7

Chapter 7: Presentaton is KeySummary:

Era has a discussion over the mysterious rogue wizard. Arriving in Magnolia, Ben and Lucy get their first impressions of the Fairy Tail guild...and it's not what either of them expected.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Era.

A fairly large city that was surrounded by forests and snow-peaked mountains. At the heart of the city was a high, rocky mountain with a jagged pathway encircling its circumference, and nestled at the top was the headquarters for the highest authority of the wizardry community.

The Magic Council of Ishgar.

A ruling body that possessed utmost control over anything magical related throughout the Ishgar Continent and acted as a leading government of sorts for mages and guilds.

At the moment, the nine members were sitting at a round table in a large pavilion with the snow-peaked mountains visible in the distance. They were holding one of their bi-weekly meetings regarding the current state of the magical world.

One member suddenly slammed a newspaper on the table. On the front page in bold letters was the title: Mystery Mage Defeats Slave Trafficker!

"That rogue wizard is becoming a nuisance!" One member indignantly declared. He was a short, old man and his two most distinguishing features was his thick mustache and two tufts in his brown hair that resembled cat ears. This was Michello. "He just destroyed half of Hargeon's port!"

"This wizard must be held accountable for the wanton destruction!" A third member, who sounded female, stated.

"To be fair, those reports also mention that the damages occurred in the course of apprehending Bora the Prominence." Another advocated. He was an elderly man of short stature and had a small grey mustache and wore a peculiar hat with three points. This was Yajima.

"At least there's one silver lining." One confessed. "That man has been causing trouble for a while."

"I'm actually growing quite fond of this hero." One man slyly commented. He was a young handsome man with spiky blue hair and an intricate red tattoo over his right eye. This was Siegrain. "Reports cite him taking down many criminals in the past week; some of them were even dark wizards. If you ask me, he's saving us a lot of hassle… and resources to boot."

"Though he did cause property damage, we can't ignore the fact that he saved several dozen young women from a life of slavery." A female member pointed out. She was a young, beautiful woman with long raven hair and wore a white dress. This was Ultear.

"Even so, we're still dealing with a rogue wizard here!" Michello argued. "Fairy Tail's recklessness is one thing, but they're at least a legal guild."

"Barely." Another sardonically remarked.

Michello continued. "This man is nothing more than a vigilante doing whatever he pleases! If we continue to turn a blind eye to his actions, he may cause even more damage than what was done to Hargeon."

"Valid points you make, Michello. But let's not forget this mystery individual does have the support of the people on his side." Siegrain pointed out. "If the Council makes a big stink of trying to capture a man everyone is emphatically declaring as a hero, it'd be a bad look for all of us."

"Our seats would be put in jeopardy." Ultear added.

"Hmm…" The council leader considered Siegrain and Ultear's points. He was a heavyset elderly man with a long beard tied into twin braids and wore a classic triangular wizard hat on his head. This was Crawford Seam. "Yes, this does present us with quite the quandary. I do believe that order must be maintained…but making a huge fuss in apprehending him may not go well with the public."

"I say let's monitor him for now before rushing to judgment." Siegrain proposed. "After all, if it weren't for people like this mystery wizard, just think how boring this world would be."

…

After riding nearly three hours on the train, Ben and Lucy had arrived in the bustling town of Magnolia. The pair rose from their seats and made their way off of the train and departed from the station. It was early in the afternoon as they walked down the cobblestone streets together with Ben slinging his green backpack slung over his shoulder while Lucy pulled a pink rollerboard behind her.

"Eeh! I can't believe it!" Lucy girlishly squealed. "We're actually here in Magnolia! Home of the Fairy Tail guild!"

Ben smiled at how excited Lucy was; it was very cute. "Speaking of, do we want to head straight there? Or do you want to see some of the sights first?"

Lucy paused and glanced around at her near surroundings; her brown eyes sparkling with interest upon spotting the large, beautiful cathedral in the distance. 'Wait! That's Kardia Cathedral! Right! I almost forgot it was here in Magnolia!' She thought excitedly. 'We have to go see it!'

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea!" Lucy stopped and took in Ben's appearance; more specifically, his wardrobe. "Um, actually… Before we get there, Ben… No offense, but are you sure you want to show up like that?"

Cocking a brow, Ben glanced down at his Cait Shelter apparel; the same set he wore from yesterday. He then recalled what Murphy had told him yesterday about sticking out. "Yeah… I guess it wouldn't hurt to try something new."

'Although these are pretty comfortable...and they're special to me.' He mused, looking back on his short yet meaningful time at Cait Shelter. The green-and-black shoulder mantle was especially special since it had been gifted to him.

"You know what they say: dress for the job you want." Lucy stated. "In your case, presentation is key."

Ben certainly couldn't argue with that logic.

Upon entering the town itself, Ben and Lucy took note of the numerous shops and establishments that they passed by. The Ultimatrix bearer was surprised by how far the buildings went on. Magnolia was certainly the largest city he had been in since losing his memories.

The brunet couldn't help but feel reminded of Oshibana as the two towns bore a resemblance. Though his time there was brief as he and Murphy were just passing through, he still recalled the layout and architecture as well as the merchant bandits he had defeated on the town's outskirts.

His thoughts then drifted back to Murphy's point about trouble following him wherever he goes. 'Hopefully the streak is broken today…' He mused to himself.

At Lucy's insistence, the pair went to see the large cathedral in the center of town, which she told Ben was named Kardia Cathedral. Apparently, it was considered a landmark in the kingdom and Ben could see why. It was massive or at least compared to the buildings surrounding it, and Ben was certainly impressed by the scale of it as well as its overall design.

As they toured the building, Ben noticed some townspeople (mostly women) pointing at him and Lucy while giggling and whispering to one another. This made the brunet feel slightly self-conscious. 'Guess Lucy was right. My clothes are drawing some attention.' He rationalized.

That wasn't the case. Unbeknownst to Ben and Lucy, Kardia Cathedral (on days outside of mass) was locally known as a popular spot for couples to visit. The fact that Lucy would occasionally get overly excited and grab his hand every so often also fueled their suspicions.

Eventually, the pair then came upon a big clothing store named The Magic Wardrobe, which seemed to be popular given the amount of people inside, and went in. While Lucy enthusiastically ran towards the women's section, Ben headed to the men's area and browsed through their various selections.

Over half-an-hour passed and while Ben had found some clothes that he had liked, he hadn't found anything that he liked enough to merit purchasing, especially with his limited funds. If he was going to buy some clothes, then they definitely needed to be worth it.

Ben sighed as he put back a red and orange jacket on the rack. 'Seriously, with all these clothes here, you'd think there'd be something here that–' He stopped his inner monologue when he spotted something from the corner of his eye. 'Wait!'

