Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Malba.
February, x782.
The train ride to Malba took nearly an entire day. During the trip's duration, Alfonzo Knocked out Natsu at least four times. And the reason was simple, he was just too noisy. Even with his severe case of motion sickness, the first thing he did every time he woke up was to start shouting. Whether it was at Alfonzo for knocking him out or to complain about how sick he felt, he seemed to be incapable of doing it quietly.
After finally reaching Malba, Alfonzo dragged the still unconscious Natsu off the train. Then, while staying out of the Straus siblings sights, he used a weak electrical shock to wake up the pink-haired Dragon Slayer. Not before stuffing a muffin in his mouth, though.
"*Sigh* I don't know what kind of miracle it was that they never noticed us." Alfonzo muttered while he watched Natsu eat the muffin with gusto. "It's a good thing I never taught Mirajane [Magic Power Detection]. Otherwise, we would have been caught long ago."
On the other hand, Alfonzo also refrained from using [Magic Power Detection] to track the siblings. Although Elfman and Lisanna probably would not have noticed anything if he did, Mirajane's sensitivity to magic power is higher than theirs, so she might have noticed it. And sense everyone in Fairy Tail is familiar with Alfonzo's magic power signature, she would have definitely recognized him in that case.
"Hey, their moving." Natsu said quietly, finally understanding that being too loud will get him knocked out.
"Then, we need to start moving, too." Alfonzo replied, moving in the same direction as the siblings.
Like that, Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna made their way through the city, booking rooms in a hotel at their destination.
Meanwhile, Alfonzo and Natsu followed them from a distance. They, too, booked a hotel room, with two beds, at a hotel different from the Straus siblings. They did, however, choose a hotel with a view of the other hotel's entrance.
That night, Alfonzo and Natsu took turns watching the other hotel's entrance, with Natsu taking the first shift. To Alfonzo's surprise, Natsu did not do anything to blow their cover while he was on watch. Instead, he somehow managed to fall asleep.
"*Sigh* I should have known he wouldn't be able to just sit still for that long." Alfonzo muttered to himself after waking up and seeing Natsu sleeping in a chair near the window closest to Mirajane's hotel.
Dragging Natsu to his bed, Alfonzo used [Magic Power Detection] with the lowest output he could manage. When he noticed that the three siblings were still sleeping, he breathed a sigh of relief. Then, he took a case out of his luggage, carried it over to the chair Natsu was previously occupying, and took a seat.
"Now, I guess I should find a use for this." Alfonzo said as he opened the case.
Inside the case was his no longer useful Automail left arm.
After scanning the arm for exactly how much of each metal was present, Alfonzo made a couple of designs in his head. Then, he started disassembling the arm. First, he removed the metal sand container from the upper arm. Then, he modified its shape. In the end, he turned it into a small waist pouch that he attached to his belt.
With Space expansion sigils and weight reduction sigils, the metal sand container was no heavier than a coin purse.
After that, he removed the spiked rope concealed in the arm's forearm and set it aside.
As far as the remaining materials went, Alfonzo stripped them from the adamantite frame, putting the bearings used for flexibility in his luggage. Then, he started manipulating the adamantite to create the frame for a set of gauntlets.
These gauntlets would only cover just as much as the wrappings he usually wore around his hands, wrists, and forearms. Then, he added the necessary weight reduction sigils. After that, he coated the frames with the orichalcum, making sure to leave a space in the right gauntlet for the spiked rope to be stored while adding a suitable number of space expansion sigils.
"I should probably do the same thing to the left one, too." Alfonzo muttered as he put the finishing touches on the right gauntlet. "Although I don't have the materials to make a rope for it, yet. It would be pretty bad ass to have my own version of the ODM Gear."
Like that, Alfonzo continued working. Eventually, just as Alfonzo finished, the sun began to rise from the eastern horizon. Unfortunately, Alfonzo had to break his habit of getting in some light training first thing in the morning when leaving Magnolia this time.
