"I…I CHALLENGE YOU TO A BATTLE!" Cynthia blurted out, causing everyone once again to stare in her direction, only this time with widened eyes.
"You WHAT!?" Natsu unhooked himself from the ceiling, landing on the floor face first.
"She what…?!" Wendy gasped, her eyes wider than anyone else's.
"That's a man!" Eflman commented, raising a fist into the air.
"I'm a GIRL YOU IDIOT," Cynthia shouted back at Elfman, "I mean…no I meant that." She turned back to Gildarts. "Please…?"
Gildarts pondered on this fought for a moment before nodding slowly, "Alright…I suppose I can give you a fight."
"R-Really?!" Cynthia's blue eyes lit up with excitement.
"Of course," Gildarts nodded once again, starting to walk out the building. "Follow me; I know a place where nothing of importance should get destroyed." Cynthia followed, along with everyone else in the guild, wanting to see how this fight would turn out. Lucy walked inside, noticing that everyone leaving.
"Huh? What's going on?" Lucy asked, confused on where everyone was going.
"Cynthia challenged Gildarts to a battle and he accepted!" Natsu flailed his arms around.
"Cynthia did WHAT!?" Lucy's eyes widened. "I have to see this!"
"Then come on!" Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand and dragged her out the Fairy Tail building.
.
.
After a bit of traveling, Fairy Tail eventually came to the beach. A part of it where nothing would get destroyed if the battle were to get too intense. The guild members took a seat a good distance away from Cynthia and Gildarts. "How many seconds do you think she'll last…?" Happy asked the group.
"I say two hits," Gajeel stated.
"Probably one," Laxus replied, leaning back.
"If you don't mind, I have to mentally prepare myself," Gildarts said, taking in a deep breath. "I'm not too good at holding back, you see…"
"Of course, take all the time you need," Cynthia, replied, preparing herself mentally and physically for the battle that was about to happen. She had no idea just how strong Gildarts really was, but she wanted to see where she stood a as a mage, just so she wouldn't be a burden to anyone else in a fight. "I'm ready…" Cynthia said with a stern nod.
"As am I," Gildarts replied, "Ladies first…"
'Hai!" And with that Cynthia sprinted forward towards her opponent, cocking her fist back as she was preparing herself to us a non-magical attack, just to test Gildart's strength. "Get ready!" She swung her fist forward, only for it to be quickly and easily blocked by Gildarts's forearm. Cynthia's eyes widened for two reasons. One, she noticed how easily her punch was blocked, and two, she just now noticed the bandages all over Gildarts's body and the state it was in. The next thing she knew Gildarts's elbow had rammed into her abdomen, sending her back across the sand a few feet before she sprang back up.
"That's one hit…" Gajeel smirked, looking over at Laxus, "She's done after the next."
Cynthia charged once again, red flames engulfing her fist; "Omega Fire Dragon's Fist!" She threw a heated fist at Gildarts once more, aiming for a blow to his chest, but he brought his bandaged arm in, blocking the attack easily, his expression unchanged. Cynthia wasn't ready to give up though, she quickly hopped up off the ground, flames surrounding her feet as she attempted to bring them down on Gildarts's head, but he opened his hand, a bright white light shining as Cynthia's flames had been put out, her foot caught easily. "What?!" A bright light formed around Gildarts's hand, and he shot out a large white beam from his palm, engulfing Cynthia in the blast, sending her rolling across the sand before coming to a stop.
"I think she's going to need a healer after this…" Cana sighed.
"Cynthia…" Wendy just watched carefully.
"I'm...not finished yet!" For such a young girl, she had a surprising amount of endurance, especially for going up against Gildarts. It probably had something to do with the fact she was a Dragon Slayer, who usually had enhanced durability. Cynthia stood up, then snapped her fingers, causing red magic circles to appear around all angles of the Fairy Tail ace.
