Pesky Dust sweat dropped in response. 'I can see Happy hasn't changed at all…'
As the green Vulcan stared at Lisanna with its white eyes and large toothy smile, Lisanna looked away. "I'm sorry if you feel that way, mister Vulcan." Lisanna smiled, placing her hands on her slightly red cheeks. "But my heart belongs to my sweet, little Natsu."
"Ahhhh…prrr…" Pesky Dust smirked. "So sweet…"
The Vulcan immediately became angry as it narrowed its creepy, white eyes at Lisanna. "Yeah?! Well I say you're mine, which means you're mine. Okay?"
"HUH?" Lisanna yelped.
"You don't make the rules around here!" Natsu shouted angrily.
"You just disrespected me, kid. So I'm gonna keep her." the Vulcan smiled smugly. "But if you really want her back, you should apologize."
"Now you're blackmailing me?!"
Lisanna cringed in pain as the Vulcan tightened its grip on her. "No…he's just messing with you."
Pesky Dust watched as Natsu stood still and glowered at the Vulcan, his body trembling in anger.
"Swallow your pride and get on your hands and knees and I'll give her right back." The Vulcan said.
A moment passed before Natsu sighed heavily and slumped his shoulders in defeat. "Fine…"
"He's doing it?" Pesky Dust, Happy, and Lisanna said in unison.
The pink haired boy lowered his head while getting on his hands and knees. "I'm sorry…about the way I treated you, sir. Please give Lisanna back."
Tears brimmed from Lisanna's eyes, touched by how Natsu would swallow his pride just to save her. She knew this was the hardest thing he had ever done. "Natsu…"
"Whoa…" Pesky Dust breathed, shocked.
"In your dreams!" The ape creature lifted up its big hand-like foot and stepped on Natsu, causing Happy and Lisanna to cry out.
"No don't!" Lisanna shouted desperately.
"That's playing dirty, you ape!" little Happy added, shaking his paw at the monster.
Pesky Dust narrowed his eyes and clenched his teeth at the monster. He should've expected that this dirty Vulcan would do something like that.
The Vulcan repeatedly stepped on Natsu at a rapid pace, and taunted, "Hoh-Hoh-HOH! You just fell for the oldest trick in the book!"
"Ow! Ow! OW!" Natsu cried painfully. After the Vulcan ceased his stomping, the young Dragon Slayer was lying in a hole with many bruises and cuts. "That…really hurt…" He moaned.
"Yeah," the Vulcan smiled haughtily, "now I'm all fired up."
Suddenly, the green ape lifted up a large boulder over his head with just one arm, causing Lisanna and Happy to scream. "Ready to crush you like the little brat you are!"
Natsu held his arms over him and closed his eyes, expecting to be crushed. All of a sudden, just before the boulder could pummel Natsu, a hand stopped it. Pesky Dust's eyes widened when he saw that the hand belonged to a tall, muscular man with shoulder length, orange hair that was slicked back. He wore a black high-collared, tattered cloak with shoulder plates, loose-fitting dark pants tucked inside his boots, and an armored waist-guard.
"You really are a nasty, stupid monkey, yah know." The man mocked, smiling confidently.
"It's Gildarts!" Natsu grinned.
Ben blinked, confused. "Gildarts? Prrr…never heard of him."
"Who are you calling a monkey, you runt?" The Vulcan retorted, pushing back on the rock; however, it was to no avail.
Pesky Dust's eyes widened slightly. This man was undoubtedly strong if he could push back on a large boulder with little difficulty.
"I'll just get this outta the way." Gildarts remarked.
Without warning, the boulder glowed white for a moment before it broke apart into tiny rocks; much to Ben and the Vulcan's shock.
'Whoa…what kind of magic is that?' Ben wondered.
"Lemme explain how things are gonna go from here," Gildarts paused as he narrowed his eyes at the ape monster with a roguish smile, "you're gonna let go of the girl, turn around, and walk away."
"I hear yah loud and clear!" The Vulcan shouted fearfully. It immediately put Lisanna down, turned around, and stomped back into the forest in panic. "I'm sorry, sir!"
"Thanks a lot!" Lisanna said, looking up to Gildarts with a smile.
"Hey, do I know you, little girl?" Gildarts inquired.
"Yes. I'm Lisanna." She smiled.
"I'll be." Gildarts put his right hand behind his head. "You're Mirajane's little kid sister."
Pesky Dust watched as a little Happy flew over to Natsu, who was sitting up from the ground. "Natsu, are you feeling okay?" He asked, concerned.
Natsu wiped a little blood from his nose, and replied, "Yeah…"
"Does anybody else see a flying cat over there, or am I going NUTS?!" Gildarts said, staring at Happy with wide eyes.
"That's just our newest Guild member, Happy." Lisanna explained brightly.
Natsu frowned and looked away in shame. "I'm sorry, Gildarts, but I…" He trailed off.
"You've grown up to be quite the man, Natsu." Gildarts proclaimed.
"Huh?" Natsu turned back to Gildarts in slight shock. He certainly wasn't expecting the strongest wizard of Fairy Tail to say that to him after he got his butt whooped.
"There's a whole lot more to being a wizard than just having magical power." Gildarts stated. "It's about having guts and standing up for those who can't defend themselves no matter what the odds may be. And you've got guts."
Natsu looked at Gildarts with a slacked jaw for a moment until he smiled widely. "Thanks!"
Pesky Dust grinned. Though he hadn't met Gildarts yet, he could already tell that he was a good, likeable guy. He wondered if he would ever get the chance to meet him someday.
Gildarts, Natsu, and Lisanna walked away down a forest path with Happy flying by them. "But…I guess having a wife is pretty manly too, huh?" Gildarts joked.
"She's not my wife!" Natsu exclaimed, annoyed.
"Ahh…don't be embarrassed." Lisanna teased.
"He luuuvvss her!" Happy added.
Gildarts laughed in response.
Pesky Dust flew behind them, wanting to see more. He still did not understand why Natsu was having a bad dream, when all the images he's seen so far were relatively good.
"Man! This fog is like pea soup!" Natsu remarked.
"It tends to get thick this time of year. So, watch your step." cautioned Gildarts.
"So magical…like we're walking on an entirely different planet right now." Lisanna commented.
"Yah think so?" Natsu glanced around.