He hastily walked around several aisles toward the adjacent wall. There, the item that caught his eye was hanging amongst a plethora of jackets, coats, and shirts. It was a kelly-green, collared jacket with white trimming and long sleeves.

Though it lacked any special design, it somehow spoke to him. Maybe it was the color?

"Find anything, Ben?" He glanced back to see Lucy walking up to him, holding a small pink paper shopping bag with a few items in it.

"Well…" He pulled the green jacket off of the rack. "How about this?"

"Hmm…" Lucy adopted a thoughtful look as she looked it over. Setting her stuff down, she looked around and then walked over to a nearby table–grabbing a shirt and pants and handing them to him. "Here. Try these on with that jacket."

He shrugged. "Okay." He'd trust her judgment. Girls were better with fashion, right?

Later, Ben stepped out of a changing booth wearing his new apparel. It consisted of brown shoes, dark-blue pants held up by a brown belt and rolled up at the ends, a white V-neck shirt with black trim, and the green long-jacket over it that stretched down to his knees.

(A/N: Commission by getterstudio on DeviantArt.)

He turned to Lucy. "So, how do I–"

"You look great!" She smiled widely, giving a thumbs-up…and a faint blush on her cheeks.

'Guess that's a yes.' Ben was flattered by Lucy's quick appraisal. He then turned to a full-length mirror, pivoting on his sole to see how he looked. 'Huh… Not bad.' He smiled to himself.

"Think I'm presentation ready for the number one guild?"

"You're looking the part for sure!" Lucy paused to glance down at her own apparel; the same outfit she was wearing yesterday. She suddenly felt unnerved by how professional Ben looked compared to her.

Ben noticed her sudden unease and stopped in to reassure her. "Hey, you look great." He said sincerely. "Don't sweat it. If anything, I wouldn't be surprised if they throw out a red carpet your way."

"Yeah…?" Lucy perked up, feeling her nervous fade away. "You think so?"

He nodded. "For sure. Speaking of, let me go take these to the counter and then we'll be on our way."

"To Fairy Tail!" She giggled giddily to herself.

Ben suddenly felt his chest tighten and experienced the urge to shield his eyes from the cuteness radiating off of the blonde wizard like the sun. 'This girl seriously has no idea how cute she is.'

…

It was a typical afternoon at the Fairy Tail guild hall. The first floor mostly resembled a tavern with many tables and chairs, and many wizards were scattered across the building as they ate, drank, and socialized with one another.

"Hey, Mira!" A man sitting at a table called out. His most notable trait physically was his brown, fluffy, ostentatious pompadour hair. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties and had a pipe in his mouth. He wore a loose, light green shirt, which was decorated with many motifs of dark green, stylized flowers, each with five petals. He also wore a pair of brown pants, cut off just below his knees. This was Wakaba Mine.

Hearing her name called, a waitress holding a trap with several beers turned to face Wakaba. She was a young voluptuous woman with flowing, white hair, with the bangs pinned up above her forehead. She was a little on the short side, though not by much. She wore a red, sleeveless dress, and had an impressive bust with a bit of cleavage showing. This was Mirajane Strauss.

"Yes, can I help you?" Mirajane asked politely.

Wakaba pulled his pipe away and exhaled several puffs of pink smoke that magically formed hearts. "Actually, yeah. I want to be your next date!" He blew the hearts toward her.

This irked several guys nearby.

"Hey, no fair! Wait your turn, Wakaba!" One guy exclaimed.

Mirajane sighed in mild exasperation. "Honestly. I'm afraid there's one problem, Wakaba…" With a wave of her hand, her body was shrouded in yellow light. When the flash faded, Mirajane had transformed into a plump middle-aged woman with puffy brown hair. "You're already married."

"YAAH!" Wakaba cried out in shock. "I hate it when you do that!"

Several wizards from nearby tables laughed at Wakaba's expense.

Mirajane chuckled in amusement too as she changed back to normal and went to serve the beers to another table.

Other wizards meanwhile stood in front of the Request Board in search of a job request. Two mages in particular were in desperate need of one.

"Make sure to pick one with a good reward, Natsu." Happy instructed.

"Yeah, yeah. I know…" Natsu rubbed his chin as he looked over the various job postings on the board. "Oh!" He perked up when he spotted a post that piqued his interest. "Thief subdue for 160,000 Jewels?"

"Sounds perfect to me!" Happy agreed.

"Hey! I was going to pick that job, charcoal breath!" The one who yelled was a young man, likely the same age as Natsu, with spiky, onyx hair and wore black pants and a long, white coat with blue trim. This was Gray Fullbuster.

"You snooze, you lose, ice stripper!" Natsu ripped the request off the board. "This job's ours!"

"Sorry, Gray." Happy shrugged. "But we need a good paying job since we're flat broke. That rogue Take-Over mage stole our last job again."

Gray looked at Natsu incredulously. "Seriously? You lost another job to that guy? How many is that now?"

"Three in a row!" Happy chirped.

"Tch! That damn jerk!" Natsu clenched his fist tightly. "When I find that guy, I'm gonna smoke him!"

"I dunno, Natsu. I probably wouldn't if I were you." A buck-toothed man from a nearby table commented. "You haven't read the paper?"

"Natsu and reading? Those two things don't mix." Gray smugly remarked.

"Gray, your clothes." Happy pointed out.

The onyx-haired teen was confused until he realized he had subconsciously stripped to his black boxers. "CRAP!" He panicked and fumbled for his clothes on the floor.

The buck-toothed mage continued. "Reports said that guy destroyed half of Hargeon's harbor last night. Definitely doesn't sound like some lightweight to me."

"Hargeon?" Happy's eyes widened in surprise. "We were just there yesterday!"

Natsu glared back. "Why should I believe you, creep? Especially after ya lied to me about Salamander yesterday!"

"I told you I didn't lie!" He snapped back. "I said it was just a rumor I heard, didn't I?!"

"I actually read that article this morning." A young petite girl spoke up, sitting at a nearby table with two other men. She had wavy, somewhat wild blue hair, with her bangs held up by a patterned, orange bandanna. She wore a short, blue vest that left her midriff exposed, with a yellow bikini top underneath it. She also wore white, knee-length shorts, held up by a brown belt. This was Levy McGarden.

"The reports said the Take-Over Master changed into a mysterious creature made of fire and took down a group of criminals kidnapping girls." Levy explained. "Pretty fascinating story, huh?"

"Fire? Grr!" Natsu growled in anger. "First that bastard steals my jobs, and now he's stealing my shtick?! I am so kicking his butt!" His fists suddenly ignited into flames.

Other people close by sweat-dropped at that.

"Uh… He does realize he's not the only one who can use fire, right?" One person mentioned.

"Apparently not…" Another remarked.

"Natsu, you're burning up the request!" Happy frantically shouted.

"Crap! Oh no!" He panicked as the flier was unintentionally burnt to ashes in his hands. "NOOOOO! Our job!"

