The Rise of a Warrior: Fairy Tail

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

Luke Drako, S-class wizard of the Fairy Tail guild, the true Lightning Dragon Slayer, student and son of the Lightning dragon Kaminari. This is his story. The story of a Dragon Slayer trying to find his place in the world, and make one hell of a strong team along the way. And with any luck, he just might win the heart of a certain brunette card mage. OC x Cana. Read and review.

18. Battle of Fairy Tail III

I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story since I updated it.

00raiserXL: Thanks, I'm glad to see you like the story. The names you came up with seem like some really good ideas. I'll do some brainstorming and I'll see what I can come up with, but in the meantime please feel free to pitch any other ideas you may have. I look forward to seeing what you come up with.

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"In a land far far away lies the Kingdom of Fiore, a small and peaceful nation of 17 million, and a place filled with magic. Found in every home, bought and sold in every marketplace. For most people, magic is merely a tool, a mundane part of everyday life. For some however, magic is an art, and they've devoted their lives to its practice. These are the wizards and mages, and banded together into magical guilds, they ply their skills in search of fame and fortune. Many such guilds dot the landscape of Fiore, but there is a certain guild in a certain town that stands high above the rest of them, one from which countless legends have been born, a guild that will no doubt continue to create legends well into the future. This guild is known as Fairy Tail."

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The barrier was down, the Thunder Legion had finally been defeated, and now Natsu and Gray were finally able to join in on the Battle of Fairy Tail.

Now only Laxus remained, and the climax of the Battle of Fairy Tail had come at last.

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Loke finally managed to pull himself back to his feet "Okay I think I've rested enough, time to go after the others."

"Hey Loke, take a look!" Happy pointed up at the scoreboard on the barrier "Freed vs Erza, the winner is Erza. The light that we saw, it must have been from their fight!"

"Well I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Erza was the one to take him down, but all the same part of me is glad both of us weren't there."

"But if Freed is out then that means the Thunder Legion is toast!"

"Yeah that is true, but the Thunder Palace is still looming over us, just waiting to blast the entire town to pieces."

"But how the heck are we supposed to take it down? Each lightning lacrima has that Body Link magic protecting them, if we try to attack them then we'll just end up getting blasted ourselves in the process."

"And for all we know those things could end up exploding at any second, there's no way we'll have enough time to evacuate everyone in the city." Loke cringed from the pain he felt.

"Oh no Loke, are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, sorry but I still haven't recovered all of my magic energy yet."

"Then you shouldn't push yourself."

"Yeah I know that, but at the same time I can't just sit around and do nothing. I have to go and help out the others."

"But how?"

"I… I don't know. Natsu, Gray, Erza, where the hell are you guys?'

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Natsu and Gray bolted through the streets as fast as they could "Dammit Laxus come out and face us, where the hell are you hiding?!"

"Calm down for a second, he's trying to gode you on." Gray pointed out "Losing our cool is just giving him exactly what he wants."

"I don't care, we have to find him before it's too late!"

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Levy looked out the doors to the guild hall and glanced up at the Thunder Palace lightning lacrima floating in the skies above Magnolia "This is really bad, that Thunder Palace spell is strong enough to take out the entire town and Laxus is going to activate it in only about 10 minutes. I'm scared, but we'll still be able to stop him. After all, we have Erza on our side and now Natsu and Gray are free, and even if they're stuck together. Plus there's no way I can forget about Mystogan either, even though I've never even seen him." she glanced ahead and saw a figure approaching in the distance 'I wonder who that could be.'

The figure approached the guild hall and stopped in front of Levy, revealing herself to be none other than Porlyusica "Tell me where I can find the old fool."

"Miss Porlyusica, what are you doing here?"

"I asked you where he is."

"Right, Master Makarov is in the infirmary ma'am. But maybe he shouldn't be bothered at the moment, he's not feeling too well right now."

"What do you think I'm doing here in the first place?"

"Hold on a second, you mean you came all this way just so you could treat the master."

"...Just take me to him."

"Right."

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About a minute later…

Porlyusica looked down at the unconscious form of Makarov, and her almost permanent frown deepened as she shot a glance over at Levy "I want you to go over and fetch Laxus for me at once."

"But why?" asked Levy.

"What he's doing is absolutely shameful, especially considering the fact that the old man is on his deathbed." that shook Levy to the core.

"Are you serious, is he really that sick?"

"Please just do as I tell you child, this cannot wait. There isn't much time." she slowly turned to face Levy, revealing tears brimming in her eyes "Please just go."

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Meanwhile, in the Kardea Cathedral…

Laxus sat on the steps inside the Kardea Cathedral, his mind drifting back to some earlier memories from his childhood and teenage years 'Great, why the hell do I have to start thinking about this stupid crap right now? Well I might as well reflect on why I'm doing all of this in the first place. I remember this one time I went at it with the old man, when I finally had enough of just being seen as the Master's grandson and all that crap, and then I tore into him for kicking my dad out of the guild. Apparently my old man did something that hurt the guild or something like that, but I wasn't buying into any of that bullshit and I threatened to leave Fairy Tail and join my dad's guild. I just had enough of it and stormed out, but before I did I swore to him that I would surpass him one day, not for my dad but for me, so then he would have to live under my shadow. I knew this day was going to come, you can't say that I never warned you about that old man." he stood and looked up at the scoreboard set up by Freed "Only 6 minutes left until the Thunder Palace is activated, at this rate I guess that stubborn old geezer is going to hang on right until the end. Just typical of him." he tensed suddenly, and he didn't have to look back to know who was there "So you actually showed up… Mystogan."

Sure enough, none other than Mystogan stood before him, his mask covering any distinguishable features of his face "Hello Laxus."

"I have to admit I'm surprised you're here, I didn't think this game would be of any interest to you."

"You still have time to bring down your Thunder Palace, if you do then we may be able to convince the citizens that it was part of the festival."

"Don't tell me that's really why you came back? Cut the crap, you're looking to get a piece of the action because you want to know who the strongest wizard in Fairy Tail is, whether it be you or me."

"You shouldn't be so quick to rule out Luke and Erza."

"What are you fucking with me? Sure the two of them have spunk but they're still weak compared to me, and one of them had to be a coward and run away."

"You seem the two of them as weak? If that's the case then you're either blind or more ignorant than I believed you to be."

"Nothing against the two of them, but I think we can both agree that we're way stronger than them. It's clear that one of the two of us is the top wizard in Fairy Tail, but the question is who's more deserving of the title?"

"I believe Gildarts has earned the right to such a claim."

"Yeah well he's never around enough to claim it, so I say top billing gets to go to one of us right here and right now!"

"If you truly see the world in terms as simple as that then perhaps you truly are blind."

"I'm sick of talking about this crap, let's just settle this here and now Mystogan, or maybe I should call you-" Laxus was cut off by Mystogan firing a blast of purple magic energy from one of the staves he carried on his back, which Laxus countered with a blast of lightning, the two attacks colliding and releasing a shockwave that shattered the windows of the cathedral, catching the attention of several onlookers.

"Tell me, how is it that you know about that?"

"Oh wow, it looks to me like I struck one hell of a nerve with you. I have to admit it's a rare treat to see you lose your cool like that. How about you and I strike a little deal, if you manage to beat me then I swear I'll tell you everything I know."

"That's one statemet you're going to end up regretting dearly Laxus, you're about to witness magic the likes of which you've never seen before."

"Oh yeah you've got me pissing myself, well I say go ahead and show me what the hell you've got you fucked up freak! I'm dying to see just how much stronger than you I really am!"

"So now we're doing this apparently. Skyscraper." Mystogan pulled one of his magic staves off his back and planted it into the ground, resulting in a purple light shining throughout the entire cathedral.

In an instant, Laxus found himself hurled straight off the ground and high above the city, with the cathedral apparently exploding beneath his feet "What the hell is this?! That's impossible, how the hell did he blow up the entire church!" a massive white light engulfed him and he found himself floating in space, bound by a series of black belts as a monstrous demonic creature emerging from some sort of rift in front of him "What the fuck kind of magic is this?!" but as the creature pounched, he let out a roar and a quick surge of lightning magic, shattering the illusion that he was trapped in and bringing himself back to reality, a maniacal grin plastered all the way across his face "Now that's fucking hysterical, did you seriously think you'd be able to defeat me using some kind of stupid illusion?"

"Impressive, but it seems to me you're still a bit slow on the uptake."

"What?" Laxus found himself by five layers of magic circles, each one piling on top of the next one "What the-?!"