'Yeah right…' Ben grumbled inwardly. 'This is paradise compared to some of the worlds I've been to."
"Earlier, when you were looking for me, it made me feel so good to hear your voice calling out my name through the murky fog." The white haired girl noted.
Natsu groaned, exasperated.
"Prrr…this girl definitely has the hots for Natsu." Pesky Dust snickered.
"Hey," continued Lisanna, "If I ever went missing like that again, you'd go looking for me, wouldn't you? You wouldn't just let me stay gone, right?"
Natsu blinked blankly before he turned to her. "Yeah, of course."
"I knew you'd say yes." Lisanna beamed.
"Why not?"
Instantly, the scene once again became distorted and faded away. Pesky Dust closed his eyes and prepared for another leap into another part of Natsu's dream.
…
The Omnitrix bearer opened his eyes to see that he was now in the middle of a grassy meadow. He glanced down to see Lisanna kneeling by a grave with a few rocks laid on top and a neatly carved gravestone. Natsu and Happy were off to the side, watching her curiously as she laid down a bouquet of yellow flowers in front of the headstone.
Ben knew not much time had passed since the last memory he saw since Natsu and Lisanna were still kids and Happy was still a kitty.
"Hey Lisanna, what are you doing?" Natsu asked.
"Just leaving some flowers for big brother Elfman's parakeet," Lisanna answered, smiling as always.
"Did your big brother make that headstone all by himself?" inquired the young boy.
"He loved his parakeet so much." Lisanna said. She then put her hands together, closed her eyes, and lowered her head in prayer for the deceased pet bird.
"He's better at crafting things than magic." Natsu deadpanned.
"Hey Natsu," Lisanna turned to him, "if anything happens to me, will you make my gravestone?"
Pesky Dust blinked. That was certainly an odd request…and a bit disturbing too.
"Huh? What are you even talking about?" Natsu asked, confused.
Happy frowned lightly. "Are you gonna go where the parakeet went?"
"Cut it out!" Natsu whined. "It's bad luck to talk like that…and creepy."
"Yah know, someday everyone needs a gravestone of their own." Lisanna proclaimed innocently.
After that statement, the scene once again began to fade away and shift towards another memory. However, Pesky Dust looked forward with a slightly befuddled expression. For some reason, Ben felt an ominous feeling arise in the pits of his stomach.
…
After he had made the jump to another memory, Pesky Dust looked around to see that it was late evening. The sun was setting over the horizon, casting a mosaic of orange and yellow across the sky. He was in the middle of Southgate Park in Magnolia.
The Omnitrix wearer glanced down to see an older Natsu and Happy sitting under the tree in the middle of the park. Standing in front of them, with her hands on her hips was an older Lisanna. Her white hair was a little longer, but still kept short. She wore a mid-thigh long maroon dress with a pink collared undershirt.
Ben noticed the frustrated expressions the Dragon Slayer and blue cat had as they looked away from each other. "I wonder what their problem is…prrr…"
"Natsu ate my whole fish and he didn't even ask me first!" Happy whined, an agitated vein throbbing on his forehead.
Pesky Dust sweat dropped, exasperated. 'So that's what's it…'
"Whenever I eat any fish you say it's yours." Natsu retorted.
"Geez…Natsu you're the dad." Natsu and Happy looked up to her, the latter wearing a confused look. Lisanna smiled and winked at the pink haired wizard. "So you gotta take good care of your wife and son."
A few beads of sweat raced down Natsu's face. "That was like a million years ago."
"Hey! What are you guys talking about?" Happy interjected.
Natsu blushed slightly and turned to Happy, flustered. "Ugh…nothing!"
"It's normal for families to have a fight every once in a while, but what's important is that you make up." Lisanna smile became brighter. "No matter what happens, Happy will always be our son."
Happy's mouth gaped as he sweated nervously. "I think Lisanna's gone pyscho on us!"
"Don't talk like that, man!" Natsu shouted.
"Oh, then should I talk like thiiiss?" Happy said in a Southern accent.
"You know that's not what I meant!"
"Juvenile as ever I see." Lisanna teased.
"Stop picking on me!" exclaimed Natsu.
Lisanna and Happy laughed at Natsu's embarrassment. Even Pesky Dust couldn't suppress his girlish-sounding giggles. Seeing his pyromaniac friend so flustered was hilarious! However, it did beg the question, how was this supposed to be a bad dream?
Pesky Dust was brought out of his musings when he spotted an older Elfman and Mirajane walking up to the trio. Elfman was wearing a black coat with gold buttons, black pants, and brown shoes. Mira wore knee-length black leather boots, purple shorts with a white belt, and a skimpy black tank top that revealed her stomach and cleavage. Her long white hair was tied up into a ponytail by a purple ribbon.
If Ben were human, he would have suffered from a nosebleed from the sight of Mira's impressive…assets.
"C'mon Lisanna, let's go. We gotta get to work." Elfman said nonchalantly.
"What?" Lisanna said, confused. "We just finished a job. Can't we take a little break?"
"Yeah, but it's an S-Class quest. Mirajane wants us to go along and help her out with it." Elfman replied.
Pesky Dust's eyes widen slightly. 'Mira was an S-Class wizard? But…why does she work behind the bar now? What happened?'
"No way!" Natsu shouted indignantly. "Totally unfair!"
"What kinda job is it?" Happy asked.
"An emergency request." Mira responded, with a smug smile. "It just came in. They want us to kill off this monster called The Beast. Hey…you wanna come with us Natsu? You might learn a thing or two." She then winked at him, catching Pesky Dust off guard.
"Do what? I don't want him tagging along!" Elfman protested. "I'm the man in this family and I can protect you on my own!"
"AAAHHH!" Natsu stumped around, griping, "Why you gotta hog all the fun! Take me with you!"
Mira and Elfman ignored his whining and walked off, the former sneering at Natsu's antics. Before Lisanna joined up with her siblings, she turned to Natsu with her usual bright smile.
"Natsu!" She held up her right hand with her index finger and thumb extended, making the Fairy Tail symbol. "I'll be home real soon!"
Once again, the scene began to warp and fade away as the memory ended. All the while, Ben was wondering why Natsu was so distressed in his sleep. Every memory he has seen so far involved Lisanna, and they all seemed good. Unfortunately, the teen hero would soon get his answer.
