AN: Thank you MDM11 and Goku275. MDM11, I don't plan to touch on that (being vague to avoid spoilers about 100 Year Quest) in this story, although I will say that it did influence me to use more ambiguous language there.
"We will take back Hargeon Town today!" declared Kagura, rallying the combined forces of Mermaid Heel and Lamia Scale. "Forward!"
Despite their best efforts the previous day, the Fiore guilds had been unable to stop the Alvarez Empire from taking over the port town. They hadn't even defeated a single member of the Spriggan 12, instead being humiliated — especially Kagura herself, who had been rendered naked by the Spriggan Dimaria Yesta. However, their determination hadn't wavered.
"Ahya hya hya!" laughed Wall, amused by the advance of the Fiore guilds. "It's like lambs to the slaughter!"
He and Dimaria were watching their soldiers battle the mages, leisurely waiting as they decided on who they would crush.
"Ah, she looks like a perfect target," said Dimaria, giving a sadistic grin.
"Sky God's Boreas!" shouted Sherria mid-jump, blasting away a group of Alvarez soldiers with a black whirlwind. As her left foot touched the ground, she began to cast her next spell. "Sky God's—"
Bang!
Before Sherria could perform her spell, the left sleeve of her shirt was blown apart, along with the surrounding fabric. With her concentration disrupted, the spell faded.
The Lamia looked around in confusion, catching sight of a woman who was holding a sword as if she had just swung it. Even in her addled state, Sherria recognized the woman as Dimaria, the Spriggan who had stripped away Kagura's dignity (among other things) the previous day.
"This one is mine," stated Dimaria as the nearby soldiers cheered her name. The Spriggan's tone was casual, as if she had just ordered dessert at a restaurant rather than chosen somebody to fight against. Then again, from Dimaria's perspective, her statement may have been more like the former.
"No! Stop!"
Unfortunately, such an assessment wouldn't be wrong. The god slayer was helpless as the clothing on her upper body was reduced to shreds.
"I really dig girls with looks like yours, so I thought that I'd play with you like I did that other one yesterday," said Dimaria, eyeing Sherria as the Lamia used her arms to cover her exposed chest. "Or, at least, that's what I was thinking. Today's fun will be different. You're a healer, right?"
The Spriggan shifted her body, readying to slash her sword again.
"If I let you live, you'll just cause me trouble," continued Dimaria as she began dashing toward Sherria. "So why don't you just die for me now?"
But, before the Spriggan could kill the Lamia, two Fairies struck the former. Dimaria was knocked away by a Dragon Force-enhanced Sky Dragon's Claw to the face and a Fire God's Bronze Fist to the solar plexus.
"Wendy! Romeo!" exclaimed Sherria happily.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Sherria," said Wendy, deactivating her momentary use of the Dragon Force.
"Backup from Fairy Tail has arrived," stated Romeo.
"How cute! They look just like a couple!" thought the Sky God Slayer, momentarily forgetting about the Spriggan.
Dimaria, on the other hand, had much angrier thoughts filling her head. "You kicked me… in the face!?"
The Spriggan's number of targets had instantly tripled.
"Really?" said Wall in an incredulous voice, observing the newest players to enter the battlefield. "You came to us, Fairy Tail!?"
Before he could laugh, the Spriggan felt a large source of Magic Power appear right behind him, announced by a loud boom. Wall tensed and turned around to see Laxus Dreyar with lightning crackling across his body, a fist raised and a pissed off look on the Fairy's face.
"So you're the one who did a number on Freed and the others?"
When Laxus spoke, it was a statement rather than a question. Fittingly, the Fairy's next action wasn't to listen to Wall's response but to swing his lightning-clad fist down on the Spriggan.
"Who're they?" taunted Wall, catching Laxus's fist with one hand and preparing to use his Weakness Magic with the other hand. His arrogance cost him immediately.
