With the Thunder God Tribe having beaten three fellow mages, Natsu and Makarov, having been forced to helplessly watch everything, finally reached their limit.
"Dammit! Gray too!?" Natsu, knowing very well just how strong Gray is, found it challenging to comprehend how he could've been beaten by anyone other than Laxus; however, the results did not lie. Roaring in frustration, Natsu attacked the barrier again, though different than venting anger, the act was pointless.
However, while Natsu released his anger onto the barrier, Makarov sat silently, his gaze one of intense focus, pondering deeply. Yet the two of them were broken from their actions when they heard a familiar voice behind them, a voice that was the cause of all this.
"Hahaha, look at them falling one by one. Fairy Tail has grown so weak." As Laxus's figure appears in the guild hall, Natsu and Makarov quickly turn around, looking at him; however, while the latter knows better, the former wastes no time and lunges at him. Though of course, the current Laxus was merely a thought projection, so Natsu simply went right through him, his head slamming into the bar.
"Haha, tell me, old man, who else could beat the Thunder God Tribe?" Arrogantly grinning, Laxus approached Makarov, completely ignoring Natsu. "Tsk, I can! Just let me out there! I'll beat the crap out of them!" Fired up, Natsu leaped onto his feet while punching his palm, enveloping them in a brilliant orange flame, though Laxus just laughs.
"Haha, you? A dumbass who can't even differentiate between the real me and a thought projection. Impossible." Side glancing Natsu, who showed not even the slightest hint of backing down, Laxus shook his head. "Gajeel and Natsu. They can." Hearing Makarov, Laxus raises an eyebrow and smirks in amusement.
"Heh, now you're thinking somewhat realistically, but where is Gajeel? Besides, Natsu can't even leave; he's useless." Laxus, quickly dismissing the current two strongest available mages, Natsu grits his teeth while Makarov clenches his fist before lowering his head and sighing.
"You win, Laxus, alright? Just stop this." Seemingly aging a decade right there, Makarov's defeated voice reaches their ears, causing Natsu to widen his eyes while Laxus faintly smirked. "Heh, that's nice to hear, but that's not enough… Give me the title of Guild Master. If you do that, I'll stop. Otherwise, the girls will turn into sand in about 90 minutes."
Hearing Laxus's threat and desire, Makarov silently bites his lip while staring at Laxus, who seems to enjoy his torment. "Use the guild's public address system; let everyone in Magnolia know you're relinquishing the Guild Master position to me." Grinning, Laxus turned around and walked away, his figure vanishing as he released the spell.
"Gramps, how could you just do that!? Are you really going to give the Guild Master position to him!?" With an expression of fury and disbelief, Natsu ran to Makarov, hounding him, though he just softly sighed. "I don't really care about the Guild Master position, it's just a name." "Y-You're really giving it-"
"However, I can't give it to Laxus. Anyone but him. He lacks the heart, will, and conviction. He's forgotten the essence of what it means to be a Fairy Tail; I can't pass the torch to someone like him." Seeing Makarov's firm gaze, Natsu heaved a sigh of relief before grinning. "Haha, that's what I'm talking about!"
Not even a second later, a grown from behind the bar came, prompting the two to look at Gajeel, who slowly stood up, a piece of broken metal in his mouth. "Huh, where is everyone?" Swallowing the metal, Gajeel rubs his head while looking around, only to spot Natsu and Makarov in the distance.
"Eh, Gajeel?" "What?" Glaring at Natsu, Gajeel slicks his long, thick, ragged hair back, looking less like a drunkard and more presentable as he approaches the duo. "Where have you been?" "I was asleep behind the bar." Palming his face, Makarov softly mutters under his breath before shaking his head and clearing his throat.
Since Gajeel was missing important information, Makarov spent the next few minutes explaining what was currently happening, causing Gajeel to nod while glancing at the stage, eyeing the petrified woman.
"Natsu and I can't leave, so I'm asking you to defeat the Thunder God Tribe, specifically Evregreen. If you can at least defeat her, the petrification spell should break." As Makarov's solemn voice resounded, Gajeel slowly nodded. "Alright. I'll give it my best shot." With a tone lacking enthusiasm, Gajeel stretched his body and walked to the exit, only to also hit the invisible wall, causing Makarov's expression to twitch while Natsu laughed.