…
Pesky Dust opened his eyes to see he was in another part of Natsu's dream. He looked around to see he was in a familiar setting: outside the straw hut that Natsu and Lisanna had made to raise Happy in. However, something was definitely off. Ben glanced down to see Natsu and Elfman standing in front of the hut; the latter had a bandage around his right eye and was sobbing madly.
He was bewildered to see Elfman crying. Ben looked over to the front of the grass-made house and gasped in horror.
Positioned in front of the hut was a gravestone with the Fairy Tail mark emblazoned at the top and a name carved below it.
Lisanna Strauss
X767 - X782
Pesky Dust stared at the headstone with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. 'What? No…no…it can't be. Did she really…' He paused in thought, his body beginning to tremble.
"I'm so sorry, Lisanna!" Elfman sobbed, hanging his head low in melancholy and shame. "It's all my fault you're gone." He wept as he buried his face in his right arm. "My little sister…if only we had taken you with us Natsu this would've never happened! She'd still be alive!"
Ben clenched his teeth as his body remained petrified, an expression of shock and horror plastered on his face. He couldn't believe this. This was why he had never heard of or seen Mira and Elfman's little sister? She was dead?! To Ben, this situation seemed very familiar…
Suddenly, Pesky Dust's eyes widened further when a dark memory he had tried to repress came crashing back. The mere thought of it made his heartbeat increase and beads of sweat to fall down his face. The Omnitrix bearer was snapped out of his thoughts by a certain Dragon Slayer.
"Would you shut up!" Natsu roared, choking back his own sobs. "Enough of the blubbering already! Do you really think Lisanna would want you to carry around that guilt? How is she supposed to smile if her brother's feeling sad?"
Elfman was speechless as he stared at Natsu with wide eyes. After a moment, he whispered, "Alright…"
Pesky Dust saw Natsu's body beginning to tremble. He could tell he was struggling to control his emotions as well. "No matter what happened, she always had a smile on her face. Remember? Even at the very end…she never lost her smile. If she were here now, I'm sure she'd say, 'Whenever you're feeling down, that's when you need to smile the most.'" Natsu paused, his body continuing to quake.
Natsu turned to Elfman with a scowl, tears falling from his eyes. "So buck up! Show her a smile like a real man!"
With tears still sliding down his face, Elfman gazed at Natsu in deep thought. "A real man…"
Pesky Dust didn't have time to ponder on this drastic change in events before the scene again warped and shifted to yet another memory.
…
When the scene once again refocused, Pesky Dust glanced down to see he was still in the same place. Natsu and Happy stood in front of Lisanna's headstone, which had a bouquet of yellow roses resting in front of it. The evening sun cast its orange-yellow light across the land.
"Hey Natsu, why'd you make a grave for her all the way out here when there's already one at the church cemetery?" Happy inquired solemnly.
"This was one of her favorite places." Natsu explained sadly. "She loved…to sit and watch the sunset. As long as this is here, she'll never miss a single one."
"You're right." Happy said.
A somber moment passed before Natsu spoke up again. "I just…wish that I could keep my promise. I don't…" He sniffled, "…think I'll be able to find her this time."
"Aye" Happy said lowly, hanging his head.
Pesky Dust stared at the scene transpiring before him with wide eyes and his mouth slight agape. Now he understood the cause of Natsu's distress. Unknown to him, a few tears ran down his blue-skinned face. A traumatizing event from his past resurfaced again in Ben's mind.
Ben closed his eyes and looked away, clenching his teeth shut. He couldn't bear to watch anymore. Through the mental pain he was feeling, Pesky Dust released his connection with Natsu's mind. He had forgotten completely why he had come in the first place. All he was concerned with now was getting the hell out.
…
Erza, Lucy, Gray and Happy were silent as they stared at a motionless Pesky Dust hovering by Natsu's bed, a trail of greenish-white gas stretching from his right hand to the Dragon Slayer's head. Lucy and Gray were sitting by the table while Erza stood close by the bed, her arms folded over her chest. Happy had reawakened from his slumber minutes prior and had been brought up to speed on what Ben was doing.
At least ten minutes had passed since Pesky Dust had entered Natsu's dreams. In that time, he had floated motionless with a blank expression on his face.
"Geez…I wonder what's taking him so long." Gray muttered.
"Aye," Happy agreed. "He sure has been in there for a while."
"I wonder what he's seeing." Lucy pondered.
"I'm sure he's okay." Erza dismissed; however, the scarlet haired knight would be lying if she said she wasn't feeling a little bit worried.
All of a sudden, the green mist surrounding Natsu's head dissipated out of existence. Pesky Dust blinked and shook his head a few times, returning to reality. He reached up and tapped the Omnitrix dial, transforming back to human with his back facing the others.
"Hey! Look who's back." Gray said.
Lucy glanced at Gray, annoyed. "Where are your clothes?"
Gray immediately panicked as he gathered his clothes on the floor. Lucy shook her head and turned her attention back to Ben. "So, Ben did you fix Natsu's nightmare?" She asked curiously.
Gray smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't find anything in there?" He quipped.
Ben did not respond as he stood stationary, his head hung low and his fists clenched. An emotionless countenance was plastered on his face.
Erza turned to Ben with a raised brow, concerned. "Ben? Are you alright?" She inquired.
The brunette didn't answer; instead, he promptly exited the room and closed the door behind him. The three wizards and cat stared at the door in confusion.
"Man…what's wrong with him?" Gray asked.
"I don't know." Lucy said in a worried tone. "He seemed…really out of it though."
"Aye," agreed Happy.
"What could he have seen in there to make him act like that?" wondered Gray.
Erza didn't comment as she gazed at the door with a worried expression. Without a word, the re-quipping mage walked out of the room, leaving the others behind in confusion. When she closed the door behind her, she looked in both directions for Ben but didn't see him. She knew Ben couldn't have gone far, unless he transformed into one of his speedy aliens.
The Fairy Queen then remembered that Ben's hotel room was just down the hallway. She went right and walked down the corridor, stopping in front of Ben's door. She knocked on it a couple times.
"Ben? Ben, are you in there?" Erza asked.
No response.
She knocked again. "Ben? Please…I-I just wanna talk to you."
Again, she received no response.
