Hello ladies and gentlemen, it's the first of the month and you know what that means! It's time for another chapter of "A Quincy's Fairy Tail!" However, there's more to today than just that. As of today, I am opening up the "A Quincy's Fairy Tail" discord server! There you'll be able to talk with me and everyone else who's had a part to play in the process of A Quincy's Fairy Tail, much MUCH easier than you would have through just PM's (sorry for lack of answers for this I've been busy.)

For those who are interested, simply let me know in a Private Message. It may take a while for me to respond, but I'll try.

We all know what episode is coming up next week (and none of us are going to be happy about it) so I figured it was best that us Bambietta fans had a place we could come together and express our love of the character, as well as discussions about this story and more.

But enough of that. Let's get onto the chapter proper, shall we!?

Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo and Shönen Jump. Fairy Tail is owned by Hiro Mashima and Weekly Shönen Magazine. I own NOTHING. This is all just for fun.


"To think I'd be reduced to mere grunt work in our time in Magnolia. Well, I suppose there are worse ways to kill the time."

Ria Gregory, Neo Stern Ritter D of Yhwach's newly created Wandenriech, was in what most would have considered a highly precarious situation. At the moment, she was horrendously outnumbered, ninety to one as she faced down the entirety of the dark guild, Banshee's Wisp.

The dark mages didn't seem to take well to Ria's nonchalant attitude, several of them snarling at the beautiful redhead.

"Oi, don't be thinking you can just look down on us just because you're one of the emperor's head honchos!" One cried out.

"Yeah, we'll rip you limb from limb!" Another shouted.

"Now, there won't be any need for that, boys. After all, it would be a waste of such a beautiful woman."

The assembled group parted ways as a large man, almost seven feet tall walked towards her. He was clad from head to toe in a rather impressive looking set of silver knight like armor and a sword just as tall as he was and almost as wide. The only real part of his body not covering armor was his face, revealing his blue eyes, a long blonde beard and mustache.

Ria smiled at the armored clad mage as she placed her right hand on her hip. "I take it given the power I'm sensing from you that you're the guild master?"

The large man chuckled. "Indeed I am. My name is Borgan ó Broin! Now, seeing as how you're quite the voluptuous maiden, I'm willing to forgive your lack of respect for my men and spare your life if you decide to become my woman! I'll be sure to treat you right in exchange for the right 'services'."

Ria almost wanted to gag at his implications, but years spent as the heiresses of the Gregory family had given her the experience needed to not only keep her composure, but her polite exterior as well. "Well now, that is a rather generous proposal given the situation I'm in. However, I'll have to politely decline your offer. I simply owe far too great of a debt to His Majesty to leave his side. And besides-" She frowned. "I'd sooner hang myself then end up as the bride of a barbaric oaf like you."

Borgan narrowed his gaze at the red head before he flung his hands down. "Alright, you heard her boys. Kill her."

All of the mages that surrounded her struck out with various spells, but Ria jumped out of the way of the attack before she pointed her index finger at the dark mages. Five red blasts of magic shot out from her hand, each one knocking out a dark mage. As she landed gracefully on her feet, she quickly spun around to avoid an ax that had been swung at her head before she kicked the one responsible into several others, the lot of them crashing onto the wall of a nearby building, knocking them out.

"Let's hit her with a barrage, boys!" One of them cried out as an onslaught of various elemental magic headed her way. However, Ria didn't look even the least bit concerned as she simply lifted up her left hand and swung it, firing off a wave of red energy that overcame their attack and knocked out over two dozen of their members.

"Alright, enough, enough!" Borgan declared, the remainder of his guild stepping back as he walked towards Ria. "I can see now that your confidence wasn't entirely misplaced after all. But, I suppose I should have expected as much from an emperor's personal guard."

Ria smiled. "Well, I'm happy to see you've seen some reason. Tell you what, if you allow me to knock you all out without much of a fuse, then I promise that you'll all get out of this alive. His Majesty dislikes the needless loss of life as much as I do, so it can easily be accommodated. "

Borgan gave Ria a befuddled look before he began to laugh. "Surrender, surrender!? Don't get cocky just because you managed to knock some of my boys out. I'll have you know that I could defeat this entire guild by myself without breaking a sweat!"

He then slammed his gauntlet against his armored chest. "This ain't no ordinary armor ya see! This right here was a special project the Magic Council had planned for making en masse for the Rune Knights by Elizabeth Heartcruze herself! But it was considered too expensive so they stored it away until we stole it! It's made of a special kind of metal that's meant to absorb all sorts of energy and about 100 times more durable than even titanium and it's several times lighter! The same goes for the sword! You won't be able to even make me flinch, let alone hurt me!"

"A hundred times more durable than titanium? My, that is rather impressive," Ria admitted before she smirked. "Such a shame that it's wasted on a brute such as yourself."

Borgan snarled before he charged at Rias, his sword held high. He slammed the massive blade down as Ria leapt back, the ground beneath shattering into tiny little rocks before he swung at her again. This time Ria dodged underneath the strike, though the shock wave of the attack completely annihilated nearby trees into countless splinters of wood.

"You're an agile little thing, I'll give you that!" Borgan declared as he continued to swing away at her wildly. "But you can't dodge me forever! Either you'll run out of breath, or I'll just catch you with my Magic, like this! Iron Tendril Bind!" He then thrust his hand forward as several tendrils of metal shot out towards Ria, with each one wrapping around each of her arms and legs, leaving her suspended in mid air.

Borgan smirked as he leered at the bound Ria. "Well, how do you like my Iron control magic? It lets me manipulate any metal my body is in contact with, even one as hard as this!" He then poked the top of his sword against Ria's belly. "Last chance sweetie, what do ya say?"

But despite her predicament Ria's confidence didn't flatter in the slightest. "I told you before, didn't I? I'd rather die than be you're bride…or hear any more of your pointless prattle for that matter."

Borgan narrowed his eyes before he held his blade up high into the air. "Alright, fine then! If you won't be my woman, then I'll just cut you in two!"

The massive sword swung down on Ria's body, Borgan sneering as he expected to hear a scream of anguish the moment his blade made contact, but rather than the expected scream, the only sensation he experienced was his sword feeling a great deal lighter than it had before. He took a look at his blade before he gasped. "T-that's impossible!"

And just what was it that caused the guild master to lose his composure? Half of his long blade, made of the incredibly durable and almost indestructible metal was completely gone, the tip of the blade habit crashed to the ground harmless behind Ria.

But it wasn't just the parts of the sword that had hit Ria that had suddenly vanished. The iron bindings that held her in the air were simply gone, as the red head simply stood in the air as if it were the ground itself.

"Surprised? I suppose I can't blame you." Ria said with a smile. "I did activate my power pretty quickly, though I highly doubt that sword of yours could have cut me to begin with. Here, let me make sure it's visible to the rest of you as well."

Her body was surrounded by a red and black aura, not unlike the one Ichigo Kurosaki possessed when he used Bankai. She slowly floated to the ground then, the ground beneath her completely giving way as her magic touched it, and the very air seemed to cry out in agony wherever her power touched.

"W-what, what the hell kind of magic is that!?" Borgan shouted as he and his men backed away in fear.

"The letter his Majesty gave me was D, "The Destruction." With the sole exception of myself, anything that comes into contact with my Schrift is completely, totally, and utterly destroyed." She informed them as she slowly floated over towards them.

"B-but my armor is supposed to be able to absorb energy, so why couldn't it do that with your power!?" Borgan demanded as freight overtook him.

"Because, when it comes to my 'power', the concept of any sort of 'defense' is completely null and void. Unless you possess an inner strength that is considerably greater than my own, then there is no substance in this world, no matter how durable...That I cannot destroy."

The dark mages attempted to run away, but it was a futile effort. Ria simply raised up her right hand before a massive blast of destruction hurtled towards the dark guild. The fleeing mages let out a scream of horror, and then, the moment her power connected with them, they ceased to be, each of them vanquished before they could even experience any pain, along with the Jutsu Shiki barrier that kept them contained in the first place.

Ria let out a sigh as she looked where the mages once stood. Damn it. Looks like I've let the destructive urge of my schrift take hold of me yet again. Seems I truly have a ways to go before I truly make this power my own.

One thing was for certain, she'd more than have to file an extensive report as to just what had happened to the Fiore branch of the Magic Council...and that was a pain she'd rather avoid.


One hour. The Battle of Fairy Tail, the grand plan that Laxus had concocted in order to wrech control of the guild from his grandfather Makarov, had so far been going on for just one hour. In that one hour, things had seemed to have been going quietly smoothly for the Lightning Mage. Fairy Tail had gone from a force of over a hundred strong to under ten. As far as he was concerned, victory seemed all but guaranteed! The numbers were simply too far in his favor! Not only had the Thunder Legion managed to wipe out scores of the guild, but so had the many dark mages he and Emberella had employed under their grasp. The ones from the dark guild known as Las Noches in particular had been very successful thus far.