"Now sleep. Five Layer Magic Circle: Sacred Song!"

"So you think I'm the slow one do you?" Laxus gestured down at the golden colored magic circle that appeared beneath Mystogan's feet.

'Dammit!' Mystogan was promptly engulfed in a blast of lightning, while Laxus himself was promptly engulfed by a blast of purple magic energy. When both blasts subsided and the smoke cleared, both of them had been left unharmed.

"So what other tricks have you got up your sleeve?"

"You're about to find out." Mystogan leapt into the air and summoned another magic circle beneath Laxus' feet, a wave of magic energy attempting to engulf him.

"Lightning Body!" Laxus coated his body in lightning and managed to slip out of the magic circle unharmed.

'He was able to slip through!' Mystogan was suddenly attacked from behind by Laxus, but he was able to phase through the attack and come out unharmed as both of them returned to the ground.

"There we go, now this is a hell of a lot more like it."

"So here you are!" was the simultaneous chorus of three different voices.

Laxus and Mystogan both glanced over "Well it took you guys long enough."

As it turns out, it was Erza on one side of the doorway to the cathedral, and Natsu and Gray on the other side, and they exchanged glances "Oh good, the two of you were able to make it out of there."

"Yeah but we're still handcuffed together, so that sucks." Gray glanced over at Mystogan "So you have any idea who our mystery man or why he's impersonating Tuxedo Mask?"

"That's Mystogan, truth be told this is the first time I'm seeing him myself."

Mystogan froze when he locked eyes with Erza, then tried to cover the small part of his face that was visible 'I was hoping she and I wouldn't meet like this-'

"You're wide open!" Laxus suddenly hit Mystogan dead on in the face with a quick blast of lightning, blowing his mask clear off and revealing his face to all of those present.

Erza was frozen in a mix of shock and terror when she saw his face 'The blue hair, hazel eyes, the red tattoo… there's no mistaking it. But how is this possible, there's no possible way he should be able to be here. Is it really you…?"

"Oh, so you know this guy?"

"I… I don't understand… you were Mystogan this entire time?"

Mystogan let out a sigh "Forgive me Erza, I was hoping that you would not have to see me like this, or at all actually. I'm not the person you're thinking of, I am aware of who he is but I can assure you that he and I are not one in the same. I'm sorry, I must be going. Natsu, Gray, I'm trusting the two of you to take care of Erza and defeat Laxus before any more innocent people have to suffer." and then he disappeared in a flash.

'But how can it be… Was that really you… Jellal?'

"Well I'm confused and constipated at the same time." Natsu commented "Alright Laxus come at me, it's one on one." he looked over at Gray, then down at the handcuffs binding them together "Okay two against one. Erza we're gonna go ahead and handle this clown, you have a problem with that?"

'Jellal… I…' Erza was left literally shaking.

"Erza snap the hell out of it already!" Gray barked.

"I-" Erza was cut off when she was bombarded with a powerful blast of lightning, causing her to scream in pain.

"Erza!"

As it turns out, Laxus had struck her with a lightning spell with a huge maniacal grin plastered across his face "That's one hell of a face you're making there red, yeah like that's going to get you laid." he fired another blast, sending Erza crashing to the ground.

"That's enough!" Natsu and Gray rounded on him as they dropped into fighting stances "I said before that you're fighting us you assclown, let's go here and now!"

"Oh yeah you guys are here, I didn't even notice you show up, nor did I even give a rat's ass about it either." that dealt a serious blow to both of their egos in a comical fashion.

Gray promptly dropped into his Ice Make stance "Hate to break it to you Pikachu, but we're about to make you notice us big time."

"Way ahead of you." Natsu summoned a barrage of flames in his fist "You cut him down and I burn him to a crisp, we hit him hard and fast."

"For once we agree. Ice Make: Sword!" Gray summoned an ice sword and charged forward at full speed.

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" Natsu charged alongside Gray with a barrage of flames readied in one of his fists.

"Oh please, like either of you could even touch me." Laxus dodged both of their attacks without even breaking a sweat "Didn't anyone ever tell you that you're supposed to think before you act in a fight, now get the fuck out of my face!" he fired a blast of lightning that shattered Gray's ice sword instantly upon contact and aimed it at his face.

"Fire Dragon Talon!" Natsu leapt high into the air, pulling Gray upwards with him and charged at Laxus with a fire enhanced kick aimed at his head.

Laxus blocked the Talon with his forearm and threw him away, sending both of them flying away.

Gray took the chance to stop himself and Natsu in the doorway to the cathedral "Looks like this stupid thing is actually proving to be useful for something after all."

"And where the hell do you little punks think you're going?" Laxus blitzed in front of them, grabbed them by the handcuffs and started attacking both of them with a barrage of lightning enhanced punches to the faces.

After taking numerous hits to the face, Natsu managed to grab Laxus by the wrist "Why the hell would we go anywhere, this spot is just perfect for us!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means this! Ice Make: Hammer!" despite his hands being bound, Gray summoned an ice hammer and started smashing it against Laxus' head.

Laxus promptly unleashed a surge of lightning along the handcuffs, electrocuting both of them at once, and started alternating between punching Natsu and Gray while simultaneously taking hits from Gray's ice hammer, until he eventually got bored of that "Okay I'm bored, now let's get to the good stuff already!" he leapt up into the air, dodged another Fire Dragon Talon being aimed at him by Natsu, channeled some lightning into both of his boots and promptly stomped down on them before aiming another blast of lightning at Natsu's head.

"Requip!" Erza blitzed back onto the scene in her Black Wing Armor and pulled the two of them out of the way before Laxus would strike them again.

"Looks like someone got back on her feet pretty fast."

'I can't waste any time brooding over Jellal- I mean Mystogan, I have to stay focused on the task at hand.' she promptly aimed one of her swords at Laxus "Alright Laxus, what have you put in the sky above the city? Tell me right now or I'll show you no mercy!"

"What you haven't heard, that would be my Thunder Palace."

"You're absolutely despicable, to think that you would attack your hometown and all of the innocents who live in it!" she was met only with a maniacal laughter.

"Honestly it breaks my heart, but that's just the way this game is being played dollface."

"Damn you!" Erza promptly slashed her sword at him in a rage.

Laxus blocked the blade with his bare hand "There's only two minutes left until the Thunder Palace activates."

"Dammit… Natsu, Gray, go and destroy the Thunder Palace right away before they fire!"

"But we can't!" Gray protested "If we attack any of those things then they'll just end up frying us, and I don't think I can afford to get fried because of this idiot again!"

"Seriously Laxus, you mean you're using Body Link magic in order to protect them?"

"You've got that right." Laxus' grin widened "And they're gonna stay up there until I give the order for them to blow!"

"You coward!" Erza was promptly blasted with a quick surge of lightning.

"It's a damn shame you're not gonna be around to see it!"

"Requip!" with a flash of light, Erza broke out of Laxus' hold and flashed into a new set of blue and gold armor.

"Lightning Empress Armor huh, not a bad try but it won't protect you from what I've got in store for you!" Laxus fired off another blast of lightning.

Erza promptly leapt over the blast "Now that we're using the same type of magic that makes it a fair fight!" she fired off a blast of lightning from her spear.

"Lightning Body!" Laxus covered his body in a coat of lightning, dodged the attack and surged all throughout the cathedral hall "Now let's see if your armor is tough enough for you to be able to handle this!" he fired another blast of lightning.

When the smoke cleared, it revealed Erza completely unharmed, her lightning shield having protected her from the blast "It would seem that it was."

"So you're still standing."

"When two wizards do battle using the same type of magic there are many different factors that determine who claims victory."

"Their level of magic energy, their technique and their experience. That's what you were going to say wasn't it?"

"There's one more, it's their heart. I know the master taught you that Laxus."

"Yeah he did mention it, but he also taught me that power is what trumps just about everything else."

"Dammit Erza, would you just leave it alone already!" Natsu barked "I told you that we were going to be the ones to take him down, and I'm only counting Gray because he and I are stuck together thanks to Lisanna!"

"...Is that so?" Erza gave Natsu and Gray a small smile "Then I suppose I'll just have to put my faith in you. I have other business to attend to."

"What are you going to do?" asked Gray.

"What else, I'm going to go and take down the Thunder Palace."

"You're officially batshit insane." Laxus barked out a laugh "I'd like to see you try something like that, attacking even one of the lacrima of the Thunder Palace can be deadly and who knows how many of them are floating above the city right now. Besides you don't have anywhere near enough time."

