Chapter 3: Ben Versus Natsu
In the middle of the crash site stood Natsu and company, staring eerily at Cannonbolt as he sat in the middle of their circle. He could only lightly chuckle to himself at the expressions of the teenagers around him. After all, he wasn't used to this kind of reaction anymore, due to being isolated inside the Null Void for so long.
The Arburian Pelarota took a look around his surroundings, and was just as flabbergasted as he was before he turned out from the vortex that had previously consumed and spat him out. He then turned to the four humans that were looking down on him. They seemed to be fairly…friendly; curious to a higher extent. Now was as good a time as any to ask them some well-deserved and necessary questions.
"Uhmm… Hello. I don't suppose one of you kind folks can tell me where I am at the moment?" Cannonbolt asked while giving off a sheepish smile.
The four took a moment to listen…but then deadpanned and dropped like dolls. After reacting to the sudden question, they picked themselves up in a split second. The scarlet haired girl, Erza, approached Cannonbolt first, pointing a sword at him. It surprised him that she was able to summon some kind of glowing red circle out of her hand to drag the sword out. It was like she was extorting it out from some sort of storage.
"Who, and what, are you?" The swordswoman demanded to know, glaring slightly at him.
Cannonbolt shuddered from the sudden interrogation, but soon regained his posture. He responded with by holding his hands up to signal that he meant no harm…besides the accidental damage that he already committed to the land around himself of course.
"That… Well, that kind of depends… Right now, my name is Cannonbolt. I'm an Arburian Pelarota." He answered, though his words still made Erza raise an eyebrow in suspicion. Obviously, she looked like she never heard of his species.
"…An "Arburian Pelarota"? What kind of creature is that?" She asked, though not as hostile as before. She was still pointing her sword right between his eyes though.
"Uhh… I suppose that you never heard of an "alien" before. I suspect?" Cannonbolt asked instead.
Erza, now noticing that the alien in front of her wasn't going to pose a threat, slowly lowered her sword as he nodded to answer his question. She placed it on her shoulder, gesturing for him to continue.
"Well, before I answer and explain what that term means… I don't suppose that I can ask a few questions of a my own?" Cannonbolt said as he stood up, albeit awkwardly due to the balance of his body. "Oooof… That's rough."
"…Very well then. What is it that you wish to ask about?" Erza questioned.
Cannonbolt smiled a little, before glancing around a bit to signal his incoming question.
"Um… For starters, is this the planet Earth, by any chance?" He shot out first.
Erza raised her eyebrow, as did her friends around her. 'What is he referring to? Does he mean "Earth" as an abbreviation of Earth Land?'
Blinking once, she answered Cannonbolt's question with the limited knowledge of her understanding. "No, I do not believe so. This location is known as Magnolia Town."
Now it was Cannonbolt's turn to raise an eyebrow, well, if he had one.
He scratched the top of his head. "…Magnolia Town? Is this some kind of city on Earth?"
Lucy walked up to join the conversation, being one of the others to shake off her initial shock of the creature in front of her. "Do you know of the Kingdom of Fiore?"
Cannonbolt shook his face. Lucy and Erza looked at each other, then gave him a confused look as they started to shoot off random questions to hope for an answer.
"Uh… What about the continent of Ishgar?"
Cannonbolt shook his face again, still clearly lost for words.
The girls thought to themselves for a moment. Lucy then glanced at Erza, who then nodded back. After a little more mental communicating, they then turned back to Cannonbolt.
"Well, if anything… I don't think you even came from another planet. I mean, we just saw you get launched out of a sudden warp hole that appeared in the sky just now." Lucy explained, gesturing towards the air with her finger.
Cannonbolt looked up at the blue sky once again. After looking for a bit, he sighed as he brought his face down, his expression being a bit dejected.
"Great, out of all things… It's good that I got out of the Null Void, but now I'm stuck in another dimension all together now…" Cannonbolt muttered.
"Eh?" Lucy said. "What did you say?"
Cannonbolt then brought his face up, waving an arm around while sheepishly trying to close off her question. "Oh, it's… It's nothing! A-Anyways… You said you had more questions for me?"
Erza then took a step forward, Cannonbolt's attention redirecting to her again. She nodded as she stored her sword back in her pocket space, summoning another red circle to store her blade back inside.
"Where did you come from; let's start with that." She started. "Can you answer that for us?"
Cannonbolt thought for a moment, shifting his eyes awkwardly. He knew how he got to this world, but could he trust these people? He placed his hand on the top of his head, trying to think of what to say.
'Well, taking a look around… I seemed to have destroyed something preeetty big, but they aren't retaliating… I guess I can tell them then, it's only fair…'
Crossing his arms and humming for a bit, he then sighed as he turned his eyes back to Erza and company, deciding his next action.
"Well, to tell you the truth, I actually came from another dimension. I can probably vouch for that since you said you saw me coming out a worm hole." Cannonbolt replied as he points up.
Erza and Lucy crossed their arms, trying to pull together what information they have so far. It seemed reasonable enough. A warp hole would probably be able to lead to any sort of place imaginable. Lucy herself was also kind of immerse with alternate worlds herself with her own abilities in mind.
Deciding to take his word for it, the blonde then smiled, turning to him. "So, what's this alternate place called then?"
Cannonbolt nodded, letting his arms hang down.
"It's called the Null Void. It's pretty much a place for trapping criminals, unreasonable aliens, the whatnot. I accidently got sent there, and had to survive in that eerie void for two years." He quickly summarized.
The group was slightly shocked at Cannonbolt's speech. But it wasn't as though it was phony information. Even though the whole description seemed to explain the Null Void as anything as a rainbow park, Erza then remembered something that Cannonbolt said that caught her attention.
"Wait a second… You said, "that depends", at first. What do you mean by that?" She asked, now with an intrigued look on her face.
'Huh… She noticed that bit of info I slipped out.' Cannonbolt mused, complimenting Erza's hearing with a small smirk.
"Yes. What you're looking at isn't my normal form. You guys are all human right?" Cannonbolt asked, everyone nodding.
"What? Are you something else then? A Take-Over or something?" Gray asked, trying out some random guesses.
"Well, I've never heard of such a thing… But to tell you the truth, I'm actually—" Cannonbolt replied as he tapped the Omnitrix dial on his forehead mid-sentence.
He was engulfed in a green flash, forcing everyone to shield their eyes. When they uncovered them, Natsu and Gray's jaws dropped, while Lucy and Erza widened their eyes in surprise at what they saw: a young boy wearing a dull grey and black shirt with olive green pants and black and white sneakers.
"I'm a human, just as you all are. My real name is Ben, Benjamin Tennyson. How do you do?" Ben said as he introduced himself.
…
"So, you really have no idea how to get back huh, kid?" Natsu said as he walked with his friends and Ben.
"Yeah… Unfortunately for me, my device broke down, and I ended up here as a result." Ben responded with a sad expression, before giving off a small smile. "Well, at least I ended somewhere decent."