Yet, despite all of this, it seemed things weren't destined to go his way forever, as Laxus had taken his first loss. One of the members of the Thunder Legion, Evergreen, had fallen in battle. One of the three he trusted before all others had let him down.

Laxus snarled with rage as he glared at the results back at Kardia Cathedral. "You failed me!" He growled as he punched one of the church's pillars. "I put my faith in you, Evergreen, and this is how you return the favor!? I come to find out you're weaker than that damn pipsqueak of a quincy!? Damn it!"

Needless to say… Laxus wasn't taking it very well.

"The quincies are much stronger than you think," Freed said as he approached Laxus. "I came to realize that after Miss Basterbine managed to catch me off guard during our first meeting. It appears they weren't nominated for S-class for nothing. Bickslow and I should have tried to face her instead."

Laxus didn't even bother to give Freed a second glance. "Why are you here, when you should be fighting?" He demanded.

"Because the game is as good as over," Freed answered. "Without hostages, we can no longer force the master's hand."

"Oh, that's not true at all," Emberella purred as she made herself known. "We have several options remaining, such as our dark guild compatriots. As long as they're still around, we can easily force a fight. Not to mention the girl we took earlier."

Freed spun around and glared at Emberella. "That was something we never should have done in the first place!" He shouted. "Fairy Tail should never align itself with Dark guild's no matter what! Not to mention Wendy has nothing to do with any of this, we should just let her go right now–"

Freed was interrupted by a bolt of lightning tearing across the ground inches away from him. When he glanced back at Laxus, the look in the lightning mage's eyes gave him further pause.

"Laxus?" Freed spoke with considerable worry.

"She's right, Freed. This fight ain't over," Laxus insisted, as sparks of electricity crackled around his headphones. "If you don't want to follow me, then you can get lost. There's no place for weaklings in my Fairy Tail."

Freed gripped the handle of his sword, but said nothing. He…he couldn't leave Laxus. Not now. Not after everything they had been through together. Not with how far the plan had already gone.

Laxus smirked. "I thought as much. Now then, I think I'll have a quick chat with the old man. Time to raise the stakes."


Meanwhile, back at the Fairy Tail guild, everyone inside of the guild was celebrating the newfound freedom of the once petrified women of Fairy Tail. Candice and Makarov had done their best to try to get them all caught up to speed on the situation.

"He called it the Battle of Fairy Tail?" Lucy asked.

Candice nodded. "Yeah, and he wanted to use the whole thing as a way to snatch power away from Gramps. Luckily for us, Lil managed to pull through and screwed him over, big time!"

Cana sighed as she sat on the edge of the stage, a quinta sized bottle resting to her had always known him to be a bit rambunctious, but this was extreme, even for him.

"Laxus really outdid himself this time."

"Laxus…" Erza growled as she balled her fists. She had been willing to let him get away with many unfavorable acts in the past due to his power, but this time he had gone too far! With both Makarov and Ulquiorra out of the running, it seemed she'd have to settle things with him personally this time around.

"At any rate, once we deal with the dark mages, it'll all be over," Makarov told them. "I only played along with his foolish game because your lives were in danger, so I won't indulge him anymore."

"Hey, hold on a sec, what about Wendy!?" Levy asked.

Makarov shook his head. "While saving Wendy is still our top priority, I highly doubt Laxus could ever find it in himself to hurt her. I refuse to let him think that we're still playing his game. We'll save Wendy and deal with the dark mages, and after that, we'll continue on with the Harvest Festival."

Mirajane glanced towards the guild master, her expression one of concern before she spoke in an equally worried tone. "Master, we can't let him get away with hurting our friends."

"Yeah, she's right," Bisca agreed, with a perpetual frown and scowl to match before she clenched her right hand next to her face. "If we don't teach Laxus a lesson, then he'll never learn."

Makarov glanced over towards the pair and grimaced. "Ohhh don't worry. I'm gonna give that boy a punishment he'll never forget. He should know better. You can mess with me, but you can't mess with my guild!"

"Hey now, hold on a sec," Natsu interrupted Makarov, the young dragon slayer extending his palm out and his expression dim. "I don't know about taking hostages, but I don't see any harm in finding out who's the strongest. I think we should keep the battle going."

All of the women looked at Natsu with extremely dumbfounded expressions, while Gajeel simply rolled his eyes. "In the end, I bet he was just trying to have a little fun for the festival." Natsu added as he looked down at the old man. "Come on, give him a break!"

Makarov couldn't help but stare back at him. Do you still have faith in Laxus even now?

The dragon slayer then slammed his fists together, his characteristic grin returning in full force with a laugh. "So in other words, what are we waiting for!? We got enough people here, let's start brawling! C'mon, round two, right now!"

"Whaaat!?" All of the women shouted in unison.

"Don't even think about it, you nincompoop!" Makarov shouted at him.

Natsu didn't seem the least bit deterred as he began to punch at the air. "Aw, come on! I gotta do something with all this pent up energy I've got!"

"Give it a rest," Lucy bemoaned. "You're always looking for new excuses to pick a fight."

Cana chuckled. "If you need to blow off steam that badly, I'm always willing to rumble."

"Don't encourage him," Bisca said with a sigh.

Candice simply looked at Natsu, her head tilting in confusion. Lil, other than looks, what you see in this guy, I'll never understand.

"You know, I don't think it's nice to beat up on girls, especially when they're your friends," Happy spoke up.

Natsu just shrugged his shoulders. "A girl, a guy, friend, enemy, who cares?

The blue feline wasn't so happy about that answer. "Hey! Keep this up and I'm going to fight you!" He shouted back angrily.

Gerard meanwhile couldn't help but laugh! "Ah yes, that's the spirit boy! Tell you what, since we're both trapped in here, how's about the two of us going at it!? It'll be a great way to pass the time!"

"All right, now that sounds like fun!" Natsu replied as his flames began to surround him.

"You will do no such thing," Lille scolded his fellow member of the Schutzstaffel. "Any damage you would inflict would come out of Bosco's treasury, and we're already in dire straits as it is. I refuse to allow you to put our kingdom into further debt."

Gerard rose up to his feet. "Nonsense, I can keep myself contained!"

"That's what you said when you and Mask had a friendly sparring match back in the old Silbern. It took us months to finish patching up the holes. The answer is no."

Gerard wanted to refute his comrade, but a glare from 'Yhwach' stopped him right in his place before he retook his seat. It was simply best for now for him to not make any more of a scene.

"Oh, that's a shame…" Natsu grumbled before he looked at Candice. "Hey, what about you!? We've never fought before, so how's about it!?"

"As if! I've stayed behind this long to act as backup in case Bambi or Lil fuck thing's up! I'm not going to waste all that time I waited to fight you! Besides, us quincies can't manipulate ethernano inside of Freed's damn Jutsu shiniwhatever it's called anyways!"

"Oh come on, I gotta fight someone!" Natsu complained.

As Natsu continued to make a fool of himself, Juvia couldn't help but glance over towards Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer having been unusually silent throughout the ordeal. "Why such a serious expression?" Juvia asked her friend.

"Tch, it's nothing," Gajeel answered.

Juvia didn't seem to buy it for a second though as she smiled. "This guild is rather fun, isn't it?" She asked the Iron Dragon Slayer. "I've found plenty of new friends here, and even my beloved Gray. I think you'll really come to like it here. You just need to give it a try."

Gajeel simply turned away from Juvia before he spoke. "Well, it ain't boring at least."

As Natsu had begun to chase after Lucy now, the dragon slayer insisting on a good fight with anyone, Erza growled, and began to walk over to the dragon slayer, no doubt about to give him one hell of a lecture about how such activities had a time and place, but before she could raise her voice, someone else had beaten her to the punch.

"Ridiculous. Have you no concept about what your words entail, Natsu?"

Everyone glanced over towards Ulquiorra, the pale arrancar slowly making his way towards the dragon slayer with both of his hands still in his pockets.

"Oh come on, it's all just fun and games right?" Natsu said to him. "I mean, I say we just take care of the dark mages and then we can have some fun till the Harvest–"

"You seem to view the situation as if it were nothing more than a glorified guild brawl," Ulquiorra interrupted him. "Were it so, your enthusiasm would be appropriate. However, Laxus has taken considerably dangerous actions towards this guild. No matter what his intentions, this sort of behavior should be considered unacceptable. He is an enemy, plain and simple."

Natsu shook his head. "I keep telling you guys, he was just bluffing! Laxus would never go that far!"

