One-Hit Victory

Hearing Laxus say that, Eleven remembered Gray and hurriedly let him go.

Once released, Gray glared at Eleven before looking toward the door as well. Although he didn't know Laxus, the swagger in his step made it obvious he was a big shot. He also seemed to be provoking that bandaged, plaster-cast bastard, so Gray realized in an instant that this was another person he couldn't afford to mess with for the time being. Unlike a certain pink-haired person who might appear in the future, Gray was usually quite sensible and had no intention of provoking Laxus.

But Laxus glanced sideways at Gray, who had just climbed to his feet and was still wearing nothing but a pair of underpants. A look of disgust crossed his face. "Hey, Eleven, where did you find this pervert?"

(〝▼皿▼)--~--Snap!

That was the sound of Gray's reason breaking.

Eleven looked sympathetically at Gray, who lay off to one side with wisps of smoke coming from his mouth after being electrocuted. The underpants that were his only remaining garment were on the verge of being reduced to charcoal and looked ready to crumble and fall off at any moment.

"Hey, hey, hey, Laxus, you're the one bullying a kid!" Unable to stand by, Eleven raised his still-mobile right hand and protested loudly on Gray's behalf, looking like a man whose body was broken but whose spirit remained strong.

Laxus had already put on his headphones. Bobbing his head, he walked past Eleven without reacting to his words. It was impossible to tell whether he really hadn't heard or was pretending not to.

Eleven raised an eyebrow, and an invisible force of telekinesis lifted Laxus's headphones. Then he warned him with a serious expression, "Laxus, it's dangerous to walk around wearing headphones! A train could suddenly appear and run you over!"

(▼皿▼#): "How could that possibly happen, bastard?!"

Laxus flew into a rage again. He couldn't understand it. He'd been in such a good mood after bullying a kid, yet this guy could always make him furious! And this wasn't the first or second time he'd gone on about getting hit by a train. It made no sense and sounded like a curse!

"Maria said so. She can't be wrong!" Eleven looked utterly convinced of his own rightness.

Laxus: (｀Д´)

This was what had happened.

Half a year ago, when Laxus first put on those headphones, Eleven had been so envious that he'd eagerly run out and bought an identical pair to keep up with the guild's "trends."

When he showed them off to Maria at the orphanage, however, she warned him not to wear headphones while walking, or he might get hit by a vehicle.

Maria had actually meant a horse-drawn carriage, but Eleven had a nightmare that night. He dreamed he was walking down the street wearing headphones when a train suddenly appeared and sent him flying.

Eleven had never touched those headphones again, and he'd done everything he could to persuade Laxus not to wear his while walking. He was genuinely afraid Laxus would be sent flying by a train.

"Hey, brat, are you asking for another beating? Huh?"

Veins bulging, Laxus pressed his forehead against Eleven's and bared his teeth, threatening him face-to-face.

"I'm serious! It's dangerous!"

Eleven remained perfectly earnest, letting Laxus press his big face right up against his own and ignoring the threat completely.

Laxus could feel the blood rushing to his head, and the bulging veins on his forehead throbbed painfully. But just as he was about to explode, he suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon. He sighed, stopped paying Eleven any attention, and turned and walked away, looking thoroughly uninterested.

"You've got to be kidding. Laxus didn't lose his temper?"

"Does your stomach hurt?"

The Fairy Tail members standing nearby with beer and fried chicken, ready to enjoy the show, were clearly thrown by the sudden turn of events. It had been about to happen, so how had it suddenly ended?

Eleven stared at Laxus in surprise as well. To be honest, he'd already prepared himself for a fight. Sensing Laxus's lack of interest and disappointment, Eleven leaned close to Cana's ear again.

"Cana, Cana, isn't that how people act when they've had their heart broken? Did someone dump Laxus?"

Cana didn't answer Eleven and simply giggled.

Eleven seemed to be whispering to Cana, but he was speaking at his usual volume, and everyone nearby who could hear him did. The thoroughly bored Fairy Tail members' love of gossip erupted at once. In just three seconds, their speculation had become fact.

"Ah! Who dared break my grandson's heart? Even if she's a young girl, I'll give her a beating!" A thoroughly drunk Makarov was the first to jump up, and he angrily made to run out and beat someone up.

The others hurriedly crowded around and held the master back, assuring him over and over that he shouldn't meddle in young people's affairs. By the end, some were thumping their chests and promising to find Laxus a partner.

"I didn't, I don't, and stop talking nonsense!" Laxus hurriedly roared out three denials in a row.

But no one paid him any attention. They were all busy comforting the master.

"I just couldn't be bothered to bully that cripple, that's all. I really didn't..."

Seeing that the situation had spiraled completely out of control, Laxus broke out in an anxious sweat. Just then, a hand wrapped in plaster landed on his shoulder.

"Laxus, stay strong!"

Eleven was floating behind Laxus, his left hand resting on Laxus's shoulder while his right pulled downward in a gesture of encouragement. His face was full of encouragement.

(▼皿▼#)

"Eleven! You're dead! I'm going to kill you!!"

The open space in front of the Fairy Tail guild was unusually quiet. The Fairy Tail members stood with their mouths hanging open, unable to say a word as they stared in shock at Eleven, who was rolling around on the ground clutching his groin.

One minute earlier.

After considerable effort, Laxus had finally managed to make everyone reluctantly believe that he hadn't had his heart broken and didn't have a girlfriend. Although the misunderstanding had been cleared up, Eleven still had to die. So the two went outside the guild to begin a duel "to the death."

Electricity crackled around Laxus's fists as he said menacingly, "Eleven, I won't go easy on you just because you're injured. Prepare to die!"

Eleven was much calmer. A faint light flickered in his eyes, and he seemed confident of victory. "Sorry, Laxus, but I've won this time."

Makarov acted as though he'd completely forgotten his drunken outburst and eagerly ran over to serve as referee.

"Begin!"

Bang!

The duel was over...

The moment Makarov finished speaking, everyone saw a golden figure fly backward and crash at the far end of the street, unconscious.

Meanwhile, Eleven suddenly swayed and fell from the air. His leg in its plaster cast was jammed against the top of his thigh, and whether or not it had struck somewhere it shouldn't have, the guy who should have just taken Laxus out in one hit was screaming more miserably than anyone, as though he were the one who'd been hit.

"This kid..." Makarov had mostly sobered up by now. He looked at Eleven in bewilderment; even he hadn't realized when Eleven had attacked.

Besides being struck in a vital spot, Eleven had also nearly exhausted his Spiritual Power. His pain was no act.

What he had just used was the same state of super-accelerated mental processing he had awakened while facing Deliora. Now he could enter that state by focusing all his attention, though the acceleration wasn't as complete as before, and it lasted for less than a hundredth of a second in the real world.

But that instant was enough for Eleven to gather his telekinesis into three full-powered attacks. The price was that the same instant also nearly drained his Spiritual Power, which was why he had fallen from the sky.

Excruciating pain came from both his larger and smaller heads, prompting Eleven to immediately designate this move as a final trump card, never to be used unless absolutely necessary.