While the five were walking back after a few minutes later, Ben decided to fill the time by giving them the rough summarization of the events that led to him being dragged into Earth Land. Mainly, he discussed about the things that happened on the day before he was sucked into the void that brought him here. Completing the Void Generator, Phil's sabotage…
Natsu crossed his arms and hummed, thinking of an idea that might cheer Ben up. Suddenly, something came into mind as he looked back at him.
"Well, if you can't get back, maybe you should stay with us at Fairy Tail!" Natsu suggested with a wide grin.
Gray darted his eyes back immediately at the mention. "What?! Are you nuts, Natsu? How can he do that when he destroyed the guild hall!"
"Hey, it's not my fault I was spawned that high up in the air. I could've died if I didn't do something." The Omnitrix wielder responded as he shrugged casually. "There was nothing I could do to slow myself down, so I decided to speed up instead."
"Erk… But still…" Gray's expression froze a little, as he couldn't really find anything to shoot back.
Ben and company then reached the top of the crater sight, greeting the mass of people that were inside the guild hall prior to Cannonbolt's Destructive Finish. Makarov walked up to them, the old man looking at Ben with curiosity.
"So, what happened, Erza? Was the thing that came down this boy here?" Makarov asked.
"Unfortunately, yes, Master. However, he didn't do on it purpose, sir." Erza responded.
Makarov gave a gallant chuckle after hearing her words, which confused Ben if anything else. "Ho-ho-ho! Well, as long as no one got hurt."
He then brought his attention to Ben, bringing out a hand to exchange a handshake with. "So, what's your name, young man? The name's Makarov. I'm the Guild Master of Fairy Tail."
Ben was mildly shocked by the reaction that Makarov, but returned the gesture as a sign of politeness. "My name's Benjamin Tennyson. I'm… Sorry about that guild hall of yours."
Ben sheepishly chuckled as he sweat dropped, though the old man merely brushed it off with a shrug.
"Ah, don't worry about that, Ben. We can always fix it." Makarov said as he looked at the rubble that used to be the guild.
Ben looked at the debris, cringing at the destruction he caused. There must've been something that he could to do make amends…
And right as he looked at it though, a light bulb went off in Ben's head as his eyes widened. He turned back to Makarov, who in turn gave him a questioning look.
"Actually… I think I can help fix the guild, if you want." He offered with a smile.
Another person walked out from the crowd as he said that. She had long white hair and wore an ankle-length maroon dress that sported a large pink bow with high heeled shoes that matched her dress.
"Can you actually do that? How?" The young woman asked. "Really?"
Makarov turned around to face the girl, chuckling a little. "Ah, good to see you're unharmed, Mira."
The rest of the crowd that overheard Ben were bemused and a bit doubtful. Some of them muttered that the kid was crazy. How could a little kid fix this much devastation? It would take months to replace a building this size, and that was an understatement.
Ben however grinned as he placed a hand on his chest to reassure her.
"As a matter of fact, I can." Ben answered cheerfully. "Just, give me a moment."
"Really now?" Erza folded her arms. "What do you have in mind?"
Ben gave her a smirk, walking to the edge of the rubble while scanning the vicinity. He took measurements of the scale of the crater that Cannonbolt made, making some mental calculations for a moment before making his decision.
'If it's this large of a scale… I think I can handle this.' Ben speculated.
Activating his Omnitrix, he scrolled through the dial, which made some of the passerby flinch from the sound that the device gave off.
After a few seconds, he marked his wanted form, and the pressed the core down. Flashing with an emerald light, he was replaced with a familiar robot-like alien. The Omnitrix dial was located on top of the glass, with the hourglass symbol being white instead of green, and he had a white and black shirt.
As the flash dissipated, the crowd gasped at Ben's new form. Natsu and company included as well. Even Makarov was surprised.
"Take-Over? What kind of creature is that?"
"Doesn't it look like a robot? What is this guy?"
Clockwork ignored the comments, but then turned around to Makarov. Erza took notice of the Omnitrix dial on the robot alien's stomach, her eyes looking with curiosity.
"Excuse me for a moment then, it will take just a little bit." The copper robot said in a German accent.
The crowd watched in anticipation as Clockwork turned back around. Holding out both arms, they could hear his internal workings beginning to chime as he fired two beams of light from his palms, and another from his stomach a second later. The entire area that used to be the guild was engulfed in an emerald light.
Concentrating more of his energy, Clockwork's powers began to take effect as time started to reverse in the affected area, all of the dust and mayhem moving back and forth into the places they were before the humungous accident that happened a couple of minutes ago.
All the guild members watched in awe as the guild hall was being fixed right in front of their eyes, bit by bit, brick by brick.
After another moment, Clockwork ceased his firing, the emerald beams now vanishing away. As the last of the light disappeared, what was in its place was now replacing it with a repaired Fairy Tail Guild Hall.
A bunch of people passed out from shock, and some others were astonished. Natsu and co. however were just staring with amazement. Overall though, the crowd's spirits were risen to max levels as they rejoiced in their pride and joy restored from the depths of destruction.
However, it was then that Clockwork dropped down onto one knee, panting heavily shortly afterwards. The Omnitrix dial began flashing red, reverting Clockwork back to Ben as he was consumed within a red light. Ben looked up at the sight as he was sweating a bit, smirking at his work as Natsu came to help him up.
"H-Hey! You alright, Ben?" Natsu asked in concern.
"Y-yep, I'm good. I've just never done time reversal on that level before. Clockwork's powers also tend to tire me out a bit…" Ben answered, panting in between his dialogue.
Natsu helped Ben onto his feet, allowing the Omnitrix wielder to lean on him for support. He took a short breather before returning to normal, after which he walked towards Makarov and Mira.
"Well… That was a job well done, Ben!" Makarov complimented. "That was amazing!"
"Indeed! Thank you so much! Oh, I believe I haven't introduced myself either. My name is Mirajane Strauss, nice to meet you. Call me Mira." Mira greeted, grasping his hands and shaking them wildly in joy.
Ben nodded, smiling awkwardly upon looking at her bubbly face. Makarov then turned to Ben while she continued her little dance of celebration.
"So, I heard that you aren't able to return home. Well, if that's the case, why not join our guild, like Natsu said? A Mage of your caliber is a wonder to behold. You're what they might be called a needle in a haystack." Makarov offered.
"Sure, if it's ok with everyone else." Ben answered…but then frowned as he processed Makarov's previous words. "…Wait, Mage?"
The old man raised an eyebrow along with the rest of the others present. Erza however narrowed her eyes on Ben though. Both parties were confused on the matter, but Makarov was the one who decided to go first with the questions.
"You do use Magic, correct? How else were you able to transform into that creature without Take-Over Magic?" Makarov questioned.
Ben's eyes widen in surprise. He knew that he was thrown into an alternate world, but he never knew that something like magic would exist. Sure, something like Hex's magic was something to awe on about, but a world full of magic users? What kind of world did he get into?
At this point, he was pretty sure he could trust everyone with what he could say, and decided to give off his identity. 'Well, here goes…'
Ben then lift and held up his left arm, allowing everyone to get a full look at the Omnitrix. Everyone except Erza eyed the device in wonder and curiosity.
