Well, I sure hope you guys enjoy this new chapter, its for a completely new and original arc. We put a lot of thought into this. Also, the enemies are based on characters from a different series, i'm curious to see if you can guess who they are.
I don't own Bleach of fairy tail. Those belong respectively too Tite Kubo and Shounen jump and Hiro Mashima and Weekly shonen magazine. This is just for fun!
The Vandenreich was the same as always, prepping for a long awaited yet still faraway war. Hidden away in the shadows of the afterlife, they were honing their skills and rallying their forces.
However, one such Quincy was not currently doing anything of the sort. No, Stern Ritter E was simply conversing with those she considered her friends.
"God, you keep making fun of it," Candice said as she rolled her eyes, "but I so want to run my fingers through Bazz's hair!"
"It's a freaking pink mohawk!" Bambietta all but shouted, suddenly noticing Meninas convulsing for a brief moment. The explosive Stern Ritter sighed and looked at her with honest eyes. "Look, it's not the color that's silly. Pink's awesome! It's just... it's a freaking mohawk! What, we supposed to turn him upside down and use him like a broom to clean up the place?"
"Oh," Candice replied, a devilish smirk wrapping around her face, "I could have some fun with him in that position."
Both Bambietta and Meninas' face contorted with horror at the prospect, the latter more than even her leader. "Don't do it, Candi!" Meninas cried out. "The last time you bit off the zipper of someone's pants and spat it out you nearly put Gigi's eye out!"
"She did," Giselle corrected. "Why do you think I had to start ingesting that emergency pack of blood I had tucked away in my fridge? My healing factor wasn't going to kick in on its own. So nasty..."
Giselle proceeded to move closer to Bambietta from behind, resting her chin upon her right shoulder. In response did Bambietta's eyes go wide.
"Besides, Giselle began to say, "I'd much rather have been taking a sip of Bambi's yummy blood."
A chill ran down Bambietta's spine and she quickly pulled away from Giselle. "Gigi! What did we say about creepy actions?"
"Awww." Giselle grew distraught, holding her hands behind her back as her right foot fidgeted on the floor. "But pooky bear, I bet you taste real good."
"Well now," Candice said. "Bet what I want to do with Bazz-B is looking pretty good in comparison to Gigi wanting a little McBambi take out. She want fries with that?"
"Shut up!" Bambietta shouted, her face going red. "Just shut up, Candi Ass!"
So it went then, the four young ladies conversing with each throughout the halls of Silver Cross Castle. Several other Quincy passed them by, going about their daily lives, but it was one that caught Bambietta's attention.
She was not moving about; no, she was simply alone in a corner, looking down at the floor while licking some kind of lollipop.
"Oh right, the newbie."
Bambietta recognized the solitary Quincy then, memories of Yhwach's introducing her to the rest of the Vandenreich coming back to her. She had been incredibly quiet at the time, leaving those present to wonder if she was simply shy or aloof. However there was the simple fact that she was glancing away from Bambietta and the others, not making any effort to obtain eye contact, that led Stern Ritter E to feel it was the latter.
That, quite frankly, annoyed Bambietta. "Hey, girls? I'll catch up with you later."
Bambietta began to withdraw from her circle of friends, stopping only when she felt someone tugging on her sleeve. Bambietta sighed in response and slowly turned to a rather needful Quincy.
"Come on, Gigi. I'll be back soon."
Giselle said nothing at first, though she did relent and let of Bambietta's coat. "All right."
Bambietta watched as her friends continued to walk away, Giselle deliberately the slowest of the bunch, and she looked back to the rookie.
"Hey, SternRitter G!"
It was not the ideal way to strike up a conversation but Bambietta had never been one for quiet or subtle attempts at any single thing.
The rookie, however, simply spared Bambietta a glance and nothing more. Her head had turned slightly before the blonde had looked down to the floor. "Hey."
Bambietta was momentarily confused then, not sure what to make of this girl now. First she had been glancing away like she was too good for everyone else, now she was looking down like she was meek or something. Either possibility was a source of irritation to Bambietta. She knew the Vandenreich could not afford to have someone so weak kneed in the group, especially amongst the coveted ranks of the Sternritter. However, more importantly, she could not stand the thought of someone so stuck up and full of themself that they would pay no mind to her of all people.
"Hey!" Bambietta shouted as she approached. "Do you have any idea who you're ignoring?"
The newcomer did not even glance up at all, simply taking one lick of her lollipop before speaking. "Nope."
Bambietta stopped dead in her tracks, all but going slack jawed in response. "Come on!" she exclaimed. "Surely you've heard of me! I'm the strongest female Stern Ritter we've ever had!"
"Berenice Gabrielli?"
Bambietta flinched, her teeth gritting as her face went the slightest shade of red. "Funny girl. Come on, surely you know who I am." Bambietta cleared her throat before suddenly bringing her fist up towards her chest and extending her thumb inwards. "Before me stands no adversaries! Behind me there are mountains of dead bodies! I'm dignified and arrogant! I'm Sterneitter E and my friends and I will race forward to adventure forever and ever!"
The newcomer tilted her head upwards slightly, looking at Bambietta as she took another lick of her lollipop. "Oh, so you're Bambietta Basterbine."
"Oh," Bambietta said with a smile. "So you have heard of me. Guess my reputation precedes me after all."
"Yeah, you're that chick who every guy is willing to die to be with... literally. Guess you must be good in the sack."
Bambietta grew flustered then. "Hey! I'm not that easy! Only one guy has ever made it to and from my bed in one piece!"
"So you're just a big tease then. Okay." The blonde simply returned to her candy.
Bambietta stormed over then, trying to keep her cool. "Anyway, now that we've established that you do know me..."
"Yeah, yeah. You're the girl who gets way to wrapped up in how she feels and blows crap up whenever you get cranky. So what, you the Emotional or the Explode?"
Bambietta's face contorted for a brief moment but she did her best to contain any negative feelings and smiled. "Oh, it's the Explode... though I guess I am a little high strung at times."
The new Stern Ritter simply licked her lollipop again. "So that Askin guy keeps telling me and everyone else."
Bambietta flared up for a moment then, a vein threatening to burst from the side of her face. "Damn, you date a guy for a week and he makes your life hell after the breakup. You want some dirt on that guy? You want to know why we broke up?"
The new girl was honest. "Nope."
Bambietta did not relent despite that. The Quincy became quite animated then, her hands waving about as she ranted. "We were having such a good time and then we got a little... over excited if you catch my drift. Call it premature Voll Stern Dich-ation if you want. Now I like to think my look is that of a darling little angel, cute as button. But his? His?"
Bambietta's voice began to raise then, the Quincy shaking her open hands, her palms facing the sealing.
"Excuse me for laughing at a guy who ended up looking like a cross between a Disco Fever dancer and a Jojo villain when we're between the sheets!"
The new Quincy raised an eyebrow at that, glancing at Bambietta. "This place is full of many strange and horrifying things."
"Trust me, you haven't seen anything yet," Bambietta replied. "Pray you never see Pepe assume his Voll Stern Dich form. It'll make you gag, trust me."
"Yeah, okay." The blonde glanced away for a moment, looking back when she noticed that Bambietta was not moving away. "So what is it you want? Me to know exactly who you are and sing your praises?"
"Well no," Bambietta retorted, whispering her breath for a moment as she pawed at her chin with one hand. "Not that I'd mind." She looked back to the new girl, raising her voice to its typical level. "Listen, I'm a girl, you're a girl..."
"And people die when they are killed," the newcomer interrupted. "Tell me something that I don't know already know. Wait, is Giselle really a girl?"
Bambietta sighed. "That stupid rumor again? Damn it, someday I'm going to find the guy who started that little bit of misinformation and start making fun of how they smell to see how they like it!" Bambietta took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. "Yes, Gigi's a girl. And a creepy one at that."
The new girl nodded her head. "Uh huh, and..."
"Anyway!" Bambietta suddenly shouted as she leaned up against the wall and slid her arm across the shoulders of the shorter girl. "We Fem Ritters got to stick together, you feel me?"
"With you as our boss, right?"
"Well... yeah." It was a simple response, one that Bambietta had barely needed to contemplate. "Who better than Bambi? I mean, we're called 'The Bambi's' for a reason, right?"
"So you want some new blood in your little group, is that it?"
Bambietta's eyes went wide for a moment, her tone hushing. "Don't say that word around Gigi. Ever." Then did she become loud again. "But yeah, I want you to hang out with us."
"And if I say no?"
"Then Bertha won't won't be the last to have turned me down." Bambietta grew quiet then. "That made me sad, but I guess it was for the best. She hung out with us that one time and everyone got bummed out and started getting depressed. She's a real party pooper, you know? So maybe it's for the best she decided she was too good for us. She was totally wrong, but whatever."
Not like it mattered in the long run, the woman having chosen to bad mouth the quincy emperor behind his back, a mistake that cost the former Sternritter her life.
"So you want to hang out with me?" Then it happened, the new girl stopping her incessant licking of her lollipop, a faint smile spreading across her face. "Really?"
"Well why not?" Bambietta asked. "You seem nice. A little indifferent, but nice. Besides, we kind of need a counterbalance to Meninas. Like desperately. I love her to bits and all, but oh boy, she's the life of the party even when nobody's celebrating."
Bambietta pulled the new girl in a little tighter, trying to sound as pleasant as could be.
"But I see you're the type who likes the deal to be sweetened," Stern Ritter E began to whisper into the blonde's ear. "I'm sure we could procure some rare candies from the World of the Living for you. Stick with me and you'll never go hungry again."
The new girl suddenly began to whimper, leaving Bambietta to grow concerned, the slightly taller woman wondering what she had just done.
"That's... That's..." The blonde looked up towards Bambietta, one lone tear slipping down her face as she smiled. "Thank you, Bambietta."
"Hey now," the elder Quincy began to reply, "the first rule about the Fem Ritters is you stick with our nicknames. It's Bambi. Speaking of names..."
"It's Liltotto," the blonde replied, wiping away her tears and composing herself. "Liltotto Lamperd."
"Well Giselle will probably get cranky. I stole picking out a nickname from her," Bambietta began to say, "but Lil it is then! What do you think?"
Liltotto suddenly grew quiet again, licking at her snack. "It's a start, Bambi."
Bambietta Basterbine awoke in her sofa bed, staring up at the ceiling. It was the same as it always was, but the Quincy was far too groggy and lost in fading memories.
"What the hell... was that all about?"
It was all so fleeting, the dreams of her past, but Bambietta could feel it still. A long to be with those she cared about. Yet overlaying that sensation was another, more volatile one.
Rage. Rage at being betrayed by those she had befriended, those that she had trusted with all her heart and soul.
"Damn it..."
"You say something?"
Bambietta's eyes fluttered open slightly, the Quincy taking notice of someone sitting on the edge of her bed. The individual was glancing down his shoulder towards her.
Bambietta's eyes opened wide then, her voice suddenly rising.
"Natsu!"
Gray Fullbuster was alone as he walked down the streets of Magnolia, one thing on his mind. He was the cool and quiet type but even he had to admit that Makarov was right that no one could withstand the solitude their entire life.
He liked Lucy and Bambi. Heck, deep down he did enjoy his rivalry with Natsu. And Erza? Well, scary as she was, she was also cute when she was surprised. That much he could not ignore.
Those were precisely the reasons he was heading to Lucy and Bambi's place, to look for good company. In his hand was a key given to him by Mirajane, one the silver haired woman had copied without either Lucy or Bambietta knowing of.
"That Mira is still such a little mischief maker..."
Gray continued to move towards the apartment, but then the ice mage was caught by surprise.
Natsu appeared, screaming as he flew through the apartment window and out on the street.
"And stay out!" a voice cried from within the building.
Gray watched as Natsu scrambled to his feet, the ice mage beginning to reconsider ever slipping into the apartment uninvited.
"Mira gave you a key too?" Gray asked nonchalantly. "So what did you do to infuriate the new girl?"
"I don't see what the big deal is," Natsu muttered. "I just sat on Bambi's sofa…though I I'm pretty sure that's her bed now."
Gray reached out and grabbed the Dragon Slayer by his scarf. "You idiot! At least have the common sense to sit on Lucy's bed! She's a little less violent than the newbie!"
"Guess you got a point there," Natsu replied. "Say, what a minute? Where's my little buddy?"
"What the hell are you doing with that?"
Natsu and Gray both froze up, their eyes widening as they heard Bambi screaming from within the apartment.
"I was just trying on your ear muffs!" Happy exclaimed. "Though they're kind of big even for my ears..."
Natsu and Gray visibly cringed again, a dreadfully shriek bursting forth from the window. "Get my bra off your head now, furball!"
"I think your little buddy just made a big mistake," Gray offered up.
Natsu, meanwhile, was quite shell-shocked. "Happy, you know not what you've done."
Time passed, tempers subsided and cats wearing undergarments on their head went flying. It was not necessarily in that order, but despite the terrible incident to start the day, things had calmed down.
Well, relatively calmed down. Lucy was entertaining her unexpected guests while Bambietta was simply walking alone through the streets of Magnolia.
Then did the Quincy see it again. A location she passed by once before but had avoided since. Time and again she had taken any other path throughout the city to keep her distance but now she had been too tired and too lost in thought to keep away.
Perhaps it was fate, perhaps it was mere instinct that had led Bambietta to stand before Kardia Cathedral. The Quincy did not know but she could not help but stare up at it then, the structure awash in the morning light.
"You'd want me to go there, wouldn't you, Mom?"
Memories began to dance through Bambietta's mind then, all of them from a long time ago. Her lips began to move with some degree of hesitation, a small smile forming despite the Quincy's eyes watering.
