Hello everyone! It's taken a bit of time but we're finally back with another chapter! However, there's something different about this chapter. Why? Well because our main character, Bambietta Basterbine is hardly in it at all! Now why is that? Well, we're taking a brief detour away from fairy tail to focus on a character that will be playing a large role in the story. Don't you all worry though, we'll be right back to Fairy tail and their crazy antics in the next chapter.

I would also like to mention that this chapter wasn't written by Ankoholic with the exception of two scenes. This was for many reasons that I cant go into at the moment, but rather it was written by a good friend of mine, Draconichero21. So if your wondering why the writing style feels different that's why. Ankoholic will come back to do what he has to do, but the next 3 chapters will be done by Draconichero. He's a very talented writer who I cant thank enough for lending me a hand.

Finally, I'd like to dedicate this chapter in honor of Stan Lee. Stan Lee's creations have helped inspire not only me and my friends but many other content creators for generations and will continue to do so. I cant thank him enough for all he's done.

I'm more eager than usual to hear your thoughts on what goes on in this chapter so please, leave us your thoughts in a review and tell us what you think. It really would mean a lot to us.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach of fairy tail. Those belong respectively to Tite Kubo and Shounen jump and Hiro Mashima and Weekly shounen magazine. This is just for fun!


When it came to the summer season, most would think of tropical vacations, colored drinks with little umbrellas, and swimming where fish pee. But climates could be weird depending on the part of the world one lived in and that was no truer for an unfortunate young-looking lady with long pink hair wandering through a forest that looked like it was more prepared for Christmas than an outdoor barbecue.

Cold, starving and stuck with the worst fever and congestion she'd ever had, it was taking the young lady's every bit of strength just to take one more step. Never fall asleep in a snowstorm. Her daddy had always told her that. And yet, her eyelids were becoming heavier with every second. If she didn't get out of the cold soon…this may truly be the end.

Unfortunately, all it took was one more harsh blast of snow and ice to knock her over onto her back. Her hair was half-covered with snow. The sun above was blocked by gray clouds. With a white-gloved hand, the young lady reached out to the sky, but even that was too strenuous as she turned onto her side, crumpling into a fetal position for all the warmth she could get, the snowfall burying her deeper and deeper into the ground.

Believing this to be the end, the woman only had one final passing thought, reaching out in futility, fingers spreading as if she were trying to grasp some sort of invisible object meant to align with her only spoken words.

"I'm sorry…Bambi…"


For other, less starving folk, the small village of Dri, occupying near the Iceberg/Bosco border, was a warm place to call home. It was a crossroads type of village where coal and furs often passed through via caravan, so the villagers were kept nice and snugly warm regardless of the weather. Since the snow meant a lack of crop growth, a barter system using craftsmanship and blacksmithing often helped keep the villagers fed. Additionally, most animals were killed live and roasted on spits. The village was often called The Crossroads of Fire and Ice for a reason.

Among the hunters was a young girl named Mary. She didn't look like much with her black cat hairband, small stature, and pink hair, and being only ten years old, but she had a hidden talent. She was a mage. Of course, a point of her talent was not made, not anymore.

Due to the bustling nature of Dri, a guild was formed upon its soil. Steel Engine had been the name of the guild, so-called because of the high-quality steel flowing through the town and how it all worked as an engine. Unfortunately, with every group of heroes, so too will villains rise to tear them down.

And precisely one year ago, that was exactly what happened to Steel Engine. The dark guild, Titan's Fist—no known relation to the pitiful, Bosco based, Titan Nose—had decided that they wanted all of the goods and resources in Dri for themselves.

The war had been utter hell and, unfortunately, evil had triumphed. The people were enslaved under Titan's Fist's greatest warrior Jack Bo. He was seemingly invincible, a man with magic so mighty he seemed to be unflinching to the damage he took.

But Mary didn't care that Jack Bo was in charge or that her town was miserable. She kept up that peppy smile of hers as she dragged a dead caribou through the front door of her house.

"Sis! I brought caribou! I hope you're hungry!"

Mary's sister, a golden-haired woman named Stacy, was in the kitchen the water already boiling and the fireplace roaring. And when Mary came in the door, she had nothing but attitude pouring out of her mouth. "Sis! I told you to go to the next town over and buy some veggies! How many times do I have to tell you that you can't keep killing animals all by yourself! If Jack Bo finds out what you can do, he'll send you on a slaver ship and I won't see you again ever! Do you want to end up like mom and dad? What about Uncle Al or Aunt Shanna? For pity's sake, Mary, Lady Anna's body is frostbiting over out in town and wolves have already bitten off a few fingers before realizing the body wasn't suited for eating."

"Sis, it's fine. With my magic, it makes it seem like it just died from natural causes. I haven't been caught yet, so it's fine," Mary said.

Stacy massaged her forehead. "You are such a child."

"But I'm Ten, sis."

Stacy sighed. That wasn't her point. She was 16 and she had "grown-up" after what happened to her parents, her loved ones, and everyone in Steel Engine. Mary, however, it seemed, refused to let reality get her down. Or, perhaps more accurately, Mary rejected reality and substituted her own.

Stacy was the only survivor of Steel Engine still left in Dri. Others, like the guild master, had been left to be observed in the middle of town. And the rest were shipped on the slave market. Stacy was both an example, and a tool. She was deemed "useful" by Jack Bo. Stacy dreaded to think the possibility that he was grooming her into some kind of bride. The very thought disgusted her.

Still, at least for tonight, it seemed the only events were to be her, her sister, and freshly cooked caribou.


The next morning, Mary went out exploring, as usual, ignoring the suffering of her fellow villagers, walking around with a comic book she'd purchased from a traveling peddler. The book was written and penned by a wise-old storyteller in his 90s and still making lovely stories like this for men, women and children alike.

As Mary continued into the nearby forest, she tripped over a mound of snow, book collapsing on the ground. "Ahhhh, my book!" Mary picked up her book and brushed the snow off it, careful to make sure the pages weren't sopping wet. She then tucked the book into the inside pocket of her jacket and turned around to take it home so it could dry. However, when she turned around, she yelped at the sight.

There lay a woman with long pink hair, a peaked cap tumbled off her head, half-buried by snow.

"Eep! Oh no! You look awful!"

Mary bent down and pushed the woman over onto her back. Her face was cold with death. She was still breathing, but hypothermia had clearly set in. In most situations, one would consider her already dead. But this was not most situations.

Holding her hands over the pink-haired woman, Mary began to remove the sickness of cold from the woman's body using magic. "Don't worry," Mary said with a smile, as the color returned the woman's face and her eyes briefly fluttered open. "I'll make you all better. It'll be fun."

Her patient's eyes then closed just as quickly as they had opened.


"Ugh…Uhhhhhn…"

Meninas could see Bambietta standing with red skin and drooling lips, a victim of Giselle's infamous Schrift.

"THIS WASNT WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!" Meninas shouted out at Giselle as tears began to fall from her eyes. "You said you would fix her! You said we didn't need to worry about her being killed for losing her fight!"

"And that's why I killed and did this to her silly," Giselle said as she snuggled against Bambietta. "If I didn't, His majesty would have just killed her himself and we wouldn't have her around. But this way he gets her power and we still get to keep her! Isn't it great?!"

"Of course it isn't!" Meninas said with anger. "You call this alive!? She isn't even herself anymore!"

"This is why I said this was a bad idea, but nobody wants to listen to me, course not," Meninas' blonde friend Candice snapped.

"I don't see what the problem is," Giselle cooed. "We got Bambi back safe and sound."

"You call this safe and sound?!" Candice exclaimed body and head aimed at Giselle, index finger aimed at Bambi.

"Course I do!" Giselle exclaimed and put her arms around Bambietta's shoulders.

"Ugh, fuck it. At least she'll be quiet from now on." Candice surrendered herself to the situation awfully fast. What was done was done. It stung harder than her strongest thunderbolt, but she couldn't really do anything about it. She had to at least look for the silver lining in all this.

"But Candy-chan—"

"But nothing!" Candice exclaimed stomping away. "Oooh, it's okay. Bambi will be just fine. No need to worry at all!" Candice exclaimed in a mocking tone. "You all make me sick!" Only Meninas saw the tear crawling down Candice's cheek, hat pulled over her eyes.

"Gigi, change her back. Now." Meninas said in a low voice. It wasn't often that Meninas got serious. She usually preferred to just sit back and follow along with Bambietta's antics. But this time...This time she couldn't stay quiet.

"Ummmmm...No can do," Giselle said quickly.

"What do you mean no can do!?" Meninas demanded.

"I prefer her this way. Now Bambi's mine! All mine!" Giselle exclaimed.

"Lil, you see what's wrong, right? Tell Gigi to undo it!"

However, Liltotto had said nothing as she looked at the scene before her. Meninas was about to call out to her again when she saw something in Liltotto's eyes. Fear.

It didn't take Meninas long to know what it was. If they got too uppity, and made too much of a fuss over this, during the war of all times, Yhwach would likely have them killed. It wasn't that Liltotto wasn't doing anything out of indifference...She wasn't doing anything out of fear.

Meninas blinked and then Liltotto was no longer present. She'd quickly realized where. Someone had to report to Haschwalth and she at least knew that he would not shoot the messenger.

As Giselle took off her glove and bit the skin off her knuckle to let Bambi suckle on her blood, Meninas was reminded of the wish Yhwach said each one of them could have should they win the war. And now, she wished, more than anything, that she could have Bambi back to normal.

Don t you worry Bambi chan. Once this war is over...I'll turn you back to normal!


"Normal…" Meninas groaned in her sleep. She eventually woke up and slowly opened her eyes to the sight of a wood laden ceiling and a roaring fireplace. The wind was howling outside and she could see the snow from a window that sat to the right and above where her stomach was. She was not in any home she recognized.

Sitting up, Meninas sneezed and the iron bars on the foot of the bed creaked from the strain.

"Oh, you're up."

Meninas turned her tired, fever-ridden head to the left to see a girl that could've easily been her younger sister standing nearby.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Meninas groaned.

"You're in my house. I found you in the snow," the girl stated. "My name's Mary, Mary Lavadrop. Who are you?"

Meninas lay on her back and looked at the ceiling. "Meninas…" she breathed hard from her fever. "McAllon."

"Neat," Mary responded. "Rest up, okay? I used my magic to take away your hypothermia and frostbite, but the common cold and fevers are harder to completely get rid of. You should be fine in about a week."

"Thank you," Meninas said, turning over.

"Aren't you gonna tell me where you're from or say "I have to get back to my friends! They need me!"

"No," Meninas answered. "I don't have friends anymore. I lost them all."

"Cool! Then that means we're a lot alike."

Meninas turned over to look at Mary. Something in this girl's brain clearly had its wires crossed.

"I lost my whole guild about a year ago. So I kind of get it, you know, being lonely. I've got my sister of course. Well, I mean, I wasn't really part of the guild, but my whole family was part of it. Are you part of a guild? Oh, I guess you used to be, right?"

"Please…stop talking," Meninas said and pulled the covers over her head.

"Right. Got it. You wanna rest. I'll let you be."

Mary then walked away and started cooking hot soup. She'd never cooked before. How hard could it be?

Her sister came home about an hour later. "What smells like soup?" Stacy asked, smelling the boiling broth as she hung up her coat.

"Soup!" Mary exclaimed. "How was work?"

Stacy gave Mary a very estranged look as though Mary had asked her a trick question. Work was terrible. She essentially waited tables for Jack for hours and hours in a skirt that was too short for her liking. Unfortunately, any outburst made against him or his men could have her shipped straight out to parts unknown. This was humiliating, to say the least! She should be out in Iceberg killing bandits by the bucket load and saving cats from trees, not serving people their lunch in the presence of complete assholes while they slapped her ass! It was enough to make a woman boil with anger, but Stacy withheld it. All she needed now was a nice nap.

And that's when she saw the huge lump sitting in Mary's bed. She pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. "Mary, please tell me you didn't put a dead Caribou in your bed again because, and I quote, so I can cover my blanket it in its scent for better hunting."

"Nah, turns out that doesn't work all that well," Mary responded. "If you were the skin, it's much more effective."

As if on cue, Meninas turned over in her sleep, causing Stacy to jump on top of the couch. "It's alive?!"