"Natsu, I hate to say it, but Ulquiorra is right," Candice brought up, her expression more somber. "He's changed, he's not the same guy I used to like screwing around with. Not anymore." The green-haired quincy couldn't help but look down at her feet, her fingers digging into her palms. "Something's definitely wrong here, I know it. I just wish I knew what."

However, before the conversation could continue any further, the letters from Freed's Jutsu Shiki began to flicker and move about in front of the guild hall's entrance before they began to slowly float outwards.

"Huh!? What's going on?" Mirajane asked.

Cana scowled. "Don't tell me he's up to something else."

As if to answer their questions, the words began to form together in the center of the guild hall until they finally formed into a massive red skull.

Ugh, great, now my ex has turned into a literal red skull. If Bambi and Meni were here, I'd never hear the end of it. Candice thought as she glared up at the new construct.

"So, can you hear me old man?" Laxus's voice called out from the massive red skull. "The rest of you better listen up too."

Candice scoffed. "Why, so we can hear you talk about how the game's still on because you got Wendy? Yeah yeah, jackass, we know! Our first priority is saving her and dealing with all your stupid ass goons out there so you don't have anything left to bargain with, so how's about you take your deal and–"

"Oh, that? I wasn't even going to bother with that. I figured you were already well aware of that anyways," Laxus replied nonchalantly through the massive skull.

"What do you want?" Natsu asked.

"I just thought I'd let you know that I've decided to raise the stakes! Since I would hate to end the Battle of Fairy Tail early, I've decided to activate the Thunder Palace."

"Are you out of your mind, Laxus!?" Makaraov demanded. He knew that his grandson was willing to take things further than he should have, but to escalate things this far!? It was nothing short of madness!

"You have two hours," Laxus spoke. "If you think you can win, you'd better get moving, unless you're ready to hand over the guild to me now, Master."

Makarov scowled as Laxus's voice broke out into a mad laughter, the massive red skull shattering with Laxus having finished making his demands. The Wizard Saint grit his teeth before he gripped his fists and shouted at the top of his lungs. "This game has gone on for long enough, boy! I won't let you drag more innocent people into this!"

Yet, just as Makarov finished his declaration, the old man suddenly grasped onto the left side of his chest, grunting in pain before he fell over to the ground.

"Master!" Cana cried out.

"Gramps?!" Natsu asked with concern.

"What's going on!?" Lucy couldn't help but ask.

"Shit, is the old man having a heart attack!?" Candice cried out as she ran to his aid.

"I'll go and get his medicine!" Mirajane said before she took off running. Ulquiorra hurried to her aid to see if he could help hurry the process along.

"Hang in there Master, it'll be ok!" Levy tried to reassure him as Bisca went to check up on Makarov.

Erza grit her teeth before she took off running outside of the guild. She couldn't afford to waste any more time! The sooner she found and defeated Laxus, the sooner this entire nonsense would be over. Laxus, I swear, I'm going to make you pay for what you've put Master through!

Gerard watched her leave the guild, nodding his head slightly. May you be more successful in your attempt at saving your comrades and your lord than I was, Titania.

"Come on, Gramps… You gotta pull through this," Natsu said, the dragon slayer looking considerably worried at the old man's current health. But as Natsu looked down at Makarov with concern, he couldn't help but ask a question that wouldn't leave his mind. "Does anybody know what he means by Thunder Palace?"

Candice looked over towards Natsu. "Yeah, I was wondering about that too. The jerkoff only mentioned how he could turn his body into lightning and his control over it. This is all news to me too."

Mirajane came rushing down the stairs, a bottle of medicine in hand, but rather than descend down the stairs, she instead pointed to the upper level of the guild. "Hey, look outside! There's something really weird going on!"

The entire group, sans the fake emperor, ran up to the second floor's battlements. Ulquiorra was already present, the arrancar having decided to take a closer look the moment he and Mirajane spotted the peculiar sight. And just what was it that he and Mirajane had spotted earlier? Several hundred floating orbs, each with a lightning insignia in the middle had surrounded all of Magnolia. While the arrancar couldn't tell what their purpose was, he could sense power brewing inside of them, each one with some considerable amount of power.

"What in the heck are those?" Natsu asked.

"That's probably the Thunder Palace, if I were to hazard a guess," Candice dryly replied.

"They look like lightning lacrima to me," Levy said. "But I guess that's just what the Thunder Palace is in the first place."


Bambietta had been running throughout the streets of Magnolia, the quincy having only two goals in mind: saving her friends who had been turned to stone, and rescuing Wendy from wherever she was. Defeating either Freed or Evergreen was a must in her mind, as either one would be a boon to her efforts to either of those goals.

Thankfully, she didn't have to worry about the latter anymore, the quincy having caught a glimpse of the victor upon seeing the scoreboards from one of the many barriers Freed had erected along Magnolia. That had taken a considerable amount of stress off of her shoulders, and the quincy couldn't help but smirk. Looks like I'll be buying Lil a cake for that one.

All that remained now in her mind was Freed. Defeating him would allow her the chance to locate Wendy and truly put her mind at ease. Laxus still awaited her towards the end, but with Freed out of the picture, both Makarov and Ulquiorra would be able to confront him at once. She didn't care how much stronger he had gotten since Phantom Lord, as far as she was concerned, Laxus was screwed.

She took out her flare gun then, about to fire another shot into the sky to warn the others of her location, only for her eyes to shoot wide open as she noticed the hundreds of floating objects above Magnolia's sky. "Oh come on, what now!?" Bambietta demanded.

But before she could ponder the matter any further, several loud footsteps made their way towards her. A group of dark mages had slowly made their way towards Bambietta, each of them looking at her in lecherous ways.

The supposed leader of them spoke up. "Well, well, well, look what we found here boys? A nice, fine piece of ass."

"Yeah, damn fine!" Another added.

"I say we take her to one of those alleyways. You know, for some quality–"

Bambietta didn't even bother looking at the group of six, simply forming an orb of "The Explode" in her right hand before she chucked it behind her, catching all six in a large explosion that shook the entire street. The lot of them fell over, skin burnt, eyes white, mouths agape.

Bambietta sighed. "You know what? I don't care anymore. I just need to find that asshole Freed so I can end this shit. At least then I'll probably get a good fight out of it, unlike these losers."


Back at the guild, the assembled mages still stared up at the lightning lacrima, the group unsure as to what their next move should be.

"Man, these things are floating all over town. What should we do?" Lucy asked.

"They may not look like much, but they're overflowing with lightning magic." Cana replied. "This could get ugly. Let's just hope he doesn't set them off."

"Wait, if those things are full of lightning, what'll happen if he activates them!?" Lucy asked Cana as she pointed at the floating orbs.

"Everything within it will be burned down to a crisp." Cana answered, her voice low. "All of Magnolia would be wiped out."

Candice grit her teeth as her body shook with rage. Laxus, you wouldn't seriously consider hurting normal people just to become guild master…would you? The more and more this continued on, the less she felt she truly knew him. These weren't the actions of some troubled soul. These were the actions of a monster.

Was… Was it all just a lie? She couldn't help but wonder.

"I won't let that happen!" Bisca shouted as she requipped out her sniper rifle, the Guns Mage getting down to one knee and taking aim. "Target locked on! Stinger Shot!" Her shot rang true, the magical bullet piercing the lacrima and reducing it to dust.

"Nice shot!" Lucy praised Bisca.

"Yeah, awesome work!" Natsu added.

"Lucky for us, we got a sniper." Cana mentioned. "We should be able to take these down in no time."

Bisca smirked, the green-haired mage preparing to take her next shot. "Now all I gotta do is take care of the rest of–"

However, before she could finish her sentence, a bolt of lighting had shot from where the lacrima had once been. The attack sped towards her, too fast for anyone to possibly react and warn her in time.

Well, almost anyone.

Just before the moment of impact, Lille Baro had pushed her out of the way, the quincy sniper taking the brunt of the attack and shielding the gunman from any harm. He cried out in pain before he fell to one knee, the sniper gasping for breath.

"Lille!" Candice and Bisca gasped out as they went over to check up on him.

"Why did you do that, Lille!? Why bother protecting me!?" Bisca asked the quincy.

The dark-skinned man glanced over towards her, panting slightly. "Because I knew… you wouldn't be able to withstand that kind of attack without some serious damage. We're… here to forge an alliance between… our two kingdoms after all."

Candice, however, couldn't help but look at him in confusion. The fuck is going on here!? I know you're strong enough to take an attack like that and then shrug it off like it was nothing. So what's the deal!? The only thing that made any sense to her was that he simply had to have been significantly weakened like the rest of them had.

"I'll get you to the infirmary right away!" Bisca said as she began to lift him up with one arm, while Mirajane assisted as best she could. "Just try to hang in there!"

