Chapter 23: A Will To Keep Fighting

Bigger author note here. Happy New Year. I hope you all had a good Christmas too. This story has been out for about five months now looking back and I want to thank you all once again. As of writing this, I'm almost on 100,000 views, I'm over 500 alerts and close to it on favourites, and that was only after a release of 22 chapters. And an amazing 433 reviews too is just incredible. I just want to say how awesome you all are. It motivates me to write more every time I look at it because so many people want to and enjoy reading these chapters. I plan to take this story all the way to the end, hopefully keeping it with weekly chapters each week as always.

So as always, I'll let you all get to the story. You know the drill as always. Read, review, rant to your friends about it. And I'll answer each review as always, just as long as you have an account with private messaging enable. And so long as it is something I can actually reply to so that it doesn't make it seem like a sudden random message.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or Bleach. Shame, it would be great if I did.

Protector Of The Fairies

A Will To Keep Fighting

The smoke cleared from in front of Mira to reveal a short blonde haired man standing in front of them, his hair cropped short near his neck. He held a sword in one hand, blocking the point of Freed's blade with ease.

The newcomer turned slightly to face Mira. "You know I expected a bit more from the supposed Demon of Fairy Tail. I can't believe I even needed to interfere to stop him from beating you."

"I can handle him," came a snarled replied. Shinji sighed. The girl was obviously angry right now and normal words wouldn't be enough to calm her down.

Meanwhile, Freed quickly disengaged from Shinji and propelled himself away from the other two. Who was this person helping Mira? He hadn't seen him in the guild before and the ease that the man blocked his blade with spoke of the power the man possessed.

That blade couldn't be a normal one too. Was it like his in that it was made from a Magical conductive metal? A normal blade would have snapped from the strain his Spell would have put on it so the only way the man could have blocked would have been to reinforce his own blade with Magic to counter the strike.

He let his gaze fall downwards slightly and had to restrain the gasp he almost released. The man was just standing there on the air, as if it was the same as the ground.

It wasn't subtle Wind Magic that was for certain. It would have still left a small trace and could also be inefficient sometimes too. But if it wasn't Wind Magic then what was it? He and Mira were flying because of their wings and he knew Laxus could manage it simply because of improvements to his Lightning Form. Few others had that capability without something giving them similar results but he couldn't see any sign of what this man could be using.

It wasn't like the man was using massive amounts of Magic to do this either. It was almost insignificant the amount actually being used, so small that it barely even registered on any Mage's senses. You could almost pass it off as nothing if you weren't standing right in front of the source.

But here was the answer. The man was simply standing there, a tiny platform of Magic created under the man's feet to allow him this ability to fly.

It wasn't the first time he had heard of this before. Laxus had told them stories of the adventures he had with the rest of Team Fairy, and he always liked to go into detail on the events. In many of them, he had always wanted to know how they dealt with enemies high up or how they reached certain places when it should have been impossible. And eventually he had finally asked Laxus for the answer.

The answer was Ichigo. This Ichigo was meant to be a Shinigami, capable of incredible feats of Magic that normal Mages couldn't do. Standing on air was just one of them. And if this man in front of him could do it too, then it meant that he was a Shinigami like Ichigo.

There was always the possibility that this man was Ichigo, but looking at the hair dispelled that illusion. Ichigo was said to have orange hair, not blonde.

But where had this Shinigami come from? Unless…

The Runes. He had felt someone enter through the Jutsu Shiki barrier earlier, and it had actually been Ichigo when he had checked. Two others entered afterwards by sheer force but he had included them to the list since the timing they broke through and the location was too close to Ichigo to not be his allies.

He kept his sword up as he called out to the man. "Which are you? Toushirou Hitsugaya or Shinji Hirako?"

Shinji smirked. "So you know our names do you? Very well, I'll introduce myself."

Shinji slashed his sword to his side and did a mocking bow. "Shinji Hirako, Visored and an ally of Ichigo."

Freed nodded, slowly lowering his sword. "Then there is no need to fight."

Shinji raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Why would that be?"

"Laxus is doing all this for Ichigo. Therefore there is no need for you to interfere."

Shinji frowned. "You're doing all of this… for Ichigo?"