"What the?" This almost caught Gildarts off guard, but he quickly brought his cape forward as a sort of defense as the red magic circles unleashed blazing red flames on him, creating a small cloud of smoke.
"I got him!" Cynthia grinned as she stared into the smoke, her grin quickly fading as she noticed that Gildarts was seemingly unharmed. "WHAT!?"
"She's not bad," Gildarts thought to himself, acknowledging the fact that any other mage would've been heavily damaged, and that he himself may have been damaged if he hadn't defended in time. He threw his cape aside waiting to see what else Cynthia had in store. Cynthia wasted no time in charging forward, flames engulfing her hands and feet once again as she rushed Gildarts, throwing well aimed and powered punches and kicks towards his torso and face area. However, the Ace had an easy time blocking or deflecting the punches, putting little effort into blocking them. Cynthia was growing frustrated that none of her attacks were landing, so she took a leap into the air, aiming a fist at Gildarts's head. He blocked the incoming fist with his forearm, feeling the power behind it. "Hmmm," he thought, staring into Cynthia's eyes. She was serious about this fight, and she wanted to prove how strong she was. Gildarts cocked his metal are back, and aimed it at Cynthia's causing her to fly into the air.
"I think that's it..." Gray mumbled, watching the helpless Cynthia fly into the air.
"Not even!" Cynthia grinned, using the air to her advantage as she placed her feet together, spinning around as she turned into a tornado of red fire. "Fire Tornado!" She dove down at Gildarts with amazing speed and force, causing Fairy Tail's Ace to use raise both of his arms over his head as Cynthia crashed into him. Gildarts stopped Cynthia's momentum as a bright white light appeared under the sand, causing a large hole to form under Gildarts as he used the ground as a cushion to negate the force of Cynthia's attack. Gildarts then grabbed the poor challenger by her legs and swung her around like a rag doll before tossing her into the sand with what he thought was normal force while normal to him meant extremely powerful to a normal mage such as Cynthia, causing her to roll around in the sand before stopping, panting heavily. She placed her hands on the ground, causing a red magic circle to form; "Omega Fire Dragon's Line!" A trail of fire shot up from the ground, ripping through the sand and the air as it rushed towards Gildarts. Gildarts could feel the force of the attack as it neared, so he stuck his hand out, grabbing and stopping the line just before it hit him, disassembling the flame easily. Cynthia used this time to approach her opponent while her arms were ablaze, trailing fire as if they were wings. "Omega Fire Dragon's Wing Slash!"
"HEY THAT'S MY MOVE!" Natsu flailed.
"Oops," Cynthia thought as she heard Natsu in the background, aiming herself at Gildarts as she "flew" towards him. Gildarts brought his forearm back, swinging it right into Cynthia's face, cancelling her attack out as she landed on her back on the sand.
"Oh, I can't watch this!" Wendy covered her eyes, unable to watch Cynthia become Gildarts's punching bag.
"I'm...I'm.. not finished yet!" Cynthia stood up once again, running towards Gildarts, as her flames grew darker. Cynthia jumped up holding tucking her body in as she spun in a wheel like motion; "Flame Wheel!" She dove directly at Gildarts, who just smirked. Gildarts held his hand out, using his disassembly magic to shoot out a white magical net, removing Cynthia's magic from around her. Gildarts then waited until she got close before swinging the back of his arm at the girl, sending Cynthia across the sand before coming to a stop once again, already bruised and battered.
"I think this battle is over…" Lucy curled her lip, frowning slightly.
"She lasted a bit longer than I thought…I guess I have to give her credit…" Gajeel shrugged.
Cynthia laid on the ground, images of something flooding into her mind. "She's pretty strong now, don't you think?" a voice said in a flashback. "I bet she could take on the legendary Gildarts Clive at this rate!"