"This device is called the Omnitrix. This is how I turned into Clockwork and Cannonbolt." He explained. "I've heard and seen Magic before, but I myself can't really do such things."
Erza nodded in understanding. 'So that's the deal with that symbol.'
Out from the group of people spoke a petite girl. She had wavy, wild like blue hair that was held by an orange bandanna. She wore an orange sleeveless turtleneck that went down to the middle of her thighs. She wore sleeves of the same color and red sandals. The Fairy Tail mark was on her left scapula.
"So, how many of those creatures do you have stored in that thing? Oh, the name's Levy McGarden by the way, nice to meet you, Ben!" Levy inquired.
Turning to her, Ben answered. "I have roughly seventy transformations that are regularly available. I usually only use a cluster of them for most things, so give or take maybe six or seven aliens that I use on a regular basis."
…
…
"…What." Everyone else, mind Erza, uttered all at once.
Everyone was left breathless from Ben's answer. At least seventy transformations at one's fingertips? No Take-Over wizard could ever do that! Levy however snapped back to reality by hearing Ben's answer.
"Wait, you said they were "readily available"? What do you mean by that? Are you saying that it has even more than seventy?" She dared asked.
To her dismay, and excitement all the while as well, Ben nodded and looked down at his arm. "Well, after fully examining it, I discovered that it actually has the genetic code of over a million different lifeforms; I've just never unlocked them."
Jaws dropped immediately, some even detached from their heads, of course in a comical matter… But one millionforms?! Seventy was already crazy enough! How much power did that small device have?
Two men then stepped forward from the crowd. One had slicked back dark blue hair and wore a beige coat. The other had brown pompadour hair, wearing a light green shirt with a dark green flower pattern. They were Macao Conbolt and Wakaba Mine.
Wakaba spoke first, pointing at the Omnitrix while doing so. "So, how long have you had that thing for then?"
Ben glanced down at the Omnitrix again, and then back at Wakaba as he tilted his head in remembrance. "Around two years, I believe. I got it when I was ten."
"Wait, what?! You're only twelve?! You look so much more mature though!" Macao responded, others agreeing with him as well.
Another man walked out from the crowd. He was an extremely muscular teenager with long upwards white hair who wore a dark blue gakuran and wooden sandals. He came out and patted Ben on the head, though a bit too harshly for Ben's care.
"Such forms! That's what makes a man MANLY!" He proclaimed.
"Oh, Elfman! Don't hurt Ben!" Mira cried out while grabbing onto his arm. "He's only a child!"
Elfman ceased his gesture, with Ben lifting himself off the ground and dusting himself off. He looked at Elfman, who still had a giant smile on his face. He wasn't exactly mad, as the white-haired teen in front of him seemed to be just a little too enthusiastic about stuff. He wasn't a bad person at least in his eyes.
"Sorry about that, Ben. My younger brother can be a bit too much sometimes…" Mira said as she clapped her hands together.
'Brother?' Ben thought with an amused look. He looked back and forth between the two of them. 'I guess the white hair runs in the family, if anything.'
"So, Ben… You keep talking about these aliens, but what can they do anyways? The way you talk about them, it seems like they're not just for show, since you just used one and repaired the guild hall." Gray then asked, curious about his forms.
Ben's face went into an expression of deep thought. True, his aliens all had a variety of abilities, but he lost count of how many to be honest. The first forms that came into the mind were the ones that he originally started off with… But even those were unique in their own right.
"Well let's see here…" Ben started to count with his fingers, which only made Gray and a few others weary.
"Well, you already know that I've got time powers from Clockwork, but I also got other things. Uh… Super-strength, super-speed, sonar hearing, enhanced smell, flight capabilities… It's more like about the stuff that I don't have to be honest."
Gray's eyes widened, chuckling nervously as he answered. "S-Seriously? That's pretty overwhelming…"
He was shocked beyond belief. If what Ben said was anything of truth, he was probably one of the strongest people in the whole entire vicinity, at least with the power to do pretty much anything. In the field of magic, the more abilities you had, the broader you could extend yourself out to with the missions and jobs you took.
While he was shocked by Ben's answer, Natsu's eyes lit up in flames of excitement in response to Ben's statement.
"Hey, that sounds awesome! Oh, I have an idea! Come on Ben, you and me! Let's fight!" Natsu demanded all of a sudden.
Ben looked at Natsu with slight surprise. The others deadpanned from Natsu's simplistic nature, face palming or groaning. What was Natsu thinking, wasn't he just listening to Ben? He pretty much had a form for any scenario, which probably concluded something like this as well.
"Uh… What do you mean?" Ben asked in confusion.
Natsu clenched his fist, flames suddenly spewing from his fists as magic circles went over them. "What you do mean?! Obviously, I mean we're going to fight to see who's stronger of course! What else is there to know?!"
Gray sighed in response. "Oh, come on, give it a rest, fire brain. You already got your butt kicked by Erza not too long ago. Don't embarrass yourself even more."
Natsu's face twitched in annoyance. "Shut it, frost face! I wasn't at full power back then!"
Makarov started to get annoyed as well. "Natsu, that's enough, young man! You're seriously going to fight someone who just did us a favor? Leave our guest out of your fruitless endeavor!"
Natsu's attention span didn't detect Makarov's order as he returned his look to Ben, who flinched at him in confusion. What's the point in battling someone, especially if he didn't have to? He looked at the crowd, most of them with expression that practically said "give up".
Ben then turned to Makarov, who sighed in response as he himself shrugged.
"Well, I guess he's going to keep this up until I fight him, right?" Ben deadpanned while pointing at Natsu.
The crowded shook their heads up and down, confirming Ben's thesis. Ben sighed, and then turned to Natsu. He didn't want to fight a pointless skirmish, but if he might as well do it to satisfy Natsu's demand. Especially with that gleeful face on that sorry mug of his making this situation even more awkward.
A woman from the crowd came out. She had long brown hair and wore a blue bikini top, along with brown Capri pants with high heeled sandals. She bore an annoyed look as she carried over a large wooden barrel that was roughly the size of her own torso.
"Just get it over with, kiddo. The sooner you beat him, the sooner I can drink again." She said in a lazy matter as she took another drink. By the way that her attitude was, as well as the smell of her beverage, Ben assumed that she was jugging down on alcohol.
"Cana…" Mira sweat dropped, with Ben deadpanning to follow up.
'This place is full of weirdos… Well, not that there aren't any weirdos from where I come from.' Ben thought, before snapping back to his senses.
"Alright then, fine. Natsu, if you to fight, let's fight then. In exchange though, I have some conditions I want to make." Ben said as he pointed his finger out.
Natsu's eyes shined like a wild beast. He was going to launch himself if it wasn't for him having to listen to Ben list his conditions.
"First, we go somewhere out in the open. I don't want to end up repairing a bunch of more messes. Two, we fight only until someone gets injured really badly. And third, don't get sour if you lose. I don't want to hear you going and asking for a rematch..." He listed off, while smirking at his last statement.
