Natsu and Makarov both ran towards the guild. Coming out of the alleyway, they suddenly found Lucy standing there. "Lucy, what are you doing here?", Natsu asked. Lucy looked uncomfortable, and seemed unsure how to respond. "Um… I uh, just got here. Uh… What are you doing here?" She replied.

"Never mind that, did you see what was happening over there? I thought I heard Laxus.", Makarov said.

"Oh yeah, I just saw him and the Thunder Legion coming out of the guild. There was some yelling too. I think something might have happened." Lucy said.

Wasting no time, Makarov said "Alright, let's go check. I doubt that all four of them stopped by just to say hello." They all ran over to the guild, going right up to the entrance. Before they could enter, they found Gajeel at the door. He was pressing against a magical barrier, unable to get out. Upon seeing Natsu, he sneered "Salamander." Natsu just stared at him and asked "What's happened?"

Gajeel looked annoyed. "Seems I can't leave. Magical barrier." Gajeel knocked on the barrier for emphasis. "Maybe someone could help with that? Oh yeah, and there are a bunch of people here that got turned to statues too. That glasses girl did it." Makarov considered all of this. "Magical barriers, and statues. I'm guessing Freed created the barriers. Probably under orders from Laxus.", he said with some anger.

"Yeah, Laxus said something about you letting him be guildmaster in three hours or they turn to dust. And something about a battle.", Gajeel explained.

"If it's a fight he wants, I'll give it to him.", Natsu said.

"We all will. Those of us that can.", said Makarov. In the distance, they all saw a bunch of fellow guild members trapped in a barrier, fighting each other. "Just so you know, if I get stuck in one of those, I won't hesitate to kick anyone else's ass, even if they're a guildmate." Natsu said.

"They're not seriously being forced to fight each other? I don't want to fight other Fairy Tail members.", said Lucy.

"I don't want that either. We need to put a stop to this. We need to find Laxus." Makarov said.

"For the record though, I don't think Laxus would actually kill anyone in the guild.", Natsu said.

Just then, Happy came flying down. "You guys, what's going on here?" the cat asked.

"Good timing Happy. Look, I need you to fly me around. I'll explain what's happening. Don't waste time, just grab me.", Natsu said.

"Aye sir." Happy grabbed Natsu and flew off.

"So reckless…", Makarov muttered. "Lucy, it might be a good idea for us to split up, but be careful. You might want to try to keep distance from other members until we find Laxus, just in case."

"Okay master.", Lucy agreed.

"What about me?", asked Gajeel. "We'll help you, and the others, by defeating Laxus, or maybe even reasoning with him." Makarov said. But he knew that reasoning with Laxus was unlikely to work right now. "Let's go.", he said.

Makarov and Lucy split off in different directions.


Lucy started moving fast, but while doing her best not to get caught in a trap. She actually saw several other Fairy Tail members moving about, so maybe the traps weren't as numerous as they first thought. She still had to be careful though. Lucy entered into an open area, with various lights and statues around. She looked around, and saw none of Laxus' crew, just a few random townspeople. Lucy briefly reflected that this wasn't at all how she saw this day going. She wasn't sure what to expect exactly, but certainly not having to get into a big fight against other Fairy Tail mages. Lucy's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when an explosion went off a few feet away from her. It barely missed her.

"So close", a voice above said. Lucy looked up. She saw Evergreen flying above, using her fairy wings. "Lucy Heartfilia. Looks like you're unlucky enough to have run into me. I was hoping for a more challenging opponent, but beating you will be fun anyway." A stream of glittering dust began heading towards Lucy. "Oh shit!", Lucy said, and quickly jumped aside. Not a second too soon, as the place where she had been was filled with a small explosion.

