'Calm yourself now. You need to focus in order to save Erza.'

All the while, the Allied Forces simply watched in awed disbelief.

"Maaan...?" Ichiya sounded surprised. "Who is that?"

"That's our friend, Ben," Gray answered.

"Strange... I don't remember him displaying that kind of fighting prowess on Galuna," Lyon mentioned.

"Wait... that's the guy you were talking about?" Ren sounded stunned.

"Unbelievable," Eve was equally surprised.

"He took them all down like it was nothing..." Hibiki commented.

"Hold on! Is that seriously Miss Erza's boyfriend?!" Ichiya yelled in shock.

"Yeah," Gray flatly replied. "So what?"

"Maaan!" Ichiya cried in dismay. "Why would my sweet honey debase herself by dating such a creature?! I refuse to accept this!"

"He doesn't look like that all the time, yah weirdo!" Gray shouted back.

Jura was busy observing the newcomer as well. What he did was nothing short of spectacular; however, he was also concerned with this Ben character. The way he took down all the dark wizards was not just swift but ...brutal. To say nothing of how he decimated all those stone golems. If it weren't for the rage that he displayed so unambiguously, the Ace of Lamia Scale would have mistaken it as an act of sadism.

He wasn't the only one that was worried. The Ultimate Team was also concerned with their otherworldly friend. Lucy started to move closer to the crystal warrior, garnering the attention of her spirit attendant.

"Miss Lucy, I wouldn't go near him right now."

Lucy was a little shocked at hearing Taurus talk like that. Ever since she had met the lecherous spirit, he would always exaggerate certain words that gave the impression of a cow mooing. But… his verbal tic wasn't present this time. He'd spoken like a normal person. But Lucy ignored the warning. There was something wrong with one of her closest friends.

"Ben, are...are you alright?"

Her question went unanswered. In fact, it seemed like Diamondhead didn't even notice that Lucy was talking to him. Her concern was then upgraded to alarm.

The only time she had ever seen Ben act so vicious was when Ghostfreak had control of his body or when Aggregor had absorbed the five aliens that Ben had promised to rescue. She understood that what Ben had to witness was hard for him, to watch Erza being tortured and for Erigor to take a sick delight out of it…but the brutality he displayed…it frightened her. It was almost as if the kind and caring person that Lucy knew Ben to be, no longer existed. Or perhaps it was more appropriate to say that his darker side was buried better than what others were capable of.

"I'm fine, Lucy," Diamondhead replied with a short exhale, attempting to calm himself.

Diamondhead ambled towards Erza while the others cautiously watched him. With a mental command, the crystal-dome retreated into the ground to reveal that Erza's condition had slightly worsened. Not only had the venom in her arm spread further, but the blood trickling out of the cuts that Erigor had further weakened her body.

He was thankful someone had the brains to tie that belt around her arm; otherwise, she may already have died.

Diamondhead inhaled deeply and let out a long exhale, letting his rage steadily die down. Erza needed to be treated immediately and the transformation he was planning to use required finesse and control.

He slapped the Omnitrix dial on his belt and, in a brilliant emerald flash, he transformed into Clockwork; much to the shock of the non-Fairy Tail members.

"He switched from one form to another!?" Ren said in a surprised tone.

"I've heard rumors that he can do that," Eve added. "I didn't believe they were actually true though."

"Neither did I," Hibiki admitted.

"My knowledge of Take-Over Magic is limited," Jura spoke, focusing his attention on Ben, "but I know a skill like that is incredibly advanced and very difficult to master."

'And yet he pulled it off rather easily... just who is this man?' the Iron Rock Wall wondered.

Meanwhile, the Ultimate Team had noticed that Ben didn't shout out his transformation's name as he usually did; much to their concerned confusion.

Clockwork looked down at Erza's unconscious form with his blank digital face. He took a short moment to collect himself. Being angry was the worst thing he could be right now lest he ended up destroying Erza with his chronokinesis... or even worse destroy the planet by destabilizing the space-time continuum. That would be just his luck.

'Cure Erza first, find out what happened, and then…break every bone in the guy who poisoned her.'

Clockwork let out another long exhale, ensuring his mind was clear. The key on his head started to turn as he held out his arms and fired green beams at Erza. Her entire body was bathed in emerald as Clockwork concentrated on reversing time on her entire being.