"Tch. Idiot." Gray said snidely.

Natsu immediately turned to Gray, glaring daggers at him. "What'd you say? Speak louder, princess!"

"I said you're an idiot! Want me to say it again, dragon breath!?" Gray shouted back.

Red and blue magical energy flared off them as they butted their heads together, snarling like mad dogs.

"Oh boy. Here we go again…" Happy sighed, already knowing what was about to happen.

Meanwhile, sitting at the bar was a woman with long, slightly curly brunette hair. She was wearing a pair of brown, knee-length pants held up by a pink belt, and a cyan-colored bikini top. She also had a dark blue armband on either of her upper arms, near her shoulders. On the left side of her stomach was a dark-colored tattoo of Fairy Tail's emblem. This was Cana Alberona.

Several tarot cards were spread out on the counter in front of her with a beer mug off to the side. At the moment, the brunette beauty was using the Fortune Telling aspect of her Cards Magic. Flipping over a few cards, she keenly observed their shifting images to decipher their meaning.

"Huh…" Her purple eyes widened slightly. "That's interesting…"

"What is?" Cana looked up to see Mira back behind the bar in the process of refilling several beers.

"Well, the cards have revealed three fortunes for today." Cana replied. "One of 'em involves you, Mira."

"Is that so?" Mira's interest was piqued as Cana's Fortune Telling skills were fairly accurate.

"Yep." She picked up one card. "This one says you'll be saved from a serious blow to the head by a…Viridian Sentinel."

"A Viridian Sentinel?" Mira blinked, bewildered. "What could that possibly mean?"

"No clue." Cana shrugged. "That's all I can get from it."

"I see… What about the other two fortunes?" Mira inquired as she placed the mugs on a tray.

"This card says for the guild to expect a heavenly recruit today."

"A new member? That's exciting. And the third?"

"The last one says, 'Great blessings will come your way if you go with ten'." The brunette read out. "Whatever that means. I'm definitely intrigued though. I could use the money if that's it."

"Your tab's due is coming soon, so yeah…" Mira sheepishly mentioned.

Before Cana could comment, there was a loud crash as Gray smashed through several tables and sent people flying.

"Dammit, Natsu! That was a cheap shot!" Gray yelled.

"Gray, your clothes." Cana called out.

Sure enough, the onyx-haired teen had stripped down to his boxers again.

"Dammit!" Gray shouted.

Before long, an all-out brawl had broken out across the guild hall. Natsu and Gray were trading blows left-and-right while the rest were using magical attacks or exchanging punches and kicks; some of them were doing both.

Cana let out an annoyed groan, resting her chin on her right palm. "Another day in paradise…"

Mirajane giggled, unfazed by the fighting. "Everyone's so lively today."

In the midst of the brawl, no one noticed the main doors open and two new people walked inside.

…

After their stop at the clothing store, Ben was now adorning his new attire with his old clothes stashed away in his backpack. Him and Lucy walked down the street behind Kardia Cathedral and across a bridge overhanging a canal; one of several that ran throughout Magnolia. There were even a few people in small boats rowing under the bridge as they passed, with one of them calling out to Lucy, telling her to be careful and not fall in.

'Why would she fall in?' Ben had wondered. 'She's walking on the bridge normally.'

Brushing that off, the pair continued walking through a somewhat crowded street for several minutes until eventually arriving at the Fairy Tail guild hall.

The building sat close to the edge of a cliff overlooking a large lake. It was fairly tall, though not as tall as Kardia Cathedral, and strongly resembled a pagoda. It had white walls, and a large, decorated, red door, as well as two red, pentagonal windows on either side of it. Above the door was a wooden sign that read "Fairy Tail" in big, blue letters, while the sign itself had gold trim, as well as two symmetrical, fairy-like silhouettes, both of which had tails, fittingly enough. On the highest level of the pagoda, there were three flags. The one on the left was green and had a symbol that Ben didn't recognize, and the same went for the one on the right, which was blue. The center flag was orange and had a white symbol on it that looked similar to the two gold, fairy-like figures on the building's sign.

"Looks like this is the place. Cool building." Ben honestly commented.

Lucy meanwhile was gazing up at the building in amazement. "Wow… It sure is big!" She happily said.

Ben couldn't help but smile at her awestruck reaction. 'She really is happy to be here.'

"Well… Yah ready to go in?" He asked.

Lucy briefly hesitated before taking a deep breath. "Yeah! Let's do it!" She nodded, steeling her resolve.

Ben nodded back. 'I'm curious to what this guild is like. There's gotta be a lot of powerful wizards here. They're probably pretty disciplined and hardcore too.' He thought. 'I mean, they're rated number one for a reason.'

The pair then stepped forward and Ben pushed the main doors open for them.

Crash!

Dokong!

Wam!

"Somebody stop Natsu!"

"Gyaak!"

"Is that all you got, Natsu?!"

"I'm just getting fired up, loser!"

"Happy's divebombing us from the air!"

"Aye!"

Pow!

BOOM!

Bam!

The pair were met with the sight of a violent brawl. Punches, kicks, and various magical attacks were being exchanged amongst each other. Tables, furniture, and even people were being flung across the tavern.

In summary, it was total chaos.

Ben's eyes widened as his mouth slightly dropped, dumbfounded. "Uhhhh…?" He was at a loss for words. Why was everyone fighting?

'Definitely not what I was expecting. Wonder how Lucy's taking it…' Glancing over to the Celestial mage at his left, he was even more surprised by her reaction.

"It's incredible." Her chocolate eyes sparkled in awe. "I'm really…here in Fairy Tail…"

He sweat-dropped. 'Maybe she's a little too starstruck…'

"It's only the afternoon and you're already acting like spoiled babies." A man with a deep voice stepped forward.

He was a tall brute of a man with spiky, white hair and tan skin, wearing a dark blue jacket, which was held closed by a line of large buttons, with the collar pointing upwards. He had a scar running down his face from his right eye, across his right cheek. This was Elfman Strauss, Mirajane's younger brother.

He marched toward the center of fighting, Natsu and Gray. "If you were both real men, you'd take this outside!"

"SHUT UP!" Natsu and Gray simultaneously punched Elfman, sending him flying across the room.

"That was quick." Ben dryly noted.

"He didn't even last five seconds!" Lucy yelped, snapping out of her enraptured state.

Another voice spoke from the pair's left.

"It's so noisy around here."

They turned to see a young handsome man likely around Ben's age sitting at an unbroken bench away from the fighting. He had short, orange spiky hair, stylish glasses, and wore a dark green jacket with white fur trim around the hood over an orange shirt, dark-colored pants, and brown boots.

Lucy perked up and gasped. "That's Loke! He's one of the top-ranking men for 'The Wizard I'd Like to Be My Boyfriend'!"