As Bisca and Mirajane began to take the member of the Schutzstaffel to the resting room so he could recover from his injury, the others glanced back up towards the various lacrima. "I don't understand, what just happened!?" Lucy asked.

"It must be Organic Link magic," Cana told her.

"Ok, I'll bite. The fuck does that do?" Candice inquired in an exasperated tone.

"It's a type of spell that's been cast on the lacrima. If you destroy one of them, then the magic energy used in your attack will be reflected back at you several times over. So, if we attack them, we'll be putting our lives on the line."

"Oh. That's… broken," Candice spoke before she looked over at Ulquiorra. "Do you think you could destroy the lacrima? I'd like to think that Hierro of yours would come in handy for dealing with that."

"I could destroy up to half in one shot as I am with a Cero," Ulquiorra stated. "However, it would most likely severely injure me as a result. It would be more wise for me to wait and see if any of your friends can defeat Freed and allow me to defeat Laxus personally. However, I'll be willing to destroy as many as I can should it prove necessary."

"You can't do that! Attacking that many lacrima at once will probably kill you!" Levy begged him.

"If it will keep you safe, then so be it," Ulquiorra insisted. "The safety of you and the guild is my top priority. Anything else is-"

"No, I don't want to lose you like that!" Levy insisted. "I know we haven't really known each other for that long, but you're one of my best friends! I can't let you sacrifice yourself like that, I just can't!"

"Man, this was all fun and games at first, but now you've crossed the line, Laxus!" Natsu yelled out before he jumped off of the guildhall's battlements. As expected, he slammed into Freed's barrier, but Natsu wasn't going to let that stop him this time, the dragon slayer banging his head against the barrier.

"You coward! If you want to be master so bad, then why don't you come here and fight gramps for it yourself!?" He slammed his head against the barrier once more, growling in fury. "When I get out of here, you're going to pay for this!"

"Stop, Natsu! Just calm down," Levy told Natsu with concern as she turned her attention towards him.

"I can't calm down!" Natsu told her as he began to punch at the barrier repeatedly. "This sucks, stupid invisible walls are everywhere! Grah!"

"Listen, you're not going to get out of here by brute-forcing it!" Levy insisted.

"Yeah, thanks, we already knew that," Gajeel told her with a roll of his eyes. "But it's not exactly easy to just sit around here and do nothing."

To his surprise though, she turned to him with a grin. "Well, lucky for you two, this barrier is comprised of a kind of script magic. I might be able to break the spell!"

"Wait, you can do that?" Gajeel asked.

"Well I can't promise anything," Levy told him. "But it should be possible. Really, it's more about me being able to figure this out in time than anything else."

The Iron Dragon Slayer grinned. "Geehee! You pull this off, you can consider me impressed."

Ulquiorra stared towards the lacrima before he spoke up once more. "There is another option available to us. If the majority of the guild were to destroy a single lacrima each, and I were to escape this barrier to use my resurrección, then destruction of all the lacrima should be possible without the loss of any life."

"Then that's exactly what we'll do!" Levy insisted. "I'm going to go down to the library and see if I can figure out a way to rewrite some of Freed's Jutsu Shiki to let you guys out of here! That way, you guys will be able to track down Wendy and defeat Laxus!"

"Alright!" Natsu yelled as he threw his right hand in the air. "I'm all fired up now!"

"The rest of us should probably head out there to do what we can to find Freed and put an end to this as soon as possible," Cana mentioned. "He might be the favorite to become S-class, but there's no way he can hope to beat all of us at once!"

Juvia nodded her head in agreement. "Right! We should head out and try to find him immediately."

"Count me in," Bisca said as she returned, a steely gaze present on her face. "I'm more than determined to put an end to this. I gotta make what Lille did count for something!"

"In the meantime, I'll do what I can to find Wendy!" Lucy brought up. "The sooner we have her safe and sound, the sooner she can help out Master!"

Cana nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Just remember that Bickslow is still out there too. He might not be as strong as Freed, but he's still among the guild's best. So, be careful!"

Candice grinned. "Alright, it sounds like we got a plan! Screw just sitting around here and waiting for shit to get worse! Operation 'Kick Laxus, Freed, Bickslow, and All Those Arrancar and Dark Mages in the Dick' is a go!"


A green blast of magic shot out from three of Bickslow floating dolls, Gray managing to just barley managing to avoid the attack by jumping up into the air, the ice mage landing on his feet, before he was forced to retreat once more.

All five of Bickslow's dolls continued to chase after Gray , the young man having no choice but to run through an aisle through the clothing store the two had forced their fight into. So far Bickslow had been relentless leaving him with hardly any time to prepare a spell. Every time he had tried to take a stance to prepare for one of his techniques, he had to almost instantly dodge a laser from one of Freed's dolls.

Man, does this guy ever let up!? Gray couldn't help but wonder before he jumped over another two beams of green magic.

"Line formation, babies!" Bickslow commanded his dolls, his left hand stretched outward before his dolls began to stack on top of each other in mid air.

"Aw yeah!" The dolls cried out before they concentrated their magic into a crescent beam that fired towards Gray, forcing him to jump to the left as the beam destroyed an entire wall rack of clothing, blowing up a large amount of dust in the process, obscuring both Gray and the doll's.

"Hey, you're not too shabby with how you dodge my attacks!" Bickslow admitted. "But it's not good enough! Gimme a victory formation, babies!" He demanded as he pointed his index finger...only for his dolls to not respond to his commands at all. "Hey, what's the matter?" He asked his dolls.

But as the dust settled, the answer to his question was clear. All five of his folks lay amongst the floor, all five of them encased in ice!

"Crap, they're frozen solid!" Bickslow exclaimed before Gray snuck up on him and kneed the helmet clad mage right on his chin, sending him soaring through the air.

Finally having a real opportunity for a counter attack, Gray clasped his hands together as an icy chill surrounded them. "Ice Make: Hammer!"

He swung the massive construct of Ice down, the hammer only a few feet away from striking Bickslow, just before the attack could connect, Bickslow had already crossed his arms. "X-formation, babies!"

Just then, five manikins had appeared right under Gray's ice hammer, stopping it in its tracks before the ice shattered completely

Gray hadn't expected that, the ice mage aghast. "What the-"

"I guess you've never heard of my Seidhr magic, huh?" Bickslow asked as his dolls floated around him. "I control my babies souls. Freeze them and I'll just move their souls into another doll. I've got an immortal army on my side!"

"On his side, on his side!" The dolls echoed.

Gray grit his teeth as he started at the flying dolls. "Man, this is gonna be a real pain, isn't it?"

"Do you get it now?" Bickslow asked. "You can attack my babies all day and it won't do you a lick of good!"

"Well since it won't work on them, I'll just freeze you instead!" Gray retorted as he extended both of his hands before he firecour a blast of ice. However before the attack could connect, the five dolls converged on the attack, blocking it as they froze.

"Go ahead and try, if you can catch me!" Bickslow yelled as he took off in a sprint towards the exit of the store.

"Don't you run away, get back here!" Gray demanded as he took off after Bickslow.

Bickslow just laughed as he ran out into the streets of Magnolia, Gray doing his best to catch up. "Fight me like a man damn it!"

But Bickslow didn't seem to pay Gray's words any mind, the member of the Thunder Legion continuing to laugh before he ran into an alleyway, Gray quickly following after him. Yet, once he was inside the man had seemingly vanished.

"Crazy freak." Gray muttered as he wandered down the alleyway. "Where'd he run off to now?"

"Getting warmer!"

Gray looked up towards the top of the alleyway. Sure enough, there was Bickslow, the strange man managing to look down on Gray by stretching out both of his legs as far as he could, allowing himself to stand on both sides of the alleyway, much like a circus performer would do. "Peekaboo!" Bickslow teased.

Gray was less than impressed by the acrobatic trick on display. "Real funny. What are you trying to pull here anyway?" Gray asked.

"I just want to fight someone on my level. A shame you don't make the cut." Bickslow answered.l before he stuck out his tongue. "My babies are gettin bored. It's time to spice things up a bit."

Gray noticed Bickslow was starting at…something, but just what he couldn't tell. Turning around, he found his answer as he was staring at a set of floating purple letters, with another set forming around Gray. "What!? Another Jutsu Shiki?!"

"Guess you're outta luck." Bickslow snarked. "You're not allowed to use Magic as long as you're inside that barrier.

"Damn it, I'm not done!" Gray shouted. Things certainly weren't looking good, but he refused to just roll over and give up. That wasn't how a real Fairy Tail wizard would act!

Bickslow couldn't help but chuckle. "Sucks to be you. You're stuck in that barrier all by yourself. But it's a party out here! Come on babies!"

"Time to party? Time to party?"

All five of the manikins had flown over to the exit right behind Gray, each of them letting out a blast, filling the corridor with their attacks.

