Disclaimer: The following story is a fan made work of fiction. Fairy Tail and Mahou Sensei Negima! are owned and written by Hiro Mashima and Ken Akamatsu respectively. Please support their official releases.

Chapter 5

Carried Away

Gray turned around in the mirror as he checked out the new threads he had picked up. The girl's wardrobe had quite the selection for men and it had taken him a long time before he had settled on his current outfit. Clad in a new pair of dark grey cargo pants, black shoes, and collared white shirt that had been passed to him by a slim figured doll, Gray felt almost normal. He threw on the dark blue jacket with cream trim that had taken him forever to find and grinned.

The dolls may be psychopathic maniacs, but they sure knew their way around needle and thread. The outfit fit him nearly as well as the spirit-made clothes he had picked up from his trip to the Celestial Spirit World. He gave his sleeves a quick twist to straighten the cloth and turned around once more. The coat had just the right amount of flare to it as well.

Looking at the bobbing wisp that floated nearby, he held up four fingers. "I'll take four other outfits like this one, with an extra shirt for each, in the colors that we discussed." The wisp bobbed and flew away, leaving Gray alone with the robotic doll that had guided him to the wardrobe. Acknowledging her presence put a sour taste in his mouth, but that's where things would have ended. Then the doll had tried to brush her hand across his neck.

Gray's pulse skyrocketed as his mind flashed back to his three days of hell. One of his hands snapped up and instinctively grabbed the doll's hand. His other hovered over its elbow joint, a hairsbreadth from snapping it. Gray could feel his heart pounding as he restrained himself.

"Touch me without permission, doll, and I will break you." His eyes bore into her own. The damn doll needed to back off."We clear?" Gray tightened his grip and readied himself to make good on his threat.

The thing just stared at him with her head cocked to one side. If he didn't know better, it almost looked confused by his actions. But it was just a doll animated by magic, Gray told himself. Any emotion it may have possessed was only a simulation and not actually real.

Eventually it nodded its head and Gray let go of its arm. He stared warily at it, but the thing didn't move to touch his neck again. It merely stepped back and beckoned for him to follow once again. "This way, Mr. Gray. My Master and the others await us."

Gray felt a cold sweat run down his neck as he watched the doll move. His breath came in tight bunches and his muscles felt tight throughout his body. It was only with a supreme force of will that he calmed himself down and followed it. Thoughts of the past few days ran through his mind as they walked through the building's great stone corridors. The hellish contraptions had attacked him without mercy and hunted him without rest. They had punched, stabbed, and almost killed him. He had never been so close to death in his life, nor so powerless since his foolish attempt to stop Deliora.

A comparison he felt was apt given the nature of their master. Even remembering her caused Gray's blood pressure to spike. When she had been fighting Natsu in the room, the girl had felt to be on the same level as Elfman or Juvia. Powerful, but well within the scope of his own power. Yet when she had fought Gray, the girl's power had been unreal. He hadn't felt someone with that much sheer power since Gildarts, and even that might not be a true comparison.

Standing up to it had been like a badger trying to stop a crashing boulder. No matter how stubborn the badger was, the boulder would win in the end. And this particular badger had learned to be wary until he knew which power level was true.

Following the false construct soon brought him to a large amphitheater. Including Natsu and the girl, there were four people already present. Two strange men, one who seemed to be Romeo's age while the other looked to be a few years older than Gray. A closer look at the older one made Gray pause. Although his aura was kept tight around his body, the man radiated power. He would be one to keep an eye on. The kid, meanwhile, had quite a bit of power but seemed untrained in how to use it.

Gray looked back to where Natsu lay on a stone bench with his scarf over his eyes. Although his hair was damp, and a few tears were present in his ridiculous red shirt, the man's head was no longer encased in a block of ice; a significant improvement from the last time Gray had seen his friend.

A quick look at the girl showed charred areas on her uniform, but nothing serious by Natsu's standards. She also held two pieces of paper bearing Natsu's face in one hand, stroking them softly with a dark smile on her face. Gray shuddered and turned away, walking to his fellow Fairy sat. He eased down beside the man.