Then it all fell apart, more recent memories coming to her. Of blood and pain, of death and destruction. Of men falling prey to her charms and finding themselves torn apart to sate her desires.
"I can't..." Bambietta could not find the words, at least not at first. "I can't dare sully this place."
The Quincy bit down on her lower lip and turned away quickly, her body propelling forward with Hirenkyaku. While she knew that no one in this magical world would be shocked by such a technique, she had still refrained from using her powers whenever she pleased. Typical methods of transportation would do at times.
Now was not one of those times. The Quincy simply wanted to put some space between herself and the building she felt she had no right to be near.
The Fairy Tail guild hall was no different than any other day, the structure home to nothing more but controlled chaos.
For once did Bambietta not do her part to add to that madness, the Quincy simply walking in without a word. She was in dire need of someone to talk to however, and to that end she was looking around for Levy. Soon enough did she see the first person to truly welcome her to this new world standing before the job request board.
"Is my favorite little bookworm looking for work?" Bambietta asked as she approached. She then took note of a paper already in Levy's hands. "Oh, looks like you found something already. You trying to work a job without me?"
"No," Levy stammered, caught by surprise. "Actually, I was hoping that you- hey!"
Bambietta pulled the paper from Levy's hands and began to eye it. "Oh, what do we have here? 'Please help. Our own local guild has taken over our town and is running it into the ground. I don't have much, but I'll give you all I can if you'll just save the town of Ruby.' I don't know, Levy, I don't think this is going to pay much."
"Does it matter?" Levy asked. "They need our help. Not everything is about a reward, Bambi. Sometimes-"
"I know, I know," Bambietta sighed. "Sometimes the true reward is just doing the right thing. I get it, but it's just the last mission paid jack squat and rent is always on my mind."
Bambietta glanced back down to the paper. "So somebody called Ghriba Perrault is hiring us. Okay then. I suppose if we're liberating a town from a dark guild, there should be some heads to bust."
"See?" Levy asked. "I knew this was right up your alley."
"True." Bambietta smiled, if only fleetingly. "But seriously? The Chicken Fangs? Couldn't we at go with something a little more intimidating. Even Rooster-"
"It's obvious you two got a little mission, huh?"
Bambietta glanced and could see Cana looking at her and Levy from a counter, a fresh mug of alcohol in hand.
"What's it to you?"
"Not much," Cana slurred. "I just hated those Chicken Fangs jerks. I met some of them once and they tried to drink me under the table. Me of all people! Believe me, I left them red and blue in the end."
"Don't you mean black and blue?" Levy asked.
"Well I kind of busted one of their faces open," Cana replied groggily. "I think. It got kind of messy in that bar fight."
Bambietta smiled. "I knew I liked you for a reason."
"Well I've still got a bone to pick with these Chicken Fang losers," Cana continued to say, leaning forward on the table as she glared at Bambietta, "so I'd be more than willing to join your little... what was it again? The Bamb Squad?"
"The Bambi Force," the Quincy replied. "Though now I'm wishing I had gone with something like the Bamb Squad. Damn it, it doesn't take the Almighty to realize that hindsight really is what they say."
"All right, I'm in," Cana replied. "But there's one condition. You need to finish what you started, you lightweight."
Bambietta furrowed her brow. "What are you talking about?"
Cana simply sat up straight and began to pour a mug of beer. "I think you know."
Bambietta gulped deeply and shook her head. "All right, fine. But don't blame me for whatever happens afterwards."
The Quincy seated herself at the table across from Cana, the member of Fairy Tail sliding the mug of sheer alcohol towards her. Bambietta stared at it, her eyes narrowing as she took in the challenge that lay before her. She had never backed away from an obstacle before.
"Come on, let's see you do it," Cana whispered. "Or are you just a big chicken waiting to be plucked?"
Bambietta glared at Cana. "I'm not even going to ask where you're going with that. For both our sakes." The Quincy looked back down at the beer before her, trying to keep any concerns at bay. She could not blow everything up at a whim, so what was the harm if she even became a little tipsy, let alone wasted. With that in mind she slowly took hold of the mug's handle and began to lift it.
"What's the worst that could happen?"
Lucy Heartfilia was not having the best of morning already. Waking up to the carnage caused by Natsu and Happy sneaking into her apartment, the chaos that led to with Bambietta, and then having to entertain the guests that would not go home; it had been a rather unfortunate series of events.
"I'm going to have to talk to Mira about giving out those duplicate keys."
Now Lucy was sitting at her desk, trying to write a letter out. She knew she needed to take a job request soon, but she also knew that Bambietta was no doubt already doing something of the sort. Her roommate was a real go-getter, allowing the young lady a little more time to devote to another dream of hers.
To write, to create a novel, that was one of her major goals in life. It had all started when her mother had introduced her to the novels of . She had visually devoured them book after book and slowly developed her own desire to follow in his footsteps, even if only as a hobby.
Lucy stopped her writing for a moment, leaning back in her chair and stretching her arms out above her head. She remembered well her first attempt at writing for the sheer fun of it. The girl, younger then than now, had grown rather upset with the events of one comic strip that ran in the weekly newspaper and had gone about writing her own series of events that had changed things for the better in her eyes if no one else's. It had taken some doing, but Lucy had quickly begun to enjoy writing the disenfranchised characters of the comic called Laundry Soap into that of another, much happier series, Folk Tales and Fables.
That had been the beginning but never the end. For a while Lucy was now trying to write a true novel of her own. If nothing else, her adventures within Fairy Tail was giving her much to work with if she were to attempt to create an autobiography of sorts.
Yawning slightly, the Celestial mage leaned over her desk again and began to bring pen to paper. That, however, was when she heard a knock at the door.
"Please don't be Natsu and Happy again." The young lady loved her friends, but it had only been five minutes since they had last departed.
Lucy began to open her door then and was greeted with a surprise. "Lucy, I'm home."
Bambietta barely managed to get those words out before she fell face first to the floor like a board of wood. Lucy cringed in response at the sound of the resulting impact and watched as Bambietta began to roll over onto her back.
"That you, Lu?" the Quincy asked, rubbing her eyes as she stared upwards.
"Well, yeah," Lucy replied. "This is our apartment."
"Huh." Bambietta blinked a few times and continued to stare. "I thought that ceiling looked familiar."
Lucy knelt down and began to help her roommate back up, ready to ask a most pertinent question. "What the heck happened to you?"
"I guess the girl can't hold her alcohol very well."
Lucy looked over her shoulder and took notice of both Cana and Levy standing in the open doorway. The former was smiling, the latter looking clearly annoyed.
"What are you talking about?" Lucy asked as she helped roll Bambietta into her own bed.
"It's all Cana's fault!" Levy suddenly shouted. "She said she wouldn't join Bambi's little group-"
"We're da Bamb Squad," Bambietta mumbled as she rolled over in her bed and curled, a little hiccup escaping from her lips. "So cool..."
Levy continued despite the interruption. "Cana said she wouldn't join unless Bambi took her challenge to drink a beer!"
"One beer did this?" Lucy looked down at Bambietta, her face contorting in a mixture of horror and shock.
"Oh heck no!" Cana shouted in response. "If anything, that girl's got a sweet tooth for alcohol. Even I wasn't expecting her to down a whole barrel. She just kept shouting... and later slurring... 'Why did everyone keep this away from me? I've finally found The One and their name is Beer!' It was awesome! I might finally have a drinking buddy who can keep up with me!"
"Shhhhh," Bambietta whimpered as she began to pull her pillow out from under her head and hug it. "Don't be so loud, Askin. We'll wake everyone."
Lucy, Levy and Cana simply stared at Bambietta with eyes wide open.
Bambietta was slow to awaken, her dulled senses sharpening her eyes fluttered open. She recalled well what had gone on the day before, the Quincy having taken Cana up on her challenge. She remembered how one thing had led to another, more glasses coming her way, a sense of unfettered joy possessing her.
That was the moment where her memories began to blur, to grow foggy. That too was something Bambietta knew she could not allow to happen a second. "Never drinking that much alcohol again. Never ever."
"I'd appreciate that."
Bambietta's vision began to focus and very quickly did the Quincy realize that she was not in her own bed. Worse still, her arms were wrapped around who appeared to be a very startled and surprised Lucy Heartfilia.
"What the?" Bambietta sat up suddenly and looked about, finding herself and Lucy very neatly residing in scattered amounts of hay. The Quincy could feel the world in motion, quickly taking note that she was in a cart working its way down a dirt path in the woods.
"Oh, is the drunken beauty down having a little roll around in the hay? About time."
Bambietta turned to look towards the front of the carriage and could see Cana and Levy both sitting there, guiding the horse that was walking before them.
"What the hell is going on?" Bambietta asked, her tone becoming much more focused and serious.
"Well we wanted to go out on the mission," Levy offered up, "but you were a little too tipsy at the time, so we had to get creative."
"Yeah, you wouldn't let go of that darn pillow, so we had to substitute something in its place so we could get you in the carriage without a fight."
"And I drew the short straw," Lucy offered up, her face flush as she added her part to the conversation. "You feeling better at least, Bambi?"
"I'm not hung over," Bambietta began to start, "so that's a start. We Quincy are made of stern stuff, you know?"
Bambietta was mostly telling the truth, but there was still a slight buzz echoing throughout her skull. Still, she would have to simply make due.
"So we're on our way to Ruby, right?" the Quincy asked.
"On our way?" Cana almost laughed. "You have any idea how long you were out of it. We're just about there!"
Bambietta looked forward then and was quickly greeted by the sight of what was quite possibly the most desolate and depressing village she had ever seen in her entire life. Night had fallen clearly, yes, but it was as if Ruby was bathed in a darkness beyond even that. Worse still was the disheveled buildings, the dull and lifeless grass that made up the fields around it.
"That place looks totally awful," Bambietta commented. "Good grief."
"You sure we were heading the right way, Cana?" Levy asked, looking over the map in her hands. "I'd always heard that Ruby was supposed to be one of nicest villages in Fiore. But this place looks like-"
"Hell on earth," Cana finished. "But this is definitely the place."
"Yeah, the map still checks out," Levy said, looking up from the paper.
"But how?" Lucy asked, looking at the village they were fast approaching. "How could this happen?"
Bambietta simply shrugged. "I guess these Chicken Fangs people ran it into the ground faster than you can count to three."
It was then that Bambietta and the others took notice of a young girl dressed all in red suddenly running from the withered long grass. She was coming ever close to their carriage, forcing Cana to make the horse cease its movement.
"Help!" the young girl shouted as she came up to the carriage holding those of Fairy Tail. "Please! You've got to help my uncle!"
Bambietta strained her eyes to look at the girl, catching sight of short dark locks of hair peeking out from beneath her red hood, a pair of glasses adorning the bridge of the girl's nose. "And who might you be?"
"Are you... the people from Fairy Tail?" The young girl's panicked eyes looked around frantically, quickly noting the emblem that adorned Lucy's hand. Her expression lit up then, as if hope had been renewed. "You are! You are!"
"Are you the one who sent the job request?" Levy asked sweetly as she stepped down from the carriage.
"Yes," the young girl said softly. "My name is Ghriba, Ghriba Perrault." Then did she go into a panic again. "But that's not important! You have to help my uncle!"
"Listen," Levy said as she gently placed her hands on Ghriba's shoulders. "We will, I promise. But we need to know what's going on."
"It's Chicken Fangs," Ghriba said, her voice still unsteady. "They were our town's own guild but they... they kicked out the local government, took over the mayor's office and set themselves up in charge. And now... and look what they've done to the place."
"What about your uncle?" Lucy said as she slipped out of the carriage while Cana stepped down as well. "What's going on?"
"He was a part of the guild but he disagreed with what they were doing!" Ghriba shouted. "Now he's trying to bring them down himself!"
"And who's your uncle?" Cana asked. "Somebody from Chicken Fangs I know?"
"It's Qorvus! Qorvus Bolger!"
Cana nodded in response. "I had a feeling it would be him."
"You know him?" Lucy asked.
"He and I go way back," Cana answered. "You have no idea how many shots we've taken together. Good times, though I'm afraid he likes the taste of alcohol even more than me."
Bambietta blinked. "That's absolutely horrifying. How the hell is he still alive?" The Quincy took notice of Ghriba suddenly beginning to tear up, Bambietta regretting her choice in words. "Look, kid, I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"
"You know, I was worried about this mission at first," Cana said. "If we had to fight Qorvus, then this was going to be a complete pain in the ass. He's S-Class after all. He always bragged about being able to take out a legion of B-Class monsters within seconds. But if he's on our side, then we've got nothing to worry about. With him on our side, we should be able to handle Chicken Fangs best."
"Wait," Bambietta interrupted. "You're saying he's not top dog in this poorly named guild?"
Cana grew serious still. "No, that would be Emberella Rhodopis."
Levy almost went into shock. "I've heard of her. People are always talking about how she's never failed a single job request, no matter what it takes. Everything always works out for her no matter the odds."
"So what?" Bambietta asked. "Between us and the guy whose parents didn't know how to spell corvus, we should be just fine!"
"She's not the problem!" Ghriba shouted. "Emberella left on a mission, but it's the new member of the guild I don't think my uncle can fight! Please! He's already going to the guild hall as we speak! You've got to help him!"
"All right," Bambietta said. "That's what we came here for. So we'll help you and your dear old uncle save the day."
"Oh no," Ghriba all but whimpered. "I can't help you fight."
"Oh?" Bambietta raised an eyebrow at that. "Really now? Listen, I'm a terrible judge of character, just ask my old 'friends,' but I know power when I see it. And you've got something tucked away inside you if you ask me."
"N-no, you're wrong," Ghriba said as she adjusted her glasses. "I can barely fight as it is. I mean, without these glasses, I'd be lucky to tell the difference between a wolf and my own grandmother."