Ben cocked a brow. 'That's a thing?' He then looked at Loke, who currently had both arms wrapped around the shoulders of two beautiful ladies and had a confident borderline smug demeanor to him.

Silently studying Loke's mannerisms, Ben came to an easy conclusion. 'So he's that kind of guy.' He then felt a weird tug at the back of his head from the irony of the situation considering he's attracted the attention of a few ladies without even trying. 'Wonder if he can relate…'

"Are you joining the fray?" The girl on his left asked.

"Yes. But only to protect you fine ladies." Loke flirtatiously replied.

"Teach them a lesson!" The girl on his right said.

With that, Loke jumped into the dust cloud while the two girls cheered him on.

Lucy's left eyebrow twitched as she pulled out a magazine from her purse. 'He's definitely off my list!' She crossed out Loke's entry in her private "Potential Boyfriend" list.

The Celestial wizard and Ultimatrix bearer were snapped from their musings as Gray crashed to the floor in front of them. They were confused and creeped out that he was only wearing a pair of black boxers.

"You lousy… I'll get you back for that, Natsu!"

Just then, another unknown voice began to speak from Ben's right.

"Gray… You're in your skivvies again."

They turned to the source of the voice, which was Cana sitting at the bar.

"I don't have time for that!" Gray shouted before jumping back into the fray. "We're finishing this, Natsu!"

"Not till you put some clothes back on, jerk!"

"Ugh…" Cana groaned in annoyance. "This is why I don't date the men here. They have no class." She then whipped out a considerably large barrel, about half her height, hefted it up, and started chugging away.

Lucy was speechless as her eyes bulged out in shock.

The jacket-wearing teen simply slumped his shoulders while watching Cana down a barrel of alcohol. 'That's…wow…' Was his only thought.

He then looked back at the ongoing skirmish that was tearing apart the building.

The pair suddenly heard a sweet-sounding, feminine voice speak to them.

"Oh? Are you both new here?"

Ben and Lucy turned to see Mirajane speaking to them with a cheerful smile.

"EEE! It's Mirajane! In the flesh!" Lucy squealed like a fangirl. She even had hearts appearing in her eyes.

Mirajane giggled from the excited reaction.

Ben's breath was taken away by the young woman's stunning beauty. 'Whoa… She's even prettier in person.' On the train ride to Magnolia, he had gone through some of the old Sorcerer Weekly issues he had purchased at the magic shop in Hargeon. Like with Jenny, Mirajane's photospreads were very popular and featured often (especially her bikini spreads).

His gaze briefly darted to her impressive cleavage before diverting back to her face, which was also very pretty.

"Uh…hi." Ben lamely greeted, and then cleared his throat. "So, uh… are we catching you guys at a bad time or something?" He pointed to the dust cloud of fighting wizards.

"Oh don't mind them." Mirajane was completely unbothered by the brawl. "This happens all the time. It's best just to let it run its course."

Ben and Lucy both sweat-dropped at that.

"Uh… R-really?" Lucy sounded unsure.

The Ultimatrix bearer wasn't convinced either. 'There's a good chance that just about everyone in this place is crazy.'

"Right… Uh, Lucy, maybe we should come back la–" Spotting an incoming object, Ben quickly tackled Mirajane to the floor as a bottle hurled past them.

'That was way too close of a call!' Feeling something big and soft pushing against his chest, the emerald-eyed hero realized he was laying atop the albino-haired beauty. "Hey, uh…you okay?" His face began to heat up.

Mirajane glanced at the bottle that had shattered on the floor nearby. 'That would've hit me…' She then looked back at Ben laying atop her; her eyes drawn to his green jacket and emerald eyes, which were quite nice. It also didn't escape from her how handsome Ben was.

"Oh my goodness." She gasped lightly, her face heating up a bit. 'A Viridian Sentinel…'

(A/N: Fan work done by Insane Dominator on FF.Net)

A tick mark popped up on Lucy's forehead, feeling a mild twisting sensation in her stomach from the scene. Though she was relieved Ben protected Mirajane from being hurt, she didn't like how close they were.

"S-sorry!" Snapping out of his daze, Ben quickly scrambled off of Mirajane. He then bent down to extend his hand to her. "I saw that bottle and just acted on instinct… You're not hurt, are you?"

Mirajane accepted the hand as he pulled her back on her feet. "Oh, I'm fine. And it's no trouble. Thank you for protecting me."

Ben felt his heart skip a few beats from the girl's sweet smile. It was crystal clear to him why she was Fairy Tail's pinup girl. "Uh, s-sure! My pleasure."

Lucy cleared her throat, bringing the pair back to the present. "Uh, guys. Are you sure we shouldn't try to stop them or something?" She pointed toward the ongoing brawl.

"Oh, it'll settle down soon. Besides, it's more fun this way, don't you think?" Mirajane inquired, smiling innocently.

"It's more terrifying this way!" Lucy shouted back.

"And dangerous…" Ben added. 'This place is a madhouse! How can she be so nonchalant about all of this?'

Without warning, Gray crashed on the floor directly in front of the trio; however, he was completely nude. Meanwhile, Natsu stood victoriously across the room while holding black boxers in his hand, cackling impishly.

"HEY! Give me back my underwear, jerk!" Gray angrily yelled.

"GYAAH!" Lucy screamed in horror while instinctively hiding herself behind Ben.

"Oh dear…" Mirajane sighed.

Ben immediately turned away and felt very awkward. 'Welp… I can never unsee that.'

The onyx-haired teen then turned to face the nearest person in Ben and unashamedly approached him. "Excuse me, dude, if it isn't inconvenient, could you please lend me your underwear?"

"..." Ben was simultaneously dumbfounded and creeped out by the request. '...He asked that like it was no big deal…'

Ben fortunately didn't need to reply as Lucy delivered a swift and solid right hook into Gray's face from over Ben's shoulder, sending the naked teen stumbling away. "CREEP! Nobody just lends out underwear!"

The jacket-wearing teen was then pushed aside by Loke as he scooped up Lucy into his arms, startling her. "How unsightly! These men are so incentive. Women have needs, after all." He coquettishly looked down at Lucy. "By the way, you're a model, right? I can tell–OOF?!"

Loke was then cut off as Elfman suddenly flew in and crashed into Loke, sending the two tumbling across the floor while Lucy went careening forward and slammed into Ben, his body cushioning her from the fall. His face meanwhile was smothered by her breasts.

'...So soft…' This was the amnesiac teen's only thought.

"I'm so sorry Ben! Are you okay?!" She exclaimed in concern, pushing herself up.

"Uh…y-yeah…" He replied, his tone subdued.

Lucy blinked twice, bemused. 'Why's his face turning so red?'

"Oh my." Mirajane snickered, covering her mouth. "That's one way to reward him for catching you."