"Shhhhhhh!" Mary exclaimed, finger to her lips. "She's sleeping!"

"She?!"

Stacy went over and lifted the covers. Meninas was sleeping soundly in Mary's bed, snoring cutely.

She then raced over to Mary and pinned her against the wall. "What the hell are you thinking?" She exclaimed in a loud whisper.

"I was thinking she was cold and about to die so I brought her home."

Stacy tilted her head back and groaned. "Jack is going to kill us."

"Why?"

Stacy stepped back and started roleplaying the worst-case scenario. "Oh, hi Jack, we're totally not hiding anything from Titan's fist, least of all a voluptuous young stranger that totally wouldn't look good in a mini-skirt and a slave collar." She slapped the side of her head. "Mary, think a little."

"But I had to save her, sis. She was going to die. She was in the snow all alone!"

Stacy sighed. She couldn't berate her sister for a good deed. "Fine, she can stay for a little while. But she can't be seen by anyone, okay?"

"Okay!" Mary exclaimed.


Two days later, Meninas felt well enough to sit up in Mary's bed and read one of Mary's comic books. "I feel like I've read this before," Meninas said.

"Really?" Mary asked. "I think the Amazingly Awesome Arachnid is pretty unique."

Meninas shrugged. She had to remember this was a different world. It couldn't possibly have any relation to her old one.

"I was surprised to know you like comic books," Mary said.

"I grew up with them," Meninas said. She then spaced out as she looked about the house, the residual fever causing her to hallucinate. She could see it, her parents trying to put together what little food they could on the table. Meninas meanwhile was busy reading a strange book she'd found on a magazine rack. Action Comics #1. It pictured a guy lifting and throwing a car. It cost 12 hard-earned cents, but it was totally worth it with the money Meninas had saved up.

"Meninas! Come sit and eat with your mother and me," her father said.

Meninas closed the comic and lay it flat neatly on her bed and headed for the dinner table. There was a loud whack against the front door.

"Meninas!"

Meninas got her memories crossed with her parents and Mary shouting her name at the same time.

"Are you okay?" Mary asked her. "You just sort of spaced out."

"Huh? Oh, I uh…I must still be a little sick," Meninas said and giggled nervously.

"You know," Mary said, laying across Meninas legs like a cat, "I like books like these. They're the reason I really like mage guilds, you know. If I can even be even half as skilled as a true hero, then I can be even a regular hero."

Frowning, Meninas put the book on Mary's head and lay on her side, head firmly into the pillow. "Heroes are only a work of fiction," Meninas said.

"Wha…what do you mean?" Mary asked, but Meninas was already snoozing. "Hey! Come on! Wake up!" But Meninas continued to ignore Mary, much to her annoyance.


The next day, Meninas was feeling a bit better and reading a comic book about a different hero. He was called Mega Mage. He had all sorts of inspiring powers. Apparently, he was the strongest mage in the comic book world of Ishgar.

"Does he seem familiar to you too?" Mary asked, noticing Meninas reading.

"A little," Meninas said and took a deep breath. "He…actually reminds me of my favorite hero, the first hero I ever read about."

"Who was that?"

Meninas smiled as she looked up at the ceiling, recalling the legend. "The Last Son of Krypton, a baby sent from a dying planet to our world. Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!" Meninas closed her eyes and almost could feel the wind on her face. Memories flooded her mind once more. Yes, she'd felt the wind on her face…before…all those years ago…


The Great Depression was still hitting all families across America, but after reading Action Comics number 1, Meninas was inspired…inspired to make everyone's lives a little bit better.

The dustbowl had consumed most of Oklahoma, Texas and her home state, good old Kansas. And Meninas was not going to let this stand. After all, he wouldn't.

Gathering reishi beneath her feet, Meninas tied a red blanket around her neck and took off into the air. Using her abilities to sense spirits, she tore across the skyline, looking for hollows to slay. The wind carried by her sonic booms got people looking up in the sky at her every so often.

"Look, up in the sky!" a pedestrian shouted.

"It's a bird!"

"It's a plane!"

"That's…what is that?"

Meninas was always so high up in the sky, the sun always silhouetting her figure that the people of America never really could make her out.

Mysterious Wind Saves Kitten From Tree
Fire Put Out in Seconds
Robber Claims to Have Been Punched Out by Scottish-American Teenager

These headlines and more accompanied Meninas' heroic deeds across the mid-west. She was a living legend. Cameras in the 1930s were not like modern cameras. She fell into the same category as the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot.

Unfortunately, while the living had terrible cameras, the dead did not. And as Meninas landed in front of the big sign that said Ellinwood, a sign she marveled at with patriotic pride, she could see an ugly scene beyond it.


"Meninas!"

Once more the shout of Mary was intermingled with shouts of another, this time to the sound of screaming citizens.

"Huh?" Meninas blinked, returning to reality.

"You spaced out again. Wow, do you do that a lot?"

"N-no," Meninas stuttered. "I was just…thinking."

"About what?" Mary asked.

Meninas sighed with a smile. "Don't laugh."

"Okay."

Meninas then spent the better portion of two whole hours telling Mary all about her actions in the summer of 1938. She could see the young girls' eyes sparkle with enthusiasm.

"You were it! You were really a hero!" Mary exclaimed, jumping up and down.

However, Meninas did not look so happy. "I thought so too. But…I learned something not soon after."

"What's that?" Mary asked.

"Heroes don't exist," Meninas said, curling up to go to sleep.

"But…but that's wrong. You were a hero. I've seen heroes. My guild was full of heroes. You're wrong," Mary stated these words very bluntly and matter of factly with barely a hint of emotion other than confusion. Unfortunately, Meninas had already gone back to sleep.


It had been six days since Meninas had been taken in by Mary and Stacy. Ever since yesterday, she'd felt well enough to start moving around, so she spent the time exercising. Mary had politely asked that Meninas stay indoors until she was absolutely ready to leave. Meninas, unwilling to cause trouble for the sisters, was more than willing to comply.

"92…93…94…95…" Meninas counted as she did one-handed pushups.

"How many can you do?" Mary asked.

"I always lose count somewhere after 10,000. Then I just wait until my arm starts to burn and then go for about another minute or two."

"Cool!" Mary exclaimed.

Meninas got to about 150 and then sat down.

"Hey! Come on, that wasn't even two-hundred," Mary pouted.

Meninas sighed. "You really like awe-inspiring things, don't you Mary?" Meninas asked.

"Mmmmhmmm!" Mary exclaimed.

Meninas smiled as though she was hiding a knife behind it. "Grow up."

"Bah…" Mary was caught completely off guard. "B-but…y-you read the comics too, don't you?"

"It's called nostalgia," Meninas said and went back to bed. "I'm leaving tomorrow. Thank you for taking care of me and feeding me while I've been here."

"You're welcome!" Mary said with a smile. She saluted. "Just doing my duty as a citizen of justice."

Meninas drifted off to sleep. Justice, huh? I once believed in justice too. Had my pointless…point of view.


Everything was on fire. Meninas had just returned from a rousing day of saving cats, stopping burglars, and slaying hollows only to find the sign to her hometown in flames. And not just the sign, the whole town was ablaze.

"Meninas…Meninas…help…"

Meninas looked to see one of her neighbors, a fellow quincy, on her stomach crawling towards her, legs crushed.

"Miss Smith?"

Miss Smith never got to answer Meninas. Instead, a hulking 7-foot shadow descended down onto her until its owner landed, crushing her spine. To an erect position rose a plus-sized soul reaper with a curly pompadour of brown hair. He sported a purple button-down shirt under his shihakusho and was over 300 pounds of muscle and fat.

Meninas looked horrified as she looked at the corpse of Miss Smith, eyes shrunken in like a shell-shocked war veteran.

"Dumb bitch thinking she could get away from me," the soul reaper said spitting out a toothpick. He looked at Meninas. "Who the hell are you?"

Meninas ran. All thoughts of heroics vanished. The soul reaper just seemed too strong, too unbeatable, the situation too unreal. She sped towards her house, finding it just as much on fire as, well, everything else.

"Mom! Dad!" Meninas shouted, running into her home. The door was easily destructible in its current state. Using reiatsu, Meninas protected herself from the flames, searching for any sign of her family and finding nothing at first, only to find a pair of corpses by the back door next. The sound of flames licked at her ear and the whole world seemed to go silent.

What would he do? Meninas thought. Clark…Kal'el…what would you do?

"Well, I wouldn't stand in this burning building for one." In her delirium, Meninas could hear his voice, turning around, seeing the hero she looked up to with his blue suit and perfect chin. The red S on his chest unmistakable. "People are in danger. What are you going to do about it?"

She took a deep breath. "I'm going to save them!" Meninas exclaimed.

She pulled on her blanket and ran out the door. She extended her reiatsu sensing abilities. Only that one soul reaper seemed to be here. He'd done all of this while she was out playing ahero. No other quinces were alive, but there were still civilians she could save.

Meninas quickly got to work. Over the course of an hour, she found each civilian one or two at a time and flew them out to another township in Barton county, where she assumed they would be safe.

She was almost done when she felt the reiatsu of that Soul Reaper again. He was walking up the street and spotted her floating in the air, cape blowing in the ash-laden breeze. "Oh, isn't that cute? The girl thinks she's one of them superheroes."

"I am a superhero!" Meninas exclaimed, tensing her fists. "I am Mighty Hurricane! Gehen Über, Mehr Ultra!"

"No, you're not. You're just some poor quincy piece of trash," The soul reaper said. "The very idea that a quincy could be a hero. Disgusting. I'm a hero, cause I'm rich and famous!"

"I am a hero!" Meninas exclaimed, tears in her eyes. "You're the villain here! You hurt all these people!"

"Course I did. You're all poor as dirt. Honestly, I'm doing you all a favor sending you to the Soul Society, cept you quincies. You're bound straight for hell."

Meninas snarled, a rarity for her. Then, losing all sense of self-control, she flew at her opponent in a berserk rage, punching him right in the bread basket. He skidded back only a few feet.

"That's cute. You're cute. Say hello to my little friend." The man took out his katana and declared, "Sunder, Jishin!" (Earthquake) The katana morphed into a gigantic warhammer. The handle was as long as the soul reaper was tall and the mallet portion was as big as Meninas' whole body. "Take this!" The soul reaper swung at Meninas, but she dodged the swing with Hirenkyaku.

"That won't save you," The soul reaper laughed. "Bakudo number 4, Hainawa!" Steadying the giant hammer with one hand, the soul reaper tossed a yellow rope of energy with his other, binding Meninas by her arms and torso. "Heh heh, now you can't run away."

"Don't think something like this will hold me!" Meninas shouted. "I'm a hero for a reason!" Tensing her arms, she broke the kido with sheer force of will. She then summoned her Heilig Pfeil and shot multiple arrows at her opponent. They bounced off his skin like they were pebbles.

"Stupid girl, do you really think the Gotei 13 would send me if I couldn't take down a poor mere quincy? Hear my name and tremble, lass. I am Marenoshin Omaeda of the Omaeda clan! Vice-Captain of Squad Two! I'm the richest Soul Reaper in all the Soul Society." He curled his lip in disgust. "And I absolutely hate poor people."

Then, with speed unprecedented for someone his size, Marenoshin began whirling like a cyclone, pivoting at unimaginable velocity towards Meninas. She tried to use Hirenkyaku to get out of the way, but he just used Shunpo to catch her, the flat of his mallet smacking her whole body and sending her careening into a building. Even with her reiatsu protecting her, bones creaked and others broke.

The building she slammed into happened to be a barn. And as Meninas lay upon the hay on the ground, she found herself in a lot of pain, breathing heavily. The internal bruising made it difficult to stand up. And then a flash of yellow fire blasted open the barn door, revealing the intimidating stature of Marenoshin.

Meninas got into a steady stance and readied her bow, but she barely had the strength to stand. The last thing she remembered was trying to focus all of her energy into one arrow before she noticed Marenoshin's hammer had grown in size and was above her head.

She knew in hindsight that she had likely been crushed into little more than a blood puddle. She knew she was dead when she woke up. Quincies were adept at being able to sense spirit particles and her whole body felt like one big collection of spirit particles. By the time she had regained consciousness, Marenoshin was gone and the fires had stopped. The sky was blue, but the air was still thick with gray ash and smoke.

