We're finally here. The end to one of The Battle of Fairy Tail, one of my favorite arcs in Fairy Tail. I can't believe that it's the one year anniversary of this series and we're finally here. I'm extremely thankful for everyone of you that has stuck with me this whole time, and especially those who have commented. Every single one of those makes me ten times more motivated to write another chapter so keep them coming.

Looking back at how this series began, there are plenty of things that I would change, either because I think that I could do them better, or to set up more things that I want later. I don't know if I'll ever go back and update those first few chapters, the idea of going back to old content doesn't really inspire me to write it, but maybe one day I'll want to.

Now there's plenty of things to say about the future, but for now just read this chapter, and I promise you, I pulled out all the stops. I had ideas for this chapter that I'm glad I finally get to put onto the page for all of you to see. No more hyping it up, let's just get into it.

Yuno floated over to Freed, who was turning back into his human form. Freed's ponytail had come undone earlier in the fight and green hair now framed his face as he blankly stared ahead. Yuno didn't say anything, instead choosing to sit down next to Freed. The two of them sat in silence, both waiting for the other to act.

Eventually, Freed decided to break the silence. "Why are you still here? Shouldn't you be heading to the cathedral by now?"

Yuno let the question sit for a moment. "You're right. I probably should be." And that was all the explanation he head.

"I guess I have to thank you though." When Freed looked at him in confusion, Yuno continued, "I got to work out a lot of issues I didn't know I had until today during that fight. I'm glad I got to test my skills in a real fight against a skilled opponent... Even though I still don't really care for you much."

Freed actually laughed at that. "I'm glad that one of us gained something from this battle." His face then became more serious. "I apologize, Yuno, for disregarding you and Ms. Heartfilia."

"Why are you bringing up Lucy?" Yuno asked, until the glow of Freed's magic drew his eyes to the earlier announcement of her victory over Bickslow. "Huh. I was so focused on our fight that I didn't even realize that happened."

The two of them sat in silence once more.

"What you said," Freed muttered, "about a star illuminating your path forward? Did you really mean that?"

"Of course I did." Yuno answered. "Though my star was smaller than most others, Asta is the one that set me on the path of the Wizard King. To be honest, the only reason I even became a wizard at all was so that he wouldn't leave me behind. If you asked me now, what I would do without the strength I have now, I wouldn't be able to tell you. But I bet if you asked Asta that same question, he'd look you in the eye and say, 'exactly what I am now.' I admire that unflinching determination he has, as well as ability to connect with people in an instant. Even Lucy, despite the reasonable fears she has most of the time, wears her her hear on her sleeve in every situation. To be honest, I don't think I'm anywhere close to their level. I don't think I'm very inspiring, and I tend to not be the center of attention. Even so-"

"Yuno!"

For Freed that sentece would remain unfished, as they both turned and saw several figures headed toward them. First was Mirajane, who was now free from Freed's runes, and leaning on her shoulder was Cana, who had recovered from her fight with Freed as well. Alongside them was Yuno's spirit, Bell.

"What, how did the spirit escape barrier?" Freed asked.

Yuno smiled. "Remember what you said earlier? It's not just me, you forgot that everyone in Fairy Tail means something, even if they aren't the strongest."

Yuno got up off the ground, but halfway up, his body remembered that he had a broken foot and he began to fall down again. Thankfully, the two girls were there to catch him by the arms. "Geez, Goldie, I didn't know you were that excited to see us." Cana teased.

Yuno chuckled at Cana's comment. "Thanks, guess I was more tired than I thought."

Before he could continue, Bell then glomped onto his face. "Oh, Yuno! I was so worried when I couldn't go with you, but I just knew that you would kick that fancy tree-head's butt!"

After a few tugs, Yuno manages to pull Bell away. "Thanks, Bell. I'm gonna need your help from now on, so I hope you're ready for action."

Bell scoffs. "Hah. As if that was a question that you ever needed to ask me. I can also tell that you're way stronger now than when you woke up today."

"Oh, right." Mira says. "What was that huge pillar of green light earlier? I'm sure that all of Magnolia saw that."

"That was just me learning Mana Zone while fighting Freed." Yuno explained nonchalantly. "I hope no one in town was worried by that. Wouldn't want everyone to start freaking out."

The two women's jaw dropped at his casual explanation that he had learned one of the most advanced magic techniques like he just bought bread at a grocery store.

"Goldie, I feel like every time I talk to you, I learn something new about you." Cana sighs.

"Well, I'm sure that's probably the most shocking thing you'll hear about me for a while." Yuno promised.

The looks on their faces said that they didn't believe him.

...Well, they were right to doubt him, but he wisely chose not to push the topic further.

"Well, back to the situation at hand, fighting against my magic being forcibly turned off by Freed drained a lot of my mana, so I don't think that I would be much help against Laxus." Mirajane explains.

"Yeah, and I know from experience that fighting against Laxus is like fighting an actual thunderstorm." Cana then pointed to Yuno's leg. "Not to mention that you aren't in the greatest shape either."

"But you're still going to fight him, aren't you?" Everyone turned to the source of the question, Freed. "Even though you can't beat him and the Thunder Palace will be going of in less than fifteen minutes, your will to fight has not been impeded, has it?"

"You're right." Yuno answered. "Fairy Tail is my family just as much as the orphanage I came from. I would fight just as hard for them as I am now, and nothing would get in my way."

Freed could only marvel at the determination in his eyes. It was a different kind of determination than what he would see in Laxus, where his promised pain for all who opposed him, but rather a look of calm confidence that made you think he could not be stopped despite overwhelming odds. A look that inspired those who stood by his side and firmly agreed with him.

Freed could only sigh and give a bittersweet smile. 'So bond's truly are Fairy Tail's greatest strength. The Thunder Legion may be part of Fairy Tail, but we have forsaken that power. We have forgotten why we joined this guild in the first place, to belong somewhere. Maybe they can remind him of that strength he showed us as well.'

Celeste was flying through the air searching for her mother figure. The second Auntie Levy had undone the enchantments keeping her inside the guildhall, she zoomed off as fast as possible to find Lucy. Thankfully, Celeste was able to feel the connection between the two of them as a compass to find Lucy wherever she went. Eventually, Celeste sees Lucy running throught the streets towards the cathedral, the sounds of thunder and combat echoing from the inside.

"Mother!" Celeste calls out to the Celestial mage, who stops running and turns to catch the angel in her bosom. "Auntie Levy's plan worked and everyone can leave the guildhall now. I was so happy when I saw your name pop up as you won! My mother is the strongest mother in the world!"

Lucy simply petted Celeste on the head. "There, there. It's okay. I'm just glad you're okay. Now, are you ready to fight? If not, then you can just sit out on this."

Celeste shook her head. "Of course I'm ready, mother! No way am I going to let you fight on your own ever again! Together, me and you will be the brightest stars anyone's ever seen!" Celeste then took a moment to look at Lucy's outfit. "Mother, why are you still in your cheerleader outfit? Did father ask you to wear it?"

"No way in hell!" Lucy yelled before she corrected herself. "I was just trying to prove a point to a rude man earlier that made fun of me. Besides, the writer in me is screaming that I have to save our new secret for a big reveal!" Lucy conviently left out the part about planning on using during her earlier performance, but being interupted before she had the chance. Even though she didn't get the chance to get revenge on Evergreen for runing her chances at the cash prize, she was satisfied that Mimosa had gotten revenge for her.

A lightning bolt shooting out of the cathedral's roof, shocked Lucy back to reality and the mother daughter duo ran towards the front door. "I can feel Erza fighting against Laxus in there, but there's another one that I don't really recognize. Well, more backup is only good for us right?"