Erza narrowed her eyes and opened the door, letting herself in and she closed the door behind her. She walked in to see that the room was fairly dark, the only light seeping through the gaps in the curtains. Erza looked around and paused when she spotted something peculiar. On the wall to the right of the bed was the shadow of a figure.
Titania blinked, dumbfounded. 'How can there be a shadow if there is nothing here…unless…' Erza thought.
"Ben? Is that you?" Erza questioned.
A moment passed until a being appeared sitting on the edge of the bed. It was a large lizard-like being with purple splotched skin and a spike-shaped fin on the back of its head. It had three triangular eyes, the left being blue, the right red, and the top green. It had four-fingered hands, three toes on its frog-like feet, and a mouth full of sharp teeth. A familiar green hourglass symbol was positioned on its chest.
ChamAlien stared at the ground as he uncloaked himself in front of her. Ben had completely forgotten about the light coming through the curtains. One of the weaknesses of ChamAlien's amazing camouflage ability was that he could still cast shadows and he could be detected via scent or mana.
Erza stood a few meters away from Ben's left side. ChamAlien tapped the Omnitrix and transformed back to Ben before he turned to Erza, a melancholic look on his features.
"Ben, what did you see?" Erza asked, concerned for him.
The teen hero turned back to the ground, a gloomy shadow covering the upper half of his face. "How did she die?" Ben muttered.
Erza cocked a brow, befuddled. "Who are you referring to?" She inquired.
A long pause followed until he elaborated, "Lisanna. How did she die?"
Surprise crossed Erza's facial features. 'So that's what Natsu was dreaming about. No wonder he was distressed in his sleep.' She realized.
Erza took a seat on the opposite end of the bed, looking at Ben expectedly. The Omnitrix bearer spent ten minutes retelling the Fairy Queen of the memories he'd witnessed while in Natsu's mind.
Once Ben finished his explanation, he turned to Erza, "So, how did she die?"
Erza closed her eyes and sighed heavily. She enlightened him on how Mirajane used to be an S-Class wizard and could take on the form of a demon with her Take-Over magic. This caught Ben off guard but he didn't let it show visibly. He never pictured someone like Mira having the epithet, the She-Devil.
A couple years ago, Mira had taken Elfman and Lisanna on an S-Class quest to slay a monster called The Beast. The creature had beaten Mira and in order to save her, Elfman had attempted to use his Take-Over magic on it; however, the monster was too strong and took possession of Elfman. When Lisanna had tried to bring her big brother back to his senses, Elfman smacked her away and killed her.
Ben's eyes widened after Erza finished explaining the cause of Lisanna's death. He recalled the memory of Natsu and Elfman standing by Lisanna's grave, and realized why the latter was blaming himself for her demise. He lowered his head in grief, feeling empathy for the guilt that Elfman no doubt still carried with him.
A moment of silence passed between the shape-shifting hero and re-quipping knight. Erza eventually turned to Ben, who was gazing at the floor, distraught. There was something that Erza was wondering about.
"Ben…I understand that it must've been hard to witness those memories; after all, Lisanna's death still weighs heavily on the hearts of everyone in the Guild who knew her; especially Mira and Elfman. But why are you so upset by it?" Erza asked, confused.
Ben remained silent as he stared at the carpeted floor, lost in his thoughts. Subconsciously, Ben lifted his left hand and subtly touched the right side of his chest. "I…" he choked out, "I'm still not ready."
Erza stared at Ben, her brown eyes able to pierce into his soul. After a moment, she closed her eyes and nodded in understanding.
"Erza, I appreciate your concern, but…please…I need to be alone for a while." Ben murmured forlornly.
Erza stared at Ben for a moment before she nodded. "Very well," Erza complied and stepped toward the door. However, before she turned the knob, she said, "If you ever need to talk, I'm here for you, Ben."
With that said, Erza exited the room and closed the door behind her. The scarlet haired wizard ambled back to Natsu's room slowly. Though she respected Ben's request, she was still greatly concerned for him.
'You know of my past now, Ben.' Erza thought. 'But what was yours like? Where did that scar come from? …Ben…'
…
The next day, the Ultimate Team departed from Akane Resort and embarked on a train back to Magnolia. Natsu was unaware of Ben probing into his mind, and the others wanted to keep it that way. It seemed Natsu had completely forgotten about his nightmare since he was back to his usual cheerful self. That is, until they got on the train; though Erza was grateful enough to knock Natsu out so that he wouldn't suffer on the way back.
Ben seemed to be acting normal; however, Erza could tell that he was feigning it. He was just as depressed now as he was yesterday. He just didn't show it outwardly.
While Natsu was unconscious, Gray asked why Ben had abruptly left the room yesterday after coming out of Natsu's dream. Lucy and Happy expressed their curiosity as well. Ben looked away and did not respond. Before they could inquire further, Erza sternly interjected and told them to leave it alone, and that he would tell them when he was ready. The subject was immediately dropped after that.
A few hours later, the Ultimate Team finally arrived in Magnolia. As soon as Natsu stepped off the train, he was back to his normal self and exhaled a torrent of fire. Erza promptly slapped him on the back of the head, which brought a smirk to Gray's lips.
The superhero and wizards walked down the cobblestone streets toward the Guild Hall, Erza pulling her cart of luggage behind her. Everyone was wearing their usual attire, besides Erza who was adorned in a white collared shirt and a black knee-length skirt. The group of wizards talked animatedly about the trip and how they were eager to see everyone.
Ben, meanwhile, was quiet as he tagged at the back alongside Erza with his hands in his pockets. He wore a neutral expression and stared off into space, not paying attention to the wizards' conversation. His mind was off in another place, still going over his experience within Natsu's dream.
Without warning, Ben grunted and stumbled a couple steps before correcting himself. He clenched his eyes shut and held his forehead, feeling a sharp wave of pain and disorientation in his head. Erza paused and glanced back at him.
"Ben? Are you alright?" Erza asked, concerned.
"Ugh…" Ben groaned lightly before reopening his eyes and giving the redheaded mage a small, reassuring smile. "Yeah…fine. Just got a headache. That's all."
Ben proceeded to amble down the street with the others. Erza stared at him attentively for a moment before joining up with him and the team.
A few minutes later, the group made it to the Guild Hall's entrance; however, they were met with a big surprise, literally. The new Fairy Tail Guild Hall had been completed!
