Battle of Fairy Tail arc

The Fighting Festival arc is the eighth story arc of the Fairy Tail series.

Fairy Tail is partaking in the annual Magnolia Harvest Festival, but Laxus and his personal body guards have other plans besides the festivities. The battle of Fairy tail between friends to determine the strongest, and the battle to prevent Laxus's coup d'etat from taking over their Guild starts now.

Fairy Tail: Renovated
After their vacation, Team Natsu returns and finds that the guild has been completely rebuilt with a new design, including an open-air café, a souvenir shop, a pool, an amusement center, and everbody is now allowed to access the second floor. While the rest of the team is amazed with the new guild, Natsu frets, saying that it's not the same guild. The master then arrives and introduces the group to a new guild member, Juvia Lockser. The team warmly welcomes Juvia and thanks her for her help during their battle in the Tower of Heaven. Makarov is happy with the team's reaction and introduces another new member, Gajeel Redfox. The team is surprised to see the face of their former enemy but Makarov ignores this and tells them that he was only acting of Jose's orders. While Lucy sees Levy cowering at the sight of her former attacker, Natsu approaches Gajeel and begins to argue with him. Despite Gajeel's past, Makarov believes that he is not a bad guy but agrees with Erza that he should be monitored for the time being. The lights are suddenly turned off and Mirajane begins to sing to her guild mates. However, Mirajane is interrupted when Gajeel accidentally stepped on Natsu's foot, causing the two to fight and spark an all-out guild war, which is only stopped when Makarov, knowing that the reporter from the Sorcerer Magazine will be visiting the uild the day after, uses his Titan Magic to scare his "children".

The next day, Lucy prepares herself accurately to be ready for the interview, and Gajeel is shown having tied up and gagged a scared Mirajane, staring at her with a menacing look. As promised, a reporter named Jason arrives to interview the guild members. Seeing that Jason is interviewing all the other guild members and ignoring her, Lucy tries to get his attention by changing into a bunny girl costume, planning to dance at the stage. However, her plan is interrupted by Gajeel, who is revealed to have gotten rid of Mirajane because, wanting to be closer to his new guild mates, begins to sing a song of his own composition called "Best Friend". The events are recorded by an overjoyed Jason whose article causes Fairy Tail's reputation to go worse. A man with a long beard covered in a torn hooded cape is shown getting hold of one of the magazine's copies, and shedding tears while looking at Lucy and pronouncing her name.

After the article about Fairy Tail has been published, Laxus Dreyar, in another town, spots a group of men laughing at Fairy Tail. After seeing Laxus, the group is intimidated and runs off. Laxus then sees Zatô, a member of the Dark Guild Naked Mummy. Zatô begins to belittle Laxus who gets irritated and knocks him unconscious with one attack. After defeating Zatô, Laxus expresses his anger, blaming Makarov for Fairy Tail's bad reputation.

Miss Fairy Tail
After returning to the guild, Lucy is trying to look for a job that she can do by herself, since Gray is ordered to accompany Juvia, Erza is getting her armor repaired, and Natsu is still feeling the effects of eating Etherion. Lucy has a possible job contract stolen away by Gajeel before she can reach it, something which makes her angry, with the Iron Dragon Slayer laughing the matter off boldly and leaving. Gajeel is later confronted by Jet and Droy. Angered that Gajeel has joined the guild, Jet and Droy begin to attack him, while Levy tries to tell them to stop from the sidelines. Jet and Droy continue to assault him while Gajeel refuses to defend himself. Just as the two stop to ask him why he isn't attacking, Laxus arrives and begins to brutalize Gajeel too, blaming him for destroying Fairy Tail and ruining the guil's reputation. As Laxus attacks Gajeel with his Lightning Magic, Jet, Droy and Levy try to stop him, after realizing that Gajeel didn't defend himself since he wanted to be recognized as their comrade. Irritated by the team, Laxus sends a bolt of lightning at them. As it is about to hit Levy, Gajeel shields her with his body, much to everyone's surprise. Gajeel then leaves, saying that he has work to do. An angry Laxus leaves as well and, with his tolerance at its limit, promises to himself that he will have Fairy Tail.