Bambietta sighed, knowing what she had to do. The Quincy began to climb over the edge of the carriage in response, ready to fight the Chicken Fangs. "Bamb Squad, let's mo- whoa!"
Her mind still, Bambietta lost her balance and fell to the ground. Quickly did she bounce back up to her feet, trying to downplay what had just occurred.
"Bamb Squad, let's move out!"
"Damn, I picked a hell of a time to stop drinking."
Qorvus felt his strength leaving him, the gray haired man falling to the ground. He had come to the guild hall he had called home with the sole intent of defeating those he had once considered his friends, knowing that he had to protect his town and his remaining family from the darkness that had taken hold of them all.
He knew it would have been the fight of his life but now had been the perfect time to strike. His guild master was strong, he knew that much, but both he and Emberella had surpassed her long, long ago. All that had remained then was loyalty and for Qorvus that had fallen away so very recently.
Emberella was gone, away on a mission, and that was exactly why Qorvus had taken this opportunity for all it was worth. Yet now, as he lay defeated, he could not believe what had happened. He had been brought down low by the newest member of Chicken Fangs, something he had never expected.
"Hey, rookie," he gasped, his face lying half in the dirt. "Do you have any idea who you're supporting?"
"Does it matter? I lost anything I cared about a long time ago." There was a pause then, leaving Qorvus in silence until his conqueror spoke up again. "No, I allowed it to be lost. So again, nothing matters."
"Then... why?" the elder wizard asked, trying to stare up at the one who had beaten him so easily. "Why do this? Why help them? They're wrong and you and I both know it."
"I've served people you would find repugnant. And despite what I've lost, I may as well do something with myself. First come, first serve."
"Is that a fact?" Qorvus strained to look up at the member of Chickens Fangs, trying to get a read on her. "So you've lost someone precious to as well?"
A tired voice, full of indifference was all he received in reply. "What's it to you?"
"I can see it in your eyes," Qorvus answered. "It's a dead giveaway, that's all."
The newest member began to walk away then, leaving Qorvus behind.
"Aren't you going to kill me?" he asked, the older man knowing he was playing with fire. "There's no way Danvers would order you to walk away."
The victor stopped then, looking back to Qorvus. "Master Danvers wants you dead, yes. And that's what she is going to think has occurred. I want you to leave Ruby with that niece of yours. Her and all her little friends. Now."
"I can't." Qorvus began to force himself to stand, using the pole of his scythe to steady himself. "I can't do that and you know it. I need to... need to save this town."
The member of Chicken Fangs sighed and began to walk back to the Qorvus. "You just keep running your mouth. How annoying."
"It's you!"
The newest member of the corrupted guild looked away from the struggling Qorvus and could see several people fast approaching. She recognized one as the man's niece, Ghriba. The others she could see wore the mark of the renowned guild Fairy Tail.
Then there was one, one who's very appearance left the Chicken Fangs member shaken to the core. "Bambi?"
Bambietta stopped dead in her tracks, looking at the lithe young woman who stood before the battered and broken Qorvus. Her eyes began to widen, her heart began to race, and she began to speak then in a quiet whisper. "Lil? Liltotto?"
"Wait, you two know each other?" Lucy stepped closer to Bambietta, quickly noting that she was shivering. With anger or fear, that was the hard part to determine. "Bambi?"
Levy was next to step closer to her friend, equally concerned. She did not ask the obvious, quickly noting the similarities between the clothes both Bambietta and this Liltotto were wearing. Instead she asked what was most pertinent to her. "Hey, you okay?"
"You." Bambietta's thoughts were somewhere else entirely, the Quincy glaring at Liltotto as her teeth began to grind together. "It's you! I'm going to- I'm going to-"
"Get away from him!"
A single card suddenly flew past Bambietta, the Quincy detecting trace amounts of magical energy flowing through it. Then did the object strike Liltotto in the face, a burst of explosive energy issuing forth.
Bambietta turned for a moment, staring at Cana and the series of cards she held between her fingers. "Explosive cards? Damn, I want that power now."
Bambietta's sudden rush of rage had subsided for a moment but that was all. As the Quincy turned her attention forwards again, she knew such a simple trick would not have a chance of putting Liltotto down.
No, that was going to have to be Bambietta's task, even if her chances were limited. She simply did not care, however, her sword materializing in her hands. She watched then as the smoke from Cana's attack subsided, Liltotto coming into sight once again.
What Bambietta had expected to see was Liltotto remaining as impassive and detached as she always was. It was there of course, but the Quincy could almost swear that she could see something else within the face of one who had betrayed her.
It did not matter, however. She wanted revenge, something she had felt had been denied to her in this world, but now fate had granted her a fourth of her request.
"Bambi..."
"Calm down..."
The Quincy heard it, the sound of Lucy and Levy's voices. Clearly the two could see that she was shaking with rage, even if only slightly. The past was before Bambietta, her future behind her, and she was beginning to slip away one second at a time.
"Liltotto, you..." Bambietta's eyes widened, her face contorting with unabashed rage. "I'm going to make you pay! First you and then those other bitches!"
Bambietta began to take a step towards the quiet and still Liltotto, fully intent on exacting her revenge. It was all she had left, was it not? Bambietta was gripping her sword tightly, images flashing before her eyes of what she full intended to do.
To cut, to slash, to maim and kill. Forget Fairy Tail, forget Makarov. Forget Erza, Natsu and the others. This was who she truly was, right? The woman who had killed her entire long life. There was no point in denying it, not when the need and desire was right before her.
Then Bambietta paused, feeling arms wrap around her from behind, hands upon her own arms. The Quincy stopped in her tracks, her rage slipping ever so slightly, and she turned to find that Levy had embraced her from behind.
"Bambi, what's gotten into you?" the blue haired mage was asking, her voice low in volume but each word wavering in its annotation. "Just calm down, please."
Bambietta could see it then, over Levy's shoulder. Lucy was keeping her distance, unable to even look at her. Despite her newfound rage, the Quincy understood exactly why. She had seen her lose control once already, back on Galuna Island. It was a black mark on Bambietta's memories, but this was different.
She was facing one of the individuals responsible for her betrayal. For her death. This was justified. This was deserved. This wa-
"Bambi, just tell us what's wrong!"
Levy's voice again, louder than before. It tore at Bambietta's vengeful nature, leaving her to focus away from it despite herself. The Quincy turned her gaze back towards the nonchalant Liltotto. "She's one of the people who... who..."
It did not take either Lucy or Levy to understand what Bambietta was getting at, Liltotto's choice of clothing almost a match for their friend's. Levy was quiet then, understanding for a moment what negative compulsion was driving Bambietta. "She's one of the friends that betrayed you."
Liltotto said nothing in response, simply staring back in silence.
"Oh no," Lucy whispered, bringing her hands up to cover her mouth as she fell into shock. "Bambi..."
"I'm going to kill you, Liltotto!" Bambietta suddenly screamed, her rage threatening her once again. "Do you hear me? I'm going to kill you!"
Bambietta's rage gave way to something that truly concerned both Levy and Lucy then, as well as Cana and Ghriba. She began to laugh. It was born of joy, however twisted it may have been.
"Didn't I promise you that you'd never go hungry again, Liltotto?" Bambietta's shoulders began to rise and fall, her body quaking with each low toned laugh. Her head pitched forward, the disturbing mirth reaching its apex. Then did Bambietta look up at Liltotto quite suddenly, her eyes blazing through the locks of hair draping down her forehead. "I'm going to keep my promise! All I have to do is gut you like a fish! A little disemboweling should do wonders for your appetite!"
There was a flicker then, along the bottom edges of Liltotto's eyes, but Bambietta was so lost in her rage that it escaped her notice. Liltotto began to open her mouth then and there, fully intent on speaking.
However, she did not get the opportunity, another's voice suddenly exuding itself across the battlefield.
"Well, well. You get sent out to take care of one piece of trash and a whole truckload shows up instead. For shame, Blondie."
All eyes shifted then, catching sight of a group of individuals exiting the Chicken Fangs guild hall. The one in the front was clearly the one speaking, or as Bambietta preferred to describe it, running his mouth. He was dressed impeccably, a hat that Bambietta was a little bit jealous of adorning his head. Several strands of his hair peaked out from underneath it, covering at least one eye.
"And to think that Master Danvers had such high hopes for you," he said as he walked about Liltotto, the index and middle fingers of his right hand walking across her shoulders and neck. "Ah well, I guess it just goes to show you can't leave the important jobs to the new blo- oh."
The man, dress impeccably in white, glanced down to the ground before Liltotto and caught sight of Qorvus lying defeated.
"Oh hi, Qorvus!" he suddenly exclaimed, flipping the strands of auburn hair out of his right eye as he crouched down to look at the beaten individual eye to eye. "Old buddy, old pal, you just couldn't leave well enough alone, could you?"
Qorvus spoke then, his voice pained. "Greco..."
"That's me," the identified man replied as he gripped down on Qorvus' hair and pulled his face up to look at him with disdain. "Let me guess, you heard that Emberella was out on a job and you thought you could handle the whole guild yourself then? Even our esteemed master?" Greco was quick to throw Qorvus' face back into the dirt. "Feeling our oats, are we? Oh well. You might have gotten away with stopping us if it weren't for our cutie of a newbie. Bet you never expected she'd be able to hand your ass to you so easily, huh?"
"Get away from him!" Ghriba began to shout then, her whole body tensing up with the impulse to move, to take action, to attack.
"Stop it, Ghriba," Cana suddenly said, moving in front of her. "You can't go charging in, not against so many people."
"So what are we dealing with, Cana?" Levy asked.
"Beats me," the brunette offered in return.
"What?" Bambietta began to grow irritated. "I thought you said you beat these people up in a bar fight once!"
"Yeah, I beat up some people from Chicken Fangs," Cana explained, "but these people sure ain't the ones I tussled with."
"Oh great," Lucy stammered, the mage clearly getting nervous. "Say, uh, Ghriba, you have any ideas? You're from around here."
"I know them," Ghriba began to say. "They've been my inspirations since I was just a toddler really. Well, some of them. The loudmouth is Greco Candlestick. He's not much on his own, but he can summon monsters. And that lady with the hair colored like a banana split? She's called Sundae."
"Wait, the day or the ice cream treat?" Bambietta looked at the woman's hair. "Okay. Stupid question. Well she doesn't look so tough. I mean really, she's so short."
There was a huff of irritation then, Bambietta knowing full well that it had come from Levy. The Quincy also had to kick herself for her choice of words, knowing size was not everything. Liltotto was evidence enough of that.
"I wouldn't underestimate her," Ghriba continued. "She totally beat up my big sis once when they were sparring. And I heard she took out a whole train of convicts once on a mission. She's kind of earned the title of Silent but Violent over the years and she always sticks by Greco's side."
"Wait, you've got a big sister?" Bambietta asked. "And where's she? It couldn't hurt to have more help on our side."
"She comes and she goes all the time," Ghriba said with a sigh. "Knowing her, she's probably vandalizing another house full of bears."
Bambietta blinked. "Wait, what?"
"And the others?" Lucy asked, interrupting the moment. "Not that I want to know because this is getting scary enough as it is."
"I'm sorry," Ghriba said, growing distraught. "I shouldn't have dragged you all into this mess. But... that guy with the mask and the sword? He's the one we really have to worry about here. Even before the guild went crazy with power, he always seemed, I don't know, crazy?"
"I can do crazy," Bambietta retorted. "So what's the jerk's name?"
"Andrew Connerie."
That had not been what Bambietta had been expecting. If not for the seriousness of the situation, she would have burst out laughing. "Okay, that's... a thing now. Really wishing I hadn't learned how to curse in French for the heck of it."
"Then the other two are Hermes White and Victor Tuscan," Ghriba continued. "They're all some of Chicken Fangs' very best. If my uncle and Emberella are S-Class, then they're all A-Class."
"That's it?" Bambietta could not help but laugh, slipping an arm over Ghriba's shoulders. "Kid, let me tell you something. We fairies got higher standards than most. So while we all might just be A-Class ourselves, it doesn't mean jack!"
"Huh?" Ghriba was simply confused.
Bambietta did her best to offer a smile born of equal parts bluster and arrogance. "These posers are probably B-Class at best by our standards. One guild's S-Class is another's A-Class, so we don't have anything to worry about!"
Bambietta was not sure what had gotten into herself now. She was all for arrogance, but she could not understand why it was overriding her sense of anger at Liltotto. Was she simply trying to make a young girl who had seen both her hometown and her uncle beaten down feel better? Or perhaps was she just trying to make herself feel better instead?
"So I see you've all gotten quite the history lesson," Greco suddenly said, slamming the end of his cane into the ground as he looked towards those of Fairy Tail. "But I think you beauties are overrating yourselves."
Greco suddenly raised one hand, motioning towards Bambietta and the others.
"Oh well, twice the pride, double the fall." Greco looked back at his allies. "I think it's high time we Chicken Fangs clipped the fairy's wings, huh?"
Then did those of the Chicken Fangs guild surge forward, leaving Fairy Tail's own to prepare countermeasures. However, that was when one member of Fiore's most famous guild decided to step forward.
"Now wait just a minute!" Bambietta shouted using Hirenkyaku to put herself in-between the groups and causing the Chicken Fangs to halt for the moment. Then did Bambietta breath out in relief. "Oh good. For a second there I was thinking I end up in the middle of a guild war sandwich. Anyway, before we get this little shindig started and Fairy Tail so totally kicks your butts so bad you'll wish you never were hatched, I just have one question!"
"Really?" Cana asked, looking at the Quincy.
"Seriously, Bleachie," Greco said, shaking his head. "I was just ready and set to get this over with."