Evergreen laughed. "You don't actually think you stand a chance, do you? Might as well just lay down and surrender, you dumb blonde." Evergeen reached for her glasses. "I know how to keep you in place." As she took the glasses off, Lucy remembered the statues back at the guild, and quickly turned away. "You can't avoid my explosions and avoid looking at me. And if you can't do both, you can't fight me.". Lucy knew that Evergreen had a point. Lucy had gotten lucky so far, but she needed to do something fast or she was going to get taken out.

Lucy ran behind a statue, while avoiding looking at Evergreen. "God, you're pathetic. I'm not even putting in any real effort here. You always were the weak link of the so-called "Strongest Team.", Evergreen mocked. Evergreen's comments actually hurt Lucy, because she knew there was some truth to them. She was never as strong as Natsu, or Erza, or even Gray for that matter. Not that Lucy didn't have power of her own, but it didn't compare to theirs. They were not only stronger, but better fighters as well. But she could at least take down Evergreen. At least, she hoped so. She just had to think of the right strategy. She decided to use her key to call forth Leo, aka Loke. Within seconds he appeared before her.

"Lucy, good to see you again." He looked up and saw another stream of dust. "Obviously, the circumstances could be better though." He quickly picked her up and jump several yards away with her, avoiding the explosion. He set her down and walked out to face Evergreen. "This won't save you Lucy.", Evergreen said.

Loke leapt towards Evergreen, but she flew out of the way, and set an explosion off where he jumped, knocking him to the ground. "Loke, are you okay?", Lucy called. "I'm fine Lucy.", he said.

"For now.", Evergeen added. She sent more explosions to both their locations. Loke dodged, while Lucy's arm suffered a minor burn. She yelled in pain. Loke ran to her. They both hid behind a bigger statue near a fountain. "Lucy- ", Loke began. "I'm fine.", Lucy assured him. "I need you to distract her. I think I can take her down." A crowd was starting to gather. That could be dangerous. "Okay Lucy. But just so you know, I might end up taking her down first, so you don't have to."

"I wouldn't complain." She added. Just then, the top of the statue blew off. "Even for you Lucy, this seems low effort. Do you know anything about combat, or do you just run and hide?", Evergreen again said mockingly. Lucy wasn't sure if she was more bothered by the insults, or by the fact that they bothered her so much.

"Maybe if I start targeting some of these onlookers that will lure you out…" Evergreen said. But then, Loke ran out to the side, quickly drawing Evergreen's attacks. At that point Lucy called on Sagittarius. It was difficult for Lucy to call a second spirit, and she wouldn't be able to maintain it for long. "Sagittarius, target her wings and take her out of the sky!", Lucy commanded. The horse archer nodded and readied his bow. Evergreen was aware of her surroundings though. Before he could get a shot, Evergreen sent blasts of energy at him. He was hit, but still standing. Lucy had already moved. Loke continued to distract her, but she had started flying towards him. She was stronger than she looked, and could potentially take him out. But Lucy, taking advantage of Evergreen's momentary focus on Loke, used her whip to grab Evergreen's leg mid-flight. This stopped her in mid-air. The archer then used arrows to attack her wings. She fell to the ground. Evergreen turned and spitefully shot a magic blast at Lucy, hitting her legs. Lucy got down to one knee. Loke kicked Evergreen hard in the face, which would likely leave a black eye. But suddenly, both he and Sagittarius disappeared. Lucy had used up a lot of magic.

She was still able to stand though. Evergreen was still conscious. She was about to attack Lucy with another magic spell, but Lucy ran over and kicked her in the face, maybe a little harder than she intended. That might leave another black eye. Lucy looked down at Evergreen. "Oh shit, I didn't mean to knock her out like that. I wanted to get her to unfreeze the others. I hope that 'turn to dust' stuff was a bluff." Though Lucy was in bad shape, she knew she needed to continue on if she was able. She didn't know what she would be able to do with such little power left, but she couldn't just stand here. She left the area as quickly as she was able.