Within seconds, her wounds suddenly disappeared which was followed by the purple venom regressing to two points in her arm (which Ben assumed were the puncture wounds from the snake's fangs). Before long, all her injuries had completely vanished!

Clockwork stopped firing his beams and lowered his arms.

Erza moaned softly as she turned her head to the side.

Clockwork tapped the Omnitrix dial and transformed back to human in a blinding flash.

Ben knelt by Erza's side and gently picked up her right arm to feel her pulse. After a moment, he let out a sigh of relief. Her pulse had stabilized and her injuries were gone.

The non-Fairy Tail members of the team looked on in awed disbelief.

Carla wore a look of speechlessness. It was amazing on its own how swiftly this man had singlehandedly taken down that group of hoodlums. But completely healing Titania of all of her wounds within seconds?!

"Incredible. I thought Wendy was the only one who knew Healing Magic." Carla said.

"It's not healing magic," Gray corrected as he walked by her. "That form Ben used has the ability to control time."

"Wait!" Hibiki exclaimed, overhearing their conversation. "Are you saying that he used Time Magic to reverse time around her?!"

"Pretty much, yeah," Gray nodded.

"That's insane!" Eve commented in disbelief.

"Isn't Time Magic supposed to be one of the Lost Magics? How is he able to use it?" Ren pondered.

"Something's definitely fishy here..." Hibiki narrowed his eyes.

"So," Lucy walked up to Ben, "Erza's gonna be okay?"

"Yeah," Ben nodded and looked up to her. "I reversed time around her injuries. However, I haven't mastered Clockwork's powers yet. Every time I use them on someone, it drains them of their stamina for some reason. So, she'll be out for a little while."

"Still... it's a miracle you got here when you did." Lucy sighed in relief.

"A remarkable feat, young man," Jura commended.

The Wizard Saint and other Coalition members approached the Omnitrix hero. Ben gently laid Erza's head back on the grassy ground before standing up to face the group.

"We're lucky you made it here in time." Jura continued. "I fear with the way things were going, we would not have survived. Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Ben held up his hand. "We're not out of the woods just yet."

"Maaan! You there!" Ichiya pointed at Ben. "Just who do you think you are? What did you do to win Miss Erza's heart!?"

"Uh..." Ben blinked a few times to ensure what he was seeing was, in fact, a real person. Sure enough, it was. "Um... who are you?"

"That's Ichiya," Gray replied with a hint of annoyance present in his voice, "he's a member of the Blue Pegasus Guild."

"Blue Pegasus? Don't think I've heard of them." Ben said offhandedly.

"Maaan! It's bad enough you took my honey away... now you insult my guild!? MAAN!" Ichiya yelled.

The Trimens appeared behind Ichiya to retrain him from attacking Ben.

"Boss... please calm down!" Ren said.

"Yeah, teacher. This isn't the time." Eve added.

"I'm pretty sure he didn't mean it that way, master," Hibiki stated.

Ben blinked and then turned to his guildmates. "I just heard those guys refer to him as three different things."

"Yeah..." Gray sweat-dropped. "Don't sweat over it. Those four are nutty."

The brunet shook his head, feeling a tad bit vexed from the asinine behavior these four were displaying on what was supposed to be an important mission.

Ben then turned his attention to the others and immediately recognized Lyon and Sherry. "I remember you two. So, you're a part of this mission too, huh?"

Lyon nodded. "Jura, Sherry, and I were selected as the representatives of Lamia Scale." He folded his arms over his chest and shot Ben a pointed look. "I'm curious as to why you couldn't join your team on this mission."

"I was off on a little training session when I got a distress call from Gray." he turned towards him. "Thanks, by the way."

Gray nodded. "Yeah, sure. Just glad you came when you did."

Ben turned to face the other Coalition members, and continued, "I don't know much about what's going on here. Just that all of you were selected to take down a dark guild called the Oracion Seis, and things obviously went south fast. So... who wants to start filling me in?"

Gray nodded while adopting a serious expression. "Right. I'll try and keep it short."

The ice wizard spent the next several minutes explaining what had transpired. He started from what the guild had discussed in the morning about dark guild activity rising across the country up until the point where Erza had been bitten by Cobra's pet snake. The Oracion Seis had for whatever reason captured Wendy, a representative of the Cait Shelter guild, and (unintentionally) Happy before suddenly vanishing into a vortex of magic.