"Then I'll just have to destroy them all at once."

"Is that so? You must have some kind of major death wish then."

"Nothing of the sort, but if that's what it takes." Erza glanced back at Natsu and Gray "I'm going to leave this one in your hands, so be sure that you don't let me down!"

"Come back here Erza, you're breaking the rules!"

"Don't let me down!"

Natsu and Gray shared a glance, nodded and looked back at the retreating form of Erza "We're both putting our faith in you too, you got that? It doesn't matter if you can blow those things up or not, you just better get back here in one piece!"

'That's one thing the two of you don't have to worry about, I have no intention of dying, not today.'

"Get ready stripper, we've got shit to get done."

"Dammit red, you get the fuck back here!" Laxus attempted to charge after her.'

"Now!"

"Ice Make: Sword!" Gray summoned an ice sword and slashed at Laxus, forcing him to jump back a short distance "In case you weren't listening your fight is with us now, you're about to get a massive beatdown that you've had coming for years!"

"You mouthy little brats!"

"You're talking shit like you think you could oneshot Gildarts and we're the mouthy brats in your eyes, are you fucking deaf?"

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Having already requipped herself into her Heaven's Wheel Armor, Erza wasted no time in summoning one sword after another in preparation for dealing with the Thunder Palace "I call upon the power that lies within my swords, give me the strength I need to protect the city I call my home and all of the people living in it. I call upon you as well my comrades in Fairy Tail, I beg you to please lend me your strength as well."

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Loke glanced back in confusion "What the heck, either I'm hearing things or I actually did just hear Erza say something to me."

Happy nodded "Yeah I'm pretty sure that I heard it too."

"Did you hear her ask us to lend her our strength?"

"Yeah I did, that was pretty weird wasn't it?"

"Maybe but if Erza's asking us for help then it must be seriously bad, we have to do something."

"But what can we do?"

"Maybe if we can find a way for everyone from the guild to hear her then we can all band together to lend her a hand."

"But won't we need Warren's telepathy in order to pull it off?"

"Which means we have to find him first."

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Meanwhile, back at the cathedral…

"Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame!" Natsu fired a large two handed blast of fire at Laxus at near point blank range.

"You think that's gonna be anywhere near enough?!" Laxus counted the blast of fire with a blast of lightning, the force sending Natsu and Gray skidding backwards "Don't the two of you see what's happened to our guild?"

"What the hell are you going on about?"

"What do you think, thanks to the old geezer Fairy Tail is nothing but a joke now! All I'm trying to do is make things right, when I become the master of the guild the name of our guild will strike fear into the hearts of everyone that hears it!" he started releasing multiple surges of lightning magic throughout the building, hitting Natsu dead on.

"Get moving you idiot!" Gray managed to yank Natsu out of the way before either of them could be struck again.

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Loke and Happy bolted through the streets as fast as they could "Dammit, where the hell could they have gone?"

"They have to be around here somewhere." Happy pointed out "We just have to keep looking for them."

"Forget about that, if we can find Warren then that saves us a lot of time and energy, which we need right now. Hey Warren where the hell are you? We need your help and we need it now, so where are you?!"

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Back at the cathedral…

Laxus looked up at the timer on the barrier 'There's only a minute and a half left until the Thunder Palace is activated, what the hell are you waiting for old man? Are you really just going to stand back and watch all those people get fried?'

"I know what you're thinking." Natsu promptly spat out some blood and let out a chuckle as he was pulled back to his feet by Gray "I wouldn't worry about that if I were you, that bullshit is already over. You know just as damn well as I do that it's not going to happen."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like." Gray shot him a smirk "You can go ahead and blow the entire town to hell but you're still not getting it, you're just pissed that you passed the point of no return and didn't even realize it until now."

"The town will be fine, Erza's taking your spell down as we speak!" Natsu summoned some flames in one hand, with Gray summoning an ice sword, and the two of them charged forward side by side "It's not so easy sticking to your guns now is it Laxus?!"

"Shut the fuck up, what the hell would the two of you know?!" Laxus promptly readied another blast of lightning.

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Erza continued summoning one sword after another, one for each of the lightning lacrima floating above the city, though now she was beginning to feel the strain "There… now that makes… 100… but it's still not enough…" she continued to push herself further and summon more swords as the lacrimas began to charge up with electricity.

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"Warren, Warren where the hell are you?!" Loke and Happy continued searching for Warren, but they were having very little luck "Dammit, how hard can it be to find one of your friends when that friend can read minds?"

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Several dozen swords later…

Erza gritted her teeth as she summoned more and more swords and weapons "That adds up to 198… 199…" now she was panting and sweating heavily "But there's still… not nearly enough… to destroy all of them… at once…" she fell to one knee from the exhaustion she was feeling 'I'm running low on magic energy, and I'm almost out of time. What should I do?'

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Laxus shot a wicked grin at Natsu and Gray "You've got less than a minute and a half until the Thunder Palace is activated, hate to break it to you punks but you're way too late."

"You wanna bet? Well we'll see about that!" Natsu and Gray both promptly charged into the fray at full speed.

"You little bastards still dare to doubt me?" Laxus dealt each of them a lightning enhanced punch to the gut, sending them crashing to the ground.

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Bracing herself and willing herself to go further, Erza summoned another sword "There… that makes 200… but I still need to summon another 100 swords… if I'm going to destroy every lacrima…"

"Hey Fairy Tailers, can you hear me?" a voice sounded through her mind.

"Is that Warren I'm hearing? He must be using his telepathy."

"Things aren't looking so good for any of us right now, take a look and check out what's floating up in the sky! We're going to have to pull together if we're gonna stop that thing, so get off your butts and lend us a hand! If there are any of you still fighting each other then just give it a rest for a second! Now listen to me very carefully, those lacrimae up there are part of an insanely dangerous spell called the Thunder Palace, Laxus is using it to threaten the entire town and everyone in it, so we have to take it out before he can set it off. We don't have a lot of time before he does that, so we'll have to work together."

"Wait a minute Warren, how did you find out about the Thunder Palace?"

"So you're okay, that's good." this time it was the voice of Loke coming through "I can't remember the last time I was this happy to hear your voice, you had me worried for a good long while there."

"Is that you Loke? I see, so you're the one that told him."

"Yeah, it would've happened a lot sooner but Happy and I had to track the guy down the old fashioned way."

"I see."

"Is that Erza?" this time it was Droy "You mean she's not petrified anymore? But if that's the case then what about the other girls, how is Levy?"

"There's no need for you to be concerned, all of the women are fine. Bisca took a bit of damage but she's recovered quickly and now she's back on her feet. I'm sure you're hearing all of this as well Alzack, she's fine."

"I see… that's a relief…" Alzack breathed a sigh of relief "She had me worried for a good long while there… I thought she was a goner…"

"Well she isn't, focus on that."

"There's one problem though." it was Warren again "Even with my telepathy I can't reach all the way to the guild hall, so we'll have to make due with the people who can hear me right now, if we work together then we can do this!"

"Hold it right there Warren!" this was coming from Max "Why the hell should I do anything you say after what you did to me?"

"Oh Max, you're one of the ones who can hear me. Listen I'm really sorry about that, I swear it wasn't anything personal, I was just desperate to save the girls!"

"Don't give me any of that bullshit!"

"I've got a bone to pick with you Jet!" this was Droy "Can you hear me?"

"Yeah I read you loud and clear man." this was Jet "I really am sorry about before."

"Sorry isn't going to cut it you little coward, you drop kicked me in the skull when I wasn't looking!" this ended up evolving into several overlapping telepathic arguments between various members of the guild.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Loke promptly broke character and exploded at everyone "Will all of you idiots quit screaming at each other like a bunch of angry harpies?!"

"Why don't you shut the hell up and practice what you preach Loke!" was the simultaneous chorus he got as a response.

"We don't have time for all of you to be screwing around like this, we have to hurry and take down the Thunder Palace!"

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Meanwhile, on another end of the telepathic argument…

The overlapping telepathic argument continued to the point where it got annoying, which didn't take very long.