As the pair raced in the door, they bared witness to the sight of Erza in her Lightning Empress Armor facing off against Laxus. However, the two combatants were not focused on each other, or the newcomers to the battle, but rather a figure that was both completely new to her and obviously familiar. The head of blue hair and the red markings on his face identified him instantly as the Fourth Eye of the Midnight Sun, Siegrain the Doomed.

"Siegrain! What the hell are you doing here?!" Lucy's shout alerted everyone to her presence, but she kept talking. "Didn't Natsu and Gray beat you already?!"

'Siegrain' looked away, visibly uncomfortable. "I am not the one you know as Siegrain or Jellal. You know me by a different name, Mystogan." Lucy's mouth dropped as she realized that this was the mysterious member of Fairy Tail that she was speaking to. "I apologize for making you and Erza uncomfortable. I never wished for you to see my face. I'll be going now. I leave the rest to you."

"Jellal! Wait!" Erza cried out, desperate for information on why a guild member so closely resembles the man she thought dead. Unfortunately, this revelation was distracting her mind from focusing on the danger that was still facing the two of them.

"Erza, watch out!" Lucy cried.

BOOOM

As fast as you would expect, a bolt of lightning struck them, leaving a cloud of smoke where they stood. Laxus grinned at his apparent victory. "Hah, how pathetic. Dropping your guard in the middle of a fight, I expected better of you Titania. And I guess Blondie was nothing more than talk as well. She and the rest of those princesses should now that Fairy Tail isn't a place for spoiled children."

"Wow, pot calling the kettle black over there, aren't you?" A voice called out of the smoke, shocking Laxus. "If I'm spoiled, then I guess that makes you a whiny brat, doesn't it?"

In a flash of gold the smoke cleared, revealing the charred and smoking ground signifying the lightning strike that just occured. Erza, still recovering from her shock at seeing Mystogan's face, is lest stunned at the realization that she almsot died if not for the blonde in front of her.

Standing in front of Erza, Oathkeeper and Caliburn in hand, was Lucy Heartfilia, once again clad in the outfit she wore when she fought Siegrain at the Tower of Heaven. "Well, there's no better time than the present." Lucy muttered before raising her voice. "Congratluations, you get to witness the official debut of my new Sacred Treasure, a battle outfit I call Galaxy Regalia!"

Inwardly, Lucy was squealing in excitement. 'Oh man, this is a way cooler reveal than last time! Now my outfit has a cool name as well! I'm so glad Celeste told me she could fix it.'

(Flashback)

A few days ago...

"You can do what!?" Lucy exclaimed at her angel companion. Lucy was currently taking a bath, her favorite thing to do before going to bed. Celeste liked to join her whenever she could, saying it was a great mother-daughter bonding experience. Lucy, though still not comfortable with the mother label, was reminded of the times she would bathe with her own mom as a young girl and so she relented. This time, however, Celeste had something important to talk about this time.

"I said that I can fix the outfir you wore at the Tower of Heaven." Celeste explained. "Not only that, I can make it even better than before!"

"What do you mean by better?" Lucy asked.

"I can register your clothing as a Sacred Treasure for your grimoire. All you have to do is leave it with me inside the pages, and it's properties will change to fit your needs."

Lucy pondered it for a moment. "Okay, a few questions. First, why did you never tell me you could do that before now? I would have turned my whip into a magical one the second you told me."

"Well, for one thing, I can't turn anything into a Sacred Treasure. It has to have some sort of inherent mana related to Celestial mana. Caliburn and Oathkeeper are both made out of metals only found in the Celestial Spirit realm, just like your outfit was made with Celestial cloth." Celeste answered. "Also, I think you looked really cool in that outfit, and I want everyone to know how awesome you are."

Lucy nodded. That made sense, Lucy was awesome after all. "Okay, second question. What do you mean it's properties will change."

"Well, not to be rude mother, but you tend to lose a lot of clothes whenever you take a job with father." Lucy blushed in embarassment, but still nodded in agreement. She had lost so many nice shoes, skirts, and various other articles of clothing from Natsu accidentaly setting her clothes on fire. "Your new outfit would self regenerate as long as you feed it enough mana, but that function will shut off whenver your mana levels get dangerously low as to not endanger you. Now you won't have to spend so much on buying replacement clothing."

Again, Lucy nodded. Saving money was always a win in her book.

...Crap, this girl learns fast. Not even half a year, and Celeste already knows how to manipulate her in any argument. Quick, move on before she appeals to your vanity anymore.

Lucy let the silence sit before asking again. "Last question. How do you know any of this?"

Celeste looked shocked at that question, but quickly recovered and tried to play it off. "W-what do you mean how do I know? I just never mentioned it because it didn't come up." Lucy's expression remains unchanged. "I'm serious, I don't want to decieve you in anyway. I only want the best for you and everyone else." Celeste waited for Lucy to answer her nervously, worried that her mother figure would not believe her.

"Fine." Lucy acquiesces, causing Celeste to sigh in relief. "I don't think that you're lying to me. You've never tried to hurt me or my friends and you have no reason to. I believe in your honesty and I promise to keep doing so. Can you do the same for me?"

Lucy points out her pinky finger and Celeste squeals in excitement. "Of course mother! I promise to believe in you and that one day, everyone will know you as the greatest Celestial wizard in the world!" The angel then flew to wrap both her tiny hands around Lucy's pinky.

"Just try to remember these convienient facts more often, got it?"

"No promises."

Back in the fight, Laxus seemed unimpressed by Lucy's introduction. "Am I supposed to be pissing my pants or something? So you like playing dress-up, whoop de fucking do. If you think ripping off Titania's gonna make you look tougher, you're a dumber blonde than I thought."

"Again, pot meet kettle!" Lucy growled before looking back behind her to see a still obviously distracted Erza. 'Damn it! I would really love to have Erza's help against Laxus, but she's clearly not in a good headspace righ now.' While it was a hard choice to make, Lucy was forced to make one. "Erza, I need you to leave this to me."

Erza, finally brought back to reality by being dismissed for a fight, immediately disagreed with Lucy. "I refuse! As much as I dislike him, I cannot deny that his power is overwhelming even to other S-Class wizards, fighting Laxus on your own would be suicidal! "

"And I bet that goes doubly so for someone that can't give all of their focus to a fight!" Lucy responded defiantly, shocking Erza into silence. "I understand why you're upset, but I can't keep protecting you like this. Besides, the Thunder Palace is about to go off in few minutes, and if we don't do something soon, then all of Magnolia will be drawn into this! You're the one who said that I'm the leader of our team, so show me the respect that you showed me then!"

Erza growled in frustration as she realized Lucy was right. She was in no shape to fight Laxus, and even if she and Lucy worked together, they wouldn't make it in time to stop the Thunder Palace. "Alright. I place my trust in you, Lucy. You've exceeded my expectations before, so I won't stop believing in you now." Erza then turned around and ran out the building to save the rest of the town.

Laxus sighed in annoyance once Erza left. "You finally ready to throw down and put your money where your mouth is? I still haven't forgotten when you threw that stupid shield at me after Phantom Lord attacked."

Lucy got into a combatitive stance as she responded. "Of course. Now let me make good on my promise."

Before Lucy could make good on that threat, a lightning bolt flew from Laxus's body straight at Lucy. The blonde managed to sidestep the attack, but Laxus had anticiapted that as another bolt had already been shot in that direction. Lucy brought up Oathkeeper to block the lightning, the impact pushing her across the ground for a few inches. Lucy then swings her shield, dispelling the attack, but another one appears right afterward and strikes her head on.