"Bleachie?" Bambietta raised an eyebrow to that comment. Then did she glance down, taking account her purely white clothing. "Really? That's the best you could come up with for a nickname? I'm a Quincy and it's tradition to be proud of our whites!"
"It's true," Liltotto said quietly as she stood behind Greco. "We really are proud of how pristine we keep our clothes."
"Bunch of neat freaks, aren't you?" the man asked in return.
"No," Liltotto casually retorted. "It just makes it easier to scare the hell out of the next enemy since the blood of the previous one tends to show up better on whites."
Greco simply stared at Liltotto then, trying to put his feelings into words. "You freak me the heck out. You know that, right?"
"Whatever."
"Stop interrupting!" Bambietta stomped her foot then in protest, the Quincy getting flustered. "Anyway, like I was saying, I don't know how you boys and girls do things here, but back where I come from we do things our own way. Seriously, even the wars are fought one on one more often than not!"
"That sounds like a poorly operated war."
Bambietta resisted the urge to extend a particular finger towards Greco and Sundae both, the latter clearly nodding her head in approval. "Hey, my boss tried to do one up better over the last war and I was all for it! But some people, and I'm not going to say who, left me alone when we were supposed to move as a unit!"
Bambietta made certain to watch Liltotto at that point, taking note of how her old 'friend' was glancing away. A sign of indifference she was sure.
"But I ain't mad. I just wanted to see if we were going to do this the old fashioned way and split up into little one-on-one battles. Or are you Chicken Fangs just going to turn this into a clustercluck of a brawl?"
"I'm pretty sure we usually split things up here in Fiore," Cana offered up. "Probably not the best way to fight..."
"Or the smartest," Levy added.
"But that's generally how we roll," Cana finished.
"Oh good." Bambietta looked towards Greco and the others in the Chicken Fangs. "If that's the case..."
Bambietta could see the foes before her beginning to tense up for battle and she simply did the same in return. However her goal was much more singular than those that stood before. The Quincy was focused entirely on Liltotto; the others simply did not register to her.
"Then I know which of you I want to fight." Bambietta began to move forward then, Hirenkyaku propelling her towards Liltotto. "I'm dead set on it!"
That battle was not to be, however, the Quincy suddenly being rocked by a strike to her face. Her movement redirected and then halted, Bambietta landed in crouch and wiped an arm across her mouth, blood staining the sleeve. That annoyed her greatly. What Liltotto had said was the truth, but it was not supposed to be Bambietta's own blood that stained her uniform.
"You get the hell out of my way," the Quincy hissed as she watched Sundae skip into her line of sight, Greco not far behind.
"Oh, I'm afraid we can't do that," Greco replied, giving Bambietta a wink. "You see, Bleachie, when neither Master Danvers or Emberella are around, I'm in charge. So it's my sworn duty to protect our own."
Bambietta simply glared at the duo as they continued to pace in front of her. "I said get the hell out of my way."
"Oh come on!" Greco shouted. "Just be glad you're dealing with me and not Emberella! Not to be an egotistical dickwad or anything, but I'm a big bundle of fun compared to her! Besides, every Greco Candlestick figure comes complete with..."
Bambietta suddenly felt pain in across her face, the Quincy stumbling to the ground once more. Then, right by her side, she could see the woman with the ice cream colored hair. It was as if she had used a flash step all her own to attack so suddenly.
Greco, meanwhile, made sure to put the exclamation point on his declaration. "My girl Sundae!"
Lucy found herself with the man that Ghriba had identified as Victor Tuscan. He was a rather tall fellow and in that regard rather intimidating. However, the part that worried Lucy the most were the claws that seemed to be adorning his fingers.
"Do we really have to fight?" the Celestial mage asked, clearly not interested in following through with such an ordeal.
"Uh huh."
Lucy had a thought, hoping it would work better than it had back in Hargeon Town. She slowly began to undo the zipper of her top, hoping that a little cleavage might be more persuasive. "Come on, you'd rather fight then be a nice guy?"
Victor was steadfast. "Uh huh."
"Oh come on!" Lucy shouted, her hands balling up into fists by her side, her face contorting with rage. "Why doesn't that every work? What? Am I not good enough for you, is that it?"
Victor said the absolute worst thing he could at that point. "Uh huh."
"Oh you little-" Lucy began to pull out one of her keys. "Fine! Let me show you someone who appreciates my beauty... for better or worse. Open the Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!"
The Celestial Spirit appeared then, glancing towards his master. "Oh, Miss Lucy! It really moves me when you show off a little more of that utterly fantastic chest!"
"Note to self," Lucy whispered to herself, "zip up my top before I summon the perverted spirit. Anyway, you see that guy over there!"
"He kind of looks like a human puma," Taurus noted as he glanced at Victor. "So what's the deal, Miss Lucy?"
"He said I was ugly!" the Celestial mage answered.
Taurus' eyes narrowed then, a snort escaping from his nostrils as he turned back to Victor. "Anyone under the sun who insults my fair maiden deserves a beating, you got me?"
Victor nodded. "Uh hu-"
He never got to finish his phrase, Taurus suddenly grabbing Victor by the ankle and swing him up and over his shoulder, smashing the Chicken Fangs member into the ground hard.
Over and over it went, Lucy watching as Taurus continued to treat the clawed man like a rag doll. "Uh, I think he's knocked out, Taurus!"
"Oh, my bad," the Celestial Spirit said as he let Victor go. "Now what?"
Lucy knew what that answer would be. Bambietta was clearly upset, enraged even, by this Liltotto woman and there was no telling what she would do if she got close to her and fought. Lucy had already seen her dark side when enraged. Once was more than enough.
Worse however, there was no telling what could happen to Bambietta in the process. That was something Lucy was not inclined to find out the hard way. No, the quickest way to keep any of the worst possibilities occurring was for Lucy to take the matter into her own hands for Bambietta's sake.
"You see that girl in white staying out of the fights?" Lucy asked. "Taurus, I think it's time you show her that this isn't a spectator's sport!"
"I guess it figures you'd come after me."
Cana was quick to dodge about, bursts of magic shooting past her body as she did so. All the while Hermes continued to lash out with kicks, magic circles around his feet giving life to the attacks.
"You think I'd forget how you trounced me in that bar?" the young man shouted as she tried to press his advantage, driving Cana back further and further. "No way! Not after you started it!"
"Me?" Cana was growing irritated then, infusing the cards held between the fingers of her right hand with magic. "Listen, I know I was a bit tipsy, but I'm pretty sure the one who started our conversation with 'I don't like you' was you."
"It was small talk!" Hermes continued, his own patience having completely fallen apart.
"Then you told me that I better watch myself because you were wanted man in twelve countries! So excuse me for defending myself!"
"Well excuse me for exaggerating while I was plastered!" Hermes spun about then, lashing out with his right leg, another burst of his magic firing forth.
"Oh, I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't forgive people for acting stupid when they're drunk," Cana said as she simply sidestepped the attack. "But tell me, have you been drunk ever since your guild ruined this town?"
"Hell no!" Hermes shouted back as he tried to close the distance between Cana and himself. "We're doing this town and it's people a fa-"
Hermes suddenly stopped, a series of cards being thrown that landed around him.
"Well then," Cana began to say, the mage recalling well the look of desperation she had seen in Ghriba's eyes earlier. "I guess you don't deserve a damned bit of forgiveness!"
The cards around Hermes suddenly flared up with magic. Then, before he knew it, the young man found himself airborne, a volatile current of wind throwing him high above.
Cana was not down, not in the least. The Wind Edge spell was a start, and more than likely an end as well, but she was not feeling merciful. She threw another series of cards at Hermes, watching as the lightning of the Thunderbolt's Fate spell struck him.
Finally did the winds die down, allowing Hermes to fall to the ground. He was unmoving but watched faintly as Cana began to approach him.
"What a shame," Hermes muttered. "I guess I can't beat you wasted or sober..."
Cana simply nodded before she looked down at the defeated Hermes. "Damn straight, you hipster douchebag."
Levy did not much care for what was clearly coming her way, Andrew taking it one step at a time. However it was not her own safety that worried the Fairy Tail mage.
"Ghriba, stay behind me."
"O-okay," the young girl said, doing exactly as Levy instructed. "Just be careful..."
"That's right, go ahead and hide," Andrew hissed as he began to draw his sword, a red glow of magic dancing across its edge. "Your fear is proof of the guilt you and your sister possess, Ghriba Perrault."
"What's he talking about? Levy asked as she took a step back, not able to spare the young girl a passing glance.
"I don't know," Ghriba replied. "He's just a big meanie."
"Don't you lie now," Andrew said as he drew ever closer. "You and your sister both took something very precious to me. I know it."
"Okay, seriously," Levy began to say, "I'd like to know what his problem is before I fight him, Ghriba."
Ghriba began to nervously twiddle her thumbs as she answered. "Well, that is, my sis and I kind of have Andrew's kitty cat."
"I was right all along," Andrew said, his tone wavering with bouts of madness. "It was you and your sister after all."
Levy simply felt herself get exasperated. "Seriously, that's it?"
"That's it?" Andrew suddenly roared. "That's it? Ghriba and Bang Perrault took what rightfully belongs to me! That cannot go unpunished!"
"You mistreated La Bete all the time!" Ghriba suddenly shouted, peeking out from behind Levy's shoulders. "Every time Uncle Qorvus brought sis and me over the guild you were so mean to your own cat!"
"And she always seemed drawn to you two, your sister especially," Andrew growled. "Like a bumblebee to a flower's nectar. So when she ran away she went to you two."
Andrew at last pointed his sword towards Ghriba, aiming it at a trajectory over Levy's shoulder.
"I wonder then, if I were to kill you and your sister both, would Bete come crawling back to me like the worthless garbage she truly is?"
Levy tensed up, all the while formulating a plan of attack. "You're a monster."
"We're all monsters in the end," Andrew replied simply. "A fact that Master Danvers has made quite clear to me. It's rather liberating when you understand how worthless this world is."
Levy wasted no words on Andrew. At least not in the verbal sense. She quickly traced out a series of letters before her and a burst of flame came forth and flew towards the man.
"That's it, huh?" Andrew quickly swung his blade out, the red energy shredding the flaming word and causing it to dissipate. "I suppose I should expect no less of someone who would support trash like Ghriba Perrault."
"Okay, Ghriba, honey, what's that sword of his actually capable of?" Levy was a bit concerned then, but she knew that knowledge would help her as always.
"I don't know," the young girl replied. "He never had it before."
"Terrific." Levy knew it was not the blade itself she had to be concerned with. No, it was the red enchantment that was wrapped around it. If it could cut throw and cancel a magically drawn element, there was no telling what else it could cut through. "This is bad."
"Is that what you refer to your own funeral?" Andrew drew ever closer. "I give you one opportunity, Fairy Tail wizard. Stand aside and you will not have to die alongside this miserable excuse for a human being."
"Whatever it takes," Levy replied, the sweat beginning to bead down her forward, "I won't let you near her."
"Brave words," Andrew said, taking another step as Levy moved back. "Brave but completely meaningless if you cannot hope to see them through."
"I've got plenty of words for you!"
Levy allowed her Solid Script magic to go into play again, her right hand bringing to life the word 'bullet' over and over again. The small orbs of energy moved towards Andrew with blinding speed, yet he simply destroyed each and every one with deftly performed swings of his sword.
"Try as you like," the Chicken Fangs member said, another step forward taken, "you will not slow me- down!"
The confident tone of Andrew suddenly shifted, becoming a shrill cry of surprise as he fell into the ground itself, a hole in the shape of the letters that comprised the word itself having lay in his direct path.
"So busy concentrating on my right hand and what I was making, I bet he never expected I could write with my left too."
Levy was quick to press her advantage, writing two words out with both hands. Quickly did nothingness give way to creation, twin bursts of lightning coming to life and plunging down into the whole. Andrew cried out them, leaving Levy to sigh in relief.
"You can't parry what you don't see coming."
There was silence then, Levy preparing herself to go aide any of her other teammates. Ghriba was quick to break up the moment of celebration, her own joy overflowing. "You did it!"
"Not... quite."
Both Levy and Ghriba's blood ran cold at the sound of the voice, the two quickly catching sight of Andrew's gloved right coming out of the hole and digging into the dirt, smoke curling up into the air from each and every finger. Slowly did the man pull himself up into complete view, his clothing charred and in disarray from the twin bolts of electricity he had been subjected to.
"You are beginning to irritate me, Fairy Tail mage," Andrew hissed, his breath worn and ragged. "No one has ever taken me by surprise like that. You have cut down my pride inch by bloody inch."
The man simply pointed his blade at Levy then, his focus no longer targeting Ghriba.
"I suppose it's only fitting that I return the favor. I will start with your right arm, then the left. Or perhaps simply working my way across each hand, finger by finger, will be a more pleasurable way to take away your strength."
"Okay, you little ice cream scoop," Bambietta said, slightly out of breath, "you're fast, I'll give you that."
The Quincy was growing irritated, having never before come across someone alive who could naturally compete with the raw speed of Hirenkyaku quite like this. Natsu had begun to compensate for it with reflexes and timing, while Erza had proven herself with natural speed, but this Sundae individual was seemingly vanishing from sight just like a practitioner of a flash step variation would.
That still did not stop Bambietta from trying, using Hirenkyaku to appear behind Sundae and launch a punch. Yet the woman of multiple colorings of hair simply shimmered, her image suddenly shattering like so much glass, and Bambietta found herself hitting nothing but air. The Quincy prepared herself for the inevitable counterattack, ready for anything.
Then she felt a hand patting her backside and Bambietta's face went completely red. She turned quickly and caught sight of Sundae giving her a little grin in response.