"HA! Are you joking!?" Another voice said, "She wouldn't last three hits. She's too weak," Another voice said, in a blatant mocking tone. Everyone thought Cynthia was weak from where she came from, she didn't want to seem weak to everyone at Fairy Tail. She wanted to prove she was strong enough to protect everyone on her own if she needed to.
"Hm, she has untapped potential," Gildarts thought to himself.
"He didn't even take a single step," Happy pointed out.
"I'm…I'm not finished yet…" Cynthia placed her hands on the sand, lifting herself up slowly as dark flames flared around her body wildly. She stood up, her sand covered black hair in front of her eyes. "I'M NOT FINISHED!"
"Eh?" Gildarts's eyes widened just slightly, obviously surprised. "What is this…?!"
"C-Cynthia…!?" Wendy took a step back, this side of Cynthia much different from the scared little girl she saw on the mountainside.
Cynthia stared Gildarts down, and then rushed forward at him instantly. Gildarts could sense a power increase so great that he actually took a step back to avoid Cynthia's incoming punch, much to everyone's surprised.
"HE MOVED!" Happy flailed his arms around.
Cynthia then threw a quickly kick to Gildarts's side, but he JUMPED back to avoid it, cocking his metal arm back. Cynthia threw a dark red fire punch at Gildarts and Gildarts threw his own fist at Cynthia's, causing the two to clash; the magical pressure was so great it caused a shockwave and the wind to blow violently. Cynthia flew back from the collision, sliding back across the sand on her feet before coming to a stop. Gildarts was also thrown back, but not as far as Cynthia as his cape flapped from the raging wind.
"SHE CLASHED WITH GILDARTS WHAT IS THIS?!" Happy continued to flail, not having seen anything like this when it came to Gildarts fighting.
"M-Man…" Elfman started in amazement.
"Hmm…" Laxus watched the female Dragon Slayer carefully, his interest in her fighting abilities starting to show.
Cynthia lunged at Gildarts once again, jumping up to throw a flaming fist at his chest, but he brought his arm up just in time to block it. Cynthia then shifted her body weight, aiming an axe kick at Gildarts's head, but he raised his arm, blocking that too. He then used his brute strength to push Cynthia away once again, causing her to land on all fours in a frog-like position on the sand. She stood up puffing her cheeks out, "Roar of the Omega Fire Dragon!" She lurched forward, opening her mouth as she sent a giant funnel of dark red flames at the Crash Mage. Gildarts held his hand out, "Catching" the flame as it made contact. His hand glowed brightly as he dissembled the flame, causing it to vanish…however, he wasn't expecting one thing. Cynthia had jumped into the flame just as he dispersed it, with a flaming fist cocked back. With speed faster than he could react, Cynthia landed a flaming fist right at Gildart's face; a direct hit, causing the mighty Gildarts to take a step back from the impact.
"SHE HIT HIM?! WAAAAAAH!?" Happy's jaw dropped as he, and everyone else, saw the direct hit. Were they dreaming!?
"S-She hit him…" Natsu watched in amazement as Gildarts actually took some kind of damage and stumbled back again.
Cynthia continued her assault, aiming another axe kick, but Gildarts recovered just in time to block it. Cynthia was upside down, smirking; she puffed her cheeks out, releasing a giant funnel of dark red flames at point blank range towards Gildarts, the large funnel engulfing him and the half of the coastline as well. As the attack settled down, Gildarts had his arms up, though his body was indeed burned. He was clearly damaged with a small scratch on his cheek, and he slid back across the sand much farther than Natsu slid him back during their battle during the S Class exams. Everyone's eyes widened considerably; what they just watched was amazing.
"Cynthia…" Wendy muttered, staring at her in amazement.
Cynthia panted heavily, falling to her knees. "I…I got'cha..."
Gildarts lowered his arms, smirking slightly. "Yes, yes you did." Cynthia's technique was rough and unrefined, but he could sense something special down there if she applied herself. She had power. She had talent. Now...she just needed technique.
"I can keep going...!" Cynthia stood up slowly, her knees wobbling. "I have to prove I'm strong..."
