"And that's for ruining our town jackass!" Natsu yelled as punched out another one of the invading soldiers. He had been fighting these thugs, but they never seemed to end. Every time he punched out a whole group there would be another waiting for him. It had been this way for two hours, constant punching out weak front line soldiers that were way below his level. But there were so many it didn't matter that they were so weak.
"Natsu, incoming!" Happy warned before the sound of another force of soldiers came charging forward down the street to Natsu. The Fire Wizard sighed… these guys were making fighting boring. They could be beaten with flick of his finger. At least the jerks back at the guild could take and give a punch. It took no time at all to finish off the incoming group. "Wow… that's like the hundredth group you've beaten Natsu."
"I know right, I'm getting tried. These guys are weak but…" Natsu couldn't help but feel winded. He had been fighting for hours and he hadn't had anything to eat. These Holy Order guys had been using some kind of White Fire in the beginning but Natsu never had a single bite of it. Something deep within him screamed at him to stay far away from the holy fire of these soldiers. So without even a small break or a bite to eat he was feeling like he was barely able to stand.
"Natsu… you need to stay awake. The battle isn't over yet." Happy cried as Natsu began to wobble from the exhaustion. But Natsu just began grumbling about how hungry he was. "Oh no… he's really getting low."
"That is the point demon cat!" Happy turned around to see at the end of the street a tall heavily armored knight in golden armor. He pulled out his sword, gleaming in black and gold, and pointed it down to the two groups of fallen soldiers that Natsu had beaten minutes earlier. "Get up men! By all that is right and good you are soldiers of the most holy of orders! Do not fall before this villainy!" As the man spoke, a spectral white mist came off his sword and floated over to the downed soldiers. One by one the soldiers began getting back up, although it was clear that their movements had severely been dampened and made sluggish.
"I'm not a demon! And what did you just do to those guys, we already beat them!" The blue floating cat yelled out at first in irritation but then in fear. Natsu was already losing strength from the constant fighting and now this guy showed up and made all of Natsu's work pointless.
"You are no creature of nature… such lies and trickery will not work on a noble knight such as myself. For I am Sir Cedric the Cleanly! I have no other purpose in life but to cleanse this world of evil and laziness." Both Natsu and Happy sweatdropped at that last part. "And I have done nothing but ignited the spark of righteous back in these men's' hearts. They are members of the Shining Justice, and so should never fall in battle to scum like you or your guild of filthy demon worshipers."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Natsu grumbled as he fought the weariness that was overshadowing him. "You assholes came and picked a fight with Fairy Tail… that's the last you'll ever do." He growled but the fury that he was feeling in his soul wasn't carried by his voice.
"Heretic words are of little meaning to me boy." Sir Cedric scoffed, dismissing Natsu as nothing but a child that was guilty of crimes of the soul and righteousness. "We will drown you in our blades, we will never stop rising above our failures, for evil will never beat good because good is in the hearts of all me… AH!" Sir Cedric screamed as he was hit from behind by a black stream of Darkness hit him from behind sending him to the ground.
"Would you just shut up already!" Natsu and Happy looked over the groaning body of the knight and saw Mira already in her primary Satan Soul form. "Because from what I got, you're the reason why this battle has been going on so long. You keep getting the dumbasses we beat the shit out of back up and into the fight." Mira was anything but pleased at this little invasion that this Holy Order had been carrying out. For one thing, the soldiers kept calling her all sorts of names that stuck around the theme of demon whore. But what really pissed her off was that she was pretty damn sure that they had come for either her or Aizen. "Natsu! Why the fuck are you just standing there? We beat this guy and the battle is basically over. We've already beaten them several times over."
"Beat me! Never!" Sir Cedric called you as he jumped back up on his feet. All three of the Fairy Tail wizards a little shocked that he could move so effortlessly under all that armor. "I Sir Cedric the Cleanly will never be beaten by such rabble." He said before looking to Mira. "YOU! You must be the demon that our men saw earlier. My order of my Lord Sparkle…" Neither Mira or Natsu hid their laughter at that name. "… we shall smite you!" Sir Cedric roared as he pointed his sword toward where Mira stood. The next thing she knew there were several soldiers all swinging their swords down toward her. She simply just dodged by flying up into the air. "Men I call to you! Fire all arrows at that harpy!" Cedric ordered and his sword glowed white, nothing seemed to happen and this confused Mirajane, none of the risen soldiers were archers. But then she felt something hit her and it only took a small glance back to see several arrows had hit her back. It was only thanks to the enhanced endurance of her Satan Soul that she wasn't gravely injured. But the Holy Magic that was imbued in the arrows was certainly burning the half-demon. "Fire!" At that she didn't know how but another volley was coming. She speed back down to the ground, kicking one of the soldiers Natsu was weakly fighting as she landed.
"What the hell Natsu… you should have no problem with these guys." Mira accused as she swiftly knocked out one of the footmen out with a barely powered punch. When the battle had begun these guys could take a few hits but the longer they fought the weaker they became.
"He's been fighting too much… and none of the fire that these guys use Natsu has eaten." Happy informed Mira. Even the small blue cat was effectively fighting the soldiers.
"Nope… that fire smells really really bad. Not going let that… eh… I want to go to bed." Natsu groaned, he was more sleep fighting than actively doing so. Mira could understand Natsu's apprehension to the Holy Fire that the Shining Justice Order was so fond of. Just being near the stuff wanted to make Mirajane puke. But she had a reason, her half demonic nature made her weak and adverse to anything holy but Natsu was just… Natsu. Human with some Draconic traits.
