Laxus knew he should've electrified that Phantom mage. The reason being...

"Hey, come on, tell me!'' Natsu insisted.

They had just come across a wind magic using enemy who decided to try taking advantage of the dragon slayers' weakness to motion sickness with his abilities. She didn't account for the group discovering her right away, with Endymion alerting the group and Evergreen defeating her in a quick battle.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen before she got to trap Natsu and send him spinning into the air. The dragon slayer shook the resulting dizziness quickly but it left him more determined to know if Laxus did get motion sickness.

It wasn't that Laxus minded talking about it as much as he used to, no. He hated the motion sickness but he had gotten to accept it as a given. No, the problem with this was simple.

"Come on, Laxus...!''

"Natsu, is this really the time?'' Freed cut in.

The teen huffed ''Well, they're always talking about how silly I look because of vehicles. I bet Laxus is a lot like that and even worse.''

"In your dreams, maybe.'' Bickslow deadpanned.

"Right, you're out of order! Don't talk about Laxus like that!'' Freed put in.

Evergreen groaned and Gray gave the two a dry look that plainly said 'Really?'

Endymion cleared his throat pointedly ''As fascinating as this-why don't you discuss it when we're not invading the enemy's base?''

"Honestly!'' The sole female of their group threw her hands up in exasperation. ''Priorities, you morons!''

Freed and Bickslow mumbled apologies, acknowledging the point. Natsu scowled but Happy merely shrugged ''That's Natsu for you.''

"You know the fact that you're so used to his idiocy isn't good, right?'' Gray received a nod. ''Just so we're clear.''

Natsu glared at the two and it wasn't long before they began to argue. Laxus grunted in annoyance ''You'd think we weren't in the middle of taking down an enemy base.''

"Can you imagine them being any different?'' Hope returned with amusement.

"Not a chance,'' was the immediate response. It was just the way Fairy Tail was, he supposed.

It wasn't long before they wound up in a spacious, empty area. The next thing they knew, the walls shifted, revealing a number of golems that somewhat resembled the Giant Mage surrounding them. They immediately attacked, forcing the group to dodge.

Happy yelped as one of them tried to grab him while lifting Natsu away but its arm was sliced off by Hope's blades. Natsu blasted the nearest golem with his magic, giving Happy enough room to land safely. ''All right, let's tear those-eh?!''

He stared as all signs of damage vanished from their targets as if they had never even been there. Evergreen used her fairy magic on another one, only for the same to happen again. Elfman grunted in frustration ''What, so they're just going to keep regenerating?!''

Freed prepared a rune that restrained two golems with a number of chains. He grimaced as they struggled to break free, noticing that the chains weren't going to last long. ''They're resistant to magic as well...''

Laxus unleashed a volley of lightning at the nearest golem, his eyes narrowing. He dind't doubt that they could take those things down but it looked like they would need a lot of power to do so. They couldn't waste too much of their magic here, not when they were just getting started...!


Unfortunately, their comrades weren't faring all that well either.

Laxus' destruction of Jupiter may have given them breathing room but there was still plenty of trouble to go around with. Phantom had even set up a runic barrier that trapped them on the battlefield, Levy was working on breaking it now while Cana and the rest of Team Shadow Gear kept an eye out for her.

Macao burned a Shade ''What happened to Master?!''

Jose's as wily as they come, he probably has some setup that's getting in his way.'' Levy didn't take her eyes off the barrier. ''Almost...''

Alzack destroyed two Shades only to see them regenerate in seconds ''How long is this going to go on?!''

"We have to hold on, the Shades are going to stay until Jose loses.'' Cana looked back at the Giant Mage. ''They're going to take the enemy from the inside out, we've got to do our part.''


The group's battle came to a stalemate. They could keep the golems at bay but their regeneration was still going. On top of that, their resistance to magic was enough to render them immune to a number of spells like Freed's rune traps or Hope's Memoria Magic. Their situation was worsened when they happened to notice the magic seal above the golem thanks to Endymion, which they figured out was Abyss Break, a very powerful spell which threatened to destroy all of Magnolia. Thus in addition to stopping the guild, their additional goal was to dismantle the spell as soon as possible

"You want to run?!'' Natsu cried in response to Freed's suggesstion that they used a wide spread attack to plow the

"We're not getting anywhere like this! You know what we have to do-we have to take Phantom down!''

Elfman grimaced, hating the idea as much as the dragon slayer ''It's not Manly at all...''

Evergreen swatted his head ''Well, suck it up-he's right! Or do you want to risk everyone's safety for your own damned pride?''