Upon her knees, Meninas howled with sorrow, tears flowing freely. She cried like a little baby less than half her age. She failed. All her heroism and she couldn't even beat her first supervillain.

"What ails you, child?"

Meninas stopped crying a moment to see a grown man with the most glorious mustache she'd ever seen, and a full head of dark hair standing over her.

"I'm not a hero," Meninas sniffed.

The man patted her on the head. "Of course you are, young one. You fought valiantly against the Soul Reaper menace. There is no greater death for a hero than to die gloriously in battle."

"But…" Meninas sniffed.

"Shush," he said gently. "You were tasked with a mission beyond your capabilities. But I can make you strong. I can grant you power like you've never known before."

"Really?" Meninas asked, blinking out tears.

"Yes. I am Yhwach, the father of all quincies, and you, Meninas McAllon, have the making to be one of the greatest quincies in all of history."


Meninas liked the sound of that. She firmly believed that she could become a great quincy, just like Yhwach told her. She believed that this was her chance, that she could finally be the hero that she always dreamed of being.

But as the years passed and the mission continued onward, her enthusiasm dwindled and her smile became more and more forced. In the end, she knew…no, she believed, she was no hero.

I couldn't even protect you…

Bambi…

I'm sorry.


It had now been a week since Meninas had been staying with Mary and she was feeling back at a hundred percent. Well, maybe not a hundred more like 75…ish? Either way she was well enough to go back out in the cold and continue her aimless walk through nature. She didn't even bother to say goodbye to Mary and Stacy. She knew she'd just get in the way.

Oh she'd heard Stacy talk about Jack Bo. She'd heard how the people of Dri were suffering, how he'd murdered almost all of Steel Engine. She just didn't care, not anymore.

I'm no hero, Meninas told herself. I always ended up making things worse. It was my fault Omaeda found Ellinwood. It was my fault Bambi ended up that way. She hiccupped, trying not to cry. My fault that Lil…

As Meninas made it to the main road, she bumped into someone.

"Oh, sorry!" she exclaimed. She looked at who she'd bumped into. It was an old man with seasonally inappropriate dark sunglasses, a receding salt and pepper hairline and a thick, white mustache. He was wearing a beige Henley and khakis. He felt…familiar to Meninas somehow, as if she had known him all throughout her afterlife.

"No, don't mind me," the old man said with a smile. His voice was a bit jagged the way a lot of old people talked at his age. "Just heading for the nearest caravan station. Good thing mine doesn't leave for another hour."

"Oh, may I follow you?" Meninas asked.

"Sure, but I'm no Amazingly Awesome Arachnid, can't go swiping around the city with webs at my age, I'll break a hip."

"That's fine…I'm going nowhere fast," Meninas said solemnly. She tried to crack a smile, but failed.

"What's wrong?" The old man asked. "People say old folks have a lot to say that they burden youngsters with, but that's rubbish. I'm the kind of old guy that imparts his wisdom onto young people."

Meninas sighed. "I'm a failure."

"A failure? Come on, you're young and you're beautiful. No girl with your looks can be a complete failure."

"But I am. All my life, I've wanted to be a hero, but every time I try, I just make things worse. I don't even know why I'm still walking anywhere. I'm just going to hurt anyone I meet. I'm sure of it. That's why…" she started to cry. "That's why even though I know that Mary and Stacy are in trouble, I'm not going to help them…because…because I'll just make it worse, just like everything else in my life."

"Now that's the biggest crock of bull I've ever heard. You just said you want to be a hero right? You're not meaning any harm, are ya? I can see it in you. You're a good kid. Trust me I've been around the bush a few times to know a true hero when I see one." He smiled. "Used to be a hero myself way back in the day before the liver spots and the heart and bladder problems set in." He coughed. "Still, it's like I always say, you don't gotta be as fast as The Golden Bolt, as strong as the Unbeatable Bulk, or smart as Titanium Man to be a hero. What matters is that you do the right thing. To face adversity despite knowing its pointless, to want to help a friend any way you can, to save even just one life, no matter how briefly, that's how true heroes are made. I can tell you have great power and you understand its great responsibility. So, you're not perfect." He shrugged. "Nobody is. As long as you don't give up and believe in yourself, the true hero that lies within you will rise up and save the day."

I do believe in myself, Meninas thought. Her whole body shook, face looking like she just sucked on a lemon for too long. He was right. This old man, with just a single speech, he'd managed to find the part within Meninas she thought she'd lost.

"A hero? Meni, when are you going to grow up?"

Candice's words now haunted Meninas as she realized she'd said them back to Mary and her eyes shot open.

"Anyone can be a hero as long as they try," the old man said to her. "So, are you going to try?"

Meninas took a deep breath and, from her stomach, bellowed out. "GEHEN ÜBER! MEHR ULTRA!"

"Hey, that's a good catchphrase," the old man said with enthusiasm. "I used to have one." He cleared his throat. "Excelsior!"

Meninas gasped. This old man did look really familiar. "Hey, are you—"

Meninas' ears then picked up screaming. People in trouble. Her hero senses burst to life.

"Sorry! Gotta…" she then noticed the old man seemed to have vanished before her eyes. No time to worry about that now. It was hero time!


In life, it is often said that crushing a butterfly can lead to some bizarre twists of fate that the crusher wouldn't have known otherwise down the line. For instance, an entire war could be lost just because one butterfly lived or didn't. While the situation about an hour ago held nowhere near the same level of significance, Meninas' decision to leave without saying goodbye set off a chain reaction very similar to that of a butterfly being crushed. In this case, the butterfly was Mary.

When Stacy headed out for work that morning, she found her sister sitting on the porch staring at the back cover of a comic book. It was…rather unusual behavior for a girl that often had trouble sitting still for too long of a time.

"Mary, what's wrong?" Stacy asked.

"I dunno," Mary said. "Meni-chan wasn't in her bed when she woke up this morning and when I walked outside…I just started to feel really weird." Mary turned her head to look at her sister. She wasn't smiling, but she wasn't frowning either. "My chest keeps feeling like its cramping, but even if I use my magic to fix it, it just keeps hurting. And that's weird cause I can fix anything that's wrong with me if I'm not feeling well."

Stacy sat down and put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Oh, Mary. You're not sick." She gave her sister a hug and put her head against her shoulder. "You're sad that Meninas left."

"I'm…sad?" Mary asked. "Is…this what sadness feels like? …I don't like it."

"No one does," Stacy said and let go of her sister, standing up. "Anyway, I have to go to work. Um, try buying a new comic. Maybe that'll cheer you up. Here." Stacy handed Mary 300 jewels. "That's about all I can spare, I'm afraid."

"It's fine. I've got 300 jewels of my own tucked away, so I can totally buy a comic for 500." Mary gave her sister a smile. "Thanks, sis."

Stacy smiled, patted her sister on the head and headed off for work.

After counting her money, Mary began browsing the shops for a new comic book. She purchased a comic containing a character she'd yet to read about: Colonel Knightly. While not an actual Colonel in the Rune Knights, Knightly was fast, strong, brave, able to fly extremely fast, and had, in Mary's opinion, kickass laser blasts that she generated with her bare hands. Best of all about Knightly was her attitude.

Fear not, citizens! Hope has arrived! Because I am here! That was her catchphrase.

She was Mary's new favorite hero. It was rare to see female fictional heroes, and rare to see them so powerful.

I wonder who'd win in a fight between Mega Mage and Colonel Knightly, Mary found herself thinking.

Following Mary's thought, there was a scream from a group of citizens, which drew Mary out of her comic book. She puffed her cheeks and marched over to the source of the scream to tell the citizens that she was trying to read and to scream quieter. Unfortunately, Mary quickly realized, even by her standards, how inappropriate that would be.

Titan's Fist was doing their usual roundup of magically attuned citizens for slave labor. Mary had been so engrossed in her comic she hadn't even seen the initial confrontation. There was now a woman lying face-down dead in the snow, dying it red with her blood.

In the center of the ruckus, a large, muscular man with short, spikey, light blond hair dressed in bear fur had his foot stomped onto a poor kid that couldn't have been much older than Mary. He was crying out for his mommy, likely the woman dead in the snow.

"Quit whining brat!" The big, muscular man said, applying more pressure to the kid's back. "Your mommy can't hear you anymore!"

As Mary observed the situation, she looked at the dead woman. Oh. Hang on. She wasn't dead. She was catching frostbite fast from the open head wound and she had a concussion, but…yeah. This was fixable.

Without even thinking about what she was doing, Mary crouched down next to the injured woman and put her hands above her head.

"Hey! What are you doing brat?" The large man snapped at Mary.

Mary paid him no mind though and began forcing the blood in the snow back into the woman's body, her magic cleaning the blood, fixing the head wound and curing her incoming frostbite and concussion all that once.

A fully armored man next to the tall man, exclaimed. "By Zeref, the girl's a mage!"

The big muscular guy laughed. "Excellent. Two brats for the size of one! Seize her!"

Mary lifted her head. "Seize me?" She was fully engrossed in her fantasy now. "You don't know who you're dealing with, do you? I am The Virus! And I—"

Mary never finished her sentence. She'd been so engrossed in her statement that she'd forgot to use her magic on these people first and now the armored guy had extended an armored pole in Mary's general direction and charged the tip with electricity, zapping her considerably. She dropped down into the snow, spasming.

As Maximum picked her up, Stacy was in the midst of fetching a new wine barrel from out around the side of the restaurant. However, when she saw Mary being hoisted into the air by the muscular member of Titan's Fist, she saw red.

"Do you see this?" The muscular man shouted. "This is what being a mage gets you! Now if any of you have any common sense, you're going to step forward and give yourselves up if you can do magic!"

Pushing through the crowd, teeth clenched, Stacy stared down the muscular man with tranquil hatred. "That's my sister you're choking."

"Huh? You got something to say, little lady?" The muscular dude asked.

Stacy tore off her waitress outfit, forging and entire plate armor around her body at the same time, the guild emblem for Steel Engine completely visible on the cuirass. She'd had enough. This was the last straw. Forging big, steel, spiked gauntlets around her fists, Stacy launched herself at the face of the Titan's Fist member.

"THAT'S! MY! SISTER! YOU! GOD! DAMN! BASTARD!" She shouted, punctuating every exclamation with a punch to the face. Her target was forced to drop Mary to the ground, now having an indent of spikes in his face, some of which were bleeding.

"KILL HER!" he shouted.

Three armored goons, and one ninja surrounded Stacy. She growled as she tensed up her fists. "COME GET SOME!" she shouted with a berserk rage. She drove her fist into the chest of the armored warrior closest to her left, shattering the abdomen of his armor. He dropped his sword, the blade of which was made entirely of magma, which Stacy swept her palm under the pommel of and then grabbed in her right hand. She turned and swung at the incoming axe swinging towards her face, the blade of which was made of solid ice. Then with her free hand, Stacy grabbed her enemy's helmet and smashed it into her knee. She then dropped the sword and slammed her fist into the man's helmet, shattering it and hitting his face, knocking the bearded man behind it back.

Like a woman gone berserk, Stacy roared, sinking her armored fists into each and every imbecile stupid enough to get close to her. Her fists punched like a hypersonic jackhammer. And then, something amazing happened. Although the citizens had backed away from the ensuing chaos…they were cheering.

"Stacy! Stacy! Stacy! Stacy!"

Stacy could barely drown it out. She just kept snarling and punching anything that looked like an enemy.

Face half-buried in snow, Mary smiled. "I always knew you were a hero, sis."

As the adrenaline in Stacy burned out, groaning bodies surrounded her. Panting, her breath visible in the cold atmosphere, she shouted, "WHO ELSE WANTS SOME?"

"You dare bare your fangs at Jack Bo?" The muscular man asked, stomping towards Stacy. She barely came up to his stomach as she glared up at him.

"I don't care anymore," she said, glaring. "You hurt my sister. As one of the surviving members of Steel Engine," Stacy said as she reached her hand back, the gauntlet dispersing and morphing into liquid metal, "It's my job to uphold their legacy." The gauntlet reformed but now it was three times its original size, like a fist shaped battering ram. "And I'm through with being your subservient puppet!"

