Ultimate Fairy: Volume I

by Ultimate10

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 by pyrohelixdrago, post-Oracion Seis Arc and onward.

45. Oracion Seis Pt 4

...

Ultimate Fairy

Chapter 45: Oracion Seis

Part IV

...

Last time on Ultimate Fairy...

Racer, meanwhile, cringed from a burn he had received on his right arm. His jacket sleeve had burned through, revealing red throbbing skin.

He raised his head and shot the Fire Dragon Slayer a heated glare. "I hate to admit it, but I'm impressed. This is the second time you stopped me."

Natsu smirked. "And it won't be the last, pal. Judging by that burn on you, you're not immune to fire. Am I right?"

Racer scowled in response.

Natsu's smirk widened, revealing his teeth. The flaming wall he had erected caused the nearby trees to catch fire. Dark smoke billowed into the air as the heat bore down on the two wizards with only one of them feeling it.

Holding up his flaming right hand, Natsu boldly declared, "I don't care how fast you are... I'll melt you in your tracks! You won't escape my heat!"

...

Inside the Oracion Seis hideout, Brain stood by the candle-lit altar with an indifferent expression. It was only moments ago that he had contacted Cobra to stop Jellal from claiming Nirvana for himself. Now, he was dealing with another pressing matter regarding the Light Guild Coalition.

Since their hideout had been discovered by a Fairy Tail member, a Take-Over wizard at first glance, he was concerned that the Coalition wizards were still alive.

He tried telepathically contacting the Naked Mummy guild and Erigor and received no response, much to his concern. Brain then spent several moments attempting to contact the lower Dark Guilds he had strategically placed around the Worth Woodsea. Red Robin and Black Unicorn didn't respond, leading him to conclude that they must've been defeated.

Brain's indifference shifted into frustration as he tightened his grip on his stave, but careful enough not to break it. "The Light Wizards have somehow reduced our underlings to mere cannon fodder." He scoffed. "Even if those lower Dark Wizards were weak, I never would've expected that bungling mess of a coalition to be capable of such a feat."

Stepping toward the mouth of the cave, Brain vertically held up his stave with both hands. "This needs to be addressed before it becomes an issue." A faint pink glow shone off his body while a mix of green and purplish magical energies swirled around the staff.

"Silicus Milez Sasitatio!"

Slamming the bottom of his stave down, the energy discharged into the ground – pulsating like a wave underneath the Worth Woodsea. After the spell had run its course, Brain took a moment to catch his breath, feeling the mild strain on his body.

After a short moment of recovery, the tattooed-man then turned his gaze to Midnight, who was still leaning against the wall asleep. "It may be premature to send him, but... I can't allow our adversaries to gain any more ground."

'I will instill fear into them and bring them to their knees. Power is the only thing that matters in existence. Fear is a symbol of power. Power is absolute. Therefore, fear is absolute. That is what you taught me... Master.' Brain wistfully thought.

"Wake up, Midnight!"

Midnight slowly raised his head and straightened up. Awakened from his slumber, his red eyes were revealed.

"You have work to do." Brain stated.

Midnight grumbled as he stood up.

"Find our foes and toss them into your nightmare." Brain smiled darkly.

Midnight scratched his head and looked at Brain apathetically. "Yes... father."

...

Following Natsu's declaration, the Oracion Seis speed demon and Fairy Tail's pyromaniac were caught in a standoff. The heat intensified as the trees around them burst into flames from Natsu's fiery wall, casting an orange glow on the light and dark guild wizards.

Racer scowled at his foe while Natsu grinned roguishly – only serving to aggravate the speedster further.

A brief moment passed before Racer finally stood up. "You stopped me twice, ruined my favorite jacket, and to add literal insult to injury, you burned me!" His scowl shifted into a smug smirk. "To repay the favor, I'll give you a thrashing like you've never had before, you fire-breathing brat!"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah..." Racer immediately disappeared and reappeared to Natsu's left, much to his shock. "As soon as I'm through with you, I'll catch up to those friends of yours in the blink of an eye."

'He's so fast!' Natsu turned to the left only to see that Racer was gone.

A sudden impact to the middle of his back sent Natsu tumbling forward. As a result of losing his focus, Natsu's flaming wall steadily died away. However, the trees around the fighters were still ablaze.

Racer lowered his left leg after delivering a high-speed kick, sneering down at the fire wizard. "I have a feeling it won't take me very long."

"What'd you say?!" Natsu yelled angrily.

Scrambling to his feet, he widened his stance and puffed out his cheeks. "Fire Dragon Roar!"

Natsu exhaled a flaming torrent that scorched the ground in its path. Racer, however, was nonchalant as he easily outmaneuvered the attack – blinking in-and-out of view. He suddenly appeared behind Natsu and delivered a strong kick into the back of his head.

"You're gonna have to pick up the pace, slowpoke!"

Natsu rolled on the ground a couple of times before returning to his feet. "Aw man... I gotta figure out a way to fight this guy."

The pink-haired wizard felt a blow to his chest and collapsed on his back. Racer reappeared a few yards in front of him.

"Tell yah what, flame-boy, I'll let you off the hook if you stay on the ground. That's where trash like you belongs anyway." Racer mocked.

"Yeah, right." Natsu picked himself off the ground, glaring at the mohawk man. "Over my dead body, pal!"

Racer smirked darkly. "Dead bodies are my specialty." He lifted his right arm. "Let's kick this into overdrive. Dead Grand Prix!" He then brought his right arm down in a chop.

Natsu arched a brow when he heard the sounds of revving engines. He looked ahead to see multiple lights shining from the shadows of the forest. Suddenly, a horde of unmanned motorcycle-like vehicles called Magic-Cycles burst into view. The cycles were primarily green with yellow accents, the front headlight mimicking a knight's helmet, and the front area resembled shoulder pads.

"Oh crap! Vehicles..." Natsu sweated nervously.

He ducked and swerved to narrowly evade all of the magic-cycles racing by.

'This is bad. Can't let those things hit me... or worse get stuck on one of them!' He panicked.

Racer mounted a larger red magic-cycle with yellow accents and accelerated directly towards Natsu. "Enjoying my motor show from hell?!"

Having no time to react, Natsu was bashed by Racer's cycle and sent flying into the air. He landed with a loud thud and the other magic-cycles circled him. Natsu growled as he steadily pushed himself off the ground.

Racer narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. 'This guy's tough. Any normal person would've been killed by that hit.'

"You're joking, right? You seriously think these scrapheaps are gonna stop me?!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Watch it, pyro! These slick wonders are almost as fast as I am." Racer then smirked as an idea crossed his mind. "As a matter of fact, that gives me an idea..."

A panel on the back of Racer's back slid up, revealing a multi-barreled gun that fired crimson magical blasts. Natsu jumped in the nick of time to avoid the projectiles. However, that response was exactly what Racer was counting on.

A green magic-cycle suddenly drove up in the spot where Natsu has been standing. The moment his rear touched the seat, a set of straps sprung out and wrapped Natsu in place as the engine revved up.

"Oh... no..." Instantaneously, Natsu's cheeks puffed out as he collapsed forward onto the seat of the bike.

"Heh, guess what Angel said was right after all." Racer grinned. "Having this guy on wheels is a lot easier than taking candy from a baby."

"Ugh..." the fire-user moaned.

Racer stared at his victim while he contemplated his next move. 'I could just take this clown out now. But after the way he insulted me and my rides, I'm going to have some fun first! He's going to get a one-way trip to Hell.'

"Alright, chump! Let's take you for a ride, shall we?!" With that, Racer accelerated forward with the green magic-cycles following behind him.

Natsu's face only turned greener from the increased motion and jarring from the motorcycle.

'I... gotta... get... off...!' Natsu weakly tried to push himself off the bike, but it was futile.

"Heh. Having fun back there?" Racer looked back with a sneer. "Now, the Dead Grand Prix can really begin!"

Popping a wheelie, Racer accelerated further with the green bikes hot on his tail. The horde of magic-cycles raced through the forest for at least a couple of miles. All the while Natsu continued to struggle in vain to regain any control of his body.

Things were not looking good for the Salamander.

...

Meanwhile, in another area of the Worth Woodsea, Jura and Ichiya were mentally preparing themselves for combat. The air had a vague sensation that tingled along Jura's back. He looked left and right, firmly on guard. The magical power in the atmosphere was staggering to his perspective, there was no telling where it was coming from.

"Maaaan…" Ichiya posed. His nose wrinkled as he sniffed the air. "Sir Jura…"

"Yes, I know…they're here." Jura spread his legs, readying himself for battle. He noticed that the ground beneath Ichiya was starting to slowly liquify. "Sir Ichiya, beneath you!"

Caught off guard, Ichiya looked down at the ground, seeing ripples of muck and dirt splash like waves. The uneven hold on the ground made Ichiya wobble about, ready to lose his balance.

His battle instincts kicking in, Jura aimed two fingers at Ichiya's position. A solidified precipice shot up beneath Ichiya, acting as a launch pad out of the muck before the waves could engulf him.

"Maaaaan~!" Ichiya posed in the air, sparkling as he was flung elsewhere across the area.

Jura refocused his efforts and looked around. The earth around him was compressing and liquifying into waves around him. As they surged around him, he crossed his arms and swiped them in opposite directions. The magic from his fingers shifted the waves to stone just in time.

A morose chuckle echoed through the area. "As expected of a Wizard Saint."

Jura turned towards the voice. Behind him, Ichiya comedically fell cheek-first onto the ground between them. His eyes were white as he twitched his knees from shot nerves. Hoteye slowly emerged from the underbrush while maintaining his laughter.