He held back a wince, acknowledging her point and nodded in acquesice. Natsu grunted in frustration, watching Bickslow use Baryon Formation, Endymion unleashing a number of beams. Evergreen added to the offense with Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun and Laxus used a wide spread lightning blast.

The combination served to clear out the area, allowing them to hurry onwards. But just as they reached the entrance to the next area, the pieces of the golems floated to reform right before their eyes.

"Lousy little...even that wasn't enough?!'' Bickslow grunted.

On the other hand, Hope couldn't but notice something shiny in the center of the nearest golem. It reminded him of a set up he faced in the past, which had him thinking. That looked almost like a...'Hmm, maybe...'

He swiftly fired three swords of solid light that exploded on contact, taking note of how the golem fell apart, revealing the spherical object once more before it regenerated.

Elfman blinked ''Hope? What is it?''

"...Would you guys use more wide spread attacks, please? I think I know what to do.''

Natsu perked up ''You got an idea? Let's give it a whack!''

As the others also trusted the boy, they had no reservations about obliging him. The golems also sustained quite a bit of damage as Hope gathered his magic, a silver sphere materializing over his palm. The sphere flew as he raised his arm before snapping his fingers with it releasing a multitude of waves that spread out over the room. In seconds, the shiny spheres disappeared and the golems fell apart. This was Nihil Pulse.

"Yay, Hope!'' Happy cheered.

Elfman gaped while Bicklow stared ''What just happened?''

"I just sent their power source one hour into the future, no problems here.''

Laxus smirked ''Nice going, Chibi. Come on, let's move!''

They found a number of Phantom mages waiting on the other side, clearly shocked that the group made it out. Freed sidestepped an oncoming attack and retaliated with a couple of slashes before ducking just as Bickslow's puppets tackled a mage who was already preparing a spell. He used Bickslow's intervention to prepare a rune which had three enemies' spells backfiring on each other. Another enemy threw an axe at Endymion, only for the bird to shrink and grow in size just as he rammed him into a wall.

Natsu looked satisfied ''No wonder they like using sneaky traps all the time, those guys are nothing special.''

"Don't get cocky because we're beating the grunts, we've still got a way to go.'' Evergreen countered.

Freed concurred ''It puzzles me how Gajeel or the Element 4 have yet to take any action. Hope, Endymion, any news on that front?''

The two proceeded to check before reporting that Gajeel was more or less the same, so were Juvia and Aria. Totomaru seemed to have decided it was time to take action as he was wandering through the Giant Mage, likely coming after them.

"You still can't find the last guy?'' Bickslow cocked his head.

"Yes-he doesn't seem to be anywhere in...'' Endymion stiffened while Hope's expression became one of alarm.

"What's wrong?''

Endymion's sending out a warning...'' Hope began.


Saggitarrius shot down three more Shades, jumping back when others tried to attack him. ''There truly is no end to them-! Lucy-dono, how are you holding up?''

"I'll be fine!'' She wished she had better offensive means as her whip was borderline useless with those things. The girl kicked herself for not looking into better means of combat, especially considering the dangerous situations she'd gotten into since becoming a part of Fairy Tail. There wasn't much she could do in this situation except help her spirits.

Lisanna destroyed a number of Shades with her Thunderbird form before shooting an electrified blast in mid-air and watching a few Shades head towards it. Well, at the very least she had the right idea and those things really were drawn to magic...

The girl nearly jumped as she heard someone call out to her but within her own head. Recognizing the speaker's voice and the feeling of telepathy, she spoke ''What's up?'' Her eyes widened before she scowled. ''Got it, I'll let them know. You guys be careful too.''

The girl swiftly assumed her Tigress form before looking around. Her sharpened eye-sight let her find the shadow heading towards her friends within seconds ''Got you!''

She transformed her arm into a hammer before slamming at the area, making those nearby stiffen in surprise. The action made much more sense when a figure leapt out of the shadow, revealed to be a man in a brown suit. Lucy recoiled while Cana looked taken back.

Saggitarius drew an arrow while Cana stared ''Lisanna, how did you...?''

"Endymion.'' The brunette nodded at the answer. ''And we're looking at Sol of the Element 4.''

"He's one of them?'' Lucy took a step back, realizing that he had been after her and could've suceeded had her friends not been there.

He smirked ''Indeed, since the mademoiselle over there was so kind to introduce me, let's get the pleasantries out of the way. I find this battle dreadfully boring as you lot are sure to lose so I decided to get our target on my own. Of course...'' His gaze fixed on Lisanna. ''...I didn't expect such interference.''

"If you think you're walking away with our friend, you've got another thing coming.'' The girl shot back.

