AN: Thank you HSInstinct, TeraelinII, Kriim-Sauce786, NinjaFang1331, Goku275, wadeparker, and AliceCullen3. To answer HSInstinct's question, I do intend for Happy to be stronger. It feels kind of unfair that Carla and Panther Lily are both able to fight, but Happy cannot. I may also do the same for Lector and Frosch, though I am currently undecided.
Moving on, I feel like there were a lot of reviews for Chapter 13. I hope that this next one is as well received.
Jet utilized his High Speed magic to dodge several attacks from Sabertooth's dragon slayers. Normally, he would have trouble avoiding two powerful opponents at once, but they did not appear to be in the best states of mind. Especially Sting.
"Stand still so I can hit you!" shouted the White Dragon Slayer angrily, swinging around his fists wildly.
"Shadow Dragon's Slash," uttered Rogue, attempting to strike Jet while he dodged Sting's punches. However, the Shadow Dragon Slayer moved slowly, almost hesitantly, giving the Fairy Tail mage an opportunity to dodge.
Unfortunately for Jet, the two mages started falling into a rhythm. They began attacking one after the other, striking at Jet before he had even a moment to catch his breath. The Fairy was avoiding hits by smaller and smaller margins, until…
"White Dragon's Roar!" yelled Sting, firing a white beam from his mouth as Jet ducked under a leaping Rogue's Shadow Dragon's Haste.
The High Speed mage grimaced as the spell approached him, seeing there was no time to moved out of the way. All he could do was hope that his inevitable injuries wouldn't slow him down too mu—
"Guard Plant!" shouted the voice of Jet's teammate. Several seeds landed between Jet and the White Dragon's Roar, which quickly grew into a green wall that blocked the spell.
"What?" exclaimed Rogue, freezing in place next to Jet. He turned to the source of the voice, only to stiffen as he saw a spray of bullets heading towards him. Living up to his magic's name, the Shadow Dragon Slayer used his magic to fade into a shadow and avoid the ammunition. Unluckily for Rogue, his opponents predicted this.
"Guns Magic: Spark Shot!" declared another familiar voice, firing a single bullet at the boy when he emerged.
"Aaaaah!" screamed Rogue as the ammunition hit, a burst of electricity coursing through his body.
Jets scowl was replaced by a smile. Droy, Bisca, and Alzack had arrived!
"Sting and Rogue are guarding Millianna and little Erza," Jet informed his guildmates of what he had learned so far. "They're a good team, so we should split them up to take them down."
"My Sunlight Shot should be effective against Rogue," noted Alzack. "I'll take him."
"I know more about how Sting fights from our last battle," stated Droy. "Besides, I'd like make up for losing against him in the Grand Magic Games."
"I'll help Alzack while you assist Droy," Bisca told Jet, determining it would be best for the two to fight alongside their regular partners.
"It's a shame I won't be able to get back at Rogue for before, but I guess that now's not the time for that," commented Jet. "High Speed!"
Their opponents decided, Jet activated his magic and shot forward. He picked up Sting and flung the kid over his shoulder before the dragon slayer could react, then ran out of the dungeon and down a hallway. Droy followed the trail of dust his teammate kicked up, mentally complaining about how not everybody could rely upon magic to get around.
"Let go of me!" yelled Sting, even more furious than before, as Jet carried him like a sack of potatoes. "White Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Sting slammed his fist into Jet's back, knocking the Fairy off balance and breaking his grip on the dragon slayer. The two crashed into the ground and tumbled for several feet before stopping.
"Ow," groaned Jet, though he got to his feet quickly. This was not the first time he'd taken a hit while using High Speed.
"Uhhh," moaned Sting, rising slower than Jet but still faster than one would expect. It hadn't occurred to him that making his opponent crash would result in him also crashing. Luckily, being trained by a dragon meant that he was used to pain.
"Jet!" shouted Droy as he caught up to the two. The Fairy was huffing a bit, worn out from chasing his speedy friend. "Are you okay?"
"I'm good," replied Jet, calming down his partner. The two shifted into fighting stances. "Let's teach this brat a lesson he'll never forget."
Sting snorted. "Since it's clear you idiots will never learn, there's no point in drawing this out. White Drive!"
A white glow surrounded Sting, enhancing his abilities. He shot at Jet, determined to get some payback for earlier. However, the Fairy's High Speed allowed him to dodge the dragon slayer's attacks.
"White Dragon's Roar!" snarled Sting, firing a beam of white light at his opponent. Jet ran to the right, but Sting only turned his head and moved the path of the beam, making it chase after the speedy mage.