Natsu held a look of disappointment for a bit, before returning to his normal, hyperactive state of excitement. "I'm gonna ignore that last statement… But now you've got my attention!"
Makarov turned over to Ben, his face in exasperation. "You sure you want to do this Ben? You don't have to you know?"
Ben gave the old man a smirk. "Nah, it's alright. I haven't gotten my share of exercise today anyways. This'll be good to burn off. And if Natsu wants to fight so badly, then I'll gladly oblige him."
Natsu gave Ben a large grin. "Alright! Come on now, I'm all fired up!"
The crowded started to chatter in excitement. After hearing what Ben can do, they wonder how he would do facing off against Fairy Tail's very own Natsu Dragneel, who infamously nicknamed "The Salamander".
Lucy sighed. "Can't we ever just catch a break…"
…
A few minutes later, the Fairy Tail guild and Ben arrived at a wide, flat plain. Its members began to take seats around the vicinity of the vast field of grass. Levy used her magic to create lines as borders for Ben and Natsu's makeshift arena.
Natsu and Ben entered, standing on the opposite ends. The two were seen stretching for a bit, before staring off at each other with growing anticipation.
Ben gripped the Omnitrix with his right arm as he gave Natsu a small smile. "You ready, Natsu? You can still change your mind, you know?"
"Not on my life!" Natsu retorted as he took a stance. "Come on!"
Ben had to admit, he hadn't had battle that was meant for fun since forever, not ever since he got trapped in the Null Void. In that place, every battle was for survival, eat or be eaten. Ben frowned a bit as he dwells upon some of his memories, but shook them off and returned with a grin on his face.
As the two fighters took their stances, Makarov arrived in the middle, between the two contestants. Putting a whistle into his mouth, he looked at the two youngsters.
"Ok then, are you all ready? Then, on a count of three. Three… Two… One… Let the match… BEGIN!" Makarov announced as he rose his arm up while blowing his whistle.
Makarov then backed away quickly. Ben and Natsu stared each other down, grinning at one another. The two then rushed forward.
Natsu was the first to actually attack, showing his hot-headed nature to everyone else. Though Ben wasn't exactly familiar with fighting humans in general, fighting humanoid creatures and the likes of other beings in the Null Void did sharpen his senses immensely.
The pink haired teenager grinned as he rocked his fist back and swung it at Ben's face. The brunet quickly reacted as he ducked underneath and rolled behind his foe. Quickly going for the Omnitrix, he didn't even bother trying to look for an appropriate form to take on as he slapped the core down, blinding everyone with a bright flash of emerald light.
As Natsu turned around, his face was met with a red fist to his nose. Many members cringed upon seeing the pink haired mage being flung off into the air, smashing into a nearby tree with great force. As the light died off, everyone else watched as Four Arms made his grand appearance to Fairy Tail.
"A form with four arms? That's a bit weird to look at…" Lucy admitted.
"Oh, please. What can be weirder than a yellow roly-poly and a robot?" Gray rolled his eyes, but he too was intrigued by Four Arm's physical stature.
"Huh… Maybe that was a little too hard." Four Arms smirked as he folded his two lower arms.
Natsu responded with a loud roar right as he said that, but managed to maintain himself and burst out from the rubble with little to no difficulty. A second later, the pink-haired wizard rubbed his cheek in slight pain, much to everyone's surprise, including Four Arms.
This form that Ben had turned into was bizarre in appearance, but it had the strength to say so otherwise. If it was able to injure Natsu and make him actually react like that, who else knew what other things he had up his sleeve? That being said however, Natsu was far from over from where things stood out.
"Geh… Gotta admit, that hurt. But how about I turn up the heat for ya?" He proposed as he opened his mouth to breathe in.
"…What do you mean by that?" Four Arms asked, now taking a stance as he watched Natsu's cheeks start to puff up a little.
Makarov nodded, coughing to divert Ben's attention to his person. "I'll give you a quick hint on what kind of Magic Natsu uses. It has to do with Dragons; specifically, fire ones."
"…Fire? Wait, he's not planning on—" With the sudden realization on what Natsu was going to do, Four Arms could only react as his eyes diverted back to Natsu as a red magic circle appeared in front of his mouth.
Opening his jaws, a torrent of flames spewed out from his mouth.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" He yelled as his attack began to charge at Four Arms.
He had no time to dodge the sudden attack, so Four Arms gritted his teeth as he held his four limbs in front of his face. The attack cleared out the grass in front of the wizard's face, and that around Four Arms. Some members of Fairy Tail were surprised that Natsu would dare to use one of his most dangerous attacks on someone like Ben, who they thought probably wasn't prepared for such a blow.
However, it all came as a surprise to everyone as the smoke cleared from Natsu's Roar. As the remaining clouds of black ash cleared off, the smirk on Natsu's face turned into a quizzical expression of confusion as with most of Fairy Tail's cast upon viewing the area in which his Roar went off at.
Standing there instead of a field of burnt grass was Four Arms in his full glory, save for a few nicks on his forearms. They twitched slightly as the Tetramand lowered them down, his mouth trying to cool them off pitifully as he tried to blow off the heat from his bothered arms.
"Ack… That's hot…!" He muttered as he flickered his arms back and forth for a bit.
That was certainly a shocker. Natsu, while initially surprised, grinned in response. "Woah! I didn't think you'd be in a one piece!"
"Well, fortunately for me, this form is resistant to forms of heat. Do you seriously believe a normal person would be able to survive such an attack?!" Four Arms retorted.
"Well, that doesn't matter!" Natsu barked back as his fists were lit in flames. "I'm really getting' excited now!"
"Oh, well I'm guess we're doing this now!" The red alien took a stance as Natsu rushed forward.
Aiming at his face with a large right hook, Four Arms saw this, countering him by grasping onto his arm. The pink haired wizard's eyes widened as Four Arms twirled on his right foot, using his two upper arms to perform an arm throw, slamming him into the ground.
Natsu coughs out some spit as he lands hard on his back, but he quickly recovers as he lights up his foot in flames. Four Arms' eyes widen in response as Natsu uses one of his arms to spin and kick him in the back of the knees, tumbling him into the air.
"Fire Dragon's Talons!" He exclaimed.
Clicking his tongue, before Four Arms could fall on the floor of the plains, he cartwheels on his four arms, leaping back a few feet from Natsu as they both get back onto their feet.
"Quick reflexes, impressive." Erza nodded in recognition.
"So… Fire Magic, huh? And one that's related to Dragons?" Four Arms rose an eyebrow as Natsu grinned.
"Yep! It's called Fire Dragon Slayer Magic! It grants me various characteristics typical of a Fire Dragon: lungs capable of spewing flames, scales that grant protection against fire, and nails covered in flames!" Natsu boasts as he cracked his knuckles. "Check it out!"
Taking this information into account, Four Arms thought for a second. Knowing that Four Arm's bulky stature wouldn't do good against Natsu, so he decided to go for something a little more agile.