That frown quickly turned into a sigh. "Man, this isn't good. Ichigo's not going to like this. I should probably warn him before he reaches Laxus, else he might lose it."

"Wait," demanded Freed. "What do you mean?"

"Please, you think Ichigo will accept this? I'm wondering now how long it will take for him to go on a rampage, and his target will be that precious Laxus I can see you have devoted yourself to."

Freed raised his blade once more, re-entering a combat stance. "I see. I cannot allow him to reach Laxus then. I will deal with you and then trap him behind Runes, ones which he won't pass through this time."

"Like it will be so easy to beat me."

As the two Mages both aimed their blades at one another, Mira listened carefully. So that was what Laxus's aim was. Ichigo. So that guy had finally decided to come back. He took his time.

It also looked like he wasn't going to join Laxus going by this Shinji's words, but there was no guarantee. How long had he known this Shinji in comparison to Laxus after all? Old bonds were hard to break and betray.

Still, with Shinji's help here, Freed was finished. She saw the strength this guy had just from blocking Freed's strike and it looked like it barely winded him. She may have been out of practice, but she had still been enough to force Freed to use this much of his power. She doubted he could go any further than he had already.

Mira moved first, released large amounts of Darkness Magic from her hands. "Darkness Stream."

Out of that darkness, hands formed and lunged towards Freed, the man quickly dodged each one as they tried to trap him. He found them quickly circling him, slowly forcing him to dodge closer to the others and decided to stop them before he was trapped.

"Dark Écriture: Destruction."

A spin and a slash was all that he needed to send that wave out, cutting through the thin tendrils than linked the hands to Mira.

He barely managed to turn in time to block the downward strike from Shinji, the speed the Shinigami was showing proving to be a deadly weapon. That Shunpo had to have been part of why the distance had been closed so quickly, and it again proved why you had to be careful when fighting a Shinigami.

Shinji smirked as the force behind the blade slowly pushed Freed backwards, the man having to resort to firing off a pain Spell with one of his hands in order to make Shinji back off slightly.

"What were you trying to do there?" Shinji asked curiously. "That looked like it would have been nasty."

"Be careful of those Runes," Said Mira as she joined him. "They are deadly. If he manages to attach the Runes to you, it could very well be over."

"Well that's almost too easy then. All I have to do is dodge them. I have plenty of experience doing that."

Shinji brought an arm back and a rod of blue and white energy generated in his hand. "I wonder how good he is at that though. Bakudou Number 62: Hyapporankan."

As Shinji threw the rod, Freed wasn't worried. He could dodge something like that easily. That was until the rod multiplied, the number growing up to one hundred of them.

Freed quickly pushed his wings to his limits as he flew away from the attack, taking great care to dodge the rods as they rained down on him. One or two got him in glancing hits and he barely managed to pull himself back together before any more could hit him.

Mira shot towards him and he brought up his sword to block her strike, prepared to deal with that Evil Spark attack of hers again. Instead of using it though, she did something else. As she got closer, she held out a hand and he felt himself get flung downwards, crashing into the ground and continuing through it until he entered a cave below it.

He scowled, thanking the fact that the Demon body he had right now had given him increased durability. Without it, that would have broken a few bones in his body.

He had no time to rest though, rolling to the side to avoid the purple blast of energy. He was glad he had done so. The ground where he had been burst into flames upon contact with the energy and it looked like it was actually managing to burn the rocks. What kind of flames were those?

While he was distracted, an orange hued tendril wrapped around his arm and was pulled, sending him flying back upwards towards the smiling Shinji. He quickly twisted his body in the air and used his wings to straighten himself and increase his speed. If the Shinigami wanted him, then he would get him.

The smile didn't fade once from Shinji's face. It was only then that Freed realised he had been played. He had accelerated himself too fast and had no time do dodge as Shinji brought up a finger.

"Hadou Number 4: Byakurai."

The bolt of blue lightning shot through his chest, even the durability his Demon body was giving him not enough to stop it at such close proximity. And did that guy say it was number four? How did such a low level Spell do such much against him?

"Ah," muttered Shinji as he watched his opponent curiously. "You wanted to know why don't you? You dodged most of that Bakudou and heard it was in the sixties, yet a low level one did what that previous one couldn't. You're a fool."