Bickslow couldn't help but roar with laughter as he looked down at the dust cloud created after the recent barrage. *Aha ha ha! I don't think I'd bother getting up again if I were you! You can't win without your magic!"

"Oh, ya think so!?" Gray shouted as he kept from the debris before he left into one of the walls and ran up it before jumping towards the other side and then jumping again above Bickslow, his right hand cocked behind his head. The manikins floated right behind him, but Gray smirked as he turned around to face them. "You want some!?" He was just about to dodge out of the way yet again but just as the dolls fired, he caught something out of the corner of his eye in the alleyway.

There was a little girl staring at the comfort of her own home, looking considerably worried. His eyes shot wide open as he realized just what was about to happen. Damn it, if I dodge then that girls a goner!

He turned around mid air then and crossed his arms to defend himself, hoping to withstand the force of the attack. However, the attack was simply too much and he fell to the ground.

Bickslow let out a maniacal laughter as Gray weakly tried to get back up to his feet. "Ahahahaha! Don't tell me that's all you got!?" Bickslow mocked him.

But much to Bickslow's shock, Gray had managed to find just enough strength in himself to crouch down and leap into the air one last time, the ice mage punching Bickslow as hard as he could, forcing Bickslowl to crash to the ground.

Unfortunately, this was nothing more than a last bit of defiance on Gray's part, the ice make wizard crashing to the ground face first. He tried to get up, to prop himself up with his hands and knees…but his body just wouldn't listen. Damn it all. Juvia I….I'm sorry. Then, much to his shame, the fairy tail wizard felt his consciousness leave his body.

Bickslow growled as he rose up to his feet, the helmet clad mage turning around as he glared at Gray's prone form. "Listen you jerk! When my babies hit you like that, you're supposed to stay down!" A quick glance however made it clear to Bickslow that Gray was no longer able to hear his words, the mage sighing he nudged him with his foot. "Man, I'm glad I wore my helmet today. That last punch could have caused some major damage to my handsome face, and nobody wants that."

He chuckled then as he began to make his way out of the alleyway. "Of course, we're just lucky that Gray decides to wear anything." Smirking as he made his way out into the street's, Bickslow couldn't help but boast to his dolls. " So, what did you think of that, huh babies!? Gray's supposed to be one of the best, yet I beat him easy-peesy! This battle is as good as ours."

"Good as ours, good as ours!" The doll's agreed.

Bickslowl couldn't help but chuckle once more before he glanced over towards the end of the street. "Welp, come on babies, let's go find someone else we can beat!" However, just as he took another step forward, a blast of energy hurtled down towards him. Bickslowy leapt backwards, just narrowly avoiding the attack. "Hey, what gives!?"

"I wouldn't be so proud of that victory if I were you. Not when it was won with nothing but cheap tricks."

Bickslow glanced up towards the direction of the voice, as Momo Hinamori stood atop one of Fiore's lampposts, the ribbons of her hair bun flowing from a breeze of the wing, the artificial shinigami looking down at the member of the Thunder Legion. "But you'll find you won't have a chance to use any of those with me."

Bickslow grinned as he looked at his newest opponent. "Well, well, well! If it isn't the shortstack! Here I was thinking you'd lost against one of those dark mages!" He snickered then as his eyes traveled down Hinamori's body, his tongue sticking out. "Nice outfit by the way. You always fight in a bikini?"

Red as a tomato, Momo was quick to retort. "T-this was only for Miss Fairy Tail! I didn't want to waste any more precious time by changing my clothes, that's all!"

"Suuuuure it is." Bickslow teased.

"It's true!" Momo insisted.

"Whatever you say, short stack."

Momo resisted the urge to continue their pointless back and forth banter, her blush and embarrassment vanishing almost instantly as she glared at Bickslow. "I'm only going to give you one chance. Give up now and I won't have to hurt you. The sooner we put an end to this pointless conflict the better."

Bickslow laughed. "Pointless!? We're holding this little tournament to find out who's the best and so Laxus can become our new leader! The guild's been going downhill for a while now, and under his leadership we'll make the guild better than it ever was!" He stuck his tongue out at the former vice captain. "Besides, do you really think you can beat me, newbie?"

Momo's right hand gripped onto the handle of her zanpakuto which hung by the obi belt she had bothered to tie around her waist. "It's not about whenever or not I think I can win…it's that I have to!"

(Song of choice: Lightning Speed, Naruto Shippuden OST)

Before Bickslow knew what had happened, Momo had seemingly vanished from his line of sight, before the reigai appeared right in front of him, preparing to draw her sword. Bickslow just narrowly managed to somersault over Momo's strike, but as he landed, he felt a slight pain across his chest. Glancing down, he noticed a small cut around his shirt, with a small trickle of blood leaking out.

"Woah, that's pretty dangerous don't you think, babies!?" Bickslow asked his minions as the floating manikins came to his aid.

"Dangerous, dangerous!" They agreed, with all five of them blasting at Momo. Yet as each of the blasts came her way, the soul reaper managed to parry each of the blasts before she leaped into the air and pointed her index finger at Bickslow.

"Hado # 4: Byakurai!"

A shot of lighting erupted from her finger, with two of the manikins firing their blasts at the kido in an attempt to offset it. An explosion rocket the street's, with Bickslow attempting to place Momo as best as he could, only for his arms to suddenly lock in place!

"Oi, the hell is this!?" He demanded before Momo came rushing through the dust cloud, her zanpakuto poised to strike. Not wanting to take another strike from her blade, Bickslow jumped above onto one of the banners hanging from the street before he flexed his arms and with a loud yell, broke the seemingly invisible binds.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all of creation, flutter of wings. Ye who bears the name of man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south! Hado # 31: Shakkahō!"

A red ball of burning energy erupted from the palm of her hand, the attack hurtling towards Bisckslow. His eyes widening from under his helmet, he quickly crossed his arms. "X Formation, Babies!"

The manikins all lined up to block the attack, and sure enough, the kido was stopped mid air. Bickslow smirked, only to hear his 'babies' cry out in pain as two of the manikins were destroyed

"What!? My babies!? What did you do to me babies!?" He demanded as he moved the two souls into some stuffed toys from a nearby toy store.

"My 'magic' isn't like others on Earthland."

Bickslowl spun around, surprised to see Momo standing on midair right behind him. "Us shinigami don't use ethernano like you wizards do. Rather, we use reiatsu, it's a type of energy that's empowered by our souls. In other words, the power of my soul can hurt your souls!"

Before he could fully register what she had just said, Momo had used flashstep to slam the pommel of her zanpakuto into his stomach, sending rolling across the ground before she pointed her middle and index finger at him. "Bakudo # 9, Act 2: Hōrin!" An orange tendril shot from her fingers, ensnaring Bickslow before she flung the member of the Thunder Tribe high into the sky before she prepared her next spell, her zanpaktou held in front of her body horizontally.

"Hado # 32: Okasen!"

A wide, horizontal arc of yellow energy fired forth from her zanpaktou, but despite the pain they felt earlier, Bickslow's manikins had sprung into action, this time with all five of them firing at the spell. The two energy's clashed, and with no clear winner, the beams exploded in the middle of the air once more. Having a moment of reprieve, Bickslow had two of the manikins fire at the bond's that held him, allowing himself to break free. "Man, so this is what a shinigami can do huh? Crazy."

"Haaaaah!"

Looking up, there was Momo, the reigai's zanpakuto raised above her head as she went in for another strike. Acting fast, Bickslow had one of the remaining manikins fly in front of her, attempting to block the strike, only for Momo's zanpakuto to cleave through it with ease as the spirit cried out in pain once more.

Her sword can hurt my babies too!? Bickslow freaked out before he leapt onto one of Magnolia's rooftops. "I was right! You 'shinigami' aren't just calling yourselves death gods, you're the real deal, aren't you?!"

Momo glanced over towards Bickslow, eyes slightly wide. "In a sense. But how did you figure that out so easily?"

Bickslow grinned. "I've got special eyes that let me see souls. I've known there was something up about you and that other raven haired cutie the moment I laid eyes on you!"

His five doll's floated around him then, blasting away at Momo with multiple blasts. Using flashstep, Momo proceeded to dodge and weave through each at the attacks, slowly making her way towards Bickslow. "You enslave souls!? You're a monster!"

"I'll have you know my babies serve me willingly!" Bickslow shouted as he leapt back from building to building as she continued to approach him. "I'm not some freak who'd force the souls of the dead to work for me you know! Let's show her just what kind of bond we've got babies! Baryon Formation!"

All five of his manikins floated around him then, before they began to spin into a pentagonal pattern before a massive beam of green energy fired from his minions.

Not good! Momo thought as the attack hurtled towards her before she went on the defensive. "Bakudo # 73: Tozanshō!"

