A/N: Episode 250.

Enjoy!

CHAPTER SEVENTY: ERZA VS. MINERVA

Beams of yellow light appeared from the ground. "What is that glow?" Minerva wondered out loud.

Erza slowly began to move from the red projectiles, grabbing Minerva's attention as she turned around. Erza broke out of the projectiles and charged at Minerva.

"Erza!" Minerva exclaimed.

"Minerva!" Erza screamed out her name.

"That's it! That's what I want to see!" Minerva shouted. "My dear Erza!"

Erza gritted his teeth as Gray soon began to move as well.

"What the hell is goin' on?" Gajeel wondered. "Hey, Lily! Where are you?!"

"Gray-sama! Where are you?!" Juvia called out. "Juvia is right here!"

"What the...?" Elfman questioned.

"What happened?" Lisanna asked.

"Levy! Droy! Where are you?!" Jet yelled.

"R-Right here... I'm alive somehow..." Droy replied as he was on the ground.

"This is heavy... Somebody help me!" Levy sweat dropped as she was under a slab of debris.

"Hold on! I'll..."

Jet and Droy glared at one another. "I'm gonna save Levy!" Jet informed.

"Go to hell! That's my job!" Droy shot back.

"Didn't you hear her? She called for me!"

"She did not! She said, 'Help me, Droy!'"

"Man!" Elfman ended up lifting the slab of debris off of Levy.

"Are you okay?" Lisanna asked.

"Thank you!" Levy thanked her.

"We were too late!"

"So? What the hell happened?"

"I don't really know, but it looks like we're back on the ground."

"Then that thing crashed?"

Happy was looking around. "Natsu! Where are you?!" He called out. "What is it? My head is heavy, for some reason..."

"Hey!"

Elfman and Lisanna turned around, seeing that Macao, Wakaba, and Romeo were rushing towards them.

"Everyone!" Romeo shouted.

"Are you guys all right?!" Macao asked.

"Do we have to run?" Wakaba complained. "So is everyone mobile again?"

"What exactly happened?" Elfman questioned.

"Is Mira-nee okay?" Romeo asked, glancing at Mira.

"She's just passed out. I think she'll wake up soon." Lisanna reassured.

"All right. If you're on your feet, take care of the injured. And we still got a few people trapped in the goo, so get 'em out!" Macao instructed.

"Right!" Elfman agreed.

"Where are Natsu and Erza?" Wakaba questioned.

"Gray, Juvia, and Gajeel, too..." Levy added.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen them." Droy stated.

"Well, we probably don't have to worry about them..."

"You broke Alegria?" Mard Geer asked in shock as the Celestial Spirit King began to glow yellow.

"The dazzling light of the stars has banished the incursion of darkness. And now I will entrust the task of destroying you to my old friends." He claimed.

"You..."

"What you called my weakness... It's not a weakness at all. As long as I have friends and a shared bond with them, even if I'm not here myself, I know that they will take on that will. That's no weakness. It's our greatest strength. Though to a demon who neither trusts nor loves anyone, I'm sure that's incomprehensible, King of the Underworld." The Celestial Spirit King claimed.

"Old friend, there is one last thing that I am able to do, and then I will return to the Celestial Spirit World. I look forward to the next time we meet, from the bottom of my heart."

"Celestial Spirit King!" Mard Geer called out as the Celestial Spirit King vanished.

Mard Geer started turning to stone. "W-What is this? Does he intend to halt Mard Geer? Is this the last thing you could do, Celestial Spirit King?" He questioned. "Just don't forget... that this grudge... is now going to be directed... against the humans..."

Mard Geer eventually turned to stone completely.

Torafuzar was about to kill Lucy, but Gajeel came just in time and intercepted the attack, protecting her.

"Gajeel..." Lucy muttered.

"It can't be... Only the girl is supposed to be left..." Torafuzar said.

"Huh?"

"Alegria has been broken? That is unexpected." Keyes soon appeared. "Still... the fairies are fated to be annihilated!"

Water soon attacked Keyes, revealing Juvia.

"Water Nebula!"

"Juvia..." Lucy mumbled.

"Juvia won't let you lay a finger on her friends!" Juvia exclaimed.

Silver stepped forward next. "Freeze." He said.

Purple ice headed for Juvia but was quickly countered by icicles, causing it to shatter.

"I don't think so." Gray said.

"Gray..." Lucy muttered.

"He canceled out Silver's ice..." Keyes noticed as Gray widened his eyes upon seeing Silver.