With all her might, Stacy swung her fist at the muscular man. She blew away wind and snow as her fist impacted against his stomach.

The citizens cheered, but it suddenly died down. Not only had Stacy's enemy not budged from his neutral position, but her gauntlet was cracking.

"What?" Stacy looked on with surprise and shock.

"Is that it?" the muscular man asked.

Stacy's shocked look turned to despair and horror as thick, magically generated muscle fibers covered her foe's fist. Then, simply by flicking his fingers against her chest plate, he shattered the cuirass, and Stacy went hurtling back twenty feet, banging her back on the ground, bouncing and spitting up saliva from the pain and shock.

The large man lumbered towards Stacy as she barely managed to get herself into a sitting position. She closed one eye, wincing from the pain in her back as she tried to focus to generate more armor. "You wanna pick a fight with Titan's Fist, girl? Then you better be a god among men. Cause we're the strongest dark guild from this side of Iceberg." He cracked his knuckles, fists coated in magical muscle fibers that thickened his hands to twice their size. "But if you've got the guts to stand up to us, I'd be happy to teach you where you belong. Both on the ground," he then smirked, licking his lips, "And on your knees."

That was enough to launch Stacy back into action. She tempered her armor once again, but it was a fruitless endeavor. No matter how hard she punched and no matter how much she tried, she couldn't even make her opponent flinch now that he was on guard.

With a single knee strike to her stomach while she was off-balance, Stacy stumbled around. "You're gonna pay for what you did to my face," her enemy said. He punched her hard in the chest and then again in the back. His strong, lumbering blows were designed to keep her in an imaginary square that she could not escape from. It was like she was caught between two giant iron mallets. Every time she stumbled, she got smacked in the other direction.

The once cheerful crowd now whimpered and sobbed at the sight of their momentary hero getting pummeled so badly she could die at any moment.

"Stop it! Stop hurting my sister!" Mary shouted, running over to Stacy's foe. She kicked him in the back of the leg.

"Mary, no!" Stacy shouted, holding her gut.

Her opponent lifted Mary up by her entire torso, squeezing her, making it hard for her to concentrate on much else. She couldn't even generate a spell to give this guy a brain tumor.

"I'm gonna squeeze you so hard, your head will pop like a grape!" the muscular man shouted.

Stacy reached out in agony towards her sister. "Mary!"

Unable to concentrate, lungs on fire and hips creaking, Mary had only one recourse of action. She screamed. She screamed as loud as she could. She knew what had happened. She wasn't the hero anymore, but the damsel in distress. If she screamed loud enough, maybe, just maybe the real hero would arrive on the scene.

And then, the wind rushed by, a powerful wind. And in the next instant, the large blond man saw a girl a little bit taller than Stacy with flowing pink hair standing next to him. She had her hand firmly on his knee and was dressed in all white.

"Put her down," the girl said.

"Oh yeah? And what're you going to do if I don't?"

With a leap, the woman pushed down on the muscular man's giant arm and slammed him into the ground by his arm like he was the rubber ball in a game of box ball.

Mary managed to free herself. Gasping for air, she rolled over into the snow.

"FEAR NOT CITIZENS!" the newcomer bellowed. "HOPE HAS ARRIVED! BECAUSE I AM HERE!"

Mary got up, vision still a little blurry. "Colonel Knightly?!" she sprang to her feet, but it wasn't her favorite superhero. Her eye sparkled when she saw the kind smile coming her way. "MENINAS!" She hugged her week-long roommate as tightly as she could. "Even better!"

"Are you okay, Mary?" Meninas asked her.

"I'm fine now that you're here. Kick his butt, Meni-chan! He hurt my sister!"

Still a little disoriented, the muscular man got up from the ground and glared down at Meninas. "You must not know who you're messing with, girl." The muscular man grew to three times his original size thanks to his ability to sprout magical muscle fibers all over his body. "But I'm Marcus Maximus! I'm one of the strongest members of Titan's Fist, able to lift 10,000 tons! I turn little girls like you to paste in one punch."

Meninas smiled, and in a…rather bubbly and friendly sort of way, kind of like the way Mary smiled all the time. "That's nice," she said.

Angered, Marcus threw a punch at her with all his might. Members of the townsfolk collectively cringed and Stacy shut her eyes, expecting to hear bones crunching any second. But all anyone heard was a loud thud. With just her free arm, since Mary was pinning one of them to her side, no with just one free finger, Meninas had stopped Marcus' attack dead in its tracks.

"My turn!" Meninas exclaimed happily and, index finger still stopping the punch, she dug her middle finger against her thumb and then flicked it against Marcus' arm. The force was of this tiny little finger flick was so powerful that it ran up Marcus' arm and shattered every bone in it. Marcus staggered back, clutching his injured arm.

Meninas continued to smile like a cheesy, 60s action hero. "Sorry," she said. "But if you want to be able to hurt me, 10,000 tons isn't going to cut it. You're going to need," she said as she flexed her arm, "At least ten times that."

With a single straight arm punch, Meninas' fist tore through the muscle fibers on Marcus' body, still going and reaching his squishy, fleshy stomach, knocking the wind out of him. No, any stronger and she would've ruptured his stomach.

Gasping and wheezing, Marcus stumbled around, reaching out towards Meninas, trying to comprehend her power, trying to throw another punch, but she'd hit him so hard, he could barely remain conscious.

With a warm, bubbly smile, the one she used to have during her time in the Vandenreich, Meninas simply took in a deep breath and blew cold air with her lips on Marcus. It wasn't even that strong a wind, but it was just to prove a point and he fell over like a house of cards, succumbing to unconsciousness.

The town was cheering. It was like all those years ago, back when she was just Mighty Hurricane. She'd never received an applause like this, but…maybe this was what Mask de Masculine once said, that, when you do the right thing, nothing makes it feel quite as real as the cheer of the crowd.

Meninas, of course, knew that this was far from over. "Do not worry, citizens!" She exclaimed saluting. "I shall save your town! Who knows where this Titan's Fist calls home? I shall see to its personal destruction!"

Much as everyone wanted to believe in Meninas and show her the location, all of them were too nervous to directly oppose Jack Bo themselves. Stacy, who could show her, was far too injured to really play escort.

"I know where it is!" Mary exclaimed.

"Excellent," Meninas said, psyched up, pumping her fists lightly.

Mary held up a finger. "But! I'll only show you on one condition."

"Name it!" Meninas exclaimed.

"You have to make me your sidekick!" Mary declared.

"Sidekick?" Meninas asked and laughed. "Don't set your sights so low." Meninas thrust a hand into the air. "Sure, you may start as a sidekick, but stand by me and I will show you how to fight for truth! Justice! To be the answer to all those who cry out for peace! We will be the protectors of the innocent and the light in the darkness! Allies to good, and nightmare's to evil!"

"Yes! Yes!" Mary exclaimed, practically hopping in place. "Superhero power!" She exclaimed, shooting a happy fist into the air.

"Gehen Über, Mehr Ultra!" Meninas shouted. She was so ecstatic. She felt just like her old self. She turned around and held out her hand for Mary to take. "Come on, we've got evildoers to subdue!"

As Mary and Meninas headed off, Stacy smiled. This was it. This might be the miracle they needed to get their town back. Her smile quickly faded. "Hey! Someone call the Rune Knights so we can arrest these buffoons!"

"Yes, ma'am!" About sixteen people declared at once.

Little did they know however, help had already arrived.


Above the village of Dri hoovered an airship, one that belonged to a up and coming guild. Celestial Blade. While having only existed for five years, they had soon garnered a reputation of respect from the public and fear from the criminal underworld. They were a force who worked to uphold the law and to take down their targets fast and efficiently as possible, bringing dark guilds to their knees without making enough of a scene for the rest of the world to notice until it was made public the next day. It was as their guild master, Meifon Long, the eighth Wizard Saint, desired. For as she always said, it was best to make defeating the forces of evil seem effortless so as to give hope to the masses.

That very same guild master, adorned with a darkly violet dress and her jet black hair done up in twin pigtails, was standing at the bridge of her ship and looking over her crew. "Have you found him yet?"

The one she was referring to was none other than Strings Innovator. A former member of the Magic Council, Strings had long since discovered the power of mental manipulation magic. It had bought him a seat at the table and access to the Etherion cannon, the man desiring dominion over all. However, in time, Strings had revealed his true colors, openly going mad with power. It had left him to be cast off from the Magic Council. However, before he could be incarcerated for his crimes, he had escaped. Ever since then he had been wreaking havoc across Fiore, using his powers to control countless wizards and force them to do his biding. Theft, kidnapping, even murder was not out of the questoin for him.

His first victims after having cast off the shackles of the Magic Council and the court of public opinion had been Meifon's parents. It had been deeply personal for him, Meifon having been apart of his downfall within the Magic Council and so he had acted in accordance with his deeply buried hateful nature. Ever since then had Meifon sought him out.

That was why she was here, why all of the S-class members of Celestial Blade were here. To put an end to his madness. Strings had gone quiet for the last three years but now she believed she had finally found him.

That belief, however, was dashed slightly by the words of the man with short blonde hair by her side, a former Rune Knight who had left in shame after he had accidentally killed one of his superiors in a sparing match. Meifon had found him searching for a new place in life and so, in turn, had given him one. It was a decision she never regretted, not even now when he was the bearer of bad news.

"Negative," Graham Cracker, as he looked over the control panels before him. "The lacrima has not registered his distinct magical presence yet."

"Tch." Meifon clicked her tongue in slight annoyance. "Keep looking. He's here."

"Mistress Long," the blue haired Xerina Shuarta said as she walked over, "do you really believe so? He's clearly spent the last few years keeping a low profile. Every time we think we've found him he's already moved on, leaving behind broken vessels in his wake. Surely a situation as dire as this would not be his doing."

"Besides," Inovia Qidou added, her orange pigtails fluttering over her shoulders as she turned her head to look from her control panel on the bridge, "why would he go from a small scale to something as major as this?"

Meifon looked at her two guildmembers, the both of them dressed in form fitting black uniforms. They were both of them former members of the Legion Corp, an elite group of S-class warriors hwo had once served the Church of Zentopia. Without a home to call their own after they refused a mission that had crossed their moral boundaries, they had wandered the land with no calling for their Holy Swords. Much like she had with Graham, Meifon had been more than happy to give them one.

"Because," Meifon said as she looked over the paperwork from the Magic Council that lay on her empty command chair, "this is precisely the kind of thing he would do. No matter how quiet he's been lately, it's in his nature. He can't deny it anymore than I can deny stopping him."

She had made it her main purpose in life to take him down for what he had done to her. So much so had it weighed heavily on her that she had left her previous guild. It had been with a heavy heart, knowing that they would not support what she had planned for the man. They valued human life far too much. No, that was not true. They valued life as much as anyone should. It was just that Strings was a man that could hardly be described as human. He was a man who would do whatever it took to achieve his goals and this he had gone too far.

One of the ten Wizard Saints, Jack Bo, had gone mad with power recently, proclaiming how he would one day become king. He had spoke at great lenght to all who would listen, pontificating his wishes as if they were something he rightfully deserved by blood. The Jack she and all the other Wizard Saints knew had never been so arrogant or had such a desire. He was a kind, honorable man who truly deserved the title of Wizard Saint. It was such a bizarre and random change, even moreso than the one that had been reported having come over Jose Porla in recent times.

It was all too much. Every bit of it had Strings fingerprints over it. Perhaps he was working on his own, or perhaps he had shared his talents with a dark guild or some other nefarious force. Meifon had her darkest suspicions trained on the Magic Council itself, wondering if Stringers had allies hidden away in his former comrades. Whatever the case was, Meifon was positive that her nemesis was apart of the recent trangressions. Both Jose Porla and Jack Bo had to have been under some kind of mental control.

Meifon's moments of being lost in thought were quickly interrupted, a familiar voice came in over the airship's communications system. "Mistress Long, this is Nahomie . I have the shot."