An inverted pyramid, made out of blue energy, formed around her in an attempt to block the attack. The massive laser clashed against her barrier, the construct shaking and cracking with Momo flung to the otherside of the barrier from the sheer force of the attack until the beam of light ceased. Groaning, Momo slowly shook her head and opened her eyes before she gasped.

The Bakudo had done its job to protect her, but just barely. A large, massive hole was present in the inverted pyramid, with cracks slowly spreading all over before the barrier shattered completely.

Momo pointed her blade at Bickslow then, her eyes narrowing as her weapon changed shape from a regular Katana to a double edged sword with three jutte like prongs along its length at various intervals. "I'm going to give you one last chance. Give up now…or I'll be left with no choice but to destroy your precious 'babies'."

Bickslow scratched his chin as he appeared to give it some thought. "Hmmmm, let me think about that…Nah!" He then leapt onto one of the few remaining floating manikins and took off into the street. "Catch me if you can, shortstack!"

Growling at Bickslow, Momo swung her sword back, a fireball igniting on its tip. "Fine, have it your way!" She swung her sword, her zanpakuto firing out a fireball about the size of a beach ball. However, as Bickslow flew away, his remaining four dolls proceeded to blast at the fireball, preventing it from hitting their master. Again and again she tried with her fireballs, each one of them meeting with a similar result, though each attempt came closer and closer to hitting Bickslow.

Bickslow continued to laugh like a madman as he ran away, just barely dodging through Hinamori's barrage of Fire now. Then, much to Momo's surprise, he came to a sudden stop.

She carefully took a few steps forward, her eyes never leaving his body. "What's wrong, can't keep running anymore?" She asked him.

"Not exactly," Bickslow answered her before he turned around, his tongue sticking out of his mouth once more. "I just thought it was time for me to level the playing field was all."

"What are you-" Her eyes shot open, quickly picking up the meaning behind his words, but it was too late. Hundreds of purple letters began to surround the pair, trapping them within an invisible barrier

"Ahaha! Too badly for you, short stack!" Bickslow taunted her. "You might have had a chance if Laxus didn't also ask his Ex about what you shinigami could do! But unfortunately for you, you can't use your zanpakuto , Kido or Flashstep in here! So you're as good as powerless!"

Bickslow's dolls surrounded Momo the, each of them preparing for another shot. "I, on the other hand, still have plenty of options! Go and get her, babies!"

"Get her! Get her!"

The five floating objects fired their beams at Momo, the soul reaper dodging under one blast, and jumped to the left to dodge another, but while she was in mid air, the remaining three of Bickslow's minions had surrounded Momo, each one peppering her with multiple blasts of magic, electing a loud scream from Hinamori before she fell to the ground and rolled back a few feet.

Slowly, she tried to get up, but Bickslow's dolls already had her surrounded, each of them charging up their next attack, their master cackling as he approached her. "You know, it's almost too bad the fights gotta end like this. I probably would have enjoyed it if it weren't for your powers hurting my babies. Sorry, but I gotta end this fast."

(Song of choice: Emergence of Talents, Naruto OST)

"Do you really think…you've already won?" Momo gasped as she slowly tried to get up to her feet.

Bickslow stuck his tongue out at her. "Pft, this again? Gray said the same thing before I took him out, and the sames going to happen to you without your sword and Kido!"

The five dolls blasted at Momo, each one with more than enough power to render most wizards unconscious. Yet despite the horrible situation…Momo smiled.

"Prominence Typhoon."

A spiraling column of purpleish fire shot around her, destroying the manikins and stuffed toys that had surrounded her, with Bickslow leaping back to avoid getting caught up in the blast.

"What the hell!? She can use fire magic!?" The member of the Thunder Legion panicked as he moved the souls into more toys from the nearby store.

"Airspace: Zetsu!"

Multiple blasts of air fired at Bickslow, each of them detonated around him. "Gahhh!" He cried out as he fell to his knees. Air Magic too!?

"Plâtre Sonata!"

A massive fist made of rock fired from the palms of her hands, Bickslow just barely managing to leap above the attack before he landed on another rooftop. "Why you -"

"Water Ray!"

A concentrated beam of water fired from Momo's left hand, with one of Bickslow's dolls rushing in front of the attack to block it, with the other four dashing towards her. She leapt up into the air to dodge their barrage of attacks before she used her next spell.

"Fire bullet!"

The attack scored a hit on one of Bickslow's tits, incinerating it as the soul flew off to find another body. She moved her head to the left to doge a blas, then ducked downward to avoid more attacks, pressing her left hand to the ground.

"Shadow Snake!"

The shadow below Hinamori shot off from the ground and transformed itself into five snakes made of shadow, each of them chomping down and destroying the assorted toys Bickslow had controlled.

"How the heck do you know this much magic!?" Bickslow demanded as he proceeded to move the souls into even more toys. "It takes a wizard a good five years just to get the basics of their magic down and then another five to ten to master it, so what gives!?"

Momo smiled. "I guess you could say I'm a prodigy of sorts. Though truthfully, I haven't mastered any of the magic archetypes these spells originate from. I've simply decided to learn whatever spell catches my fancy. Some have been easier than others, but I find they all have their own special uses."

"That a fact? Then let's see what your repertoire does against this! Line formation babies!"

The five toys stacked atop one another, blasting out into an arching laser. Her eyes shooting wide open, Momo prepared her next spell as she thrust her arms out.

"Ice Make: Shield!"

The elemental shield burst from the ground, but the blast tore through the defense with ease and blasted right into Momo, sending her rolling across the rooftop.

The Reigai grunted as she tried to get to her feet, before she clenched her left side from the pain she was in as she berated herself internally. Too brittle, just like Gray said it would be. He was right when he said it wasn't battle ready yet. Guess that's what I get for trying out a new spell in the middle of a fight.

She took a few steps forward, before she grit her teeth from the pain. Darn it. That attack really did some damage. If I take two more of those…

"Hey, hey, hey, we're not done yet! Victory formation, Babies!" Bickslow shouted at her as his minions floated about

"Victory, Victory!"

The toys surrounded Hinamori, each of them firing continuously with their laser aimed at a unique angle as they closed in on her. She gulped as she slowly took a step back, but it was no use. As things stood there was nowhere for her to run.

That hardly meant she was out of options, however.

"Prominence Whip!"

Swiping her arm wipe open, a dark purple magical seal appeared before her, blasting out over a dozen fiery purple curved beams that shot out at the dolls, swiftly destroying each and every one of them.

"Hey, quit destroying my babies bodies!" Bickslow shouted at her. He couldn't ever recall a time someone had ever forced him to move his collection of souls to different bodies this many times.

"Not until you surrender." Momo replied coolly, "You and your comrades have terrorized this guild and this town long enough."

Bickslow couldn't help but scratch the back of his head in confusion. "The town? I get what you mean by the guild, but what do you mean 'terrorize the town?'" He couldn't help but ask.

"You mean you haven't noticed? Look up at the sky."

Bickslow looked upwards, his almost constant smile quickly turning into a frown. "Oh. That's not good."

Momo nodded in agreement. "I've studied enough about lacrima to hazard a guess as to what those are probably going to be used for." Her face became much more somber as she looked at him pleadingly. "Please, enough is enough. Surely you realize now this has become far more than a tournament. If we don't put an end to this soon this entire town is going to be destroyed!"

Bickslow slowly back at her, shaking his head. "No way, I can't do that."

"But why!? Are you telling me that you're willing to risk all the lives of these innocent people!?" Momo demanded.

"Of course I'm not!" Bickslow shouted back. "But I owe Laxus for everything I have in my life!"


(Song of choice: Fairy Tail, Past Story)

X781, Borwatt Town

"I don't care if you were strong enough to beat several of my wizards, having you here is bad for business! I don't want you or your black magic anywhere near my guild, do you hear me!?"

The guild master Gramlush guild had just finished pushing Bickslow out of their front yard, the lot of them glaring at him before they slammed the gate shut in front of Bickslow, the young man sighing before he and his five floating dolls began to walk down the street.

"Another rejection? Man this whole thing is an absolute pain in my butt."

"Rejected, rejected." The floating dolls repeated sadly as the floated behind him.

It had been two years ago when the town he and his friends had lived in had been ravaged by a dark guild full of worshipers of Zeref. His parents had died a long time ago from a job request they had taken a few years back, way before he had found what his knack for magic had been. All he had now were the friends he had made in the local orphanage, and they had all perished during the attack.

Refusing to lose his friends, Bickslow had learned Sieth magic in an attempt to keep his friends close by. Having lost their lives far too soon, his friends had eagerly accepted and had inhabited the bodies of the dolls he could find from the ravaged town.