'There he is.' Jura's eyes narrowed.

Ichiya climbed to his feet while still facing Hoteye, who didn't seem at all deterred by the circumstances pinned against him.

"Sir Ichiya, get down!" Taking the initiative, Jura used two fingers and directed solid rock columns from the solidified waves. They passed Ichiya and hurtled towards Hoteye, but the mage was more than ready for them.

His eyes lit up, generating a heated orange barrier in front of him that blocked the dozens of rock columns. The heat barrier quickly softened the attack, turning it into wet cement that littered the ground in front of him.

There was an uneasy tension in the air around them. The sinister array that Hoteye had displayed to Jura and Ichiya was deterring at best. They were up against a formidable amount of Magic Power after all. They had to be on their guard at all times.

"Jura, if we do come across Hoteye, it's clear you'd be the best one to take him on. You'll be tasked with fighting if you're not already preoccupied."

Ben's words stuck to Jura's thoughts like glue. 'As per what Sir Ben said, he may very well use his eyes. He can heat up and soften the earth, but we need to blind him first to get any solid footing.'

He repositioned himself. "Sir Ichiya, back me up here! We need a diversion!"

"Right! Maaan~!" Ichiya regally posed, dazzling with sparkles around him.

Hoteye smirked. "Oh, come now. What's the holdup? Don't tell me that you've gotten soft on me already. My magic softens earth, not feeble warriors."

Jura sneered in response.

"Allow me to teach you the lessons of what wealth truly means! Liquid Ground!" Hoteye reached out, his eyes brightening as he conducted heat into the ground to liquify it. It created more waves that spread towards Jura and Ichiya.

As though déjà vu occurred, Jura pointed his right arm's index and middle finger out at the incoming wave of earth and solidified it in place.

"Now, go!"

"Right you are!" Ichiya did a pivot and a skip over the wave, spinning in midair until he was within Hoteye's point of view. "Alright, you cretin! Taste…" He undid a cork with a thumb, allowing a whiff of something to enflame his nostrils. "The bitter brightness of my Thunder Parfume!"

Hoteye raised a brow. Lightning started crackling around Ichiya's body in midair, like some sort of conductor. But the light in the air was flashy enough that it caused the Oracion Seis member to close his eyes briefly.

'Now!' Finding an opportunity, Jura pointed at the stack of solid waves in front of him and jabbed two fingers forward. The rocks all merged into large boulders that were suspended at his command.

"Rock Avalanche!"

Manipulating the rocks, he launched all of them at Hoteye at incredible speeds. The Oracion Seis member was still blinded by the flash of Ichiya's attack as tons of rocks and boulders descended upon him. The earth rumbled in the wake of his attack, ultimately creating a dust cloud.

Jura stayed ready as Ichiya landed behind him, his body still crackling in bright lightning. "Thank you for the assist, Sir Ichiya."

Ichiya posed. "Maaan, no worries. This parfume of mine is nothing but a ceremonious new piece that I have conducted! Oh yes! Oh, YEEESSSS!" His voice cracked as too much lightning crackled around his frame, leaving him twitching as his body flashed on and off.

Jura looked back with wide eyes. "Are you alright?!"

"Ma-a-a-n!" Ichiya's crackling body fell over, his body sizzling from the overdose of lightning. He laid on his side, his face contorted with pain.

Jura moved closer. "What happened?"

Ichiya's leg twitched. "It would seem…that I have inhaled a little too much…of my parfume to handle…man…"

Jura straightened his back and looked down at his comrade's misfortune. He lamented how something so calculative backfired so easily. That was when a bright light from behind got his attention. His eyes widened at a swell of magic power flaring and turned to see that the mountain of stone burying Hoteye was heating up.

The bright light coming from the bedrock slowly erupted with beams of heat that melted the rock. Wet earth dissipated and erupted towards Jura like a burst balloon. The earthen debris splattered into the soil, revealing an unharmed Hoteye.

"My word, that was a close call there." He declared whimsically.

Jura clenched his teeth and stepped back out of surprise. "Impossible…how did he…?"

"Our magics are so alike, don't you think? You can solidify the soil, and yet I can heat it and melt it." He shot a look at Ichiya, who was still paralyzed from the recoil of his distraction. "I must say, I didn't think you'd try to blindside me with something like that. Poor taste indeed."

"Enough!" Jura held up two fingers in defense. "Magical power is irrelevant. In battle, it's one's ideology that decides the victor."

Hoteye brightly smiled. "That's where you are wrong, good sir. For you see, the real winners of any era…are the rich! Oh yeah!"

Jura kept his eyes locked onto the foe but made sure to not lose focus. "Ichiya, can you stand?"

His companion's crackling body twitched as he started sitting up. Ichiya groaned and managed to catch his footing. "Sorry about that. Yes, I'm well now."

"We must remember what Sir Ben said. We have to work together to defeat this menace. Are you with me?"

Beads of tired sweat raced down Ichiya's tired face as he posed. "Maaan. Though it may burn my nostrils, the parfume of victory will quench my aroma! Oh yes!"

...

Hasty footsteps echoed through the dense woods. Five wizards and a flying white cat rushed down an old path through the woods. As they drew closer towards the light ahead, signs of a small clearing appeared.

"Look, up ahead!" Gray shouted.

"I see it too. Let's make haste." Lyon scowled. "C'mon Sherry! Hurry up back there!"

"Coming~!" Following behind the duo, Sherry was running in her heels. Not the best choice of fashion for a walk in the forest, but not everyone had the same taste in fashion. To each their own.

"Wait for us as well!" Eve called from behind.

"And me...though I wouldn't mind if you slowed down some. Not that I wouldn't appreciate it." Ren remarked.

Soon enough, the clearing eventually became visible. Everything dark in the Woodsea had given way to show that there was still a blue sky high above. The group that consisted of Gray, Lyon, Sherry, Ren, Eve, and Carla stepped into the grassy clearing with many stones scattered, halfway dug into the ground.

"Odd… I don't remember this clearing from before." Eve pointed out.

"Guess the map took us down an alternate path," Ren suggested.

"Well, if that map Hibiki uploaded into our heads is accurate, we should only be a couple of miles away from Hibiki and Lucy's position," Gray stated.

"Let's take a moment to rest," Lyon advised. "We've all pushed ourselves close to the limit and need time to recover. Jura did tell us to catch our breaths, after all."

"Yeah, guess you're right..." Gray agreed.

"But about Wendy!?" Carla exclaimed. "We can't just sit around while she's still out there!"

"Don't worry. I trust that Ben and Natsu will save her. And Happy too! I guarantee we'll see them when we reach the rendezvous point." Gray calmly said.

"How you can have that much trust in such brutes is beyond me." Carla crossed her arms.

"Don't forget… one of those 'brutes' did save us earlier. AND they're both giving it their all to save our friends." Gray replied, an edge in his voice.

"Hmph!" Carla looked away, annoyed.

Sherry let out a sigh and sat down on one of the rocks, sighing heavily. "Finally! All this running around is exhausting..." she chimed in. "And I just bought these clothes recently to impress Lyon. Such a waste..."

"Hm? Sherry, are you well?" Lyon asked, looking over his shoulder.

Like a jolt of lightning, Sherry perked up upon hearing her name called. "Hm? Oh, yes, Lyon! I'm just fine!"

Lyon looked away and up towards the sky. A bird flew overhead. Since they had time for a breather, there were thoughts that they could all catch up on. Lyon in particular was someone who's mind shifted to another train of thought.

Ever since he'd become aware of Fairy Tail, he'd become affiliated with them, to say the least. Though he wouldn't exactly call Gray a friend. No, far from it. But he had to admit, if his guildmates were giving the impression that Fairy Tail supposedly had back then, he wouldn't lie if he said that it was part of the reason why he ended up becoming a mage and a rising ace of Lamia Scale.

However, to say he was surprised would be putting it mildly. He was very shocked at how Ben had handled Erigor. Even if he was an enemy, he didn't deserve to be treated as such. Such thinking was probably hypocritical on his part. After all, he wasn't all rainbows and sunshine either. But even he had standards. And what Ben did in his perspective stepped over that line, even if it did earn them some results by the end of it.

Eve sat down on a rock to catch his breath. "I sure hope Mister Ichiya is alright without us."

"He's more than capable. Trust me, if any of those Oracion Seis met him, his manliness would surely snuff them out." Ren chimed, tossing his hair for effect. "That's our Sor Ichiya for ya."

Eve smiled at him. "Yeah, Captain Ichiya is the best!"

"Do you guys EVER settle on just ONE title?!" Gray groaned in exasperation, causing the two to cringe in shock while he turned away, rubbing his head. "Ah, geez. I'm gonna get a headache at this rate. I don't know why that Ichiya guy puts up with ya..."

Lyon looked over at Gray with his back still turned. He seemed rather tired, and asking him as a primary source would be constructive. But in the corner of his eye, he noticed that he wasn't the only one giving Gray that same look.

In the corner of his eye, Ren was crossing his arms as he seemed to be contemplating something. He frowned heavily as he was lost in thought too. And if Lyon had to guess, it was a similar subject like the one he was on.

"Is something troubling you?"

"Hmm, oh… yeah. I was just thinking is all." Ren replied.

"About Ben, I presume?" Lyon questioned.

"Tch," Ren tsked. "I thought I was harder to read than that. But yeah, I was thinking about him. More specifically, wondering why Hibiki's Archive Magic didn't work on him. Doesn't make sense."