Natsu and Happy had been flying around Magnolia for several minutes, seeing if they could spot Laxus. So far, no luck. Under different circumstances Natsu probably wouldn't have minded this battle between guildmates stuff. May have even enjoyed it. But his mind was elsewhere right now. Still… He would enjoy fighting Laxus at least. It might give him a chance to work off some of the anger he's feeling.

"Natsu, do you have any idea where Laxus is?", Happy asked.

"No Happy, that's why we're looking for him.", Natsu replied.

"Did Laxus mention where he was going before he left the guild? Maybe he left a clue? Maybe we should have asked Gajeel- "

"Maybe, maybe, maybe. Doesn't matter, we'll find him. But I'd settle for one of his lackeys."

Just then, a flying object came at the two of them. Happy managed to dodge it in time, but was left a little shaken. "What was that?", the cat asked.

"That was me, kitty.", said a voice from a nearby rooftop. Natsu turned toward the sound, and saw Bickslow. He was surrounded by several of his flying dolls. Bickslow was dressed in his usual black and white outfit with helmet. Bickslow stood there, spreading his arms wide, daring Natsu to come after him. Several of his dolls were flying about him. "Come on Dragneel, let's see what you got." He was baiting Natsu. Natsu didn't care.

"Drop me, Happy!", Natsu called out.

"But- "

"Just do it!"

Happy complied and dropped Natsu almost above Bickslow. Natsu summoned fire into his arm. "Get him babies!", Bickslow called. Two of his "babies" flew toward Natsu and exploded near him, knocking him back. Natus could handle fire better than most, and wasn't hurt bad. He managed to land on his hands and knees. Happy flew down to Natsu. Natsu hurled a couple fireballs at Bickslow, but his dolls blocked them. "What now Natsu?", Happy asked.

"How about this?", Bickslow called out. Happy and Natsu turned to look. They hadn't noticed that Bickslow had taken his helmet off. Natsu closed his eyes in time, but Happy didn't. He looked into Bickslow's eyes, and began to falter. He fell to the ground. He was falling under Bickslow's control.

"Now you're all alone Natsu, but I've got allies.", Bickslow said. In a surprising move, Natsu grabbed Happy and threw him off the roof. Bickslow was surprised by this. "Woah, that was cold. But it won't save you." Bickslow's dolls had come together, and fired a beam at Natsu. It hit, but Natsu still stood. Natsu clenched his teeth from the magical damage. Gathering his strength, Natsu summoned flames around himself. This burned up one of the dolls and forced Bickslow to back up. "You know, I can just get more allies." He looked down at the street below, and saw a few people, onlookers who had heard the noise and were curious. Bickslow made to jump off, but Natsu used his trademark fire dragon roar. Bickslow jumped. Natsu's attack partially hit him, burning the opponent's lower half. He fell to the ground below.

Natsu walked over and looked down. Bickslow was down, but still conscious. Bickslow looked up at the now scared citizens, and smiled at them. But before he could do anything, Natsu dropped a fist into his back from above, after jumping off the roof himself. The onlookers now ran away. Bickslow was now defeated. But now Natsu couldn't question him.

Natsu sat beside Bickslow for a moment, groaned, and got up. Now that the fight was over, and the adrenaline was wearing off, Natsu realized he was more beat up than he thought. He turned around a corner, and walked over to a dumpster. It was the dumpster full of trash Natsu had thrown Happy into earlier. Happy groaned a little.

"What happened?", Natsu's diminutive friend asked.

"Sorry Happy, Bickslow had gotten hold of you and I had to toss you. but I did it to protect both of us. It was easier this way."

"If you say so…"

"Anyway, I finished Bickslow. Got to admit, he was tougher than I thought. Anyway, you ready to fly again?"

Happy felt a little sore from being thrown. "Can you give me a minute? I did get thrown off of a roof, you know."

Natsu decided a short break couldn't hurt, especially since they just took out one of the threats. "Okay. We'll wait a minute."