However, this left the Sabertooth mage vulnerable to a counterattack from his other enemy.
"Chain Plant!" announced Droy as he threw several seeds at Sting's feet. The seeds swiftly grew into vines that wrapped around the dragon slayer. They even bound his mouth shut, cutting off Sting's spell.
"Ridiculous!" seethed Sting internally as he struggled against the vines. "How are these rejects giving me so much trouble?"
"Falcon Heavenward!" shouted Jet, launching into a High Speed-augmented kick to Sting's stomach that knocked the bound mage into a wall.
"Knuckle Plant!" yelled Droy, growing fist-shaped plants that punched the dragon slayer further into the wall.
Sting slumped to the ground, his head falling forward. It looked as if he was giving a dogeza, aside from his arms still being tied to his body.
"Is it over?" asked Jet.
Then, the two Fairy began to feel a terrifying white aura igniting around the Sabertooth mage. He stood up while keeping his head down, struggling for a moment before snapping his restraints to pieces.
"Guess not," commented Droy.
"Raaaaah!" roared the dragon slayer as he raised his head. White marking had spread across his face, looking like the scales of a dragon.
Sting Eucliffe had activated the Dragon Force.
Back in the dungeon, a shadow crept towards Alzack and Bisca, utilizing the room's natural darkness to sneak towards them. The two gunners stood back-to-back, scanning the area around them for any signs of their enemy.
After getting only a few feet from the two, the shadow leapt forward into an attack. "Shadow Dragon's Haste!"
His opponents reacted instantly, hopping backwards and they counterattacked.
"Guns Magic: Sunlight Shot!" yelled Alzack as he fired a bullet of light from one of his revolvers. When the bullet struck Rogue, it exploded into a flash of light that dispelled the dragon slayer's shadows and turned him back into flesh and blood.
"Homing Shot!" shouted Bisca, striking the now-tangible Rogue with her sniper rifle. The attack knocked the Sabertooth mage back. However, before the gunners could continue their assault, Rogue returned to hiding in his shadow form.
"I can't keep doing this," thought Rogue. After Jet and Droy took Sting away, Rogue had discovered that, unless he became a shadow, the two gunners would shoot him before he could get close.
His first surprise attack had caught the Fairy Tail mages off-guard, but it had gotten less and less effective with each ambush. This had culminated in Rogue's most recent failure, where his opponents successfully injured him before he could retreat.
"I know what I have to do," concluded the dragon slayer, filled with determination.
"White Dragon's Roar!" screamed the Dragon Force-enhanced Sting. This time, his spell moved much faster, and Jet was barely able to dodge it in time.
"Knuckle Plant!" shouted Droy, casting his spell. Unlike before, though, Sting annihilated the punching vines with a White Dragon's Iron Fist.
"Falcon Heavenward!" yelled Jet as he struck Sting in the chest, pushing him back a few feet. The dragon slayer simply grabbed his opponent's leg and threw him into a wall.
"White Dragon's Claw!" roared Sting, firing a beam of light at Jet.
The beam struck his chest, leaving a strange symbol on it. The High Speed mage discovered he couldn't move his arms or legs or call upon his magic.
"My stigma will hold you in place until I cast my next spell, Fairy," spoke Sting, his fury replaced by a smug sense of superiority. The boy jumped into the air, breathing inward as he gathered a huge amount of Magic Power. "Now, it's time to end this!"
Sting closed his eyes, concentrating fully on casting his spell. Meanwhile, Droy and Jet exchanged a glance, then nodded.
"For Levy," they both thought.
"White Dragon's Holy Breath!"
Sting unleashed a stream of white light onto the ground, enveloping the entire hallway in its blast radius. As the light faded, all that remained of the area was rubble and clouds of dust. The dragon slayer couldn't see his enemies, but their fate was obvious.
"That's what you get for challenging Sabertooth," boasted Sting as he landed, breathing heavily as his Dragon Force deactivated. "We're the strongest guild in all of Fiore, and you're just a bunch of—"
A fist slammed into the dragon slayer's face, cutting him off and knocking him to the ground. Before him was Jet, battered but still standing. The Fairy's arm was extended outward, making it obvious that he was the one who had just punched the dragon slayer.
"What?" croaked Sting. The boy tried to move, only to discover that his strength was depleted. "How? How did you withstand my attack?"
"It's all thanks to Droy," replied Jet, looking to the side. Sting followed his enemy's gaze and saw the unconscious body of the Plant Mage. "He threw all of his remaining seeds at me to grow a protective wall of plants. It didn't stop the blow, but it did weaken it enough for me to avoid being knocked out."