Lyon had to agree. That was one of the strange things he had noticed regarding the Take-Over wizard. According to Hibiki himself, his magic only worked on people with a sufficient amount of magical power. A Take-Over wizard of Ben's caliber should have more than enough for Archive to work on him. Yet it didn't.

Something wasn't adding up.

Lyon frowned. "Yes, I agree. It is a mystery, isn't it?"

"Don't get me wrong though… not saying he's a villain or anything. I mean, even a Wizard Saint respects him. But it's obvious that he's got tons of experience. Where an unknown like him got that experience is my question. I imagine Hibiki has similar thoughts."

The white-haired mage's gaze fell towards the ground. He had those same thoughts as well. If neither Ren nor Hibiki knew, the best source to ask at the moment would be Gray.

His eyes fell towards the mage as he looked over at them. "Hm, what're you looking at?"

"Listen, Gray-!"

"AAAAAHHHHHH!"

The scream alarmed everyone as a shift in the earth surprised them. They all turned around to the voice.

"Sherry?!" Lyon pivoted, only for his eyes to shrink in shock.

"Woah, look at THAT!" Eve gasped.

Sherry was being held up in the air, screaming for her life as the rock she was sitting on had unfolded, becoming a rock golem that had pink runes over its body. Its glowing pink eyes flashed as it held up Sherry and snarled.

"Sherry!" Lyon gasped. "Huh?"

He noticed the large rock beside him starting to shift as well. Fortunately, he was quick to dodge a large hand coming down for him and jumped away. As he backpedaled, he looked shocked at the familiar shape and form it took.

Noticing smaller rocks shifting around them, Ren stepped away. "Guys...brace yourselves...I don't think that we're alone here."

"W-what?!" Eve panicked. He started looking around as the ground kept shaking, a strong magical surge that caused all the rocks in the area to roll about until many had uncurled into miniature and medium-sized golems. They growled and corralled the small group of wizards to a tight space.

Gray glared at the numbers, his expression showing that he was less than amused. "An ambush, I should have known."

"How'd they find us already?" Ren worried.

"We shouldn't focus on that right now. We're surrounded." Carla testified.

Still in distress, Sherry screamed out for help as the stone golem held her in its tight grip. Its firm hold intensified just enough to cause a few of her bones to pop, causing her to scream louder in pain.

Lyon reached one arm out towards the golem, a magic seal appearing. "Hands off the girl! Ice-Make: Eagles!" The magic seal suddenly expanded, unleashing a large swarm of eagles made of ice that darted at the golem.

The beast grunted as the flock heading its way was aimed primarily around its face, causing it to stagger back and deter it from focusing on its victim. It inadvertently let go of Sherry in the process while it tried swatting the eagles away.

"Ahhh!" Sherry screamed as she fell towards the ground.

Gray slammed his hands together and mist gathered around his body. "Ice-Make: Slide!"

He sent an ice wave that surged across the ground, forming an ice slide for Sherry to land on that carried her across the ice and up a small slope. The wizard was left in freefall for a moment until she ended up being caught bridal style by Lyon.

By the time that she came around, she was left dazed. "Gnnngh...man, that was cold...huh?"

"Sherry...are you alright?" Lyon asked.

"Huh?!" Sherry's eyes shrank as she realized what position she was in. She was being held bridal style, a trait most familiar to women that men tend to do for their beloved. As she drifted into dreamy thoughts, a blush erupted across her face.

"Oh...Lyon..." she swooned.

Ren barely dodged a small golem, his heart racing from how fast it lashed out. "Save the mushy stuff for later, guys! Snap out of it!" He turned just in time to dodge another golem lunging at him.

"We need to stop these things and fast!" Eve shouted. He shifted his stance and looked to see another one approaching him.

"One of you try contacting Hibiki! Carla!" Gray turned to the white feline. "Try flying up and see if you can spot anyone!"

Understanding the seriousness of the situation, the feline didn't argue and flew above the tree line.

Ren placed his fingers near his temples, but his eyes promptly widened in shock. "I-I can't get in contact with Hibiki…"

"What!?" Gray's head snapped toward the tall dark-skinned wizard. "What do you mean?!"

"I dunno! It's like something's blocking the signal!"

"Someone must be doing it intentionally," Eve added.

'Great! Whatever's happening… we can't call the others for backup.' Gray thought. 'Wait… there is one way.'

"Hey, Carla!" Gray turned to the white feline. "Go and find help! See if you can find Hibiki and Lucy anywhere close by!"

Understanding the seriousness of the situation, the feline didn't argue and departed swiftly.

Gray glanced left and right, seeing more and more golems close in on them. The larger ones were at least a few feet taller than them, but they packed some sturdy rock muscle inside. After the last time something like this happened, he recounted the dreary memory and gritted his teeth at them getting surrounded so easily. From small ones to about three or four larger ones. They needed to act and fast!

"This doesn't look good," Lyon grunted. "Sherry, can you still fight?"

"Um, s-sure..." She nodded slowly. Lyon sat her down, much to her dismay, but she was able to stand despite the aching that her body was feeling. She felt a little wobbly, and much of her bones and muscles felt pressure still, but more or less she was still in one piece enough to aid the others.

Gray put his hands together to manifest more ice. "I'll handle the small fry."

"In that case, I'll handle the larger ones on my own." Lyon insisted, readying ice in his hands as well. "Watch yourselves!"

Several miniature golems lunged forward, making steadfast progress towards the wizards. As they closed in, Gray was the first to summon a magic circle and aim it at the ones in front of him.

"Ice-Make: Lance!"

Several long streaming lances flew through the air, each one targeting a different golem. The lances pierced the golems, shattering upon impact and reducing the targets to crumbs and fragmented ice in the process. More enemies formed from the ground that the lances weren't intercepted, getting too close for his comfort.

'Crap!'

"Ice-Make: Snow Dragon!"

As the creatures went for his legs, a massive dragon made of ice ran across the ground with its jaws wide open. It smashed into the golems, shattering some and sending many more flying. Gray watched as the dragon roared into the sky as it came down onto a large golem, breaking it to pieces.

He looked over, seeing Lyon with his arm reached out with a smirk. "Feel free to owe me that one for later." He turned towards Sherry. "Sherry, now!"

"Yes, love!" Sherry reached out before her. "Rock Doll!"

She used her magic to cause nearby stones to merge into a large, humanoid stone golem. One that rivaled the size of their largest enemies. The golem lunged forward in a straight charge, colliding head-on with the one in front of it.

"Stay back, you beasts!" Eve reached his arm out, summoning Magic Power to generate a snow blast into the smaller ones heading his way. The thick snowstorm was able to stop them in their tracks, with much more snow slowly accumulating to slow them down.

A howl came from behind, making Eve gasp as he turned around to see a small golem pouncing for him. Before he realized it, a solid air bubble impacted its head with a strong force, causing it to fall limply towards the ground.

Ren had his hand outstretched, being the source of that attack. "Watch yourselves!"

He reached out at another one heading his way, repeating the process and breaking its head off with a force uploaded from his magic. But two more flanked him, immediately making him retreat.

With a strong grunt, Ren swiped his arm, generating an air bubble that trapped three golems inside. He turned around, scoffing. "I've limited the oxygen inside for you. Sorry, but it's best that you conserve whatever you have left to stay alive in there...huh?"

However, despite his Air Magic's effects, the small golems didn't appear to be fazed. They snarled and ran out of the air bubble like it was nothing toward Ren. His eyes widened before he was slammed onto his back with a grunt, pinned by several of the creatures which surrounded his fallen form.

'Impossible! Do they not need air to breathe?! This is bad!'

"Ice-Make: Ice Cannon!" Gray manifested a cannon made of ice. He aimed it at Ren and fired a beam of ice, causing the golems to whimper and retreat, while others were crushed by the impact. This respite gave Ren the opportunity he needed to get back up.

"Thanks for that." He said over his shoulder.

"Yeah, sure." Gray reached his arm out, directing ice again into his targets. Large icy explosions caused many of the rock creatures to be blown away, while many more took their place.

"Ice-Make: Snow Ape!" Lyon shouted. From his other arm, an ice ape the same size as the golems was created. He directed it into the golems, where two immediately met it in a deadlock.

'We need to keep them back. We need as much room as possible to regroup at all costs!'

Suddenly, a pair of footsteps were heard from the underbrush. "Alright, that's enough for now...let me have some fun."

Everyone tensed up when the voice hit their ears. They weren't familiar with the tone at all, let alone the voice itself. They all saw the golems that were surrounding them slowly withdrawing, including the ones that Lyon's creations were fending off. It was like a remote switch had been turned on and they stopped moving again.

"What's this...?" Lyon saw the large creatures back off, but his eyes widened when the footsteps drew near. "Who goes there-?!" When he turned, his eyes visibly shrank with shock.

Everyone else showed the same surprise as he did. Ren and Eve were left with parted lips, while Sherry had a hand over her mouth. To say that they were dumbfounded would be putting it lightly when a familiar figure emerged into the daylight.

"Is that...?" Sherry slowly gaped.

Gray frowned heavily. "Yeah, looks like big trouble now."

In front of everyone, Midnight was standing upright, smirking callously while seemingly relaxed. He eyed all the wizards before him and their conditions. His expression didn't change even after realizing their situation.

"An Oracion Seis member!" Eve panicked.

"It's Midnight." Ren glared. "That explains it then."

The laid-back member of the Oracion Seis sauntered forward a few paces, keeping his hands in his pockets the whole way. "Looks like I've found a few annoyances just after my nap. I'm not sure if I should be amused or disappointed. But I guess we'll find out, shall we?"