"Oh, you're going to pay for that, you little-"
Sundae suddenly shifted expressions, her face showing nothing but anger. She lashed out with a punch all her own, her knuckles smashing into Bambietta's face with incredible force.
"What?" the Quincy asked, glaring down the length of Sundae's arm, Bambietta's cheek glowing with Blut Vene. "That's the best you can do?"
"So we've got one fighter who can't hit anything and another that can't cause any damage when she does?" Greco simply shook his head. "This is going to take bloody forever!"
Bambietta sighed as she launched another attack that Sundae easily dodged. "Tell me about it! So what do you propose? You two both standing still so I can knock your blocks off and be down with it?"
"What I propose is a deal," Greco replied, watching as the inconclusive battle continued. "Our master is not one to be trifled with, not at all. To be honest, she scares the hell out of me. So how about you Fairy Tail mages join the Chicken Fangs here and now?"
"What?" Bambietta took a hit from Sundae and shrugged it off, looking instead at Greco.
"It's quite simple," the man said. "If you come over to our side, all of you, then that will wipe away the sin of standing against Master Danvers wishes. You see, I'm a nice guy deep down, and I'm all for getting you all off scott free."
Bambietta smiled, ignoring Sundae for the moment. "Oh, you have no idea how many men have promised to get me off. It never goes smoothly. So thanks, but no."
Greco simply shook his head, his shoulder lowering as if with disappointment. "Such a shame."
Bambietta launched an attack, not evening paying attention to it, and Sundae deftly evaded it again. "Hey, how about this? I'll get you off. Stand down and maybe I'll put a good word in Fairy Tail for you and your little buddy here."
Bambietta could feel Sundae launching strike after strike upon her back, none of them making any headway at piercing through Blut Vene.
"Man, you're persistent." Bambietta was unsure what had just come over her now. Extending peace offerings was not like her, but fighting a battle that had no short term chance for victory was no exactly her style either. "So how about it?"
"I appreciate the offer, Bleachie," Greco replied. "In fact, I'm starting to like you. But... I can't take any chances. Not with her and not with what I have to risk. Not with who I have on the line."
"What the hell are you babbling about?"
"It doesn't matter, Bleachie!" Greco raised an arm high, snapping his fingers and giving life to a magic circle. "Nothing matters now except keeping her safe!"
Sundae suddenly stepped away from Bambietta then, the Quincy taking note of a large magic circle appearing on the ground behind Greco in response to his action. Then she simply watched in surprise as a large beast suddenly began to rise up from the emblem, leaving Bambietta to nod in understanding.
"Oh right, a monster hunter. Almost forgot." Bambietta brought her bow into existence then. "I guess nobody will complain if I get a little trigger happy in response..."
"It's such a shame things have to end this way, Bleachie," Greco began to say, looking at her with a slightly distant expression. "I kind of get the feeling we're cut from the same cloth, you and I."
"What gives you that impression?" Bambietta asked, slowly raising her bow and taking aim at the creature coming into existence.
"You can play the part of the hero all you want," Greco answered, "but I can tell on one level or another that this isn't the real you. Take it from one smooth criminal to another, we both do whatever it takes to survive, don't we? There's no point in fighting if you don't live to see another day, right?"
Bambietta paused for a moment, watching as Sundae approached Greco, the man gently patting her on the head.
"And there's no point in fighting if you're not keeping the ones you care about alive as well," Greco continued, his voice suddenly reaching a crescendo. "So you keep pretending to be the good little angel if that's what it takes to keep on living! Me? I'm going to do what I do best! I'm sorry, Bleachie, but it looks like the good really do die you-"
The man never got the chance to finish his proclamation, the summoned monster behind him suddenly lunging forward, it's open mouth quickly closing upon Greco. All that was left was his muffled shouts of surprise and anger, his legs sticking out from the beast's jaws.
"Damn it, not again!" Bambietta could barely make out from within the monster's mouth.
The winged beast began to turn away then, Sundae leaping upon its head and striking it repeatably with whatever she could. The monster simply marched off then, taking both members of the Chicken Fangs away.
Bambietta simply stood in astonishment, her wide eyes not even able to blink. "Wow, that was stupid and anticlimactic. And just when I was starting to like the guy."
Shrugging, Bambietta turned to see Liltotto. The young girl was presently evading the attacks from the bull Celestial Spirit that Lucy possessed and Bambietta considered heading into that fight, hell-bent on finishing off her old friend herself.
Yet then she saw something that made her blood run cold for a moment. The one that Ghriba had identified as Andrew Connerie had Levy pinned down to the ground, a foot pressing down on the mage's right arm. Worse, his sword was raised high above his head.
Bambietta did not know exactly what came over her then. Her desire for vengeance was strong, so strong that she had considered it greater than anything else. Now, however, it was collapsing under the weight of a very different desire.
Bambietta's hands curled into fists, her eyes blazing as she looked at Andrew with eyes consumed with rage.
"Get the hell away from her!"
Hirenkyaku took Bambietta towards Andrew with blinding speed, her right fist descending towards the man's face with reckless abandon.
Yet, in that brief moment, Andrew swung his blade out upon her approach, forcefully parrying Bambietta's attack. Her body flew past him then, twisting in midair from the power behind his sword swing. The Quincy grit her teeth as she landed on her feet, taking note of the torn cloth that made up her right sleeve. The light of Blut Vene peeked out from behind the cloth, catching a glimpse from her eyes.
Then there was a momentary flash of memory, muddled as it was. All Bambietta could picture in that brief instant was the blade of a Zanpakuto, her arm becoming severed above the elbow.
It was nothing more than fuel being poured upon an already raging inferno. She turned quickly, taking Andrew by surprise. Fingers wrapped around his skull as Bambietta pressed forward, dragging him away from Levy with Hirenkyaku.
"You bastard!" Bambietta screamed. "That will never happen again! Do you hear me? Do you?"
Bambietta drove Andrew down then, never letting go as she continued to move about with blinding speed. She pushed the back of the man's head into the ground, tearing through it inch by inch.
It was satisfying, so very satisfying, to drag the man through the dirt, but it was still not enough for a Quincy who's rage was on the breaking point. Not even breaking her stride, she pulled Andrew up and let go for a moment. As his body began to drop under the duress of gravity, Bambietta sent her now closed fist forward. It struck Andrew in the dead center of his chest, the impact sending him careening away.
The man cried out as his body slammed into the side of a house, wood splintering outwards as he did so. However, Bambietta was still not down. The Quincy lunged for Andrew, once more grasping the side of his face, and she began to run forward again with Hirenkyaku, tearing the man's face through the side of the building.
There was screaming from Andrew, music to Bambietta's ears. Yet she had long since forgotten his existence. He was nothing to her, nothing at all. All she could hear was the sounds of agony of those who had hurt her. Of Giselle, of Liltotto, of Meninas and Candice. Of the Soul Reaper who had taken her arm in that muddled memory.
Finally, as the cleared the corner of the building, Bambietta brought Andrew down once more, smashing his face directly into what first came into sight.
There was a gasp of pain then as Andrew's head bounced off the stones that composed the well, the man falling upon his back. Bambietta began to at last take control of herself, glaring down as the masked man continued to breath in ragged breaths.
Still, there was that anger, something Bambietta had to wonder if she would ever be able to fully suppress. Acting on it one last time for the moment, the Quincy spit on Andrew and at last turned away.
"Levy!" she shouted. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Bambi," the Solid Script mage responded as she and Ghriba began to walk towards the Quincy. "I'm more worried about you."
"I'm... fine?" It was a question, not an answer, and Bambietta had to wonder if it would ever be anything different.
Then did Bambietta note a look of fear upon Levy and Ghriba's faces. The Quincy began to turn, taking sight of a beaten and battered Andrew standing behind her, his legs shaking. His left hand was covering his masked face, his right holding his sword up high.
"You mewling quim," a broken and shattered voice proclaimed, Andrew struggling to utter anything. "I will... I will take back what has been stolen from me!"
Bambietta was not worried in the slightest, knowing that the Quincy variation of a flash step would allow her to easily evade this man's blatant attack. However, she never got the chance.
There was the sound of an impact, of metal meeting flesh and bone, and Andrew quickly dropped to the round once again. It was what fell atop him, however, that took hold of Bambietta's attention. A series of letters, all of them made clearly of metal.
"Steel?" Bambietta looked away from the unconscious Andrew and towards her friend. She could see the errant magic of Solid Script arcing out from one of her index fingers. "Levy, you little devil you."
"No, I can't... lose like this," Andrew groaned, the man barely able to form any words. "Not... not when those two brats still have... my cat..."
"That was your motivation? Are you kidding me?" Bambietta turned around and kicked Andrew in the head, at last knocking him out. "I don't even know what it means, but I'm pretty sure you're the only mewling quim around here!"
Satisfied, Bambietta knew what she wanted to do next. That was to take Liltotto down. Turning, the Quincy quickly found that the Celestial Spirit's battle with Liltotto was not going well, not at all.
"You're a tough opponent, aren't you?" Taurus shouted as he swung his axe out, Liltotto simply evading it with a minor use of Hirenkyaku.
Lucy watched on then, realizing what she had sent her Celestial Spirit up against. "Darn it, she's no slouch."
"Pull him back," Bambietta said as she appeared beside Lucy. "Liltotto's mine."
"Bambi!" Lucy looked towards her friend, noting the cold, unnatural way in which she was speaking. "I can handle this for you, so-"
"I get it," the Quincy replied. "You wanted to do this for me." Bambietta took a deep breath, turning to look at Lucy with a unconvincing smile. "It's appreciated, but this is my fight to win or to lose. Mine and no one else's. So call him back."
Lucy could only look into the Quincy's eyes then, wondering just what she was feeling. "Bambi..."
Taurus, meanwhile, was making no headway against Liltotto, the short young lady continuing to evade every attack of his. "Come on, hold still!"
"That would be incredible stupid," Liltotto replied. "Just because you can't lay a finger on me doesn't mean I want to find out how much that axe of yours might hurt."
"Then how about you fight back?" the Celestial Spirit asked, taking another swing at Liltotto. "If you're not taking this battle seriously, it's going to move me to tears!"
Liltotto said nothing, simply dashing backwards and quickly firing an arrow from the petite bow she created in an instant. The ray of light pierced Taurus' right knee, forcing the Celestial Spirit to fall. "So tell me," Liltotto asked softly and without a care in the word, "did my fighting move you to tears yet?"
"Nice try, woman," Taurus shouted, forcing himself to leap forward despite the pain threatening his right knee, "but it isn't over yet."
Liltotto sighed in response, her body taking on a state that left all of Fairy Tail shocked. All save Bambietta.
"No," the Quincy whispered. "She still has her Schrift?"
Liltotto's face seemed to stretch, her mouth extending outwards and widening as it moved closer to the approaching Taurus. Then it quickly enveloped his axe, pulling it away from his hand. The Celestial Spirit watched in horror as Liltotto's mouth snapped back into place, the axe disappearing as she began to chew.
"What the heck was that?" Lucy shouted, looking on in shock.
"Pull him back!" Bambietta screamed. "Now!"
"Taurus, return!" Lucy did as her friend begged, using her key to send Taurus back to the Celestial World immediately.
"What... was that?" Levy asked as she moved herself and Ghriba closer to Cana, all the while staring at Liltotto.
"Damn it." Bambietta was not happy in the least. "So it wasn't crossing over to this world and being separated from His Majesty that screwed up my powers. You've still got them, so what makes us so different?"
Liltotto said nothing, staring blankly at Bambietta.
"It's all Giselle's fault, isn't it?" Bambietta began to grow angry then. "Her stupid powers ruined my own, is that it? God damn it, Gigi!"
"Bambi," Liltotto finally said. "Please go."
Then the short and stout Quincy turned away, using Hirenkyaku to move towards the downed Victor, looking to pick him up. Her desires were simple, to retrieve the members of her new family and bring them inside the guild hall to recover. She would help Sundae rescue Greco as well. Any further fighting, however, did not appeal to her.
That would simply not do for Bambietta. "Don't you dare turn your back on me! Do you hear m-"
The Quincy was cut off then, the doors to the Chicken Fangs guild hall suddenly opening with a start. Standing in that entrance way was a rather pale woman, her hair stark white a stark contrast to the dark robes that adorned her body. However it was the completely black orbs that made up her eyes that took hold of Bambietta and the other's attention.
Liltotto stopped for a moment, glancing at the newcomer. "Master Danvers..."
"So my best have fallen, have they?" the guild master asked, her voice low and ominous. "How unfortunate. Liltotto Lamperd, why have you not fought to the bitter end? Is that not the pledge you made to me when I allowed you to join our esteemed ranks?"
Liltotto looked away. "I am sorry, but-"
"Silence!" Danvers voice was quick and cruel, leaving Liltotto to follow the command immediately. "We will speak of your punishment later, you worthless wretch!"
Then did Danvers look down at Qorvus, the older man being helped up by his niece, Ghriba.
"Qorvus, you fool," Danvers hissed. "Did you really think that you could doom this town even with outside help. Even with Emberella away, you had no chance of victory."
"Doom?" Cana asked, the wizard glaring at Danvers. "We're here to save this town from you!"
"What a feeble mind you possess," Danvers replied, turning her attentions to Cana. "You sound exactly as the mayor of this town did. Ozwald Morgan was such a fool, thinking he could raise the next generation of Chicken Fangs by coddling those who would succeed us."
Danvers pointed a crooked finger towards Ghriba then, a sharp and pointed nail extending directly towards her.
"Do you see what that foolishness has wrought?" the guild master asked. "This girl houses such potential but it can only be obtained if she is nurtured by the real world. By pain, suffering and despair. That is the gift I give to her generation. For too long they have allowed themselves to think the future is bright, that there is hope. I could not allow that to continue. So I will butcher Ruby's future so that people like Ghriba can grow and mature."