Shinji walked towards him slowly, his grip on the orange hued tendril tightening. "I can use the higher level ones but I'm not the type to be all destructive like Ichigo is with Kidou. I can actually use the lower level ones, and I prefer them. Sure, they lack the power the higher level ones have, but don't think for a moment that they can't be devastating too. The Spell binding you right now is only level nine yet it is more than enough for my purpose."

"Now then," Shinji finished as he raised his sword. "You lose."

He brought his blade down only for Freed to force his sword up to block the strike. He let out a sudden roar and grabbed hold of Shinji with his bare hand, chucking him to the ground with sheer strength.

"Shinji!" Mira quickly tried to rush towards the Shinigami only for Freed to appear in front of her. "Fast…"

With a slash of his sword, she found herself flying to the ground, her arm bleeding from the blade that had managed to pierce her skin.

It got worse for her as her Take Over finally ran its course, ending as she struggled to lift herself off the ground. But she was more afraid for Freed. What had just happened to him? Why was his Magic even more Demon like?

"More," muttered Freed. "More, more, more, more, more! I want more. Get up. I want to feel my blood boil. Show me your full strength and let me crush it!"

Shinji shook off some of the dirt and dust as he stood up. "That's not good. What Spell did he use?"

"One that turned him into a Demon I think," muttered Mira. "I wasn't paying much attention at the time."

"I see." Shinji observed Freed carefully. "It's got to be a Forbidden Spell of some kind, and they always have risks to them. I can see this one's. The longer he uses the Spell, the harder it is to maintain his personality as a human. Very soon, if we don't end this, he will become a true Demon."

Mira shook her head. "I'm out of Magic. I used too much and can't manage another Take Over right now."

"I'll have to make do then."

"No," called out Mira desperately. "Get help. He's stronger now. You're tricks won't affect him."

"I wasn't planning on using any more tricks," muttered Shinji as he brought his hand to his face. "He wants a fight, so I'll give him one."

A downward swipe and his white mask appeared, the parts around the back of his head flowing in the wind. He could tell his eyes had already changed so his voice would have too. It would have more of an echo to it now, like two people speaking at once. "I'll deal with him, and I'll use sheer power to knock him out of that form."

And then Shinji disappeared. Or rather instead of vanished, he simply moved quickly. Mira's eyes barely managed to track him and that was because he just lunged towards Freed. Freed wasn't as lucky, his sword managing to parry Shinji's but it still nicked his side, drawing blood.

It didn't intimidate Freed though. A massive smile grew on his face. "YES! More! Give me more!"

Shinji didn't let the madness Freed was showing slow him down one bit. He spun round as slashed to the side. Freed brought his sword up but was still flung to the side, the strength coming from Shinji surpassing his own by far.

Energy quickly charged energy around him and fired it towards Shinji, the energy forming into a large tornado of darkness. Shinji quickly used Shunpo and dodged the attack, moving from side to side to confuse Freed into what he would do next.

Freed didn't wait around. He lunged, Magic gathering around his sword like before with Dark Écriture: Destruction. The two swords clashed together and Freed smiled, releasing the attack in the blade to hit them both.

Each fighter came out of the smoke in opposite directions, part of Shinji's shirt being singed along his sword arm while Freed looked no worse for wear.

Shinji knew that style of attack. It was one Ichigo had used regularly when Getsuga Tenshou had been unable to hit him at range. Bring the enemy close enough and then release the attack there and then.

This attack of Freed's couldn't match Ichigo's Getsuga Tenshou, but it had similar properties behind how the wielder was affected. It was Freed's own Magic after all, which made sense why it would do nothing to harm Freed himself it had been interfered with my someone else's Magic.

He was wasting far too much time however. He couldn't keep things going as they were, else Freed might find himself slipping further and further away. There was a point of no return and, while Freed wasn't there yet, he had to be close.

It was time to end this.

Freed quickly gathered massive amounts of Magic towards him, the energy spiralling around the Mage before he expelled it towards Shinji, forming the tornado of Darkness Magic Shinji had seen before.

There were differences however. This one was almost three times the size as the previous one, and much more densely packed in terms of Magic. Getting hit by that would hurt a lot.