As she was forced to listen to the arguments, Cana gritted her teeth and clenched her fist until she finally ran out of patience "Will all of you shut the hell up?! We shouldn't be wasting our time squawking like a pack of angry birds, our home town and its people are in danger and we're the only ones who can help them, so whether you like it or not the only way we're taking down that spell is if we work together! Yeah I know that we all think of each other as assholes because we had to fight each other, but we have to pull together or else we'll never be able to move forward and grow stronger! I've been in the guild for more than a decade, and that's what I've learned from all of you during that time. Look at Luke, he left us because he wanted to grow stronger to protect all of us! What the hell do you think he would say if he saw all of us acting like this? He wouldn't want us to act like a bunch of spoiled brats, he'd want us to work together like a real family would! Sure we all like to yell at each other and beat the crap out of each other, but what family doesn't? But we're not supposed to let it drive us apart to the point where we actually hate each other, let years of building bonds be broken in less than a day! There's no way in hell I'm accepting that, that would just be giving Laxus exactly what he wants! We have bigger things than our petty squabbles to worry about, if none of you are up to the challenge then I'll just have to do this alone! I'll destroy every last one of them myself!"

"...Quite the hero speech." that comment came from Loke "So what's it going to be then you guys? I mean you heard the lady, are you gonna let the drunk brunette who doesn't know how to wear a shirt show you up like that? Face the facts, she might be the biggest drinker in the guild but she's also got one of the biggest hearts in the entire guild and more Fairy Tail pride than all of us put together. We have a town to save and a traitorous jackass with an attitude problem to deal with, whatever other problems you guys have can be worked out later. I seriously have to give you props though Cana, you got everyone to get a grip and pull together. Now come on you guys, who's ready to stick it to Laxus?"

Cana gave a small smile as she pulled out a few magic cards "Thank you."

"No Cana, we should be thanking you." this one came from Erza "Like Loke said you can sort out any issues you have with each other later, for now let's focus on the task at hand."

"You heard the lady, let's get ready to blast these things all the way to hell."

"But how can we do it?" this time it came from Happy "I mean those things have Body Link magic protecting them, if we attack them then we're just gonna get attacked right back, and it's going to hurt a lot!"

"That's something we're just going to have to deal with, we have less than a minute before the Thunder Palace is activated and I'm not letting the guild get blown sky high. Being part of Fairy Tail has led me to become who I am today, and I'm not letting some power hungry blonde asshole blow it all to hell."

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Erza readied herself and the 200 swords hovering above her "I'll take the 200 to the North myself, I'll need everyone else to take care of the rest! We can do this, but only if we work together! Now go forth my swords!" she fired her swords forward, piercing through and obliterating 200 lacrimae in an instant.

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"Magic Card: Wind Edge!"

"Regulus Impact!"

"Max Speed Attack!"

"Beast Arm: Iron Bull!"

"Guns Magic: Tornado Shot!"

"Requip Sniper Rifle: Sniper Shot!"

"Falcon Heaven Sword!"

"Knuckle Plant!"

Combining their powers into one massive assault, everyone from the guild banded together and destroyed every last lacrima of the Thunder Palace, saving the town and everyone in it, and they were all filled with immense relief when the job was done.

That is, for the 10 seconds before the Body Link magic finally kicked in and blasted all of them out cold.

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Laxus glanced over at the rune scoreboard and his eyes widened almost instantly upon seeing the countdown for the Thunder Palace disappear 'What the hell, don't tell me they actually stopped the thing!'

"Now do you get it?" Natsu shot him a smirk "Told you there was no way it was gonna work for you."

Gray shot a smirk of his own at Laxus "Add this to the ridiculously long list of reasons why anyone who underestimates Erza clearly has a death wish. Still though, considering the kind of backlash she would receive from the Body Link magic, not to mention destroying as many of those lightning lacrimae as she did, I doubt she's gonna up for joining the fight again anytime soon, which means that the two of us are on our own.'

"Hey Laxus, weren't you saying some kind of crap about how our guild needs to change? That sounds like it's a real load of crap to me, I don't see anything that needs to change."

"For once I agree with him, it looks like everyone is getting along just fine as it is."

"So how do you expect to become the master of our guild if you can't just get along with the rest of us?"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" with a mighty roar, Laxus unleashed a powerful surge of electricity around his body, the force nearly blowing Natsu and Gray off their feet "I'LL TAKE FAIRY TAIL BY FORCE IF I HAVE TO, JUST WATCH ME CLAIM WHAT'S RIGHTFULLY MINE!"

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Levy bolted through the streets of Magnolia as fast as she could, her mind racing 'You've gone too far this time Laxus, you have to stop this right now! Please just stop, while your grandfather is still alive! Before it's too late!'

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Natsu and Gray shared a glance as they withstood the shockwaves being emitted by Laxus, and they promptly stood their ground "Isn't about damn time for you to just give it the hell up already? The Thunder Palace is gone, the girls are free and there's no way in hell you're taking over Fairy Tail, because none of us would ever let that happen!"

"Oh is that right?" Laxus shot them both a maniacal grin "You don't have a damn clue as to who you guys are screwing with, I'm a hell of a lot more powerful than any of you dreamed! I could take over this entire guild by force whenever the hell I want to, and none of you are anywhere near powerful enough to stop me so your best bet is to just get the hell out of my way and stay out of my way!"

"You wanna bet?" Gray promptly prepared to make an ice weapon"All of the shit you're talking makes it way too clear that you're just begging to take your ego down a few notches."

"You're damn right." Natsu summoned some of his flames "And either one of us could do that no problem, but since my wife stuck us together we might as well try it out fighting as a team."

"Make the most of a crappy situation, which is another reason why we're taking you down hard and fast! Ice Make: Hammer!"

"Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" the two of them prepared their attacks, a fire enhanced fist and an ice hammer respectively, and charged at Laxus and slammed their attacks into his face and head, only to not even be able to make him flinch.

"Oh come on, don't tell me that's all you guys have got!" Laxus promptly hit Natsu with a blast of lightning, sending both of them flying into the ceiling "You guys are gonna have to do a hell of a lot better than that, I've got more power in one finger than the two of you do combined!"

"Fire Dragon Sword Horn/ Ice Make: Sword!" Natsu quickly recovered and attempted to slam Laxus with a fire enhanced headbutt, with Gray preparing an ice sword at the same time

"Not good enough!" Laxus slammed a lightning enhanced fist into Gray's gut, followed by dealing both of them a barrage of lightning enhanced punches and kicks, sending both of them tumbling backwards.

Gray spat out some blood and glanced over to see Natsu downed next to him "Dammit I don't get this, how the hell is so strong?"

"Can the two of you feel the electric energy of the lightning I've summoned forth?" Laxus stuck his fist into the air.

'What the hell is going on? I can't move my body, and from the looks of it Natsu can't move his either?'

"And now it will plummet from the heavens and turn you both into piles of ash! RAGING BOLT!" Laxus brought down his arm, and with it came a massive blast of lightning, engulfing both Natsu and Gray in the explosion that followed.

When the blast subsided, Natsu and Gray were nowhere in sight.

Deciding to claim his victory, Laxus barked out a sadistic cackle "So who's the most powerful wizard in the guild now? I guess neither of them can really answer since they've both been turned into piles of ash!"

"Such is no way to treat one of your comrades." a new voice commented "Honestly Laxus, it truly is disappointing to see how far you've fallen."

Laxus glanced up and scowled "Great, you just had to come back didn't you Mystogan?"

Sure enough, a short distance away from him stood Mystogan, now wearing a new (and slightly more revealing) mask, holding Natsu and Gray with one arm each, the two of them now free from what was binding them "Though you were able to free them of what bound them together against their will, so truth be told you might have done them a favor."

"Mystogan… that's you right?" Natsu looked up at him, then at where the handcuffs were supposed to be "I don't get it, I thought Lisanna said those things were totally immune to magic."

"To her knowledge that is, but in truth they're merely resistant to magic, and only to a certain extent. Laxus is on an entirely different level compared to what wizards like you or Gray are capable of on your own, and his magic utilizes electricity. The handcuffs were made of metal, which is a conductor of electricity. Combine those factors, and that was more than enough to shatter them, freeing the two of you."

"Oh. Well thank fucking god I'm not stuck to him anymore."

"Like it makes any sort of difference." Laxus let out a scoff "Anyone who dares to stand in my way will be eliminated without hesitation!"

"Look just take Gray and get the hell out of her, I can take care of Laxus on my own."

Mystogan slowly shook his head "Unfortunately that is not an option in this case. Laxus has fallen too far to be reasoned with or taken down with mercy, you can tell that he has the blood of the master running through his veins. I'm well aware this is the last thing you want to hear, but the only way for you to defeat him is if you and Gray work as a team."

"What the hell man?! I only put up with him for as long as I did because I was literally stuck to him, now I'm a free man and I want to take Laxus down on my own!"