A few minutes passed before the dragon slayer took the scarf off of his head and looked at Gray with one eye. "You cooled down, Gray? Or do you still feel like going at it?"

Typical Natsu, Gray thought to himself. The man always knew how to push Gray's buttons. He thinks I'm just as big a moron as he is. What a pain to deal with.

Gray kept his annoyance from his face as he replied. "I'm always cool, flame-brain. And while we can go whenever you want, let's keep it on hold for the time being." Things were too pressing to fight over, even if it was with Natsu. "You have any idea what's going on with us? Because I have a few guesses, and none of them are good news."

Natsu sat up with a grunt and placed both elbows on his knees. He looked Gray in the eyes for a moment before looking away again. That caused Gray to sit up straight and run one hand through his black hair. If Natsu was still acting like this then things were really bad.

"The old coot's spell sent us to an entirely different world," Natsu spoke softly. "But it's not like Edolas; no one here knows Fairy Tail or Fiore. And to make matters worse, you're the only familiar face I've seen since getting here. No weird fake versions, and no sign of any of the others from the hotspring."

The two sat in silence as the other three wizards watched them interact with one another. It seemed as though Gray's worst theory had come true. He and Natsu were well and truly screwed. With no knowledge of the land and no idea where their comrades were, this was a disaster. And judging by Natsu's face and the way he played with his scarf, the normally irrepressible mage felt the same.

Gray felt the anxiety that had sent him into a blackout begin to rise once again. This time he shoved it down, placing it into a box and closing the lid. He had not broken in any of his previous trials. This would be no exception. Stuck in a strange land and torn apart from their comrades, he and Natsu needed to come up with a plan.

They were Fairy Tail, and Fairy Tail stuck together. He slapped Natsu's shoulder, shaking the man out of his funk and grabbing his attention once more. "Alright Natsu. Let's swap stories and see what we can figure out. We'll find a way to save everyone – it's what we do." Gray held out his fist for Natsu to bump. The fire mage hit it with a grin and renewed fire in his eyes.

They spoke to one another for over an hour. When Natsu told Gray about how he had met the young Negi and his companions as they fought in a forest, Gray had nearly fallen off his stone seat. Picturing a naked Natsu shocking four girls as he tried to speak with them, fighting a crazy swordswoman and getting mauled by a bear only to end up trussed like a pig brought tears to his eyes. Natsu hadn't been nearly as amused and had almost begun fighting him once again, but it made Gray feel better to know that he wasn't the only one who had gotten his ass kicked. That and he could hold Natsu's status as a streaker over the man whenever he tried to call out Gray's own habit of undressing.

Gray recounted his own story as Natsu's came to an end. The ice mage had spent nearly an entire day trying to leave the resort and failed at every attempt. The place had no discernible exit, and the magic that flowed around him was completely unfamiliar. He had found food and water in the course of his search for an exit and initially thought the place to be deserted, or maybe a holding cell of some sort. He had finally given up for the day and gone to sleep in a comfy bed before he realized his error.

The first thing he knew upon waking up was that some little girl in a bath robe was screaming at him like a banshee. He had tried to jump on top of her to end the horrid wailing, only to miss and then scramble out of the way as she sent an iceberg the size of a hill at him. Takamichi had laughed when Gray told this portion. Negi, meanwhile, blushed and touched the tips of his pointer fingers together while Natsu rolled around on the floor in hysteria.

For her part, the vampire rolled her eyes and shot him a nasty look that promised revenge. Gray returned it with gusto. If she wanted revenge for him ending up in her bed unannounced, he would take a slice out of her hide for attacking him with a horde of blood-thirsty dolls. Two could hold a grudge.

As he continued speaking, Gray didn't go into details of the running battle that happened afterward. He only said that it had gone on for three days and ended with him bloody and unconscious. Natsu and the big guy Natsu called Takamichi had ceased their laughter and thrown hard stares in Eva's direction when he reached that part. The Negi kid just looked somewhat disappointed, especially when the girl sniffed and looked away.