Gray took an offensive stance with his colleagues. As he readied more of his magic, he suddenly remembered something that Ben had pointed out earlier.

"If any of you should run into Midnight or Brain, run away… Don't try to take either of them alone in a straight-up fight. Once we've cut down their forces, we can converge on the two of them as a group. If the opportunity should present itself, try to learn more about both our mystery opponents."

Gray's left eye visibly twitched. He had his orders, and he knew better than anyone not to get on Ben's bad side unless he wanted to get a similar treatment like Natsu did. He still got chills when he recalled Ben being so harsh, and if that wasn't ironic enough, this was a man who used Ice Magic. If that wasn't cold, he didn't want to know what could be worse.

"A five-on-one fight? That hardly seems fair, don't you think?" Lyon scoffed. He lifted his arm to summon magical energy for his creations.

"What?! Hey, hold on!" Gray warned.

But Lyon was too fast. He directed his arm at Midnight, causing the Snow Ape and Snow Dragon to rush across the ground towards the enemy mage. Midnight's smile didn't waver as he stayed completely still. The ape raised a fist while the dragon's maw opened wide to chomp down onto him.

"Weak."

He didn't lift a finger as the two beasts descended upon him. However, they missed him and slammed bodily into the ground. Ice chunks flew everywhere as dust erupted around the area.

Lyon gasped in shock. 'Did I miss? No! I never miss!'

The cloud gradually diminished, allowing a view of Midnight yet again. The gathered wizards were stunned when not a single speck of dust was visible on Midnight. It was like he wasn't there to begin with. "Now, is that the best you can do? I expected more from you...but alas..."

Ren hastily reached his arm out, creating an airwave that he sent at Midnight before he could finish. It was cut in half and the two streams dissipated into the air. "Damn!"

"Then let's try snow!" Eve stepped out in front and summoned another magical emblem, one that he thrust forward. "White Out!" A large-scale snowstorm swept across the area, freezing up and covering the ground in the snow. The attack surged towards Midnight as well, but he stood still as every ounce of wind and snow moved around him.

"What?! No way!"

"Hmph." Midnight smirked as he lifted his left arm. He casually swiped it in front of him, projecting all of the snow throughout the area back at the Allied Forces. The range was much larger than what it normally would be, causing Sherry, Eve, and Ren to be blasted away onto their backs. The exceptions were Gray and Lyon, due to their extreme tolerance towards such an attack.

"Damnit! Nothing worked against him!" Lyon scoffed.

Midnight slowly lowered his arm, tilting his head with the smirk gleaming under the sun. "Well...are you going to continue entertaining me? Or should I have my little 'friends' here do it for me?" He gestured to the golems that surrounded them, signaling them to slowly creep forward a few paces before they stopped in place again. "So? What else can you Light Guild Wizards do? Show me."

Lyon furrowed his brow, provoked heavily. "How about...I show you!"

"Lyon, no! It's a ploy!" Gray shouted.

"Ice-Make: Eagles!"

Several eagle-shaped ice projectiles fired at high-speed across the clearing at Midnight. The dark wizard made no effort to dodge them. Instead, there was only a small fracture of distortion before the eagles suddenly did a U-turn and careened back at Gray and Lyon. The projectiles shattered upon colliding with each other, making ice chunks spray at the duo.

"Watch out!" Lyon shouted, but he was too late as chunks blew him over, grunting heavily at the impacts.

"Lyon!" Gray's eyes widened when he realized he was distracted and saw a projectile head his way.

He tried to move as fast as he could, but the ice blast impacted his ankle, shattering upon impact. This development caused Gray to yelp loudly in pain as he fumbled around until he dropped to a knee. He gripped his ankle, feeling how cold and yet so painful that attack was.

"Crap! My ankle...!" he grunted.

"Some people just don't learn." Midnight smirked. He reached out, giving a command that the golems responded to. They all growled and trudged towards the group.

"Gah! Oh no!" Eve exclaimed.

"Ice-Make: Rampart!"

Suddenly, a large mass of ice exploded from underground, causing the beasts to come to a stop before slamming into a thick ice wall that extended a hundred feet sideways. The massive rampart of ice was just enough to keep them out of Midnight's line of visibility as well, giving them time to regroup.

Gray panted as he climbed to his feet, stumbling due to the ankle injury. "Gngh...dammit..."

"Are you alright?" Lyon asked.

"Yeah, I think so..." He looked down at his wound. He saw that it was red, but not enough to look inflamed. It hurt though just to stand on; nevertheless, he muscled through it.

"What do we do?! Nothing is working against this guy!" Eve fretted. "If we attack, nothing will touch him!"

Gray bit his lower lip, remembering what Ben had told them.

"At this rate, we won't last long. We need Jura, and fast." Ren advised.

"No..." Everyone stopped and turned towards Gray as he balled his fists. "We run."

"What?!" Sherry gasped.

"Are you serious, Gray?" Lyon snapped before he heard ice cracking. He saw a gash in the barrier that was dangerously close to his head. His eyes widened when he realized what was happening. 'The ice...it's slicing apart?!'

Gray gritted his teeth harder. "Just shut up and get going!"

Midnight didn't hesitate when he swiped his arm across the air. "Invisible Scythe!" He gave his arm a long arc that seemingly fanned out to nowhere. A few seconds later, the massive rampart of ice had several slash marks that glistened before they exploded, showering the group with ice chunks that fell to the ground. The golems instinctively backed away to avoid being crushed by the heavy ice chunks.

As the debris cleared away, Midnight surveyed the clearing to see if he got his prey as well. Though, he was taken by surprise when he saw two trails in the woods that seemed to have diverged. Silhouettes separated as they faded into the trees.

Midnight's satisfied smirk gradually faded. Suffice to say that he seemed less amused than before. "What a waste of time..."

…

"Never thought I'd see the day when you would run away from a fight, much less lead the initiative," Lyon mused at the situation.

"A bunch of stone freaks and a wizard that deflects magic seems like a pretty legit reason to run away," Gray grunted in pain as he tried to run on his sprained leg. The pain was growing worse with each step he took. But slowing down now would get him and the others killed.

"Something like this in the old days would have never deterred you from putting up a fight."

"Yeah, well I've grown up since then. I've got orders to retreat and I'm going to listen." Gray was wishing that Lyon would stop talking to him. Having a casual conversation didn't seem like the best thing to be doing right now. Besides, every time Gray opened his mouth, he was afraid he would scream in pain from his injury.

"Your orders? Come on, Gray. I've known you for too long. If Erza gave those orders, you'd have disobeyed and stuck around to fight Midnight. Don't tell me Ben scares you." Lyon stated in annoyance.

Gray scowled at the jab. "I don't see you trying to deter from the plan. And like I said before, Ben knows what he's doing."

Lyon frowned at the constant assertion that Gray made. It wasn't that Lyon couldn't see the evidence that Ben had some experience in this type of situation. The problem was that before Galuna Island he had never heard of Ben Tennyson. According to Gray, he had started his wizard career at age ten and he had plenty of experience for these types of missions. Considering all of that, plus all the strange creatures he could turn into, one would think that Lyon would have heard of him before.

Besides being largely unknown, in the short time that he had been made an official member of Fairy Tail he had garnered just as much respect from his guildmates as Titania Erza herself, if not more. The man was too much of a mystery for Lyon's taste.

"So I've heard more than once today. Maybe you'd like to share a little bit of that experience with Sherry and me?" Lyon's question had caught Sherry's attention as much as it did for Gray.

'There's really nothing I can tell them. They aren't likely to believe me without proof and besides, the fewer people that know of Ben's origins the better.'

Lyon was becoming agitated as he waited for his former fellow student to give him some kind of answer. Sherry herself was a little anxious to know something about the person who hurt her and her beloved earlier.

"I can't tell you, Lyon."

"Why not?" Lyon demanded, more than a little off-put by the response.

"Because his past is his past. It's not mine to tell you. Also, I don't think you'd believe me anyway."

Lyon was not going to accept that as an answer. "You must be joking, Gray. You expect me to just take your word that your friend has a wealth of experience in these matters, but you refuse to even talk about one instance?"

"I don't know what to tell you, Lyon. That's the situation and you're just going to have to take my word on a leap of faith."

'There's definitely something very wrong about all this.'

Lyon racked his brain a little more on what he knew of the enigma that was Ben Tennyson. The rumors were no help. Perhaps, something that he had learned of him today might hold the answers. The best he could come up with was when Tennyson had verbally abused Salamander. Two certain names had stood out.

"If you are not willing to talk about his past before Fairy Tail, how about something during his time with your guild?"

Gray was cautious about Lyon's queries. While it seemed like it was okay to talk about, as it was easier to tell half-truths about Ben's time with Fairy Tail, Gray was still wary about it.

"Shoot."

"Who are Vilgax and Aggregor?"

The flinch in Gray's body did not go unnoticed by Lyon and Sherry.

"I can't tell y-"

"Dammit, Gray! I want some real answers." Lyon was getting fed up with the secrecy of Ben Tennyson.

"Well tough luck. I can't tell you, so you are going to have to accept it."

Frowning at the lack of cooperation Lyon came to a decision. "Then I'm done here."

"Thank you. So, can we please not talk anymore? My leg is killing me and I don't really feel like talking."

Shaking his head, Lyon clarified what he meant. "No. I mean I'm done being a part of this Coalition. If you aren't going tell me anything that can erase my fears, then I see no reason to stay."

"You can't be serious! We're in the middle of an important mission given to us by the Guild Masters, from the Magic Council themselves. How could you abandon us at a critical time like this?"