It wouldn't be good if they lost the Straus siblings while he was training. And he didn't trust Natsu enough to let him tail them without being nearby in case he did something stupid.
So, instead of going to the courtyard to train, Alfonzo ordered some room service. By the time the food arrived, Natsu was just waking up. Then, after they both ate, they noticed Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna leaving the hotel.
"Let's go, Natsu." Alfonzo said, taking note of the direction they traveled in.
With that, the duo dawned their cloaks and hats. Then, they quickly left the hotel and caught up to the siblings. After a walk through the city, they saw the siblings enter city hall.
"Do we have to wait again?" Natsu asked in a whiney tone after he and Alfonzo found a place to watch the entrance to city hall without drawing attention to themselves.
"Did you think we'd follow them into city hall?" Alfonso asked while rolling his eyes.
"I mean, anything is better than waiting around like this, you know." Natsu argued. "Besides, if I sit still for too long, I fall asleep."
"I noticed." Alfonzo said, rolling his eyes again.
"Ooh, I know!" Natsu exclaimed happily. "I just had a great idea!"
"For some reason, I seriously doubt that." Alfonzo said exasperatedly.
'What was I thinking bringing this hyperactive pyromaniac with me?' Alfonzo thought to himself exasperatedly.
"Anyway, let's hear it." Alfonzo muttered while glancing at Natsu.
"We should have a fight until they come out." Natsu said as if he just had the world's greatest idea. "I mean, we're both really sensitive to our surroundings when we fight, right? That means we won't miss them when they leave."
*Smack!*
"I thought you said you weren't stupid." Alfonzo said, sounding tired as he slapped Natsu upside the head. "If we were to fight in the middle of the city, the destruction would be insane. On top of that, as soon as Mirajane and the others left city hall to see the commotion, they would recognize our magic immediately."
"Oww! You could have just said no." Natsu said while rubbing the back of his head where he was hit. "You didn't have to hit me."
"Yes, I did." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "I had to reinforce the point."
Like that, the duo continued to wait and bicker, which made the hour long wait feel much shorter than it actually was. Then, when the Straus siblings eventually came out of city hall, they resumed their trailing.
This time, the siblings ended up leaving the city. Following them from a distance, Natsu's nose started twitching.
"It smells like a strong beast is nearby." Natsu muttered. Then, he looked up into the sky. "And the clouds are moving ominously. I really have a bad feeling about this."
"She probably took the Beast King Subjugation quest that was on the S-Class board." Alfonzo muttered as if he didn't already know which quest she took. "I didn't know the location, though. Otherwise, I would have driven here and left you behind."
'Those clouds look just like what I remember the sky looking like when the anima gate opened.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he glanced up at the sky. 'As long as Lisanna doesn't get hurt, there's a good chance that she won't be pulled through it… I hope.'
"What?" Natsu exclaimed in response. "Why would you do that?"
"Because there is no way I'm taking a chance that you would puke in my baby." Alfonzo said in a matter-of-fact tone.
With some more banter along the way, Alfonzo and Natsu noticed that Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna came to a stop. So, they found a good vantage point and watched them make their final preparations.
"Okay, you two." Mirajane said sternly. "I'll take care of the fighting. You two watch from a safe distance. And make sure you pay attention. Even though we all use different techniques, seeing how I fight the Beast could be a good experience that will help you improve."
"Okay, Big Sis, I'll pay attention." Elfman replied.
"Yeah, we'll get stronger so that you don't have to worry about us so much." Lisanna said, pumping her fist energetically.
IN response, Mirajane allowed a gentle smile to grace her lips. Then, she rubbed Lisanna's head affectionately.
"Silly girl, I'm your big sister." Mirajane said. "I'll worry about you no matter what. But I'll still be happy if you get stronger so that you can protect yourselves better."
Meanwhile, from the place where Alfonzo and Natsu were watching from.
"I didn't know Mira could smile like that." Natsu said with a disbelieving expression on his face. "Now that I think about it, I didn't know she could smile at all."