It was a three story building that strongly resembled a castle, having battlements on top of its two upper floors, while the ground floor had a more Western-looking roof that consisted of many small, square tiles of different size. Over the battlements several large torches were lined up. Topping the building and the last floor was a small, tower-like dome containing a large bell, which had a pointed roof made of tiles; two more towers were present on both sides of the entrance, these having elongated glass windows running through them and weathercocks shaped like Fairy Tail's symbol on their tile tops. The front part of the top floor housed a large banner with the Guild's symbol on it, while two smaller banners had been placed at its sides.
The Ultimate Team stood at the gates of the new Guild Hall, which now had a stone fence topped with a decorated railing surrounding it. Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Happy stared at the stone, castle-like building, shocked and dumbfounded. Ben's mouth gaped slightly in surprise while Erza cocked a brow.
"Wow…" Lucy said, awed.
"Well, this is a surprise." Erza commented.
"No kidding." Ben agreed.
'How did they finish it so fast?' wondered Ben.
"They finished building it!" Natsu, Lucy, and Happy yelled simultaneously.
"There it is, Fairy Tail's new Guild Hall!" Gray stated proudly.
The group walked through the gates to see many members lounging in an outside café complete with dozens of tables, benches, and striped umbrellas.
"Are you kidding me? We've got a café now?" Gray said.
Natsu's eyes widened and his jaw dropped at how drastically the Guild Hall had changed. Lucy glanced to the left and sweat dropped at what she saw. There was a small gift shop composed of bricks and sported a wooden counter. It displayed a variety of items such as shirts, coffee mugs, knickknacks, and toys. 'Fairy Tail Goods Shop' was emblazoned on a wooden sign on top of the small store.
"Do we really need a gift shop too?" Lucy moaned, exasperated.
"Hey there." The guy behind the counter greeted. This was Max Alors. He was a slim, young man with bowl-shaped, beige hair. He was in charge of handling the Guild's social activities and specialized in a Sand Magic known as Sandstorm. "Glad you guys made it back okay. What's new?"
"They got you working the gift shop, Max?" Happy asked, flying over to him. "It's been a while since we've seen you around the Guild."
Max smiled sheepishly and scratched his right cheek, and explained, "Well, master made me go back to school because he wanted me to take some business classes."
"You're Max Alors!" Lucy stated, popping out of nowhere. "I've read all about you in Sorcerer's Weekly!"
Max turned to her and smiled widely. "Yes ma'am. That'd be me, and you know I've heard a lot about you, Lucy."
Lucy held her cheeks and shrunk, embarrassed. "I don't even wanna think about the crazy things they probably told yah."
Ben walked closer to the gift shop to get a better look. "A gift shop, huh?"
"Yep," Max replied. Humming, he held his chin and looked at Ben. "Wait…you wouldn't happen to be that new Take-Over wizard, Ben Tennyson, would you?"
Ben groaned inwardly from being called a wizard. That was really getting tiresome. He didn't know how many times he had to tell these people he was a superhero rather than a wizard. However, he wasn't really in the mood to make an argument over it so he went along with it.
"Yeah, that's me." Ben answered nonchalantly.
Max grinned. "I've heard some incredible things about you! You got dozens of Take-Over forms, including a giant titan." He then smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. "I also caught wind of that rumor of you and Erza destroying a volcano. Is it true?"
"Indeed it is, Max." Erza confirmed.
"Nice," Max commented. "That's awesome!"
"So what kind of stuff are you selling here?" Happy asked.
Max chortled lightly. "We got t-shirts, wristbands, mugs, towels, and of course there's our most popular items…" the beige haired man picked up a box that was full of action figures based off of the alien forms that the Guild had seen from Ben.
There was: Four Arms, Shocksquatch, Heatblast, Rath, Swampfire, Water Hazard, Jetray, Wildvine, Big Chill, Brainstorm, Lodestar, Fasttrack, Upchuck, Grey Matter, Gravattack, Cannonbolt, and Way Big which was three times larger than the others.
"Whoa!" Happy's eyes lit up with stars when he spotted the Rath action figure, and picked it up. "A Rath action figure! Super cool!"
Ben looked at the toys in slight surprise. He was quite impressed how accurate the designs of the toys were of his aliens. "You made toys based off of my transformations?"
"Yep," Max nodded, holding up a Brainstorm toy. "I gotta say these babies are flying off the shelves like hotcakes. The kids can't get enough of them! We'll be adding more when we see the rest of your forms."
Ben smirked. "You're probably gonna have to build a new section for the store then."
"How much for the Rath action figure?!" Happy demanded eagerly.
Lucy sweat dropped. "Why am I not surprised that you're going crazy over the Rath toy?" She muttered.
The Ultimate Team left the gift shop and opened the main doors to the building. The first floor greatly resembled the old building, but it was much larger in size with more tables, benches and several long beams that supported wooden mezzanines on both sides of the hall. A long counter stretched down the right side of the wall, and above it was a large banner bearing both the Guild's name and insignia.
The Request Board was to the immediate right and an information desk to the immediate left. A few meters in front of them, there were two dozen restaurant tables that stretched across the length of the room. The tables end at a large, wooden stage that had four staircases behind it on both sides. Two of the staircases led upstairs and two of them led downstairs. In the upper right hand corner of the Guild, there was a rest/shower room. The building also had a kitchen, a Data Storage Room, a library, and a large, interior swimming pool behind the stage.
Lucy and Happy marveled by how amazing the new Guild Hall looked while Gray, Ben, and Erza simply smiled from the new interior design.
"Wow…so pretty…" Lucy and Happy admired.
Erza crossed her arms over her chest and smiled, nodding in agreement. "I could get used to this."
"Yeah…this is pretty nice; it's a lot cooler than the old design" Ben commented. He grimaced slightly when he felt another sharp headache. He had been getting sudden head pains since the ride home from Akane.
'That's weird.' Ben noted. 'I wonder why I'm getting these headaches all of a sudden…'
Gray glanced over to Natsu, who was sulking and had the lower half of his face covered by his scarf. "Hey man, what's wrong?" He asked.
"I'm not good with change." The Dragon Slayer grumbled.
"It's so great to have you back, Lu!" Levy shouted happily. She had changed her attire to an orange sleeveless vest, orange gloves that stretched to her elbows, black pants, and maroon-colored boots.
"OH! Hi, Levy!" Lucy greeted.