"Because I've been permitted to leave by our 'leader'." Lyon droned out with contempt.

"But Lyon..." Was all Sherry could utter.

"I suggest you leave with me too, Sherry. I'm sorry to let down Jura, but I can't follow someone who may be more dangerous than our enemies." Lyon wasn't being entirely truthful. He wouldn't abandon Sherry and Jura nor let the Oracion Seis have their way. It was just a ploy to get some information finally.

"You'd really abandon this mission and let all those people die? We need all the help we can get on this mission, Lyon. We need you here."

"If you want me to stay, then try and convince me to do so."

Gray gritted his teeth. He didn't believe Lyon would just quit like that. He was too stubborn to give up on a mission, but that same trait was going to make things difficult.

"I can't say much, Lyon. But I will say this; they are more of a what than a who." Gray relented.

Raising an eyebrow at Gray's response, he gestured for Gray to continue.

"The best way I could describe them is that they were monsters. And incredibly strong. Not even Erza and Natsu could defeat them alone."

That undeniably got both of the Lamia Scale wizards' attention. Stronger than Erza?

"Is that all you can truly say?"

"That and the fact Ben had to deal with them long before he joined Fairy Tail. Now, is that all you wanted to ask?"

Thinking hard for a moment, there was one more topic Lyon wanted to discuss. "Just one last thing. What exactly happened to this…Julie girl?"

Gray flinched at the question. It was a sensitive topic for Ben and Gray had no right to talk about his friend's loss.

"It's not my place to talk about, Lyon."

"I realize I'm asking a lot, but there must be something you can say."

Gray thought for a moment and decided that maybe if he gave them a little insight into Ben's tragedy, then at least two people outside of Fairy Tail would be empathetic to him.

"She was…everything to Ben. He loved her. She died saving his life."

Sherry's eyes widened at that revelation. A love destroyed by death was something that the young lady could understand.

"What did she save him from?" It was the first time that Sherry had spoken since the conversation had begun.

Although she surprised Gray a little, he was willing to reveal just a little more.

"He was fighting to protect people from…a monster. Originally, he didn't want Julie to come with him. He thought it was too dangerous for her. She came along regardless. And when it was just him alone fighting the monster…Ben was about to die… and Julie took the hit that would have killed him."

The tension in the air had become taut at the revelation.

"She died in his arms…and then Ben snapped. He killed the monster he had been trying to defeat to avenge Julie."

Lyon was pensive. In a way, it was like he and Ben had similar experiences. They both had a monster that took something precious from them. But unlike himself, Ben had gotten his revenge. Sherry was beside herself; she wasn't sure what to think.

"Please, just don't ask any more about Ben's past, okay? It's his past and his alone to share with whoever he wants to. I only told you this much because I don't want everyone to see him in such a negative light."

"Do…Do you think that is why he's acting like this? Because Erza almost dying…because it reminded him too much of Julie?" Sherry whispered.

Gray shrugged. "Maybe. It would make the most sense. But I…don't know if that is the entire story."

Lyon was still silent. Before he could say anything, the roar of dozens of engines had cut through the otherwise quiet forest and had broken the moment the three wizards were having. Looking over the wall of dirt and stone from the bottom of the dry gulch, the group saw a strange man on a Magic-Cycle.

'Racer!' Everyone thought in alarm.

Trailing right behind Racer were a few dozen other Magic-Cycles. But what truly surprised them was that strapped to one of the magic motorcycles was Natsu!

"Natsu!" Gray yelled at seeing his rival in trouble.

The Magic-Cycles kept going with no signs of slowing down as the Oracion Seis member cackled in glee at the torture he was putting Natsu through.

"Damn it! The speed freak is using Natsu's motion sickness against him."

"I suppose it was inevitable that a Dark Guild would eventually use it against Salamander," Lyon pointed out.

"B-But where is Ben?" Sherry spoke in concern. "Do you think one of the other Oracion Seis members got to him?"

Gray ground his teeth in frustration. "No, I don't believe that for one second! They must have gotten separated."

"And knowing Natsu, he probably figured he could take Racer on by himself." Lyon thought out loud.

"Damn it. Why the hell did I convince Ben to take Natsu with him?" Gray was regretting his choice. He was hoping that by working together, it would patch things up between Natsu and Ben.

'Instead, I just put Natsu in danger. I should have gone in his place!'

As Gray lumbered forward, Lyon grabbed his right shoulder. "Just where do you think you are going?"

"Where does it look like I'm going? I'm going to go save the idiot before he gets himself killed!"

"With that busted-up leg? That'll be a good trick." Lyon remarked.

"We can't just leave Natsu on his own. He needs our help and our love," Sherry pleaded.

"Sherry's right. And my leg isn't busted up, it's just a small sprain." Gray was adamant about saving his hotheaded friend.

Lyon looked out into the distance where the Magic-Cycles had disappeared to. With a hardened look, he knew what needed to be done.

"Then I'll go save your friend, Gray."

"By yourself? But Lyon I should go with you." Sherry protested.

Lyon shook his head. "Gray needs help getting back to the rendezvous point, Sherry. If we left him on his own, who knows what he'll run into. More of those golems, Midnight, or even more of the Oracion Seis."

"Hey! I can handle myself just fine, Lyon."

"Don't argue with me, Gray. Do you want Ben to be upset if I let you go and get yourself killed?" Gray's eyes widened slightly.

'Is this his way of making amends with Ben?'

"Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"Come on, Gray. We both studied under Master Ur. I'm more than capable of handling a Dark Guild like the Oracion Seis. I'll save your friend and we'll meet back up with the others at base camp."

"Fine. But how are you going to catch up to them?"

Lyon smirked a little. He then brought both of his hands together like Gray would when casting his Maker Magic. "Ice-Make: Snow Tiger!"

Gray was shocked when Lyon cast his Ice-Maker Magic using two hands instead of just one hand.

"I don't know. I'll improvise," Lyon chuckled dryly as he hopped onto his creation.

'But he never uses two hands.' Getting over his shock, Gray smiled at his friend. "Good luck to you, Lyon."

Lyon nodded and looked at Sherry expectantly. "Sherry, please help Gray back to the others. If he keeps insisting he's fine, knock him unconscious first." Lyon finished with a smile.

"Sure."

Lyon took off on his ice creation before Gray could make a snippy comeback. Once he was out of sight, the resident stripper of Fairy Tail grumbled to himself. "Cocky stripper. I'm going to get him for that."

"It's just his way of showing his love," Sherry said as she put Gray's arm across her shoulders.

Gray looked in the direction to where his former rival took off before sighing in resignation. "Yeah. I know."

...

Meanwhile, Racer was still dragging Natsu around the woods on his so-called, 'Dead Grand Prix'.

"Talk about pathetic. If you can't even hold your lunch on these babies, you have no chance in hell against me." Racer claimed.

After several minutes, they drove out of a tunnel and out into a large grassy clearing.

The bike carrying Natsu unstrapped him and then came to a complete stop, his inertia sending him tumbling across the ground. Racer and his horde of bikes encircled him, throwing up a cloud of dust that obscured visibility.

"Free ride's over! Time to turn you into roadkill!" Racer yelled.

Natsu shakily picked himself off the ground, still feeling queasy from the ride. Though his eyesight and hearing were overloaded with dust and engine noises, he still had his nose to point him in Racer's direction.

'Okay...he's circling me. Hard to…figure out where… he is.' Natsu dry-heaved a little, still feeling incredibly nauseous. Not wanting to lose here, he refocused his attention on the dust cloud. 'At the speed he's going, he'll be right…THERE!' Natsu exhaled a torrent of flames at a spot where he predicted Racer's bike would be. But the speed demon managed to swerve to the right in time to avoid the attack.

"Heh. Close, but no cigar. Let's see if you can handle this!" He pointed his hand at the dust cloud, summoning a teal magical circle. "High Speed Rush!" Out of nowhere, several high-spinning tires appeared and slammed into Natsu.

"AHH!" Natsu collapsed to the ground painfully with multiple cuts and bruises.

"C'mon! Don't tell me you're tired already, chump. Heh!" Racer laughed at his pun. "I thought you were gonna melt me in my tracks!"

Before the Dragon Slayer could fully stand, the engine noises grew louder. He looked ahead wide-eyed as a magic-cycle charged straight at him. Unable to move quickly enough from being disoriented, Natsu closed his eyes to try and brace for the impact. Natsu couldn't suppress his pained cries from the high-speed collisions.

"Looks like this is the end of the line!" The sides on the bike's front opened to reveal more blasters, firing a barrage of red blasts at the dust cloud concealing his opponent. "Talk about a disappointment!"

A few blasts managed to hit Natsu and temporarily stunned him long enough for more magic-cycles to crash into him repeatedly.

"Dammit!" He cursed, careening into the air after another hit. 'I gotta do something quick or I'm gonna get ripped apart! But what?!'

Natsu didn't get a chance to think as the Magic-Cycles started kicking up dust around him again.

"I like that move so much I'm going to do it again." Smirking to himself, Racer prepared for the final assault.

'Soon as a couple more of my babies run over that punk's kidneys, I'll finish him off with all the firepower I've got in my ride. He won't know what hit him.'

As Natsu kept trying to avoid the Magic-Cycles that were hitting him, Racer was waiting patiently for the right time to finish Natsu off. After getting hit for the umpteenth time, Natsu tried to brace himself for another Magic-Cycle. He closed his eyes, expecting another tire to run over him.

'Gotcha, you pink-haired twerp!' Racer unleashed the guns from his Magic-Cycle onto Natsu's position.