Tempester stepped in front of Silver as fire appeared from his mouth.

"Fire?!" Gajeel questioned as the flames soon began to get sucked up before it hit the group.

"My flames are being sucked up?" Tempester questioned.

Natsu and Sebastian both finished sucking up the flames. "I don't know what all went on, but you saved my ass, Lucy. I get the sense you did, anyway." Natsu claimed.

"Not bad for a weakling." Gajeel praised.

"And now we'll take care of the rest!" Juvia stated.

"We'll handle these bastards, so don't worry." Sebastian claimed.

"You get your rest." Gray added.

"Okay..." Lucy agreed.

"Oh, boy. Looks like we have a lineup of tough guys." Natsu said before pounding his fists together, flames appearing as he did so.

"I'm fired up!"

Natsu, Sebastian, Gray, Gajeel, and Juvia had a staredown with the four 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 me, too!"

"Wuss." Gajeel insulted.

"Shut up!" Natsu shouted at him, offended.

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

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

Gray's eyes widened 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..." Sebastian sighed. "You know what, I'm not even gonna bother explaining."

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, Sebastian, Gajeel, and Juvia turned around.

"Twirl." Tempester said as tornadoes engulfed Natsu, Sebastian, Juvia, and Lucy.

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 and Sebastian sent flaming kicks at Keyes who disappeared.

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

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

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

"Gajeel! Juvia!" Natsu called out in worry as the two skidded on the ground.

"Rumble." Tempester said as Natsu and Sebastian were attacked by lightning, the both of them crashing to the ground.

"Everyone!" Lucy exclaimed.

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

"Yeah!" Gajeel and Sebastian agreed in unison.

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

"Come." Tempester challenged.

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

Lily 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!" 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! Still, they're littered all over the place here. Artillery shells or something?"

Lily soon spotted Happy. "Happy! Are you okay? Good to see you. I was separated from Gajeel..." He trailed off as Happy turned around, a mushroom was on his head, causing Lily 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.

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

Happy turned to look at him with sparkles around him. "Really?!" He asked.

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

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?" Lily questioned.

"No."

Lily held up his sword. "We'll see. Don't move. If you move..."

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

Lily then tried to pull the mushroom off. "It hurts! It hurts-hurts-hurts-hurts!" Happy complained as Lily continued pulling on it.

"Ow-ow-ow-ow!"

"Well, I give up." Lily said.

"Does it look cool?" Happy asked.

"No comment." Lily replied.

"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 rushing 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.

Orion soon began to stir as he jolted awake. "Where are we?!" He asked.

"Orion!" Raden exclaimed in relief with Wendy and Carla beside him.

"Raden!" Orion said. "Huh? I was caught in the explosion..."

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

"It was stopped."

Orion turned to see Doranbolt. "Aren't you... from the Council?" He questioned.

"Thanks to you." Doranbolt finished.

"That's Doranbolt-san." Wendy informed.

"He whisked you away to safety the instant it detonated." Raden explained.

"Just barely." Doranbolt said.

"Then..." Orion recalls how he pressed the button for Face to detonate. "I'm alive?"

"That's right." Raden replied.

"Thanks, Doranbolt." Orion thanked him.

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

Happy and Lily 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." Lily responded.

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

"At any rate, something the Underworld King said stuck with me..." Franmalth noted, 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... Don't tell me... a time lag?!" He thinks to himself.

Carla and Raden lifted Wendy and Orion into the air as both Wendy and Orion looked terrified. "No..." Orion muttered.

A bunch of Face's were in front of the two.

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

"This many..." Orion trailed off.

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

"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 as Orion smiled.

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

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

Erza's blade soon shattered. She leaped forward and tried to send a kick towards Minerva.

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

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

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

"What do you think you're fighting?!" Erza 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 Erza. "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 battling. "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 as 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 them 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 gonna 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!" Erza 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!" Erza 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?'" Erza asked.

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

Erza widened her 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 pleaded.

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

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

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

"Who are you?!" Erza 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?!" Erza asked as Mard Geer soon attacked both Erza and Minerva.

"What is this Magic?!" Erza wondered.

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

"Minerva!" Erza yelled.

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

Erza was thrown back as two silhouettes appeared from the dust.

"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!"

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

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

"Come on, my lady and Erza-san, please take a break." Lector offered.

"We brought lunch." Frosch added.

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

A/N: Another chapter is finished!

Thanks for reading!

~ Kaleb.