Lucy had been moving around the city, looking for other Fairy Tail members (but while making sure to keep her distance, lest they get trapped together). The only ones that she encountered were either unconscious or currently fighting each other, and not inclined to talk to her. Unconsciously or not, she had ended up moving closer to the center of the city. She had recovered a little from her previous battle, but still was far from full power.

After turning down another street, Lucy happened upon a few Fairy Tail members still standing, but were currently trapped in a magical barrier. It was Cana and Levy McGarden. After a moment, Lucy also noticed that there was a third person in there, on the ground. It was Max, another guildmember. Apparently, he had already been defeated. As for Cana and Levy, the two of them were facing each other, since they both knew that the barrier would only disappear when there was a winner.

"Levy, Cana, its good to see you two!", Lucy said from outside the barrier. Both of them abruptly turned towards her at the sound of her voice. They had apparently not noticed her approach. "Lucy, I wasn't expecting to see you.", Levy said. "Yeah, its good to see you Lucy, but this isn't the best time. Me and Levy need to finish up here.", added Cana.

"Wait, you guys shouldn't be fighting, we're on the same team.", Lucy replied.

"Just the way it has to be", Cana said. She drew a few cards, readying an attack.

"You know, maybe Lucy has a point, we could try talking about this.", Levy suggested. She didn't look eager to battle Cana. Lucy wondered if this was because Levy didn't want to get hurt, or because she didn't want to hurt Cana.

"There's no other way.", Cana said, as she threw a card at Levy that turned into a fireball. Levy dodged it, but tripped and fell.

"Cana, wait. Maybe there is another way.", Lucy said. "You can use that spell… What was it? Card Dimension! Maybe that would work, and you wouldn't have to hurt each other. Uh, any more than you already have."

Cana stopped to think about this. "Hmm."

"Wait, what is that?", Levy questioned.

"Well, it shouldn't hurt. But it'll be easier to perform if you don't fight me, Levy."

"Umm, okay…", Levy said, unsure.

Cana drew another card, and performed the spell. Levy was pulled into the card, which Levy didn't appear entirely comfortable with. Cana looked around at the barrier, which was still up. "Well, now what?", Cana said. Lucy looked disappointed. But then, after a few seconds the barrier collapsed.

"Huh, it worked.", Cana said. "I never doubted it.", Lucy lied.

"So, what now?" Cana said.

"Now we can look for Laxus together. But first, you might want to release Levy.", Lucy said.

"Oh, yeah." Cana used her magic to release Levy from the card. Levy appeared before them, unharmed, but a little flustered. "Well, that was weird!", she said.

"I'm just glad you're both okay.", Lucy said, smiling.

"What about Max?", Levy asked. The three of them looked down at him, still on the ground. He was breathing, and didn't seem hurt too badly. "I think he'll be alright. We can come back for him later. Not to mention everyone else…", Lucy remarked. "Now we just need to pick a direction." At that moment, they heard a loud noise not too far away. They turned to look. "Did that come from the cathedral?", Levy asked. A second later, another noise, followed by the sound of a window being blown out by lightning.

"Yeah, that was definitely the church, and we can all guess who's in there.", Cana said.

"Who is he fighting though?", Levy said.

"Maybe its Natsu?", Lucy suggested.

"Guess we'll find out. Let's go!", Cana said. Without another word, the three of them set off for Kardia Cathedral.


Laxus sat alone in Kardia Cathedral. He was currently watching some of the fights going on around the city, through the use of a magical lacrima. He would like to be able to say that it was all going according to plan, but truthfully it wasn't. Things had gone wrong. Makarov was supposed to be trapped inside of the guildhall, but he was nowhere to be seen. Maybe Laxus could locate him through the lacrima given a little more time, but still. Some guild members not showing up made things a little more unpredictable too. When Laxus was planning this, he was sure that he knew where most people would be. But this funeral stuff had thrown things off. Natsu wasn't at the guildhall either, but that much Laxus at least half expected.