"Aaaaggghh!" Lucy lands on her behind, her body smoking from Laxus's attack. Despite her scream of pain, Laxus raises an eyebrow when he sees her start to get back up. "Hmm. Someone as weak as you should be out cold, much less be able to even stand up. I didn't sense any mana from you in reaction to my attack, so I guess that your costume is more than just glitter and sparkles. Your Galaxy Regalia must increase your general physical abilities. Guess hiding behind your spirits and shield wasn't enough, so now you need your own clothes to protect you."

"I am not hiding. I am standing here before you as Lucy Heartfilia, a proud member of Fairy Tail. Which is much mor than I can say about you." Lucy's retort only made Laxus frown in annoyance. Wordlessly, Laxus discharged a bolt from his hand, lightning arcing towards her.

"Alpha Stream!" Thinking fast, Lucy swings Caliburn in respone, an arc of celestial energy shooting out and managing to overpower Laxus's spell. However, that does not remain long as Laxus sends multiple streams of lightning out at once that cancel out her attack. Lucy does not dwell on this, as she then rushes toward Laxus on foot again. A smilar scene occurs once more as she ducks under a lightning bolt before sidestepping a few more.

'Damn, with the boost she's getting from her getup, she's able to dodge my spells. Even with enhanced physicality, that also requires a pretty decent level of mana sensing. Well, let's see if she can figure out this next one.' Lucy continues to dodge a few more attacks as she gets closer, but once she's within striking distance, Lucy goes for an overhead swing. Laxus is nonplussed as he turns into lightning and easily dodges her attack. He reforms behind Lucy and just as she turns around he throws a punch straight at her. Thankfully, Lucy manages to bring up her shield to block, but the vibrations of the impact still roll through her.

'He just punched my shield with his bare hand and I still felt it?! How tough is he?' Lucy did not think on this question for long as she barely managed to knock away his fist using her shield. She swings Caliburn once more, but Laxus becomes living electricity again and moves away at literal lightning speed, this time gaining distance to engage in long range combat again. He starts spamming lightning bolts at Lucy who starts running from his straffing. Eventually Lucy manges to find a gap in his attacks shouting out another Alpha Stream attack that flies at Laxus who evades with his lighting body once more. 'He can transform his body like Juvia. It was annoying having to deal with someone who could attack me while I couldn't. Except...'

"Beta Rebound!" Having a theory on how to handle Laxus's evasive strategies, she throws Oathkeeper at Laxus who once again turns into lightning, heading straight for Lucy. In a change of tactics, Lucy runs in a straight line away from him. Thinking that Lucy is just trying to buy time, Laxus heads directly towards her, as outrunning him required you to be faster than lightning. Laxus in the form of lightning is less than a yard away from her when Lucy turns on a dime and swings Caliburn at him. "Alpha Clash!"

BOOM

The impact of stars and electricty colliding at lightning speed, was enough to blow out the windows of the Cathedral. Anyone who was outside would hear the sound of glass shattering and see a golden glow from inside. You would not be blamed for assuming something of a holy nature was occuring, but you would be far from accurate.

Lucy was on her knees, unable to fully stand the recoil from the prior collision. "You may be fast, but lightning isn't as free forming as water is." Lucy said between big breaths. "That's what I learned from my friend Juvia, another proud member of Fairy Tail that you ignored." Using Caliburn to prop herself up, she looked up to see what had become of Laxus.

The lighthning mage was knocked into a wall, his body slightly embedded into it. His body had a diagonal wound from where Lucy's slash connected. His face was now no longer just a perpetual frown.

He had officially moved on to pissed.

"You get one hit on me and you think you're the hottest shit in the room, huh?" Laxus grunts as he effortlessly pulls himself out of the wall.

"Well, to be fair you only hit me one directly one time as well. Do you wanna just call it even and apologize to the rest of the guild already?" Lucy asked, though by the feeling of Laxus's mana rising in response, she had her answer.

"Hey, Blondie. You're a smart girl. Ever heard the saying, never lightning never strikes the same spot twice?" Laxus's grin unnerved Lucy as she prepared to counter his next attack. "Well, people just say that becuase they've never seen what's about to happen to this town."

Lucy's eye widen as she realizes what he's referring to. She looks towards the runes counting down to the Thunder Palace's activation and sees that there's only 30 seconds until it detonates and takes the whole town out with it.

"That's right, it looks like Titania failed to live up to your expectations! Soon, I'll be the only one laughing in this town, cause the rest of you are gonna pay the price for defying my orders! Though I'll give you the same offer as I did when Phantom attacked you. Kneel before me and admit how inferior you are and I might just stop, unless your pride as a Fairy Tail member doesn't let you! Ahahahahahhahah!" Laxus' maniacal laughter echoed throughout the cathedral as he waited for the timer to reach zero.

5...

What Laxus failed to realize...

4...

in the midst of his howls of madness...

3...

that despite the dire circumstances...

2...

and certain doom that all of Magnolia was facing...

1...

Lucy smiled.

0.

FWOOSH

Flashback...

As the barrier keeping Sylph, Celeste, and Gajeel from joining the fight was just about to be destroyed, Asta was sitting there with a frown on his face. After seeing the announcement of Lucy and Yuno's name come up after they claimed vitcory against the Thunder Legion, he was feeling very... useless. His arms were out of comission, which meant that he had no way of contributing to the fight. If his arms were working he might have been able to slash through the enchantments when they first appeared or undo the stone forms the girls were trapped in. He had never tried using his swords on something that changed the rules of reality or someone's body, but hey, Anti-Magic beats magic right? Not to mention that stupid Thunder Palace that was gonna go off in less than 10 minutes and zap everyone to death. If only he had a way to reach them when they were so high in the air.

...Wait.

Maybe he did have a way to help.

Levy was putting the finishing touches on her work, he approached the two young dragonslayers, one of which was still silently fuming at having his cat stolen. "Hey, Sting. Lector can fly just like Happy and Frosch, correct?"

The white dragonslayer eyed him as he responded. "Yeeeeeah, but why do you want him?"

Asta was smiling as the plan in his head was forming. Hah, wait until Yuno and Lucy heard about this, it'll blow their minds!

He could have good ideas too!

"Great! Follow up question; do you think that he would be able to carry the weight of me and my sword?"

"Not happening." Asta's face immediately fell at Sting's response. "You aren't all that heavy, but our cats can only carry the weigh of one person at a time. Even your small sword basically doubles your weight, so you'd be lucky to get more than 5 feet off the ground."

Curses! The brilliant plan Asta had in his head was foiled by the laws of physics! Stupid laws. Once he's Wizard King, those are the first thing he's gonna change.

Asta and Sting's conversation draws the attention of the final dragonslayer in the room, as Natsu walks over to them. "What are you trying to steal Sting's cat for right now? Is the plan to drop in on Laxus from the sky?"

"No, but that would be pretty fun. Actually, I have an even better one." Asta told the two dragonslayers his plan, and their eyes widened in awe at how grand it was.

"Woah, that sounds like the greatest idea ever!" Sting said with shining eyes.

"Yeah, I gotta say I didn't know you could come up with ideas that good. I don't think I would come up with it." Natsu said.

Hah, see. Already two people impressed by his plan. If only everyone was like these two and could see the vision Asta had.

"Unfortunately, Sting's right though," continued Natsu, "even if Happy was here, I don't think he could do it. If only there was someone strong to lift you high up in the air."

The moment Natsu finished his sentence, all three of them had a nirvanic realization. They had someone strong that could get Asta in the air.