"Dragons… I've heard from somewhere that the one thing that rivals a Dragon is a beast of its own caliber. So, in that case, get a taste of Wildmutt!" He announced.
Slapping the Omnitrix dial on his left shoulder, another green flashed was created that blinded everyone in its vicinity. When the flash died down, Ben was replaced with an orange alien resembling a large canine with no facial features such as ears, nose, eyes, etc. Its lower jaw stuck out, revealing sharp teeth. Three gill-like nostrils were located on each side of its neck, with quill like fur on the top of its arms, under its jaw, and on top of its head. The Omnitrix was located on its left shoulder in a brace form.
The crowd was intrigued by Ben's new form, but were confused by its appearance.
"What good is that dog thing? It's got no ears, nose, or eyes!" Gray wondered. "How can he fight in that form?"
Natsu stared at Wildmutt for a bit, before resuming his attack. Natsu attempted to use another flaming fist against the Vulpimancer, who merely stood there as if he were waiting for him to make the first move.
The fire mage raised an eyebrow in confusion, but continued regardless. As he swung his arms however, Wildmutt's gills twitched, and he reacted with lightning quick reflexes. He used one of its forearms to trip Natsu by sweeping up his feet, causing him to fall forward. He then leaped above Natsu, grabbing his coat with his mouth as he landed behind the fallen fighter.
Lifting him off the ground and rocking his head up, he threw Natsu backwards and into the air, which made several members gasp at the quick course of actions.
"Woah!" Natsu responded in surprise. "What the heck?"
Performing a backwards roll midair and landing in a crouching position, Natsu regained his posture as he landed on a patch of grass. He smirked at Wildmutt, causing the canine alien to growl slightly, as if saying "Come on". Naturally, Natsu obliged his offer, and the two began charging towards each other. As the two got closer, they both clenched their left fists, swinging at each other when they reached collision.
Wildmutt grazed Natsu's shoulder, causing the cloth of his jacket near there to rip into shreds and his skin to bleed a little. For his opponent however, something worse happened to Wildmutt. Natsu collided with Wildmutt's Omnitrix brace, causing the hourglass on the dial to fluctuate into a spastic blue color as red and green sparks combusted from it.
"Huh?" He blinked, glancing back. "…Uh-oh."
Wildmutt growled in question as he looked at his left shoulder. He couldn't speak, but Natsu could hear the distress in his voice as he eyed the device on his shoulder.
Natsu and the rest of the crowd stopped to look at Wildmutt's shoulder brace, which was now beginning to spark out of control. Natsu began to run to Wildmutt's position, but was then stopped by a synthetic voice midway.
"Danger! Danger! Unknown energy spikes detected!"
"Is… His watch talking, or am I going crazy?" Elfman pointed out.
"N-No! It's speaking alright…" Lucy squinted out from where she sat. "What's happening to Ben?"
As the device continued to go out of whack, Wildmutt was reverted back to Ben. Natsu continued to run towards him after the flash dissipated, though his opponent stopped him from going forward. Ben looked down at the Omnitrix, which was cycling through a series of colors while beeping rapidly.
"W-What's going on, Ben?" Natsu shouted.
"I don't know! That last attack you did must have done something to the Omnitrix! What kind of Magic is Dragon Slayer Magic anyways?!" Ben retorted as he pressed some buttons and turned the Omnitrix's dial a few times.
Ben continued to tap the Omnitrix to no avail, when suddenly the beeping sped up for a moment, and then stop, the Omnitrix returning to its standard emerald green hue. Ben and Natsu then looked down at it in question, when it then suddenly emitted a bright green light, causing Natsu and the crowd to cover their eyes, and Ben's to widen in surprise.
"Error scanned and archived. System restart initiated. Prepare for recalibration."
"R-Recalibration?! Omnitrix, what are yo—"
While still enveloped in the green light, the Omnitrix began to alter itself, the large wristwatch now becoming a bit slenderer and elongated, almost resembling a hybrid between a gauntlet and a wristwatch. Three lines prolonged around it, establishing a "Y" profile as two black lines surrounded a single white line. On each of the core's ends were a gray dial switch.
The face plate itself retained its black and green coloration, but with a smaller and slenderer gray dial. The green light then began to dissipate, revealing the Omnitrix's new form, which sported a newer grey, black, and green color scheme.
Ben's jaw was abroad, his face expression displaying multiple reactive looks to it. Confusion, anger, curiosity, excitement… As Natsu and company uncovered their eyes, Ben's eyes narrowed down onto his newly recalibrated Omnitrix. He held the dial, turning it a few times before letting it go.
A marble of sweat rolled down on his face. He wondered if this form would still respond to him, so he decided to go for broke.
"Omnitrix. User Access: Voice Recognition Mode." Ben quoted.
Everyone stayed silent… Nothing happened for a moment, but soon after Ben uttered that command, the Omnitrix beeped once, its green hourglass glowing in response.
"User Ben Tennyson, recognized. Voice Command Mode: Activated."
Compared to the autonomic voice that spoke a few moments ago, this version sounded like a synthetic version of Ben's own voice. It gave the brunet a weird feeling, but he was amused nonetheless. While the crowd around him was still astonished by what was happening, Ben then narrowed his eyes again as he tried something else. Beginning a series of button presses and dial turns, the Omnitrix began to make synthetic sounds from Ben's interaction, until the synthetic voice responded again to the combination that he inputted into the system.
"Error. That function is not available." It called out.
Ben frowned in response, and attempted the same command again; only to get the same response. His left eye twitched a little as he let out a small sigh.
Scratching his head, he decided to go for the second-best thing.
"Omnitrix; Status Report. Identify and display recalibration sequence results." Ben commanded.
Beeping once, the hourglass of the Omnitrix glowed, projecting a hologram that consisted of multiple windows, each containing a bundle of text. Natsu stared at Ben in confusion, wondering what he was doing with the device on his wrist.
"Uhhm… Ben? You doing alright?" He asked in a deadpanned matter.
Ben glanced back at Natsu for a moment, and then back at the Omnitrix. "Be with you in a bit, Natsu. Gimme a moment."
Natsu deadpanned again, grunting and sitting down shortly after. Ben's eyes scrolled through the statement of the recalibration, jotting down mental notes of various changes. His eyes widened slightly as he then read the end of the report, which the mage near him noticed.
"…New entries unlocked, huh?" Ben announced while licking his lips in excitement. He then spoke out to the Omnitrix once again.
"Omnitrix, list number of unlocked DNA samples after recalibration sequence." He commanded
With the Omnitrix responding with another beep, the hourglass glowed once more as it began to answer.
"Recalibration Report: Ten genetic samples unlocked and available in Playlist Eight. All systems are functional."
That made Ben smile. "Ten new transformations? Alright, now that's something!"
Natsu overheard Ben, responding with excitement as he jumped onto his feet. "Ten new guys to fight?! Alright! This fight's becoming even more exciting now!"
Everyone else however shuddered upon hearing his words, with Gray and Lucy even gritting their teeth as they began to retort against Ben's announcement.