In Lucy's apartment, after a comedic incident which sees the girl enters her bed while Natsu and Happy are sleeping in it, she' informed of Miss Fairy Tail Contest, a female beauty contest which will grant the winner 500.000, and decides to take part. Elsewhere, the Dark Guild Ghoul Spirit is annihilated by three Fairy Tail Mages, Freed Justine, Bickslow and Evergreen, revealed to be the Thunder God Tribe, Laxus' personal team, which readies to return to Magnolia for an unspecified plan machinated by their leader, who's seen waiting for them in town, claiming that Makarov's age is over. In the meantime, Makarov himself is making preparations for the Fantasia parade alongside Mirajane. When the woman comments that it would be good for Laxus to join in, since she has been told by Levy that he's in town, Makarov remembers when Laxus was younger, a kind boy who was proud of his grandfather and wanted to join Fairy Tail, and wonders what changed him and made him his current self.

The Festival final begins, and the first event is the Miss Fairy Tail contest, with Lucy hurrying ttowards it and Juvia being revealed as a participant too. Max Alors acts as the announcer, and presents the countestants one after another: Cana Alberona, Juvia, Mirajane, Erza Scarlet, Levy, Bisca Mulan and finally Lucy. However, as the latter is on the stage, Evergreen suddenly appears, claiming to be the rightful winner, and turns Lucy to stone through the use of her Stone Eyes, revealing to have done the same to all the other participants, much to everyone's dismay.

Battle of Fairy Tail
Laxus and the rest of the Thunder God Tribe appear too before the shocked eyes of the other guild members. Laxus states that they'll be playing a game to decide who's the strongest in Fairy Tail, and that the petrified girls will be kept as hostages, to prevent their guildmates from breaking the rules. Natsu, pumped and by no means shocked or afraid, seems to approve, readying for battle.

Natsu, excited, charges towards Laxus, but he's struck and knocked unconscious by his lighting in a moment. Evergreen goes on to explain that their fellow Fairy Tail Mages will have to find and defeat Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe in three hours, or the girls will be killed. The battlefield shall be the entire town of Magnolia. Having announced these things, the four opponents disappear, and their guildmates start leaving the place, rushing around to search for them in town. Makarov tries to leave as well, but finds himself incapable of doing so, with the area having been previously surrounded by one of Freed's enchantments, preventing those older than 80 years from leaving. Makarov is then forced to remain behind while his "children" search for the opponents. The Master asks Reedus Jonah, who remained behind, being afraid of Laxus, to find Porlyusica in the East Forest, since she may have a cure for petrification.

In that very moment, Natsu wakes up, and, spurred by Makarov to go and defeat Laxus, finds it impossible for him to leave due to Freed's barrier, despite it blocking the exit only to those older than 80 years and to stone statues, with Natsu not belonging to any of the two categories.

Meanwhile, the first battle between comrades takes place, with Alzack Connell being forced to fight and defeat Jet and Droy in order to escape one of Freed's barrier and keep searching for the opponents to save his beloved Bisca. Both Laxus and the ones stuck in the Guild are informed of this, with Laxus rejoicing, and the others remaining shocked.

Fights between comrades to escape Freed's enchantments rage on everywhere in town, with Makarov looking on as more than half of Fairy Tail is defeated by internal fights, and Natsu trying to leave the barrier to join the fray, despite still considering Laxus a comrade and a member of their Guild.

Elsewhere, some guild members run across the Thunder God Tribe: Reedus, prevented from leaving the town by one of Freed's enchantments, gets to meet the leader of the Tribe himself; Gray is pitted against Bickslow, and, after a brief battle, Evergreen defeats Elfman. This causes more shock upon Makarov.