The Fairies then turned to the others and spoke of their home. They glossed over the world's structure and their childhoods. Neither spoke of Igneel or Ur. They mentioned guild-mates and missions, and the feeling of family that had flowed freely from one Fairy to another. Speaking of them brought to life the bonds they shared, making it seem as though they could still see their guild-mates when they got back from their trip. It felt bittersweet to Gray. He scowled deeply and pressed Natsu to hurry through this portion of the talk.

The only battle the two mentioned in detail was the final battle with Zeref that had brought them to this strange land. Gray was surprised to learn that Natsu's opponent had claimed to be a demon. Along with Zeref's involvement, that most likely meant that Gray's own opponent had been one as well. The thought brought a sour taste to his mouth that complimented the bittersweet feeling from before. Yet again Gray had failed to defeat an enemy and those he cared for most were dealing with the consequences. What a pile of shit, he thought to himself.

Takamichi took their silence at the end of their tale to begin speaking. With Negi's aid he spoke about the rules regarding magic and mages. Gray felt his right eye twitch when both emphasized that mages could not openly use magic in most nations and that they would be turned into ermines if they gave away the fact that there was magic in the world. A whiff of smoke in the air told Gray that Natsu too was less than pleased.

The only upside was some place they called Magic Mundus, where magic seemed to be viewed similarly as it was in Fiore. This, though, came with its own set of problems. It seemed as though the arrival of Natsu and Gray within their world had caused some strange resonance to occur, changing the fabric of magic itself. Most of the magical nations in Magic Mundus were sitting on the information, but people like Takamichi had been dispatched to learn what they could about the situation.

The big guy didn't go into detail on the subject, but Gray gleaned that he would try to keep the existence of Natsu and Gray a secret for the time being. It seemed that there were some past problems in this world currently rearing their head which the two Fairies might become falsely associated with were their existence to become known. Natsu probably didn't understand, but Gray was thankful to the older man for his discretion. Trying to learn and move about the world would be hard enough without being labeled as high-value governmental targets. That had worked in Edolas, but it had been a dicey race to the finish.

A tense silence descended upon the amphitheater as the story came to an end. No one spoke as each gathered their thoughts. Then Natsu stood up and left the amphitheater with both his hands in his pockets. Gray ran his hands through his mussed up hair as he watched Natsu leave.

He tried to consolidate everything that he had just learned, but it was too much. Not being able to use magic freely, being stuck in another world, and maybe never being able to return home? Separated from Erza, Happy and the others? It was all too much to take at once. With a body wracking shudder, Gray rose from his seat and followed Natsu into the darkness.

His shoes clicked on the stone's hard surface and carried him away.

Eva saw Negi's face crumble as Gray followed Natsu into the false night of her resort. Although the boy lacked her experience at judging people, he made up for this lack with the empathy of a child. Eva felt a twitch in her own heart as she watched him. The feeling was swiftly crushed as she thought of the two Fairies and their reactions.

The pink-haired idiot had looked sad, but his fire was merely dimmed. Like a fire low on oxygen, he would soon recover after he got some air, leaving Eva and the others to clean up whatever mess he created. She let out a slight 'tsk' and shook her head in annoyance. Idiots were blessed with all of the luck to be able to shrug off heavy thoughts so easily.

The Ice Mage, though, was different from his companion. Although he too seemed to be an idiot, he also used his mind outside of battle. His thoughts would dwell and linger on the dark aspects, straining to stay in the light of hope. Eva knew that it was this connection Negi felt. The boy was of a similar mind and attitude.

What remained to be seen was how he would react to this situation. Eva felt a thrill shoot through her body at the thought. Would he react with hopeful determination? Or would he too fall into despair as he confronted a painful unknown? She looked at his shaking shoulders and felt the thrill double. Stifled sniffs reached her ears as he bowed his head to hide. Takamichi raised a hand to pat the crying boy on the back, but stopped at a hiss from Eva. The look on her face convinced him to drop his hand and light a cigarette in its place. Then the crying stopped.

"I want to help them." Negi's voice rang through the amphitheater, carrying clearly to her ears.