All three geniuses turned to Gajeel, who was about to head out and fight Laxus before he felt a chill up his spine. He turned to face the trio with a reluctant look. "What the hell do you want?"

Gajeel could not believe that he agreed to such a stupid plan.

Ashy, Salamander, and Sparky came up to him with what they thought was brilliant idea.

Tie the swordsman to his arm, then extend his arm into the air as a metal pole and swing it around, so that Ashy could break all the lacrima harmlessly while the idiot holds the sword in his teeth the whole time.

Only a triumvirate of dumbasses could think such a bone headed plan was at all reasonable. Even now Gajeel didn't know why he agreed to it.

And the worst part?

It actually worked.

Every time Ashy slammed into a part of the Thunder Palace, he was just waiting for all the lightning bolt strikes they had accumulated to finally hit them all at once and make Gajeel's nickname more accurate, but no. Apparently the kids Anti-Magic was the real deal after all.

Ugh, still, after that embarassing display he was done for the day. He'd let Bunny Girl and Hawkeye get their shots in on Laxus while he sat here and listened to Ashy laughing at the ingenoious execution of his plan. Gajeel could get his licks back some other time.

Although he was worr - concerned about something after feeling Laxus's lightning. Something about it felt familiar. He had fought plenty of lightning mages in his time as a wizard, but the way Laxus's lightning felt wasn't just powerful. There was a rage in there, something primal and ancient lurking inside the current that coursed through him that night, almost like...

Nah, that would be insane. There were only five of them and the guy was born and raised by humans. There's no way he had the same power.

...Right?

Gajeel did get any more time to ponder that question as Natsu came running up to them like someone just shot his cat. "What's the matter Salamander? You look like you just got some really bad news."

Natsu didn't respond with his ususal fire.

What he got instead was desperate silence.

Back at the Cathedral, the moment the timer hit zero, Laxus expected a blinding golden flash that meant the entire town would be razed to dust, but instead was blown away from the wall he just got out of as a burst of wind exploded behind him. He reoriented himself and landed on his feet. 'That spell... there's only one person that could have made that wind.'

The source of the explosion reveals himself as Yuno floats in, wind around him visibly reacting to his power. "Sorry I'm late, that's usually more Asta's style."

Lucy just rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. I bet you were ecstatic to have a chance to make a big dramatic entrance."

"Hey, golden boy!" Laxus yells at Yuno. "What did you do?! Why isn't the Thunder Palace going off right now?!"

Yuno keeps a stoic face as he points at himself. "Me? Oh, I didn't do anything. Let's just say a certain loudmouth had a fun ride through your precious Thunder Palace."

Laxus was fuming at Yuno's explanation. "You're telling me... that damned runt... without his godamn arms... still ruined my plans..."

"It's over Laxus," said Lucy, "your plan failed and you have no more leverage over the guild. Fairy Tail will never be yours."

"Ooooooogggh!" With a cry imbued with anger and hatred, Laxus's mana skyrocketed as lightning shot out of every part of his body. The force of his power was enough for Yuno and Lucy to feel it pushing them back. "I should have done it like this from the very beginning. Overwhelming power is what I am, and I'm gonna use every drop of it to take over the guild. Enough of this strategy nonsene. I'll just make you all disappear!"

"Lucy!" Yuno shouts over the crackle of lightning resounding throughout the battlefield. "Laxus's mana, it's-!"

"I know!" Lucy finishes. "There's something malicious hidden in there! It reminds me of when we fought Siegrain at the Tower of Heaven!"

Before they could continue that conversation, Laxus moved in the time it took them to blink in front of Lucy, letting loose a haymaker that made direct contact with her abdomen. "Gah!" Lucy coughed up spit before screaming in pain as he used his magic to electrify her body. Wasting no time, Yuno immediately sent a barrage of wind daggers at Laxus, but the lightning mage just waved his hand and Yuno's spell was eradicated.

Finding the strength to move despite the pain, Lucy grit her teeth and grasped her sword before swinging it at Laxus's head. Laxus ducked under it and followed up with a kick that sent Lucy sprawling across the floor. Momentarily stunned, Laxus zoomed over to stomp her into the ground, but found himself tackled from behind as Yuno grappled him and flew into the air. The advantage did not last long however, as Laxus easliy broke out of Yuno's hold and elbowed him in the stomach. Before Yuno could get back his bearings, Laxus grabbed him by the shoulders and proceeded to heabutt several times in a row, each one enhaced by his lightning.

Yuno, barely keeping conciousness after the beating he just took, formed a Zephyr Blade in his hand and swung it across Laxus's stomach, drawing blood and knocking him away. Yuno took advantage of the situation quickly, not even taking a moment to wipe his bloody nose as he made a Swift White Hawk that let loose a screech of power as it flew towards Laxus. Laxus tried to counter with a blast of electricity, but the bird managed to dodge them long enough to get into close range. Not wanting to take the spell head on, Laxus decided to use a more forward strategy, wrapping his arm in ligthing before striking the wind creation directly in the face.

The moment he made contact with the wind hawk, a violent tornado appeared around him. The hurricane shredded his body, dozens of cuts appearing across his body evey second, his clothes slowly being tutned to shreds. Laxus escapes quickly by zipping out as live voltage onto the ground. Yuno was ready for that as he zoomed in front Laxus and swung his wind sword at him. Laxus easily reacted by catching Yuno's wrist one handed and gripping it tightly, Yuno grunting from the pressure. Laxus raised his arm to begin slamming Yuno into the ground when a shield collided into the back of his skull. With his head ringing from Lucy's sneak attack, Laxus let go of Yuno, allowing the wind mage to surround his swords in tornado and aim it directly at Laxus. "Wind Creation Magic: Zephyr Blade + Tornado Fang!"

"Shiiiiiiiittt!" Laxus cried in pain as wind cut into his skin and was knocked all the way to the back of the cathedral. Lucy and Yuno take the moment to breathe as they listen to the sound of Laxus's body knocking into the ground.

"Come on. He's gotta be done after that." Lucy panted. "I doubt even someone like Erza could stay standing after all that."

"I hope you're right. I just want today to end." Yuno wheezed.

"Don't worry, it'll be over soon alright."

Both mages gasped at the sound of Laxus's voice, but were unable to prepare for his next move. Laxus as lightning zoomed in between the two of them and grasped them by their necks. Realizing they had to act immediately, they both raised their arms to activate a spell but found themselves distracted by something else.

Indescribale pain.

Millions of volts of electricty coursed through their bodies instantly, the two challengers screaming in agony as they lose control of every part of their body to the violent spasms that shake through them. Interuppting their cries of misery is Laxus's deranged laughter, the sound of a predator having caught its prey.

Eventually, Laxus dropped the two of them to the ground, their bodies still twiching from the aftershocks. "Now, are you two gonna sit down like good boys and girls? Or do I have to punish you even more?" Laxus asked as he looked down at their forms crumpled on the ground, excpeting them to finally understand the gap in power between him and them.

Instead what he got was picture perfect example of synchronicity as the two of them move simultaneously better than if they practiced for their entire lives, as if the person they saw in the mirror every morning was each other.

Their fingers grip the ground.

Their teeth clench.

Their head's barely managed to lift up to make eye contact with him.

And the both have the same response, down to the cadence.

"I would rather die than obey you."

And to top it all off.

The look in their eyes.

It wasn't anger, sadness, pain, joy, or any other emotion that Laxus could describe. However, he did know one thing, and that was his reaction to their defiance.

Fear.