Natsu hadn't been around much recently. However, Laxus did see Natsu take out Bickslow earlier. That wasn't a complete surprise, Natsu is pretty tough for a non-S -class wizard. But what did surprise Laxus was Lucy Heartfilia of all people defeating Evergreen. Laxus had always seen Lucy as a joke, so her defeating Evergreen made Laxus consider that he might have made a mistake having Evergeen as a member of his team. But there was one other problem too…

Before Laxus could do anymore scrying, Freed entered the cathedral. Laxus looked up. Freed expected Laxus to be annoyed at his presence. Instead, Laxus just said "Freed, just the man I wanted to talk to."

"Oh, you do?" Freed replied.

"Yeah. I was actually hoping you could answer a question." Freed suddenly suspected he knew where this was going. Laxus must have noticed. Laxus continued, "So, I've been watching things, and it looks like there's a problem. Remember when I told you to put up all of those magical runes, and you said you would?" Laxus' voice was gaining a subtle menacing edge to it.

"Laxus, I can exp- ", Freed started, but Laxus cut him off.

"It seems that you didn't put all of them up. People are running through areas that should have trapped them, and there are more pests left standing then there should be right now." Laxus voice was rising. "So, my question is, what the hell happened? You had a job to do, and this is the result? You better have a good explanation."

Freed hesitated. "Laxus… I did put up the majority of the barriers. But I stopped. It didn't feel right."

"It didn't feel right?", Laxus said incredulously.

"I mean… the guild is still mourning Erza Scarlet, and they dedicated this event to her, so… I just couldn't finish."

Laxus still looked incredulous. He lowered his head. "Let me get this straight; you decided to sabotage my plan over that worthless bitch? She's more important to you than me?"

"No, Laxus, I was thinking of the guild. This wasn't easy. I've been thinking this over for a little while. I didn't mean to hurt you. I wanted to tell you earlier, but..." Freed trailed off.

Laxus stood there a moment. Without warning, he fired a bolt of lightning at Freed, hitting him in the chest. Freed fell to the ground, injured. "You were thinking of the guild? You're supposed to be loyal to only me! This guild needs me as its master, and I deserve to be its master. I won't let you or anyone else stop me."

Freed felt very conflicted, divided between his loyalty to Laxus and his conscience. "Laxus please, forgive me. I can still help you.", Freed begged.

Laxus threw another bolt of lightning at Freed, hurting him further. Freed cried out in pain. "No. I don't need your help, traitor. I'll do this alone if I have to. I still have the Thunder Palace."

"That's enough.", another voice called out at the entrance. Neither Laxus nor Freed had noticed anyone else enter. Laxus looked up at the new arrival. "You! I wasn't expecting to see you here." Laxus cracked his knuckles. "But since you showed up, beating you will send a pretty clear message."

The person at the entrance was the mysterious figure known only as Mystogan. He was dressed in his usual ninja-like garb, covered from head to foot. His face was hidden by a mask. He carried several magical staves on his back, which is how he performs his magic. He stood facing Laxus, but since Mystogan's face was covered, his expression was unreadable.

"Give up or prepare to battle. But if it comes to that, you won't win.", Mystogan said in his formal manner.

Laxus laughed. "You think I'm scared of a guy who's too much of a coward to show his own face? What do you have to hide?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm here now." Mystogan drew a stave, preparing to attack. Before he could, Laxus blasted electricity at him. Mystogan quickly dodged the attack. Mystogan suddenly turned into mist, and quickly moved to another area, catching Laxus off guard. He reappeared behind Laxus, and quickly threw three staves down. The floor beneath Laxus exploded with magical energy. Laxus wasn't able to dodge it, but was able to withstand it. He quickly recovered. Taking a few steps forward, Laxus used his lightning dragon roar, firing it at the masked opponent. But Mystogan had enough time to call up a spell known as "mirror water", which can reflect spells. Laxus' attack was fired back, but Laxus was able to withstand it. He is all but immune to electrical attacks.