"You want to keep going?" Gildarts asked, wiping his mouth with the back of his bandaged arm.
"I want you to go all out! No holding back!" Cynthia replied, allowing the dark red flames to dance wildly around her body once more.
"NO, NO, NO YOU DON'T WANT THAT!" Happy yelled.
"I-IS SHE SERIOUS!" Lucy's jaw dropped as her eyes widen, gripping the side o her head as she flailed around.
"She's serious," Laxus mumbled, eying the girl intently. How she went from being unable to cause any damage from causing Gildarts to actually try intrigued him. But the more he thought about it, the more he understood. Gildarts wanted to see how far Cynthia could go.
"I'm serious," Cynthia replied with a stern nod, looking at her opponent. She was happy with the face she know she caused damage, but she wanted to keep going. She knew it was foolish, especially considering she knew she was the new girl at Fairy Tail, but she wanted to defeat the Ace of Fairy Tail herself, to show she wasn't weak. She was unaware that her act showed that she wasn't weak to everyone else, however.
"As you wish," Gildarts took a deep breath as a white aura slowly formed around his body. The ground started shaking lightly as the aura slowly intensified around his body, causing his cape to fly up, revealing the bandages all around his chest.
"How did he gets those..." Cynthia thought. She quickly shook the thought off as she felt intense shaking in the ground beneath her. "It's now or never!" She rushed forward at Gildarts, shouting as everyone watched. She stopped in her tracks as she felt at the menacing powering coming from Gildarts; she knew he wasn't about to go all out, but he didn't need to. Cynthia stared with wide eyes before she took a few steps back heaving. "N-No...I can't fight that...I just can't...Y-You...you win, Gildarts Clive."
"Hahaha..." Gildarts let out a light laugh as he lowered his magic, his cape closing automatically. "You are certainly a strong girl," Gildarts replied. You're an excellent fighter, and I could sense you wanted to prove yourself. I hope you know that this fight has proven how strong you are as a mage. Remember this, Cynthia. It doesn't matter how weak you think you are, as long as you have the power to help and protect your nakama, that's all the power you need."
"Nakama...?" Cynthia looked up at Gildarts, her heart beating erratically from what she just felt and witnessed only twenty seconds ago.
"Your family," Gildarts replied with a gentle smile, gesturing over to the group of Fairy Tail wizards who came out to watch this fight. "You want to protect all of them right?"
Cynthia turned as Gildarts pointed, listening to his words. She nodded after he finished speaking. "Yeah...I want to protect all of them...especially Wendy. Everyone has been so nice to me, and I love Fairy Tail, and them. I would give my life to help and protect any one of them, and I wouldn't regret it after..."
Gildarts let off a soft chuckle, his smile growing. "That's excellent. Remember those words, and act on them no matter what. Family comes before anything and everything. And don't forget, any one of those mages right there would do the exact same thing for you; that's what Fairy Tail is, a big, happy family."
"Family..." The word made Cynthia frown at first, but as she thought back to the Fairy Tail mages, the word made her smile, a genuine smile.
"Cynthia!" Wendy ran from her watching spot as she approached the black haired Cynthia, panting slightly, "Do you need me to heal you?"
"If you would be so kind...I feel wiped..." Cynthia's smiled widened just slightly.
"Hai!" Wendy placed her hands near Cynthia's body as a sea green light emitted from Wendy's hands. "Cynthia, that was amazing! You're so strong!"
"Strong..." Cyntha pondered over what that word really meant after what Gildarts told her. She calm to the conclusion that being strong meant she had the power to protect the people she cared about; Fairy Tail. "Thank you, Wendy," Cynthia replied to the Sky Dragon Slayer with a soft smile, feeling her bruises and other injuries from the fight starting to heal. "Thank you for healing me too," Cynthia grinned, nodding. "I'm gonna feel all of this in the morning.