"Huh…?" What did she mean by that? However, the answer became immediately clear to Lucy as she glanced down.

Her boobs were hanging in front of Ben's face!

"EEP!" Embarrassed, she yelped and swiftly scrambled off of Ben with her face turning bright red. "S-s-sorry!" She crossed her arms over her chest to cover them.

Ben sat up and rubbed the back of his head. "Don't worry. I-It's…fine..."

'That felt really nice though…' He tried not to look the blonde in the eyes as perverted thoughts went through his head.

At the bar, Cana was becoming miffed by the commotion going on behind her. 'A girl can't drink in peace here, can she?'

"Okay… That's enough, you guys." She spun around on her seat and held up her tarot cards, which shone with magical power. "I suggest you knock it off!"

"Yeah!?" Gray (who was thankfully back in his boxers) slammed his right fist into his open palm and cold power emanated off of him. "Says who?!"

"HYAAAAA! Beast Arm: Iron Bull!" Elfman roared. Golden light shone off of Elfman's right arm as it suddenly transformed into a hulking, gunmetal grey gauntlet of sorts.

Ben's eyes widened slightly as he returned to his feet. 'Whoa. He changed his arm… Was that Take-Over magic?'

"All of you are so crass." Loke fiddled with a ring on his finger, which summoned a light-green magical circle in front of him. "You must be dealt with."

"Ha-ha-ha-ha!" Natsu laughed madly as he ignited his arms in flames. "Come and get me!"

"Eek!" Lucy squeaked as she hid behind Ben. "Are they seriously gonna use magic attacks in here?!"

"Oh my." Mirajane nervously smiled. "This could be trouble…"

Ben frowned seriously. "Okay. I know I'm new here and all, but this has to stop." He pulled back his left sleeve to partially reveal the Ultimatrix and activated it, causing the circular core to pop up.

This caught the attention of both Lucy and Mirajane.

'Hey, wait. That gauntlet has the same hourglass symbol that's on him when he uses his magic.' Lucy inwardly noted. 'They have to be related, right?'

Mirajane was curious. 'How odd. Is that a magical support device? If he's a wizard, what kind is–'

Mirajane didn't complete her thought as Ben found the form he wanted and slapped down the core. Bright emerald light filled the guild hall as Ben's body took on a dramatic transformation in literal nanoseconds. When the flash died down, standing in his place was…

"Gravattack!" He announced.

Mirajane's eyes widened. "A Full Body Take-Over…" She uttered in surprise.

Gravattack held up his hands and a hazy force emanated from them. Everyone in the guild–sans Lucy and Mirajane–suddenly felt their feet leave the floor as gravity's effect was negated.

"Whoa!"

"What the hell's going on?!"

"Whose magic is this?"

Mirajane looked at the rocky humanoid in amazement. 'Is he using a form of Gravity Magic? There's a beast out there that can use it? Where could he have found a creature that could do this?' So many questions were coming up in her head.

After momentarily levitating everyone, Gravattack released his hold and dropped the group back to the floor on their backs or bottoms.

"Alright, that's enough! All of you!" Gravattack called out, grabbing everyone's attention. "I dunno what's going on here, but this fighting has to stop!"

"Huh?"

"What is that thing?!"

"Who let a monster in the guild?"

"Did it just use magic to make everyone float?"

"Enough!" A tall, hulking humanoid whose shoulders were nearly touching the rafters suddenly stomped into the main tavern. It had two horn-like extensions on its face and its body was completely blacked out–sans its facial expression, which was white. "The ruckus will stop now!"

"It's huge!" Lucy screamed.

Gravattack narrowed his eyes and prepared to activate his power on the giant if necessary.

With that, everyone across the guild hall started to settle down.

"Oh, you were watching, Master." Mirajane said casually.

"Master?!" Lucy shouted, shocked.

'So he's the head honcho around here, huh?' Gravattack looked up at Fairy Tail's master closely. 'I can see why.'

"Dwa-ha-ha-ha!" Natsu laughed mischievously. "You're all a bunch of babies! I guess this means I claim victory in this battle–"

Natsu was promptly silenced when the giant stomped on him.

Gravattack was about to react when he realized the pink-haired teen was still alive, only unconscious.

"Hmm?" The giant turned its black face to Gravattack and Lucy. "Two new faces?"

"Y…Yes…?" Lucy stammered fearfully.

Gravattack maintained a stone-faced expression (not a pun). "You're the master of Fairy Tail, right? If it's no trouble, could we have a talk with you?"

"Gnuuunhh!" The giant grunted as it bared its white teeth, giving it an intimidating appearance.

Lucy's body trembled as she hid herself behind Gravattack's hulking form.

Gravattack arched a stony brow ridge when he noticed something peculiar. 'Is he…shrinking?'

Sure enough, the giant continued shrinking until he turned into an extremely short-statured, elderly man. He had wrinkled skin and thin, white hair, with a matching white mustache; not like Elfman or Mirajane's though, since his hair was most likely that way due to his old age. He wore an orange jacket with light blue cuffs, with a white t-shirt underneath that bore what Ben could only assume was the Fairy Tail guild's emblem, since everyone in the room seemed to have it. He also wore orange shorts, along with brown, curled shoes. On his head, he wore an orange and light blue, striped cap that resembled that of a jester. In his left hand was a wooden cane, which had a pink smiley-face at the top of it; though it didn't seem like he needed it to help himself stand.

"HUUUUH?!" Lucy's jaw practically dropped to the floor, dumbstruck.

Gravattack blinked twice. 'Uh…okay. Wasn't expecting that.'

The old man looked up at Gravattack and Lucy with an impish smile. "Nice to meet yah!"

"This guy's tiny!" Lucy yelled. "He's seriously the one in charge around here?!"

Gravattack sweat-dropped at Lucy's curt exclaim. "A little uncouth there. Don't yah think, Lucy?"

"Allow me to introduce you to Fairy Tail's Master Makarov!" Mirajane happily introduced.

Makarov eyed Gravattack critically. "Tell me, what matter of creature are you?"

"Well," The Galiean scratched his rocky face, "I'm not sure what I am exactly. I call this form Gravattack, but…" He reached up and tapped the Ultimatrix dial on his forehead. In a green flash, he transformed back to normal. "But my name is Ben. Ben Tennyson, sir."

This sudden transformation took many wizards throughout the tavern off guard.

From her seat at the bar, Cana eyed the brunet with interest. 'Huh… Now what do we have here?'

"Hmm, I see. A Take-Over wizard then." Makarov turned to Lucy, who was nervously standing behind Ben. "Well then, I'll be more than happy to talk with you kids. But first…"

Makarov crouched low and performed a backward somersault all the way to the second floor; much to Ben and Lucy's surprise. However, the old man must've mistimed his jump as his back comically collided with the railing. To his credit, he recovered quickly and climbed up to stand atop the railing.