"Natsu, just look at him. Look deeper than just his appearance, does that remind you of the comrade you once knew?"

"What do you…"

Laxus shot them a maniacal grin filled to the brim with absolute malice "What's the matter, are you scared? You should be."

"...Yeah I see your point."

Mystogan nodded "As you should. Regardless of how you may have seen him once, the fact is that he is your enemy now, and if you wish to protect everyone else in the guild then your only hope is to subdue him before he can cause any more harm. Whether it be by the doing of another member or the Body Link magic connected to the Thunder Palace, the fact is that every other member of the guild has been incapacitated, and without counting myself, you and Gray are the only ones left who have a chance of stopping him."

"Who would've thought you could make such a smooth talker?" Gray pulled himself back to his feet and spat out some blood "From not even knowing what you look like to listening to you give motivational speeches that could give Gramps a run for his money? That's one hell of a turn around."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, and looking back perhaps the fact that I've isolated myself from the guild as much as I have has hindered my own mission."

"And what mission is that?" asked Natsu.

"I will tell you when the time is right. Until then, I leave him in your hands. You both have what it takes to defeat him, I know this for a fact." and with that, Mystogan took his leave in a white flash.

"...Agree to put off whatever the hell that ominous stuff was about for later?"

Gray nodded "Yeah works for me, but just to be clear this is the only time I plan to go two on one with you in a fight."

"Hey trust me stripper, this isn't too fun for me either."

"But still, we have other things to deal with, so let's do this."

"Right!" and so both of them charged forward and started attacking Laxus with a surprisingly well coordinated two man barrage of punches and kicks.

"You think that's gonna be enough?!" Laxus promptly struck Natsu with a blast of lightning, sending him flying backwards.

"Ice Make: Platform!" Gray materialized an ice platform in mid air that allowed Natsu to rebound from the attack "Use a breath attack, I'll back you up!"

"Fire Dragon ROAR!" Natsu breathed out a powerful stream of fire.

"Ice Make: Fan!" Gray summoned a large fan made of ice and waved it, releasing a large wave of wind, increasing the power of Natsu's fire attack and forcing Laxus to dodge it "You're not getting away! Ice Make: Cold Excalibur!" he summoned a large broadsword made of ice and swung it at him.

"Thunder Blitz Barrage!" Laxus fired a barrage of small balls of lightning, engulfing Gray in the explosion that resulted.

"Fire Dragon BRILLIANT FLAME!" Natsu took the chance to hit Laxus with a two handed blast of fire from behind, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Ice Make: Lance!" Gray recovered from the Thunder Blitz Barrage and attacked the downed form of Laxus with a barrage of ice lances, blowing him back a short distance, and then he summoned two large broadswords made of ice and prepared to finish it "Ice Make: Ice Bringer!" he slashed Laxus across the chest with both swords "Finish it you idiot!"

"Right! Fire Dragon ROAR!" Natsu breathed out a massive stream of flames, summoning as much magic power in one go as he could, engulfing Laxus in the explosion that followed "Was that enough to take him down?"

"I think there's only one way to find out, but don't let your guard down."

"Right."

But their relief was cut short by a maniacal cackle as the smoke cleared to reveal that Laxus was completely unharmed, aside from his short being burned and torn "Don't tell me that's the best the two of you can do, and to think Natsu you actually call yourself a Dragon Slayer. You don't deserve the title."

'You've gotta be kidding me, after all of that he doesn't even have a scratch on him. It doesn't make any sense, being insanely strong is one thing but I pulled out a crapload of Dragon Slayer magic on him and Gray's Ice Make magic. How did he take all of that without so much as a scratch?'

"How about I let the two of you in on a little secret of mine, I haven't told anyone about this because I really can't stand the old geezer lecturing me, but now that I think about it I guess I can trust the two of you." then his muscles suddenly bulked up and ripped apart what was left of his shirt as his canines sharpened and turned more feral, and he let out a massive surge of lightning magic.

Natsu and Gray shared a horrified and knowing glance "You've gotta be kidding me, that shouldn't be possible…"

"Lightning Dragon…"

"But that's the exact same type of Dragon Slayer magic that Luke uses!"

"ROAR!" Laxus let out a primal roar, and with it a massive blast of lightning, almost instantly engulfing Natsu and Gray in the explosion that followed.

When the smoke cleared, both Natsu and Gray were on the ground, covered in burn marks and in serious pain 'Dammit…'

"You're both still alive? Dammit, I was sure that would be more than enough to finish you off, what's it going to take for you to just kick the bucket already?"

'Dammit this is bad, I can't even move and I don't think Gray can either.'

"The two of you pathetic losers, Erza and Mystogan, the pathetic old geezer, all of those weaklings in Fairy Tail, and the pathetic people of Magnolia, YOUR TIME IS OVER HERE AND NOW!" with a furious roar he unleashed a massive surge of electricity.

'Where the hell is all of this magic energy coming from?' Gray glanced over at Natsu 'This feels really familiar, like one of the spells Gramps would use. I've got a really bad feeling about this, whatever spell he's going to bust out next. Is this the one Erza was telling me about, that ultimate judgement spell that will target anyone the caster sees as their enemy? If that's what he's doing then we're as good as dead.'

Laxus clasped his hands together, and the electricity surging around his body was replaced by a glowing golden light "I can see it in your eyes Stripper, you know damn well what's about to happen next. I've mastered the Fairy Law spell, one of the three great magics of the Fairy Tail guild created by the First Master herself!"

"That's the most powerful spell Gramps has in his arsenal, and the most powerful spell in our entire guild! Laxus what the hell are you thinking?!"

"I'm thinking I'm bringing this era to an end!"

"Don't do this!" Natsu screamed at the top of his lungs.

"I'm not taking orders from either of you two!"

"Don't!"

"Laxus stop!" this came from an unexpected new voice.

Gray and Natsu both glanced back in a mix of horror and shock "Levy?!"

Sure enough, Levy was standing in the doorway to the cathedral "Please!"

"Levy what the hell are you doing?! Get the hell out of here or you're going to get yourself killed!"

"Laxus you have to see the master, he doesn't have much time left!" but what she was saying was failing to reach him "Master Makarov, your grandfather, he's close to death!"

That was enough for Laxus to at least hear it, and he regained his pupils and lost the maniacal grin on his face "What are you talking about?"

"Stop this now, please just go and see him one last time before it's too late!"

Natsu and Gray shared a look of disbelief and horror 'No way, it can't be… You mean Gramps is going to die? No way, it just can't be…'

"Please Laxus, just go!"

"...So the old man is about to kick the bucket?" Laxus' grin suddenly returned even wider and more malicious than before "This is working out perfectly for me, now that that pathetic old geezer is finally at death's door I have an even better chance at becoming the new master of the guild!"

Gray tried not to let out an outright snarl "You son of a bitch…"

"This is it, this will be the dawn of a new era for Fairy Tail! I'll rebuild everything from the ground up, I'll create the ultimate guild, one of such unrivaled power that everyone will tremble at the sound of our name!"

"You son of a bitch, you can't do this!" Natsu protested "You can't just pretend you don't care about Gramps at all!"

"How does this answer your question? Fairy Law!" and with that, Laxus finally cast the spell, casting down a brilliant golden light over everyone and everything in the city. A few minutes went by, the glow of the spell subsided, and his grin only widened "How the hell do you like that old man? At long last I've finally surpassed you." but then he looked in front of him and his jaw dropped "What the hell? No way, that shouldn't be possible!"

As it turns out, Gray and the others were still alive and well, albeit coughing up a hell of a lot of dust "Well that's gonna make my insides look like a vacuum cleaner for a week."

"I don't get it, how in the hell are all of you still alive?"

"Hey Levy, are you okay?"

Levy nodded "Yeah I'm fine, but what about you and Natsu?"

"I'm coughing up dust by the craploads, so I'm guessing Natsu is probably about the same right now."

Laxus was still wracking his brain looking for an explanation "But how? It doesn't make any sense, I hit them with so much magic energy there's no way they should've been able to survive that."

"The other members of the guild and the citizens of Magnolia are all unharmed."

Laxus looked over and his scowl deepened "Freed."

Sure enough, Freed stood leaning against the doorway, still injured from his one sided battle against Erza "It would seem that your spell didn't work, not a single person was killed."

"But that's impossible, I know for a fact that I cast the Fairy Law spell perfectly!"