Levy smiled brightly. "Isn't this awesome!? Guess what? Now we got a swimming pool behind the bar," she motioned to the indoor pool.
Lucy sweat dropped. "That's kinda weird."
"It's just not the same." Natsu grumbled.
"And we even have a game room down in the basement." Levy continued.
"Does it need to be this big?" Lucy sweat dropped again.
"I don't like it." Natsu muttered.
"But the biggest change is upstairs," Levy proclaimed, pointing up to the mezzanine, "cause everyone's allowed to go up to the second floor."
To prove her point, Elfman walked up to the railing and gave them a lazy salute. "Yo!"
"Oh wow" Lucy commented.
"Master actually lets more of us go on S-Class quests, but…only if an S-Class wizard agrees to go along." The petite girl explained.
Before anyone could comment, Master Makarov walked up to the team. "Well, I'm glad you dunderheads made it back safely."
"Master?" Erza said.
The group turned to the dwarf-sized man and were slightly taken aback to see Juvia standing by him, only her look had changed. Her hair had been cut at shoulder-length and was spiky at the ends. She wore a white button-up shirt, white gloves that reached her shoulders, and a blue spaghetti strap shirt atop her white shirt with light blue trim and was zipped up on the front. She was also attired in a blue skirt, white boots with blue toes, and a white and blue Russian hat.
"I'd like you to meet our newest member, Juvia." Makarov introduced. "Isn't she a cutie?"
Juvia bowed formally and smiled. "I can't wait to work with you." She said eagerly.
Gray chuckled. "So you actually made it in, huh?"
Ben smirked. "I knew she would."
"Thanks so much for helping us in Akane." Erza thanked.
"No. I should be thanking you," Juvia replied happily, "because now I found a new Guild."
Lucy smiled and waved at the rain woman. "Hey girl!"
Suddenly, a dark aura cast off of Juvia as she shot Lucy a menacing expression. "We will fight for Gray." She whispered.
"That won't be necessary…" Lucy responded, exasperated.
"We've also added another new member to the Guild." Makarov proclaimed. "Someone you might recognize."
"I wonder who it is." Happy said.
They turned around and shocked expressions immediately appeared on their faces.
Lucy gasped, unable to respond.
"What!?" Gray yelled. "Him?! Are you kidding me!"
Gajeel sat at a table a few meters away, scowling at the group with narrowed eyes.
Natsu and Gray got in fighting stances, both glaring angrily at the Iron Dragon Slayer. "Gajeel!" the former shouted.
"Why'd you let him in here, gramps?" Gray demanded.
Juvia got in-between the Dragon Slayer and Ice-Make wizard, holding her hands up in a placating manner. "Calm down! I asked him to come along with me." She assured.
Erza gritted her teeth and shot Gajeel a dangerous look. "I don't mind Juvia, but he's the one responsible for destroying our Guild Hall the first time!"
Gajeel merely looked away and lightly scoffed.
Ben, meanwhile, was silent as he stared at the spiky, black haired wizard with narrowed eyes. He could understand his friends' reactions toward Gajeel; after all, he was just as surprised as them to learn that he had become a member of Fairy Tail. However, there was something about Gajeel that seemed familiar to Ben.
"Now, now," appeased Makarov, "remember what I taught you. Yesterday's enemy can be today's friend, right?"
"Yeah," Levy said weakly, crouching low behind a bench nervously. "If I'm okay with him being here, then you should be too."
Jet and Droy, however, didn't agree as they glared daggers at the Iron Dragon Slayer.
Natsu slammed his hand on the table Gajeel was sitting at. "There ain't no way! I can't work with someone I can't trust!"
Gajeel turned to Natsu with a smug smirk and a dark shadow on his face. "What's the big deal? It's not like I wanna be your buddy."
"Man that's cold!" Natsu remarked.
Gajeel stood up and returned Natsu's glare. "The only reason I'm here is to get work." He stated. "I hate this stupid Guild and everyone in it, but times are tough so I had no choice but to join."
"Shut up, loser!" Natsu yelled, clenching his fists.
Gray glowered coldly at Gajeel while Juvia was sweating bullets as she held up her hands in defense. "I'm sorry, but Gajeel was having a hard time finding work and I just couldn't turn my back on him." the rain woman freaked out even more in fear that Gray may have taken her explanation the wrong way. "But I don't want you to think I have a crush on him or anything!"
"I know you kids don't like it, but as the master of this Guild it is my duty to help those who have gone astray find the right path." Makarov declared. "Give him a shot, you might find out he's a nice guy." He then looked away and muttered, "At least I hope so."
"Well, I may not agree with you but I will respect your decision." Erza replied. The redheaded mage then glanced to Ben on her right, who had remained silent throughout the exchange. "What do you think, Ben?"
A moment passed before he answered, "I think we should give him a chance."
Erza, Lucy, Gray, and Happy's eyes went wide from shock as they turned to Ben.
"Seriously!? You sayin' you trust him?!" Gray accused crossly.
"Trust him? No. Not at all." Ben replied stoically. "However, I do believe in second chances. Back home, my best friend, Kevin, used to be a psychopath bent on killing me. People can change. I'm not saying we'll all be buddy-buddy with Gajeel, but I think we should give him the benefit of the doubt for now."
The four looked at Ben, surprised by how wise he sounded. A small smile appeared on Erza's face.
"See? Ben gets it." Makarov spoke up. "You're all just worrying too much."
"Regardless," Erza frowned and glared at Gajeel once more, "I warn you, I will be keeping a very close eye on him."
Makarov sweat dropped. "Fine"
Meanwhile, the two Dragon Slayers scowled and snarled at one another.
"They act more like dogs than dragons." Macao joked, holding up a mug of beer. "Don't yah think?"
Happy was eating a fish right next him, and chimed, "Aye, sir! You might wanna break out the muzzles to be safe." '
"Man," Natsu sulked as he walked away. "This new Guild Hall just doesn't feel right."
All of a sudden, the lights went out and the room was shrouded in darkness. Then, the spotlights above the stage came on to reveal Mirajane sitting on a stool holding a guitar and a microphone with bird-like wings hovering in front of her mouth. Murmuring echoed through the Guild Hall as everyone turned their attention to the white haired maiden.
"Hey! We made it back, Mira!" Natsu called out.