Shinji had no intention to let that attack hit however. He raised a hand towards his mask as crimson energy gathered inside his clenched fist. Already he could feel the attack being prepared under his fingers, and it was bursting to be released.

So he brought that hand in front of him and aimed it towards the tornado. "Cero."

The attack shot out as a horizontal beam, but it was no less as deadly in that form. It cut straight along the tornado, severing it in half and causing the remains to collapse from instability. Freed barely managed to launch off an attack to weaken the remaining force as it hit him.

It was too late. Shinji had followed right behind that attack and already had his blade raised.

"It's over."

With a powerful slash, he cut along the Freed's skin, blood flying as the force sent Freed crashing to the ground near where Mira had landed. The damage from both the harsh fall and the deep cut proved too much for the Demon form to handle and slowly, the Spell receded.

If there was any good news, it was that Freed's injuries didn't pass on to his human skin. He still had the exhaustion though, and was severely depleted on Magic. He couldn't fight any more.

That didn't stop Shinji appearing over him and positioning his blade by Freed's head.

"STOP!"

Shinji tilted his head towards Mira, the Take Over Mage currently trying to make it over to them.

"Don't kill him."

"Why?" Shinji glared at her. "Is he not a threat to you? Is he not a threat to your allies? It is better to eliminate problems sometimes before they come back to destroy everything you care for later on."

"He's still a member of Fairy Tail," protested Mira. "The Master can decide what is to be done about him. Besides, I don't think he is really as bad as you are making him sound like."

"I don't need your help," stated Freed. "I am ready for the consequences of my actions. I knew the risks when I agreed to follow Laxus's plans."

"So you don't care that you harmed your entire guild do you?" asked Shinji, bringing his hand to his face and making the mask vanish. "You really don't care about all the people you hurt."

"I… I never hurt them. I trapped them and let them wipe themselves out. I-"

"Did you even want this? You are definitely devoted to Laxus, don't get me wrong, but is this what you want?"

"I do what Laxus wa-"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

"NOT THIS!"

Freed winced at the words that escaped his mouth, clenching his eyes shut. "I didn't want to do this… I don't want to hurt people… But I can't disappoint Laxus. He had staked everything on this. He's betting everything… on this one chance. He only wants to make a Fairy Tail that Ichigo is accepted in."

"That idiot," said Mira, tears in her eyes. "Can't he see already? Ichigo's already accepted. Even the Master changed. They did it all because of Ichigo. Can you tell me that the guild won't accept him?"

"I don't know," whispered Freed. "But Laxus can't turn back now. It's far too late. Thunder Palace can't be stopped. I only provided the countdown. The Spell will be launched regardless of what I do."

"Then let's find Ichigo quickly," said Shinji, reaching down for Freed and pulling him up to rest against his shoulder. "We need to hurry."

Protector Of The Fairies

Makarov struggled through the city, only able to have gotten the far due to Levy's help. He wasn't really meant to have escaped the guild but Levy was doing something that allowed this movement. She couldn't break the rule that he couldn't escape but she could transport the area it affected around with her. As long as he kept close to her, he could keep travelling towards where Laxus was.

He wondered why she was even helping him when she would glance at him in annoyance every so often. He supposed it would last until she saw proof that Ichigo would be accepted properly into the guild.

He had changed over the three years, being stricter of any foolishness of missions and on punishments, yet still kept up his normal caring attitude. He couldn't deny how senile he had been back then, and he wished he could go back in time and change it all.

He wouldn't if he could though. Time happened one way and going back and changing things was worse than not accepting your mistakes. If you changed things, you weren't really living with the results of your actions, and you could never change.

All that was left was to see how he would react actually in front of Ichigo. He had always been different in front of Ichigo than anyone else, always seeing the shadow of Kisuke cast over the boy. When he saw the boy, he wanted to see him properly. He wanted to see Ichigo instead of just seeing Kisuke's apprentice.

Maybe then Levy would find it in her heart to accept him again. Maybe even Laxus would change back to how he was. But he still knew not everything could be the same. Maybe if Ichigo had arrived back before this then all of this could have been stopped but there was no way that Ichigo could have been told of the situation.