But the nature of his magic had made finding a good that would accept him difficult. Almost impossible actually. Despite his skill greatly exceeding that of most mages his age, it seemed as if no guild wanted anything to do with him.

Non magical work was also out of the question, with none of the business owners wanting anything to do with someone who used 'black magic.'

Gramlush had been his best hope. The guild was well known for accepting less than savory individuals as long as they were strong enough. Bickslow had been certain that after defeating three of their B-class mates at once he'd be sure to be let in, but alas they had rejected him, just like all the others.

The only real solution it seemed…was to abandon his friends.

Bickslow shook his head the moment the thought had crossed his mind. That was absolutely not an option. He and his 'babies' had trained too long and hard to simply give up! They'd find a way, he was sure of it!

A loud sound interrupted his thoughts, the mage glancing down at his grumbling belly. It had been a good couple of days since he had anything even remotely resembling a decent meal, and it seemed more than likely that he was doomed to try to sleep yet another night in an empty stomach.

Bickslow couldn't help but grit his teeth at the mere thought of it. "Damn it all. It .. it's just not fair!"

"Yeah, you sure got that right."

Bickslow turned around to the sound of the voice. A tall blonde young man wearing spiked headphones was slowly walking towards him, glaring at the Gramlush guild with contempt. "They're a bunch of idiots for turning away someone like you."

Bickslow blinked in surprise. "You…you really think so?"

"Heck yeah I do!" The blonde said with a grin as he faced him. "It's not everyday you run into someone with enough magic to control five souls at once! Ya gotta have some real power to use that well in battle! Those loser's in there couldn't even get close to ya!"

"Really?" Bickslow asked. This has been the first time he had ever ran into someone who had been impressed with his power. Up until now everyone he had met had simply reacted in disgust. "Doesn't…doesn't my magic bother you?"

The blonde man snorted at the suggestion. "Please, don't make me laugh. We got enough morons out there who think that only bad people can use certain types of magic. It's nothing but a bunch of bull! It's not the type of magic that counts, but the person using it!" The man then extended his right hand towards Bickslow, smiling. "I could use someone like you on my team. What do ya say pal, feel like joining Fairy Tail?"

Fairy Tail!? He was a part of Fairy Tail!? They were supposed to be one of the best guild's in the entire country! If he got in there, he'd be set for life! Bickslow looked back at the hand, then back at the young man before he spoke up. "You're not just pulling my leg, are ya?"

Laxus snorted. "Like I'd waste my time with something as pointless as that. I've been looking for strong mages who'll be willing to do whatever I say. As long as you meet the criteria, I couldn't care less about your magic. So, what'll it be?"

Bickslow glanced down at the hand for a few more seconds before he firmly grasped it, the mage sticking out his tongue as he smiled. "You got yourself a deal, Mr…"

The young man smirked. "Laxus. Just call me Laxus."


"He's the reason why I'm in a guild in the first place! The only reason me and my babies have been able to stick together for so long!" Bickslow shouted at Momo. "He's the first person who was ever willing to look past my magic and see me for who I was! I can't turn my back on him, no matter what!?"

"Even if it endangers all these innocent people!?" Momo shouted back at him.

"It won't come to that. I won't let it." Bickslow said as he grabbed the top of his helmet. "There's one thing that I agree with you on though. We have to end this little tournament, and fast. I refuse to let Laxus become some sort of pariah. So I'm going to end this thing, right here, right now. Time for the big guns."

Momo raised an eyebrow, confused by what he could mean by that as Bickslow removed his helmet, allowing her to finally see his face. The man had blue hair at the top shaped like a mohawk of sorts and pointed out around his ears with the rest of his hair having been shaven down with a black coloration. There was a tatoo on his face, resembling that of a blackened man extending his arms and legs out. But most noticeable of all was his eyes, They were a brilliant green with a concentric circle surrounding the pupils inside them.

Bickslow cracked his head to the side a few times before he glared over towards Momo, sticking his tongue out once more. "Figure eyes. Sorry shortstack, but it's game over for you."

Momo's gaze narrowed. "Some sort of new spell? I'll just-" However, just as Momo made to weave her hand out to cast another spell, her eyes shot open with surprise. Despite her best efforts, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move her arm! "W-what!?" Fearful of what was causing this, the soul reaper tried to take a step back…only for her feet to remain locked in place.

"W-what's…g-going…oooonnnnnn? Momo struggled to ask, her mouth getting harder and harder to move with each word before she soon found that opening it was all but impossible. couldn't even open her mouth. I-I can't move! It's almost as if my body's being held still by some invisible force! Momo realized with dread.

"Sorry shortstack, but it's all over for you now." Bisckslow told her. "Every member of the Thunder Legion has special powers in their eyes. Evergreen can turn people into stone, and Freed's allows him to write powerful runes with his sword or fingers in the middle of the fight. But me? My eyes don't let me just see souls, they let me control souls."

Control souls!? Momo realized in fear as she then took an involuntary step forward. No, no, there's got to be something I can do! She tried to recall a spell in her repertoire of magic that she had learned that could possibly help her get through this situation, but each and every single one she could think of required either the movement of her body or utterance of a word. As she was now…she was completely powerless.

"Sorry to do this to ya, but I gotta end things fast. Still, given how strong you are, I think you'll be a great asset for finishing up this tournament as soon as possible." Bickslow told Momo as she continued to approach him.

Wait, you mean…he's going to use me against everyone else!? Momo realized in horror as she took another step forward. All the time she had spent studying magic in Oak town, all of the new spells she had learned, all of the progress she had made…it was all just going to amount to her being manipulated into hurting her friends.

Just like her original counterpart had all those years ago.


(Music of choice: Feudal society, Bleach OST)

"YOU DID THIS!"

Hinamori made a mad dash towards Gin Ichimaru, her sword poised to strike him down. However, just before her blade could strike true did Izuru Kira, her old classmate, fellow vice captain and friend, had appeared before her, his blade blocking her attack.

"Izuru….why?" Momo demanded.

"I'm the vice captain of squad 3. I can't let anyone strike at my captain without reason." He answered.

"Izuru…please step aside." She begged.

"I can't."

"Please…"

"I can't!"

"I'm telling you to move!" Momo shouted as she activated her shikai. "Snap, Tobiume!"


Momo's blade was pointed directly at Toshiro Hitsugaya, the Captain of squad 10 staring at her in disbelief.

"Aizen…said that…in his letter?" He uttered in confusion.

"Yes," Momo answered as tears trailed down her eyes. "And it went on to say "Tonight I have called him out to the eastern wall. I must foil his plan at all costs. If he will not back down then I will have no choice but to cross swords with him. But if I die, please carry on for me…and kill him."

"Hinamori…" Toshiro tried to speak up, but Momo wasn't having any of it.

"That is…my last wish. I ask this of you, not as the captain of squad 5…but as a man." Momo finished before she appeared before Hitsugaya, her sword raised above her head as her face filled with utter anguish!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"


As her dear friend Toshiro held her in her arms, slowly floating downwards to a nearby rooftop, the captain of squad ten looked at her in utter horror. She had no idea what had just happened. She was in so much pain, and she couldn't even begin to understand why. One moment she had been recovering alongside the other vice captains, and in the next…she had stabbed by her old childhood friend.

Weakly, she just barely manages to glance over towards Toshiro, reaching up and clenched at his chest as a small amount of blood dripped out from her mouth.

"Little…Shiro…why?"

Toshiro could only stare down at her in complete and utter horror, the prodigy's breath shaky and weak…and then he screamed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"


No! Momo shouted at herself internally as she approached Bickslow. I can't let this happen! Not again! What was all that learning for?

Another step forward.

All of those spells!?

Yet another step.

I didn't become this strong just so I could be manipulated to hurt my friends again!

One last step.

It was so I could be strong enough to protect my friends!

She stopped.

(Song of choice: Passionate Duelist, Yugioh GX version)

"Huh?" Bickslow was quick to notice Hinamori's sudden stop, the mage trying to force his magic to make her take yet another step… yet she didn't budge. "Hey! What the heck is going on!? Move damn it!"

She did, but not in the way that he wanted, Momo's index finger twitching slightly as he continued to force his will over hers.

"Hey, I didn't give you permission to do that! Stop it!" Bickslow demanded.

Slowly yet surely did her arms begin to move, the shinigami pointing it right at Bickslow. No more! I cannot and will not let myself be used like that ever again! Momo swore as the rooftop beneath her began to shudder and crack.

Sensing that she was preparing a spell, Bickslow began to pelt her with blasts from his dolls. The attacks certainly did the damage he asked of them, each of the blows leaving behind a bruise or nasty scrap, but Hinamori did not stop, her magic continuing to build up in the palms of her hands.

"I understand that you're doing this for someone you highly admire," Momo spoke as fire began to build up in her hands. "But you're making a huge mistake!"