Nahomie Natsuki , other wise known as The Red Comet, was Celestial Blade's ace. Stronger than even Meifon herself, Nahomie was the former princess of Midi but her entire family had overthrown and killed by the now ruling family. Having barely escaped with her life with nowhere left to go, she become an expert gun mage who may as well have had the fire power of an entire kingdom's military. No one had ever gotten within a thousand yards of her in battle unless she wanted them to. She had purple eyes and shoulder length red hair that spiked at the end of it with a green gem above her left eye and wore a rather revealing red and orange outfit that revealed her stomach, arms and hips.

Meifon smiled then. She knew that her crimson haired sniper, dressed in a flashy matching outfit that had helped play a part in her nickname, was stationed atop the airship and no doubt had their target in the crosshairs of her Charged Particle Beam Cannon. This would not do though, as a part of her soul demanded Meifon to go down to the ground and take care of things personally.

"Wait," Nahomie suddenly said. "There's someone else there fighting for the town."

"Oh?" Now Meifon was interested. "Do tell."

"It's a woman in white," Nahomie continued. "And she appears to be laying waste to the entire dark guild."

"A woman in white," Meifon whispered under her breath. "Sylphia is this...? Oh, you sly dog."

Meifon picked up the Magic Council's job request to investigate Jack Bo's actions from her chair and took a seat. Propping up an elbow on the chair's armrest, she scratched at her chin ever so slightly, a manic look of curiosity playing across her eyes.

"Come back to the bridge, Nahomie," Meifon said at last. "Let's see how this plays out, shall we?"

Show me Sylphia. Show me the power of this god chosen warrior you told me about.


As Meninas and Mary headed towards the dark guild, Jack Bo, or rather, Strings, had heard word of a rebellion that had occurred in the town and thus began sending out members of his guild to stop her. Even if they couldn't, she'd hopefully be too weak to fight him when she reached the guild. It was a matter of little consequence as far as he was concerned.

Team Youth Blood was whom he had sent to deal with the so called trouble maker. They were a team of elite mercenary's who specialized in defeating mages. They were a loud, and rather unpleasant bunch, but undoubtedly effective at their job. Surly this upstart would fall before them.

The first was a man dressed in red spandex, firing magic arrows at Meninas from afar. He was screaming loudly, his muscles almost as big as his head. He was the leader simply known as Shafter. A skilled archer who killed mages from afar, he was confident that his arrow's would put an end to her life.

Mary expected Meninas to get up close and punch the man, dodging arrows with ease, but not only could the arrows barely scratch her reiatsu, Meninas had a surprise for Mary. She generated a bow of her own and, with just one arrow, blasted the archer seventy feet back, tearing through his clothes and shredding skin.

"Shafted!" Mary exclaimed, throwing out a cheesy one-liner.

A large stone golem, known as Evil Stone, also screaming at the top of his lungs, charged at Meninas. He was even bigger and burlier than Marcus Maximus. Not to mention stronger. Meninas didn't punch him when he went in to punch her. Instead, she slipped around him and kicked him in the side so hard he went flying over the event horizon towards the Bosco/Iceberg border gate.

"Have a nice trip! See you next fall!" Mary called to the long-gone golem.

Just then, a flying machina of blue, red and sliver came racing towards Meninas through the air and then dove towards her, feet poised to strike. He was known as Solid Death. A machine made for the soul purpose of killing.

Meninas reached up and let his momentum carry him straight into her reiatsu protected fist, which, given the angle, tore into his crotch. And, despite being a machina, he still had something to smash down there…for some reason.

"Wow, that's a ballbuster if I ever saw one," Mary giggled. She and Meninas slapped five.

As the two got closer, two men were waiting for Meninas. One was significantly shorter, bald and tubby, with spikes all over his exposed skin, and the top of his head. His name was Durian. The other had long green hair in a braid and a…rather flamboyant stance. His name was Pomelo. Two of the stronger members of the guild, they were infamous for killing over 100 mages.

Flipping his braid by pivoting his neck, Pomelo said, "Well now, what do we have here? A little lost lamb come to the slaughter."

Meninas shrugged. "I dunno. I'd say I'm more like a dinosaur in sheep's clothing."

"Isn't the phrase wolf in sheep's clothing?" Durian asked.

"Yeah, but wolves are scary," Meninas responded.

"So are dinosaurs," the bald man said.

"Not the purple ones," Meninas responded.

The two men looked at her dumbfounded. "…what?"

"Enough of this!" Durian said as he grinned. "Im not going to waste my time talking to small fry like you. You may have taken out Maximus and Youth Blood, but their small fry compared to the two of us! We have MPF's of 1500!"

"Yes indeed." Pomelo said as he chuckled. "I doubt you even beat them in a fair fight. You probably just hit them with a surprise attack." He then pressed a button on a strange looking device on the right side of his face. " But fine, I'll humor you and give a quick reading of your MPF. I doubt its anything to write home about."

Pomelo seemed calm at first as the numbers began to climb on his decive. Yes everything was going about as expected...but then it kept growing...and growing! As it continued to climb, Pomelo's face took on one of surprise until the reading finally stopped to climb.

"Well, what's it say?" Durian asked Pomelo.

"Its...Its..."

"Oh come on man out with it." Durian said with frustration.

"Its over 9000!" Pomelo said before crushing his device in anger.

"What 9000!? There's no way that can be right!? Can it!?" Durian shouted back at him. "It must be broken, that things a piece of junk!"

POW!

Meninas walked calmly in between them and smashed the back of her hands into their faces, sending them flying.

"You are so awesome!" Mary exclaimed. "You're like Bam! Pow! One punch!"

Meninas smiled. For a moment she considered if this is what Masculine saw in James. It was nice.

Suddenly the ground started to shake like the sound of thunderous hooves.

"And speaking of dinosaurs," Meninas said, only to see 3 to 6-meter-tall giants rushing towards her. "Aww, that's disappointing." With a relaxed sigh, Meninas met these, no less than ten, giant men head on. Mary watched her, humming to herself.

Before her were some of the strongest members of Titan's Fist. The titan trio as they were known as, had the power of Take over Titan soul. It granted the three of them powers far beyond that of the average wizard. There was Bert, the skeleton titan, Zack the beast titan, and Brawn the Steel Titan.

"Well boys, looks like someone's getting a bit too confident in her skills." Bert spoke. "Little does she know that she now face's Titan's fist's S Class elite!"

"I'll take her out in one blow!" Zack declared soon after, rushing towards the seemingly harmless woman before him.

Leaping high into the air, Meninas punched the Zack the face, sending him tumbling away. The closest one to her right, Brawn, then tried to clamp his hands around Meninas' body, but she rose up from where she was standing, uppercut him in the jaw and then kicked him in the collar, sending him hurtling into the nearby forest.

As Meninas dropped to the ground, Bert tried to flatten her with the palm of his hand. For a moment it looked like Meninas had been crushed, but Mary knew better. Meninas was suddenly on the back of the giant's shoulders and, grabbing his neck, suplexed his giant body into the ground before somersaulting through the air and slamming her foot into his gut, causing him to pass out.

"Ok, ive had enough of this!" Brawn said as he came crashing through the tree's. "It's about time I ended this little farce! Say goodbye!"

Brawn clapped his hands together, trying to use sonic waves to send Meninas flying. To her, it was but a stiff breeze.

"Mary, cover your ears," she said calmly.

Mary did so, not even thinking about asking why.

Meninas tempered her own strength and clapped her hands together, the shockwave of which was so massive that it shredded some of the skin off the faces and chests of her enemies and left their eardrums ruptured and did enough brain damage from the loudness and force of the sound that they all just fell over and passed out.

Mary laughed. "Talk about a real head splitter, am I right?"

Meninas giggled.

The two continued their march towards Titan Fist's base unimpeded, coming to stand in front of a moat of acid to keep trespassers out and the draw bridge was up.

"Mary, stand behind me," Meninas said. "With my reiatsu, I can keep you out of the splash zone."

"Splash zone? But nobody's here," Mary said. And then the light bulb went off in her head. "Oh! I get it."

She stood behind Meninas, clutching at her jacket.

Meninas raised a fist to the sky, charging it with reiatsu so much that it glowed pink. Then, shouting like a kendo student, Meninas drove her fist down into the snow and blew away all of the acid into vapor, as well as blowing away all of the snow within a 2-mile radius.

Desperate to get rid of this pink-haired menace, the draw bridge lowered and an army of the members of Titan's Fist came rushing out to surround Meninas and Mary.

Meninas wasn't sure how quickly she could clear out a bunch of cannon fodder without dealing fatal damage to them.

Luckily, it did not seem she would have to.

"I hear screaming," Mary stated.

The screaming got louder as members of Titan's Fist started getting launched skyward in droves.

Meninas whipped around as she saw Stacy literally punching her way through the army of weaklings. More strikingly, Stacy had new turbine charged boots on her legs. It at least explained how Stacy caught up to them. Also, her armor was shinier with a silver and obsidian tint. And, most strikingly, she was wearing a green cape with tasseled shoulder pads. She also had a hat atop her head with a blue silhouette of a locomotive atop it. Additionally, Stacy was grinning in a way that gave Meninas one hell of a brief flashback.

"Meninas! I've got this!"

"Bambi…" Amidst the chaos, no one heard Meninas' whisper.

"Don't just stare! Go!" Stacy exclaimed, the vicious, cruel smile on her face making Meninas reminiscent of her dearest friend. For a brief moment, Bambietta's image seemed to completely superimpose itself over Stacy.

"Sis! Are you okay?" Mary asked. "And…that cape…"

Stacy continued to punch away Titan Fist's generic, bottom level underlings. Meninas even backhanded one that thought she was off-guard, continuing to stare at Stacy.

"Meninas, I owe you one. I don't know what kind of unseen force brought you this way, but…" Stacy pulled down on the brim of her cap and made an explosive fireball shoot out of palm of her hand, which was faced away from Meninas and Mary. She then held up that arm, showing the cannon mouth that had ejected out of it. "I feel better than I've felt in years."

"Sis! You got your fighting spirit back!" Mary shouted.

"Damn right I do!" Stacy shouted, cracking her knuckles. She spun around, throwing out punches with the speed of a furious hurricane, knocking away foes in droves. "Now go! Small fry like this," Stacy said as she grabbed one by the face and spun around in a cyclone, using her victim's body to beat his friends. She then eventually launched him and made wind burst away from her using turbines inside the arms of her gauntlets. "Are nothing to the future guild master of Steel Engine." She gave Mary a proud smile, still showing her teeth. "Go on. I'll be fine."

Mary's eyes shined, so moved to see her sister so happy. It had been too long since she's seen Stacy like this. She truly had kowtowed to Jack Bo for too long. Now she was back to her old self, just as she had been when Titan's Fist first appeared. Like coal put under extreme pressure, a diamond had surfaced, stronger than ever.

Meninas turned her head towards the open drawbridge, using her hat to hide her tears, despite the fact that she was smiling. If she could inspire someone like this…maybe…maybe she could make amends with Bambi after all. "Come on, Mary," she said, careful not to let Mary hear the fact that she was shedding tears. "Your sister is going to be just fine."


Strings was furious to say the least. This upstart was ruining everything! Master Hades had placed him in charge of taking over one of the ten Wizard Saints of Fiore to create a distraction to allow Grimore Heart to act more freely to gather the keys needed to revive Lord Zeref. Jose, Seigrain, and Jack were the wizard saints that Grimore heart had managed to seize control of to internally mess with the council. While Jose was only loosely controlled by Jason, using his grudge against Fairy Tail to motivate him to attack the guild and hopefully weaken then, Seigrain and Jack were under complete control.

Using Jack's overwhelming power to take over countless villages to add to Titan's Fist's roster was the perfect way to draw attention away from Grimoire Heart. Many times the Magic Council had tried to send in forces to reclaim villages they had conquered, but all had fallen before his guild.

However, Strings wasn't satisfied with merely controlling one mere dark guild. No, he wanted more. So much more! He desired nothing less than being in control of the Balam Alliance itself! By slowly gathering up his forces, he would no longer be a mere henchmen to Hades, he would become the true mastermind of the underworld of magic! No, not just that. He would control everything and make the world into his own ideal utopia and lead humanity on the correct path by eliminating all those he deemed unnecessary. A world ruled by him and him alone! He had spent years of causing mayhem and chaos across fiore to achive this goal, and it was within reach!