Shortly after, the group had had a disagreement on how to properly handle Erza's poisoned arm before they were surrounded by Naked Mummy mages and the rock-golems, which forced them to contact Ben for his assistance.

After finishing the debriefing on what had transpired, Ben wore a contemplative look as he processed the information that had been dumped on him.

To him, it sounded like this Coalition had just been thrown together haphazardly after the Magic Council had passed off the responsibility to the four guilds represented – who then put together a team of seemingly random people who hadn't ever worked together. Poor strategy.

'No wonder these guys were beaten quickly. They have no experience working with each other... whereas the Oracion Seis is a powerful, cohesive group from the sounds of it. Who the heck was in charge of this team?' Ben looked around at the various faces until his eyes fell upon Jura.

"Jura, right?"

"Mhmm... yes?" the bald man nodded.

"You're a Wizard Saint, right? Where were you while everyone was getting their butts kicked by the Oracion Seis?" Ben sternly inquired.

"I'm sorry to say that when we got separated that vile woman, Angel, used her clone of Sir Ichiya to not only assess my strength but also used his Parfum Magic to take me out," Jura explained.

Ben realized something immediately. Jura had been separated from the others. Ichiya's disappearance was accounted for, but how in the hell did Jura get isolated from everyone else?

"How is that you got separated from the others? You're a Wizard Saint, so you'd have to be strong, right? How did they manage to remove you from the group without anyone else noticing?"

As Ben posed his question, a horrible nagging feeling lingered in the back of his mind on how this happened. There were twelve people in the group and only two of them were the adults. Somehow, the chain of command had been broken, but by who?

As Ben's eyes fell upon Natsu, the connections started to become clear; however, he didn't act or say anything. He wanted to hear for himself what happened before jumping to any conclusions.

Jura, who was a little embarrassed about what had happened, explained the events that led to his defeat. "Well, when we finished concluding the plan to bomb the Oracion Seis hideout," that phrase had gotten Ben's attention.

He was angry that they were just going to kill these people. They were definitely evil, but that was the only plan the Coalition had? Of course, right now, he wasn't too sure if he could say he wouldn't condone their approach. Rather than dwell on that, he continued to listen to Jura explain his absence.

"Natsu had become so enthralled and ran ahead while busting down the door. It seemed like he believed he could take the Oracion Seis down by himself if the speed he took off at was any indication."

Ben had already begun walking over to Natsu when Jura stated that Natsu had run ahead. By the time Jura had finished his sentence, Ben had already reached Natsu's position.

Natsu was a little confused as to why Ben was in front of him all of a sudden. "What is i-."

WHACK!

Natsu, his nose newly broken, promptly fell to the ground.

Time momentarily stopped. Gray and Lucy gasped while their eyes widened at Ben's abnormal actions. They had never seen him do something like that before.

The adrenaline coursing through Ben's veins kept him from feeling the numbing pain in his right hand from hitting Natsu's rock-hard head. Natsu was on the ground, holding his nose with a trickle of blood seeping through his fingers. Ben definitely knew where and how to punch thanks to his training with Grandpa Max and Kevin. All it took to break a nose was the right amount of force and correct angle, and you'd have your opponent too focused on the bleeding organ while you could make your move. While it was a basic attack that couldn't be used on super-powered aliens, it was always good to be prepared.

Unfortunately, Natsu had been on the receiving end of that lesson. Maybe it was too emotional... maybe it was overkill to use that much force... but right now Ben didn't really care.

Natsu was trying to ignore the pain. It definitely stung! He would have been able to counter a direct assault had it been anyone else. Had it been Gray, Elfman, Droy, Cana, Lucy, Erza... okay, maybe not those last two. Those two always seemed to hit him with a direct assault; more so from Erza than Lucy.

But from Ben?! It didn't make any sense. Ben never hit him outside of Rath for breaking his Magic Smoothie-Maker. He didn't like to brawl with the rest of the guild nor did he hit him when he got angry. The only time Ben ever hit Natsu was during spars, but this was out of anger.

"The hell is your pwublem!?" Trying to hold back the blood made Natsu pronounce his query wrong. His grey eyes held the same kind of indignation whenever Gray attacked him. However, whatever else the pyromaniac could have said or done fell flat.

"Shut up."

That was all that needed to be said. The irritation that Natsu had for what he believed to be an unprovoked attack had begun to die away. It was not a loud demand, but contrary to the strength of the tone there was an underlying amount of command to it. But underneath that stoic voice, the rage within Ben was about to be unleashed onto the paragon of Fairy Tail's destructive tendencies.