"You're insane," Lucy whispered.
"You killed the mayor and took his place for this?" Levy asked, trying to hold back any fear she felt.
"I did not, no," Danvers answered. "That task was left up to my esteemed Emberella. She's always been very good at getting close to those she was meant to kill. However, she was always rather incompetent at leaving behind a body, so I have to take her word for it."
"You're such a fool."
All attention shifted then, even Danvers' own. She found herself looking at Ghriba and Qorvus, the older man struggling to remain standing even with her help.
"What the devil happened to you, Danvers?" Qorvus asked, staring directly at her. "You used to be such a peach, you know? Now look at you. I can barely tell your human."
"Such a frail term," Danvers replied. "Yes, I used to be as weak as you once. Until she showed me the truth of this world."
Danvers began to raise her right arm up, allowing the robes around it to fall and reveal the pale flesh underneath. Yet it was what was also there that left those around her in fear. Her Chicken Fangs emblem was clear as day but was surrounded by markings and etchings that clearly did not belong.
"What is that?" Lucy asked.
"Okay, granted I know just enough French to get into trouble, but I can't make heads or tails of that," Bambietta whispered. "I may be bi a lot of things, but lingual isn't exactly one of them."
Levy, however, did recognize it. Her knowledge only made her more fearful. "That's... the text that can be found only in a Book of Zeref."
Those of Fairy Tail quickly looked to Levy then, Cana giving voice to their concerns. "What? You've got to be kidding me!"
"Oh, the short one speaks the truth," Danvers hissed. "I had the reality of this world etched upon my flesh and my mind was opened up to honest darkness. I wish only to extend that understanding to those around me. Is that so wrong?"
"Damn, you talk a lot," Bambietta said as she stepped forward, running a gloved finger into her right ear for a second. "Think I've got some of that crap you've been spewing stuck in there. Give me a sec, will you?"
Danvers' eyes narrowed, the guild master all but growling as she looked at Bambietta. "How dare you."
"Anyway," Bambietta said, "I really shouldn't be caring about what you're doing. This whole good girl thing isn't exactly my style. But you see, there's two problems here."
Danvers tilted her head slightly, looking at Bambietta. "And what, pray tell would that be?"
"Well I'd like to get some payback on the last member of your guild standing, but I think you're kind of going to be a big pain in my ass and get in my way." Bambietta angled her head towards Ghriba then, the young girl behind her with the others. "And two, somebody has promised me and the other girls a nice big reward for kicking your ass and taking back this town."
"But... I don't actually have a big reward for you all," Ghriba whispered.
"Don't worry about it," Levy said. "I think Bambi's just trying to make up an excuse for being nice."
Bambietta began to crack her knuckles. "So we going to fight or what? Or are you just the type who's going to try and talk the Bamb Squad to death."
"That's not a talent I possess, no," Danvers answered. "I prefer more... painful methods."
Danvers quickly moved her right hand outwards, a sudden blast of invisible force slamming into Bambietta and propelling her backwards. She flew past those she called her allies and collided solidly with a barn. The force of the impact was so great the entire structure quickly lost its integrity and collapsed upon her.
Lucy was the first to speak then, turning as she shouted. "Bambi!"
There was no movement for a second, but then a white gloved hand burst forth from the wreckage, one finger extending outwards while the rest remained tucked in. Soon Bambietta was climbing her way out, dusty and dirty but no worse for wear.
"Is that all you got?" the Quincy asked. "I know a big fluffy dog that hits harder than you. But I guess it makes sense somebody who loves the sound of their own voice would have a bark worse than their bite."
The Quincy stood up to her feet then and spit out a wad of blood before using Hirenkyaku to rejoin those of Fairy Tail.
"You okay?" Levy asked.
"Just a cracked rib," Bambietta said. "It probably only hurts when I laugh. But I'm going to be doing just that when we bring down this grim dark poser."
Danvers' lips curled back then, a slight growl escaping from her.
Bambietta paid it little mind, seeing it as nothing more than an opening for an attack and a verbal putdown. "Bamb Squad, let's show this prehistoric piece of trash how we do things in Magnolia." Bambietta turned to look to Lucy. "You do have a Celestial Spirit with a ranged attack, right?"
"Yeah, that'd be Sagittarius. I made the pact with him after we got back from Galuna Island. Just... don't laugh at him." Lucy pulled out her key then, putting it to good use. "Open the gate of the archer! Sagittarius!"
Bambietta watched in awe as the light came and went. "Man, I hope he's a bad ass arch- what the hell is this?"
The Quincy began to laugh then, finding herself confronted by a rather lanky man wearing a horse costume and wielding a bow, a set of arrows tucked away in a quiver strapped to his back.
"This is- I just- How in the- What am I looking- I can't-" Complete sentences were no longer Bambietta's strong suit. All she could do then was laugh long and hard with youthful abandon. "Oh damn, it really does hurt to laugh. But so worth it."
Sagittarius paid his reception no mind, suddenly saluting both Lucy and Bambietta by bringing one hoof costume covered hand up to not his own forehead. "Howdy dowdy, my fairy Lucy! How may I help you?"
Lucy was quick to give a command. "Fire at will!"
Sagittarius looked around then, his eyes looking first at Qorvus, then the downed members of Chicken Fangs. "I wish to comply, but which one bears the name William?"
Bambietta could not help but scream, the Quincy all but ready to pull out her hair. "Shot the mean lady! The mean lady!"
"Well, all righty!" Sagittarius suddenly cocked an arrow in Bambietta's direction.
That just made the Quincy more angry but Lucy was quick to step between her and Sagittarius. "Shoot the creepy lady with the white hair!"
"It pays to be more specific," Sagittarius said as he turned to face Danvers.
Then at last did it begin, arrows fired from Lucy's summon, Cana with her cards, Levy with whatever words she could write as fast as possible and at last Bambietta with her own Quincy arrows. The barrage of attacks descended upon Danvers, the guild master barely registering them as a concern.
"How futile."
The attacks all veered away from Danvers then, striking the pavement or the nearby buildings but not the guild master herself. It was as if an invisible force had protected her from any harm.
"Well that sucks," Bambietta mused as she kept her bow ready. "I guess at first you don't succeed..."
"This isn't good," Qorvus interrupted. "I'll be honest, I never intended to fight Danvers. Emberella and the others yes, even if the former would have been a problem. Even drunk I figured I'd have a shot against her. But Danvers? I knew I would have to be sober to stand a chance at talking her out of her madness. But I see it now, we can't stop her."
"Uncle Qorvus!" Ghriba cried out. "You can't mean that!"
"You know as well as I do what Danvers' title is, Ghriba," the older man replied. "Danvers the Untouchable. It had been before my time in the guild since she had last fought, so I thought it was only myth. But I see it now, I was right to fear fighting her."
"The Untouchable, huh?" Bambietta only snickered in response. "Yeah, I can see that. That pasty face, those dumb marking on it, those beady little black eyes, that stupid haircut... Yeah, nobody would want to tap that."
"Again with the insults," Danvers said, once more paying mind to Bambietta alone. "I suppose that is the only attack you can hope to strike me with. How pitiful." The guild master looked towards Liltotto then. "Will you not join this fight?"
"No, I-" Liltotto looked at Bambietta, the sense of rage palpable from one Quincy to another. "I can't."
"How disappointing. No matter." Danvers turned her attention forward then. "I will finish this for the both of us!"
Danvers brought one hand up, then slowly began to lower it, the palm facing towards the ground. As if on cue, Bambietta could suddenly feel an immense weight pressing down upon her body, forcing the Quincy's body to stagger under the pressure.
The feeling, the sensation, it was nothing new to the Quincy. She had experienced similar effects in her life, the power behind Danvers' attack be so very much like the flexing of a beings' spiritual pressure. His Majesty had used it many times to exert his will on a disobedient Quincy if he felt they were worth keeping alive. This was nowhere near his level of strength, no, but Bambietta was nowhere near her full power either.
Her legs were shaking, her breathing painful in its execution. Slowly but surely did Bambietta begin to drop to one knee then, the Quincy continuing to fight. However she knew that if it was this bad for her, then the others would clearly be in rough shape.
Bambietta forced herself to look around and could see that all those she considered her allies were pressed to the ground, their bodies all but sinking into the dirt. Lucy and Sagittarius, Levy and Cana, Ghriba and Qorvus.
"That is where you all belong," Danvers hissed. "Foolish little upstarts. You can all believe in a better tomorrow all you want, but the stark reality of life and its failings will crush you in the end. I merely wish you shorten your suffering and end it now. So why fight it?"
Danvers brought her other hand to bear, flicking out a finger. As if in response, Sagittarius was blown away by the force, the Celestial Spirit smashing into a house.
"Sagittarius! No!"
Lucy began to shout in response to her summon's fate but she to was quick to follow, the power of Danvers throwing her away as well. Then did Levy and Cana follow as well, neither able to withstand attacks from both directions.
"Damn you..."
Bambietta did what she could, forcing her own spiritual energies to come alive. She pushed against the overwhelming force of Danvers, trying to force away the invisible oppression that the guild master was generating.
"You're so full of shit," Bambietta grunted. "You want to talk about darkness and despair, that's old news to me! My whole life has been cloaked in shadow!"
Bambietta's very body began to tremble as it flexed and tightened alongside her spiritual pressure to withstand the force that Danvers was exuding. Her bones were creaking, her muscles crying out in agony as they were overtaxed by the strain, but still she struggled against the forces conspiring against her.
"I thought that was just how it was," Bambietta hissed, her teeth gritting together as she slowly rose from one knee into a standing position. She glanced back then, taking note of Ghriba laying on the ground, out of reach of Danvers' power. "Maybe it was all I was good for, living in the dark, but you know what? That kid's got her whole life ahead of her and I'll be damned if I'm going to let you do to her what my world did to me!"
Bambietta raised an arm then, the limb trembling terribly so as it was completely caught underneath Danvers' power. Still did Bambietta resist, extending its index finger towards Danvers and Liltotto both.
"You helped ruin my life," Bambietta said, her gaze falling on Liltotto and then shifting to Danvers. "And you want to do the same to others? To hell with that! You can take your edgy nonsense and shove it so far up your ass that-"
"Enough!"
Danvers swung down her free hand, doubling the force that Bambietta was being subjected to. Her spiritual pressure relented in response, Bambietta crashing to the ground with such undeniable force that she cried out in pain, blood spraying from her mouth and soaking the ground.
Then did the Quincy feel her body begin to drag across the ground, only for it to lose contact with it completely. Soon she found herself not even a foot away from Danvers, the woman's right hand outstretched towards Bambietta. The Quincy wanted to move, to strike back, but she found her body locked in place, as if frozen by the guild master's power.
"So you have been touched by darkness, have you?" the pale woman asked. "I can work with that then. I could mold you in my own image, make you a puppet worthy to have its strings pulled by my greatness."
Liltotto heard those words spoken by her new master, the Quincy feeling her heart seize up within her chest. "Bambi..."
Then, quite suddenly, did Ghriba come into view, the young girl leaping towards Danvers, the scythe of the fallen Qorvus in her hands. "Give back my home!"
"No." It was a simple response from Danvers, the guild master reaching out with her left hand and subduing Ghriba in midair, locking her ability to move down. "Ruby is my garden to nurture and watch grow as I see fit. You will not stop me, young one. No matter what resolve you bring against me, I will smash it to dust."
"You think you've won?" Bambietta gasped. "What an idiot. You do realize where I'm from, right? I'm a Fairy Tail mage... me and the others... and my guild is going to kick your ass for this! Natsu, Gray, Erza... oh, Erza would give you the beating of a century!"
"Ah yes, Fiore's greatest guild." Danvers simply laughed. "Just another light that will die in my wake. Hope is something that exists only so that I can snuff it out. So cling to such fleeting desires. Fairy Tail can send their best, their brightest. Makarov will have sent them to the same pitiful demise you will soon experience. This is the beginning of the en-"
Danvers black eyes suddenly widened, a gasp of pain interrupting her speech. Bambietta and Ghriba fell to the ground them, free from her power for the moment.
"Man, you really do talk a lot," Bambietta muttered. "And I thought I had a big ego..."
Danvers merely turned around then, allowing Bambietta to see a blue arrow piercing her shoulder blade, the light fading and leaving behind nothing but a wound.
Bambietta glanced around Danvers then and could see Liltotto holding a bow in her hands. "Lil?"
"You dare betray your guild?" Danvers asked, her tone one of anger and hate. "You dare turn your back on your family?"
"I've done it once before," Liltotto replied. "Not again. Never again."
Bambietta was lost in the moment then, unsure of what was occurring, why the one who had aided in her past betrayal would stand for her now. Then there was the fact that she had landed an attack on the one Qorvus had referred to as Untouchable.
Bambietta saw it then, a slight movement of Liltotto's eyes, the Quincy not looking at Danvers but Bambietta instead. Bambietta knew it then. She was not the sharpest knife in the drawer, that much she knew full well, but she could see the same weakness in Danvers power as Liltotto had.
She was untouchable, yes, but only if she could see the attack coming. There was no all-encompassing shield protecting her. Which meant precisely that Liltotto could not hurt her from the angle she was at now.
Bambietta was quick, bringing her bow to life, and letting loose and arrow that struck Danvers between her shoulder blades. The guild master cried out again, moving on instinct. She had not been able to defend the attack but she was able to return fire, a flick of her wrist sending a blast of force that sent Bambietta tumbling away.
"Bambi!" Liltotto cried out.
"So that foulmouthed witch is a friend of yours, is that it?" Danvers rasped. "You betray me for such something as worthless as friendship?"
"There is no friendship between us anymore," Liltotto said, vanishing with Hirenkyaku, "and that's my sin to bear."