It made no sense. He was winning, the two of them were on the ground beneath him. Ask anyone in the world and they would agree that Laxus had no reason to be afraid. He had the power in this situation, he always had the power in every situation.

But the chill in his bones was undeniable.

Still, Laxus felt something inside him violently reject that emotion. It was as if a foreign entity had invaded his very soul has he jumped and prepared to strike them with an actual chanted spell. The smell of ozone that had been in the air since the fight started only began to grow stronger, and the every combatant could feel the static in the air converge on point, all to the will of Laxus's mana.

"Resounding through the air, the roar of thunder, plunge from the heavens and reap destruction! Raging Bolt!"

CRACK-A-THROOOM

In a situation like this, you would expect the only things going through Lucy and Yuno's heads would be an impending sense of doom. Maybe the two of them would be going through all of their past regrets and what they would have done differently. Or maybe they would be thinking of the loved ones that they didn't get the chance to say goodbye to and the despair they would feel.

However, Lucy Heartfilia and Yuno are not those type of people.

In near death scenarios, people reveal and discover the truest nature of themselves. Whether they are lamentful people that wish to unod all that they've done, furios at their demise and cursing the source of it, or calmly accepting the inevitable end of all things.

However, the rarest, and most valuable kind, is the person that looks death straight ahead with a determination hardier than a dragon's scales and refuse to let this be their end, using the strength of what they believe in to rise above their fate.

Even though Lucy does not have confidence in her skills, and Yuno has a lack of belief in his own conviction, they both had faith in the same thing.

The strength of the bonds they had forged in Fairy Tail.

Once again with the synchronicity of the finest musical act that even the most skilled directors would die for, the two them held hands, pointing it directly at the incoming lightning bolt that looked as if a divine being was about strike them down. And in the face of a storm that threatend to drown their efforts into ash...

...They roared louder.

"Unison Raid! Divine Spirit Magic: Sylph's Almighty Cyclone!"

Golden wind bursted out of their hands, the kind that looked as if it was sand from a mystical hourglass with stars sprinkled in. Behind the two of them was the giant silhouette of a woman with wings that looked between a fairy and an angel, posed as if she was blowing a soft kiss at a lover.

When in reality the spell was destruction incarnate as it managed to completely overpower Laxus's spell as it they clashed in midair, only to then pick a new target as it swooped down to completely envelop Laxus, who didn't even have time to scream before their combine might made contact. Laxus could not even comprehend the spell as it tore him apart, pain shooting into every part of his body.

What Laxus was unaware of was that was doing more than just physical damage to him, as in the depths of his soul, an intense hurricane flushed out the unnatural malice that had formed in his heart, before petering out to a small breeze. What was left were only embers compared to the wildfire of rage that dwelled inside of him.

Back to the external side of things, the spell finished by shooting out of the top of the building until it reached the sky for all of Magnolia to see before exploding into stardust that drifted down to the citizens below. Everyone looked in awe at this miraculous event, wondering how in the world Fairy Tail was gonna top this for the Fantasia parade.

Returning to the fight proper, Yuno and Lucy waited with baited breath once again to see if Laxus down for the count. The man was still standing, but he had not moved for almost a whole minute, and his clothes were destroyed to the point that his chest was bare, showing the x-marked wound across his chest from his opponents blades and the black tattoo under the guild mark of the same color, and yet both fighters remained vigilant for a response, in spite of the awesome power the two of them displayed prior.

And they were right to do so.

"Grrrrrrrroooooooooaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!"

A cry unlike anything one would believe a human could make erupted from Laxus's mouth as life returned to his eyes. "Damn it! Why is this happening! I'm strong and they are weak! Those are the facts plain and simple! So why," the lightning mage glares at the two of them. "Why do you keep getting in my way?!"

Not wanting to hear their response despite asking the question, Laxus takes drastic action. He takes a stance where he puts his hand together to form a circle. "I'm not gonna take it anymore! No one defies Laxus Dreyar and gets away with it! So say goodbye - to everything!" In between Laxus's hands an orb of white light appears, much to the disbelief of Lucy and Yuno.

"W-what is that spell?!" Lucy asked.

"I have no idea! But I can say one thing for sure, it's not lightning magic!" Yuno yelled. "I don't think I've ever felt anything like it!"

The power in Laxus's hands was truly terrifying as it made the very ground shake and seemed to suck the light around it. "This is one of the only perks of being that geezer's grandson that's actually worthwile. Fairy Law. It's one of the Three Great Fairy Spells in the guild. This one is designed to destroy everyone I see as an enemy with no exceptions!"

Lucy gasped in sheer horror. "You can't mean-!"

"Oh, but I can!" Laxus looked truly insane at that moment, his eyes bloodshot and looking around wildly. "You two, your friends, those stupid cats, everyone in this damn town! Hell, even the Thunder Legion, they lost so they can eat rocks for all I care! You're all gonna pay!"

"3..."

Still paralysed from Laxus's vicious shocks earlier and unable to form a spell so soon after a unison raid, Lucy and Yuno were truly out of options at the moment.

"2..."

All they could do was wait for the moment when Laxus finally unleashed his spell onto Magnolia.

"1..."

Until two very loud and recognizable voices called out.

"Cut it out, you dumbass!"

Everyone stopped as they looked to now blown off doors of Kardia Cathedral, revealing the forms of Fairy Tail's most well known dragonslayer and their newest magicless swordsman, Natsu and Asta, their faces both deadly serious.

"Natsu, Asta?!" Lucy cried out in disbelief. "What are you two doing here?! You need to go now!"

"It doesn't matter anyway, there's no time to escape his range," Yuno cursed.

"What the hell are you two pipsqueaks doing here?" Laxus growled. "You want a front row seat to your destruction, the be my guest. Bwahahahaha!" Laxus laughed gleefully as he was about to close the curtain on this horrible day when Natsu uttered a single phrase.

"Laxus... Gramps might... he not make it past today."

You could feel the energy in that room being sucked out instantly, despite the constant power being emanated by Fairy Law. Even Laxus in his crazed state looked as if he was sane for a moment. "W-what do you mean?" No answer. "What the hell do you mean?!"

"The master was having problems not long after you started this game," Natsu explained. "Thankfully Porlyusica appeared to help us figure out what was wrong with him. Unfortunately, it looks like Gramps might be out of time. Laxus, just cut all this crap out and say goodbye before it's too late."

"Yeah, don't be an idiot!" Asta chimed in. "If I found out anyone back at Hage was in danger, I'd drop everything to save them. He's your own blood, and that's a connection that I've never had the chance to have. I would never throw away the chance to have that bond for even a moment if I found my blood family, so don't make a mistake that you'll regret."

They all looked at Laxus expectantly, waiting for him to come to his senses and rush to his grandfather's side. Surely even he wasn't so far gone as to disregard his health in such a dire circumstance.

It seemed that they were up for disappointment though.

Because Laxus laughed.

"Oh, man. Even know when I'm about to blow him, his guild, and his home to bits, he can't help but put his own mark on it."

Lucy and Yuno looked at him in disgust the same way you would someone that just bathed in raw sewage. This arrogant man would rather revel in his own crapulence thann go see his grandfather on his deathbed. After all that they heard about Laxus's past, they thought maybe he had a heart underneath all of his grandstanding, but looks like they were wrong.

Natsu was furious at Laxus's dismissal of his statement. He couldn't imagine being so full of himself to ignore someone he loved dying. Erza, Sting, Lucy, hell even Gray and Gajeel he would shed tears over - god forbid it was Igneel, he would be there in a heartbeat and no one could stop him. Just what in the world was going on with Laxus to be like this?

And Asta...

...Started walking.

