AN: Hey all! Here's another chapter for your viewing pleasure! Hope you guys like it! This is kinda where Hydra Claw's "gimmick" is revealed, if you could even call it that. Anyway, I won't keep you waiting!

Notice: I'm not Hiro Mashima, and therefore don't own Fairy Tail.

Chapter 19: The Guild of Scars

This was going nowhere. This "swordsman" wasn't playing fair. Every time Erza could've landed a strike, Aether disappeared momentarily, then reappeared and struck back. Every time he landed a blow, Erza could feel another gash in her magic energy bleeding out her power. She knew it was only a matter of time before she ended up like Cana.

She feinted a strike, baiting him into switching to his Astral form. Right when he switched back to strike, Erza pounced. She sliced him across the shoulder with her sword to stun him, then quickly requipped into her Purgatory Armor and smashed Aether in the stomach at full force with a satisfying crunch. He was sent flying across the tunnel and smashed into the wall.

Erza put her hands on her knees, panting. She couldn't keep this up much longer. Soon her magic energy would completely drain from her body.

Aether staggered to his feet. His armor was crushed in a massive indent in his chest, and from his ragged breathing, Erza guessed he had a couple broken ribs.

"You're strong, Titania. I understand now why Ezra respects you so. But I made a promise to myself that I would never lose again."

He reached up and removed his mask. Erza gasped at the sight of his face.

His face was covered in a crisscrossing network of scars. They traipsed all around his face, placed seemingly at random. Aether's upper lip was cut in half, and one of his ears was missing. One of his eyes had been gouged out.

"Ugly, isn't it?" Aether whispered. "Let me tell you a story. You know how this happened to me? A couple guild wizards did this. Their mission was to steal something from the mayor of my hometown, my father. They captured me and tried to use me for ransom. And you know what my father did to get me back?" He paused. "Nothing. Those guild wizards were so mad, they took it out on me. They did this to me because they couldn't complete their thievery job to make a couple thousand jewels!"

Erza was silent. She'd seen her fair share of hardships, but she didn't quite know what to say.

"But you know what? These scars make me strong! These scars remind me of the pain! They remind me that no matter what, I can't lose! Because if I do, this'll happen again! Everyone in Hydra Claw has their own scars. That's what makes us strong. That's what keeps the bond between us, and lets us know that no matter what, we won't let it happen again! And that's why Ezra is the strongest, because he wears his scars proudly. And now, I'm going to show him that I can do it as well! I'm going to defeat you to help our scars heal!"

And he launched himself at Erza with all his might.

Erza parried his blow and took a step backward. "I know how you feel."

Aether snarled and slashed at Erza viciously. Erza barely parried, but she didn't have the strength to strike back. She was starting to feel woozy. "No… no, you don't. You have NO idea what we've all been through, Titania-"

"I know what it's like to lose an eye."

Aether froze. Erza kept talking, although it was using up more and more of her energy. She would collapse soon.

"I know what it's like to be enslaved from an early age. I know what it's like to have my childhood crush turn evil. I know what it's like to need to win to protect my guildmates. You and I are not so different."

Aether's face contorted and twitched. Anger, fear, pain, guilt… but then one emotion assumed dominance. He screamed and slammed the hilt of his sword into Erza's head. Erza staggered and fell to her knees. Her vision blurred, and she started seeing spots. This should be where she drew on the last of her magic power and made a final push to win the fight, right? Where was her magic power now?

Erza smiled and closed her eyes. She hoped the rest of the guild would be able to finish the fight without her.

"Erza!" came a child's voice.

Erza's eyes snapped open. There was Wendy, panting hard as if she had been running. She held up a small package. "Once you beat this guy, you can have this!"

Erza's eyes widened as Wendy opened up the package, revealing a large slice of strawberry cake.

Erza felt a new overwhelming magic force flowing through her body. This must be the surge of magic power that comes to the surface in the presence of cake. Erza called this her Cake Origin.

Erza became cloaked in her Armadura Fairy armor. With one powerful slash and a burst of light, Aether was sent flying into the wall. With that, he was defeated.