"Lisanna-dono is correct, you fiend. You will not harm my Master!'' Saggitarrius cried, Cana merely held up her cards which glowed threateningly.

Sol remained confident ''Let's see you try and stop me!''


It was just as they entered another that Hope picked up on that strange sensation again.

A couple of Phantom mage were near the entrance. One might think the situation to be the cause but they seemed keen to stay away from the next room-even casting a shield over the entrance. It seemed that they were just bracing themselves for battle but they were surprisingly terse.

"Like that's going to stop us-Happy, lock and load!'' Natsu called.

"Aye, Sir!'' The cat prepared a few feathers, they glowed as he charged them with energy. He fired at the barrier, one of the enemies managed to stop all but two of them. Once they hit the mark, Evergreen was about to speak when Natsu proceeded to enhance the force of the explosion with a burst of fire, throwing the enemies back. Not only was it enough to destroy the barrier but even some of the surrounding area, forcing the group to move and avoid the rubble.

"How about a little warning next time?!'' Elfman yelped, Hope and Gray who had been preparing to defend the others sighed in relief that that was the worst of it.

Evergreen swatted Natsu with her fan ''Seriously! That was stupid even for you!''

"Gah! I didn't know that would happen!''

"Just leave the thinking to people who can actually do it right, Ash brain.'' Gray ignored the former's glare as he led them into the next area. But just as they entered-it was surrounded by a number of walls that sealed off the exit. The next thing they knew, a bright, searing flash took place and the room nearly erupted...

Moments later, they became aware of Hope standing before them as he cast Nega Ray, a silver blast that stopped the impending explosion, rendering it null and void.

The boy had been left on high alert by those odd feelings he'd picked up earlier but he hadn't expected this. ''Everyone okay?''

"Yeah, what the hell happened?'' Gray demanded.

"They had a big lacrima grenade hidden in the floors-I saw it just before it blew up. Maybe it was supposed to activate with anyone nearby.''

"That makes sense but...how do you keep doing that? This is like the third time you just knew something would happen!'' Happy exclaimed.

Hope wished he had the answer ''I'm not sure...''

Endymion, who had also spotted the trap, had been set to defend his friends but Hope beat him to the punch. Though given the circumstances, it was no surprise. Laxus gave him a look ''You know something about this?''

"I should...I'm the reason this happened.''

The blond didn't expect that ''Wait, so then...?''

"That ability used to be mine.'' He looked at the others. ''At any rate, I think we may need to split into two groups. Abyss Break requires anchors as the spell circle is charged and I know what they're using now, the Element 4.''

Freed's eyes narrowed ''So that's why they've been avoiding action all this time-I suppose we'll be looking to take them down first. You all remember my information about them?'' They confirmed-he had made sure to tell everyone all he knew about their adversaries in when the possibility of facing the guild became inevitable. ''Good. Now where did you say they were, Endymion?''

They learned Juvia was in one of the highest levels, wandering outside the golem. Totomaru was working on something in one of the lowest levels and Aria was in the area just preceding Jose's location.

"I've got the fire guy!'' Natsu exclaimed.

"Shouldn't we send someone like Gray instead?'' Elfman questioned.

"Nah, are you kidding-it'll be a cinch for me. I can handle it.''

Laxus rolled his eyes but Hope spoke before he could poke holes in that statement ''Endymion, could you...?''

The phoenix proved they were on the same wavelength ''Not a problem, I'll keep an eye out.''

Happy was glad to hear he'd be coming but Natsu huffed ''Hey, how come?''

"The fact that you need to ask gives me more of a reason to come.''

Freed nodded approvingly ''Overconfidence breeds carelessness, Natsu. You can't just plow your way through everything.''

Gray held back a snort, thinking Freed was wasting his breath. This was a lesson they had been trying to make sure he learned for years. ''This whole place if full of traps, Ash Brain. We would've been in trouble without Hope and Endymion.''

He wasn't about to refute that...

"Fine then, let's go!''

Elfman watched the three leave before facing the others ''So where do we go from here?''


Lucy dismissed Sagitarrius to get Virgo, hoping her magic would at least slow the enemy down. The idea somewhat worked, Sol had been caught off guard by the spirit digging right into his path to strike back but he quickly figured out the idea, allowing him to dodge with ease.