Casting a triumphant glance at Takamichi, Eva replied in a purr. It was time to push the boy. "Sorry, boya, but could you repeat that? I had trouble hearing you just now." He would rise or fall on his own, and she would know his mettle.

Negi slowly raised his tear streaked eyes to meet her own. Eva felt her undead heart pulse as he did. With a voice far more mature than his ten years, the child grated out his own reply. "Natsu saved my students and Gray seems like a good person. They are trapped here, separated from their friends, with no way to get home. Without us they have nothing. We have to help them!"

The boy's eyes blazed with a furious determination. They cried out that this time, he would not be denied. That this time, he would see his way met. For the second time since her fight with the child, the iron of his soul lay bared before her. It was a heady feeling, and Eva knew then what she truly wanted from him.

It was time to push him again. "That's all well and good, Boya, but good intentions alone never helped anyone," she said airily, with a wave of one hand. "It takes actions, and before you take action you need a plan made on sound information. Information that we do not fully possess, since both withheld information that -"

Negi slammed his father's staff against the stone floor, cutting her off. Eva felt her voice catch in surprise. The boy was actually showing some iron in his spine.

"They told us what we needed to know and more, Eva-san." Sparks seemed to fly from the child's eyes as he held his ground before the ancient queen of darkness. "Not one word spoken was a lie. We have received enough information, information that they volunteered. And I will come up with a plan or else I am not worthy to be my father's son."

As she looked at the young boy, Eva saw a flash of Nagi within the boy's face. He too would have helped these strangers from another world. He too would have stood before those he knew and asked for their aid. He too would have stared into her eyes, hoping that there truly was a light hidden within the vampire's dark shroud.

Eva grimaced and crossed both arms below her chest. Damn the both of them! Damn the entire Springfield line to hell! She was Nosferatu, the Apostle of Destruction, Harbringer of the End of Days! Vlad Tepes had nothing on her when it came to cruelty.

Yet looking into those eyes, she knew what she had to do in order to get what she desired. A grimace came over her face. She absolutely hated these sorts of deals, but she would get what she wanted in the end. Why did the kid always push her towards the fluffiest, sweetest option placed on the table? He was just like his father in that regard. Marshmallows, the both of them!

Her grimace still present, Eva chose her next words carefully."Very well Boya, you have made your point. You may cease your inane babble for the time being." She would be helpful, but her aid would not be without limits. The vampire was not yet that far gone from her ancient habits.

"I will assist you in aiding them when the time comes, boya, provided that I receive compensation of my choosing. Compensation that I will declare at a later date and time." She held up one hand to forestall the boy's expression of gratitude. "And only of my choosing as well, brat. Accept those terms, and we will have a deal. Leave them, and I – oof! "

The kid's flying tackle took her completely by surprise, knocking the air from her lungs as he rode her body to the floor. His tears and cries of thanks were completely lost on the undead mage as she struggled to breath once more. The damn kid was killing her with gratitude!

"I accept Eva-san, I accept. Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!"

The discussion ended shortly afterward, and the three soon split up to sleep in separate rooms. Eva had agreed to host one of the Fairies while Takamichi would take the other. She had fought and struggled against the condition, but eventually caved in to the boy's tearful face and Takamichi's logic. Or so they thought.

Having one of the two strange beings under her thumb would be the first of her compensation, and it came under the guise of helping the boy. The two idealistic fools had bought it completely, leaving her in the clear to pursue her own goals. She rubbed a thumb over one of her fangs in delight as she slipped into her newly rebuilt room. Cold and simple, it now contained the final remaining piece of ice remaining from Gray's battle against her dolls. She settled down into her bed and gazed into its depths.

With unfettered access to one of the two Fairies, the secret behind their strange magic would soon be hers.

Alone in his bed, Negi woke up with a great yawn from a night of fitful nightmares. He sat up and blinked sleepily in the bright light. The stuff seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. It took him a moment to remember he was not in his usual room with Asuna and Konoka.