Erza straightened up, rushed over to the cake, devoured it, and then collapsed and blacked out.

When she came to, Erza opened her eyes to see Wendy leaning over her. "Oh good, you're awake!" the child exclaimed. "I was getting worried."

"Honestly," Carla exclaimed, "Can't you people ever win before the last minute?"

Erza groaned. She felt a lot warmer than before, perhaps because Wendy had sealed the wounds in magic power. She sat up, pleased that it didn't hurt much to do so. "Thank you for coming to my aid," Erza said to Wendy. Then she turned to Carla. "Never underestimate the power of cake!" She exclaimed passionately.

Carla was about to make a snide remark, but she was interrupted by a voice making a different one first.

"Cake. Ha! Such a pathetic food. Almost as pathetic as you, Aether."

The man stepped into the view. It was Nath, from Ezra's team Head Five. "I'll show you how the power of cookies surpasses that of your silly cake."

Erza's eyes narrowed. This bastard was going to get what he deserved for slandering the food of heaven.

Gray had no choice. He fell to his knees in surrender.

Kamarr ceased the scorching ray. Juvia collapsed, unconscious. "You resemble an insect right about now. So proud, so concerned with its daily concerns, but in the end it amounts to a meaningless speck on the bottom of my foot."

Gray grimaced. "Just do it, okay? Kill me and leave the rest of my guildmates alone."

Gray felt cactus thorns starting to press into his back. "Ah, yes. I will kill you," Kamarr droned. "And then I'm going to make the rest of your guild suffer the same fate. By challenging us, you have practically tied your own noose!"

Gray's face contorted in anger, but was replaced by pain when the cactus needles started expanding further into his back. He struggled to get up.

"Tch. Don't get up if you don't want that water girl to get evaporated. I want to make you suffer for defying Hydra Claw."

Gray wasn't going to let this bastard hurt anyone in his guild. Not while he was still alive and kicking. I have to find Erza again. He stretched his hands backward, straining to make the necessary movements for a spell. Ice-make wall.

A large wall of ice erupted behind him that separated Gray and Kamarr from Juvia. Gray roared in pain and concentration, and managed to stand up, tearing the cactus needles from his flesh.

Kamarr took a step back. "How…"

Gray twisted his fists together. "I'll make a deal with you. If you can beat me one-on-one, no dirty tricks, then I'll tell you about our guild's secret weapon. If I win, then you'll have to tell me where the ship's power source is."

Kamarr's eye twitched. "Secret… weapon?"

Gray laughed. "Oh, yeah, of course you don't know about it. That's why it's a secret. Underneath the guild is an unbelievable magic weapon that we're just waiting to bust out on you dorks. And there's only one way to stop it."

Gray tried as hard as possible to keep a straight face. He was bluffing, of course. There was no secret power underneath the guild! Everyone knew that.

Kamarr had a strange look in his eye. "I accept, and my acceptance should be akin to that of a handshake." He held out his arm, and the snake on his shoulder slithered onto the ground. Gray noticed something on his neck that the snake had been covering: two deep, round gashes that looked like… bite marks?

Who cares? Gray metaphorically slapped himself and assumed a battle stance. "Ice-make… Lance!" he exclaimed.

Kamarr waved his hand. "Mirage!" He disappeared along with his snake as Gray's attack hit, and reappeared behind Gray. The snake quickly reached out and snapped at Gray's leg, which Gray barely dodged. Gray attacked Kamarr several more times, only to reach the same frustrating result.

Man, this was some serious déjà vu for when he fought Rufus.

"You see, there is no way you can conceivably beat me. However, I'm a sporting man, so I'll lend you some assistance. If you can answer this riddle, you should be able to defeat me:

I can sizzle like bacon,

I am made with an egg,

I have plenty of backbone,

But lack a good leg,

I peel layers like onions,

But still remain whole,

I am long like a flagpole,

Yet fit in a hole.

What am I?"

Gray puzzled over that for a few seconds. What the hell? What kind of challenge is that? This is Lucy's forte, not mine.