"I'm a lightning dragon slayer. You can't expect to beat me with those sticks.", Laxus said. During this whole thing, Freed was nearby, still hurt. He could get involved, but he wasn't sure what to do. His instinct was to help Laxus, but Laxus made it clear he didn't want Freed's help at this point. Besides, Freed wasn't sure if he still wanted to help in Laxus' plan. As for the two combatants, Laxus fired several more blasts at Mystogan, but he ran fast enough to dodge them. One of the blasts blew out a window.

The two men stopped to catch a breath. Then, they both started drawing energy. They were both preparing a big attack against the other one. The cathedral hall began to glow with magical energy. Mystogan was now using all five staves, and Laxus was nearly ready to unleash his power. But then a large fireball came rushing at Laxus, hitting him and knocking him off balance. Mystogan canceled his attack to see what had happened. Of course, it was Natsu. "After all the trouble I went through finding you, I think I'm entitled to give you a beatdown.", Natsu said with his usual bravado.

Mystogan, taking a few steps back into the shadow, said "I can handle this. But you can take up the fight if I happen to fail."

"Don't think so.", Natsu said plainly.

"It doesn't matter, I'll take you both on.", Laxus said.

"Well, what about us?" The voice, coming from the entrance, belonged to Cana Alberona. She was flanked by Lucy and Levy. "Oh, what the hell? These chicks managed to make it here too? God damnit Freed.", Laxus said, obviously feeling this was Freed's fault for not doing his job.

"Natsu, I knew I'd find you here.", Lucy said. "Yeah, but no time for talking. Gotta deal with this.", Natsu said.

"Let us help you.", Lucy replied.

"No. Leave Laxus to me. I can take him."

"But Natsu- ", before Lucy could finish, Natsu ran off towards Laxus. He ignited his fists and pounded at Laxus. Laxus fought back, upper cutting Natsu, knocking him back. Natsu yelled and charged again, throwing fire along the way. Laxus dodged most of it, and punched Natsu in the stomach, at which point Natsu fell to his knees. "Jeez, did Bickslow do that much of a number on you? Or are you just all talk?", Laxus mocked. Natsu delivered a surprise uppercut of his own. Laxus staggered back. Natsu capitalized by delivering several more quick punches to Laxus' face, but Laxus then grabbed Natsu and threw him to the ground hard. Laxus shoved his foot into Natsu's abdomen. Laxus gathered lightning for an attack. He raised his fist in preparation of slamming it into Natsu with the power of his lightning behind it. But he suddenly felt something holding his arm back. He turned. Lucy had hooked her whip around his arm.

"You stupid bimbo.", Laxus said. "Let go or I'll- ", Laxus suddenly felt a strong blast of water in his face. It was Cana, who had used a card to attack him. Laxus, enraged, called forth a powerful surge of electricity, blasting it in a radius around him. His opponents were knocked back, giving him a moment to recover.

Meanwhile, Levy was trying to think of what spell to use. But then she noticed Mystogan, still standing there in the shadows. "Hey, you're Mystogan, right? You're an S-class mage. If you help us, we should be able to beat Laxus quickly!" Mystogan, turning towards her, gave no response. "Come on, we need your help!", she insisted. Mystogan looked around at the group that had gathered in the church.

"Actually, I think I should go now. I believe you can handle this.", he said in a hushed voice.

"What, no! Don't go, we still need you." But just as she said that, Mystogan indeed disappeared before her eyes, leaving her staring at an empty space. "Thanks a lot.", Levy said sarcastically. Levy turned back to the fight, noticing that Natsu had gotten back up. Laxus had taken a moment to recover. Lucy and Cana were holding a key and card respectively, preparing their own attacks. Laxus looked around at the people surrounding him.

"Alright, that's enough of these games.", he said. Laxus smiled. He had just done something. "I just activated the Thunder Palace, a series of lightning lacrimas spread around the city. I was saving this as a last resort. I would have liked to have set it for a while from now, give you all a chance to sweat. But I'm getting pretty annoyed now, so I set it for fifteen minutes. When it goes off, it'll destroy all of Magnolia."

