A/N: Episode 250.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE: EZEKIEL VERSUS MINERVA

Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, Juvia, Akame, and Zack had a stare down with the five demons in front of them. "Face is kaput. Your flying HQ crashed. You guys are fresh out of tricks." Natsu claimed.

Silver smirked. "You... No... It can't be..." Gray mumbled.

"He's the guy who froze the giants' village!" Natsu exclaimed, pointing at Silver. "And he froze Zack and I, too!"

"Wuss." Gajeel and Akame insulted in unison.

"Shut up!" Natsu shouted at the two, offended.

"Anyway, that dude's smell... resembles yours." Gajeel told Gray.

"The same parfum as Gray-sama?!" Juvia exclaimed.

Gray widened his eyes as Silver charged towards him in a flash of purple light.

"Gray!" Lucy called out.

"I'm taking this one." Silver informed.

"What?!"

In a flash, Silver teleported away with Gray in tow. "Gray-sama!" Juvia shouted.

"They're gone?!" Gajeel questioned.

"'Taking' him?! What a crude thing to say in front of Juvia!" Juvia exclaimed.

"That's not what he..." Zack sighed. "I'm not even gonna bother explaining."

"That's probably for the best." Akame grumbled in agreement.

Keyes was behind Juvia. "Very curious..." He thinks to himself.

"Looking away must mean you're confident in yourselves. But your doom is right here." Tempester claimed as Natsu, Gajeel, Juvia, Akame, and Zack turned around.

"Twirl." Tempester said as tornadoes engulfed Natsu, Juvia, Akame, Zack, Lucy, and Hana.

Gajeel stomped forward, covered in iron scales. "Like a little breeze would work on iron! Iron Dragon's Club!" Gajeel shouted as Torafuzar blocked it from hitting Tempester.

Natsu sent a flaming kick at Keyes who disappeared.

"Water Slicer!" Juvia called out, aiming her attack at Keyes in which he dodged.

"What the hell is with this one?!" Gajeel asked as Torafuzar struck him again.

"Blood Dragon's..."

"Azure Dragon's..."

"...Roar!"

Red mist and blue light combined into one as Fenris avoided the attack. He appeared behind the two Dragon Slayers as he struck the both of them.

"A water wizard? This is curious, too." Keyes thought as he attacked Juvia.

"Gajeel! Akame! Zack! Juvia!" Natsu called out in worry as the four skidded on the ground.

"Rumble." Tempester said as Natsu was attacked by lightning, crashing to the ground.

"Everyone!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Akame-sama! Zack-sama!" Hana shouted.

Natsu appeared from the dust. "No problem! Let's go!" He yelled.

"Yeah!" Gajeel, Akame, and Zack agreed.

"Where did you take Gray-sama?!" Juvia questioned.

"Come." Tempester challenged.

Natsu, Juvia, Gajeel, Akame, and Zack leaped into the air. "It's not over yet." Keyes thinks to himself.

Lily and Jim looked around. "What's going on here? Am I totally separated from the others in this calamitous situation? Pathetic for me... and I can hear the intermittent sound of lightning strikes! On top of that, I even lost my kiwi emergency rations. It'd be funny if it weren't so sad!" Lily said as he soon spotted kiwis.

"Are those kiwis? Or... Not kiwis! They're iron balls!" Lily exclaimed. "I'm so famished that I mistook them for kiwis... Sheesh!"

Jim sighed to himself. "Still, they're littered all over the place here. Artillery shells or something?" He guessed, making Lily hum.

The two of them soon spotted Happy and Chii. "Chii, you're okay!" Jim spoke in relief.

"Yes. Have you seen Akame?" Chii asked.

"No. I haven't seen Zack, either." Jim replied.

"Happy! Are you okay? Good to see you. I was separated from Gajeel..." Lily trailed off as Happy turned around, a mushroom was on his head, causing both Lily and Jim to scream in shock.

"At first I thought being sucked into the wall saved me, but now I've got this thing..." Happy explained.

"I... I see." Lily replied.

"What should I do? Carla's gonna hate me!" Happy said.

"I think that's the least of your problems..." Chii muttered.

"No. I have a feeling it doesn't look bad, depending on how you look at it..." Lily stated.

Happy turned to him with sparkles around him. "Really?!" He questioned.

Lily sweats. "Maybe... Probably... For sure..." He responded.

Happy deadpanned. "It looks like what it is, an Exceed mushroom growing out of my head. Oh, no, it's like I brought a side dish for dinner tonight..."

"You can't just take it off?" Jim asked.

"No."

Jim requipped a sword. "We'll see. Don't move. If you move..."

Happy screamed in fright. "Use another method!" He exclaimed.

Jim then tried to pull the mushroom off. "It hurts! It hurts-hurts-hurts-hurts!" Happy complained as the tiger Exceed continued pulling on it. Even Lily tried to help as Chii just stood back and sweatdropped.

"Ow-ow-ow-ow!"

"Well, I give up." Jim said.

"Does it look cool?" Happy asked.