"But why would he protect you instead of himself?" asked Sting, baffled.
"Without any seeds, he wouldn't have been able to take you down," explained Jet. "I'd still have my High Speed, though. Droy sacrificed himself so I could finish you off."
"Sacrificed?" echoed Sting, uncomprehending. "He accepted defeat… gave up his chance to get back at me… so that you could win?"
"It's like I said before," responded Jet. "caring about others is what makes us in Fairy Tail so strong. It's also what kept us from getting blinded by our own desires and emotions, like you were during this fight."
"Blinded… by my anger?" Sting murmured to himself, thinking about his opponent's words. "He's right. If I'd used a wide-ranged attack earlier or taken the Plant Mage out instead of fixating on the High Speed Mage, then things would have gone differently."
"No!" rejected Sting, his rage reigniting. "You're trying to trick me! You may be right that I made some bad calls out of anger, and that making a sacrifice for a teammate let you Fairies win, but I will NEVER accept that feelings could make somebody powerful!"
Jet sighed. It was a bit ironic that, despite expressing a deep resentment towards Natsu, this kid was just as stubborn as the Salamander.
Bisca watched tensely as Rogue emerged from the shadows, her and Alzack pointing their guns at him. Unlike before, the dragon slayer was several yards away, and he wasn't attacking them. Rogue uttered two words, which shocked her and Alzack greatly.
"I surrender."
"What?" said the gunners. Their confusion did not last long, quickly turning into suspicion.
"Is this some sort of trap?" asked Alzack warily.
"No," replied Rogue, shaking his head. "When Master Jiemma told me that he had kidnapped Natsu Dragneel's family, I felt only horror and disgust. I tried to ignore these emotions, to be loyal to my guild, but they wouldn't go away. This is wrong, and I can't be a part of it anymore!"
"He's telling the truth," piped up Millianna from her cell. "He was arguing with Sting about this before Jet arrived."
"Alright then," said Alzack, lowering his revolvers. Him and Bisca approached the dragon slayer, their previous hostility abandoned.
"So how do we get this cell open?" asked Bisca.
"It's a simple spell that only the strongest members of Sabertooth are taught," answered Rogue, who wore a relieved expression. He had been worried that the gunners would attack him rather than listen to his words. "All I have to do is—"
Suddenly, the space between the three mages distorted into an odd, rainbow-colored shimmer. Then, as quickly as it appeared, the distortion exploded, sending the three flying.
Bisca let out a pained shriek as her body collided with the wall. She felt a wave of darkness wash over her mind. As the gunner struggled to resist it, she heard a cruel, feminine voice speak.
"Shame on you, Rogue, betraying your guild like that. Sabertooth does not accept anything less than absolute loyalty from its members. I'd teach you a lesson now, but there are more urgent matters to attend to. Now, Mrs. Dragneel, you and your child are needed elsewhere."
The last thing Bisca remembered was hearing Millianna say something in a protective voice as little Erza started crying. Then, everything went silent, as if the two were no longer in the room.
Omake
It had been a few days since the guild war between Fairy Tail and Sabertooth. Several people from the Magic Council stood before King Toma, discussing changes to the subsequent Grand Magic Games. The recent event had called into question its effectiveness in determining Fiore's strongest guild.
"…and, lastly, the Day 5 event will be a battle royale, consisting of every member of every team. Not only will this allow the guilds to better show off their abilities, it will accelerate our progress on the Eclipse Project."
"Good," spoke King Toma authoritatively. "The completion of the Eclipse Project is imperative. It must succeed, at any cost!"
"Of course…" continued one of the advisors. "In order for that many mages to fight one another, all of Crocus will need to be used as a battleground. This will require mass evacuations, a Lacrima vision network across Crocus to observe the battles, a large budget and supply of construction workers to repair the inevitable damages…"
As the advisor went on, King Toma brought his right hand up into a fist and shut his eyes in a futile attempt to prevent tears from flowing.
"Yes, at any cost," repeated the king mentally, unsuccessfully avoiding a feeling a despair.
AN: Droy's "Guard Plant" spell is something I made up. According to the Fairy Tail Wiki, he has only used three different spells between the Anime and Manga, one of which only breaks a person's fall. I needed more than that, so I created this spell.
I included an Omake that takes place after the current conflict because: 1. It's not really much of a spoiler, given that the outcome of this battle is obvious; and 2. I couldn't think of anything else to use here. I do have a plan for next chapter's Omake, though.
Goodbye for now!