"Ice-Make: Rampart!"

The voice ringing in the air, followed by the loud crash, caused Natsu's eyes to open up. The gunfire that was going to riddle him with holes ended up crashing, instead, into the wall of ice that had appeared in front of Natsu.

"What the?! He-" An unseen assailant slammed into the speed fiend. Natsu had opened his eyes to see a tiger made of ice knock his tormentor off of his vehicle.

"Ice? Gray?"

"Close, but no." Lyon had stepped out into view as an icy mist gathered around his hands. "Ice-Make: Eagles!" Lyon swung his hands out as a flock of birds made of ice attacked and destroyed the Magic-Cycles surrounding Natsu.

"Lyon? Wh-what are you doing here?" Natsu was still a bit disoriented but was starting to come around.

"What do you think? I'm saving your hide. Lamia Scale is a part of this coalition, is it not?"

Natsu scowled as he took a shaky step towards Lyon. "Yeah, well like I told Ben I can handle him."

"Seems like my hunch was right. So, tell me, did you and Ben manage to rescue Happy and Wendy?"

"Yep. Ben's got them both and should be back with Lucy and Hibiki by now." Natsu was pretty positive that the rescuing of Wendy and Happy had been accomplished.

"Hibiki says otherwise," Lyon revealed in a solemn tone.

"What?"

"Hibiki and Lucy haven't seen one trace of the others and when we were forced to separate, Hibiki said he couldn't talk to you. Something about you sounding sick?"

Natsu was visibly bewildered. "But they have to be there by now. Ben's fast enough that he should have gotten there no problem. What the heck is going on?"

'With all those golems popping up around the woods, it's likely that Ben ran into some of them.'

"You're going to pay for trashing my rides and killing my fun, ice punk." Racer interrupted

He was looking a little roughed up but was largely fine. Before the unlikely duo, the speedster disappeared and reappeared around the field before finally striking Natsu first with a punch to the face and then appearing behind Lyon and kicking him in the back. The two boys rolled on the ground for a short moment before retaliating.

"Fire Dragon Roar!"

"Ice-Make: Ape!"

The two opposing forces tried to take the Oracion Seis member, but he dodged both attacks and caused them to cancel each other out in an eruption of partially destroyed ice.

"Hmm, not bad. I gotta say, that Maker Magic of yours is pretty quick. Maybe you'll be more fun than that slowpoke Salamander."

Natsu growled at the remark before glancing sideways towards his unwanted helper.

"I told you that I can handle this guy, Lyon." Natsu was adamant.

"Ben was right. You are a stubborn reckless idiot, aren't you?"

"Hey! If I wanted this kind of abuse, I could have had Gray come along."

"Oh, man," Racer chuckled to himself. "You guys really suck at working with each other." He was honestly enjoying the little spat between the two different guilds. 'The council are moronic assholes if they thought having a bunch of guilds that never worked together before would be enough to stop the Oracion Seis!'

"Didn't you listen to a word Ben said about us needing to work together?"

Natsu was getting more visibly upset by the second. "I need to do this alone! I need to prove that I can do this."

"Who? Who are you trying to that prove to, and what are you trying to prove? That Ben was right about you being reckless or that you don't think before you act? Because you're doing a swell job at proving all of those things."

Natsu's temper had reached its pinnacle at being reminded of the things that Ben had called him out on. "NO! I need…I need to prove that he can trust me."

"And how are you going to do that by doing the opposite of everything he told you not to do?" Lyon countered.

Natsu frowned at Lyon calling out the flaw in his plan.

"Gray's hurt, Natsu."

Natsu's visage softened when he heard that. Despite his hang-ups with Gray, he always looked out for his guildmates and friends. Not that he thought of the ice bastard as a friend. Out loud at least.

"Natsu," Lyon spoke with a little more compassion. "I understand what you are feeling right now. We all have been called out on our faults, and you want to prove to Ben otherwise. But trying to take Racer on your own is only proving how right Ben was. We need to work together on this one."

Natsu was having trouble accepting it, but he knew Lyon was telling the truth.

If things kept going as they were, regardless of who won this fight, Natsu would be in trouble. There were still five other powerful dark wizards out there. He needed to work with Lyon to conserve his energy for the rest of the Oracion Seis.

"You're right. Okay, we'll work together on this. Hope you can keep up. The ice prick is at least good enough to do that."

"I think you're the one that needs a prayer of keeping up with me with all those injuries," Lyon remarked with a smirk.

"Tch, whatever," Natsu scowled.

"Oh good. The two of you have made up. Are you actually going to give me a challenge?" Racer snarked.

The two unlikely and intrepid wizards bunched together a little closer.

"The jerk's cocky, I'll give him that."

"Keep focused, Natsu. We can use that arrogance of his against him. It'll be his undoing." Lyon stated with poise.

Nodding his head, Natsu agreed with that assessment. "Right. Just do me a favor and keep your clothes on. One stripper is bad enough; I don't need to work with another one."

"Please, that bad habit is strictly exclusive to Gray," Lyon spoke unwaveringly.

"Then why the hell did you take off your shirt, yah weirdo?!" Natsu screamed incredulously.

Lyon looked down but reacted very nonchalantly to the situation. "It's my favorite shirt. Don't want it to get ruined."

Natsu sweat-dropped, not believing him for a second.

"You have to be kidding me. The best the Coalition has to offer for me as a challenge is a weak stomach loud-mouthed idiot and a half-naked weirdo. The pipsqueak and cat would have been more entertaining."

Both the ice and fire wizards growled at the cheap insults that the speed demon hurled at them. They were going to make eat his words. Thinking on how to do that, Lyon and Natsu recalled what Ben had said earlier.

'Use your opponent's strengths against them... Racer uses some kind of Speed Magic. Should he show up, you can make it harder on him by messing up the terrain around you...'

"How about we melt this jackass in his tracks?" Natsu whispered to Lyon.

"Funny, I was thinking I could freeze the ground, while you knocked his teeth out. It'll give both our ears a rest. You make the first move to get him running. Once he does, I'll make him lose his traction. I'll give you the support you need to keep you from falling into the same trap."

Agreeing with the plan, Natsu ran towards Racer while his cheeks began to puff out.

"Fire Dragon Roar!"

Racer easily dodged Natsu's attack as he also charged towards the fiery fool that challenged him. As Racer raced towards Natsu, Lyon gathered his magic into his hands to cast a wide attack.

"Ice-Make: Floor!"

Natsu, expecting something like that chant, slid to a stop the moment Lyon had begun his chant. Luckily, Natsu stopped just in the nick of time as the ground was engulfed in a layer of ice. Racer was not so fortunate as the lack of traction caused him to slide and lose his footing, causing him to fall on his face. Preparing another spell, Lyon gathered more mist around his arms.

"And now, Ice-Make: Ape!"

The primate of ice ran towards Natsu as soon as it was summoned. Once it reached Natsu, it lifted the Dragon Slayer and threw him in an arc towards Racer. The dark mage was feeling a tad stunned from the sudden fall. Once he was propped up on his hands and knees, he took notice of the screaming that was coming from above.

"Fire Dragon Wing Attack!" The wing-shaped flames slammed into the back of Racer's head, making him smash his face back into the frozen ground. The ice surrounding the two combatants was either melted or blown away into chunks from the force of the attack. Lyon began to smile at the move the two managed to pull off.

"Not too shabby, considering we've never worked together before." Natsu was smirking as well, feeling very cathartic after seeing one of his attacks connect again with the creep. He then reared back his right leg for another attack.

"Fire Dragon Talon!" Natsu yelled.

Racer flew dozens of feet across the ground before he rolled to a stop. Natsu, not thinking properly, pursued him.

"Natsu, wait!" Lyon shouted.

However, Natsu's overzealousness caused him to overlook the rest of the ice that hadn't been destroyed and fall on his face when he tried to run on it.

"Ouch," Natsu muttered.

Lyon ran over to Natsu to both regroup with him and to hit him for his idiocy.

"Dammit! How does Gray put up with your stupidity?" Lyon groused at the dragon slayer.

"Oh, shut up! I bet that pointy-nosed loser is out cold after that kick I gave him."

"Don't bet on it, chumps." A voice spoke up. Racer had picked himself up from the ground. His outfit was worse off than ever with blood and tatters on his racing suit, one of the lenses of his sunglasses broken, and his nose broken and bleeding. A sickening pop was made as Racer pushed his nose back into place.

"I'm done playing with you idiots."

Lyon didn't waste time and gathered magic into his hands. "Ice-Make: Snow Dragon!" Lyon launched his strongest move, but Racer responded with his magic.

"Gear Change: Red Zone!" The seal briefly turned red and he rushed forward with a dust plume in his wake as he dodged the ice dragon with little effort. Before either of the light guild wizards could blink, Lyon was suddenly bombarded with punches and kicks all across his body. He couldn't suppress his agonized yells from the unrelenting blows. A short moment later, a strong kick sent him crashing to the ground.

Racer appeared several feet in front of Natsu with his back turned. "If yah want to hit me, you'll have to be as fast as lightning." He then disappeared.

"Man... even with the ground messed up, he's still fast... I'll just have to try harder!"

Natsu set his leg ablaze and slammed it down with as much force as he could muster. Another smaller fiery shockwave tore across the ground around him. The shifting and cracking earth caused Racer to reappear on Natsu's left as he tried to regain his footing.