But this...This one damn woman was making his plans fall apart!

"I don't believe this!" he yelled out in anger as he punched the nearby wall. His plan that had been in the making for years was now falling apart before his very eyes. However, he soon composed himself, and relaxed. No, getting angry was not the answer to this mess. No, he knew what he had to do.

Fine then. If you want to do things right...you have to do them yourself. Strings thought to himself as he looked at the man he was currently controlling. "Jack, I'll be dealing with this eyesore... personally."

He said as an evil grin began to take over his face. She was strong. He could use her strength. With the power of this woman, along with Jack's...My dream to take over the Balam Alliance and create my grand utopia will become a reality!

"Yes...Master." Jack replied slowly. Jack Bo, the former tenth Wizard Saint was the guild master of Titan's Fist in name only. While on the surface it looked as if he was in charge of Titan's Fist, in reality, Strings was the one giving the orders through Jack. Jack himself was a rather muscular man with orange hair that went down to his back and blue eyes, He wore only a black shirt and blue pants. He didn't need anything fancy. All Strings needed for him was to be strong. Jack had tried to escape from his mind control ever since he had gotten control of him, but it was no use. Jack was his to usem to control. Just as this woman was soon to be as well.


As Meninas and Mary made their way into Titan Fist's headquarters, they reached the third floor of the 5-story fortress to find an effeminate looking man with green hair and pink eyes. Even his clothes were feminine from his gray bell bottom pants to his frilly powder blue sleeves. And his shirt had a hole below the collar and above the chest in the shape of a triangle.

Strings descended down to the bottom floor where the intruders awaited him. "Welcome to my web, said the spider to the flies. I do hope you enjoy your stay," Strings said. "And if you don't want to be eaten," he added, letting his mind control powers flow from his voice to Meninas. "You'll punch the tiny girl next to you until she's paste."

Meninas stepped forward, leading Strings to believe he'd succeeded in controlling her…only for her to pick him up by the leg and smash him against the floor, the wall, the ceiling, and the door leading to the staircase, leaving most of his bones broken and rock and wood digging into his skin. He lay on his back on the floor feeling almost completely paralyzed.

"Sorry, but mind control doesn't work on me anymore," Meninas said with a cheery smile. "Sorry to break a lot of your bones like that." She gave an elegant curtsey. "Bad memories."

"Smashing!" Mary exclaimed, yet again adding a one-liner as she and Meninas headed up the stairs to where Jack Bo would be.

"Ow," Strings said in a hushed tone, barely able to get it out.

The two giggled before they continued upwards. Strings groaned in pain as he tried to rise up, but he couldn't. His body just wouldn't respond. It seemed he had no choice. Using his telepathy, he sent a message to the "guild master" of Titan's Fist.

Ok, if thats how it's going to be, fine then. JACK! ELIMINATE THEM!

Where he had failed, the former wizard saint would succeed!


After racing through the rest of the fortress to make it to Jack Bo, Mary and Meninas were expecting to find him slouched in his "throne", sipping wine, waiting for them to arrive and then boast about how awesome he was before the "fight" ensued.

Unfortunately, what both of them failed to realize was that Jack Bo was the type of overlord that enjoyed defying expectations in violently cruel ways.

Almost immediately after Mary and Meninas pushed the door open to his audience hall, Jack Bo delivered his fist straight into Meninas' face. Meninas went flying through the wall behind her and flew over the horizon, landing in the snow far behind where Stacy was fighting. Jack followed suit with a mighty leap and drove his knees into Meninas' stomach, causing her to hack up spit before kicking her in the chin and causing her to skid through the snow and dirt.

Meninas got up, wiping the blood away from her swollen jaw. "I'm impressed. I actually felt that," Meninas said and then tempered her reiatsu, powering up. "But you'll never defeat me, villain! I'm Meninas McAllon, the hero of the Vandenreich! Nightmare to you!"

Meninas rushed down Jack with a fearsome swift punch, he blocked with his elbow and then cross checked her in the jaw, knocking her back. Meninas lost her footing and then took a harsh blow to the stomach. Fortunately, she proved she could give back just as good as she took and decked Jack hard in the face, knocking him back.

From there, a rapid flurry of punches and kicks ensued, the blur of arms and legs became too quick for any bystander to keep track of who was throwing what when.

Meninas won out in the end, taking her fists like a hammer and slamming them into Jack's cheek. She then followed-up with her bow and shot an arrow into his chest. Jack was barely fazed and returned fire with a green energy blast fired directly from his palm. Meninas dodged and dashed in towards Jack with a punch ready to be thrown. Their knuckles met and then both sets of knuckles met as Meninas punched over her head and Jack did the same. There were stuck in a stalemate until Jack headbutt Meninas, knocking her back. He then began delivering blow after blow after blow, causing her to lose more and more ground.

Stacy, who had finished defeating Jack's goons, looked over to where the fight was ensuing. Her armor was gone except for one metal gauntlet on her right hand. Her cape was in tatters, being used to cover her chilly torso, little more than a brown tank top covering it. She was covered in battle scars, and she had lost her hat.

She held her left forearm with her gauntlet. "It's no good," she said as Jack delivered another fierce blow to Meninas' chest. "He's just too strong. …Even someone like her…"

"She'll win."

Stacy looked to see Mary skipping across the drawbridge and over the pile of defeated mages. "Mary…"

"Meni-chan will win," Mary said, holding her hands behind her back and smiling brightly. "Cause I believe in her."

"That's not what wins battles," Stacy said, taking a step towards the fight.

Mary looped her sister's arm around her shoulders to support her. "No, but Meni-chan's a hero. So she has to win."

Stacy was still shaky on Mary's logic, but she agreed with her on that last point. Meninas had to win.

Please, Meninas, she thought. We're all…counting on you.

Meninas, of course, quickly realized she was fighting an uphill battle. Jack clearly had the strength and speed to contend with her, definitely a monster among men. As she blocked his incoming punch with her arm, she skid back in the snow and threw another punch to his cheek, but he took the licking and kicked her, boot toe first, in the stomach. She launched into the air and barely had the chance to steady herself. She charged an arrow with her bow, but the arrow was overwhelmed by the green energy beam that Jack could just unleash from his hand. Meninas was shot out of the sky and landed in the snow. Jack was already upon her.

Out of the corner of her eye, while Jack was rushing her down, Meninas could see Mary and Stacy heading towards her. Seeing this, Meninas dropped the smile, giving a rare sneer, and sprang forth, hitting Jack so hard in the cheek he went flying back. Tempering her reiatsu even more, Meninas kept on the pressure. She delivered back to Jack just as hard as he'd given to her. Punches, kicks, knee strikes, palm thrusts, Meninas kept delivering hit after hit after hit, the satisfying sensation of bone hitting bone made her believe she was doing lasting damage.

Eventually, she was able to deliver one more satisfying punch and sent Jack slamming into the wall of his own fortress, embedding him in the brick.

"Surrender now!" Meninas panted. "You're getting me angry. And no one likes me…when I'm angry."

However, as Jack peeled himself off the wall, he grinned. "What's the matter? You're panting like a dog. Is that all you got, little girl?"

If I do any more, Meninas thought, I don't know if my body can even handle it.

Meninas, like all the member's of the vandenreich, had never used her shrift while in her living body. While most could likely use it with little to no fear of the draw backs, she was another matter. Due to the nature of her ability affecting her physical strength, she was unsure if using it now would be too much for her body, which was now made of flesh and bone and not reshi, to handle. At this point, she wasn't sure if she could even use Blut Vene or Blut Arterie. It had been year's since she used them. She never had to due to her shrift making up for them. But now...What could she do?

Jack held up a flask of water that he had kept pinned to his hip side the entire fight long. "Do you know what this is girl?" He asked her. Meninas did not answer. She only panted. Of course she had no idea. "This here is water from the realm of the gods. It can give its user amazing strength. Just a sip increases a dying man's body to that of a professional athlete. I used to have the market cornered on this stuff. Drinking it turned me into a god among men. But then I decided that I wanted more! I met Strings and he opened my eyes to the truth! He told me I deserved to be a king! The council decided I was too dangerous, too unpredictable after I proclaimed that I should rule over them all, even though I was a Wizard Saint." He frowned. "They took away my god slayer magic that I had worked so hard to achieve." He held up the flask. "But I saved just a little bit of it for special occasions. And I think I'll use some of it now to destroy you. Bottom's up."

Meninas charged in, but she was far too late in her current state. Jack was already chugging the flask like it was…well…water. In an instant his body bulked up and his hair went from orange to fire engine red. Black energy swirled around him as he delivered a counter punch to Meninas so hard and swift that it took her breath away. All the ground she'd gained in her previous counterattack was gone once again.

As Meninas got up, wobbling a bit, Jack was already in front of her. With the back of his hand he swatted her into the ground like he was backhanding a gnat. Meninas got up again though. She was known for having a stubborn streak after all. This only served to give Jack a prime opportunity to kick her in her whole chest given his foot was so massive.

Leaving her sister to hobble on her own, Mary ran towards the fight, shouting, "Meninas!"

"Water God's Kappa Fist!" Meninas went sailing into the ground as Jack punched right in the ceek. Jack didn't let her get up. "Water God's Umibozu!" A large wave of black water shot forth from Jack's hands that carried Meninas off through the air like a boat getting capsized. The black water was like a burning sensation on her body and an intense pressure on her lungs. "Water God's Bellow!"

Before Meninas could even react to what she'd been hit with, another massive blast sent her careening across the horizon, where upon she smashed into the back of the second floor of the restaurant that Stacy had been working at for the last several years.

People heard the crash and they saw the source coming up the road, running for their houses, screaming in terror. "It's Jack Bo!"

"He's come to kill us!"

Panic was running through the streets. No. No it couldn't go on like this.

Meninas got up off the ground. Steeling herself for battle, she launched herself at Jack with a loud battle cry, but was immediately backhanded by the cheek into a nearby building.

"You young fool," Jack said, flexing his muscles. "You don't understand, do you? I didn't just regain my water god magic. I became a god!" His energy surged as he clenched his fists. "This is the power of Deus ex Anima, the strongest form attainable to god slayers, like Dragon Force is to dragon slayers."

He picked up the woozy Meninas off the ground by her neck, and lobbed her into the air. Then he punched her in the side of her body into the center of town. Upon landing, Meninas just sort of rolled along the snow-covered stone path, coming to rest on her back. The gray clouds hung above and the falling snow dotted her face.

"Meninas!" Mary shouted, running towards her, but she was immediately lifted off the ground by Jack by her neck. However, despite the pressure against her body, Mary remained defiant. "Meninas…" she said, choking. "Please…get up. I know…you can win. UGH!" Mary gulped as Jack clenched tighter around her throat.

"Your champion is a sham of a broken mess. If she gets up, she'll do little more than flail about."

"No she won't. Meni-chan is a hero," Mary said through tears. "She'll beat you," she said, instinctively clawing at Jack's hand, trying to get herself free.

I can't though, Meninas thought. Not like this. She looked at the sky and the falling snow. Should I use Blut vene and Arterie then? It's been so long since ive had to use them...I dont know if my body could handle the strain.

Jack smashed Mary into the ground, injuring the poor girl needlessly. "Fine," he said to Mary. "We'll test your faith in your so-called hero. Hear that, pinkie! If you don't get up to keep fighting me, I'll beat this girl until she dies and then I'll hang her body in the center of town. I'm sure her sister will love the decoration!"

Is it worth the risk? What if I just mess up again? I came so close, but in the end…I really am a failure.

"Meni…please…" Mary said, reaching out to her. "Hel—"

SLAM!

Mary's body kissed the stone ground once more.

"I don't think she'll last much longer. I give her one, maybe two more hits before she's dead."

No...Even if my body cant handle it...Even if I am a failure, I cant give up, because I am-

Pushing her hands against the ground, Meninas got to her feet, as if she hadn't taken any damage at all.

That girls last symbol of peace and justice!

"Hmm?" Jack looked at Meninas and dropped Mary. The pink haired mage looked at Meninas standing like nothing was wrong.

She smiled through the pain. "I knew you were a hero."

"Well, well, look who's on her feet," Jack grinned. "Ready for round two?"