He yawned once more as he stumbled out of bed. Waking up this morning was harder than usual for some odd reason. There has to be something wrong with the bed, he thought to himself as he reached for his undershirt and brought it over his head. Too soft, maybe? He had even heard the soothing sound of booming magic shortly before falling asleep. Listening to it as he fell asleep usually gave him peaceful dreams.

A knock sounded on the door. He twitched his tie into place and smoothed his shirt, giving his outfit a critical look in the mirror. Only once it looked neat and tidy did he walk to the door and open it. Chachamaru was standing there with her hand raised to knock a second time. She was wearing her customary uniform, clean and well pressed like usual.

He met her with a smile and followed his sister Nekane's advice. Always compliment a woman when greeting them. "Good morning, Chachamaru-san. Did you do anything to change your outfit? It looks great on you!" She squeaked.

Negi blinked in confusion. Huh? "Chachamaru-san, are you alright?" He stepped in close so he could take a better look at her features. Her face looked less pale than usual and her pupils were slightly dilated. Maybe something was wrong with her coolant flow? "Should I call for Eva-san?" He reached for her in case she was in danger of collapsing. "Don't worry, Chachamaru-san. I'll carry you to wherever she is right away!"

She dodged his arms with a wave of her hands and stepped back. "I-I-I'm fine, Sensei. You-you do not need to hold me at this time. Please!"

Negi put his hands down to his side and stepped backwards. "Okay Chachamaru-san." His smile came back to his face. Knowing that his student was okay and not hurt was all he needed.

Chachamaru wrung her hands as the two stood in the hallway. She opened her mouth and shut it several times while Negi stood and waited patiently. Finally, she seemed to settle down and spoke.

"My Master asked me to bring you to the amphitheater before breakfast. Natsu and Gray have called it and are already waiting for everyone."

"Ooh, really?" The thought of meeting them put a pep into Negi's step and cleared the remaining fog from his brain. "Excellent Chachamaru-san! Please, lead on." With a nod of her head, his android student walked down the corridor. Negi closed his door and walked quickly to catch up to her. Once he did, she shortened her long strides to make it easier for him to walk beside her. Negi smiled at the kind gesture.

Today would be an excellent day, and it would all begin with this meeting. Negi had been thinking of all sorts of plans during the night as he struggled to sleep but needed a better grasp of the two men and their abilities before he could figure out anything permanent. The personalities of the two men would be key to determining which older mage they would accompany. Skipping alongside Chachamaru, Negi tried to work things through in his head once more.

Whoever accompanied Takamichi would need to be calm and levelheaded. The older man had a demanding job, one which required him to meet with all sorts of people. Calling him a spy would be going too far but Negi suspected it was pretty close to the mark. Pairing him with a person possessing the wrong temperament could cause Takamichi problems in that line of work.

Yet on the other hand, the same could be said for whomever lived with Eva. The vampire was frightening, and Negi did not want to imagine what might happen if she was forced to host someone who did not respect her rules. If there was some kind of disagreement between her and the Fairy, things would probably get messy. He would also probably get blamed for it since it was his idea in the first place.

Unsought, the picture of a fully powered Eva on a bloody rampage came to mind, screaming his name as her horde of dolls pillaged the Academy. He shuddered. On second thought, maybe the less aggressive of the two mages should stay with her. Otherwise his student might decide to suck her teacher dry. To distract himself from getting trapped in those thoughts, he tried engaging Chachamaru in conversation on the way.

"So, Chachamaru-san, how did Eva-san give birth to you? Was it a long childbirth?" The android fell against a nearby wall. Negi could hear gears within her body whirring at incredible speeds as she turned a beet red face in his direction. Negi stopped to observe. Had he said something inappropriate? He had just wanted to learn how such an amazing creature as herself had come into being.

Maybe he should rephrase the question. "Chachamaru-san, is Eva your mother? Or is she your father?" If anything, Chachamaru's face grew even more red. "I would love to know, just in case you ever need a magic user to perform maintenance on your body."

Chachamaru collapsed to the ground in front of him. "Eh? No, Chachamaru-san, please come back!" Negi was panicking. He had just been trying to be nice. What happened? "Don't die on me. Please! Oh my God, Asuna is going to kill me. Please wake up Chachamaru-san. Please!" It took ten minutes to bring her back.