"True as that may be it doesn't matter, your true feelings have betrayed you."

"What?!"

"You've inherited more than strength from your grandfather, whether you choose to admit it, the fact is that you also have the heart of the master. It's clear to myself and anyone else in the guild that you truly do care for your comrades, the Fairy Law spell only affects those seen by the caster as their enemy. No one was hurt by your spell, and that was more than enough to show everyone how you truly feel."

Levy was quick to realize what he was getting at "His magic was able to see into his heart, and he didn't even realize it, and that's why we're all still here."

"You can try to hide your true feelings Laxus, you can deny it as much as you want, but your magic will always reveal the truth within your heart."

Of course, knowing him, Laxus wasn't willing to accept the truth "No that's just a load of bullshit, the truth is that anyone who would dare to stand in my way is my enemy!"

"This has gone on for far too long as it is Laxus, you need to go and see the master while you still have time left!"

"Let the old man die for all I care!" Laxus promptly bulked back up as his body started surging with electricity "HE'S NOTHING TO ME! IT DOESN'T MATTER IF HE'S FAMILY, HIS POWER IS NOTHING COMPARED TO MINE!"

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Natsu promptly staggered back to his feet, with Gray doing the same right after, both of them still raring and ready for a fight "If you couldn't even pull off the most powerful spell the guild has to offer then how the hell can you call yourself stronger than Gramps? It doesn't mean a damn thing if you're his grandson, you're no better than any of the rest of us! Blood ties don't mean a damn thing, everyone in the guild is supposed to be your family!"

"That's just some load of bullshit, blood ties do matter!"

"Quit trying to fool yourself!" Gray dropped into a stance "You've been a member of the guild long enough to know better than that, if you think you being a blood relative of Gramps means that you're better than everyone else in the guild then you're dead wrong!" he and Natsu both let fists fly forward.

"And you're both just dead!" Laxus met both of their fists with one of his own, resulting in a collision that ended with the three of them blitzing along the walls of the cathedral, and then out onto the rooftop until he ended up sending Gray flying away "How dare either of you challenge me!"

"How dare you keep running your mouth like a jackass!" Natsu dealt Laxus a fire enhanced kick to the face "We're taking you down here and now Laxus, there's no way you're getting your hands on Fairy Tail!"

"Why the hell won't you two just die already?!"

"Fairy Tail is our home, there's no way any of us would ever let someone like you get your hands on it!"

"What does it take to just up and kill you already?!" Laxus grabbed Natsu by the arm and dealt him a lightning enhanced kick, sending him skidding backwards across the rooftop "Just wake up and face the reality already, it's over! You don't have a chance of beating me, you never have and you never will!"

"You wanna bet…?" Natsu staggered back to his feet and spat out some blood "What the hell is gonna take for you to just give up the fight? The guild doesn't belong to you, it never has and it never will!"

"You wanna bet? Lightning Dragon DEMOLITION FIST!" in his rage, Laxus unleashed a massive blast of lightning in the form of a gigantic fist, engulfing Natsu in the explosion that followed.

When the smoke cleared, it revealed Gray standing in front of Natsu, having formed an ice shield at the last second, only for it to shatter almost immediately "That was way too close, any later and both of us would've been fried into nothing."

"Didn't the old man ever teach the two of you to respect your elders boys?"

"Not when one of our elders is the most sadistic fucker on this side of Fiore. Hey Flamehole, you still have some fight left in you?"

"You should… already know… the answer to that…" Natsu staggered back to his feet and spat out some blood.

"Yeah you bet I do, it's what we're counting on."

"That was your last mistake brats." Laxus let out a snarl "NOW I'M GOING TO OBLITERATE BOTH OF YOU!"

As he and Levy made their way outside, Freed was quick to realize exactly what Laxus was going to do next "No, not that spell! Don't do it Laxus, that much magic energy could kill them as they are right now!"

"THAT'S THE IDEA! LIGHTNING DRAGON HEAVENWARD HALBERD!" using all of the magic energy he was able to muster, Laxus summoned a massive halberd made of pure lightning magic and hurled it at Natsu and Gray as hard and as fast as he could, until…

"Three Layer Magic Circle: Mirror Water!" a savior arrived in the form of Mystogan, and he promptly cast a series of hand signs, creating three magic circles, absorbing the Heavenward Halberd and reflected it right back to where it came from "Can you both continue fighting?"

Laxus was forced to dodge the attack being reflected back at him "Dammit, he just had to come back didn't he?"

"If you can both keep fighting then I suggest do attack him with everything you had."

"Well that's obvious." Gray slammed his hands together.

"What the hell do you think we were going to do in the first place?" Natsu dropped into a pouncing stance, his body radiating every last bit of flames he was able to muster "Let's get moving."

"Right!" and so the two of them charged in for one final assault, attacking Laxus with almost every spell in their respective arsenals.

"Fire Dragon-"

"Ice Make-"

"Iron Fist!"

"Hammer!"

"Talon!"

"Sword!"

"Wing Attack!"

"Lance!"

"Sword Horn!"

"Cold Excalibur!"

"Flame Elbow!"

Freed and the others could only look on in awe 'Unbelievable, both of them are so powerful that it's as if either one of them could take on any foe and claim victory.'

"Ice Blade: SEVEN SLICE DANCE!" Gray charged forward, summoned two ice blades on his arms and promptly slashed Laxus across the chest with said ice blades, sending him stumbling backwards a short distance "Now's your chance Natsu, FINISH HIM!"

"Right! Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Flame Lotus: EXPLODING FLAME BLADE!" using the last of his magic power, Natsu summoned forth a massive spiralling blast of flames, instantly engulfing Laxus and sending him flying high into the air, and eventually crashing to the ground with a loud thud.

Freed looked on in a mix of awe, disbelief and slight admiration "I don't believe it… they actually did it… they beat Laxus…"

Now barely even having enough strength left to stand, Natsu let out a primal roar of triumph, before falling on his back with a loud thud.

The Battle of Fairy Tail was finally over.

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What no one knew about was that, during the chaos of the battle, Igneel was visited by another being known as Grandeeney, and they discussed Natsu's actions.

Igneel ended up appearing to be seriously affected by Grandeeny commenting on the possibility of Natsu's death and promptly ordered her to leave, claiming that they were not allowed to meddle in the affairs of humans.

Grandeeeny sympathized with him, and gave the impression that she had an interest in humans just as Igneel did.

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The next day came, and things appeared to be finally returning to normal for the citizens of Magnolia.

"Aww dammit, the Fantasia parade won't happen until tomorrow night."

"Yeah, I heard it's because the master of Fairy Tail is sick."

"Is he going to retire?"

"Woah, who do you think the next master is going to be?"

"Well Laxus would make the most sense."

"But he's such a prick, I really hope they don't put him in charge."

"I've known him since he was just a kid and now he might be the new master, if I didn't feel like an old man before I sure as hell do now."

Porlyusica listened to these various comments as she made her way out of the city, and she scoffed lightly to herself 'That punk as guild master. Not going to happen, especially not after all of this.'

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Meanwhile, back at the guild hall…

Erza was quick to address everyone in the guild hall "Thanks to Porlyusica lending us her aid the Master is going to pull through just fine, he'll be back on his feet in no time so there's no need for any of you to worry." she was met with various cheers.

Levy breathed a sigh of relief "Thank goodness, I have to admit I was really worried."

"Oh come on." Elfman waved that off "It's gonna take a lot more than that to take out the Master of all people, he's a real man!"

"Well it isn't that simple." Erza pointed out "The master isn't as young as he used to be, so any stress added onto his heart could have a significant impact on his health, so if no other reason but for his sake we should all try to be on our best behavior." she was met with various mock salutes from everyone.

Levy seemed a little bit unsure about the parade "I don't know, I mean is it really such a good idea to do the parade after everything that's happened?"

"Well keep in mind that the Master wants us to do it." Lisanna pointed out "Besides, it's the perfect way to boost everyone's morale and cheer everyone up after everything that has happened before."

"I gotta admit, I can't wait to see what everyone has in store for the parade." Bisca commented.

"What do you mean see?" asked Cana "You're gonna be in it with the rest of us, you're a member of the guild, aren't you?"

"Well yeah, but I'm still new to the guild I didn't think anyone would want me to be part of the parade."

"You're thinking way too much into it, just be glad we do want you to be part of it. Besides, a lot of members got hurt fighting each other, so anyone who can participate has to. Keep in mind that we need all of the people we can get, especially since a few people specifically aren't going to be able to participate in it this year." she jerked a thumb back.