Cana threw a pair of cards which unleashed an ice blast which destroyed two earth statues summoned by Sol. Lisanna dodged an attack from another and took it out with a few swipes of her Tigress Claws. Sol raised waves of sand all around them. Taking advantage of the sand blinding the girls, he kicked Lisanna hard enough to nearly throw her down but the girl regained her balance in time to see him rush again. Suddenly, a pair of chains wrapped around his torso, forcing the surprised man to a complete stop. They were in fact, Virgo's chains. The spirit yanked with all her strength, slamming the man into the ground but then he merged with the earth again, appearing as a shadow just before. Virgo didn't miss him heading toward Lucy, immedaitely using her Diver Magic to get between him and her master.

Sol leaped out ''Persistent little pest, aren't you? Roche Concerto!''

Cana scowled ''Not this time, asshole! Zephyrus Well!'' She tossed three cards towards the rock barrage, causing a strong wall of wind to shield them.

Her eyes widened when three Shades came towards them again, realizing they were intentionally avoiding Sol. No doubt according to Jose's plan, the bastard was really boxing them in...

Virgo destroyed three of them with a barrage of rocks ''I will keep those fiends at bay, do not worry.''

"Thanks-right then, let's try this!'' Lisanna assumed her Thunderbird form again, Sol smirking mockingly as she fired an electric blast which he warded off with more rocks.

"Foolish girl, don't you learn...?'' The words died in his mouth when Lisanna waved a wing, the blast suddenly condensed and spun fast to plow through the rocks, leaving him to jump away.

"I'm no one trick pony.'' She chirped, mentally thanking Hope. For the boy had been the one to suggest training to manipulate her abilities to such a degree and the effort had paid dividends. He tried to dive again, only to be forced back when she conjured three electric pillars which erupted from the ground.

"Sun's Strength!''

Sol's eyes widened as a myriad of fiery bullets surged at him, he had little chance to dodge and thus tanked the blow. Cana smirked ''How do you like that?''

The battle continued in a similar vein, Virgo kept the Shades off the girls' backs and they kept Sol at bay. He tried to use his more subtle abilities, like merging with the earth, to throw them off and mount a counter offensive. However, they quickly wized up to the trick. Lucy's well-timed strikes with her whip served as a distraction while Lisanna's enhanced senses put that to a stop more than once.

Growling in anger, Sol conjured a great number of rocks that began falling on the three girls. Cana threw a number of cards that exploded on contact and Lisanna created a wide spread wave of electricity. Her partner immediately followed this up with another Zephyrus Well, increasing the potency of the attack, destroying the spell and causing a wave of force that nearly threw Sol back. He recovered fast and prepared a Sable Dance but Lucy noticed he wasn't actually looking at the girls, spotting his actual target- Virgo. Thinking fast, she wrapped her whip around his arm and yanked with all her strength, nearly throwing him down. Sol kicked her hard enough to hit the ground in retaliation and the next thing she knew, three statues of a man surrounded her. She may not have seen him in a while but she quickly recognized her father.

"Lucy...'' One of the statues uttered. ''...how can you do this? You're hurting the Konzern. And after all I've done for you...why peddle away in this place? It's beneath you. You should be with your family.''

Then the other two carried on ''You should just do what you're told and come home. Your role is to further the family and keep it strong, that's what you were born to do.''

"Stop being selfish.''

"Your mother would've been ashamed of you.''

The statues stopped as her whip impacted their heads, it wasn't enough to destroy them but it did cause a few cracks. Lucy was seething, she knew those things were fake but they spewed much of the same things she'd heard back then. Before she'd gathered up the courage to run away and find her own path.

And now those scum wanted to drag it all back...

"Shut up.'' She hissed, fury coloring every word. ''My family's right here! Any family I had in that awful house died with Mama. That man is not my father and I will not be his puppet. You Phantom bastards are no better than him-I won't ever do what you say! I left that house to find my freedom and I finally have it-you will not take that from me! I'll fight you with everything I have!''

"You tell 'em!'' The statues were destroyed by a barrage of ice bullets before Cana and Lisanna joined her.

"How irritating...you still think your little guild can win?'' Sol sneered. ''Roche Concerto, Platre Sonata!''

The barrage of rocks was followed by a large rocky fist which he thrust at the trio. Lisanna assumed another Take-Over, this one was also a bird but with icy blue and white feathers, her eyes sharpened and gained a vivid glow. This was her Alkonost form, cold air appeared around her as she took flight ''Maelstrom!''

Flapping her wings, she summoned wide spread gales of ice and snow that met Sol's attack head on. Cana added her Wind Edge spell to the mix, creating sharp, slicing winds as the spell's range grew. The combination quickly proved enough to stop Sol's attacks. Shocked Sol was about to get away by merging with the earth. But then Lucy's whip to strike his back, the girl meeeting his gaze with a smirk as he stumbled, and was blown away in the Maelstrom before crashing down. It didn't take them long to see he was down and out.