The room was silent with every step that Asta took, no one taking any action to stop him as they were all too dumbfounded. Every step took Asta closer and closer to the source of the only other sound in the room, Fairy Law. Once he was 5 paces away from Laxus, he stopped and looked him in the eye, which was hard to do with the height discrepancy betweent the two. Asta stared Laxus dead in the eyes, with his arms still in slings, and Laxus overflwing with power, and had one thing to say.

"Do it."

...

The room was left speechless at Asta's declaration. Laxus escpecially looked completely bewildered, but managed to keep enough composure to mantain his spell.

"Asta! What are you doing?!" Lucy yelled. Why in the world would Asta antagonize him when he held their fate in his hands.

"This is not the time for you to overconfident right now!" Yuno shouted. While normally he admired Asta's steadfast determination, he'd rather his brother not endanger all of their lives with it.

Natsu, meanwhile, was uncharacteristically silent, as his expression hinted that he had some sort of understanding of what Asta was getting at. Instead of joining in the cries for the Asta to move, he also moved forward to stand side by side with his guildmate. "Yeah, go ahead Laxus! Go ahead and blow us away with that spell right now!"

The two mages on the floor were left with their mouths agape at Natsu joining in on Asta's gambit.

"Natsu, I swear to god you better have a plan because if we die, I swear to kill you myself!" Lucy protested.

"I second that Asta!" Yuno added on.

Laxus only stares down at the two powerless wizards in front of him standing fearlessly in front of him. He towers over them, with the strongest spell in the guild in his hands, and the two of them dared him to use it. Well, Laxus wasn't a coward. He had gone too far to stop now, and he certainly wouldn't let two pipsqueaks intimidate him. Laxus had the strength. Laxus was strength. So he was gonna use it.

"Fine! It's time I show the world who Laxus truly is! Fairy Law!"

The light in his hands grew brighter and brighter, the power contatined being greater than anything the wiards before him had ever felt come from a singal individual. It grew to the point that they all had to close their eyes not because of fear, but rather that they may go blind. The mana washed over them before it then expanded to cover more and more of Magnolia to the point that an observer would just see a giant sphere of white light from miles away.

As the light finally died down and smoke filled his surroundings, Laxus stood as the epicenter of the explosion, his mana the only thing that he could sense after his big move. "Finally... it's over." Now no one could deny the power that he held as the most powerful wizard in Fairy Tail.

Until that blissful silence was interrupted by the two most annoying voices he had ever heard.

"Whoo! Man am I glad that worked out!"

"Wait! are you telling me that you didn't know for sure this would happen?!"

"W-well it still worked out, didn't it?!"

It was impossible. There was no way. He must have just lost his mind and his mind was playing tricks on him. Either that or their ghosts were haunting him, which was almost as infuriating.

Unfortuantely, his worst fears came true as the smoke faded away to reveal that his spell had been less effective than an a punch thrown by an ant. No one was dead from his spell, hell no one was even injured from it. For heaven's sake, the two infuriating knuckleheads were both still standing and talking just fine.

"W-what's going on? Why are you still alive?! You should all be destroyed!" Had he performed the spell wrong? No, that was impossible, he did it exactly as the old man instructed, and he was way too soft to give him a false version of the spell. So why hadn't it worked?

Asta took it upon himself to answer the questions in Laxus's mind. "You said that spell only targeted those you see as enemies right? Well, I may not know much about magic, but I do undersand heart. I'll be honest, the only reason that I felt so confident was because I could feel your ki. It was full of so much rage, I don't know if I've ever felt someone so angry before in my life. I had to dig deep though to find that underneath all that anger was actually a sense of desperation. A desperation that to prove yourself and your abilities to everyone, and for the chance to show that you can define who you are by own hands."

Laxus could barely comprehend what he just heard. Yet every single word penetrated him in a way that he did not have the space of mind to register. "What you're a mind reader now too?! Even if I accept that as the truth, how do you know for certain that's how I feel?!"

"Because everyone feels like that in some way, Laxus." Natsu answers. "Everytime I challenge someone to a fight, it's not just cause I wanna punch them in the face, it's to remind myself of how far I've come since I first joined Fairy Tail. Even when I get swatted like a fly by someone like you or Erza, that just means I have that much further to go, and I try ten times harder to reach that level. That's what I respected about you for so long, even though you kept acting like a jerk, no one could deny that you were one of the strongest wizards in the guild."

Laxus's body trmebled from an emotion that he could not identify. Pride, fear, joy, sadness, anger, it didn't matter. What Laxus did know was that he could not, under any circumstances, accept what Asta and Natsu were saying as truth. They didn't define him, Laxus defined Laxus, and he would show them how he chose to live his life.

There was one last thing he had been hiding and it was time to reveal it to the world. He had already left his old man for dead, so why should this be any more sacred than everything else he said?

In a move that no one saw coming, suddenly Laxus body started bulking up, his muscles getting bigger, an aura of lightning emanating off of his body.

"Ah, crap. He's finally getting serious." Natsu said, his face now showing how nervous he was at this situation.

Lucy's eyes widen as Laxus's roar grows louder alongside his mana. "Wait a minute. This feeling... it's just like - no it can't be true!"

"What's everyone else get that I don't! His ki is changing, but into something that seems less human. It feels more like..." Asta trails off as he realizes the truth of what he's witnessing.

Yuno is the one to put the dread they are all feeling into words. "He's a Lightning Dragon Slayer."

Yuno's conclusion was shown to be correct, as Laxus's teeth grew to become reptilian fangs, his arms growing scales the same shade of yellow as his lightnig. Laxus, now finished with his transformation, grinned down at his opponents. "You know, everyone keeps acting like being a Dragon Slayer is a big deal and all, but last I checked, at least three more joined in the past month. This guid is basically a grab-bag for whatever type of dragon you need. But if you want to see what he real dragonslayer's power is like, I'll gladly show you."

As Laxus spoke, his mouth slowly filled with static, until a golden crackle appeared in his mouth. Laxus reared back his head before letting loose a full powered roar worthy of his title.

"Lightning Dragon's Roar!"

BOOM

The impact of his roar shook the cathedral as well as every other building for a mile. Just like every other time, Laxus hoped that this would be the one that finally put the pests to rest for good.

And just like every other time, he was proven wrong again.

Standing in front of them, silver shield in front of them, was Lucy Heartfilia. "Despite all that showboating, it looks like Fairy Law took a lot of you. I've felt stronger shocks from a rug."

'Damn it!' Laxus cursed inwardly. 'I got distracted by those two morons long enough for them to shake off my paralysis!' The moment he finished that sentence, a green vortex of wind appeared right in front of him and blew him to the back of the cathedral.

Yuno stood triumphantly, a green aura surrounding him as he channeled the mana around him. "You're not the only one who can get stronger."

Asta looked at him with stars in his eyes. "Woah, Yuno! That is so cool! Is that Mana Zone thing you've been training for?"

Yuno nodded. "Yep. And while I would love to show off more, I would appreciate it if you two stepped aside and let the two of us handle this.

"You got it!" Asta and Natsu ran outside the building as the fighters prepared to resume their match. "Don't forget to show them what Fairy Tail can do when we workt together!"

"Working together, huh?" Yuno glanced at Lucy. "I've never actually had the chance to fight alongside you before. Think you can keep up with me?"

Lucy smirked. "I think I can manage. Let me take most of the attacks with Oathkeeper. I have better defenses and you've taken more than enough damage already, so stay long range unless necessary, got it?"

"Yes ma'am."