"...Oh yeah, fair point."

Yeah, as it turns out, Gray and Natsu were both heavily bandaged after the beating they both took in their battle against Laxus "Yeah well what the hell can you do?" he was met with lots of muffled grumbling from Natsu.

"Can you even understand what he's saying?" asked Erza.

"I get enough of the gist to know it was just something stupid. Use your head man, how the hell are you going to be part of the action? We're both out." he received a lot more angry muffled yelling as a response "Hey that doesn't have anything to do with it, what the hell is your problem?!"

"Well I won't question what he said, most likely because I don't want to know exactly what it is he said." Erza placed one hand on each of their shoulders and gave a small smile, something that left both of them rather unnerved "You both did quite well, I'm proud of the two of you." she was met with both of them turning rather stiff with fear, but she didn't seem to notice as she looked around the rest of the guild hall 'It's good to see that everything is almost back to normal and everyone is getting along again, especially after we were forced to fight against each other only yesterday.' but then the sound of footsteps could be heard that caused everyone to quiet down, and when she looked over at the source her frown deepened "Laxus."

Sure enough, the heavily bandaged form of Laxus quietly made his way into the building "Hey."

All of the B-tier characters wasted no time in rounding on him "What the hell do you think you're doing here?"

"Where's the old man?"

"We're not telling, you think you can just waltz in here and ask to see the Master after all the crap that you've pulled?!" and then everyone started tearing into him, until…

"Quiet everyone!" Erza barked, shutting all of them up in an instant "The Master is in the infirmary, just don't try anything."

"Yeah, I get the gist." Laxus calmly made his way through the guild hall amidst a number of fearful and angry glares, only to be stopped by lots of angry muffled yelling as Natsu leapt out in front of him "What do you want Natsu?" the two of them locked eyes for a moment, only for it to be cut short by more angry muffled yelling.

Lisanna glanced over at Gray "Do you have any idea what he said?"

"I get the gist of it at least." Gray gave a shrug "He said that the next time he and Laxus go at it there won't be any of the 2 on 1 stuff, it's just going to be the two of them face to face, and he swears he's not going to lose like that again."

"But I thought you guys were able to beat him, Freed and Levy even said so."

"No, in that fight, I'd have to say it was more like a draw. We might have stopped him and his coup sure, but look at what he did to the two of us, even after we tried teaming up with each other for once. And that was after he had drained a ton of his power using the Thunder Palace along with Fairy Law, if he had been at full power then chances are neither of us would be here right now."

"Yeah, whatever lets you sleep at night." Laxus just made his way past Natsu in the direction of the infirmary, but not before giving him a simple wave, leaving Natsu and everyone else speechless as a result.

Erza was quick to get things back on track "Alright everyone the show is over now, it's time to get ready for the Fantasia parade!" she was met with lots of cheering.

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Meanwhile, in the infirmary…

Laxus stood leaning against the wall of the infirmary, arms crossed with a tsundere-esque look on his face "They're one hell of a rowdy bunch aren't they?"

"Yes…" Makarov pulled himself out of bed "Laxus, I don't think you understand the seriousness of what you've done. Look me in the eyes young man."

Laxus reluctantly turned to face him.

"Fairy Tail is the kind of place where friends can gather together, where wizards are able to find work, and where children who have no kin to call their own can feel as if they're part of a real family. It's not something that one can simply own. It's extremely important that each member not only be loyal but also trustworthy, otherwise no bonds will be formed and the entire guild will end up eventually falling apart. The actions you've taken have proven that you lack both of those qualities, not to mention that you threatened the lives of your comrades and thousands of innocent people. That's absolutely unforgivable."

"Yeah, I know it is. Honestly I never wanted to hurt the guild, I just wanted to make it into something better, but I guess somewhere along the way I lost sight of that."

"Honestly, I swear that you're just as high strung as I am. You'd better try to relax or you're going to end up in here with me. Take some time to stop and smell the roses, if you do then you'll be able to see things you were never able to see and hear things you were never able to hear. Life can turn out to be a lot of fun, all you have to do is give it a chance. Over the years I've watched you grow into the man that you are today, and seeing you before me now I can't help but wonder. Where did we go wrong, what lesson was there that you had failed to learn? But the past is in the past, after everything you've done I have now been left with only one choice. Laxus…" he swiped his hand to the side "For your crimes against the guild, you are hereby expelled from Fairy Tail."

Laxus was left significantly started for a moment, but eventually he managed to get ahold of himself "I understand. Thanks for everything… grandpa." he turned around and gave a small smile "You be sure to take care of yourself while I'm gone, okay old man?"

"...Please just go." Makarov turned around and faced the window with tears streaming down his face.

Laxus walked out of the guild hall without another word.

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Sunset came, and the Thunder Legion had gathered for one final meeting under the tree in Magnolia South Gate Park, where they were informed of Laxus' expulsion from the guild.

Evergreen was the most vocal in her protests to him being expelled "No you must be joking, why would he kick you out and not the rest of us? I mean we're just as guilty as you are!"

"Well what can you do?" Laxus gave a shrug, "I guess the old man just doesn't see it that way, it was his choice not mine so it's not like there's anything I can do."

"Well if you're leaving the guild then we're leaving too." Bickslow told him "Why the hell should we bother sticking around if you're not going to be here?"

"You know you guys really know how to be such a pain in the ass, I mean can't you just say goodbye and be done with it already?"

"I just don't understand it." Freed muttered "I mean we're just as at fault as you are in this whole situation, so why are you taking all of the blame and the rest of us not even receiving any sort of punishment?"

"You guys are getting the wrong idea out of this whole thing, you can say it all you want but I know for a fact that you guys are a hell of a lot more attached to this guild than I could ever dream of being."

"But if we talk to the master then maybe we can change his mind!" Bickslow protested "I mean maybe we could get Natsu and Gray to talk to him, I mean they respect you so they'll probably go with us. He loves the two of them, I'm sure he'll listen to them."

"Just give it a rest guys, there's no going back on this so stop trying to kid yourselves."

"...Are you really leaving?" asked Freed.

"Yep, this is it you guys. Make sure you take care of yourselves." and with that, Laxus took his leave.

Bickslow and Evergreen were still protesting "Laxus wait, you can't just leave all of us behind like this! What the hell will happen to the Thunder Legion? Dammit, I just can't believe this!"

"It's alright, no need to be so upset." Freed assured them with a small smile "He wants us to live on with our comrades, and find our own paths within the guild. I'm sure we're meant to meet again one day, Laxus…'

(Extremely length flashback end)

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"And that was it." the cloaked figure finished explaining his story to Luke "No one in the guild has heard from him since then."

Luke paused for a moment, taking in the story he had been told, and he let out a sigh "I never thought something that serious would happen while I was gone."

"It all worked out though, keep in mind that you're not the only one in the guild who can take care of himself."

"Yeah, I know that." Luke studied the cloaked figure intently for a moment "You've gotten a hell of a lot stronger since the last time I saw you, haven't you Laxus?"

Sure enough, the cloaked figure pulled down his hood, revealing his face to be that of none other than Laxus Dreyar himself "So you could tell that it was me?"

"Never underestimate the nose of a Dragon Slayer. Which also raises the question, how in the hell are you able to use the exact same type of Dragon Slayer magic as me?"

"You can thank my deadbeat dad for that, he implanted a Dragon Slayer lacrima in my body when I was just a kid."

"That makes sense, it's the only way you could learn Dragon Slayer magic. So you've been expelled from the guild for about a year now, what have you been doing all this time?" they started walking through the streets as they talked.

"Just training across the continent, trying to find my own way."

"Like what I did?"

"No you already knew what your way was supposed to be, your job is to protect the guild. I don't really know what my way is, at least not yet."

"And you don't think the Master will let you back in yet?"

"Of course not, it's not like he can just forgive and forget after everything I've done. He'll stand by the decision he's made, that's the kind of stuff that's helped the guild to stay strong over the years."

"I can't argue with that."

"Besides, I think it's obvious to everyone that there's only room for one Lightning Dragon Slayer in Fairy Tail, and that's you. Speaking of which, all the while I was travelling I kept hearing all sorts of things, but mostly about how a certain Dragon Slayer drop kicked one of the Ten Wizard Saints."

"Okay honestly, it was awesome but it was just to protect them. It's not that big of a deal."

"Said no one ever. You got there through 18 months of training because you knew what you had to strive for. I don't have any idea what my destiny is."