All Natsu could do now was sit and listen to the diatribe that the hero from another world had for him as his nose twitched in dull pain.

"I don't know why I thought you would behave any different with a mission this important... I must be insane. I should have known better. Your history speaks for itself." Ben paused for a short moment before continuing. "You think you can do anything and everything by yourself, even when the reality of the situation is screaming otherwise in your face! And it's not just this mission, it's every mission. Ever since I met you, you approach every enemy the same way; reckless abandonment of any sort of real strategy and this baseless belief that you can beat them without anyone's help if you hit them hard enough. Everyone from Lyon to Phantom Lord, to Jellal, to Laxus, to even Vilgax and Aggregor!"

The mention of those last two names brought out different responses from the group listening. For Gray and Lucy, they were all too aware of the monstrous strength that the two manifestations of Ben's greatest enemies possessed... even if they were hollow shells.

The rest of the group, however, were at a loss. The names of the people Ben had mentioned were familiar, save for the last two. Some of the more keenly observant wizards of the Coalition had taken notice of the visible shiver from Gray and Lucy at the mention of those two names.

Jura frowned in contemplation as he couldn't recall any wizards, Dark or Light, having names similar to those two mentioned by Ben. Were they perhaps not the names of wizards, but something else? Demons or Monsters?

Certainly, they were not the names of any Demons of Zeref. They sounded too foreign. The term didn't do justice for how unusual those two names were. One thing was for sure, whoever or whatever those two were managed to draw out more fear from Gray and Lucy than the Oracion Seis did.

Natsu flinched at the mention of Vilgax and Aggregor. However, it was difficult to tell if it was the names of those two that made the tenacious fire wizard tremble, or if it was from the intensity from his comrade in arms.

Even though Ben was locked in his own mind and did not witness his friends' efforts firsthand, more and more 'memories' of the efforts his friends undertaken had surfaced to the forefront of his mind. Sometimes the memories came much clearer in his dreams. His friends had gone through hell to free him. However, as Ben contemplated their efforts, he had come to a conclusion.

Despite the strength his friends displayed, in reality there was no way they could have defeated any of the Highbreed or Vilgax with their level of abilities. Even with the weakness of the Highbreed, they were much more resilient than what Ben remembered. Natsu's fire would not have been enough to weaken them. And even if it were, the Highbreed were still incredibly strong and steadfast even when dehydrated. Reiny certainly was. But that wasn't the most important thing that Ben had determined.

What he had concluded was that Natsu was just far too reckless. The Highbreed were one thing, but when it came to Vilgax and Aggregor, he had completely disregarded any of the memories that he had observed. Seeing how powerful those two were from Ben's past encounters should have clued his hotheaded friend in that there was simply no way he could have taken them by himself; head-on or otherwise.

Natsu hadn't been able to defeat Ben, so he should have realized that he couldn't have taken either of those two on his own. For God's sake, Natsu had witnessed at least several of his fights against Vilgax and how he had narrowly won! What could have been going through his head when he challenged Vilgax by himself? Nothing but arrogance and recklessness. He always thought things would work out and therefore didn't bother considering the consequences.

"Every mission we've been on starts and ends the same way. You're reckless, irresponsible, and you never even bother to consider the consequences of your actions." Ben poured out. "Our last job together was proof enough when you fell asleep on night watch. Not even ten minutes after we woke up, we were attacked by the Olga Worm... and all you had to say for yourself was, 'No harm, no foul'?"

"I said I was sorry and that I wouldn't do it again," Natsu tried to defend himself lamely. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

Ben's body shook in anger. "The point is that you keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again! You don't take anything seriously enough and just think everything will work out your way."

"I do take things serio-" Natsu was cut off promptly.

"NO! No, you don't!" Ben shouted angrily. "Everything is just one big game to you. Every battle has you using the same strategy. Headfirst, brain last. You don't pause to think about any of your actions, except on the rarest of occasions. Solar eclipses happen more often than that."

Natsu began to squirm in discomfort at Ben's accusations; because it was the truth and it hurt him. Gray and Lucy were aghast at what Ben was saying. While he was speaking the truth, he didn't have to be so harsh. Not even Gray thought Natsu deserved this.