And with that they were off, Lucy charging headfirst at Laxus like at the beginning. Laxus counters by showing off that he has more than just raw power in this state. "Lighting Dragon's Breakdown Fist!" He throws out a fist at Lucy, but instead of formless lighting, this time it takes the form of golden fist as it flies towards her. Lucy heads on fearlessly, leaping over it before resuming her charge. Laxus decides to take a more active role in the fight as well, charging forward to meet her head on. As the two get closer, they prepare to clash, sword vs fist.

"Alpha Clash!" Lucy cries as she swings Caliburn, Laxus countering with a dragon slayer fist again. While one would expect the blade to win in an exchange like this, instead Laxus knocked it away instantly. Lucy's eyes widen as she realizes that her normal way of tackling this problem isn't gonna work. Laxus follows up by swinging an arm down on her and she brings up a shield to block it. The impact once again rattles her bones and manages to push her feet into the ground as she resists against the force.

Laxus's assault is interrupted by him realizing that wind daggers surround the space he's in. They instantly move in to target him but he turns into lightning and dodges through them. When Laxus reforms, he is faced with a haw directly in front of his face. Reacting quickly, he throws a lightning kick at it, managing to disrupt the spell and getting thrown back in the process. He then suddenly feels something hard ram into his back and he realizes that Lucy threw her shield into him as soon as he stopped paying attention to her.

Turning around in midair to look at her, Laxus aims an arm out in her direction, but before he manages to form mana in his hand, Yuno is on him instantly. Yuno swings his wind sword at Laxus, who blocks it with just his arm. Yuno is schocked to see his attack so easily ignored, and fails to react to Laxus's haymaker that hits him straight in the kneck. Yuno coughs violently as the two of them fall towards the ground. Lucy runs to catch up with their falling forms and jumps above them to slam her blade down on them again. Laxus notices her attack and moves to block it like before, but quickly realizes that won't work.

'If Yuno can do two spells so can I!' Lucy's sword is streaming gold as she swings it down, combining both of her sword spells at once to strike past Laxus's defenses. "Celestial Magic: Alpha Stream + Alpha Clash!" This time, Lucy's strike manages to cut into Laxus's skin, but it is still not enough to break his guard. Laxus then notices to his sides to bows full of arrows with wind to his side, their strings pulled taut and ready to fire straight at him. He's about turn into lightning to dodge it when he realizes that Yuno is still awake and filling his arm with mana stronger than the rest of the spells facing him. "Wind Spirit Magic: Sylph's Propulsion!"

With wind surrounding his fist moving at typhoon speed's Laxus is left at the mercy at the attacks that him in sequence. First, Yuno's fist hits him straight in the face, causing blood to fly. Next, that distracts him enough for Lucy to overpower him strike him on the side. Laxus cries out in pain while Yuno uses his wind to carry himself and Lucy out of the way before he let's his arrows fly and six of them strike Laxus all over his body. The impact of all these attacks knock Laxus on to the ground, his body in pain, but still not defeated.

Laxus courses lightning through his body, dispelling the arrows before getting up to face his foes once more. "Lightning Dragon's Iron Hammer!" Laxus conjours lightning in his hand before swing down at the ground, making two collumns of lightning that shoot out to face his foes. Yuno flies above his while using wind to lift Lucy above hears as well. Unfortunately, Laxus anticipated this as he had turned into lightning and flew towards them, using the momentum he had to shoot next to them and punch them in the stomach simultaneously as they shoot through the ceiling.

Once he lands on the roof, he let's Yuno fall away before gripping Lucy by the shoulders and kneeing her hard in the gut. "You infuriate me!" Laxus snarled as he punctuated his rant with constant knees to the gut. "You think you and your royal friends can come up in here and act like this place is for you! Fairy Tail isn't for privileged little girls who want to rebel against their families! The guild didn't get it's reputation by letting people like you carry us, it rose up the hard way, through blood sweat and tears that you have no concept of!"

Laxus's rant is interrupted by Lucy heabdutting him in the nose, making him grab his face and giving her the chance to fall to her knees. "You think... that I can't understand shedding blood, sweat, and tears to grow stronger? What do you call this then?!" Lucy lifted her head to show him her face, covered in sweat from how hard she's been fighting, blood from the beating he has been giving her, and the tears she has shed from the pain and exhaustion she feels. When he does not respond she continues "What, does this not count?! I have been fighting for my life out here, and you want me to say that I don't know what suffering is? News flash, I didn't even have these weapons I've been fighting you with for more than a month! And let me tell you, I am no prodigy at swordplay like Asta or Erza, I have no chance against the two of them, but I still get up everyday and train to catch up to my friends who have spent years training harder than me."

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Laxus whined, revealing himself to be the petulant child he is. "The only reason you have the power to fight me is because of your mom. One of the few Wizard Queens in Fiore, and of course her daughter wants to follow in her footsteps! You don't know what it's like to only hear people talk about how great you are in comparison to someone else!"

"Pot. Kettle." Lucy growls. "Of course I know what that feels like! I spent every day since my mother died being reminded myself and my own father about how worthless I was compared to her and how I would never be half the person she was!" Laxus seemed shaken at Lucy's outburst as she kept going. "What about you Laxus? You're doing all of this because you want to take after your grandpa, who you claim you don't care for? What about the guild? You call them all weaklings yet you go on and on about what Fairy Tail as a guild stands for! You can't have your cake and eat it, Laxus! You know what you've done is wrong, you just refuse to back down because you can't take it all back now!"

"Enough!" Laxus zipped over to her instantly, his foot aimed right at her diaphragm. Lucy brings her shield up to block his kick, but still rolls across the ground until she hits one of the cathedral's towers with her back. Laxus does not quit as he continues kicking her shield relentlessly over and over. "Let's see how long you can hold that shiled? Somethings gonna give out, either your arms or my legs, and I know which one I'm rooting for!"

Lucy grunts in pain from every kick that Laxus delivers, but waits for her moment to strike. 'I'm definitely not getting up after this, but I have one last move that I've been saving this whole time.'

Laxus eventually gets tired of kicking her and moves on to bigger things. "How about I just hurry things along and blow you away! Lightning Dragon's Heavenward Halberd!" Laxus formed a three pronged spear of electricity the size of her body and swung it down at her, hoping to impale her. Lucy seized the chance and instantly slammed her shiled against it while calling out, "Celestial Magic: Beta Repulsion!"

KABOOM

Lucy had held onto the secret that her shield could store kinetic energy for the entire fight for the exact moment Laxus tried a big close range attack. The two opposing forces collided, knocking Laxus away as the tower Lucy had been in front of crumbled from the impact. Lucy herself was left lying on her back, her body wracked with pain to the point where she was unable to move. For the forseeable future, she was no longer a part of the battle.

Laxus, however, very much was as he stood up on shaky legs. He couldn't remember the last time he had ever been in a fight that had pushed him this hard. These two had somehow managed to make him try harder than he ever had in his life. Just what was up with these two, killing them was seeming more and more like trying to destroy a star in the sky, impossible.

Speaking of two, where has the second one been-

"Graggghh!" Laxus got his answer as a slash connected with his back again, but not from metal, but instead razor sharp wind. "The last inscet buzzing in my ear." Laxus turned to face Yuno, who honestly looked in just as bad a shape as Laxus was. The two of them breathed heavily before yelling at the top of their lungs and charging at each other, Laxus on foot and Yuno in the air.