The android seemed rather skittish upon her awakening, but had allowed him to help her stand with a faraway look in her eyes as he held her arm. Things took another five minutes to clear up from there as she blushingly explained that she was a combination of magic and technology, and that Evangeline was more of a creator than a traditional parent figure.

Negi's eyes had sparkled at this new information. To think that magic and science were capable of intertwining to such an extent was incredible! It was a whole field of magic he had never explored.

As the two of them continued on their path to Eva's amphitheater, Negi tried to gain as much information from his student as he could with their limited time. It was a short walk, but by the time they neared it Negi had already learned quite a bit. She had just finished explaining the fundamental basis for magical programming when they reached the building's entrance way.

"So you're saying that all magical hardware operates using base twelve as the numerical basis while the values of software are changed in purpose and assignment according to Nordic runes?"

The robot nodded her head. "Indeed Negi-sensei. This fundamental difference makes it quite difficult to bridge the gap between technological and magical programming. Master and the others had to create an entirely new language to ensure all of my parts would operate correctly." A small smile grew on her face. "As such, I can smoothly integrate into any known form of networking, regardless of it being based in science or magic."

Negi let out an 'ooh' of appreciation as he nodded to himself. The range of powers and abilities Eva displayed constantly amazed him. The discussion on her creation was rather fascinating. He had not known terribly much about magical programming and was finding his lack of knowledge appalling. Just imagining the sheer complexity of the task made him marvel at the speed in which it was accomplished.

Chachamaru had been created two years ago while her initial research and development only took a single year. He had never heard of something like that happening ever before. He looked up at the tall girl in wonder. Chachamaru was a fully functioning person, someone who was kind and gentle to those around her. She was amazing, and Eva had played a major part in creating her.

It helped Negi to make up his mind on a subject he had been considering since he had first fought against Chachamaru and her master. The only way he could catch up to his father would be if Negi had a powerful teacher, one who possessed more knowledge than any of his old teachers in Wales. It would have to be someone who was already at or near his father's level. He wanted it to be Eva.

"You're a cheeky little dish, boya, making me wait before my breakfast." Eva's growled greeting made Negi jump. She was floating in the air above the entrance way and staring down at him with a hungry look in her eyes. "Morning. Now take a seat and shut up. I'm hungry, so you'd better not do anything to make this take any longer than is needed. Otherwise you'll be my little morning snack."

Chachamaru patted his shoulder as she left his side and moved to stand by her master as the vampire floated down to a nearby seat of stone. Her black dress fluttered as she did, revealing ruffles of cream and violet.

"Well? Hurry, dammit! I'm hungry!" She snapped. "Move it!"

The dress really seems to fit her mood, he thought to himself as he hurriedly chose a seat next to where Takamichi sat in his slightly rumpled suit. Negi would wait awhile before asking her to be his teacher. She was too scary at the moment.

He pushed that thought out of his head and turned his attention to Natsu and Gray. Both men were close by and appeared to have gotten little sleep. Gray stood with arms crossed by a nearby pillar, and Natsu lounged on the floor where he played with his ever present white scarf. Negi could sense a faint magic emanating from it but could not tell what type. It was curious, but the overall physical appearance of the two men drew Negi's attention.

Both Faeries sported multiple bruises on their faces while deep bags lingered under their eyes. Thinking back to the magical booms he had heard last night, Negi connected their new appearance with Natsu's gift of fighting anyone. This in turn brought his mind back to his earlier concerns about the temperaments of the two mages. He could feel the pressure of the decision weighing down on him as a physical sensation.

Send Natsu with Takamichi and possibly create a diplomatic incident. Or keep the fire mage nearby and thereby place Negi's own life in danger from the Ice Mage's retribution. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, Negi thought to himself. Why did Natsu have to be so violent?

Gray's voice brought Negi's mind back to the present. "You guys probably made some plans last night after we left. We'll hear them out in a little bit, but first, we wanted to thank you for leaving us alone last night." Gray gave Negi and his two fellow mages each a curt nod.