'Now's my chance!' Natsu propelled himself at breakneck speeds by shooting fire from his feet. "Dragon Slayer Secret Art:" The flames surrounded Natsu's body and became hotter than any of his previous attacks. "Flame Lotus: Fire-"

Before he could finish his spell, a hand had gripped onto the back of his head and slammed him face-first into the ground. The pink-haired wizard groaned in pain from the sneak attack. Racer slammed Natsu's head repeatedly into the ground before finally kicking him hard enough to have him roll over onto his back. The fiery wizard coughed up spit mixed with blood from the blows as he laid there, defenseless.

'He's moving as fast as one of Ben's speedy aliens... maybe even faster?!' He frantically thought.

Unfortunately, it didn't stop there for Natsu as Racer grabbed him by the ankle and proceeded to drag him across the clearing.

"This is payback for ruining my favorite pair of shades, you fire-breathing brat!"

Natsu gritted his teeth as the cracked and rugged terrain scraped his body up. Racer jumped up high and twisted his body around before hurling Natsu back to the ground with considerable force.

Natsu was left shell-shocked from Racer's aggressive attack. But he was also confused by something. 'What was that? Why do I feel-'

Racer walked slowly over to Natsu, before suddenly disappearing again. A flock of ice eagles had crashed where he was standing, breaking Natsu's thought process. From a distance away, Lyon was stupefied that Racer managed to dodge his attack! A leg suddenly appeared in his field of vision as Racer kicked Lyon right in his face. Lyon tumbled backward away from his previous position.

Racer stopped his attack on Lyon and glanced back at the Dragon Slayer. "You both can attack me all you want and never land a single hit. Remember, you're dealing with the fastest man alive."

Natsu groaned while shakily pushing himself to his hands and knees. He stared at the ground with a thoughtful expression as he tried to decipher the weird feeling he got after Racer's previous attack. Suddenly, he realized what it was he was feeling. 'Wait... I'm not sick... at least… not as sick as when Ben carries me around at super speed. But why?'

Lyon attacked Racer again with renewed ferocity. "Ice-Make: Titan Feet!"

Racer, getting sick of Lyon's persistence, dodged the giant foot of ice that tried to stomp on him and attacked Lyon with a barrage of punches and kicks. Lyon fell on his back and cracks appeared all over his body.

"What!" Racer cried out in disbelief.

Lyon's body cracked, leaving behind chunks of ice. It was an ice clone!

"A fake? Then where is that punk?" Racer looked around and spotted the half-naked ice wizard helping Natsu stand. Natsu, while grateful for the help, was still lost trying to figure out why Racer didn't make him feel that sick.

"Natsu, we need to try something new. His speed is unlike anything I've ever seen before."

"So, trying to strategize again, huh?" Racer's voice caused Lyon's eyes to widen. He looked behind him and saw Racer standing a few yards away, smug as ever. Lyon was sweating, feeling anxious about how to deal with the monster in front of them. A cool wind blew across the field, but it did little to quell Lyon's nerves. But it did something for Natsu.

'The wind? Wait a minute. The wind! That's it!'

Racer was not the first-ever speedster Natsu had dealt with between Jet and Ben's speedy aliens. Yet, there was something different about the Oracion Seis speed demon. He couldn't pinpoint it at first due to how quickly the fight had progressed, but now, he knew.

Smiling like the cat that swallowed the canary, he was getting ready to start his comeback. 'Okay! Now that I know his trick, I can finally-'

'You are an impulsive annoyance that refuses to learn from anything.' A voice rang in Natsu's head. Bewildered, he looked around, causing the others to be confused by the rapid changes in his facial expressions.

'Ben? Why am I hearing him?'

'They think you're a disorganized and battered mess, and that plays into our hands.' There it was again. Natsu was confused as there shouldn't be any way for Ben to be talking to him in his head. He couldn't use Hibiki's telepathy.

As Natsu tried to ignore the strange phenomenon, he kept thinking about Ben. He kept thinking about what his fellow guildmate had said. 'A disorganized mess, huh?' Finally, breaking out of his introspection, Natsu knew what needed to be done.

"Lyon," Natsu whispered. "I've got a plan."

Looking at the uninhibited pyro, Lyon was understandably skeptical. "You… have a plan? Is this an actual plan, or is this just us charging blindly?"

"Yes, you frozen jerk! I have an actual plan. Geez, it's like working with Gray." Natsu groused.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm desperate enough to hear this plan." Lyon snarked with resignation. The unlikely pair quickly conversed with one another.

"Hey! Hurry it up, will you? I'm getting bored waiting for you two to make your last desperate play." Racer was waiting for them to break apart. So far, the only real concern he had was the ice nudist. Salamander was no concern to him whatsoever, despite the nicks the brat gave him. 'I'll give them this last chance. It'll be fun when the look of desperation and fear finally dawns on them. This is payback for ruining my rides and my looks!'

"Once I got a hold of him, that's when you run. You run as fast as you can, you got it?"

Lyon was doubtful of the success of this plan. "Natsu, this is incredibly risky and reckless, even by Fairy Tail's standards. What makes you so sure he'll go after you and not me?"

"Because I'm the one that's been pissing him off all this time. I'll be an easy target for him."

Lyon could see the validity in Natsu's words, which automatically got him worried. "Alright, you make some fair points, but there's still a lot of room for error in your plan. What if he doesn't buy it? How can you be so sure he won't suspect something is off?"

"It's like you said, Lyon. We use his arrogance against him. He's already letting us make a plan. He could have tried something by now already, but he hasn't. As long as we keep looking like the disorganized mess that the Oracion Sies sees us as… we got him."

Lyon hated to admit it, but Natsu was making sense. This crazy plan might actually work. "I trust Gray and Gray trusts you, so I'm willing to follow your plan. But I hope you're right. I'm getting low on magic."

Nodding his head, Natsu concentrated his magic into his arms. "With a flame in the right hand and a flame in the left hand..." As gravity pulled him back down, he gathered fire in both palms before combining them into one and then thrusting it into the ground. "...Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!"

"You idiot! You'll roast me alive!" Lyon shouted.

He quickly gathered as much magic as possible. "Ice-Make: Floor!"The polar opposite elemental magic spells collided with one another and created a steam bath that blanketed the field. When it cleared, several jagged fissures and rock outcrops stretched across a small radius that didn't quite reach Racer. Natsu grunted as he pulled himself out of a shallow crater. He growled at the ice wizard.

"What the hell are you doing!?"

"Me? You're the one that almost burned me to a crisp."

"I was trying to mess up the ground again to slow him down," Natsu growled at Lyon.

"Well, we should have used my ice. Clearly that works best as my magic doesn't threaten to melt my so-called teammate's legs off!"

"Oh, go blow it out your ass. We already tried ice. I'm going to melt him in his tracks. It's not my fault you can't pick up the signals. At least the ice princess could do that!" Natsu shouted.

"You would dare to disrespect your own guild member? Clearly, everyone is right about you being a selfish prick."

Racer stood right where he was, chuckling. "Oh man, you have got to be kidding me. I guess that little teamwork of theirs was just a fluke after all."

As Lyon and Natsu continued to argue, Racer called out to get their attention. "You guys may suck at this whole working together thing, but you're both pretty good as a comedy team. How about you give me about five minutes and I'll bring back some snacks for me to chow down on while I watch the old married couple routine?" Racer sneered at the bickering wizards.

"You can pop the popcorn for me, Salamander, and you can chill my soda, ice boy." The fire and ice duo scowled at the cheap insults.

"What did you say!" Natsu snarled.

"How dare you mock my powers!" Lyon barked.

"Alright, that's it! I'll get him this time. Just try to keep up with me, snowman. I'm going to bring a real firestorm this time." Natsu retried an earlier attack that Racer had interrupted the first time.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art:" The flames surrounded Natsu's body and became hotter than any of his previous attacks. "Flame Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist!" The air around Natsu ignited as he unleashed a barrage of rapid-fire punches within the blink of an eye. However, Racer vanished once again and none of Natsu's punches connected with him.

Natsu's frustration grew when his quickest attack spell failed to even faze the smug bastard. "Is that as fast as you can go, chump?" Racer taunted. "What happened to all that bravado from earlier!?"

Quickly gathering fire to both his hands, Natsu tried something he remembered seeing Ben do.

"Oh, yeah? Well, unlike your mediocre attacks, this one's got some real fire power in it. Fire Dragon Whirlwind." Natsu unleashed his fire while spinning around on one leg. The indiscriminate fire blasts were easily dodged by Racer, while Lyon had to bring up an ice shield to protect himself.

"You brainless buffoon! You're supposed to hurt him, not me!" Lyon shouted indignantly.

As Natsu continued to spin, his face began to puff out. He slowed down and looked like he wanted to vomit. He then created a fireball in his right hand as he wobbled about.

"F-f-fire Dra-dragon Tail F-flame," he weakly muttered out. With all his strength and momentum, he threw the fireball. Only he threw it skywards. He promptly fell on his back with swirls in his eyes. "Did I get him?"

"That was your plan?! Are you kidding me? How is it possible you haven't killed anyone on your team yet?" Lyon yelled, completely flabbergasted.

Racer just laughed and laughed at the pathetic display. "Wow! You're slow in more ways than one! I have to agree with Icy Nude over there. How is it that you've survived all this time?"

Lyon was fuming at the whole situation. 'Alright, guess it's time to play my part.'

"You damn fool! You're going to get us both killed! You are clearly no match for him." Natsu rolled onto his front, slowly got up, and stumbled forward as he raised a fist at Racer.

"S-sh-shut up," he said weakly. "I can take this path-pathetic loser…out."

"A loser am I, huh?" Racer kicked Natsu in the head. "I don't even have to use my top speed to put the brakes on you, Salamander." He slammed his foot into Natsu's chest.