Everyone directed their attention to the small man.

"You dolts have gone and done it again!" Makarov pulled out a thick stack of papers from his jacket. "Just look at all the complaints the Council has sent me this time!"

'The Council… They're a group that manages the wizard guilds.' Ben recalled the brief explanations he received about the Council from members at Cait Shelter and Murphy the merchantman.

Makarov held up the paper to read them. "First… Gray!"

"Huh?" Gray was confused.

"It's good that you rounded up that ring of smugglers…but afterward, you stumbled around town naked! And it's reported that you stole someone's underwear off the line and ran away with it!"

Gray shook with a mixture of anger and embarrassment. "Well…I couldn't keep running around naked."

"..." Ben remained silent.

"Maybe if you hadn't gotten naked in the first place." Elfman unknowingly voiced Ben's exact thoughts.

"Elfman!" The white-haired brute flinched when Makarov shouted his name. "While performing bodyguard service for a VIP, you attacked that same VIP!"

Elfman sheepishly glanced away. "He made a crack about 'how a man is only worth as much as his education'. Before I knew it…"

Makarov shook his head and groaned. "Cana, you drank 15 keys of liquor at a tavern, falsely claimed it as 'expenses' and worse, sent the bill directly to the Council!"

Cana sweat-dropped. "So they found out, huh?"

Ben and Lucy both looked at the brunette in shock. '15 kegs?!'

"Loke! You seduced the granddaughter of the senior Council member, Rage. Also, we've been sent an invoice for damages at a talent agency!"

The orange-haired playboy awkwardly looked away.

Ben glanced at Loke from the corner of his eye. 'So he's definitely that kind of guy then.'

Makarov slumped his shoulders and exhaled heavily. "And Natsu…"

Ben perked up. 'Natsu?' He looked over to see the pink-haired wizard lying on the floor where Makarov had earlier stepped on him. His eyes widened in recognition. 'Oh yeah! He was at the station yesterday! He's a part of this guild? Small world.'

Makarov went on. "Even though you've lost out on THREE jobs to the rogue Take-Over wizard, you still have a huge rapsheet!"

Ben perked up at the mention of Natsu losing three jobs because of him. 'Wait… Seriously? Whoops…' He felt very awkward at the moment.

"You brought down the Tuly Village's historic clock tower! Damaged a section of Lupinus Castle! And destroyed a part of Nazuna Ravine's observation station!"

Lucy sweat-dropped. 'Hold on, so all that damage I read about in last week's issue was Natsu's doing?'

"Alzack…Levy…Reedus…Warren…Bisca… All of you have done nothing but make the Council angry at me!" Makarov yelled, trembling in anger.

The guild hall was so silent that the drop of a pen could be heard. The tension in the fairly wrecked tavern was palpable.

Lucy shook in apprehension while Ben himself was feeling more awkward by the second.

'Maybe we should come back later… Or maybe not at all.' He mused.

"However…" Makarov suddenly set the papers on fire. "I say to hell with the Magic Council!" He casually tossed the flaming papers away, which Natsu jumped up and gobbled up–something that didn't escape Ben's notice.

'Is he eating the fire?' Ben mused in shock.

"Eh?" Lucy was equally confused.

Makarov continued. "Now listen up! Any power that goes beyond reason still comes from reason, right? Magic isn't some miraculous power. It is a talent that only works when the flow of energy inside of us is in harmony with the flow of energy of the natural world."

"To perform magic, one must have a strong mind and the ability to focus. It should take over your being and pour over your soul! If all we do is worry about what those in authority think of us, our magic will never progress! Don't let those blowhards on the Council scare you! Follow the path you believe in!"

"Because that's what being a Fairy Tail wizard is all about!" He proudly declared.

The mood took an immediate 180 as the room broke out into excited cheers as everyone held up their hands, extending their index fingers and thumbs. Ben wondered if the gesture was supposed to have a special meaning.

He then glanced over to see Lucy had a beaming smile. She really enjoyed the old man's speech too!

The amnesiac teen couldn't stop a small smile from crossing his face at the guild's pride and camaraderie with each other. In some way, he could understand what Makarov was trying to say despite having little knowledge on magic. A part of him resonated with the core of the message.

His eyes suddenly widened as he recalled a scene, a knight with golden hair declaring something to him.

"But mine have stood the test of time; mine have inspired millions! What will your legacy be? With what stars will you align? How many times have you known in your heart that your way is best? How many times have your plans been thwarted because the very people you're trying to help won't trust you?"

The memory promptly ended there, and (much like the other times he recalled something) Ben was left with very little or no context.

'Follow the path you believe in.' Ben inwardly recited Makarov's words.

…

Things had finally begun to settle down from the brawl. Busted tables and furniture were pushed off to a far corner to either be repaired or scraped later while the surviving benches were pushed away from the wrecked floorboards.

Ben and Lucy were sitting on stools at the bar next to each other, the latter signing a few documents with a feather-pen. Apparently, getting accepted into Fairy Tail was very easy; much to Lucy's surprise. All she had to do was fill out a little paperwork and then she'd receive the guild's mark.

'Ben was right. I can't believe I over-thought this.' Lucy inwardly said. 'This is so simple!'

Mirajane and Makarov were also at the bar counter, with the former standing behind it and cleaning mugs–humming a happy tune–with the latter sitting cross-legged on top of it and drinking a mug full of beer.

Ben meanwhile was simply looking at the guild of rowdy wizards as they resumed whatever they were doing before the fighting had broken out. His attention then shifted over to Natsu, who was sitting at a table chowing down on plates of flaming food. It reminded him of when Wendy consumed air to restore her magic.

His musings were interrupted when someone spoke up. "Hey, Natsu! You seriously lost out on three jobs to that rogue wizard? I only heard about the one in Freesia."

Ben subtly flinched at that remark.

While Natsu was stuffing his face like a wild animal, Happy answered the question. "Aye! By the time we got to the clients, the people we were supposed to beat up were already defeated."

"That's some pretty rotten luck." Wakaba commented, smoking from his pipe. "Can't help but wonder who that guy is."

Lucy perked up when she heard that and glanced over to Ben at her left, who was doing his best to ignore the conversation going on. 'Ben…' She thought worriedly.

"It doesn't matter!" Natsu muffled, his cheeks stuffed with food. "I'm gonna roast him…when I find him…"

Ben looked away, trying to remain discreet.

Mirajane noticed Lucy had stopped writing and suddenly seemed anxious about something. "Is something wrong, Lucy?" She asked, concerned.

Lucy turned back to the white-haired beauty. "Oh! Um…n-no! Sorry, I got distracted. Heheheh…" She chuckled sheepishly and hastily continued writing, much to Mirajane's confusion.

After she finished signing the documents, Lucy slid the documents to the bartender. "Here you go, Miss Mirajane."