"Then allow me to free you of your pain!" Danvers knew well what Liltotto was trying to do, to slip behind her defenses. To that end she spun around quickly, firing off her power from both hands. The concussive force caught Liltotto as she came into view, sending the Quincy flying away. "You are all so very weak. Weak in body, weak in mind, weak in heart. I was wise indeed to cast away my human frailties for such power."
Liltotto forced herself to stand then, only to be thrown back by yet another wave of Danvers' power. She stood once more, only for the cycle to repeat itself. Now she found herself by the downed Bambietta. She did not spare her fellow Quincy a look, instead standing up again and leaving Bambietta alone on the ground. The latter looked up Liltotto then, her spiritual senses getting a read of her power.
There was a part of Bambietta that cursed her weakness, of how she was no longer top dog among even those she had once commanded in her old life. Liltotto was clearly her superior now and it was infuriating to the Bambietta. Still, she knew the limits of Liltotto's own power and had to wonder one thing. "What are you doing, Lil? Are you going to throw your life away?"
Liltotto was rocked by another blast of the approaching Danvers magic, sailing away from Bambietta and rolling across the ground until she came at to a complete stop.
"You idiot!" Bambietta screamed. She forced herself towards Liltotto then with Hirenkyaku and grabbed hold of the Quincy by her collar. "Do you think I'll forgive you if you die here and now after helping me?"
Bambietta pulled one arm back, her fingers curling into a fist. Curious, Danvers held back, curious to see if one enemy would free her of another.
"Do it, Bambi," Liltotto said, her face impassive. "I deserve that much."
"You think a sacrifice is going to make a damned bit of difference what you helped do to me?" Bambietta screamed, her fist wavering. "To hell with that! That won't change anything! You want to make amends, then live! There's no damn point if you fight a battle for any other reason!"
"How absurd," Danvers said, calling forth Bambietta's attention. "What miserable excuse for a human taught you that lesson? You may justify continued existence as a reason to fight, but in the end all you do is rob others of their lives."
A blast of power sent both Bambietta and Liltotto tumbling away, the duo of Quincy smashing into a building.
"Damn, she has no idea who she's talking to, does she?" Bambietta said, running a hand through her hair to knock away any fragments of wood from the house's frame. "It's not like I didn't already know that."
"Bambi, you're not what you used to be, huh?"
Bambietta stopped at looked at Liltotto. "What? Just because I joined a nice guild, it doesn't mean I'm not the same mean spirited queen bee."
"That's not what I meant," Liltotto said. "You can't use the Explode anymore."
"What gave you that idea?"
"You seemed upset that I still had the Glutton as a power," Liltotto said quietly. "And I'm pretty sure you would have killed me on the spot with that power if you could have."
Bambietta looked at Liltotto with a flash of anger. "I would have been justified."
"Yes, you would have," Liltotto said as she stood up. "Tell me, if you're not up to par, did you do anything to compensate for it?"
"What? Do you think I'm dense? Do you think I'm stupid or something? I'm Stern Ritter E! Of course I found a way to blow stuff up!" The Quincy began to mess around with her coat, checking the pockets. "Let's see, I've got some Ginto capsules, and just the other day I had enough resources to make my very own six pack of Seele Schneiders."
"You've been busy," Liltotto replied with a nod. "Good. I'm going to keep Danvers busy. You set the trap with those toys of yours."
"Or you could just end this with an instant using your Voll Stern Dich," Bambietta said. "That'd be a whole lot simpler."
Liltotto looked back at Bambietta. "Who said I still had it?"
Then she was gone with a burst of Hirenkyaku, leaving Bambietta to sit there and slowly begin to grin slightly. "I'm not that far down on the Quincy pecking order? Thank you!"
"I suppose I killed the loudmouth and the traitor at all once. Good." Danvers turned away from the carnage she had caused, her gaze settling on the downed Ghriba. "I suppose it's your town. Such a shame. I've done all this for you and your generation. I knew someday you would all thank me for making you understand the bitter taste of the real world. Perhaps not at first, not when I had eventually weeded out some of your friends to make you understand how fragile everything is. No, you would not have been happy if I one day commanded Emberella to end the lives of those two redheads you adore as friends so much. But eventually you would have understood."
Danvers stood beside Ghriba then, lifting her still body up with her power.
"Such a shame that your little story shall end on a grim note as this."
Danvers cried out in pain then, an agonizing sensation engulfing her head. She let go of Ghriba once more and turned, only to find Liltotto once more armed with her bow.
"I was hoping that would be a kill shot. Darn it."
Danvers reached around her head and with a tug and gasp of pain pulled an arrow of light from the base of her skull. It had caused some degree of agony, yes, but it had not been able to pierce her resilient flesh.
"I see you are fond of stabbing people in the back," Danvers said as she tightened her grip and caused the Quincy arrow to shatter into so much shards of light.
"That's all my kind is good for."
"That's how I'm going to remember you best," Danvers replied with a smile. "I suppose it's fitting this then is how you act before you die."
"Not interested," Liltotto said, priming a bow. "I'm too lazy to go through the effort of dying and stuff."
Liltotto launched herself forward then, using bursts of Hirenkyaku to try and get behind Danvers and land a shot, any shot, that would keep her focused entirely on her. That was the goal, not to win, but to keep the woman's undivided attention on her and her along.
"There."
Liltotto let fly with an arrow, but it was casually deflected by Danvers' magic, careening off into the heavens. The Quincy was undeterred however, knowing there was so much more she could offer. Her spiritual powers went into the bow full force then, a multitude and never ending stream of arrows raining down upon Danvers.
The guild master was not deterred, however, casually dismissing the attacks with her invisible barrier. "It is useless to resist, traitor!"
Liltotto kept the attack going, using Hirenkyaku to move to Danvers' side, forcing her to turn to keep up her defense. Then, at last, did Liltotto pause for a moment. "You win."
Danvers allowed a grin to cross her face. "I see you do understand the futility of resistance after all. But what do you think will happen now?"
"My inevitable death," Liltotto replied. "So be it."
"And here I thought you said you lacked the drive for that sort of thing." Danvers diverted her gaze towards the downed body of Ghriba. "I suppose the grim reality of life can break even a lazy streak."
Danvers began to raise her arm then, intent on taking hold of Liltotto's body and rend her apart piece by piece. Yet the scream that soon came alive was not the Quincy's, it was Danvers' own.
A hellish blue light burst forth from the ground, engulfing her body as the light shone upwards as a column that pierced the clouds above.
"What trickery is this?" Her body engulfed in nothing but total and complete pain, Danvers began to turn her gave about, her every spoken word stained with agony and nothing more. She could see it then, five shining blades piercing the ground around her, having etched a glowing emblem beneath her feet. Then there was the woman from Fairy Tail standing beside one, clad in white and carrying a cruel smile. "You!"
"We got you good," Bambietta said. "I'm not usually one for elaborate strategies like this, but Sprenger is pretty effective."
"This won't... stop me!" Despite the spiritual energy threatening to tear her sanity apart with pain, Danvers began to draw on her power, desperate to block the all-consuming attack. She could feel the Quincy's own energies slipping away from her body, leaving Bambietta to grow a little irritated.
"Oh no," the Quincy said, pulling a handful of Ginto capsules from her coat pocket. "I already used one, but I guess in my current state it's going to take more than that."
Bambietta flipped off the capsules' lids and casually tossed them one by one into the pentagram created by the five Seele Schneiders. As the liquid from the first touched down, an explosion rang out, causing Danvers to scream in excruciating pain.
Then it happened again and again, four more Ginto capsules and their spiritual contents spilling into the Sprenger trap and activating its special properties.
"No!" Danvers wailed. "I am the bringer of darkness! I am the herald of the future's true path! I will not... fall prey... to the light..."
She grew silent then, the explosive powers of Sprenger at last coming to an end. All that was left in the end were the five Seele Schneiders, their blades of concentrated power fading. In the middle of them then was Danvers, the guild master lying on the ground, quiet and unconscious.
"Finally," Bambietta said with a smile. "Shut her down and shut her up!"
"Did you kill her?" Ghriba asked as she started to walk over, using Qorvus' scythe to keep herself standing.
Bambietta looked at Ghriba with the most calm expression she could muster, which was not a difficult task due to how tired she was from the fight. She knew what she would have done to an enemy in her old life, but that was not something that could be allowed in this world. "No way, kid. We just kind of roughed her up bad. See? She's still breathing!"
"Is it over?" Lucy asked as she and the other Fairy Tail members began to approach.
"Yeah," Bambietta said. "But where'd the stupid horse archer go?"
"I sent him back to the Celestial World so he could heal up," Lucy explained. "Wait..."
"She's still up and ready to fight, isn't she?" Cana said as held Qorvus up and stared at Liltotto.
"Bambi, I thought you said it was over?" Levy asked.
The Quincy sighed and looked at Liltotto, her hands slowly starting to tightened. She knew she had no chance, not without her powers, but there was still a part of her buried deep that wanted blood. "Maybe I was wrong."
"Would that make you feel better?" Liltotto asked, looking down and leaving her eyes covered by the visor of her hat.
Bambietta's hand went slack. "Maybe in the short term. But... you helped me just now. You didn't need to but you did. Your lazy self did."
Liltotto still continued to look down and away. "Bambi, I..."
"What?" Bambietta asked, folding her arms across her chest. "You helped me out and now you're going to say you're sorry. That's going to make it all right between us, is that it? You let Giselle kill me. I couldn't defend myself and you didn't do a damn thing to help me. And believe me, my memories are foggy of when I was a zombie, but some things... some things... I wish I could forget!"
Liltotto at last looked up at Bambietta. The latter expected the same face as always, one of indifference, but instead she was greeted by Liltotto's eyes wavering, tears streaming down her face slowly but surely.
"Bambi, I... I couldn't do anything for you!" The Stern Ritter began to fall to her knees then, her head lowering as her tears began to stain the ground. "You had been defeated and... and... Giselle had her own ideas. And I was... too afraid to try and stop her!"
Bambietta looked down at Liltotto, watching as she lowered to the ground, groveling as she was. It did not seem like what she was seeing was reality, not in the least. Liltotto had always been a reserved member of her little group, right from the first day she had met her. They were polar opposites of each other; one who wore her emotions on her sleeve and made sure that all knew how she felt, the other keeping to herself even under the most trying times.
Yet now the tables had turned, Bambietta keeping herself in check while Liltotto let herself go emotionally. It was strange, it was wrong, but most of all it was honest.
Then, for one brief moment of time, Bambietta had a vision of her past, one of the last she had experienced while alive in her world. Of those she had trusted looking down at her before the inevitable end, the inevitable betrayal.
All save Liltotto, the youngest of the group in both body and spirit, looking away. Had it been indifference or simply the inability to watch what she had found herself incapable of preventing?
"I'm sorry, Bambi!" Liltotto cried out. "I'm sorry, all right? I couldn't watch, but I couldn't do anything either! You know his Majesty's law. Any Sternritter that loses a fight, is to be executed. I wanted to save you, to do something but…I was…I was too scared. I… I just... Kill me."
Bambietta's eyes narrowed in response to that and she crouched down before Liltotto. "What did I say about dying before? And who are you to give orders to the boss of the Bambi's, huh?"
Liltotto looked up at Bambietta then, the skin around her eyes red from all her tears. "Bambi?"
"Even if it's just the two of us, the Bambi's are still a thing," Bambietta continued. "So as your resident bossy and bitchy queen bee, I order you to make amends the hard way. There's no lazy solution to this, Lil."
Lucy and the others simply watched on, remaining in silence as the moment before them played out. Lucy and Levy knew enough of what Bambietta had told them, the former more than the latter, but even she did not know the full extent of Bambietta's life before Fairy Tail. Yet there was a part of them both that was feeling some level of contentment in bridges being mended despite not knowing the whole story.
Bambietta had nothing else to offer, so she slipped off a glove and began to use it to dot Liltotto's face, wiping away her tears. That was when the spiritually younger of the two noticed the emblem on Bambietta's hand, one that matched those of Lucy, Levy and Cana.
"So you really are a member of Fairy Tail?" Liltotto whispered. "How lucky of you."
Bambietta chuckled slightly, trying to get herself past the moment. "So you know of Fairy Tail and you joined a guild like this Chicken Fangs one full of jerks?"
"Hey now," Qorvus began to interject. "We weren't always jerks."
"He's right, but... I did it again," Liltotto said. "I wasn't sure how strong the guild master was so I wouldn't dare risk getting in her way when she started throwing her weight around." Then she closed her eyes for a moment. "But maybe... I just felt I deserved the grim reality she was promising."
"Enough of that," Bambietta replied. "Stop being so overly emotional. That's my role, you got it?"
Then did Bambietta suddenly hear something that truly caught her attention, something that made Liltotto's face go red with embarrassment.
It was the growl of an empty stomach.
"Lil, what the heck?" Bambietta asked. "Long as I've known you, you've never sounded like that? Come on, you just ate that pervy bull's axe!"
"No, I didn't." The petite Quincy pointed away then, allowing Bambietta and the others to note the chewed up remains of the weapon lying on the ground. "I spit it out while you were fighting Danvers."
Bambietta grew seriously to a fault then. "That's not like you. You'd eat just about anything."
"Not since I got here," Liltotto said. "Not since I had time to think over what I helped do. Death takes too much effort, but starvation? Even someone as lazy as me can pull that off since it doesn't require any effort."
There it was again, the sound of Liltotto's stomach. Bambietta had to correct herself then. It was not a growl of a once strong stomach but a whimper born from one pleading for mercy.
Bambietta sighed. "Man, I thought I could get moody. But I guess you really are good at holding it in, Lil." Bambietta looked to Qorvus and Ghriba. "You know what? I know what I want for a reward on this mission and I hope you two are good cooks!"