"Maybe you just haven't found it yet."

"Maybe. Anyway, I just came to take a look at you myself and see if the rumors about you hold any merit. They do, not that I should be surprised."

"So what then, you want to spar to see if it holds up?"

"Thanks but no thanks, I have a hell of a lot of training to do. I'm working a few new spells of mine to see if they can give me some kind of edge. Which reminds me, I actually came here for one other reason." he pulled a book out of his cloak and held it out to Luke "Your so called senpai, the God of Eight Dragons or whatever he called himself, met up with me awhile back and asked me to give this to you when we met up. It contains a few of my heavy hitter Lightning Dragon Slayer spells, and a few different elements that he's able to use. Fire, Water, Wind, Earth and a few others."

"Huh. Didn't expect that, but at the same time it does seem like him to pull something like that out of his ass and set it up in front of me when I least expect it. So are you at least going to stick around for the Fantasia parade?"

"I haven't decided yet, but either way I'm not heading to the guild hall or anything if that's what you're going to ask. I doubt they would want to see me."

"You never know, they just might surprise you."

"Well whatever, anyway I'm out. It was good seeing you, for once that is. Just do what you do best, get a hell of a lot stronger and keep them safe." and with that, Laxus took his leave and disappeared in a flash of lightning.

'That's one thing you'll never have to worry about Laxus, I'll be sure to protect them with my life.' Luke looked down at the book in his hands 'And who knows, maybe this will help me to do just that, but better.'

"So this is where you ended up."

Luke glanced back to see Bolt flying down towards him "Oh hey, dammit I didn't miss the Miss Fairy Tail contest did I?"

"Not yet, I thought you wouldn't pass up the opportunity to see Cana in a bikini. Where the hell have you been?"

"Sorry, I… I just got a little bit held up for awhile there. Come on, let's get moving already and watch Cana blow the competition away."

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Meanwhile, somewhere up in the mountains…

Noah sat on the cliffside of a rocky landscape, chomping away at a small boulder sitting next to him and speaking into a lacrima floating in front of him "So the council is going to have to take responsibility for being a bunch of arrogant fools whose bark was a lot worse than their bite. It wouldn't surprise me if they ended up getting suspended."

"Excellent work, you've done quite well Noah. Tell me, do you know what became of Jellal after the collapse of the Tower of Heaven?"

"My guess is his body is floating in the remains of the Tower, either that or he made his way out to sea. I feel bad for the guy to be honest, he had no idea that Ultear was playing him like a total sucker. Well he might have been played for a fool but he knew his way around a fight to an extent."

"He was truly pitiful, it's hard to believe that in all those years he never once found out that it was simply Ultear pretending to be the spirit of Lord Zeref. Her abilities set the stage for great things, the Magic Council in turmoil, the firing of Etherion. Our plan is finally coming to fruition."

"I guess Ultear was right on the money when she said that you and the others would be able to run around free while Jellal was raising all sorts of hell."

"One of the keys needed to unlock the seal is now in my possession."

"Whoo fucking hoo, go ahead and poor yourself a glass of wine Master Hades. I'll be back when that thing touches the ground, tell Meldy I said hi until then." Noah promptly crushed the lacrima in his hand, cutting their communication short, and he looked out into the distance 'Sorry things had to turn out like this Jellal, truth be told you really did deserve better. Who knows, maybe in the afterlife you will actually be free.'

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Another day went by, nightfall came, and the Fantasia parade for the year X784 had begun at long last, with everyone giving it their all to put on a show for the people of Magnolia, whether it was Cana creating a dazzling performance with her Card Magic, Lucy, Bisca and Levy dancing with their flags, or Gray and Juvia, dressed as an ice prince and water princess respectively, combining their water and ice magic to create a brilliant ice castle.

Luke and Natsu were following towards the end of the parade alongside Bolt and Happy, with the two Dragon Slayers preparing to finish things off in style "It's about time for us to play our part, you ready?"

"You bet your ass I am, now let's do this! Fire Dragon ROAR!" with a roar, Natsu breathed out a few short blasts of fire, spelling out the word FAIRY in flames.

"And now it's my turn. Lightning Dragon ROAR!" Luke breathed out a few small blasts of lightning, spelling out the word TAIL right before FAIRY "Nice."

"That takes a hell of a lot of practice."

"Oh believe me I know."

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Makarov looked out over the parade with a small smile 'It looks like my role in the parade is about to come up.'

"Hey master." that was when Gajeel came up to him.

"Oh, you're not going to be in the parade Gajeel?"

"Thanks but no thanks, I don't like being in the spotlight."

"Well that can't be true, you're Mr Shoo-Bee-Doo-Ba." that was enough to at least get a reaction of embarrassment from Gajeel, but not much more than that.

"...You know what, I'm just going to choose to ignore that one." Gajeel then handed Makarov a small piece of paper "Sorry this took as long as it did, but I was finally able to track down your son, Master Ivan."

"Excellent work my boy, and what have you learned from him?"

"That apparently he gave his kid Lactose or whatever-"

"Laxus."

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway he gave him the ability to use Dragon Slayer magic through some kind of lacrima, but you already knew that part, and he plans to pull it out and sell it."

"Even if it kills Laxus in the process." Makarov suppressed a growl "Good work my boy, I'm sorry this turned out to be so dangerous."

"Not a problem, I can handle something like this pretty easily. Besides it's actually pretty fun playing that guy like a sucker, and he has absolutely no idea that I'm actually a double agent working for you."

"Thank you, I truly do appreciate it. We can't allow him to do as he pleases."

"Hey Master are you ready?" another voice called out to him "It's about time!"

"Well I'd better get going, sorry but my public needs me!" Makarov promptly put on a cat hat and leapt onto the top of one of the floats.

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Laxus continued making his way through the crowd, but stopped when he noticed Makarov as he was dancing atop the float, and he gave a small smile 'Well that sure as hell brings back some memories. I still remember the first time I participated in the Fantasia parade, while the old man was just watching. I even made up that stupid sign to use during the parade, holding up the index finger with my thumb sticking out. That way he would know that even if I couldn't see him, I'd be looking his way. It was so stupid now that I think about it.' he started walking away, but froze in his tracks when he looked back and saw Makarov, along with every single other person in the guild, performing that same sign, and he was so moved by it "Grandpa…"

"I know you're there." the voice of Makarov echoed through Laxus' mind through the use of telepathy magic "I may not be able to see you, there may be hundreds of miles between us, but I can assure you that I'll always be looking your way. I'll be watching over you forever, that much I can promise you."

"Yeah, I know. Thank you Grandpa, seriously." and with tears still freely streaming down his face, Laxus quietly took his leave.

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"Oh hell yeah, the party's just getting started!" Natsu blew some more flames into the air to spell out the name of the guild again "I'm all fired up now!"

"You and me both my friend, you and me both." Luke let out a surge of electricity to create the symbol for the guild "Okay everybody, who here is proud to be a member of Fairy Tail?" he was met with various cheers and gave a small smile to the crowd 'I know that I still have one hell of a long way to go, but I promise I'm going to give it every ounce of strength I have to keep the others safe and make sure that they can all smile and laugh, and above all, live happy lives with each other. I don't care how cliche they may sound, this is the path that I've chosen. I can't imagine my life without Fairy Tail now, and I promise that no matter what happens I'll protect them to the bitter end.'

A/N:

And with the Fantasia parade, as well as yet another silent departure from Laxus, we reach the conclusion of the Battle of Fairy Tail arc, as well as the end of the first season of the Rise of a Warrior: Fairy Tail. I want to thank everyone that has supported this story up until this point, I would never have made it this far in the story without all of you.

I know a good number of people dislike Laxus considering the apparently lack of remorse over his actions here, along with not being very in depth in his redemption on Tenrous Island, and that's fine. The purpose behind this arc wasn't trying to make us like him out of nowhere. The message it was trying to convey was that there are times when tough decisions have to be made, even in an anime as lighthearted and fun as Fairy Tail.

It's only fair I warn you guys now, now that the first season of my Fairy Tail fic has come to an end, this story is going to go on hiatus for the time being, a few months at least. Don't get me wrong, I love writing this story and I haven't lost any of my drive for it, but I've been writing out this story non stop for almost 4 straight months, and because of that my other stories are being neglected, and that's really not fair to them. So for the time being, I'll be focusing on some of my other fics, most notably my DBZ: Next Generation fic and finishing my Total Drama Underdog saga, so feel free to check those out if you want. Until then my faithful readers.