It was a shame but the outcomes for both results were unpleasant. If Laxus won, the guild would be his, and it wouldn't be the same again. If Laxus lost, there was no way that his grandson could stay in the guild. He wouldn't be able to do it, not when Laxus had caused harm to the guild. Laxus had attacked those who should have been regarded as his own family, and that was not something you should ever do.

How would Ichigo react when he saw Laxus though? Because despite all he had changed, part of him still suspected Ichigo in this. It wasn't anything against the boy though, rather it was because of how loyal he knew Ichigo was to people. And Laxus was the boy's closest friend. They had been together for years, and they properly knew each other better than they knew themselves. A few years apart wouldn't be enough to break that bond of friendship.

And there lay his fear. Ichigo was loyal to people and protected them with a passion. But which loyalty was greater? His loyalty to Laxus as his friend, or his loyal to the guild as a Fairy Tail Mage?

He didn't forget what Levy had said. She told him that Ichigo wouldn't agree with what was going on, but that wasn't an answer to his question. Ichigo could still side with Laxus and she knew it. In a way, they were both hoping on him siding with the guild.

He had sent Natsu and Gajeel off ahead to where they believed Laxus should be roughly. There was a large presence of Magic being used in that area and few people could use amounts like that without getting tired unless they were S Class. S Class Mages had the Magic to spare and what was hard to do for normal Mages barely even registered to them.

Erza should already be near Laxus by now and Mystogan had to be holding off his grandson for him till the others arrived. However now that Ichigo had shown up, Laxus would be fighting harder than ever. Mystogan, while powerful, was unsuited for an opponent like Laxus. Erza was Mystogan's better match but Erza had an advantage against Laxus that Mystogan didn't. Adaptability from her armours.

Mystogan could do that too but he needed more time for stronger Spells. And Laxus was far too fast for Mystogan to get that time very easily. Erza could at least alter between armours for speed, armours for power, and armours for lightning protection in seconds. Even less sometimes.

And with Natsu and Gajeel there soon to back her and Mystogan up, victory could be almost assured. That was as long as Laxus kept acting as he was. Because Laxus was right when he said he was one of Fairy Tail's strongest. A large Magical Power second to almost none and the second strongest S Class Mage they had.

Would two Dragon Slayers, a Staff User, and a Requip Master be able to defeat Laxus before he awoke? Because as long as Laxus kept looking down on them, it didn't matter if he was losing. He wouldn't fight them at full strength if he didn't believe they deserved the right to be faced by him.

The moment Ichigo came into sight, and the moment he joined any side of the battle, things would change. The Laxus of Team Fairy had been sleeping for three years, and Ichigo's arrival would awaken him. Ally or enemy to Ichigo, the result would be the same. And only two people here could fight Laxus once he awoke. Ichigo and himself.

Well he actually wasn't much of an option. His heart wasn't feeling too good right now and any more strain would be too much to cope with. He couldn't use his Titan Magic like this. And without going at full strength, he couldn't battle Laxus and win.

So that left Ichigo. Even if Ichigo was their ally, they still needed to be carefully. A fight between Ichigo and Laxus would not be something wise to have while within the city bounds and he wasn't sure if they would be able to notice once they started.

And then there was the problem of Thunder Palace. If it was left up there, the city was doomed. And the worst part was that unless they destroyed it, Laxus was the only one able to shut it down.

Destroying it held the problem of how many they could crush before falling themselves. Organic Link Magic created one of the strongest defences the Lacrima could have. The ability to strike back with all their stored energy at the one who destroyed them.

As for Laxus turning it off, that would be hard to do. While he didn't want to believe that Laxus would really use it, he couldn't not believe it would be used either. Laxus knew that backing down would not end well for him so it was a now or never chance. That mindset can cause people to do thing they wouldn't normally ever want to do.

He let his eyes glance to something hidden almost out of sight, only able to be seen from the corner of his eye. They were being followed by Runes.

He had suspected the ones near the door would try and follow him. Laxus wanted him to watch the guild destroy themselves in their fights so it made sense a scoreboard would try and follow him to display results.

He pulled Levy to a stop as a sudden activity shot across the Runes. Something was happening. The last time this happened was to announce the latest fights happening. Lucy had been against Bickslow while Cana had been against Freed. He had seen the chance not long after that showing that Cana had lost and it had changed to Mira fighting against Freed.