Virgo gave a small smile ''Well done.''

The three girls took a moment to revel in their victory, highfiving each other.


Happy was really, really glad Endymion came with them.

Gray had been right, it wasn't long before they discovered more traps. Natsu's enhanced senses and reflexes helped avert the worst of them but Endymion's support was just what they needed.

Totomaru had been right where they knew him to be. Upon arrival, they heard him rant about how Jupiter was useless now and they realized he was trying to see if it could be salvaged. However, Laxus had been thorough, the cannon was a wreck.

"You guys couldn't take us with that cannon anyway!'' Natsu taunted as they made their presence known.

"Heh, you came all the way here-why, you're almost making my job too easy!'' Totomaru's hands ignited. ''Blue Fire!''

A barrage of blue flames surged at the three, Endymion quickly cast Stop Flow. This allowed an eager Natsu to eat the spell, which he did with gusto. ''...Whoa-why's it so cold?!''

Totomaru's eyes widened a little ''Ah, I see-so I get the Salamander of all people as an opponent? Interesting...''


The rest of the infiltration team had been making good headway when they noticed a part of the Abyss Break spell circle darkening, which meant one of the anchors wa defeated. But then suddenly Gray and Elfman were trapped in water orbs. This was followed by multiple blue waves which the rest of the group dodged, bringing their attention to the woman they knew had to the blue haired blue eyed woman that had be none other than Juvia.

Her consequent attack was halted when Gray froze their trap, breaking them both free. They could see her clear shock, she could only stare at the creation wizard in wonder. Bickslow sent his puppets to attack but she jumped away from their beams, retaliating with a multitude of water spheres which they avoided. Elfman however, was nearly knocked off the golem's arm by the force of the attacks. Hope swiftly sent out a chain of light which wrapped around his arm, allowing him to use it and propel himelf to a slightly lower floor.

"Are you okay?'' He called.

Elfman gave him a thumbs up ''All good, thanks! You guys gotta keep going.'' Hope wanted to argue but Gray spoke up.

"He's right. We came this far, one of the Element 4 is already beat. I'll handle her.''

Hope and Evergreen looked troubled while Freed pursed his lips ''Make sure you both catch up-don't be reckless.''

"You heard 'em, we better hustle!'' Bickslow told the others.

Laxus agreed after a moment ''...Lose and I'll kick your sorry asses to kingdom come.''

"Heh, noted. Now get going.'' Gray returned, amused.

Juvia attempted to stop the group's advance but Gray negated her next attack, his eyes narrowed in a fierce glare ''I'm your opponent!''


Makarov was dealing with a large group of Phantom Lord members and their allies, who intended to swarm the area in order to trap Fairy Tail on all fronts. Despite their numbers, they couldn't overcome the Wizard Saint.

"Fall!'' He thrust his hand down, a hail of wide spread light blasts throwing the nearest enemies back. Another tried to sneak up on him but Makarov swiftly activiiated his Giant magic on his hand, making it nearly triple in size before punching the attacker away. ''You bastards have a long way to go to take me down-you're not laying a finger on my brats!''


Elfman was trying to find a way up to rejoin the rest of the team, he wondered if he could climb up the Giant Mage with the help of his magic before discovering something strange.

There was an area they hadn't seen before, he did recall Endymion mentioning something a strangely concealed area which he would've missed without his enhanced sight. The phoenix had suspected trouble but nothing happened when they passed it and they couldn't really take on every member of the enemy guild. They'd likely wear themselves out before finding the leaders.

But he could see a few enemy members hoisting strange-looking lacrima. Lacrima were smooth and spherical in general but these reminded him of a diamond. Making sure to hide from view, he heard them talk about charging them with magic before letting them loose.

What were they up to?


Well, let's stop here.

I wasn't sure how to handle a good amount of this chapter but I like how it turned out. Elfman's fight against Sol was great in canon but it wouldn't actually work as well here since the Beast incident went down differently. I did think of having Sol use the day to rub old wounds in but it didn't feel like it had the same impact. So I thought of a different plan. It'll let me give a few more characters a chance to shine, like Mira and Levy.

I like Cana and Lisanna and wish they were given bigger roles in canon. Cana's magic is interesting and I wanted to try making use of transformation magic with Lisanna. Sol's ability to see memories through his earth magic let him find out plenty about Jude so what those statues said isn't far from the truth. With the battle dragging on, Sol was relying on the group of allies coming from the other side but he couldn't have known they'd run into Makarov. Way I see it, he's like Jose, smart but too cocky.

Welp, that's all I had to say, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. Till next time!