As Reedus is easily defeated by Freed, Laxus, through the use of a Thought Projection, appears before Makarov, Natsu and Happy. He expressess wonder to the fact that Natsu actually think he's bluffing about killing the prisoner girls, and says that, with both Natsu and Erza out of the way, none can stand up to his Thunder God Tribe. The others object that there's still Gray, and state Laxus shouldn't underestimate him. Gray is shown fighting Bickslow in a shop, with none of them managing to gain the upper hand on the other. Having revealed that, through his Seidhr Magic Human Possession, he can freely change the "containers" for the souls he employs in battle, Bickslow runs away, forcing Gray to chase after him.

Bicklows manages to draw Gray in an alleyway, where one of Freed's barriers is revealed, preventing those inside it from using Magic. Gray, unable to use Ice-Make, suffers heavy damage from the blasts Bickslow's dolls fire to him from the outside, and, despite managing to land a punch on Bickslow, he's defeated, much to the dismay of Makarov, Natsu and Happy, and the joy of Laxus.

With Gajeel nowhere to be seen to fight, Makarov surrenders to Laxus, asking him to stop the whole thing. Laxus, however, says that, in order to end the battle, Makarov has to resign his position of Guild Master in his favor, stating that he has just an hour and a half left to do so, before the petrified girls crumble to dust. Laxus states all Makarov has to do is to give the announce to the loudspeaker, and, when Natsu tries to attack his Thought Projection, it disappears.

Makarov claims he wouldn't have problems giving up his title, but that Natsu isn't ready for it yet. Gajeel suddenly shows up and readies to go after Laxus, but, much to his and everyone's dismay, finds himself incapable of passing through Freed's barrier too. Elsewhere, Evergreen is shown having defeated a large amount of Fairy Tail members. Bickslow defeats Nab Lasaro and another guildmate, claiming that he hasn't weaklings for comrades. Freed appears before an injured Alzack. The latter, angered, uses Guns Magic: Tornado Shot against Freed, but the opponent easily cuts through it with his sword, and then defeats him due to the conditions of one of his barriers, this being to deprive those who use Magic inside it of oxygen.

With only two people (Natsu and Gajeel) left, but confined within the barrier, Natsu thinks they should depetrify Erza, believing he could do so with his fire, much to the others' alarm. He opens up a crack on Erza's petrified face, but the results are good, as the girl is then freed from her stone prison, with her Magical eye having absorbed half of the offending Magic. This way one more fighter for Fairy Tail joins the fray, rapidly followed by another: Mystogan makes his appearance as well, readying to take part in the battle.

Fairy Battle: The Queen vs The Wannabe
With the appearance of Erza and Mystogan, Laxus comments that makes the three top Mages of Fairy Tail. While running around, Erza is confronted by Evergreen, who express wonder at her having gotten free, and states that her calling herself "Titania" greatly irritates her, the "true" queen of the fairies. The two start fighting, with Evergreen bombarding Erza with her Fairy Magic and Erza dodging and counter-attacking with her swords. Evergreen believes to have gained the upper hand due to the immense amount of needles produced by her Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun, but Erza starts wielding a pair of swords, in addition to the two she's already using, with her toes, managing to pin her opponent to a wall. When Evergreen states that, through her Stone Eyes, she could potentially destroy the petrified girls remotely, and demands that Erza prostrate naked before her, Titania instead requips her Heaven's Wheel Armor and a vast amount of her weapons, claiming that, if her friends are to be killed, at least she'll avenge them. This reveals Evergreen was bluffing, and the girls are turned back to normal. Laxus is shown to be enraged.

Laxus angrily wonders why Evergreen lost, and Freed, having said that either he or Bickslow should have confronted Erza, says that, with the hostages freed, the game is over. Laxus intimidates him with a lighting attack and states it's not over, telling Freed not to chicken out now, as he'd have no place in his guild for such weaklings. Back at Fairy Tail, the depetrified girls are seen talking with the others in an atmosphere which gets more and more relaxed. However, such relax is broken by the former communication from Laxus, through the use of Freed's enchantments, that, to keep the game from ending, he has activated the Thunder Palace, which will activate in an hour and ten minutes. This makes Makarov ill, and the Master is tended to by his "children". However, Mirajane calls them out and shows what the Thunder Palace is: an enormous amount of thunder-filled lacrima orbs, capable of creating a lighting storm strong enough to destroy the whole Magnolia. Bisca Mulan requips a sniper rifle and takes down one orb, but is then electrocuted and knocked unconscious through the Living Link Magic casted on the orbs, which make everyone who attacks them feel the blow as well. An enraged Natsu cries for Laxus to stop and tries to get out of Freed's barrier, while Laxus says that's a battle, and won't be over until one side is obliterated. Levy suddenly appears, saying that, due to Freed's Magic being written, she might find a way to nullify the barrier, allowing Natsu and Gajeel to go after Laxus.