"No comment." Lily and Jim replied in unison.

"I wonder what Carla will say when she sees me like this." Happy said.

The 'mushroom' turned out to be Franmalth. "The Hell's Core explosion shrunk me down, but I used my Curse Power to make myself be absorbed! Now I just have to wait for the cats to meet up with their comrades. That is, wait for the opportunity to turn the tables on them!" Franmalth thought.

"Hey, Cana! Come here!" Macao called out.

"That cube thing was destroyed while we were unconscious." Cana said.

"Where are we?" Macao wondered.

"South of Magnolia... or thereabouts, I think." Cana replied. "Come to think of it, where's Master?"

"He said he was gonna drop by the guild."

"But the guild must've been smashed to smithereens."

Makarov was running towards the Fairy Tail guild hall as he ran through the destroyed Magnolia. "This breaks my heart... Even Kardia Cathedral, the symbol of the town..." He thought before he continued running.

"The second master's last words... 'It isn't over.' 'Release the light'... eh?"

Makarov looked up at the ruined Fairy Tail building.

Wendy soon began to stir as she jolted awake. "Where are we?!" She questioned.

"Wendy!" Carla exclaimed in relief.

"Carla!" Wendy said. "Huh? We... were caught in the explosion..."

"What about Face?! What happened to Face?!" Wendy shouted.

"It was stopped."

Wendy and Carla turned to see Doranbolt. "Doranbolt-san!" Wendy said.

"Thanks to you two." Doranbolt finished.

"He whisked us away to safety the instant it detonated." Carla explained.

"Just barely." Doranbolt said.

"Then..." Wendy trailed off.

"Let's be friends again." Wendy said.

"Of course!" Carla agreed.

"Carla!"

"Wendy!"

Doranbolt smiled. "We're alive!" Wendy exclaimed, hugging Carla.

"Yes! That's right!" Carla said as they both sobbed.

"Thank you, Doranbolt-san." Wendy thanked him.

"Actually... um, this is hard for me to say... Nothing is over yet." Doranbolt claimed, making both Wendy and Carla widen their eyes.

Happy, Lily, Jim, and Chii were still walking. "Is there really no way to get this off?" Happy questioned.

"If you forced it, maybe spores would scatter. You might get mushrooms sprouting all over your body then." Jim responded.

"I don't want that..." Happy mumbled.

"At any rate, something the Underworld King said stuck with me..." Franmalth thought, recalling Mard Geer's words.

"The Face Project is proceeding according to plan."

Franmalth then realized something. "The reason Face's projected location was way off was... Don't tell me... a time lag?!" He thinks to himself.

Carla lifted Wendy into the air as Wendy looked terrified. "No..." She thought.

A bunch of Face's were in front of her.

"There's more than one Face!" Franmalth realized.

"This many..." Wendy trailed off.

"I've confirmed about 2,000 Face devices..." Doranbolt said.

"This is..." Mard Geer began to crack. "...the real identity of the continent-wide Magic pulse bomb."

"After we worked so hard to destroy one of them... to find this many now... It's all over..." Carla muttered.

"Don't say that, Carla." Wendy interrupted. "I don't want to despair anymore." A green glow came from her hand. "I've decided that you and I are going to live, Carla."

Wendy chops her hair off. "Wendy!" Carla exclaimed in shock.

"I'm not going to whine or shed any tears. Everyone is fighting. So I'm not going to give up, either!" Wendy declared, making Carla nod.

Ezekiel was still trading blows with Minerva. Him and Minerva clashed heads. "Minerva, you..." Ezekiel started to say.

"I am Neo-Minerva." Minerva interrupted. "I have been reborn... as the ultimate wizard!"

Ezekiel's blade soon shattered. He removed his cloak and leaped forward, trying to send a kick towards Minerva.

"Territory!" She called out, trading places with Ezekiel and kicking him instead as Ezekiel crashed onto the ground.

"Come, let's have some more fun, Ezekiel..." Minerva got cut off as Ezekiel punched her, sending her flying as Minerva easily caught herself.

Minerva gritted her teeth in anger as Ezekiel dodged her attacks. "I am... I am the ultimate..." She started to say.

"What do you think you're fighting?!" Ezekiel punched her to the ground.

"Shameful... Deplorable... Why are you so weak?!"

Minerva widened her eyes as she recalled what Jiemma had said to her.

"P-Please forgive me! Please forgive me, Father!" A younger Minerva pleaded.

"You plead for forgiveness? My stupid daughter!" Jiemma insulted before slapping her across the face.

"I'm sorry! Please forgive me!" Minerva cried out.

"Don't you understand that I despise begging for forgiveness? Are you a weakling? Sabertooth has no need for weaklings. Do you understand what I'm saying... Minerva?" Jiemma asked.

Minerva lets out a scream, charging at Ezekiel. "I am..." She started to say.

"As you are my daughter, you must become strong. I eliminate the weak. Even if its my own daughter."

"I..."