The two of them both went for fist attacks, but realized that they would be defenseless after releasing too much mana. So instead, they punched each other in the face, resulting in a cross counter nd them both getting knocked back. Neither one backed down, however, and they charged once more. Laxus goes for an uppercut, but Yuno moves his head to the left before swinging his hand in a slashing motion. For a second, Laxus was confused as he didn't see a Zephyr Blade in Yuno's hand, up until he realized that Yuno was holding one of his smaller wind daggers to save mana. Laxus sidestepped and delivered an overhead elbow onto Yuno's back, hitting him so hard that he bounced off the ground before Laxus grabbed his head and kneed him in the face, covering his knee with the wind mage's blood.

After that, he palmed Yuno's head in the both of his hands and lifted him to eye level, the whole time squeezing Yuno's skull painfully. "You push against me as well. Why? In my Fairy Tail, you would have been one of the strongest members of it, but you just don't get it. I thought you wanted to be Wizard King, but you surround yourself with weaklings! Only one person can have the title of Fiore's strongest wizard, so why do you act so buddy buddy with people that'll only serve to bring you down? You're just wasting time when you could be so much more!"

The entire time Laxus yelled at Yuno, however, his eyes were not focused on the delusional fool in front of him. Instead he saw a familiar scene of a child standing up against a bully that was stronger than him

Doing his best to ignore the agonizing sensation of having his head crushed, Yuno silently swings his leg backward before using a gust of wind to launch his lower body hard enough to deliver a kick to straight to Laxus's jaw. "A waste of time?! What do you call of this then, a success?!" Yuno shouted as Laxus stumbled on his feet, reeling from the sensation of his brain smacking into his skull. "Let me tell you why I care so much about these weaklings - because I was one of those myself at a time! As a kid, the idea of getting into a fight or standing up for myself seemed like nothing more than a childish fantasy, until my rival, my brother, who had no magic - the thing that everyone equates to strength - showed me what the difference is between the truly weak and strong! Strength is not enforcing your will onto others and dominating them for your own satisfaction! It's about paving a path for others to grow and be better than they are! Weakness does not mean a lack of strength, it is when those who trick themselves that they have power find they have nothing left at the end!"

As Yuno daringly stood before Laxus, he focused every single drop of mana from his surroundings that he could, feeling the very nerves in his body tingling from his power. 'Bell, I'm gonna need you to give me every ounce of power you can and more! We're putting an end to this now!' Yuno raised his hand, his eyes glowing green as wind and mana swirled around him. Yuno could feel the soft caressing touch of the mana as it gathered to him, almost begging him to use as much power as he wanted.

Laxus had no patience to wait for Yuno to pull of his final spell, so he instantly dashed acted to prevent Yuno's attack. "No, this can't be! I am strong! You are weak! And I refuse to lose to you!" Laxus raised both of his hands into the air, forming a giant sphere of electricity above him that crackled like a disfigured sun. "Dragon Slayer Secret Art! Thundering Discharge: Amperic Execution!" Laxus then condensed the ball until it was the size of a soccer ball in his hands. "Now die!" Laxus moved to throw his spell...

Until an ivory disc slammed into his wrist, throwing it off course. The orb then flew into the sky behind Yuno before exploding into a shower of light, a fireworks show to celebrate Laxus's downfall. Laxus had no more words, and could only dumbly turn his head to gape at the Celestial mage who used the last of her strength to chuck her shield as hard as she could to ruin Laxus's day.

Lucy's smile, while usually a thing of beauty was less so due to the damage that Laxus had done to it, but the heart was still there. "You're wrong. What you feel right now? That is weakness."

"And this is strength."

Laxus then turned back to Yuno, who was now ready to unleash his power. The wind and mana were almost indistinguishable as they swirled around him and almost semmed to form a partial crown around his head and the silhouette of a wing on his back.

Laxus's mind wandered at this moment, past the anger of his defeat, the regret at what he has done, or the fear for his grandfather's fate. Instead he flashed back to the day that Erza first got called Titania. Apparently, one of the first jobs she took after becoming S-Class, an onlooker had caught her fighting a giant monster that was terrorizing a village in her Heaven's Wheel Armor and described her as if she was the mythical queen of fairies, Titania.

The only thing that Laxus could think of at Yuno's display of power was that same held true for him.

Right now, he looked as if he was the king of fairies that was said to rule alongisde Titania.

And a king holds no quarter for those who threaten his home.

"Mana Zone: Full Release! Aeolus Rampage!"

There was no delay before Laxus found himself being bombarded on all sides wind creations. Knives, birds, arrows, axes, the wind itself, everything poured down on him in a relentless onslaught that left him unable to respond in anyway. When the spell finally ended, he hadn't realized he was in the air until he felt his body crash into the ground, everything else becoming black.

The air returned to a chill breeze as Yuno looked down at Laxus's finally unconcious form. He turned to look at Lucy who smiled back at him. Yuno responded with grin of his own and lifting his hand. Lucy looked shocked, despite participating in this ritual before, this time clearly meant more to both of them. Nevertheless, she raised her hand to his in a figurative fist bump that neither one was strong enough to reach the other for.

At a moment like this, there was only one thing to say.

"We win!"

And then Yuno promptly passed out.

As the skys clear on this eventful day, there was one thing that Laxus was right about. The description of Yuno was obvious and natural, and the title was so easy anyone could come up with it. However, there was one intrepid reporter who had gone to Magnolia that day to cover the Harvest Festival. He had gotten wind of the fights that were happening, but never reached them in time to find out what crazy stunt Fairy Tail was pulling.

Until finally, he had gotten to the tailend of the battle against Laxus. The sight was so spectacular that he had only been able to take a single shot of Yuno in his partial transformation. Despite the heavy damage Yuno had suffered, his prescence was undeniable and he knew he had struck gold. Forget the Harvest Festival, there was only thing making the headlines tommorow.

Is this the start of a golden age of magic? Laxus Dreyar suffers shocking defeat at hands of rookie mage!

Fairy Tail now crowns their new monarch - Oberon, King of the Fairies!

Anyone else feel like they were just struck by lightning?

I have been planning on that Oberon drop for a while now. I initially wanted to wait until Royal Knights Exam for Yuno to call himself that, but I felt that Yuno wasn't so egotistical to make up such a dramatic title for himself. There are other titles that I'm planning to give other characters so get excited for those in the future.

Laxus's soul comes up this chapter, and I feel like some people may not understand what happened. Basically, after the Unison Raid, Laxus was acting completely on his own volition, he was simply too stubborn to take a minute to think about how crazy he was. His feelings, while extreme, are still his the entire time though, unlike Jellal, who was just taken over completely. Whether that means the same will still happen to Laxus later, just wait to find out.

I'm sure that some people miss that Gajeel and Levy weren't as involved in my version. I simply wanted to focus more on Lucy and Yuno working together as they had the most personal and philoscophical differences with Laxus, besides Natsu and Asta. I still wanted the two of them to have a moment to show their characters off, even if they are unable to fight right now in this story. I also figured that since Lucy is part of a trio of rivals, that she needs actual moments to show that she is just as capable as them, even if she hasn't gotten a finishing blow yet. Her time will come soon though, don't worry.

If you have questions you want answered, feel free to comment below. I've seen other fanfic writers respond to comments, and I would like to start doing that too. Just don't be rude, then I just won't respond and you will recieve no attention from me.

Before we move onto familiar territory, I've got some original stuff I wanna make. I'm sure everyone is waiting for the adorable Dragon Slayer we haven't met yet, and I'm also sure that some people want more Black Clover characters to appear besides our main quartet and the Black Bulls. Well, those people will be satisfied with what's coming up. The storm may have ended, but there's a flare burning that threaten to become uncontrollable. Fairy Tail is about to fight fire with fire - literally.

Next Time: Sparks