"While you're thinking about that, let's put on a show, shall we?" Kamarr took off his shirt.

Wait. Gray realized Kamarr hadn't really made any analogies in the last couple minutes, besides the riddle. And what the hell was he doing stripping? Isn't that his gimmick?

"Hey, man, keep your clothes on."

"You're one to talk," Kamarr replied.

Gray looked down in horror and realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. "Shit! So you're like me, huh? You enjoy the cold? Kinda weird for a desert mage."

Kamarr smirked. "No, I just don't care for shirts. Out in the desert where I grew up, we weren't concerned with such trivial things as what shirt we were going to wear that day. It was more about, you know, survival. I know you fools in Fairy Tail know nothing about the hardships we've all been through in Hydra Claw."

Gray clenched his fists. "Don't tell me about messed-up backstories, man. My hometown was destroyed by Deliora!"

"I really couldn't care less. You have no scars to show your hardships," Kamarr dismissed. And with that, he attacked Gray.

The dust devil he instantaneously summoned was what Gray might have imagined Max to be like if he unlocked his second origin. The sand was everywhere- in his eyes, nose, mouth, hair. He couldn't breath. Gray shuddered and froze the sand around him, then smashed his way out of the ice.

Kamarr smirked at Gray's struggling. "Oh, don't come up yet! We need to conserve oxygen in the room!" He summoned dust devil after dust devil and continued smothering Gray.

What's going on with this guy? Since when is he so sadistic? It was hard for Gray to think while the sands were suffocating him. During the brief periods of respite he got, he thought of the riddle. That's how I'm supposed to beat him? How the hell could I figure it out?

The snake at Kamarr's feet hissed. From where Gray was standing, it sounded like laughter.

Goddammit Gray. Think. How can you get out of this? What would Erza think if she saw you now? Grow a spine.

Spine. That was like a backbone, right? Whatever has backbone has a spine, right? If they have a spine, they're a living animal, and some animals come from eggs. An animal that comes from an egg, with no legs… It peels… Sizzles…

Gray heard the hissing of the snake again.

Gray wanted to slap himself, he felt so stupid.

After Kamarr's next dust devil was destroyed, Gray seized his chance while Kamarr was too busy laughing. He mustered the rest of his strength to summon a Super Freezing Arrow which he pointed at Kamarr. Kamarr panicked and disappeared, and during that brief moment, he forgot to bring his snake. Gray took aim and pierced the snake right through the side.

Immediately he heard a loud scream. Kamarr was doubled over in pain on the other side of the room. Gray staggered over to him. "Ice-make… Hammer!"

Kamarr slumped over from the blow to the head, defeated.

Silence.

"How… how did you know?" Kamarr croaked. "How did you know about our permanent sensory link?"

"I didn't," Gray replied. "I just solved your riddle. And frankly, it was much too easy if I was able to solve it."

Kamarr's voice was raspy. "That snake… when I was six, it bit me right on the neck. That's my scar. I was going to die, but a very old and wise healer saved me by binding my lifeforce with that of the snake, thereby making me invulnerable to venom. At first I thought I was cursed, but the healer taught me that it was like I had gained a new brother. That's when I started to love analogies…" Tears were coming down Kamarr's cheeks.

"Gray would've felt sorry for the guy if he hadn't been so sadistic to him and Juvia. "Whatever. Just tell me where the power source is."

"Of- of course," Kamarr replied. "I'm a man of my word. The power source isn't any specific thing on the ship. It's Sparky, our guild's master magical inventor. The thing is, you'll never get to her because Ezra's guarding her. You'll never stop the ship in time before…" His eyelids started to droop.

Gray grabbed him by the shoulders and started to shake. "Before what? Before what? Tell me, goddammit!"

Kamarr's last words came as a whisper. "Before the hydra heads regrow and wipe out the whole town."

Nooooooooo way! NOBODY saw that coming, right guys? Guys? Okay, fine. It was a little obvious. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, and please don't forget to R&R! Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you all have a fan-freaking-tastic day.