"Ben...c'mon, man," the Ice-Make wizard stepped forward, albeit hesitantly. "Don't you think you're being too harsh? I mean, yeah, Natsu did mess up... but-"

"No 'buts', Gray!" Ben snapped his head to the ice-wizard and shot him a fierce glare, making him freeze up. "Right now is not a good time to push me. I trusted each of you to be able to show better restraint and judgment when I'm not around... and look what happened." He paused to exhale deeply. "I almost lost Erza, Gray. The only woman I've loved since Julie. I am not letting Natsu off that easy."

The intensity in Ben's eyes made Gray immediately back off. Whether he agreed with Ben or not, he was not about to step in his way.

Ben returned his gaze to the pink-haired wizard. "You are an impulsive annoyance that refuses to learn from anything. The only time you even bother trying to use that head of yours for anything other than separating your ears is when you are so deep in trouble that you're forced to try something else or someone has to force you to use your brain! You do the same thing over and over again, expecting something different to happen. That is the literal definition of insane, Natsu. But you know what's even crazier? You won't learn anything from this. You'll just do the same thing again on the next job or mission."

Ben's eyes steeled as he looked down at Natsu who was frozen in his spot listening to his friend berate him so terribly. "I trusted you to look after our friends. To look after Erza! I almost lost her, the woman I love, because you can't be bothered to think."

He exhaled, trying to get his emotions under control.

"You'll never learn. You can forget about training with me, Natsu." Ben firmly declared.

Natsu's eyes had widened considerably at that proclamation. "What!? But why? Why would you do that?"

"Because you lost that privilege when you broke my trust. Because you won't learn any other way. Makarov's punishments and Erza's discipline doesn't do a thing to get through that thick skull of yours. This decision is the only thing that I can think of that will even remotely make you consider your actions. I can't trust you on your own anymore, Natsu."

Natsu lightly gasped as he felt a stabbing sensation in his chest. It was as if a metaphorical knife had been jabbed into his heart from that brutal statement.

"I don't know why your father left you Natsu... but I know why your friends are going to leave you. It's because you'll get them all killed with that reckless attitude of yours. Why do you think Elfman lost Lisanna? Because he acted like you." Ben solemnly concluded.

Natsu's head had become numb as his heart started to contract erratically from that statement. All he could do was stare at the ground lost in thought. Was it true? Would his friends die because he acted so impulsively?

Lisanna had died because Elfman tried to control something he couldn't. He tried to out-muscle The Beast. And now, Erza had almost died because he had helped the Oracion Seis ambush them when he took off on his own. The thought frightened him.

Lucy stepped toward him and tried to get his attention, but he was non-responsive.

"Natsu..." She murmured in concern.

Ben let out a long exhale after pouring out all of his pent-up frustrations and inner thoughts on the Fire Dragon Slayer. What he had said was indeed harsh, but it was the truth and it needed to be said. If Natsu didn't learn from this now, he never would.

The Omnitrix hero turned his attention back to the Coalition, who had stared at the scene with mixed expressions of awkwardness and shock.

"Okay, I want to know who's in charge of this operation," Ben demanded.

"In charge?" Ren quirked a brow.

"Actually, that's kind of..." Eve trailed off.

"...complicated," Hibiki finished.

"What's so complicated? Wait," Ben's eyes widened in shock, realizing the situation. They couldn't have been that ignorant... could they? "Are you telling me you guys don't have a leader?"

"Maaan... no one was given that title." Ichiya resumed his posing. "We were ordered to group up with one another, formulate a plan to take down the Oracion Seis, and execute it. Nothing more... Maaan!"

"Are you FREAKING kidding me?!" Ben yelled, causing several members of the group to jump back from the volume in his voice. Even Ichiya lost his balance and fell to the ground.

"How can all of you be so damn stupid and ignorant?! Going into a mission like this without establishing any kind of organized structure or leader is just suicidal. What is it with you people? Is it pride or just simple arrogance that makes you think you can do your own thing without any kind of teamwork?"

Lyon stepped forward and rebutted, "Of course we have a leader. Obviously, it's Jura. He's the strongest wizard here and one of the Ten Wizard Saints."

Ben cocked a brow and immediately broke apart Lyon's logic. "So, what you're telling me is that you guys knew who the leader was, ignored him outright, ditched him, and he failed to correct the situation? Am I getting that right?"

Lyon growled as he gritted his teeth in anger. "How dare-"

"Lyon," Jura laid his hand on the ice wizard's right shoulder to stop him, "don't. Ben is right. I failed to uphold my position as leader of this group and we nearly perished as a result."