"Good to see you." Mira said over the mic. "I'd like to dedicate this song to Fairy Tail's Ultimate Team, and congratulate them on their safe return."
Mira strung a note, causing the crowd to break out in excited applause.
"Knock 'em dead, Mira!" a man shouted.
"Yeah!" One mage held up his mug.
"We love you, Mira!" another added.
"As I walk past your room…" Mira sung with an angelic voice, "…my shadow walks through your door…One more day you're not here…"
As Mira continued singing, a few men in the crowd whistled while the rest simply listened. The Ultimate Team sat at a table together, listening to Mira's beautiful singing voice with content smiles; except Natsu who laid his head on the table, still grumbling over the new Guild Hall.
Ben was very impressed by how well Mira could sing. She was like an angel! Ben's smile soon shifted into a desolate smile as he looked away, thinking back on his experience in Natsu's mind and another certain memory that he wished he could move on from.
Erza glanced to her left and noticed Ben staring off into space. She blinked. This was the third time she had seen Ben look so distant; the first time at Peony and the second at Akane Resort.
"Ben?" She said softly.
Ben didn't respond, seemingly unaware of anything around him. Concern plastered on her face as she reached out and lightly grabbed his right arm. Suddenly, Ben was brought out of his daze and looked back to Erza.
The re-quipping mage and shape-shifter looked into each other's eyes for a moment. Erza then smiled warmly, happy that he wasn't so distant anymore. Ben blinked. Seeing Erza smile and having her soft hand on his arm caused a strange feeling to bubble in his stomach. With a small blush, Ben smiled back. The two turned their attention back to Mirajane.
Makarov, who was sitting on a table behind the Ultimate Team, had seen Ben and Erza's exchange and smiled. "I'm so happy they made it back safely."
The Fairy Tail master then glanced toward Ben with a thoughtful look. 'Hmm…I could've sworn I sensed something coming from Ben for a moment until Erza snapped him out of his daze. What was it?' He shrugged. "I may have just imagined it…"
Makarov looked around at all the happy faces of the Guild members. 'I can't believe how fast my Fairy Tail children are growing up. Maybe it is about time for me to start thinking about…retiring.'
A moment later, Mira finished singing her wonderful song. The crowd stood up and rewarded her with a thunderous applause.
"Awesome!" Macao shouted. "Who's up next?"
The spotlights went off for a moment as a figure obscured in darkness appeared on stage. When the lights came back on, Gajeel was sitting on the stool wearing a white tuxedo outfit, a white fedora, and a pair of onyx sunshades. He held a heavy metal electric guitar in his hands.
Immediately, the jaws of everyone in the crowd fell to the floor as their bodies went pale from shock. The Ultimate Team shared similar expressions to the other Fairy Tail members. Even Ben and Erza, who were usually composed, looked on at the baffling sight with wide eyes and sweat drops falling down their faces.
"Huh? What the…" Natsu trailed off, dumbfounded.
"Wrote this little ditty that I call 'Best Friend'," Gajeel said over the microphone-bird thing. "Would you like to hear it? Well, here we go."
Unsurprisingly, rounds of 'boos' echoed through the crowd as they started throwing various items at Gajeel.
"I ain't listening to you!" One wizard yelled.
"Yeah! Get off the stage, yah bonehead!" Another added.
Despite the booing, Gajeel chose to sing anyway. "Sparkling, colorful, shoo-bee-do-ba! You caught my eye like…"
The jaws of the Ultimate Team dropped as they instantly turned white in shock from Gajeel's singing. Ben thought his mouth was going to fall to the floor. 'W-w-what the…' he stuttered inwardly.
Suddenly, a few cheers sounded out through the crowd of 'boos'.
"Whoa…" Levy remarked, wide-eyed.
"He's not half bad!" Elfman commented.
"Show them what you can do, Gajeel!" Juvia encouraged.
Macao, Wakaba, Max, and Elfman both shouted simultaneously, "ROCK ON!"
The rest of the Fairy Tail guild seemed to disagree as they were still throwing random items at Gajeel.
"Sha-la-la…one bite is never enough…"
As Gajeel continued to sing, a tic mark throbbed on Natsu's head as he covered both ears. "OH MAN! This has got to be the worst song I've ever heard!"
Without warning, Gajeel's guitar went flying through the air and smacked into Natsu's face. With a vein throbbing on his forehead, Gajeel ended his song with a tune from his harmonica.
"You wanna piece of me?!" Natsu roared, enraged.
Instantly, Natsu and Gajeel jumped in the air and exchanged powerful kicks. "Shoo-bee-do-ba!" the latter remarked.
Everyone paused and watched as a dust cloud formed around the two fighting Dragon Slayers. "Enough sho-lee-be-do!" Natsu demanded.
"Shoo-be-do-ba, yah moron!" Gajeel countered.
Makarov began to shake nervously as sweat drops raced down his cheeks. "Please! Stop!" he begged, a tear falling from his eye.
Natsu was just about to punch the iron mage until a beer mug slammed into his face. He turned to the direction it was thrown from, his expression distorting into a scowl. "Alright, which one of you threw that?! HUH!?"
Gray sat up from the Ultimate Team's table, fed up with Natsu's antics; however, the ice mage unknowingly bumped into Erza and caused her to lose her grip on her plate of strawberry cake, and accidentally knock her strawberry smoothie mug off the table.
"Natsu! Would you quit screwing around already!" shouted Gray.
The dessert and smoothie fell over Ben's lap, but the shape-shifter was quick to catch both of them before they hit the floor. He held them up to show he had caught them, which brought a smile to Erza's face. Suddenly, Elfman appeared out nowhere at Ben's left and bumped into him, causing him to drop the cake and smoothie to the floor.
Erza's eyes went wide in horror as her face paled. 'My smoothie…and my cake…' she thought. The Fairy Queen then let out an uncharacteristic scream.
"If you were real men you would take this outside!" Elfman proclaimed loudly.
Ben felt a shiver go up his spine. He could sense the dark, unsettling aura wafting off of Erza. Not wasting a moment, the teen hero immediately stood up and promptly ran for cover. Without warning, Erza re-quipped into her Heart Kreuz armor and delivered a fearsome kick into Elfman's face.
"Watch it, you oaf!" Erza yelled.