"Please, Mira is fine." Taking the papers, she glanced over them and nodded in satisfaction. "Okay, you're all set! Where would you like your mark, Lucy?" She pulled out a wooden stamper from under the counter.

"On my right hand please!" Lucy excitedly placed her hand down on the counter.

Mirajane then stamped a pink tattoo of Fairy Tail's emblem on the top of Lucy's hand with a satisfying pop. "There! Now you're officially a member of the Fairy Tail guild." She happily declared.

Lucy's eyes sparkled with glee. "WOW!" She jumped out of her seat and showed her mark to him. "Ben, look! I've got the mark! I'm actually a member of Fairy Tail!"

Ben smiled and nodded. "Congratulations, Lucy. I'm happy for you."

A couple guys from a nearby table were happy over the guild's new recruit as well.

"Man! She's so fine!" One guy commented. "The girls in our guild really are the best! Aren't they?!"

"I really wish she'd join my team!" The other said with hearts in his eyes. "So beautiful!"

Lucy overheard their remarks and, though she was flattered, felt a bit uncomfortable by their lustful gazes. She subconsciously stepped closer to Ben to shield herself from the leering.

This didn't go unnoticed by Cana as she was sitting at a table alone with a keg barrel all to herself. 'What do we have here?' She eyed Lucy and didn't miss her subtle advancements toward Ben. 'I wonder if those two are dating. At the very least, that girl is definitely interested.' She teasingly smirked. 'This could be fun.'

After downing his beer mug, Makarov then turned to Ben. "What about you, young man? Are you interested in joining the guild with your lady friend?"

"Well…" Ben had a slightly awkward look on his face. "...not exactly. You see, I've come here to ask for help."

"So you've come to put in a request?" Makarov asked.

"I guess…" Ben scratched his cheek, bemused. "I'm still not sure how all this wizarding stuff works yet, but I have a problem that I think can only be solved with magic."

"Hmm… Pray tell, what is this problem?"

Ben glanced at Lucy standing by him, who smiled softly and gave him a nod of reassurance.

With that, the brunet decided it'd be best to lay everything bare and looked back at the old man. "Well, I lost my memories."

…

For the next half-hour, Ben sat at the bar counter and began his story. He started by explaining how he woke up in a seemingly random area in the Worth Woodsea with no memories. From there, he covered his time in Cait Shelter, and then when he left the guild with the merchantman towards Hargeon in hopes of finding his homeland.

A town called Bellwood in a country called the United States of America.

Ben concluded his tale by telling Makarov that none of the sailors at Hargeon had ever heard of his homeland, all the way from meeting Lucy, and then the pair deciding to come to Fairy Tail so that she could join the guild while he inquired for a solution to his amnesia. During the course of his explanation though, Ben left out the parts that would give away that he was the Take-Over Master—not wanting to stir up any trouble.

Makarov had been sitting on the counter, listening intently, with his eyes closed and head lowered.

"Your poor thing." A sweet voice said.

The amnesiac teen turned his head to see that Mirajane was looking at him sympathetically. Additionally, there were many other wizards who were looking at him from their seats across the room. Has everyone been eavesdropping this whole time?

"Man, waking up somewhere and forgettin' who you are? That just sucks." Cana remarked.

Gray scratched the back of his head. "Can't even imagine something like that."

From his seat, Natsu silently stared at Ben. A part of him could sympathize with Ben's plight: waking up in the forest all alone. Fortunately, he could still remember all of his time with his Dragon father, Igneel. As the fire-user looked at Ben further, something seemed oddly familiar about him. He couldn't quite place it though.

"So tell me, Ben," Makarov spoke up, "you mentioned that this "Driver's License" you found on your person led to you believing that your home is in a land called America. Do you still have that?"

Ben nodded and pulled out his wallet to hand Makarov his Driver's License, who began to look it over. "Hmm… I'm afraid I've never heard of a nation or town by these names. What makes you think they're real?"

Ben shrugged. "Nothing concrete…but when I saw the card, it triggered some memories I had of Bellwood."

"So you have recalled some memories along your journey." Makarov noted, handing the card back.

Ben nodded in confirmation as he put his Driver's License back in his wallet. "I've noticed a pattern, I think. So far I seem to recall things that are relevant to whatever situation I'm in, or if someone I met reminds me of someone from my past."

"I see." Makarov rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "How interesting…"

"So… Do you think there's a spell that could help me?" Ben asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid a spell of that nature is outside my area of expertise." Makarov responded.

"Oh…" The brunet slumped his shoulders in disappointment. 'Back to square one then…'

But before he could despair further, Makarov continued. "However, that doesn't mean there couldn't be one. How about this… I'll contact some old colleagues of mine and ask if they can look into any kind of magic that could cure your amnesia."

Ben perked up. "Really? You'd do that? I mean… I don't have a lot of money, so–"

Makarov held out his hand, signaling him to stop. "Nonsense! You needn't concern yourself with paying me back. I am sure we can work something out at a later date. For now, all that matters is getting you the help you need."

"I…" Ben was touched by the old man's generosity. "Thank you, Mr. Makarov."

"Please. Just Makarov is fine, young man." Makarov waved off. "Heaven knows I'd want someone to help me if I were in your shoes. Now, I should point out though that it may take some time before I hear back from my colleagues. So I can't promise an immediate answer."

Ben nodded understandingly. "That's okay. I'm in no hurry to go anywhere."

"I am curious about something, Ben." Mirajane spoke up. "You used Full Body Take-Over magic earlier. That's a rather difficult skill for most wizards to achieve, yet you performed it so casually despite having amnesia. How is that?"

"I'll spare the details, but something happened at Cait Shelter that helped me remember about all the forms I can change into." His eyes widened when he realized that he accidentally let it slip that he had more transformations. 'Crap!'

Several people from across the guild perked up; especially a certain pink-haired man who was now standing near the Request Board.

"So you can transform into more creatures?" Mira sounded impressed. "How many?"

"Well," he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "...quite a few."

Lucy looked at Ben carefully. So far, he was purposely trying to avoid giving away any information that would reveal him as the Take-Over Master. At first, she was confused by his reasoning…until she overheard how much Natsu wanted to fight the Take-Over Master for stealing his jobs. However, at the rate this conversation was going, it wouldn't be long before the wizards put the puzzle pieces together.

Being the friend she was, the blonde decided it was time to step in.

"Hey, Ben! I just realized something." Lucy promptly stood up from her stool. "Since I'm new to town and you'll need to be here for some time, we should go find somewhere we can stay for a few nights."

Ben inwardly sighed in relief, grateful for Lucy's well-timed intervention. "Yeah, I didn't think about that." He stood up from his stool. "We should start looking then."

"Hey, hold up a sec!" Someone yelled.

"EEP!" Lucy squeaked.