"My friends, that's who!" roared the dragon slayer, punching the Spriggan's face with his free arm. Wall flew back several feet before digging his hands and feet into the ground to stop the motion.
"Really?" went the Spriggan. Did this Fairy think he could defeat Wall with power this meager? "An alchemy composite of copper and zinc, forged into 9 mm projectiles…"
As the Spriggan muttered these words, chunks of the nearby ground broke off and rose into the air to form bullets matching his specifications. Once they were completed, Wall spoke once more.
"…Fire!"
However, to the Spriggan's surprise, the attack did not reach Laxus. When the bullets were only a few feet from the dragon slayer, they began to crackle and break apart. The next thing Wall knew, a massive bolt of lightning was shooting down from a clear sky onto their location.
Because of his Voltex Charge, this obviously did not harm Wall. But, as the cloud of dust kicked up by the lightning bolt died down, the Spriggan looked at his opponent with more serious eyes.
"I gotta say, you're not bad," acknowledge Wall. It seemed that defeating Laxus would require the Spriggan's signature magic. "Now, let's see… Analyze!"
"Erza, Yukino, Sorano, this way!" shouted Kagura. Upon arriving in Hargeon Town, the three Fairies had joined Mermaid Heel in battling the Alvarez soldiers.
"There are still enemies left here," stated Erza, hesitating to obey Kagura.
"We can handle them!" Flare Corona told the Fairy.
"Don't you underestimate us Mermaids!" added Risley.
"Kagura, head to the port with them!" said Araña.
"The port?" echoed Sorano questioningly. "Wendy and Romeo are facing Dimaria and Laxus is getting revenge on Wall, so then that's where the third Spriggan is, am I right?"
"Indeed, though I am curious as to how you know the names of the Spriggan 12," replied Kagura. "But that is a question for later. For now, the four of us can eliminate that Spriggan."
"Yes, we can!" agreed Yukino. "Let's get going!"
"Hey, little kids…" said Dimaria with a smirk on her face and sadism filling her eyes. "Do you know where you are?"
"Be on your guard!" warned Sherria, now wearing Carla's coat. The Exceed (human form), after catching up to Wendy and Romeo, had given it to the Lamia to replace her ruined shirt. "I don't know what kind of magic she uses!"
"Right!" responded Wendy.
"If only F-Blaze had learned more about the Spriggan 12's abilities," thought Romeo. "Aside from Ajeel using Sand Magic and Irene being a Sage Dragon Slayer and High Enchanter, we don't know anything about their abilities; just their names."
"This is a battlefield, not a playground," continued Dimaria. "It's no place for children."
"This used to be a peaceful town!" retorted Wendy, her tone hostile. "You people changed all that! But we're going to return it to how it was!"
Romeo, Carla, and Sherria all nodded in agreement.
"Truth be told, I could kill you instantly," stated the Spriggan, ignoring the dragon slayer's words. "In a split second."
"Here she comes!" warned Carla as she used her Precognition.
"A split second for you, that is."
"We are the Four Heraldry Knights of the Neinhart Squad!" spoke one of the two enemies standing between Erza's group and the harbor.
"You won't get past us," declared the other knight.
"Erza!" shouted Kagura, grabbing her sheathed sword.
"Yes!" responded the Fairy, Requipping into her Clear Heart Clothing and katana. "We'll push past you!"
The two women didn't even slow down, slashing the knights as they passed them. The Heraldry Knights fell, defeated with a single attack.
"…Were you really wounded?" asked Kagura suspiciously.
"This is Erza we're talking about," said Yukino. She and Sorano had stayed a few feet behind the swordswomen, letting the superior close-range fighters take the lead.
"We work well together, don't we?" stated Erza, ignoring her friends' words.
"Shouldn't we be more focused on the fact that they called themselves the Four Heraldry Knights?" asked Sorano dryly.
"Fools!" shouted a voice from above the women. They stopped and looked up to see two more enemies. "There are four Heraldry Knights!"