Qorvus and Ghriba both stared at Bambietta in complete confusion. "What are you asking for?" the young girl asked.
Qorvus, meanwhile, was quick on the uptake. "Oh, I got you. Well, Ghriba usually does the cooking for me and her big sis, but I reckon I remain sober a little longer and help."
"Okay then!" Bambietta exclaimed. "Steak, pork, chicken, potatoes, peas, carrots, stuffing, cranberry sauce, you name it, my little buddy needs it! Triple portions if you can swing it!"
Qorvus' eyes went wide, his jaw going slack as his mouth fell open. "That little toothpick is going to eat that much? Maybe I do need a shot of whiskey for this undertaking..."
Bambietta looked at Liltotto again and began to help her up to her feet. She wrapped an arm around her then, pulling her in tight. "I told you once, stick with me and you'll never go hungry again."
The two Quincy found themselves lost in the moment, a smile slowly beginning to creep over Liltotto's face, but it was not to remain uninterrupted. For that was when a particular monster came stomping through the area, Sundae still wailing on its face with both hands while Greco's feet were kicking as they stuck out of its mouth.
Finally did the beast relent, spitting out the auburn haired man with such force that he slammed into the ground beside those he had been in direct opposition of. Sundae grinned and was quick to leap off the beast and land by Greco's side, helping him to his feet.
"Disgusting!" Greco shouted as he began to try and wipe the monster's saliva from his once pristine clothes. "Hey, wait a minute..." The man reached atop his head then, taking note of something missing. "Son of a- Where's my damn hat?"
Bambietta suddenly found herself feeling bad for the man she had been in conflict with earlier. "I feel you, man."
Greco glared at his summoned monster, the creature suddenly growing diminutive in nature, like a pet that was prepared for a verbal scolding.
"You ate it, you miserable mutt!" Greco sighed and snapped his fingers, banishing the beast back to its home. "We'll see if I buy you any treats for the foreseeable future."
Sundae tapped Greco on the shoulder then, forcing him to take notice that they were surrounded by those of Fairy Tail as well as Qorvus and Ghriba. Yet the man did take notice of Liltotto then.
"So it's just us three against all of them now, huh?" Greco asked. He shrugged then. "Well, I'm sure between you and Sundae, we should be just fi-"
"Actually," Liltotto interrupted, "I switched sides."
"Okay then." Greco looked around nervously before he started to back up towards Sundae. "I guess you and me better go get Master Danvers to back us up."
Sundae tapped Greco on the shoulder again, forcing him to turn and catch sight of Danvers lying beaten on the ground.
"Oh for-" Greco stopped in midsentence, slowly turning his attentions back to Bambietta and the others. "Who did this? Who did this to my guild master?"
Liltotto replied in an unassuming tone, deadpan as ever. "Me and Bambi did it. Well, mostly Bambi. Honest. She blew her up. A lot."
"Thanks, Lil," Bambietta muttered under her breath as Greco began to walk over to her. The Quincy prepared herself for another fight.
Then she was quite surprised by Greco suddenly embracing her. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
This Bambietta had not been expecting, not in the least. "Okay, okay, why is everyone being more emotional than me all of a sudden?"
Greco quickly composed himself and pulled away. He coughed into a closed hand, trying to regain his composure. "My bad, but you have no idea how rough it is working under a guild master who's constantly threatening the one you cherish most to keep you in line."
Sundae suddenly crept up beside Greco, leaning against him so that her head rested against his the upper portion of his right arm as she looked up at him with an innocent expression.
"Now don't get me wrong," Greco continued to say, "I'm all for a little mischief every now and then, but Master Danvers... got a little too grim for my tastes, you dig?"
"I think we can blame whomever etched the text of a Book of Zeref on her skin," Qorvus interjected. "She wasn't anything like this before."
"I think I might be able to fix it," Levy suddenly said, the Fairy Tail mage kneeling down beside the beaten Danvers and looking over her inscribed arm. "I don't know who did this to her, but it looks like they used a basic variation of Solid Script magic to pull it off. And judging by the residual magic, it wasn't somebody who made that style their strong suite. I should be able to remove it with a little effort."
Qorvus and Ghriba both smiled, the older fellow replying. "Then she'll go back to the darling little peach she was before?"
"I don't know about that," Levy said. "She's going to have to face facts that she caused all this harm to the town. And was responsible for the mayor's death."
"About that," Greco said, the man once more stepping in. "He's just fine. Honest. Emberella was pretty darn determined to see that mission through to the end.. She was always a bad apple, believe me... but I was a little worried that we'd have the Magic Council come crashing down on us for all this crap we were pulling. So I had Sundae here slip in and spirit him away for all our sakes. Emberella thought she blew him up or something, but my ice cream scoop of awesomeness here was able to slip him out and that overbearing, obnoxious Emberella didn't even suspect a thing."
"From the goodness of your heart, right?" Bambietta asked, a slight bit of sarcasm pervading her voice.
"Nuh uh," Greco answered as he looked at Bambietta and winked. "For leverage, Bleachie. I'm no hero, but I can play the part when it serves me best. But I think you can relate."
Bambietta's expression soured. She glared at Greco, quickly noting the saliva of the monster that had almost eaten him. Then did it dawn upon her. The Quincy glanced down at her own uniform, realizing that the man's hug had gotten some of the disgusting saliva on her own clothes.
That was when a scream that could pierce the very heavens echoed across the town of Ruby.
Liltotto, meanwhile, remained rather calm. "I told you, we Quincy are very proud of our whites."
"She's so crass and possesses a mean streak wider than the entire kingdom of Fiore," a deep voice said within a dark realm, its gaze focused entirely on an orb that showed nothing but Bambietta freaking out beside Liltotto as they stood amongst good company in the town of Ruby. "She's entirely unbecoming of you, if I may be so bold."
"You really think so?" a sweet voice asked, its presence moving closer to the viewing globe and reaching out with a hand. "I think dear Bambietta is entirely well suited to me. She may be rough around the edges-"
"That's an understatement."
"But she values friendship more than even she realizes. After all she's experienced in that other world, this Quincy is the ideal avatar for my role in the game. She's... perfect for me. Just as your choice."
"What choice?" the other voice asked. "I was not going to expend much energy on finding a suitable Quincy for my piece on the field. I just picked the first one that became available."
The sweet manifestation giggled. "I think you were drawn to her, just as I was to dear Bambietta. It's how our spirits work, isn't it? To find those best suiting our essence?"
"What a bother." There was a pause then, the individuals watching as Bambietta began to desperately wipe the saliva on Liltotto, still freaking out from the hug she had received from the man that had hugged her. "I suppose we should be relieved that our representatives complement each other despite their past."
"I know." There was a pause then, a long wait until a response was given. Despite her upbeat nature, what was voiced next was composed of nothing but sorrow as the manifestation looked at the orb and her selected Quincy. "But the others... Dear Bambietta, I know what you long for, but... guard your heart when it comes to your past."
Andrew Connerie was beaten, his skull ringing from a headache he knew he would not soon be free of. The young man was limping down the side of a roadway, as far away from Ruby as his body would take him.
He had gladly supported Danvers upon her corruption, her goals aligning with his own sense of twisted principles, but thanks to those people from Fairy Tail, the darkness had been lifted from both the guild and the town. He could not return there.
At least not until he found the one remaining member of the Chicken Fangs who believed in the grim nature of reality as much as he truly did. He had to find Emberella and soon. She possessed the will, desire and strength necessary to make Fairy Tail pay for what they had done this day.
"You will all... suffer for this..." he whispered, his hand gripping tightly to his sheathed sword. "You... and then the Perrault sisters for taking my beloved cat from me..."
Andrew saw it then, an individual coming into view across the near horizon of the path. He was an older, scarred man, his dark hair tied into a ponytail, a stubble adorning his face. His clothing consisted of darkened armor, a silver robe adorned with red markings covering the majority of it.
"You," Andrew said, a momentary trace of fear echoing through his voice. "What are you doing here?"
"Ah, I've been looking for you," the older man said. "The paltry thief who stole the sword passed down to me by my beloved father."
Andrew began to tense up. He knew he was in trouble, his body incapable of fighting in his present state. "No," he began to say, trying to give himself the fortitude to stand, "the sword is mine now! You can't defeat me!"
Andrew pulled the sword free, allowing the red glow of magic to envelope it once more. Then he ran towards the robed man before him, intent on cutting down the man he had stolen from only a few weeks earlier. He brought the blade down, fully intent on splitting the true owner's head open.
Yet the older man simply caught the seething blade between the palms of his hands several inches from his face.
"Not half bad," he said, smirking as he looked at the wounded and frustrated Andrew. "But I'm sorry to say that you deny my blade its purpose."
"I'm going to give it a greater purpose than you ever could, old man!" Andrew shouted, trying desperately to pull the sword away from its true owner. "I'm going to use it to bathe this entire world in harsh reality!"
"Tisk tisk." The older man shook his head at Andrew. "You young people, trying so hard to be mature for your age."
Then, without warning, the man brought a leg out and swept Andrew's out from under him with such force that the member of the Chicken Fangs lost all contact both the sword and the ground, his body falling to the side, his head hitting a rock on the way down. Andrew let out a cry of pain before falling unconscious.
"Make the world dark, make it grim, make it tough," the man said as he looked down at Andrew's unconscious body, "but then, for the love of Zeref, tell a joke."
"You're always in such a hurry, Scott."
The older man turned to those he had been traveling with, waving a condescending index finger towards them both. "Now now, don't be rude. When it's all business, the name is Slipstream."
An older woman, glad in a red dress, continued her approach. "Right, where are my man- Andrew?"
Slipstream looked back from Andrew, then to his travelling companion. "You knew this man, Emberella?"
"Perhaps he was coming to join you on your mission," Ultear of the Magic Council said as he joined those she had been walking beside. "Such a pity that he happened to steal the blade belong to one of my own."
"Yes, a pity," Slipstream added. "Perhaps he was hoping to join you on your little errand my fair lady requested of you, Emberella."
"The Quincy who joined the Chicken Fangs," the woman said. "Yes, I can hand you over to you. She's rather... melancholy in her attitude. I don't imagine she'd have much issue with serving you or Siegrain."
"Excellent," Ultear said with a smile. "I knew granting power to your guild master would benefit he and I both. That's precisely why Master Siegrain and I have kept the Magic Council looking the other way."
Then did Ultear suddenly take notice of the damage that was upon Andrew's body, separate from the blow to the head that Slipstream Scott had caused.
"What the devil is this?" she asked. "Why was he injured already? Was he looking for help?"
Ultear raised a hand then, allowing an orb of time to appear before her. A light shone from it, enveloping Andrew's corpse.
"What are you doing?" Emberella asked.
"Viewing the past of this man," Ultear replied. She saw it then, those of Fairy Tail interfering once more. "Damn it."
"What?" Emberella asked, her own patience at its end. "What the hell is going on? Tell me!"
"It appears that the Fairy Tail guild has not only taken away this Liltotto Lamperd you spoke of, they even freed your master of the curse I inflicted upon her," Ultear said, looking at Emberella with a smug expression. "I'm sorry, but I don't believe you have a home to return to, not with how you willingly supported the atrocities your guild caused."
Emberella looked away for a moment, her right hand clawing at her left arm. She was lost now, with nothing left to return to.
Ultear knew this was a setback for Siegrain and herself, but she also knew from experience how to play the long game. She knew how to turn a defeat into a chance for victory, even it meant manipulating those around her and twisting their desires to suit her needs.
"Emberella," she began to say, whispering in the quivering woman's left ear, "I can give you the opportunity to obtain vengeance against Fairy Tail for taking your guild away from you. However, you need to do something for me in return."
Emberella looked at Ultear then, her golden eyes shining with a desire for exactly what Ultear knew she wanted. "Whatever you want."
Slipstream simply watched from the side of the road, keeping his distance and whispering to himself. "It's times like this I understand why the big man puts so much faith in you."
Ultear pulled away from Emberella then, nodding in approval as she began to wear a cruel smile. "I'll give you all that you need... if you bring to me the two Quincy that Fairy Tail now calls their own."
And that right there is the chapter! What did you guys think? Did you like it? I sure know I did!
Yes, Liltotto Lamaperd is here, my 2nd or 3rd favorite of the Quincys. I just love her sarcastic attitude. I wanted to add her in as soon as possible.
Now, who were those two people taling about the Quincys you may ask? That...Is a secret. However, you will be gettng the answer to that question when phantom lord is over...and trust me, that arc will be ALOT different.
Another thing to mention is that yes, those enemys ARE based on characters from RWBY. We chose them for...specific reasons we would rather not go into right now. Also, "Scott" is based from a character from Metal Gear Rising Revengance. Unlike the others however, he has a more...important role.
Also, I want to make something clear, right here, right now. As things stand THIS is the list of characters strength in fairy tail from weakest to strongest.
1. Gildarts
2. Makarov
3. Laxus
4. Mystogen
5. Erza (Since she dosnt have armadura fairy yet)
6. Liltotto Lamperd
7. Natsu Dragneel
8. Bambietta Basterbine
9. Grey Fullbuster
10. Cana
I intentionally left out the thunder tribe since they haven't been introduced yet and Mirajane dosnt have any powers at the moment. I only included gildarts because I felt it was obvious. The point im trying to make though, is that as of right now, Liltotto is stronger than both Natsu and Bambietta. This is becuase she was able to keep much more of her power than Bambietta did.
I felt that this was an important thing to lay out for right now.
Anyways, I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please, if you could, leave a review for us. Reviews make us want to work harder, do better, and upload the next chapter even quicker. It REALLY means alot to us.
Thank you!