Ben focused his gaze on the robust bald-headed man.

"Dude, you're a Wizard Saint... and you can't handle a bunch of kids? You're what - like thirty? And you can't even-"

"I'm only twenty-seven actually," Jura sheepishly admitted.

"Who the hell cares?!" Ben angrily exclaimed.

At this point, he was completely fed up with the excuses and imbecilic responses from the group.

"If you're so great, why did you let this all fall apart? You're old enough to know how serious situations like these are and you failed to act like a leader when it mattered the most."

Jura hung his head down in shame. The words were harsh but sobering to the Ace of Lamia Scale. He should've taken control of the situation from the beginning, and did everything in his power to prevent Natsu and the others from foolishly running off. These were mistakes that not only could have doomed the mission, but cost everyone their lives.

"It's vital to have a strong leader to make a team function. That's why all of you got beaten so badly. The Oracion Seis weren't just strong and used tricks to ambush you guys. They worked together - which is more than I can say for any of you at the moment." Ben sagely explained.

Jura lifted his head and momentarily looked down at Ben before coming to an easy decision.

"You're right. Which is why effective immediately I am passing the role of leadership onto you." Jura announced.

"What?!" Lyon's eyes widened in shock.

"HUH!?" The non-Fairy Tail members uttered in disbelief.

It was a pretty obvious decision in the Wizard Saint's mind. Aside from the intensity burning within his emerald eyes and the strong aura surrounding him, Ben had shown he was not afraid to speak the truth regardless if it would hurt the others' feelings or not – if his diatribe on Salamander was anything to go by. He was clearly strong given how quickly and effectively he had taken down Naked Mummy and the rock-golems. More importantly, he had shown the capability of taking charge.

That was more than what he could say about himself. In spite of his stature and magical abilities, Jura just wasn't cut out for leadership. He wasn't the type to take charge.

In addition, he didn't know why or how, but Ben seemed to radiate a sense of experience and wisdom that no one else in the group possessed. Despite his young appearance, it was as if he had been on many dangerous missions such as this.

The Coalition needed someone with experience, intelligence, strength, and bravery to effectively guide them to overcome a powerhouse like the Oracion Seis. Sure enough, Ben seemed to possess all these qualities.

"Jura, just what do you think you're doing?" Lyon demanded. "You're the Ace of Lamia Scale. The Iron Rock Wall. You should be the leader!"

"Yet despite my title and stature, I failed as a leader and it nearly cost us our lives," Jura somberly responded. "Ben is right. If this mission is to succeed, we need a strong leader. It's obvious that Ben is the only one here suited for the job."

"But-" Whatever argument Lyon had was interrupted by the least likely of individuals to support Ben.

"Maaan! As much as I hate to admit it, Jura is correct." Ichiya posed awkwardly. "Although I detest the man for stealing my sweet honey away from me... Maaan... he's the only one here capable of leading this group aside from Erza – who's currently out of commission. Maaan!"

Ben looked around at the cast of characters assembled before him. "Are there any objections?"

Gray, Lucy, Sherry, and Jura shook their heads while the rest remained silent.

Ben sighed deeply. "I hate that I have to be the one to lead this group since I just got here, but I'll do what needs to be done to keep people safe."

"Let's get one thing clear though. We're not partners. We're not friends and this isn't a democracy." Ben strongly asserted. "I'm not putting up with any of your quirks and nonsense, and already half of you have irritated me with your asinine behavior. From now on we do this my way and if any of you got a problem with that, get the hell out of here. I'm not holding anyone's hand on this or coddling any of your rotten attitudes."

"I'm putting you all down and keeping you down until the Oracion Seis is locked up or otherwise. If anything like what happened before I got here happens again, you're automatically off this mission. That goes for everyone here. And if any of the Oracion Seis escape, each of you is going to be sorry you ever met me!"

Ben's threat was met with stunned silence, especially from his teammates. Ben was not kidding around in the slightest. The only time they ever seen him this serious was when Aggregor absorbed the five aliens that Ben promised to send home.

To be honest, even Natsu began to sweat from the intensity of his friend's solemnness.

Hibiki, however, didn't know when to keep his mouth shut. "I'm already sorry," he muttered.

If he thought his derisive remark would go unheard, he was badly mistaken.