"Hahaha, you seemed so confident before, but now look at you!" "Tch, you want to fight, idiot?" "Huh, I'm already ready for a fight!" Already knowing it was impossible to break, Gajeel gritted his teeth and glared at Natsu, who fired shots back; however, before the two could start fighting, Makarov slammed them into the ground with a solid hit to their heads.
"Stop it, you fools! Now isn't the time for this!" After admonishing his two, easily angered, dragon slayers, Makarov began pacing around a table, pondering how to escape.
"Tch, what about co-big bro? He should be able to deal with the Thunder God Tribe. Where is he?" Gajeel, having missed the earlier problem with Vijeeter, rubs his head while looking at Makarov, though the one to respond was Natsu. "Big bro currently isn't here; he left the city to save Vijeeter. We also don't know when he'll return." With a frustrated sigh, Natsu also rubs his head while sitting down, feeling helpless once more.
However, their conversation happened to spark a thought within Makarov as he suddenly stopped. "Wait. Cooper. Indestructible magic." Widening his eyes in a moment of eureka, Makarov suddenly turned around and raced into the back, prompting Gajeel and Natsu to look at each other before following him.
Taking the stairs down into the basement, Makrov enters the armory and begins to frantically search, making a mess in the process, while the duo stands at the entrance. "Um, Gramps, what are you searching for?" Makarov doesn't respond and continues to search with a single-minded focus, and after a few minutes, he finally finds it. "Yes!"
Emerging from a pile of scattered armor and weapons, Makarov, preciously, as if it were a baby, carries a small, old, dusty lacrima with a faint goldish glow. "Hmm, what is that, Gramps?" "It's one of Cooper's old weapons; he'd use these whenever he took he job he thought was a trap for him."
"Weapon? Big bro doesn't use a weapon." "His body is the only weapon he needs." Gajeel nods in agreement with Natsu, having personally experienced how powerful a weapon Cooper's body was.
"Yes, well, a weapon is a bit of a stretch. He'd carry small lacrima with him, ones he'd overflow with his magic power, causing an explosion." Walking past the duo, Makarov closes the armory entrance and heads upstairs while they follow, Natsu nodding in understanding. "Oh, those things? I remember playing hot potato with those." "You really are a dumbass, aren't you?" "Tsk, I'm still stronger than you." "Huh, says who?"
Ignoring the arguing duo, Makarov steps onto the stage, looking between the girls before settling on Mirajane. "Cooper's magic, Indestructible Magic, nullifies special and unique types of magic; that's one of the reasons why it's so potent. It's why Evergreen's petrification doesn't work on him."
At Makrov's words, Natsu and Gajeel stop arguing and slightly widen their eyes, finally realizing his plan. "But is there enough of Big bros magic power in there? It looks like it's practically empty." "Does anyone here know how to properly use big bros magic?" Listening to Natsu and Gajeel's concern, Makarov stops.
Makarov only knew theoretical knowledge on indestructible magic; he had never used it himself; even if there was enough to free one of them, he might not use it properly. However, their worries were answered as Romeo entered the building.
"Um, hello, anyone here? There are yellow floating orbs in the sky, and I saw some buildings destroyed." Instantly, the trio turns and looks at the nervous Romeo, who quickly spots them. Makarov, knowing Cooper had taught Romeo his magic, quickly stretched his arm using the giant's magic and grabbed him before setting him down beside him.
"Romeo, how good are you at using indestructible magic?" Romeo, taken aback by such a question, looks down at his hands before hesitantly answering. "Um, I-I have trouble properly controlling it, and it requires a lot of magic power, so just after a few times practicing it, I exhaust my magic power."
Hearing Romeo, Makarov lightly nods before handing the small lacrima to him. "That's fine, you don't need to control it. Do you think, by using Cooper's magic power, you can transfer it to Mirajane?" "Um, Mirajane? W-Why is she a statue?" Finally noticing the statues, Romeo looks at them in confusion and slight fear. Prompting Makarov to give a brief explanation.
"... So do you think you can do it? Fairy Tail might rest on your ability." With Makarov, Gajeel, and Natsu intently staring at him, Romeo felt nervous and slight fear, but his love for Fairy Tail was powerful. "Y-Yes, I-I'll do it."
Taking a deep breath, Romeo shifts his focus to Mirajane, who was petrified in her satan soul, and pressed his hand against her thigh while absorbing the small remnants of Cooper's magic power from years ago. Circulating it through his body, he transferred every ounce of it into Mirajane, causing he petrification to start cracking, before suddenly bursting apart, freeing her.
"...Green. Huh, what-where?"