"WHAT?! TEN NEW FORMS?! THAT'S A LOAD OF BULLCRAP!" They barked together. Even Erza and Makarov were stunned by his words.
"You say that, but you can't help but be curious now, am I right?!" Natsu however responded.
Ben thought otherwise as well.
Grinning like a kid opening a Christmas present, he pressed the gray dial buttons, causing the Omnitrix core to spin and pop out. However, unlike the previous iteration of the Omnitrix, instead of a black silhouette appearing on the face dial, the hourglass glowed to project a green hologram of the currently viewed alien.
Ben was surprised and slightly delighted at the new feature, and began turning the dial a few times. He stopped once he eyed one of his new aliens.
"Alright then, this new one looks pretty good!" Ben said with anticipation.
He then looked towards Natsu, pushing the core down. "Sorry for the wait, Natsu! Let's get back to it!"
In another green flash, Ben was replaced with a humanoid feline-like alien that had a violet colored fur and elf-like pointed ears. His face was white and had black stripes on its face and arms. Having green colored, cat eyed pupils and a slightly bushy tail, he sported a grey and green jumpsuit, and was as a bit taller than his human form. The Omnitrix dial was now displayed in a gray and black leather pauldron on its right arm, with the hourglass now green instead of white.
Natsu and the crowd gazed upon Ben's new form as the blue furred alien began observing himself in wonder. He then looked at his right shoulder.
"Omnitrix, initiate Genetic Data Display, Code 10!" He commanded.
The Omnitrix dial then lit up, and projected a display in front of his face. Ben skimmed through the data, nodding a few times and tapping a few things. He then closed the display and then grinned back at Natsu after clearing things up.
"Are you finally ready, Ben?!" Natsu asked with excitement as he lit his fists again.
"Yep! I just had to read up on this new transformation. Let's begin, shall we?" He proposed.
Natsu grinned, his flamed fists burning brighter than before. Ben got into a stance as Natsu started to charge towards him. As he came near him, Ben dodged Natsu's first attack, and then proceeded to snap back and lung at the various openings that he left out. The pink haired teen grunted in discomfort as he went down to his knees, but then spun around to swing Ben as he ignited an arm with a magic circle.
"Fire Dragon's Crushing Fang!" He yelled.
Natsu's blow reached its mark, smacking Ben right in his side. He was pushed back and off his feet, flying a few meters before landing in a crouch. Charging at Natsu as the mage landed, he leaped above him and used his tail to grab onto his scarf. Spinning him up, Ben grunted as he swung him down, making Natsu grunted in pain as he landed on his face.
"Ohhhhh… This tail is handy. Oh, I know! Let's call this form Tail-Whip then!" He decided with a snicker.
"Agh… That tail is a tricky little thing…!" Natsu growled.
Natsu slowly began to stand up, but not before Tail-Whip grabbed him again with his tail and began to drag him around. Natsu strained in his struggle, but then suddenly ceased to all of a sudden. Tail-Whip stopped moving as he looked back at the crowd, who pointed down at Natsu. Beholding down at his opponent, he gazed at him in amazement and oddness, noticing that his cheeks were puffing up immensely, and that Natsu's expression was one of pitiful anxiety.
Tail-Whip sweat dropped as he looked at Natsu. "Uh… What?"
"Uurmphh… Just… Gimme a sec…" Natsu called out, though he looked like he was about to puke his lunch out.
The Revonnahgander deadpanned for a bit before noting something flying in the air from a distance. When he turned to look out, the crowd noticed his gaze and also looked in his direction. Makarov held an arm to lower the sunlight's gaze to see Happy flying out towards Natsu.
"Natsu! What happened to you?" Happy snickered at his partner.
"G-Gack…! Shut it… Cat!" Natsu struggled to insult the floating cat next to him.
Tail-Whip sweat dropped. "I was attempting to spin throw Natsu, but then he turned into that…"
"Oh! Then that means you accidently triggered Natsu's motion sickness! Good for you!" Happy nonchalantly shrugged as he patted his pink haired friend.
"Motion sickness? I barely even moved him!" The alien face-palmed in response.
Happy then hovered over at Natsu's face, asking him if he was alright. Natsu stuttered a bit as he responded, but his overall condition was restored a few seconds later. He took a few deep breaths before getting into another fighting stance. Happy then sprouted his wings and floated alongside Natsu, with Tail-Whip tilting his head in confusion at their seemingly double up on him.
"Hey, isn't this between me and Natsu?" Tail-Whip blinked several times.
"Oh, don't worry, I'm just going to be helping Natsu move around." Happy responded.
Tail-Whip was a bit confused by what he meant. He turned to the crowd, Makarov in particular, for answers. "Uh… What does he mean by that?"
"The way that Happy's flying is through the usage of Magic. Normally, Natsu gets motion sickness through pretty much any form of transportation. Happy however is an exception." The old man explained. "The two of them are partners."
Happy nodded. He then flew behind Natsu's back and lifted him up somehow.
Tail-Whip's eyes widened in amusement. "Oh? That's interesting. I suppose that Magic of yours allows you to carry him as well?"
"Aye! You can say that, fellow feline!" Happy nodded.
"Cool! You ready, Ben?" Natsu smiled. Tail-Whip grinned as he took another stance, which made him grin as well.
"Alright then! Let's go, Happy!" Natsu ordered.
"Aye, sir!" The blue cat acknowledged.
Tail-Whip made a rush forward, his body dangling low. He then jumped and swung his leg. Happy lifted Natsu up to avoid the kick, going behind the tailed alien. The blue cat then dived down and threw Natsu at him, the fire mage engulfing his entire body in flames.
"Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" He exclaimed as he blasted himself at Tail-Whip.
The green-eyed alien quickly turned around, but was only able to put up a light block as he took the full force of Natsu's full bodied attack. He grunted as Natsu continued to force him back. The pink haired teen grinned with satisfaction, with Ben doing the same as well, albeit while displaying a pained grunt.
As Natsu's started to lose force, Tail-Whip then released the pressure used his arms, making Natsu dive into the ground as he then swooped out of the way. The fire mage's face was full of dirt, but he quickly swatted his face out from the floor.
"Hey, come on now!" Natsu growled.
"That partner of yours is a real pain in the butt, you know?" Tail-Whip admitted as Happy hovered and lifted Natsu off the ground again. "So, how about we change things up?"
Slapping the Omnitrix dial on his shoulder, Tail-Whip was replaced with Wildvine. The plant alien's blue eye was now green, and he wore a black and grey shirt. His Omnitrix dial was also green as well.
"Let's see what you can do against Wildvine!" He called out as the light died off from his transformation.
Erza analyzed the new being, taking note of its plant like features. As she did though, her face frowned at as she began to spot those seeds lingering on Wildvine's back. The rest of the crowd then joined in, though Natsu and Happy however seemed to be unfazed.
Wildvine then stretched his fingers out, burrowing them into ground near Happy and Natsu. The crowd gasped as they then exploded out the ground, their size suddenly becoming significantly larger as they began to wrap around the two.