Natsu sat up and nodded his head in agreement as well. "Yeah, we just needed some time to think and work things out with our fists. I had to beat some sense into droopy eyes over there, and he cooled off some of my crazier ideas." He closed his eyes and breathed deeply before waving a hand in his friend's direction. "Gray and I came up with some stuff while we were going at it, but I'll let him do most of the talking. He's better at explaining this boring talking stuff than I am."

The black-haired mage snorted and straightened his back against the pillar. "Thanks for the backhanded compliment, slant-eyes. But even a moron like you has a point." He faced the Negi and his fellow mages, looking at them with a cold gaze. "Natsu and I have two requests that we'd like you to take into account with whatever plan you guys came up with. First and most importantly, the moron here and I can't stay in the same place until we find the rest of our friends."

The boy wizard adjusted his glasses as he looked between the two young men in surprise. He had not anticipated this outcome. It was definitely far more logical for the two to split-up from one another. One could search freely while the other would stay stationary as a base of operations that could serve as a known safe point. But to voluntarily leave your friend behind, with little to no hesitation, when you were trapped in a strange world you knew nothing about? That made no sense to Negi.

It also seemed to strike a cord with Takamichi, as the big man was quick to speak up. "Although it fits with our plan, are you really certain that you do not want to try to remain together? Is there some bad blood between you that we should know about, or some kind of magical condition?"

Natsu and Gray shot a look at one another. Negi tensed, wondering if they were about to fight. Then they did the last thing he expected. The two men fell to the ground laughing.

"Wahahahaha!" Natsu yelled. "Bad blood? Ha! And Magical conditions? Only in the sense that Gray's shitty blood has been completely frozen over for years and has made him into a compulsive stripper."

Nearby, Gray's laughter cut-off and he aimed a kick at the laughing Natsu. "You're one to talk, fire veins. You're dumber than a rock and have probably boiled the crap in your veins dry by now." He landed a clean hit on Natsu's face and pumped a fist in the air as his friend's head smashed backward into the amphitheaters flagstones. "Ha! Suck it, moron!"

With a roar, Natsu leaped up from the floor and pounced on his friend. "Don't kick me in the face, you perverted stripper!" Negi then watched as the pink-haired man proceeded to punch, bite, and kick any part of the other man within reach. Gray fought back, pulling Natsu's hair and slamming his knees into the fire mage's stomach.

As the two rolled across the floor in a screaming pile of limbs, Negi blinked slowly and turned to the more experienced mages. "Takamichi, Eva-san, are they okay?" He was confused. He had never seen anything like the two men before him.

To Negi's left, Takamichi was chuckling while Eva gave the pair a flat stare as an eyebrow arced in annoyance.

Eva turned to look at Negi and spoke in a tight voice. "They're as okay as they will ever be, boya. Your father was like this with his closest friends as well." Then her eyes flashed. "But if those two don't stop soon, I may just kill them."

He nodded in agreement, then blinked as her words fully registered. His father had been like the two men in front of him? The same two men who looked as though they were trying to kill one another?

A corona of flame surrounded Natsu's fist and arced towards Gray's face. Gray blocked it by encasing his friend's arm in ice with a victorious laugh, only to soon cry out in pain. Natsu had ignored the fact that his arm was frozen and was now slapping his friend with the icy appendage. Negi winced at the sound of the hits and Natsu's crazed laughter. Negi looked at Takamichi for confirmation. Surely his father, the Thousand Master, had not acted in such a way.

The big man nodded as he absently scratched his freshly trimmed beard. "Nagi never could act serious to save his life. The old days of Ala Rubra were filled with this sort of nonsense." He grinned and rotated one of his arms. "Looking at them having that much fun almost makes me want to join in for old times sake."

A piercing gaze came on his face as Negi looked towards the two Fairies. Looking closely, he could see that they fought in the most ineffective way possible. Vital points were ignored, and their blows lacked any sort of refined technique. And though snarls and curses were thrown between them, somehow, it felt as if they were actually happy. It was as though the two were acting out some sort of strange, demented bond.