"You're bluffing.", Natsu said.

"I'm not.", Laxus replied, with a dead serious look on his face.

"Okay, we can talk about this.", Lucy said.

"Too late for that , girlie. Surrender now or the town is destroyed."

A tense moment passed where they stood there, the Fairies not sure what to do. Outside, someone else was approaching the cathedral. More guild members? At any rate, it didn't take Natsu long to decide that the best course of action was to beat Laxus until he surrendered. He rushed at Laxus, and they quickly renewed their fight. Meanwhile, Jet entered the Cathedral. Jet was the fastest member of the guild, so if there were still other members out there standing, it made sense he would make it here before them. "Did I make it in time to help?", he asked.

"Maybe, I hope. Is there anyone else?", Levy asked.

"Yeah, Master Makarov found a couple others, but a lot of the guild is down. But Makarov's group should be here soon. Unless they get caught."

"We have no time to lose.", Cana said. Laxus is going to set off lightning lacrimas around the city. It could destroy everything. We can try fighting Laxus, and maybe get him to deactivate them. Or we can try to take them out ourselves, with very little time. Natsu already made his choice." At that moment Natsu and Laxus actually crashed through a window, taking the fight outside.

"I'll try to use my speed to take out at least a few of them." Jet said. He immediately set off to look for the closest ones.

"Hope he makes it. Well girls, I guess we know what to do. We should try to take out a few of them too.", Cana said.

"I'll help too.", Freed said. The others had almost forgotten he was there. "I admit this has gone too far. I'll do what I can." Cana just shrugged. "Alright, whatever we're gonna do we need to do it now." They all ran off towards the lacrimas.


Natsu and Laxus were still brawling in the street. They were both winded, but Natsu was worse off. Natsu tried to power up his flames, but found that it wasn't quite as much as he would like. Electricity streaked around Laxus, and he appeared to be getting a second wind. They both fired magic blasts at each other, both pushing each other back. Natsu was forced down to one knee, while Laxus was still standing. "You can't beat me.", Laxus stated plainly. "I have to." Natsu said, through clenched teeth. Laxus surprised Natsu with a blow to the face, knocking him down. Before Laxus could capitalize, he saw Freed with the three girls running towards him. He prepared to attack, before realizing they weren't running at him. They were passing by, towards the Lacrimas nearby. Laxus smirked at this. "Even if you take out a few, you can't get them all. They'll blast you if you try." They ignored him and kept running. In the distance, a big electrical noise could be heard. Maybe someone had already tried taking one out. Laxus shrugged and turned back to Natsu.

Meanwhile, Lucy and the others arrived at a line of lacrimas. There was a little distance between them, but not too much. Cana decided to try first. She used a card, and threw it at a lacrima, exploding it. The lacrima was destroyed. "Alright!", Cana said. Lucy raised a hand to high five her, but then a lightning bolt struck Cana, knocking her to the ground. There was smoke coming off of her body. "Cana, no!", Lucy said. She rushed over to check on Cana. She was alive, but badly hurt.

"Will she be okay?", Levy asked.

"I don't know. I hope so.", Lucy said.

Levy looked afraid. "So, I guess I'm next."

"No, I'll go next. I'll try to take out several at once.", said Freed.

"That sounds like suicide! You saw what happened to Cana when she took out just one.", Lucy said.

Freed hesitated. "I have to do something, right? I played a part in this. If something happens, tell Laxus… never mind. Just wish me luck." Using his magic, Freed inscribed some runes onto himself, growing a pair of wings. He took flight, and positioned himself to attack the lacrimas. He then used his "dark ecriture" to cast a "destruction" spell, and flew towards the lacrimas. He quickly slashed a few of them with his sword while flying through the air. He prepared to use the same spell again to take out a few more, readying himself. But before he could, he was struck by several lighting attacks at once, which violently blew him several yards away. He crashed against the side of a building, with his head and upper body taking most of the impact. A loud crunch sound could be heard by Lucy and Levy nearby. Freed lay collapsed on the street. Lucy rushed over to him, just as she had done with Cana. Freed appeared in far worse shape than Cana. He was severely burned, was bleeding, and appeared to have broken bones.