Ben jumped over the bar counter and crouched low along with Lucy and Happy. Within seconds, an all-out brawl broke out in the Guild Hall. Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel were trading blows and Erza was terrorizing anyone close to her out of rage from losing her precious cake and smoothie. The rest were either using magic attacks or exchanging punches and kicks; some of them were doing both.
The trio let out sighs of exasperation. Though they had gotten a new building, the Guild was just as rowdy as ever. In the midst of the battle, Master Makarov could be seen crying his eyes out as his new Guild Hall was quickly becoming a wreck.
Natsu glanced around at the brawl taking place around him with a toothy grin. "Now it's starting to feel like home."
"Quit smiling!" Gajeel shouted, slamming his Iron Club into his face.
"Oh brother…" Lucy moaned, annoyed. "At this rate we'll have to build another Guild Hall."
"Aye," Happy agreed.
Ben didn't comment as he folded his knees up to his chest, staring off into space again. The Celestial wizard and blue cat looked over to him. "Ben?" The former said.
"Hmm?" Ben turned to her, snapping out his stupor.
Lucy poked her index fingers together in a timid manner. "I don't suppose there's any way you could stop all this, huh?"
Ben was silent for a moment as he glanced up over the counter to look at the fray. It was really getting intense. He let out a long sigh, and replied, "Yeah…I suppose I should."
The brunette stood up and activated the Omnitrix. He scrolled through his transformation playlist until he found the form he wanted and selected it. He was about to slap the core down until he froze.
Ben let out a painful groan as he clutched his forehead, clenching his eyes shut.
'Damn headaches again…it feels more…painful…'
This didn't go unnoticed by Lucy and Happy, who looked at him in concern and bewilderment.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Lucy asked worriedly.
"Are you okay, Ben?" Happy added.
Ben groaned louder. "Ugh…y-yeah…I-I just got a migraine…t-that's all…"
Suddenly, Ben tensed up as his eyes widened and his heart skipped a few beats. A few drops of sweat formed on his forehead as he stood petrified. Shockingly, his irises flashed a dark amethyst before changing back to green, his pupils shrinking drastically. Lucy and Happy saw this and let out surprised gasps. What was that?
"Ben…" Lucy stammered, concerned.
Ben's eyes rolled back in his head as he suddenly fell to the floor with a loud thud, unconscious.
"BEN!" Lucy and Happy cried.
The blonde girl quickly kneeled by Ben's right side while Happy stood on his left. Lucy shook Ben by his shoulders, hoping that might wake up him but she was met with negative results. His body was limp.
"Ben? Ben! Wake up!" Lucy hollered fretfully.
"I don't think that's going to work, Lucy." Happy stated frantically. "He looks really out of it."
Lucy reached for Ben's wrist and felt his pulse and discovered it was slow. She then glanced up at his face to see it was becoming slightly paler. Both were not good signs. The Celestial mage placed her hand on her forehead and gasped as she pulled away.
"Lucy, what's wrong?" the azure cat inquired.
Lucy began to tremble in apprehension. "H-h-he…he's cold…" She stammered.
"What?" Happy's eyes widened, shocked.
The Celestial mage trembled in fear for a short moment before she screamed at the top of her lungs. "HELLLP! SOMEONE HELP!"
Lucy's scream was loud enough to be heard over the shouting and fighting. Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and looked over at Lucy.
Gajeel had Natsu in a headlock and punched him before he averted his attention toward Lucy. "What's blondie's problem?" He asked, annoyed.
"HELP! It's Ben! He needs help!" Lucy cried.
"Yeah," Happy chimed worriedly, "he's not looking good over here, guys!"
Erza dropped the bench she was going to use to smack her opponents with. A look of utter trepidation appeared on her face as she heard that Ben was in trouble. Without a second thought, the scarlet haired mage rushed over to the bar area with Natsu and Gray following her lead.
Master Makarov and Mirajane pushed past through the crowd and got behind the bar area. Natsu and Gray stood aside as Erza and Mira kneeled by the unconscious Ben along with Lucy. As Mira checked his vitals, Erza gazed down at Ben. She didn't feel it before, but now she could sense an unknown, dark aura coming from him. What was this?
Erza turned to Lucy with a stern expression. "What happened?"
"H-he…he was about to stop you guys from fighting and then he just fell over." Lucy stuttered fearfully.
"His eyes flashed purple too!" Happy added.
The group's eyes widened from this revelation. "His eyes…" Erza trailed off, lost for words.
"What does that mean?" Gray questioned.
"His vitals are low, and…I can sense something from him…" Mirajane said. She too couldn't identify this strange sense.
"Move aside!" Makarov ordered as he hopped down from the counter.
Mirajane, Erza, and Lucy stood up and took a few steps back as they gave the old man some room. Makarov stared down at Ben's inert form with a serious look. He placed his right hand on the brunette's forehead and gasped in alarm.
'I knew I wasn't imagining things earlier. There is…some kind of Dark Magic in his mind.' Makarov thought.
"Master?" Erza said.
"Get Ben and follow me!" Makarov commanded as he made his way to the front doors. "We have to go NOW!"
The other members were all a bit shocked and worried from how urgent their master sounded. Even Gajeel seemed to be a bit curious as to what was going on with the 'Take-Over wizard' as he called him. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched the scene unfold with narrowed eyes.
Natsu picked Ben up and threw him on his right shoulder, following Makarov out of the building with Erza, Lucy, Gray, and Happy right behind him. The wizards looked on in bafflement and anxiety as the master and Ultimate Team ran out the door.
The group rushed down the relatively empty streets of Magnolia. A few onlookers looked at them in confusion.
"Gramps!" Natsu called out. "What's going on? What's wrong with Ben?"
"There's no time!" Makarov shouted.
"Uh…isn't the hospital the other way?" Lucy mentioned nervously.
"We're not going to the hospital. Those doctors won't be able to help him." Makarov stated. "There's only one person I know that can identify that magic inside Ben and possibly cure it."
The team looked at their Guild master in confusion. Erza's eyes widened when a light-bulb shined in her head. 'Wait…could he mean her?' She wondered.
Her hypothesis seemed to be proven correct as Makarov led them to a dirt path that led into the East Forest. Erza glanced over to Natsu, who was carrying Ben's motionless form. She gritted her teeth, trying to calm the storm of emotions inside her.
'Ben…please…stay strong for us…for me.' She thought.