A twinge of jealousy ran through him at that thought. It seemed as though his father's back kept getting further away. No matter how hard he tried, no matter what he seemed to do, Negi always came up short of his father. The list of things his father excelled in kept growing longer and his back kept growing more distant. Negi had no one to do that sort of activity with, and without such a partner he would never become like his father.

Negi felt his thoughts fall into a deep depression. Thus he was unable to stop his body from flying off its seat when Eva's rage finally blasted forth.

"Enough!" Eva's voice roared through the amphitheater, sending Gray's pulse skyrocketing. The vampires magical aura flared to life with a dazzling intensity and a blast of ice shot out at the two Fairies.

Gray did his best to block her attack, but it came too fast. The rolling wave of ice pummeled slammed the two men into a stone wall on the far side of the amphitheater and he felt his half-healed body creak under the impact. With an effort, he managed to get his wits together long enough to dispel her initial assault. Then the next assault came.

Gigantic spears of ice flashed into being around the two men in a gigantic cage of death. Gray and Natsu danced to avoid the constructs. The dragon-slayer took one to his side and went flying once more while Gray pressed his hands to the ground by his own feet. He canceled the girl's magic but could feel his arms shaking from the effort. He really needed a few more days of rest before taking on someone like her.

Walking up to them was the girl in her dark outfit. The ground froze around her feet as black shadows moved around her shoulders. Her brilliant green eyes narrowed at the two trapped mages and Gray let out a pissed 'tsk' as he tried to cover up his body's shaking. The woman really got on his nerves.

"So long as you are both within my dominion, you will not fight one another." She finally ground out as she stopped in front of their cages. Ice crackled as she clenched both of her tiny hands into fists.

"You will obey my words as if they were God's own law, jump when I say jump, and crawl when I say crawl. Or I shall carve my name upon your miserable little hides and turn you into whimpering shells of your former self."

She turned to stare directly at Gray. "Do I make myself clear?"

Gray's eyes glittered in rage. He had been hunted by this woman and her dolls for three days. She had ambushed him and beaten him to within an inch of his life only to heal him and act as though she had done nothing wrong. Gray knew he was no match for her, but to let her insult him like this was too much. Then an explosion from his side caused Gray's mouth to click shut or get a lungful of smoke.

"Ya know, I don't think you did." A torrent of flame surrounded Natsu's body, reducing all of the ice to steaming vapor. He made a fist with his fiery right hand and slammed it into the open palm of his left. "So let's finish what we started before."

The man gave a brilliant grin as his eyes lit with a golden glow. "You've got me all fired up now."

Next Time in Fairies of Negima: Asuna gets bored; Konoka chases Setsuna; and Natsu vs Eva round 1 – Fight!

A/N: I hope that you are all looking forward to the fight as much as I am looking forward to writing it. Things just wouldn't have worked out between the two casts without a genuine throw down between two of them. I'm just glad that Eva doesn't have her complete diorama in operation by this point or Natsu would be completely iced.

Important blurbs: 1) I've put a pairing poll up on my page and will be keeping it up for two or three chapters. I've kept out most (but not all) characters whose pairings are already set in stone, but there are a few on the bubble. Voting for the ones you most like will help sway my final decision. 2) the use of 'Mr.' versus Japanese honorifics in this chapter was intentional; it'll rear its head on occasion in future chapters as well. 3) The upcoming fight will show many of the differences in magic and power between the FT and Negima casts. Think of it like a video game's Alpha test for future fights. The fundamentals and much of the ornamentation are in place, but there's still a lot of work left to do before the product is finished.

It'll be some time, about a month or so, before the next batch of updates. I'll try to move faster... but I want to do the upcoming battle justice. Additionally, if you ever have a question, feel free to review or send me a PM. I will rarely answer questions about future plot-lines with anything other than the most vague of terms, but I am happy to explain anything in published chapters.

Credit to Raiyoukai for once again Beta-ing this chapter with excellent efficiency. His quick thinking saved my awesome badger metaphor XD

And on that note, I am ending this horribly long A/N. May I never write another one of comparable length.

Until next time,

Elsil