Mira? That had shocked him. Sweet Mira had actually fought once more? He had held out hopes she would one day recover but it had looked to have been a long time ahead till then. What had Freed done to warrant such a reaction from her?

But now it was changing again. He didn't think Natsu and Gajeel were close enough to have been caught up in their fights so that left only one possibility in his mind. It was time for the results of the battles.

By his side, he heard the soft words from Levy that prayed for her friend's victory. She had been worried when she had seen that Lucy was to fight Bickslow but had chosen to believe in her. Now was the moment of truth.

The result wasn't what they expected though. In the fight against Bickslow, someone called Toushirou Hitsugaya was the winner. Who was Toushirou? He knew everyone in the guild and if they were fighting against the Thunder God Tribe then it meant they weren't one of Laxus's. Had he missed a time where the Runes had updated? When had someone else joined the fight?

Another burst of activity and the results of Freed's battle came up. The winner was another person he didn't know. Shinji Hirako. Where were the newcomers appearing from?

Did they arrive with Ichigo? He hoped so because that meant that this was a good sign. If they were with Ichigo and were fighting against Laxus then they still had a chance to save the guild.

He glanced towards Levy. "Do you know any of them?"

Levy shook her head. "I've never heard of a Toushirou or a Shinji. If Ichigo knows them then it must have been recently in the three years. Any time before then and me or Laxus would be aware of them."

Makarov nodded in acknowledgement. If these two were here to help then they had an even greater chance. Two Mages who could deal with the other members of the Thunder God Tribe would be valuable help here.

The Runes flashed once more before vanishing in a bright light. All around the city, he saw the same result. Runes traps vanished along with the barrier around Magnolia that had sealed them in. Freed's defeat must have drained him of all the Magic he had left and without that Magic to maintain the Runes, they had no longer been able to sustain their existence.

Runes were funny like that. They required little Magic to maintain them and could last for a long time but if the Caster ran out of Magic at any point then the Runes failed, despite the fact that their source of Magic was in the Runes themselves. It seemed that there still needed to be a connection between Caster and Rune for them to keep working.

At least they didn't need to worry about stray traps anymore and Levy had no need to keep moving the Rune field around with them. She sighed in relief as she felt the strain she had been feeling disappear. She didn't have to worry about the drain on her Magic anymore.

Makarov turned his head towards the direction they had been heading in and started to continue walking. They were close but they were still a bit off, especially with his slow pace. All they could do now was hurry, and pray that everything turned out okay.

Protector Of The Fairies

Laxus couldn't deny that Mystogan was skilled. Very skilled in fact. He remembered the day he had fought against Cana at one of her S Class Trials. And he had known then that Mystogan would be one of those capable of reaching the rank of S Class. Three staves had made him strong but now the man had five. Three Layered Magic Circle Spells were his medium level stuff now that the man could access Five Layered Magic Circle Spells.

He had experienced the Spell's effects first hand. Sacred Song was a deadly piece of Magic, firing a blast of concentrated Magic right down on top of him. But what may have been a deadly Magic to a normal Mage was a mild inconvenience to him.

There had to be some more deadly Magic that the man could use but he had seen how long it had taken Mystogan to prepare that Spell. It confirmed his suspicions from all those years ago. Mystogan's Magic was coming from the Staves rather than his own body.

It had been tough working out why but he had learned the truth, along with who Mystogan was under that mask of his. Mystogan may have some strong Spells but he wouldn't get the chance to use them, especially when Erza showed up. If anything Mystogan would run for it when he blasted away the man's mask.

Oh. It seemed Erza wasn't the only one nearby if he recognised that Magic. Natsu was almost there too. Shame Freed couldn't have attracted one of them to him to deal with…

Freed? What happened to him? His Magic has dropped. He wasn't dead, but it was as if he had been defeated. By who though? How had someone managed to take down his strongest apprentice?

He wished he had noticed earlier. Then he could have paid attention to who had been fighting. And with Freed being defeated, the Runes were vanishing. He couldn't look back to check, especially not when he was busy dealing with Mystogan.

Bickslow had been defeated too it seemed. Was he the only one left? Had his apprentices really been defeated... by this guild?