Meninas didn't answer him. Instead, she just started walking towards Jack. A joyless, determined expression was written on her face. "You know…" Meninas said, her voice losing none of its usual pep. "I've been fighting as a human for so long…I've forgotten what it means to just be a hero."

"Heh? What's that nonsense you're spouting? Did I hit you too hard?"

"Nope, quite the opposite. I really should thank you, Jack." Power started to flow through Meninas as her energy skyrocketed. "Thanks to you I finally remembered who I am and what I stand for." The ground cratered beneath Meninas as she stopped walking and held her hands at her sides. "I am a hero, The Valkyrie of Justice! The Strongest Fist! I am the Quincy formerly known as Mighty Hurricane! And a real hero will always find a way for justice to be served! " It doesn't matter if my body doesn't hold out. What matters, Meninas thought, as she imagined herself with a red cape, blue spandex and a big red S on her chest, is to do the right thing.

"Mary, It's time for your first hero lesson. You may have heard these words before, but now I'll show you what they really mean! Gehen Über…" Rearing back her fist, Meninas charged one powerful punch in her arm, as mighty as she could muster. " MEHR ULTRA!" (Go beyond, Plus Ultra)

In his arrogance, Jack just stood there. "Oh that's cute, you think you can—"

BAM!

The strike to the chest was so impactful, Meninas completely tore through Jack's magic defenses. He felt the whole attack. It was so awesome and jaw dropping that, were it being filmed, it would've been repeated from three different angles. More to the point as Meninas' fist kept pushing against Jack's skin, her strength completely blew through his inertia and sent him flying so hard that a wisp of smoke followed the initial portion of his trail and emitted from Meninas' knuckles. Additionally, Jack went hurtling through the Event Horizon in seconds, a feat thought next to impossible. The attack was so mighty that it blew away all the snow on the ground that he flew over.

More impressively, the strike was so incredibly strong that it split the cloud cover overhead and revealed the glow of the sun, basking Meninas in its warmth, shining upon her, almost like a metaphor of what had just occurred.

Stacy, who had just managed to make it to the north edge of the village, saw Jack flying overhead and the sky ripping open. "Unreal…" she uttered, jaw slack.

"So…AWESOME!" Mary exclaimed, eyes sparkling more than usual, jumping to her feet as though she hadn't been in dire pain mere seconds ago.

Unfortunately, Jack had landed right into his office and, more specifically, right in front of the controls to his guild's Jupiter Cannon. "You know I could've just done this from the start!" he shouted, his voice echoing through a megaphone on the front of the fortress. Gathering energy as he aimed the cannon at the village from on high, sending all god slayer magic through it, exiting out of Deus ex Anima, making sure to draw as close to a bead as possible on Meninas. "But screw you! I've had enough playing around! This village has long since outlived its usefulness anyways!"

The villagers started to panic, fleeing for their lives.

The only ones that stood unflinching were Meninas and Mary.

"Mary," Meninas said as the cannon charged up.

"Yes, Meni-chan?"

"Stand clear," Meninas commanded.

"Stand clear?" Mary questioned.

"Stand clear," Meninas repeated.

Mary retreated behind Meninas, but didn't go very far. She wanted to see this.

Gripping her fist as tightly as she could, Meninas took a deep breath. Her last strike had required Blut Arterie to pull off, but that wasn't going to be enough this time and Meninas knew it. She would have to use her Schrift, consequences be damned. A whole lot of people were going to die if she didn't use it and a hero would never forego the risk for personal safety.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT A TRUE HERO WOULD DO!" Meninas shouted.

A thick, hot pink aura surrounded Meninas as the ground didn't just crater below her feet, the whole area began to terraform and shake.

Parents hugged their children, Stacy was screaming for Mary to get back, but neither she nor Meninas moved. The Jupiter Cannon fired forward, a torrent of water god slaying energy accompanying it.

However, Meninas just took a deep breath and then leapt off the ground towards it, fist poised to strike.

"She's insane!" Jack screamed from his castle. " The Jupiter cannon alone has the power equivalent of 40 megatons! It's twice that when combined with my power! She couldn't possibly be trying to…" He just trailed off and stopped talking. He couldn't fathom the sheer determination and self-assurance Meninas had about the situation.

The townspeople could only marvel at what happened next. If Meninas' first punch had been extraordinary, words failed to describe her second punch. With just a swing of her arm, she didn't just cancel out the Jupiter Cannon blast, she redirected it straight back to sender, along with a vacuum wave of her own power, sent at speeds faster than the original speed.

"No! No no! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Jack screamed as his cannon, his castle, his guild and even the entire mountain behind them were engulfed by the blast, Jack was then sent flying off into the stratosphere and not a mortal alive would have any idea where he would land.

From her perch in the sky, Meninas lifted her arms above her shoulders and let herself drop to the ground. She then smiled at Mary, giving Mary a thumb's up and smiling like her usual perky self.

Mary gasped and squealed with joy and then jumped into Meninas' arms, snuggling her bosom like a happy fangirl. Meninas patted her shoulder back.

"Meninas! Meninas! Meninas! Meninas!" The townspeople were cheering her name. Meninas took solace in their chanting, feeling the beat of the sunlight upon her face. She really was a hero now. No…she had always been one, she'd just been too consumed by self-doubt to realize it. The sunlight kissed her face, as if the light of day was thanking Meninas for a job well done.

It's over, Stacy thought, slumping to her knees and then onto her hands and knees. She smiled as tears spilled out of her open eyes. It's finally over.

As Mary got down and went to go check on her sister, Meninas stared up at the sky and smiled at the sun, using the back of her hand to shield her eyes from the light. Bambi, if I've been revived in this world...Then maybe you have as well. If so I'm going to find you. And when I do, I hope you'll accept my apology. And even if you don't…I'm going to do in this world what I always wanted to since I was little. I'm going to just…be a hero.


"Boots, check." Meninas said, strapping them on. "Hat, check," she said adjusting it. "Gloves, check," she said massaging her wrists. "Guess it's time to head out."

After a good night's rest, Meninas was ready to head out one more time. Now, at least, she had a purpose. Primary goals: Find Bambi and apologize and be a hero. Simple. Concise, and totally the Meninas way.

She couldn't help but smile as she began to leave the village though. Everyone she met along the way gave her huge smiles and all kinds of appreciation. Be it food, money, or just simply hugs and "thank you"s. As she reached the western edge of the village, she looked back one last time. Everyone seemed so...Happy. Because of her.

"You know, I guess one person can make a difference."

Meninas turned around before she saw the old man from yesterday. She smiled as she approached him. "Yes, Thanks to you I realize that now. I was just running away from the problem. If I want to change anything...I have to take the problem on with my fists!"

The old man smiled back before he chuckled. "Now see, that's the attitude of a hero. People tend to forget that despite all the heroics and bravado that hero's have a lot of problems of their own. Be it something from their past, prejudice, or something going on in their personal lives. Their human after all. But what makes them truly heroic is that they still try to be the best that they can despite those problems."

"Yes," Meninas said with a nod. "But…who are you?"

The old man only smiled at her, his eyes kind behind his dark glasses. He didn't answer her question. Instead, he said, "Every hero needs a sidekick."

"Huh?"

"Meni-chan!"

Meninas turned around to see Mary and Stacy running towards her. It had been the former that had called out to her.

Meninas waved. "Mary! Stacy! Come meet my friend!" She turned back towards the old geezer. "Say hi to…"

Meninas was confused when she turned around. There were no footprints, no disturbed snow. It was as if the old man had simply winked out of existence. How did he…? Meninas thought, only to smile. She wasn't the brightest woman alive, but she seemed to grasp, by Herculean leaps in logic, what had happened. She looked up at the sky, fist clenched by her chest. I see. Someone's looking out for me. Well, thank you. Whoever you are. Excelsior and safe travels to you.

"Meni-chan!" Mary called to her again as she and Stacy ran up to her. "Were you really going to leave without saying goodbye again?"

"No, I was just…yes. I just…I have somewhere I need to be."

"Somewhere you need to be?" Mary asked.

Stacy smiled, arms folded, chuckling. "Take Mary with you, Meninas. I know she's in good hands. Besides, you promised. I'll be here, rebuilding Steel Engine. I was going to ask you to stick around and help us out, but it sounds like you have other plans. And hey, when you come back," She gave Meninas a grin, a wink, and a thumb's up. "I'll be sure to have the biggest apple pie you've ever seen."

"Well then, I'll make sure to bring a friend of mine," Meninas smiled.

"So, where are we going?" Mary asked.

"Wherever we want," Meninas said as she took Mary's hand. "But…let's go together. Onward! Towards the Sun!"

"Towards the sun!" Mary exclaimed and the two walked down the melting snow pathway, bound for wherever fate would lead them.


"That...damn bitch."

Strings Innovator was somehow, still alive from the attack that had annihilated not only his ace in the hole, but his entire base of operations. Was it sheer luck? Or perhaps it was because it was due to the defensive barrier he had put up at the last second to protect himself. Whatever the case, he was still alive...and infuriated.

Years of waiting in the shadows, waiting for the right opportunity to snag one of the wizard saints as part of Grimiore Hearts master plan to distract the magic council, of building up his own army to overthrow Hades and take over the Balem alliance...now Ruined by one woman. One. Damn. Woman.

"I'll make her pay." He said as he slowly got to his feet. "Ill improve my magic, and I'll take over her completely before I make her kill that damn brat and the entire town!" Yes, it was the perfect way to make examples out of those who defied him. The world was his. It belonged to him!

He frowned as he laid his eyes on the unconscious Jack Bo. "Some help you turned out to be...But I still have a use for you." He would use Jacks power once again to gather up a new guild. A stronger one, one that would take down any mage he desired, even God Serena!

Jack opened his eyes and groaned in pain. "Ugghhh, what happened." He turned his head around before he glared at Strings. "You!"

"Oh, it seems as if my control of you slipped once she beat down the both of us." Strings said as he pointed his right hand at Jack. "Oh well, no matter. You'll be under my control again soon enough."

Jack tried to fight it as best as he could, but the injures he had suffered from Meninas were just too much. He let out one last groan of pain and resistance before falling unconscious once more.

"See? Jack it's futile to resist. Now you will once more fall under my sway, you inferior being."

"No. He wont."

It was in that moment that Strings right was covered in a beam of light, his hand disintegrating from the sheer power of the attack. He yelled out in pain before he looked in the direction of the attack. "Who dares!?"

"I do," a woman said as she stepped out into the open. Her right hand was held up in front of her, an orb of luminous, emerald light dancing above her outstretched fingers. "It's been a long time... Strings."

"Meifon Long," Strings hissed. Despite the pain he felt, it gave way to incredulous anger now that he saw the visage of his attacker. "Once again you thwart my every ambition."

Meifon snapped her fingers, a beam of light firing off from the orb. It pierced through String's right shoulder, separating his right arm from it. The already damaged limb fell to the ground with a sickening sound, Meifon moving closer.

"How long I've waited," Meifon hissed as she came within a hair's breadth of the trembling Strings. "Years... No a lifetime. And then some."

"You're clearly delusional," Strings whispered, fear overtaking his sense of rationality. "A lifetime? It's hardly even been-"

Meifon's hand suddenly swung out, the orb of light vanishing so as to allow the back of her hand to strike Strings across the face. He was in shock for a moment then, the master puppeteer aghast at the notion that someone had the audacity to do what Meifon just had.

"A Inferior being..." Strings murmured, "dares to-"

The palm of Meifon's hand moved from the opposite direction then, striking Strings once more. If the egotist was already in a state of disbelief, then the repetition only furthered it. He gave way to rage then, his very self of sense threatened and wounded. Magic began to play across his body, Strings looking to cast an offensive spell. He dreamed of seeing this lesser being, this paltry wizard who offend his very existence, become cut down by his own twisted magic.

"I'll kill you where you stand!" Strings screamed. "No, I'll bend you to my will as I did Jack Bo! Only then will you-"

The orb appeared over Meifon's shoulder in but a brief second's time. In that very same moment it fired a beam of light, one that aimed downwards and moved in a horizontal line. It cut through String's right knee, then the left, leaving behind scorch earth behind him. Muscle, bone and flesh were separated, the cruel wizard finding his body collapsing beneath him.