That was one man in in the crowd who was more shocked than anyone else. He was a tall, slim young man with black hair. He wore a white, long-sleeved t-shirt, with a pair of golden belts crossing his chest, each passing over one of his shoulders. He also wore dark green, checkered pants.
"Hey, Droy! He can control plants too!" Levy noted to her friend, whose jaw dropped in response.
"What?! Oh, what the heck!" He barked.
"Ha! Look at yourself Droy!" A man next to him said, laughing manically.
He had orange hair, which was kept jutting backwards at the sides of his head. He wore an open, light brown coat with white fur trimmings on its edges and sleeves, the latter of which reaching down just below his elbows. Underneath this coat was a high-collared, light purple shirt, with its collar mostly left open. He also wore dark, baggy pants, the legs of which were tucked inside dark-colored boots.
"Shut it, Jet!" Droy retorted. "It's not like you're any better!"
"Hey, as long as there isn't anything that's faster than me and my High Speed Magic, then I think it's all good!" He said in a haughty matter.
Levy however cupped her chin as she remembered something that Ben said. "Well… He did mention that super-speed was one of the powers he also had, so there's that."
Jet's figure blanked out immediately. "Y-You know, Levy-chan…"
Back to the fight, Natsu and Happy continued to scuffle within Wildvine's hold on the duo. Detaching his vines, he watched with a smile as their struggle continued on. Natsu's ears began to erupt smoke in a comedic fashion, with Happy gaping at his partner's laughable rage.
"N-Natsu! Hey, don't get all fussy and burn my hide off too!" He yelled.
"I'm getting out of here if it's the last thing I do!" Natsu raged while still being entangled. "No plant's gonna bring me down!"
Happy shrieked hopelessly as his partner's flames grew stronger, consuming the vines and burning them off. Natsu then landed on the ground, his body twitching while his hair was blown up into a funny looking afro.
Before Wildvine could react to his opponent's sudden freedom, Natsu charged with a flame fist. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Smashing it right through, and out of, Wildvine's face, several people cried out in fear, thinking Natsu went overboard and actually killed Ben. Natsu began to freak out as his friend's body laid there on the ground in a seemingly lifeless matter.
"What? OH SHIT!" He began to sweat immensely. "B-BEN! OH GOSH, WHAT HAVE I—Wait, huh?"
Before he could finish his freak-out, a small root tapped his ankle. He looked down at it, in which it then grew massively and wrapped itself around Natsu as others joined in the fray. Natsu reacted in shock as he was again tied up.
He then looked back at Wildvine's torso. Natsu's face turned into a disgusted expression as he watched the burnt head of his opponent splice off, before growing a new one in its place, as if nothing had ever happened prior.
"Huh?!" Natsu called out, confused.
Wildvine snickered. "I think I forgot to mention that one of my powers is also regeneration!"
Delivering Natsu a powerful punch to the face. The blow broke him out of the vines' grasp as he was flung into the air. Quickly recovering, Natsu landed several feet away on his knee, rubbing his cheek. His expression quickly turned into an annoyed grin as a single vein popped on his forehead.
"Sneaky little guy, aren't ya?!" He growled.
"Sure, say what you want. But you can't say that this is boring!" Wildvine snickered as he grabbed a bunch of the seeds from his back.
Leaping into the air, he tossed a few at them at Natsu. As they reached the ground, they immediately exploded on impact. The fire mage was able to leap back in time to dodge, only to look up above the smoke screen to see Wildvine now spinning his body around while tossing out seeds by the dozens.
"Woah there!" Natsu gasped as he began to dodge the explosive seeds left and right.
This continued on for a little bit. Wildvine's seeds kept growing back at an alarming rate, providing him the ammunition to continued on with his assault. After getting out from his final spin, the plains were pretty much littered with gas, with Natsu in the middle as the wind started to blow it away slowly.
"You ready to give up yet?" The plant alien enquired, placing his hands on his hips.
"You kidding me? I can do this all day!" Natsu retorted by holding up a flaming fist. "Come on, show me something else!"
"…If you want." Wildvine smirked.
Tapping the Omnitrix dial, and in another blinding flash of light, Ben was replaced with Heatblast, the latter whose Omnitrix dial was now green. Everyone was intrigued by the fact that his head was spewing out flames, though Natsu almost drooled, as if he were looking at a meal.
"Time to give you a taste of your own medicine, Natsu!" Heatblast proposed, his palms opening up.
Heatblast then conjured up a large ball of fire appeared in both of his hands. He then threw it at Natsu. However, this time, it was Natsu who didn't flinch from his opponent's attack. Instead, he adorned his face with a smile as it appeared right in front of his face.
"If you insist! It's time to chow down!" He grinned, basking in the glory of the attack as it exploded right in front of his face.
With flames burning all around him, the last thing Heatblast expected him to do was be excited, but that proved to be the case. Natsu reared back his head, and took a deeper breath than before. In response to this, the flames that had landed on the ground in front of Natsu flew into the air in multiple small streaks. It was like he was slurping up a drink, which made Heatblast wince.
"Ugh… He's drinking it like a smoothie?! Oh God, smoothies…" He let his flaming out in disgust. "Alright… Didn't know you could do that."
Natsu burped loudly as his finished the rest of the flames. "Whew! Those flames are probably the best I've ever tasted! Thanks for the snack!"
"What, do different flames have different tastes?" Heatblast asked, tilting his head in wonder.
"Yep… But for now… I'm all fired up!" He grinned evilly as he began to inhale a bunch of air.
"Ben! Better dodge this one!" Lucy warned him. The Pyronite merely shrugged as he folded his arms, waiting for him to attack.
"Fire Dragon's… ROAR!"
Natsu spat out what had to be the largest torrent of fire he'd ever released yet, even to the eyes of his fellow guild members. The flames were approaching Heatblast at an incredibly fast pace, though everyone watched as he just stood there. After spewing his flames out for several more seconds, he ceased fire.
Instead of seeing Heatblast turned into a pile of ash, standing in a blazing plain was a smiling alien, shocking everyone. The surprising aspect to them was that his completely unharmed body appeared off, which made Natsu frown.
"Trying to use fire on Heatblast is like trying to drown a fish in water." He uttered with a snarky grin. "Now then… Let's get rid of this before anything wild goes off.
Holding his arms out, everyone then watched as Natsu's flames began to surge themselves into Heatblast's body, erasing any potential for a forest fire. Natsu grinned in interest as Heatblast then tapped on his Omnitrix dial, creating yet another emerald flash.
This time, replacing him with a blue iguana-like alien. Three dorsal fins reached down its back, and three gills were on each of its sides. He constantly exhaled cold air that was visible to the naked eye. Wearing a black uniform that covered the majority of its body, his stomach area and the tips of his forearms were white. The Omnitrix dial was located on its left wrist.
Gray felt a shiver go down his back, which was surprising to him.
"What the hell? Ice mages don't get cold…?" Grey muttered to himself.
Seemingly not threatened by this new iguana like alien's appearance, Natsu then rushed forward again with his arms shrouded in flames.