Sensing Hinamori's power skyrocket, Bickslows eyes shot open before he summoned all five of his dolls in front of him, the five of them rapidly spinning in a circle. "I've had enough of your yammering, it's time I put an end to this. Baryon formation!"

A massive beam of green magic came hurtling towards Hinamori, the spell several times greater than any she had had been hit with prior. But she was more than ready than to counter with a spell of her own.

"Hell Prominence!"

An immense torrent of flame, concentrated into a purple beam fired out, clashed with Bickslow's magic. The two attacks seemed completely even as the half of Magnolia began to shake and shudder.

"What the hell would you know about it, huh!?" Bickslow demanded as their clash continued. "I swore that I'd fight by Laxus's side no matter what! He's the greatest mage in all of Fairy Tail and he'll bring this guild back to its glory days! I don't expect you to understand what it means to admire someone with all your heart and soul!"

Bickslow's magic began to push back Hinamori's own, the artificial shinigami grunting as she felt her feet slowly skid back against the ground. However, before the attack could make any more headway, Momo's blast had seemed to gain more momentum, stopping Bickslow's attack right in its tracks. "What!?"

"No, I do understand," Momo spoke as she glared up at him. "More than you could possibly know! But admiration is not the same thing as understanding! I learned that lesson the hard way, and I refuse to let a fellow member of this guild make the same mistake that I did, or let you and your ally's hurt anymore of my friends!"

Suddenly, her blast had dramatically increased in terms of both size and power, the blast overpowering Bickslow, destroying the floating dolls hitting Bickslow dead on. The blast continued to fire out for a mile until the attack finally dissipated.

Thoroughly exhausted, Momo fell to her knees, the former vice captain panting to catch her breath. That last attack had consumed almost all of her inner reserves. If that attack didn't finish it….

She needn't worry, Bickslow's body crashing to the ground before it rolled over next to her. He was in terrible shape, the mage covered in all sorts of burns…but he was still alive, his chest raising up and down with each labored breath.

Forcing a weak smile, Momo tried to get up to her feet, only to fall down on butt. Glancing down at her own body, it was only now that she noticed just how battered and bruised she really was. It seems that I took way more of a beating than I thought. Momo realized as she panted for breath. Sorry everyone…but I think I'm out of this fight.

"You can still move after all that? You shinigami sure are crazy."

Her eyes snapping open, she turned around back at Bickslow, the mage having just enough power to look over at her. Seeing her worry, he followed up his words. "You can relax. I couldn't fight anymore even if I wanted to. I'm done."

He looked back at the sky before he grinned. "Gotta admit, I've never had my ass kicked this badly before. You're one heck of a fighter short stack. Hehehe- ow, ow, it hurts to laugh."

"Well, I can't exactly fight anymore either. So I guess we're both out of the running." Momo admitted as she looked at the Thunder Palace. " I just have to hope my friends can defeat Laxus before it's too late."

Now it was just a matter of finding him. But without their ability to sense reiatsu…

"He's….at Kardia Cathedral."

Momo looked back down towards Bickslow, the brunette shocked. "W-what?!"

"I said he's at Kardia Cathedral." Bickslow weakly repeated. "Didn't think you were hard of hearing, shortstack."

Momo shook her head. "No, that's not it. I'm just... surprised you'd just tell me after all that."

Bickslow let out a painful chuckle. "I told you earlier, didn't I? I don't want Laxus to end up like some sort of Pariah by the time this whole thing is over. At Least with the statues we planned on Evergreen eventually turning them back to normal, but this… this is taking things too far."

Bickslow frowned as he looked at the floating Lacrima. "It's gotta be that woman's fault. She probably pushed him into all this."

Momo tilted her head. "Woman? You mean Emberella?"

Bickslow weakly nodded. "Yeah that's right. Ever since she's gotten involved, Laxus has started to take more and more drastic measures. I didn't want to think about it too much at first. I just figured we'd win and take care of the dark mages once we won, but now…"

His eyes narrowed as he weakly looked over to the other side of the town. "I know you haven't been here long, but it's not like him to take things this far. We're still part of an official guild, ya know? I just figured I'd let the winds of fate guide me till the whole thing was settled but now that I've lost…I gotta do what I can to stop Laxus from making a big mistake."

Momo smiled at Bickslow's change of heart. "You're doing the right thing. I'll be sure to let everyone know about his location as soon as possible. Do you have a magic pen on you?"

"Yeah, I got one in my pants pocket. I...think it might still work. Why do you ask?"

"You'll see."

Reaching into Bickslow's pants to remove the magic pen, Momo began to use it to draw some black markings on her arms before she held out both of her hands in front of her. "Bakudo # 77: Tenteikūra!"

A glowing rectangular box appeared before her, the soul reaper placing both of her hands on the rectangle as several dark roots shot out from the box.

"All right everyone, listen up! I have viral information regarding The Battle of Fairy Tail!"


"Outta my way, you jackasses!"

Bambietta's foot slammed into the jaw of a dark mage, sending him hurtling through the air untill his back hit a nearby home, his back arching in an unnatural angle before he slumped.

Bambietta sighed before she continued her march. It had to have been over 20 minutes since she had started this wild goose chase to locate either Wendy, Freed or Laxus, and this far she hadn't had luck in finding any of them.

All she had done up until now was simply defeating any and all dark mages that had come her way, and with utter ease to boot. So far she had used her magic to win very sparingly, wanting to conserve her power for a much more appropriate for and so far it had paid off in spades.

It had also been a complete and utter bore.

"Man, for something called "The Battle of Fairy Tail", I've sure had shit luck running into anyone fun." Bambietta grumbled. *Oh well, I guess it's better than running into any of my friends."

Currently she was on the outskirts of the town, the Quincy figuring she's simply working her way from bottom to top and then top to bottom until she finally found what she was looking for, but at the rate things were going…

"All right everyone, listen up! I have viral information regarding The Battle of Fairy Tail!"

Bambietta's eyes shot open, the Quincy not having expected to hear Momo's voice call out to her so suddenly. She looked about, trying to place her but to no avail.

"I'm using Bakudo 77 to relay this important information! Laxus is held up in Kardia Cathedral! If you want to put an end to this now, then head there!

"Ah, so that's where he is huh!? Bambietta smirked before she ran down the street. "Laxus, you son of a bitch! I'm going to kick your ass so hard that you'll have to eat out of a straw for a year!"

Luckily for her, she knew exactly where Kardia Cathedral was! She took another sharp turn down a street…only for her to seemingly slam into an invisible wall.

"Gah! Fuck! Stupid ass invisible wall bullshit!" Bambietta cursed before she pounded at the barrier. "Oh just wait until I find you, Freed! Now I'm gonna have to find you first and make sure you wish you were never born you condescending-"

"Well, well we'll, look what we have here?"

Bambietta slowly turned around then as a group of fifty or so mages slowly emerged from a local pub. Bambietta prepared an Explode orb in her hand, preparing to destroy the barrier…only for her to catch a small school house near the barrier out of the corner of her eye.

Fuck, so much for the easy way out.

"Lookie what we have here! Seems like we got ourselves a Fairy trapped in our net." One of them sneered.

"Yeah, poor thing ran down the wrong side of the neighborhood." Another one spoke as he patted an ironclub on his shoulder.

"She's got some shit luck I'd say." A third one mentioned. "She's trapped in here with all of us! Tell you what lady, if you show us a good time then we won't be so ro-"

The dark mage soon found himself interrupted l as the lot of them looked towards Bambietta. The Quincy was chuckling slightly at first, but soon it broke out into a maniacal laugh, the dark mages glancing at each other with concern before she finally spoke.

"Oh that's cute. You boys think I'm trapped in here with all of you "

Slowly the Quincy turned around to face them, a terrifying sneer plastered over her face.

The dark mages began to sweat nervously, the group taking a collective step back as Bambietta slowly approached them.

"But the truth is you've got it all wrong. I'm not trapped in here with you-" The Quincy stated before she brandished her sword , her grin not ceasing in the slightest. "You're all trapped in here with me."


And so there we have it. Unfortunately, Gray lost like he did in canon, but thankfully Momo was there to pick up the slack, even if she was in a nerfed state (not being able to use kido and shikai wise, not reiatsu level) and left unable to fight anymore. Also, we finally got to see what Ria, one of the new members of the Schutzstaffel could do. Scary stuff huh?

But things still aren't looking too good for our heroes. Will they be able to prevail in the end? The only way to find out is to tune in on A Quincy's Fairy Tail.

Same quincy time, same quincy channel!

MPFs:

Gray: 2750

Bickslow: 2850

Momo: 3000

Bickslow, Baryon formation: 3700

Momo, Hell's prominence: 3900

Ria: ?