Lucy and Loke: The Unbeatable Tag Team
While Levy works to decipher Freed's Magic in order to nullify the barrier, Laxus angrily orders Freed, who believes they have gone too far, to take care of Cana and Juvia, to which Freed reluctantly agree. Erza is tricked by Evergreen into entering a male bath, believing Laxus to be there. Cana and Juvia are seen searching around for Laxus, while Lucy and Happy try thinking of a way to evacuate the town without scaring the citizens. In that moment, Lucy is assaulted by Bickslow's dolls, being saved from their beams at the last moment by Happy.

Bickslow appears on top of a nearby building, and, having exchanged words with Lucy, has his dolls start attacking her again. Lucy summons Sagittarius, who destroys Bickslow's dolls. Despite initially feigning despair, Bickslow reveals that the building he's standing on is a toy shop, and four toys he emplants with his souls force Sagittarius to retreat and then steal Lucy's other keys, rendering her helpless before their subsequent Baryon Formation. However, Lucy is saved by Leo's sudden arrival, with the Celestial Spirit having forced open his gate to save his beloved owner. The two ready to fight Bickslow.

After Leo and Bickslow have exchanged words, with the latter stating that he knew Leo was a Celestial Spirit, the battle continues: Bickslow's dolls attack them, but Leo takes them on, and Lucy, with Happy's help, rapidly reaches Bickslow and manages to hit him with her whip. Bickslow resolves to remove his visor, revealing his Figure Eyes, which allow him to turn the ones who look in his eyes into dolls and to control their souls. This forces his opponents to close their eyes, leaving them open for Bickslow's dolls to attack them. When Leo suggests Lucy send him away to summon forth Horologium and shield herself, Lucy answers that she, aside from not having her keys anymore, she trusts him, which prompts Leo to use his Lion Brilliance, emitting intense light from his body, which forces Bickslow to momentarily close his eyes. Lucy takes advantage of the moment as she's told by Leo, using her whip to grab Bickslow's neck, allowing Leo to defeat the second member of the Thunder God Tribe with his Regulus Impact, stating that Lucy granted him strength with her love.

After the battle, Leo gives Lucy back the keys stolen by Bickslow's dolls. Meanwhile, Levy manages to decipher Freed's enchantment, and opens a path to the outside for Natsu and Gajeel, who ready to join the battle. Meanwhile, Mirajane runs into the injured Elfman and, as she helps him on his feet, starts crying and begging for his forgiveness for never fighting alongside him and the others, to which he says her smile after battles is more than enough. Cana and Juvia instead meet Freed, and, running after him, are trapped inside one of his barriers, with this one allowing exit only once one of them will be unable to fight. Juvia turns heerself into water and, while seemingly willing to attack Juvia, she instead strikes the Thunder Palace's orb above her, severely injuring herself and thus dispelling the barrier. She states that she din't want to injure a comrade, wanting to be acknowledged as a member of Fairy Tail, which prompts Cana to tearfully recognize her as such. Juvia passess out, with Freed surprised by the fact that she chose a comrade over herself, and Cana readies to fight him while screaming out his name in anger and crying.