A younger Minerva was trying to catch her breath. "If you have enough time to draw a breath, you have time to move! Attacking is everything! Even if you are inferior in strength, always forge ahead! That is how the strong, how champions are born!" Jiemma instructed.

Minerva soon got attacked by the guild member she was fighting. "Stand, Minerva! Stand now or I will see to it that you never stand again. Do it, Fingers." Jiemma ordered.

Fingers went to attack her again as Minerva leaped into the air. "You're naive!" Fingers claimed, appearing behind her.

Minerva used her Magic as she traded places with Fingers, sending a kick to his back.

"Absolute Dominion... Territory?" Jiemma questioned more to himself.

Fingers sent another blast at Minerva who traded places with him once more and his attack hit him instead. Minerva was trying to regain her breath.

She looked over and saw Fingers laying on the ground, defeated.

"I'll help you!" Minerva offered.

"What are you doing? Will you not finish him off?" Jiemma asked as Minerva looked at him. "The defeated is weak. The weak is a worm. Worms need no sympathy. Just think about trampling them."

"But Fingers is a comrade in the guild..." Minerva argued.

"'Comrades' are an expression of the weak. If you are my daughter, set your eyes on something more important. Make the heavens roar. Make the land seethe. Silence the ocean. That is Sabertooth." Jiemma said.

"But..."

"If you cannot do it, I will." Jiemma extended his hand. "Begone."

A purple sphere engulfed Fingers as Minerva watched in horror. She then collapsed to her knees and cried.

"How could you?" Minerva sobbed.

"Don't cry." Jiemma ordered as Minerva continued to sob. "How long are you going to keep this up?! Tears are the height of weakness! How many times must I say it before you understand?!"

"Please forgive me... Please forgive me... Please forgive..."

"I... must be strong!" Minerva exclaimed.

"Minerva!" Ezekiel shouted.

"I am going to leave you here. Abandon your weak heart, your tears, everything. In this forest full of savage beasts, only death awaits the crying weak." Jiemma began walking away. "You may return home when all your tears have dried up."

Minerva was near a waterfall. "Please forgive me... Please forgive me... Please forgive me..." She mumbled repeatedly.

"Become strong! And you call yourself my daughter?!"

"I eliminate the weak! Trample them!"

Multiple crocodiles charged at Minerva.

It was soon daytime as the crocodile beasts were knocked out. "Make the... heavens roar... Make... the land seethe. Silence the ocean. That is..."

"That is Sabertooth."

"...Sabertooth." Minerva mumbled.

"Wake up!" Ezekiel yelled, punching Minerva again. "Your inhuman conduct at the Grand Magic Games... I don't condone it, but I can understand it. Wasn't it all for Sabertooth?!"

Minerva stayed silent as a dark shadow casted over her eyes. "Minerva... This fist that punches you is crying. It asks, 'Does this battle mean anything?'" Ezekiel asked.

"I know... I know. So..." Minerva trailed off as she looked up at Ezekiel. "...kill me with your two hands."

Ezekiel widened his eyes in shock. "I am weak. I fell into the darkness because I am weak. I cannot live with this body any longer... Please." Minerva said.

Ezekiel walked closer to her. "You are you. I'm sure someone is waiting for you to come home. Don't forget that." He said.

Footsteps were soon heard. "This is why humans are weak." Mard Geer spoke up as Ezekiel turned, his eyes widening upon seeing him.

"When you talk of life or death, you rejoice. Quite an ugly sight." Mard Geer claimed.

"Who are you?!" Ezekiel questioned. "Wait... I've heard that voice before. The Underworld King, Mard Geer!"

"How disappointing. I thought we disposed of the trash, but it has come back up. The damned Celestial Spirit King and his meddling... Luckily, we have a little time. Enough time for me to take out the trash, anyway." Mard Geer claimed.

"Are you the master here?!" Ezekiel asked as Mard Geer soon attacked both Ezekiel and Minerva.

"What is this Magic?!" Ezekiel questioned more to himself.

"One at a time." Mard Geer said as his power headed straight for Minerva.

"Minerva!" Ezekiel yelled.

"Escape, Ezekiel..." Minerva thinks to herself.

Ezekiel was thrown back as two silhouettes appeared from the dust as they were joined by a third.

"We made it in time."

"Still late, though."

Sting had Minerva in his arms. "We came to pick you up, my lady." Sting said.

"Long time no see!" Lector exclaimed.

"Your guild is Sabertooth." Rogue informed.

"Fro thinks so, too!"

"Sorry for the wait, Ezekiel." Dusk apologized as Bruno was next to him.

"I see a guy with a nasty look in his eye. Is he the enemy, Ezekiel-san?" Sting questioned.

"Tremendous pressure is coming off of him..." Rogue commented.

"Come on, my lady and Ezekiel-san, please take a break." Lector said.

"We brought lunch!" Frosch added.

"I'm sure someone is waiting for you to come home." Minerva recalled Ezekiel's words in her head, making her tear up.

A/N: Another chapter is done!

Thanks for reading!

~ Kaleb.