No. It was impossible. They shouldn't have been able to have been defeated. He trained them personality over three years, watching them grow stronger and work together efficiently. He couldn't believe it was true.

But it was. And the worst part was that they would have lost willingly as long as he won. So he couldn't lose. Not now. They had believed in his dream, and had pledged themselves to following him. He wasn't going to lose faith from their defeats. He would crush the ones who beat them.

Right now though he had Mystogan to take his anger out on. He propelled forward at the Mage, blasting lightning straight towards the Mage.

Mystogan wasn't S Class for nothing. His form changed and disappeared into mist, floating through the air quickly and reformed behind Laxus.

Laxus smirked. That was the way to win quickly. He spun round and blocked the blast of energy coming from Mystogan and shot out with his fist. Mystogan dodged by simply turning to mist.

Normally Mystogan could not be hurt while in this form. But was that really the case? Laxus was about to find out. He couldn't harm Mystogan with his attacks normally at the moment but there was one way he might be able to.

His body shifted and became lightning as he propelled towards Mystogan. As he got close, he smashed his fist down on the mist.

It was just as he thought. His fist made contact with something solid and the form of Mystogan reappeared as it smashed against the ground, staves scattering around him. He had always wondered how someone could counter Mystogan's Mist Form, and finally he had his answer.

It was the same reason of why he couldn't strike anyone originally when he shifted into lightning as he moved around. He became the element and couldn't be hit and that was the key. Because he could still strike so anyone in a similar form to him would get hit despite their intangibility.

His was superior now though. Before he had still been able to be hit because he kept a physical form of sorts when he shifted. What he had always gained was intense speed and would shift out of the form to attack. Three years could do wonders for training and this form of his could even strike down those who weren't intangible like Mystogan. He could stay in his Lightning Form and still deal damage to his enemies, even if it ended up just being from electrical strikes as he passed them.

Speed, defence, and power all in one. It had been worth all those hours of failures. He could see Mystogan reaching for his staves but Laxus simply pointed to the door with a smirk and then to his face.

Mystogan realised what he meant as the man's hands leaped to his face. His mask had been damaged and the tattoo under his right eye could be seen as clear as day. And a bit of blue hair was poking through the mask as well.

Laxus knew that Mystogan wouldn't stay now. He kept his identity a secret for so long and would be recognised for who he looked like the instant Erza saw him. And now that his Mist Form had been ineffective, what did the man really have left that wouldn't be stopped. Switching to mist, Mystogan and his staves vanished, escaping through the window to whether the man wanted to go to.

Laxus didn't bother stopping him. Mystogan wouldn't return any time soon. The Mage had lost and wouldn't be coming back to face him in a fight he knew that would he would lose. One down.

The doors were smashed open and he saw the two arrivals clearly. "So you're here are you, Erza, Natsu."

Protector Of The Fairies

The end of Shinji's battle. Bit different from Toushirou's and the Forbidden Spell is a bit different from in canon. This time it actually has a risk that we get to see. Great power in exchange for a slowly draining sanity and humanity.

So did you guys like it? I also got to treat you all to a second fight this chapter. It's the start of the long Laxus battle. Starts here, ends a few chapters later. The last fight chapter is even a big special one, standing at an amazing ten thousand plus words. A lot more than my minimum five to six thousand.

In other news, I have finished the whole arc now and have moved onto the Oración Seis arc, starting at Chapter 28 I believe. It's hard to believe that I was once approaching the big Gildarts fight, which was back at Chapter 12. And the confrontation was Chapter 15. We're slowly getting onto the good stuff now though. Already got a few good ideas in the current arc I'm writing and I've gone many more to come. And the Edolas arc, well you are going to love that one.

So latest chapters too. Bleach seemed okay, though I really wanted more to it. That fan though… it's like trying to kill Mayuri. He just won't die. As for Fairy Tail, I'm not using that Ex-Chairman as I think I've said before. Just no. He annoys me, and I can do so many more things without him. Natsu storming that base however has me intrigued, because I honestly think it's a trap. He can't take all of them alone, and we know he is connected to Zeref. Could he be linked to E.N.D?

Anyway, till the next time. I've been Takei. Thanks for reading.