"Thank you for volunteering Hibiki. You're now officially off of combat duty. You are going to stay here with Lucy to look after Erza. You no longer have an opinion."

Before Hibiki could say anything, Ben was already giving out further instructions. "Lucy." Said girl squeaked in fear from her unusually fierce-behaving friend. "You're in charge of looking after Erza until she wakes up. Anything the prima donna has to say, you take as an advisement, not as a command. You call the shots."

He looked her squarely in the eyes for the next thing he had to say. "If he does anything, if he looks at you or Erza, especially Erza, in a funny way, you have my permission to deck him. If he touches Erza the wrong way, don't kill him. I'll do that myself. Just kick him in the dick so hard that his nuts get lodged into his damn nostrils!"

Lucy's eyes, as well everyone else that was conscious, widened at that suggestion. Hibiki rubbed his nose in reflex to the threat of where his most prized anatomical pieces would end up if he got fresh with Titania.

"My, Goodness! That is utterly vulgar," Carla, who had remained speechless throughout this whole exchange, exclaimed in repulsion.

Ichiya himself was sweating profusely, considering all the claims he made earlier about Erza being his woman. Ren and Eve weren't faring much better. Jura, meanwhile, could only stare openmouthed at the situation and meekly commented, "My, that is quite the image he has painted."

"I don't want that vulgar heathen near Wendy! He's too much of a brute." Carla declared.

Ben was not putting up with any of their shenanigans. This was a critical time and they couldn't waste it arguing what was proper behavior.

He directed his gaze at the white cat, who he noticed looked like Happy, and stated, "I'm your best shot at saving Wendy and Happy, cat! You can mother her after this is all over."

Natsu and Gray, meanwhile, were sweating considerably. Though they don't often agree with one another, out loud at least, they both had the just came to the same conclusion. 'He's scarier than Erza is!'

"First thing's first, we have to find out where the Oracion Seis's base is, or at least a general idea of its location." An idea then occurred to Ben over how he could acquire that information.

He turned around to see Erigor still lying against the base of a tree, unconscious. "Lucky for us, we have a source right there."

...

Earlier...

Deep within the Worth Woodsea was a small deserted village on a small island positioned at the base of multiple waterfalls. A thick mist surrounded the area and cast beams of rainbows all around. Outside the village, in the rock-faced cliff, was a cave supported by wooden beams. This village used to be the home of an ancient civilization. The villagers would send in a priestess, who would hear the words of the gods.

Today, however, this sacred cave served as the hideout for the Oracion Seis.

Brain carelessly tossed Wendy and Happy to the stone floor. The cave was dimly lit by a multitude of candles, providing just enough light for Wendy and Happy to see Brain and the outlines of the other five Oracion Seis members in the background.

Brain stared down at the duo, specifically Wendy, with a dark smile.

"Hey! Don't be so rough!" Happy yelled bravely. "She's just a little girl, yah know!"

Brain grabbed the blue cat by his face in response. Happy flailed his arms around as he tried in vain to free himself from the man's strong grasp.

"Let him go!" Wendy cried.

Brain acknowledged her request by tossing Happy back to the ground.

"Happy! You're not hurt, are you?" Wendy asked in concern.

Happy shook off his daze and gave her a reassuring smile. "Yeah... don't worry about me. I'll find us a way out of here. Promise."

"Thank you!" Wendy smiled and hugged the blue cat tightly.

Meanwhile, the Oracion Seis looked on with unamused expressions.

"Hey, Brain," Cobra called out, his arms crossed over his chest, "you sure it was wise leaving those Light Guild wizards alive?"

"Yeah. Why didn't you just finish them when you had the chance?" Racer added, equally confused.

"Ooh, I know!" Hoteye interjected. "It's because you plan to capture and sell them for money! Oh yeah!"

Brain glanced back at his followers with a dark smile. "You needn't worry, my friends. I haven't left the job unfinished. Just like my master taught me, I'm merely drawing out their fear. The most efficient way of destroying your enemy is to draw out their fear and to control them with it. That is how the rest of the light guilds will fall."

Cobra, Racer, and Angel nodded, satisfied from their master's reasoning.

"I guess I understand." Racer turned his gaze on Wendy. "But what's the deal with the girl? Why is she so important?"

"Does she have something to do with Nirvana?" Cobra wondered.

"She doesn't seem all that special to me." Angel remarked.