"That's what I just said!" complained Sorano, preparing to summon an angel.
But, before she could, a familiar figure appeared. He also took out two knights with a single hit, finishing off the Heraldry Knights.
"It's you…" said Erza.
Kagura felt a surge of anger, which she struggled to suppress. She may have abandoned the path of revenge, but such intense hatred was hard to let go of. The Mermaid wanted to, though, because he was trying to be a better man.
"Forgive me for not coming sooner," apologized Jellal. "Crime Sorcière is here to help take down Zeref."
Dimaria smirked as she gazed at the children opposing her, currently frozen in place.
"Now, I'm the only one in the whole world," boasted the Spriggan. "The world belongs to me. I'm sure everyone has wished for this at least once. 'What if I could stop time?'"
Dimaria sauntered over to Wendy. She bent down to look the dragon slayer in the eyes and continued monologuing.
"This is the magic that seals away time — Âge Seal. Do you get it now? This magic cannot be defeated."
The Spriggan started to play with Wendy's cheeks.
"You see? You're completely at my mercy here."
Growing bored of the taunting, Dimaria began to think about what torment she would inflict upon her victims.
"Shall I rip up this girl's clothes?" considered the Spriggan. She shook her head. "No. Been there, done that. And killing them now would be easy, but where's the fun in that? When time resumes, three of them will discover that the third has mysteriously died… Yes, that would be nice!"
Her choice made, Dimaria drew her sword and moved on to the next decision.
"Which one shall I choose?" asked the Spriggan. Her eyes moved over Sherria, Romeo, and Carla, before stopping on Wendy. "It simply must be the one who kicked me in the face. If I'm lucky, perhaps one of them has a crush on her and will give me a wonderful reaction to her death."
Dimaria raised her blade, readying to kill the Fairy.
"Goodb—"
Wham! Before she could swing her sword down, a crystal orb slammed into Dimaria's face and knocked the Spriggan away from the frozen kids. As soon as she hit the ground, Dimaria's gaze snapped in the direction the orb had come from.
"How!?" screamed the Spriggan internally. "How can something move in my world!?"
Dimaria soon found the answer in the form of a lady walking toward her, the orb that had struck the Spriggan back in the unknown woman's hands.
"Time has warped," spoke the woman, who Dimaria now recognized from the intel the Spriggan 12 had received (and only skimmed through) on potential threats. Ultear Milkovich of Crime Sorcière. "And we are now in the gap that resulted, in between time. You think you're the only one in this world? No, I am here as well."
Ultear walked up to the frozen Fairies and Lamia, putting her hand on Wendy's shoulder. Dimaria watched, her shock still strong enough to prevent her from acting.
"And now…" continued Ultear, activating her Arc of Time. The four kids glowed, then started to move. "…So are they."
"Ultear!?" exclaimed the now-unfrozen Fairies, surprised by the sudden presence of the woman.
"Magic that stops time… it seems you have found a rather troublesome opponent," Ultear told them, surprising the kids even more. "It is fortunate for you that I happened upon your battle when I did. Now, would any of you be opposed to taking this Spriggan down together?"
They shook their head, making Ultear to smile.
"Then let us begin."
Omake
"Gray, behind you!" shouted Lyon. The Fairy turned around, just in time to see two soldiers get taken out by a spell. The two ice mages turned to the source of the attack and saw Meredy.
"It's been quite a while," greeted the woman with a wave. "Crime Sorcière is joining the battle."
"St-still so cute," stuttered Lyon, blushing. Meredy didn't hear him, though.
"And here I was thinking everyone had forgotten about me," joked Gray. After all, he was the only Fairy who was handling foot soldiers instead of a Spriggan.
AN: The battles against two more Spriggan have begun. I will say now that, due to there being no Magical Barrier Particles inside Laxus, I have come up with an alternative weakness for Wall to identify. That is the only spoiler I will give, though. Goodbye for now!