Once again though, Ben made no attempt to dodge, merely opening his mouth. Natsu raised an eyebrow as he continued running, only to then notice a large blue beam shoot out from the iguana's mouth. Unable to react in time, Natsu was hit, and in an instant, frozen in place, alongside the rest of the area.
"He has ice powers too?" Gray barked, shocked. "What, are you gonna tell me he can turn into a giant that shoot lasers or something then?!"
Lucy and Levy nodded in agreement. Erza nodded slightly as she smirked. Natsu stood in a comically placed pose inside his ice sculpture, before heating up the ice and freeing himself. He looked at Ben in annoyance as he dried himself off.
"Hey! That was cheap!" He complained.
"I just wanted to see what Arctiguana would do to you. It seemed pretty satisfying to see your hilarious expression. Cold as ice…!" The alien snickered.
"I… I think that was a good one." Happy croaked, finally getting up from earlier.
Arctiguana looked over at Natsu as he began to amusingly stomp on the ground in a temper tantrum. He began to recall the events that happened in this battle.
First of all, the guy had the durability of a truck. If he could take a full blow to the face from Four Arms, he could guess that the humans in this world were just stronger and more durable than those of his world. Not to mention that his Magic was powerful as well. The ability to enflame any part of his body, eat and consume fire to restore his stamina, and even breathe it, there weren't many weaknesses that…
Wait, weaknesses? Of course, it was then that Ben got an idea that would be sure to work. He snickered inwardly as it came into mind.
Arctiguana let his arm down, facing Natsu again. "Alright Natsu, I'm going to give you one last chance to give up! If you don't, this is gonna end badly for you."
"Oh? Really now?!" The fire mage chuckled.
Natsu simply grinned at the ice lizard's threat, knowing that he would get another opportunity to see another one of his forms. Feeling confident due to the fact that he made the 12-year-old change so many times, he was excited to see his ace in the hole.
"If anything, I welcome it with open arms! Come on, give me your best shot!" Natsu roared.
Arctiguana tilted his head slightly, wondering if Natsu was too brave, or too stupid to understand what he just said. Natsu then leapt and unleashed another Roar, causing Arctiguana to leap backwards as the attack unleashed an explosion in the area.
The area around erupted, with Natsu landing on the other side of where he once stood, a few feet away from the smoke plume. The pink haired flame mage then took a look back at where Arctiguana was waiting for the smoke to clear so he could see what damage he'd done.
However, he, along with everyone else, was surprised to see another green flash shine through the smoke. Another form was coming out, and it only made Natsu excited.
A creature resembling a humanoid reptilian with green skin took the blue alien's place, having a long tail and tentacles on his head. He had 3 green eyes with stripes running from them, and had 4-fingered hands with ostrich-like legs and feet. Wearing a green uniform with grey and black shoulder pads and shin guards, the Omnitrix dial was located on his torso, with the Fairy Tail emblem on his left shoulder.
"Neurolizard!" He announced as he leaped out from the smoke.
Everyone in the crowd was rather perplexed by the appearance of this most recent form of Ben's. What could it do? It didn't really look powerful, nor did it look that durable. Did it have some abilities that otherwise prove their thoughts wrong?
To answer their question, Neurolizard grinned as his third eye began to glow. Shortly afterwards, his entire body was enveloped in a green aura as he began to hover off the ground. Everyone's wonder sparked as Neurolizard took advantage of Natsu's puzzlement as he extended his arms out and clenched them, wrapping Natsu in the same aura as his body was in. At first, everyone thought Ben was trying to crush Natsu; however, they were proven wrong when Neurolizard began to slowly move his hands around.
"Hey!" Natsu yelled. "What's up with this?! Lemme go!"
"Not a chance. Now then, let's take you for a spin!" Neurolizard grinned as he quipped.
With that, Natsu suddenly began to spin in place, much to the surrounding wizards' surprise. A few moments of spinning later, after Neurolizard's arms had stopped moving, the lizard alien then through an arm up, rolling Natsu at a considerably fast speed.
Natsu's eyes widened in comedic horror as his fellow guildmates wondered what Ben was doing. Erza put held her in chin in curiosity as well. Thinking about past events, her eyes then widened as she figured it out. Smirking, she crosses her arms as she waits for Neurolizard to do his work.
Happy's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, I know! He remembered Natsu's motion sickness, and he's using it against him now!"
"That's correct." Makarov nodded humbly. "The boy has a good sense of memory."
Gray folded his arms and smirked. "So, he's got a smart mind as well. Not bad..."
After a few moments, Neurolizard ceased his hold on Natsu, releasing him midair. He nearly landed on Happy, and it was a good thing too, since the Dragon Slayer almost puked the moment he hit ground zero.
"I think we're done here." Neurolizard said, his hands folded. "Makarov?"
...
In the crowd, Makarov had been observing the fight very closely. Needless to say, he was just as impressed by Ben's power and variety as everyone else was as well as the intellect he displayed. However, this fight raised a few questions in Makarov's mind to the sake of things that might happen in the future.
Regardless however, Makarov smiled as he entered the ring, and stood next to the defeated Natsu as Neurolizard reverted back into Ben.
"This match is now over! The winner is Ben!" Makarov declared.
Most of the crowd was silent in shock from the fight. A newcomer just came up and beat Natsu, using his own weakness at that! Ben turned around to face the crowd, wondering if they were having any negative feelings for beating their friend up. Instead, the crowd cheered with a wondrous applause, surprising him a little.
Many of Natsu's friends came over to oversee the conditions their Dragon friend was in, with Gray snickering at the sight before joining up with Lucy and Erza.
"Ha! Used his own weakness against him. Ohhh, that was a blast to see…" He admitted, wiping a tear from his eye from laughing too hard. Gray rubbed Ben's head raggedly as he did so.
Ben chuckled as well, before looking down at him. "Well, I've never faced an opponent like Natsu before. And… Where's your clothes?"
…
…
"CRAP!"
Ben looked at Lucy and tilted an eyebrow up. "Does… He do that often?"
She sadly laughed. "Yeah, better get used to it. I guess…"
As Gray scrambled for his clothes, Ben turned around to see that Natsu was currently struggling to his feet, still looking queasy from earlier. He then walked over to him, and held out his hand to help him up.
Natsu grunted happily, kneeling up as he grabbed Ben's hand. "Yea, I'll be good… Though I'll be winning next time!"
"Yeah… Only if you want your butt to be kicked again." Ben grinned, which made Natsu's eyes flicker in rage.
"WHAT'D YA SAY?! Come on, round two!" Natsu growled, only to be sucker punched by Erza and her gauntlet.
"That's enough for one day." Erza scolded him. "Sorry about that."
Ben merely shrugged, smiling all the while. "Well, it was fun while it lasted. So, no harm done.
As the crowd continued to cheer, Ben looked up into the sky. It was nearing evening, with the moon starting to show up in the night sky. He smirked a little, grasping it in his hand as some constellations started to show up.
'Looks like I found an interesting place, Gwen, Grandpa.'