"Is she worth money?" Hoteye asked excitedly. "You're going to sell her to the highest bidder, are you?"

"You realize that money isn't the answer to everything, right?" Cobra asked in an exasperated tone.

"Nonsense. Money is the answer to everything because it can buy everything... even love." Hoteye smiled with a golden light surrounding him.

"Give me a break," Cobra groaned, annoyed.

Brain addressed his followers' concerns. "She uses Sky Magic. It gives her the power to heal others."

Racer, Cobra, and Angel were surprised by this revelation.

"How's that even possible?" Racer asked.

"Isn't that a Lost Magic?" Angel added.

"One of many practices forgotten long ago." Cobra stated.

Midnight remained oblivious to the conversation as he continued to sleep.

Hoteye grinned from this new revelation. "Oh yeah... I can practically smell the money."

"What good is a healer to us?" Cobra stepped toward Brain. His eyes then widened as he realized what Brain was insinuating. "Wait! You don't mean-"

Brain held out his arm to cut the snake wizard off. "She is the key. With her power, we shall revive him!"

All of the Oracion Seis, minus Midnight, grinned darkly.

"Who're you talking about?" Happy demanded.

"Look, if you're asking me to help you, forget it!" Wendy said determinedly. "I'd never do anything for jerks like you!"

"Yes, you will." Brain calmly retorted. "There's no doubt. Once you find out who it is, you'll be more than happy to help."

"Huh?" Wendy was completely confused.

"Racer," Brain glanced back, "bring him to me at once."

"Can do, boss," Racer nodded. "But it's so far away that it'll take me an hour to get there and back."

"No matter," Brain assured.

"I see," Cobra grinned. "Once he's revived, we'll be able to find Nirvana in no time. You're doing your name proud, sir."

"Cobra, Hoteye, Angel... I want you to continue the search for Nirvana."

"But why?" Angel asked curiously. "It's a waste of time. We should begin the search after he's been revived."

"C'mon! Would you guys just tell us who you're trying to bring back!" Happy shouted in frustration.

"I would prefer to err on the side of caution. Midnight and I will remain here." Brain replied.

"Something tells me that he won't make very good company." Hoteye remarked.

"Alright, you guys," Cobra rubbed underneath Cubellios's jaw, "guess we better get going."

"You boys wanna race me? The first one to find Nirvana wins a prize." Angel calmly challenged.

"At the amount of ONE MILLION JEWELS! Oh yeah!" Hoteye yelled enthusiastically. "Count me in!"

"Don't you think that a million is a bit much?" Angel frowned.

"Hey, be honest with me," Happy leaned closer to Wendy, "you don't have any idea what these creeps are talking about, do you?"

"Well, no. Not really." Wendy turned her attention to Brain. "What does Nirvana do? Please tell us that much."

Brain looked back with a dark, excited smile. "It's incredibly powerful. It swaps light for darkness!"

Wendy and Happy were speechless from Brain's response. Swapping light for darkness? What did that mean? Whatever it was, it certainly didn't sound good

...

A/N: Happy New Years Eve! Hope all of you had a Merry Christmas and/or Holiday season. Glad I could get this chapter completed before the new decade started. By the way, for those of you who need glasses, you won't need them starting tomorrow... because you'll see 20/20 for the first time ever. *Crickets* Yeah... such a lame joke.

Big credit to Jumpin' Jack Flash 7 for his contributions. Couldn't have completed this chapter in time without his assistance. Thanks a bunch, man!

I hope this chapter was satisfactory. I was planning to include more, but thought it be best to save it for the next chapter so I can iron-out some more things.

Apologies for the long wait. These last few months have been busy work wise and life in-general. There were days I could've wrote, but simply chose to rest and catch up on certain shows or start new ones.

Be sure to check out my old friend The Incredible Muffin's new story, "My Alien Academia". If you like Ben 10 and My Hero Academia, you'll enjoy it!

Not much to say to announce in this chapter. The Ultimate Fairy Wiki page is up and still under construction in certain places. But there's enough there to enjoy. The link is on my profile page.

Next Chapter: Oracion Seis, Part III – With Ben established as the new leader, the Coalition sets out in groups to locate the Oracion Seis's hideout and free Wendy and Happy. Meanwhile, the Oracion Seis gear up to find and activate Nirvana while reviving a former enemy.

Please leave any critique, comments, or suggestions in the review box below. Until next time in 2020, Ultimate out...