'Yes! He's taken the bait!' Lyon rejoiced. However, Racer suddenly disappeared and attacked Lyon from behind. 'Oh, no!'

Racer quickly broke Lyon's left arm, causing him to scream out in pain. He followed up by driving his knee into Lyon's gut, causing him to double over in pain. Racer grabbed Lyon from behind as he pulled out a pocket knife from his uniform and held it at Lyon's neck.

"I don't know what the hell kind of stupid harebrained scheme you two were trying, but here's a little bit of critique for the both of you. Your acting stinks."

Natsu's eyes widened in shock. 'Damn it! He knew!'

"My attacks may be 'mediocre', but I don't need power to deal with either of you."

He continued to speak in a serious tone. "With my speed, I can easily take out any wizard before they have a chance to use any sort of fancy magic. Don't get me wrong, you both got some serious skills. But I'm one of the Oracion Seis. Six Generals. Six Prayers. Six Unwavering Pillars. Anyone who gets in our way will pay the final toll."

Natsu directed his gaze to the sky and spotted a shining dot. 'Damn it! I've to get Lyon out of this quick. Time's running out!' Thinking quickly, Natsu had one last trick to try. But he needed to distract Racer for a little bit.

"You make a good point. There's one problem though…you're not really fast, are you?" Natsu's statement caused Racer's eyes to widen slightly.

Lyon was a little surprised by the claim Natsu made.

"When you were dragging me around earlier, I felt a little sick. But that's just the thing, it was only a little bit. I've been dragged around a few times at super speed, and I've always felt like puking my guts out afterward." Natsu explained.

Lyon was confused as to where Natsu was going with this.

"I couldn't understand why until I realized something. There was no rush of air." His two listeners were becoming anxious at what the Dragon Slayer had to say.

"I've got a couple of friends back in the guild who are speedsters and whenever they run there's always a rush of air. I never once felt the air move around you... even when you were dragging me earlier." While he kept Racer distracted, Natsu had his hand stretched out and pointed towards Racer. More specifically, he had it pointed towards the hand that was holding the knife.

"That's when I figured it out... you're just making yourself look fast. Right?"

Racer gritted his teeth. He could hardly believe it. How could this bonehead have figured out the secret to his magic? Lyon himself was rather impressed that Natsu of all people figured out Racer's true magic.

'Using your own weakness to figure out your opponent's strength. That's certainly different,' Lyon inwardly mused.

Natsu grinned roguishly. The expression on his opponent's face verified his words. "So much for being the fastest man alive, huh?" He seemed calm on the outside, but on the inside, he was panicking.

'Come on! Work damn it!' Natsu kept pleading in his mind. Finally, traces of steam started to come off of Racer's hand. Racer himself was too enraged by Natsu to properly notice it.

The fake speedster growled. "Oh yeah?! I may not be truly fast, but it changes nothing! This is still the end of the road for both-"

A tiny flame had suddenly burst to life on Racer's hand. The sudden appearance of the flame and the heat it was giving off caused Racer to scream and flail his hand about. Lyon headbutted Racer with the back of his head, causing him to loosen his grip on him so he could slip away. Natsu raced forward and swiftly put the dazed dark wizard into a full nelson hold. Racer thrashed about as he tried to get loose.

"Let go of me, you moron!"

"Lyon, run now!" Natsu shouted.

Lyon moved as fast as he could although his bruises were making that difficult. Amidst his struggle, Racer had looked up towards the sky and spotted something. A shining light that was quickly growing in size.

"What the heck is that?"

"Heh," Natsu smirked. "It's my newest move. The one you thought I screwed up when I threw it in the air!"

Racer's eyes widened as he realized what the pyromaniac was talking about. "Wait... the attack from earlier... is that the same attack? How? It can't be!"

"The thing is... the longer the spell is active... the faster and hotter it becomes."

True to Natsu's words, the baseball-size fireball had more than quadrupled in size and was falling directly towards them like a meteor.

"Impossible!" Racer exclaimed in disbelief. "I thought you were motion sick! You tricked me!"

Natsu's grin widened. "Don't ever underestimate a member of Fairy Tail! We won't be stopped by anyone!"

"L-Let go!" Racer struggled in vain to break out of Natsu's vice-like hold.

"No way! I told you before slowpoke... YOU WON'T ESCAPE MY HEAT!"

Lyon had gotten far away enough when Natsu screamed his proclamation.

"No! It's... so fast!" Racer's vision was blinded by the brilliant light. 'My prayer...' Memories of Racer as a child running away from an accursed tower flashed through his mind. '...to be fast... faster than anyone else... that's all I want.'

The Tail Flame attack finally crashed into the earth with a thundering explosion; a fiery shockwave rippled across the plain while burning away any grass in its wake. A black mushroom cloud arose from the impact site and could be seen for miles.

Several moments later, the smoke dissipated enough to reveal Natsu and Racer lying in a thirty-foot-wide crater. The ground around them was, of course, scorched and cracked from the explosion.

Suddenly, Natsu's arm twitched as he groggily sat up. He didn't have any burns thanks to his immunity to fire, but he still suffered damage from Racer's attacks and the force with which his spell had hit them with.

"Man... that was a little more intense than I thought it'd be..."

He looked around and spotted Racer several yards in front of him. His clothing had burned away in several spots to reveal various burns and bruises across his body. Overall, his condition was pretty rough.

Natsu was worried for a moment he had overdone it and killed the Oracion Seis wizard. He crawled over to Racer's position and was relieved to see he was still breathing albeit weakly.

"Heh... To think there are five more as strong as you..." Natsu mused out loud.

"Yes, and hopefully our friends will be able to stop them." Lyon had slowly limped towards Natsu. Looking at the destruction, Lyon shook his head. "I'm must admit Natsu, I am impressed." He gestured towards Racer's prone body.

"Eh, this is nothing. I can make way bigger explosions than these." Natsu shrugged.

"No, I don't mean that. You showed some real intelligence back there. Figuring out Racer's magic was no easy feat. The others would be proud of you. Hopefully, the next time you think of a plan, it won't involve me cutting it close."

Natsu laughed a little before he smiled good-naturedly at Lyon. "Yeah, sorry about that. You okay?"

"I will survive."

"I don't think so," a voice growled out.

The Dragon Slayer and Ice-Make wizard both turned back in shock to see Racer shakily return to his feet. How could he still stand after enduring that explosion? He suddenly ripped off his tattered shirt and jacket, revealing a cylindrical device strapped to his chest.

"NONE OF YOU ARE GONNA SURVIVE!" He yelled out. "In the name of the mighty Oracion Seis, I'M TAKING YOU TO THE BIG CLOUD IN THE SKY!"

In the center of the device was a circular light display that appeared to be counting down.

"A bomb?!" Lyon's eyes widened.

"Are you serious?! You're gonna just throw your life away like that?!" Natsu exclaimed angrily.

"If I take you idiots out with me, then that's fine by me!" Racer rushed forward with a maniacal grin on his face.

"We'll see about that!" Natsu attempted to activate his fire magic but was shocked when he could only produce a few sparks. "Oh crap! I'm too low on power!"

"HA-HA-HA!" Racer madly cackled.

'I can try and eat the explosion, but I dunno if my body can take the backlash from another blast right now...' Natsu thought frantically. 'Then there's Lyon. How can I protect... wait...'

Before Natsu could react, Lyon rushed forward and wrapped his arms around a stunned Racer. The ice mage pointed his right hand out and, using the last of his magical power, created a giant spring that thrust himself and Racer forward over the side of a cliff.

Natsu's eyes widened as he could only look on in shocked confusion. "Lyon..."

As the bomb's timer winded down to its final seconds, Lyon closed his eyes.

'Ur... is this how you felt?'

The timer hit zero and, in a blinding flash, another explosion enveloped the area and echoed throughout the forest. Nearby trees at the base of the cliff were blown apart by the shockwave and burst into flames.

Natsu ran to the edge and looked down in horror.

"Lyon... w-what did you do..." He stammered.

He scanned the area for any signs of Lyon or Racer. His nose failed him as the smoke blocked out any other scents.

"Lyon... hey, Lyon! Are you okay down there? Answer me!" He shouted.

No response.

Only the sounds of the crackling fire and a few trees falling.

Natsu trembled as he could only look at the devastation.

"LYYYYOOOONNN!" Natsu cried out.

...

A/N: Big-time shout-outs to Jumpin' Jack Flash 7 and Insane Dominator for co-writing this chapter. They really helped me out here and I appreciate it.

Hey, everyone. I'm back.

Due to real-life commitments, TypingMonkey98 will be unable to continue Ultimate Fairy. I understood his position and decided to go ahead and re-take the reins for the story. I will be continuing it until I find someone else. I'll still be looking for a successor as I continue past the Oracion Seis arc, but I'm going to be WAY more selective this go around. If you're interested, PM me. I would prefer authors who have written stories with long story arcs and can manage their time well.

However, over the time that I've been away, I've realized that if I want to sustainably continue the story, I'll need to write more conservatively. So, if you take notice of any changes in my writing going forward with future chapters, just wanted to give you a heads up on that. If you feel it's for the better or worse, don't be afraid to call me out on it!

As for this chapter, this is not quite where I wanted to end it honestly. But I figured you fine readers have waited long enough for an update and wouldn't mind. I understand this chapter doesn't include Ben, but I hope that's okay. We'll refocus on him in the next chapter and show what's happened to him during the course of this chapter.

As usually, please be sure to leave any comments, critique, or suggestions in the review box. Until next time, Ultimate10 out!