"We need to help him.", Lucy said. "Yeah, but we still need to get those other lacrimas too.", Levy added.

"Maybe I can summon Taurus to carry him somewhere for help. Porlyusica the healer? And the two of us can take out a few more."

Levy shook her head. "I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to move someone when they've been injured like that, Lucy. We could end up making it worse." Lucy looked indecisive. "We've only got a few minutes to do something, Lucy. Its now or never.", Levy said.

Looking at Freed, Lucy suddenly though of something. "Maybe we can get Laxus to stop this now.", Lucy said. Without explaining, she ran back towards Laxus and Natsu. She ran quickly, and it wasn't far. When she got there, she saw Laxus and Natsu, but Makarov had arrived as well. He was standing between Laxus and Natsu. Laxus was still standing. Natsu was on one knee, and breathing heavily, but still looked like he was willing to fight. Makarov was apparently in the middle of saying something already.

"Laxus, stop this now. I won't ask again. Innocent people will get hurt." Makarov looked like he was willing to fight too. Laxus looked less cocky, but still defiant. "I need help!", Lucy interrupted. "Cana has been hurt, and Freed was hurt really badly after taking out several lacrimas himself. I think he might be… dying." Lucy had hoped this would convince Laxus to stop this. She didn't know Laxus or his legion well, but they were seemingly close with each other. Laxus appeared hesitant, but said nothing.

"Laxus, if this is true, then one of your own comrades could end up dying because of you. Do you really want that? What kind of leader would you be then?", Makarov asked.

Laxus stiffened. "He won't die. This is bullshit. She's lying. I'll prove it. Where is he?"

"This way!" Lucy said. She ran as fast as she could go with the others following behind. Even though Natsu was injured, he made sure to follow as well. They arrived at the scene. Cana was still unconscious. Levy was down to, having taken out a single lacrima. And of course Freed was still lying bleeding and broken nearby. Lucy wasn't sure if he looked worse then she remembered, or if his condition was worsening already. His breath was shallow, and he was turning pale. Laxus looked down at Freed, standing silent.

"Laxus, we might be able to save him, but you need to deactivate the Thunder Palace. Now. If he dies, then his death, as well as anyone else who gets hurt, will be on your head.", Makarov said.

"If he dies, I'll kill you.", Natsu growled. Lucy was shocked, because the expression on Natsu's face made it look like he might actually mean it. There was only about a minute to spare. Time was almost up. Several of the lacrimas had been destroyed, which would reduce the damage, but a lot of destruction would still occur if they fired. Laxus appeared to gather himself. Finally, without saying a word, Laxus deactivated the lacrimas. They were no longer charged, and the town was now safe.

"Thank heavens.", Makarov said. The Battle for Fairy Tail had come to an unceremonious end.


End Notes:

Obviously this chapter is an alternate version of the events of The Battle For Fairy Tail from the canon. I decided to go a different direction with it than the series. If anyone wants to share any opinions on it, feel free.

Also, since Mystogan appears here, and Porlyusica is mentioned, I feel that now is a good time to mention that I will not be touching the Edolas stuff in this story, aside from those two characters. Largely because I don't feel that it would really fit in the story I want to tell here. So, no other Edolas characters will appear, including Pantherlily. In addition, in this story Lisanna never went to Edolas, she was actually killed by Elfman (accidentally of course). This doesn't mean that Edolas doesn't exist in this AU. It just means that, for one reason or another, they won't be getting involved with Earth Land. Feel free to come up with your own explanation for that if you want.