Everyone turned to see the source was Natsu, who was eyeing Ben sharply. "I remember you. You were the guy from the station yesterday. Bend."

"Ben." The Ultimatrix bearer corrected. "And…you're Natsu, right?"

Natsu curtly nodded. "You use Take-Over Magic? And you say you can change into other forms besides the rock-guy?"

"...Y-Yeah?" Ben weakly replied.

Natsu narrowed his gaze. "I got something to say to you!" With that, the pink-head started marching towards him with an intense expression.

Ben frowned. 'Crap… Has it figured it out? I guess I should apologize then. But it's not like I meant to take his jobs. I was just trying to help those people. Maybe he'll understand?'

"Listen, uh, Natsu… I don't want any–"

As Natsu approached the bar, he unexpectedly grinned roguishly with a fire burning in his eyes. "You and me! Right now! I want you to show me what yah got!"

Ben merely blinked at Natsu's sudden declaration. "Huh…?"

"What?" Lucy tilted her head, dumbfounded.

Meanwhile, everyone else in the guild simply groaned or sighed as they face-palmed in exasperation. Was Natsu asking for what Ben thought he was asking?

"Uh, what're you suggesting exactly?" Ben asked, confused.

"Oh, come on, man! Isn't it obvious?!" Natsu clenched his fist. "We gotta fight to see who's the strongest! Duh!"

Gray groaned loudly, shaking his head. "I swear you're such an idiot, Natsu."

"What'd you say?!" Natsu exclaimed angrily.

"Have you not been paying attention, kid?" Wakaba questioned. "He said he's lost his memories, and you want to fight him? That's just wrong."

Natsu turned to Wakaba, annoyed. "Course I was listening! Bend said he sometimes remembers stuff when things are happening to him. Maybe a little sparring will jog his memory?"

Ben blinked twice as his expression became thoughtful. 'Huh… That actually doesn't sound so far-fetched.' He inwardly conceited.

"That's enough, Natsu!" Makarov ordered. "I won't allow you to fight a guest of this guild!"

Makarov's order seemingly fell on deaf ears as Natsu returned his attention, and excitement, back to Ben. The Ultimatrix bearer was confused, to say the least. He was initially worried that Natsu wanted to fight him as payback for (unintentionally) ruining his jobs, but it appeared that he just wanted to fight to prove he was stronger.

Sparring with friends was one thing, but Ben wasn't even in Natsu's guild. Why was he so eager to fight him? He was unsure about this. On one hand, if he fought Natsu, it may reveal his identity. On the other hand, he recognized that Natsu raised a fair point that the sparring could jog some memories. Additionally, the way Natsu was able to consume fire earlier had Ben curious about something. 

He then turned his gaze to the gathering of wizards behind Natsu, all of whom had resigned expressions on their faces.

"He's not gonna stop bugging me about this until I fight him, is he?" Ben deadpanned, pointing at Natsu.

The wizards all simultaneously shook their heads, thus confirming Ben's suspicion, leading the amnesiac teen to sigh.

"Eh, just do it." Cana said, exasperated. "The sooner you fight him, the sooner I can drink in peace."

'Far be it from me to keep a woman from her alcohol...' Ben thought dryly.

He didn't want to do this, but if Natsu wouldn't let up until he conceded, he might as well get it over with now.

He snapped himself from his musings and turned to face his soon-to-be opponent, a serious expression on his face.

"Alright, Natsu. I'll give you a fight, but only on two conditions."

Natsu's grin grew wider than ever in anticipation. He was clearly about to burst from excitement at any moment.

"First, we take it outside. I don't wanna wreck your guild hall by accident or anything. Second, if anyone gets seriously injured, we call it off. Is that fair?"

"You got yourself a deal! Let's do it!" Natsu shouted eagerly.

Makarov turned to Ben, and asked, "Are you sure about this? You know you don't have to..."

"I'm sure." Ben clarified, looking at Natsu with a confident smirk. "If Natsu wants a fight so badly, I'll give him one."

Most of the other wizards gathered in the guild hall began to talk amongst each other, clearly excited about this development. They'd just seen one of the forms that Ben could change into (which easily stopped their guild brawl), and now they would get to see him face off against Fairy Tail's very own Fire Dragon Slayer, Natsu Dragneel!

'Great blessings will come your way if you go with ten.' Cana recited her third fortune from earlier. 'Wait… He said his name was Ben Tennyson, right? Tennyson. Ten!' The brunette's eyes widened in realization before an idea came to her, and a small smirk crossed her lips. 'Jackpot!'

"I'll handle the bets!" Cana called out while running to the doorway. "Natsu versus The New Guy! Come and place your bets!"

As everyone started making their way out to the guild's courtyard, Ben felt a tug on his jacket sleeve. He turned to see Lucy looking at him worriedly. "Ben, what about your identity?" She whispered, not wanting anyone to overhear them. "They could find out that you're the rogue wizard…"

"Maybe…" he lowered his head, looking wistful, "But Natsu brought up a good point. Maybe some fighting will jog my memories." He looked back up and shrugged. "It won't hurt to try, right?"

"That depends. I mean, I know you're strong and all…but we don't know anything about Natsu other than he uses fire…and can somehow eat it. He could be really powerful for all we know." Lucy sagely pointed out.

"Fair point." Ben conceited. "But I may have an inkling about that guy's magic." He gave her a confident smirk. "Don't worry. I'll be okay."

"I still don't like this." Lucy sighed deeply. "But I'll trust you."

Ben nodded in appreciation, and then directed his attention to the main doors where everyone was filing out to see the upcoming brawl outside. "Well… Best not keep everyone waiting."

Notes:

No! Not the dreaded cliffhanger! Apologies for the delayed update on this story. I found myself busy with work and updating The Man Out of Time over the last two months.

Hopefully all of you enjoyed this chapter, even though it was mostly just an introduction to Fairy Tail. We got to see everyone's initial reactions to Ben, and soon we'll see even more during his upcoming fight with Natsu.

Credit to "Just a reader 56" on FF.Net for his suggestion on the "Viridian Sentinel". Can't confirm if that's his moniker, but I did like using it in the context of Cana's fortune telling and the situation where Ben protects Mira from getting hurt.

I wanted to place Ben and Natsu's fight and the aftermath here, but I decided to cut it off since it would make this chapter exceed the word count limit I have. By the way, Ben and Natsu's fight will also play out much differently than it did in Ultimate Fairy, so no need to worry about me just copy-pasting it.

Feel free to suggest what you as the audience would like to see in the fight in the review box below.

Also, I appreciate the influx of feedback and support from the last chapter! Thank you, fine readers, very much!

The next chapter will feature Ben vs Natsu, reveal where Ben and Lucy's temporary lodging is, and Ben going on a surprise date that becomes a bit steamy.

Please leave any comments, critique, and suggestions in the review box. Until next time!