All the while did Meifon Long look down at him. Her bangs covered her eyes, shrouding her face in darkness. Slowly did her mouth open, words speaking forth with venom and bile that would make her attack seem paltry and comparison. "Never... again... will you do such a thing, you bastard."

Strings lay on the ground, his one remaining hand clawing into the dirt. He looked up at Meifon, tears in his eyes. They were born of pain and humiliation, the wizard refusing to accept this was his destiny. "Not... like this... I have... such plans for this world..."

Meifon said nothing.

"You don't dare to this to me!" Strings finally screamed. "These people, these inferior beings, they can't find there proper place in the greater world without me! I have to shepherd them into the future! So don't you dare-"

"Like I said," Meifon hissed, "you haven't changed in the slightest."

Strings' voice died down. "Why would I? That was what I hoped to gain in the game the gods selected us for. But you took that from me! And you wonder why I killed your damnable parents when it was all said and done..." Strings' managed to chuckle then, a darkly cruel moment that he was willing to see through despite his circumstances. "Oh yes, this is what it's all about now, isn't it? You won the game but I've conquered you! Your every action since then was meant to lead you to this moment!"

"You speak so highly of yourself and yet you undersand so little," Meifon spoke with utterly calm disdain. "You're so... insignifigant."

Strings' reached out then, grabbing hold of Meifon's ankle. "How dare you, you insolent bitch! I'll-"

Meifon kicked his hand away her other foot. "You've already done far too much. In this world and the next. That was my gift for winning the game. My goddess returned to me what I lost. She warned me against it but I took it."

Strings froze on the spot. The one who had chosen him had spoken of the world his soul had been plucked from before being reincarnated on Earth Land for the great game between god and goddess. It was knowledge he had hoped to regain, his past life always on the edge of his thoughts, unable to be truly remembered, like words that hung on the tip of a person's tongue but could not be spoken of clearly or concisely.

"And I remembered... everything," Meifon said quietly, her expression wavering. "People and places, goals and ambitions. A person who I should have cherished more closely. And I..."

Meifon's eyes narrowed.

"And I remember you. You and I... we were going to change the world. And I let myself fall to your sweet brand of poison." Meifon glanced over towards the ruined Jupiter Canon. "Nothing with you has changed. Even without your memories, your the same as you were before. Only now..."

Meifon glanced at Jack Bo.

"Only now you've moved beyond simply using honeyed words to bring others to your side." Meifon shook her head. "We were both given second chances in this world and yet, even without your memories, you're no different than you were before. You fancy yourself a false messiah who looks down on all others. And I..."

Strings looked up at Meifon, the dark wizard finally, after all this time, beginning to feel something elusive at the corners of his mind. He could see it, feel it, barely then. Thoughts and feelings fighting to be remembered in earnest. Staring at Meifon, he could feel the name on the tip of his tongue begin to come loose, for it to finally find a home in his voice.

"You." Strings began to understand then, the man's expression becoming one of smug superiority. "I remember! You're Wan-"

A beam of emerald light shot through Strings' head from above, an orb of Meifon's magic floating there. It had once simply existed innocently enough, its purpose that of a last resort, but now it acted on behalf of Meifon's instincts. It fired down again and again upon Strings, tearing his corpse asunder.

On and on it went, Meifon's breathing beginning to grow ragged as she watched. At first her eyes were focused on the sight intently, her expression cool and collected, but she began to waver. Turning away, she closed her eyes. No matter how much she hated Strings for all he had done here in Earth Land and in a life long since past, there was something innately wrong to Meifon to watch one's life being brought to an end from a source that dwelled above them.

Feel the pain of those inferior beings as you burn in hell. Meifon thought to herself as she continued to rain down death upon her foe.

The beams stopped, the orb fading from existence. Meifon realized then that she had begun to hold her breath since turning away. She leaned her head back a bit, exhaling loudly and sharply, before once more tilting her chin down and looking towards the ground.

"You will not speak that name in vain, Meifon said in a hushed tone. "Though I suppose it makes no difference. I... I already sullied it while standing by your side in another world."

Meifon was about ready to look to Jack Bo and assess how best to handle this situation further, when a familiar voice called out from behind her. "Goodness, all my chosen ones are so hard on themselves!"

Meifon turned around to find a dark haired woman dressed in many shades of violet, the wizard recognizing her divine stature almost immediately. Dropping down to one knee, Meifon bowed her head.

"Sylphia Nelia Labelle," Meifon said in great reverance. "You humble me with your presence."

"Please don't do that," Sylphia said as she knelt down and put her hands on Meifon's shoulder. "You don't owe me such fealty."

"I suppose I will never entirely change either," Meifon said as she stood up, Sylphia following her movement. "So why are-"

"Did you have to be so cruel?" Sylphia interrupted as she looked over Meifon's shoulder and at the remains of Strings. "The Magic Council could have dealt with him. Didn't they send you here to apprehend him?"

Meifon said nothing, the wizard feeling guilt in that instant. She had harbored such hatred for Strings but, confronted by the goddess that had given her a second chance, she wavered. "You... You and I both know he deserved far worse..."

Sylphia frowned. "Perhaps, but..."

"He ruined millions of lives in our world!" Meifon said, snapping at last. "And I... I helped him do it! I was fool who thought she could change the world but all I... I did was change myself for the worse! This... This was the least I could do for them all!"

Sylphia was quiet for a moment, allowing her previous chosen one to vent before speaking up. ""Be that as it may, I don't like seeing you act so cruel, Wan- I mean, Meifon Long."

"Don't do that," Meifon said. "I may reject what I did under that name in the end, but I have no right to deny you to speak it. I owe you... everything."

"I just don't want to cause you any undue pain," Sylphia replied. "I swear, it seems those I've chose can be so stubborn sometimes."

"Oh yes," Meifon said. "You did mention a new game when last we spoke. That champion of yours in the white was quite something."

"Oh that wasn't her," Sylphia countered. "Though Meninas is quite something."

"Wait," Meifon whispered in horror. "So that's the enemy?"

"No, she's an ally in the game," Sylphia answered. "There's... more to this one than what you experienced. The gods have all... reached an impasse. So.."

Sylphia sighed.

"A war is coming," she whispered. "It's no longer a game I'm afraid."

Meifon stared at Sylphia then, the wizard trying to process the severity of what the normally optimistic goddess had just said. "Are... all the chosen champions as strong as her?"

"No," Sylphia told her. "Meninas was one of the few that was lucky enough to come here with almost all of her power intact. The rest have been significantly weakened. Though it took a toll on the god who chose her."

"Unfortunate, though I suppose that goes for the enemy forces as well. I'll take some relief in that." Meifon smiled. "So how is she doing?"

"Bambietta is doing well in Fairy Tail." Sylphia said with a smile. "She's come a long way. She truly cares for her new family. Why, she's even found love in one of Anna's descendant's."

"Has she now?" Meifon said with a smile of her own. "I suppose that's something else your chosen ones have in common. Well, I suppose I'll have to check her out once the harvest festival begins."

"Your not going to go back to the guild?" Sylphia asked with disappointment. "Strings is dead. I'm more than positive they would welcome you back with open arms so long as they don't find out-"

"No. I'm afraid my time with them is over," Meifon said sadly. "The time I spent with them was easily some of the best ive ever had in either lives but I cant afford to give up my postion as a guild master or as a Wizard Saint over sentimentality. I can do so much more good if I act on my own devices."

Meifon then smirked.

"Besides, they don't need me. They have my successor."

"Ah yes, Irene's daughter. Erza If i remember correctly. Well, so long as you never forget the bonds that you shared with them, I suppose I'll support your decision." Sylphia smiled. "In any event, Jade is-"

However, before the conversation could continue, Meifon heard a voice in her head. It was Nahoime, talking to her via her guilds telepathic link they had set up. "Mistress, you've just received a summons from the magic council for an emergency meeting. All Wizard Saints are to come to headquarters to discuss matters of national security. It says its mandatory, ma'am."

"I see. Get the ship ready then. We'll be off in a few minutes." She then looked at Sylphia. "Keep an eye on Jade will you? I still don't like that you let her stay with Emberella."

"She'll make the right choice. I trust her."

Sylphia waved goodbye and in a flash of light she was gone, back to the realm of the divine. Meifon sighed but she also couldn't help but smile as she left. Her 'mother' always did have too much trust in people. Too forgiving in wanting to give those who ruined their lives a second chance. But it was for that reason that Meifon herself had been chosen at all. Much as it worried her to see Sylphia so carefree at times, she was grateful for it.

"In any event, It's best I get a move on as well. Besides...I cant wait to see Master Makarov again."


And with that we have the introduction of the Hero of Justice, Meninas Mcallon done and out of the way. As you can quite easily see, She's strong...Insanely strong.

Now why have I done this? Well several reasons, many of which I cant go into, but I want to put to rest a concern you may have. The tension. Rest assured that I still plan on this being around despite how...Well powerful she is. Despite how impressive she may have seemed in this chapter, Meninas is not invincible. Its true that in terms of sheer power, she's high/top tier already...but power isn't the only thing that wins fights. A good enough strategy or hax will more than do well enough to take her down. Not to mention I don't plan to use her all the time or every arc. In fact, she wont be appearing again for quite a while. Rest assured that I have things planned out to keep things interesting.

My main concern was trying to make her an interesting and compelling character. What we got in cannon was...Lacking to say the least. In fact, she (like many other stern ritter unfortunately.) didn't even get her own fight and was taken out off screen. Needless to say I had to do something to take what little I had and make something good.

When I think of super strength, I think of Superman, All Might, and Saitama...and so I pretty much put some aspects of all three characters into her own, along with what little we got from her in the cannon. (Which was a nice, albeit a little ditzy, woman.) and thus we got what we have.

It's also my belief that the reason the quincy's didn't age over the years was because they lost their physical bodies years ago and are just fighting in their soul forms by the time we deal with them in cannon, Thus when she "died" against that soul reaper, she lost her physical body but her soul form was still alive when she was recruited by Yhwach. (Which if your confused how he found her despite still "sleeping" during the 1930s, he basically used a thought projection.) The same thing happened to Ginjou in cannon so it makes sense.

Also for those of you wondering, yes, the Mary in this chapter is the very same one who joined Avatar in Fairy tail's original cannon. I cant explain why exactly, but I always rather liked her character. Thus I retooled her a bit and decided to use her to not only help Meninas grow as a character but to also add a new member to the cast as well. However, just because she's "good" dosnt mean she isn't a bit...insane. Needless to say she still has some issues to work out.

Finally, we have Meifon. We hinted at a previous war of the gods back in chapter 35, and she was one of the ones who participated. She, like Bambietta was also taken from her original world and brought here. However unlike Bambietta, she was reincarnated and given a new life. Both she and Strings, are actually the characters Wang Liu Mei and Ribbons Almark from Gundam 00. However you don't need to have seen this show in order to appreciate her character or to get more context. Ive given you all what you need for whats to come. She's just around to help build the new lore for the story and flesh out some of the cannon characters of fairy tail.

Besides, we don't know a lot of the wizard saints in cannon, so I just figured id make a few...This one in particular just has story relevance is all.

Her guild mates in case your wondering are based off of Graham Aker from Gundam 00, Xenovia and Irina from Highschool DXD and Naomi Fluegel from Zoids.

Also that old man was kinda meant to be "Stan Lee" though in universe that was actually just the god who chose Meninas trying to motivate her and used him to do just that. I just figured it would be a good tribute to the man is all.

But that's all I have to say for this chapter. Please do leave a review however as I want to really get your thoughts on what went down in this chapter. Ive been wanting to get to this point for a while, so leaving feedback will really mean a lot to me.

MPFs for this chapter.

Mary: 189

Stacy: 987 (Body not used to using magic after so long.)

Stacy while fighting fodder: 1200

Marcus Maximus: 1386

Team youth blood: 760 each

Durian and Pomelo: 1500

Titan trio: 2100

Titan fist fodder: 260

Strings: 643

Jack Bo Base: 9300

Meninas Base: 9500

Jack Bo Deus ex Anima: 13,400

Meninas Blut Arterie: 21,600

Jupiter cannon plus god slayer powers: 23,200

Meninas "The Power" Shrift: 42,897

Meifon: 5450