"Haha.. I know what you mean, Natsu." Alfonzo said with a chuckle. "But her smile is really pretty. Plus, it suits her better than her usual resting bitch face."
As Natsu nodded in response, he and Alfonzo both saw Mirajane's eyebrow and lips twitch.
"What's wrong, Mira?" Lisanna asked, tilting her head to the side.
"I don't know." Mirajane replied. "But I felt like someone was thinking something rude about me. On top of that, I got the urge to punch Natsu for some reason."
"Why are you always so mean to Natsu, Mira?" Lisanna asked with a pout.
*Roar!*
Before Mirajane could respond, a loud, bestial roar could be heard from not too far away. A few moments later, a large creature with long, thick arms, sharp claws, thick red and green fur, sharp fangs, a white mane, and golden horns approached from ahead of the siblings.
"Alright, you two." Mirajane said as she flared her magic power. "Get back and enjoy the show. [Take Over: Satan Soul]."
With her chant, Mirajane was engulfed in dark flames. Then, as the flames flickered out, she was once again revealed. However, this time her appearance had changed.
Mirajane's hair spiked up wildly, she grew a pair of bat like wings, and her attire changed. Now, wearing a very revealing maroon swimsuit-like outfit that exposed most of her breasts and abdomen, she also wore thigh-high , high heeled boots of the same color with black and gold accents that exposed her thighs as well.
On top of that, her forearms down to her hands changed in form, growing larger and were covered in golden gauntlets with long claws. And rounding out all the changes in her appearance was a long, black tail and patterns on the left side of her face, over her left breast, and on her exposed thighs.
As soon as Mirajane's transformation was complete, she spread her new wings and flew toward the Beast at break-neck speed.
From there, a battle that shook the landscape occurred. While the Beast only used its powerful body to fight, Mirajane used not only her trained martial arts, but she also threw around dark magic spells that changed the landscape whenever the Beast avoided them.
The fight went on for nearly two hours. And although Mirajane was never in danger of losing the fight, it was clear that the fight was taking a toll on her. On top of the Beast being more durable than she expected, she had to defeat it without killing it. Although killing it would be much easier, if she did, Elfman would not be able to take over its Beast Soul, making this trip pointless.
Eventually, however, Mirajane was able to knock the Beast unconscious. Though almost all of her magic power had been used up, causing her to revert back to her base form as soon as the battle ended.
"Okay, *Pant* Elfman, Do it. *pant*" Mirajane said, trying to regulate her breathing.
"Okay." Elfman said nervously. Then, he approached the downed Beast with unsure steps.
"Come on, Elfman, you can do it." Lisanna cheered from behind.
A few seconds later, Elfman reached the Beast's body. Then, he placed his hands on its chest.
"[Take Over]." Elfman chanted as the Beast's body began to glow.
A few moments later, Elfman was also covered by the glow. Then, when the glow dispersed, the Beast Mirajane had knocked unconscious, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a new Beast, that somewhat resembled Elfman, was standing where Elfman once stood. This was naturally Elfman after taking over the Beast's soul.
"*Roar!*" Elfman roared as he raised his hands that now sported sharp claws.
"Elfman, you did it." Lisanna cheered as she ran toward her older brother.
In response to Lisanna's cheer, Elfman turned around. However, when he did, Mirajane immediately noticed that something was wrong. She saw that his eyes were filled with cruelty and the thirst for vengeance.
"Lisanna, stay back." Mirajane said while she, who was already closer to Elfman, took a step in front of Lisanna. "Elfman isn't in control right now. The Beast has control of his body."
"But how is that possible?" Lisanna asked with a hint of horror in her tone. "What happened to big brother?"
Although Elfman was significantly stronger than he was in the canon, he still had the same weak will that he did before Lisanna's presumed death. So, just like in the canon version of events, he was unable to subdue the Beast's soul when he performed his [Take Over].
"The Beast's will overwhelmed him." Mirajane said, transforming back into her [Satan Sol] form. "I'll have to either knock him out or keep him occupied until he can regain control."