Satan's Descent: The Demon Mirajane
Natsu is shown searching around for Laxus, while Gajeel instead is seen communicating through a Shikigami with an unspecified "Master", stating that, once he's done with Laxus, he'll also have to take care of Natsu and the whole Fairy Tail. Meanwhile, Elfman and Mirajane reach the place where Cana is fighting Freed, and witness the former's defeat at Freed's hands. As Elfman readies to fight, Freed claims that, having already lost to Evergreen, he has no right to continue the game, before starting to torture him with his Dark Écriture, with Mirajane crying and begging him to stop. As Freed readies to finish Elfman off with Dark Écriture: Death, Mirajane remembers Lisanna's death, and, not willing to let another beloved sibling of her die, manages to use again her Take Over, Satan Soul. She then attacks Freed, and readies to engage him in an aerial battle.

After a short confrontation which sees Mirajane keep the upper leg, Freed, claiming that "only a demon can master a demon", uses the forbidden spell Dark Écriture: Darkness, turning into a demon himself, and managing to clash evenly with Mirajane. However, when he throws her flying into the river below, Mirajane uses the river's very water to perform a powerful attack on Freed, which is seen even from guild members afar. With Freed human again, injured and incapable to continue the fight, Mirajane readies to finish him off with a mighty punch, but, remembering Lisanna's face, stops before hitting him, and reverts to her human form. She goes on to say that they are comrades, despite him replying that his only comrade is Laxus. She adds, with tears in her eyes, that if Freed reached out his hand, he'd find someone right at his side. Freed burst into tears, regretting what he did and saying that he didn't want to, and he's consoled by Mirajane, who hopes they'll enjoy the Harvest Festival together next year. Elfman and Cana are shown to be ok, with the former carrying an unconscious Juvia.

With Freed's defeat, only Laxus remains to face Natsu, Gajeel, Erza and Mystogan.

Clash at Kardia Cathedral
At Fairy Tail's building, Levy is thinking about what should be done while Porlyusica shows up, demanding to see Makarov. Once before the unconscious Master, she tells Levy to bring Laxus there, as Makarov hasn't got long left to live, with tears in her yes, much to Levy's extreme shock and dismay.

Meanwhile, Laxus reminisces the time when he angrily confronted Makarov, saying that, being his grandson, he never gets proper credit for anything. He also demanded to know why Makarov had excommunicated his father from the Guild, and then went on to say that he would have surpassed him, to prove himself a man in his own right. As he's thinking about such things, Mystogan makes hia appearance. Laxus is happy to see him, being willing to fight him to decide who's the strongest Mage in Fairy Tail, and the two clash.

Mystogan proceeds to use his Skyscraper spell on Laxus, who however easily reveals it as an illusion and breaks it.

Mystogan is the first to come face-to-face with Laxus. Holding the same amount of magic power, they would surely end up tearing each other apart were it not for Erza and Natsu's arrival, during which Mystogan's face is accidentaly revealed. He then disappears to avoid giving further explanations.

The Three Dragons
When Erza leaves the Cathedral to stop the Hall of Thunder, Natsu is left to fight alone against Laxus' overwhelming power. A split second away from meeting his brutal demise, he is saved by Gajeel and they reluctantly team up. The real fight begins now. Even fighting side by side, they barely manage to land a few attacks on Laxus before he reveals himself as a third (though artificial) Dragon Slayer. Giving Natsu and Gajeel a taste of his true power, he proceeds to kill all guild members with the uber-magic Fairy Law, but it fails because he apparently doesn't see them as real enemies. Natsu gets up and attacks Laxus once again, and even after being pummeled to the floor repeated times, he refuses to stay down. The enraged Laxus uses his last magic reserves in a powerful attack capable of killing Natsu, but it's redirected by Gajeel who uses himself as a lightning rod. With a multitude of Dragon-slaying attacks, Natsu finally manages to finish Laxus off.

The Tearful Judgement and The Fantasia Parade
Laxus, wrapped in bandages, returns to the guild and meets his grandfather at the nursery room. After a valuable lesson concerning what a guild is truly meant to be, Makarov excommunicates Laxus, his tears reflecting the grief on his heart for having no other choice. Later that day, during the Fantasia parade, Laxus is seen watching the event from a distance. His grandfather then raises his hands up in the air, followed by all of Fairy Tail's members; His symbolic gesture shows Laxus that, even after all the trouble he has caused, everyone will always be watching over him. Bursting into tears of regret, he walks away...