"Fine… I guess I can give you a little pick me up, Satan Soul Ifrit." At that Mirajane changed out her primary Satan Soul. After a small flash of light Mira had changed; her body was covered and bands of ashen colored wrappings, two hours had sprouted from her head. her feet, hands, shoulders and neck were covered red stony scales, a ripped flowing robe covered her lower body and chest but… barely. But the most notable change was the fact her hair was now on fire.
"Wow… Mira's looking really hot." Happy exclaimed not realizing the joke he had made. Mira ignited her hand and shot a blaze of bright yellow and orange fire toward Natsu. Engulfing him in the flames.
"You show your true colors demon! Turning on your own followers, such betrayal, such treachery! Just like a demon!" Sir Cedric called out much to Mirajane's annoyance. The knight then watched as the fires were slowly being draw into the boy that had been hit. Then he watched as it looked like they were being eaten by the boy. "What sort of devilry is this?"
"OH YEAH!" Natsu roared as he consumed the fire Mira had provided him. "Now I got a fire in my belly." Natsu savagely grinned as he felt his power return back to him. "Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu roared and a torrent of fire exploded down the street burning everything in its path to a char. Mira didn't even try to dodge, while in her Ifrit Soul form fire never burned her. If anything the flames were a friendly tickle than an actual burning sensation. But the same couldn't be said for the Holy warriors of the Shining Justice Order. They all fell to the ground and it looked like they weren't going to be getting back up again. "Yes! Finally…" Natsu started but stopped at seeing Sir Cedric hiding behind two of his men.
"That doesn't seem all that good and pure. Using your men like human shields." It was the hypocrisy that got under Mira's skin. Not so much the act itself. But if this guy was going to on and on about how good and righteous he was than he should act like it in the moments it really mattered. Not just when he could do it to look the part.
"Nonsense! These brave men came to my aid all on their own. To doubt that is to belittle their heroic actions!" Sir Cedric boomed as he pushed aside the two burned men. None of the Fairy Tail wizards believed that for a second. The soldiers were already half dead so it wasn't like they could move in front of Cedric in time without him doing something. Plus… there was something off about the level of power he had over his subordinates.
"He's got to be using some type of magic on them." Mira thought as Cedric began walking toward the two. She was sure that there was something going on, but she had never heard of a type of magic like this. She had heard of some magic that gave people control over others but that didn't quite fit what was happening. "Are you finally going to fight us yourself or are going to send… oh wait… you're out of dudes." She mocked but scowled when all the knight did was chuckle darkly.
"Stand back up my men! Our duty is not yet done!" He yelled as white mist began wafting off the blade of his sword. The mist crawled over the street once again and to the wizards' shock and horror, the soldiers began getting back up.
"What are you doing! Any more fighting and these guys are going to die!" Natsu raged at what the knight was doing. There was trying to help your comrades get back into a fight and then there was forcing people that couldn't fight anymore back into a meatgrinder. This man was in charge of these soldiers, and he didn't gave a damn about them at all.
"Warriors of truth and justice shall never die to the likes of you." Cedric said with a manic look of conviction in his eyes. There was no talking to this man, Mira, Natsu and Happy all realized this. His fanatic belief was blinding him to the suffering his men were under… or at least that was what they hoped. The alterative was that he just didn't care so long as what he saw as evil was beaten. "Through my power granted to me by this blade, The Discipliner, I have instilled conviction and order in my men's hearts. They are the most effective fighting force in the lands, neat and efficient! All evildoers will be squashed under their mighty boots into the muddy grave where they belong." He called out as a force of half dead soldiers all shambled their way towards the Fairy Tail wizards.
"That's so cruel." Happy cried covering his mouth in horror at what was happing before him.
"This bordering on necromancy at this point." Mirajane mumbled as she took a good look at the footmen slowly making their way toward them. Their faces were sunken in, their eyes dead to the world with no sign that there was a mind behind them, their movements were clearly forced like something was puppeting them. But she could hear small gasps of pain and torment, it was clear that they were still alive but far from willing. But she had picked up on what the knight had said. "Natsu! Its his sword, if we can get it away from him we can end this!" Mira yelled to her fellow guild member as she pulled out a long whip of fire from her hand. With a sharp crack a wall of fire burst between them and the encroaching soldiers. Even if they weren't in full control of their actions they still seemed to respond to the idea of immediate self-preservation as they all stopped short of the fire wall.
"Your pathetic and cowardly tactics won't save you demon!" Cedric roared as he held up his sword to the sky. "Come my brave men of Shining Justice, come and smite this evil in my and Lord Sparkle's name!" Once he had given the order the sounds of running could be heard from behind the Wizards. They turned saw several battle groups charging around the ends of the street and then toward them.
"Great… he called for reinforcements." Natsu grumbled. These guys were annoying to fight. He wanted the big stupid jerk controlling them. He knew what he needed to do, but he really didn't want to. "Uh… Mira, can you handle these guys… so I uh… can take out… the…big guy?" He asked fearfully as he knew that it was likely that Mirajane would want him all to herself.
"No way!" Mirajane shouted as she grabbed Natsu and then threw him at the incoming horde of soldiers. "You handle those punks while I get the jackass screwing with our guild." She said turning back to end of the street where Cedric was standing.
"Demon filth, your kind will be purged from Earthland. Onward my men, fear not the flames. Your bodies are made of stronger stuff than anything this demoness could create!" He said with a dramatic swing of his blade and to the Fairy Tail wizard's continued disgust, the soldiers began walking through the wall of fire. So instead of letting this moron kill these poor souls, Mira dispelled the fire as she dashed forward. Hopping on top of the helmets as she made her way above and past the battle group and toward Cedric. "Pikes!" He ordered with a small bit of panic as he watched the fire demoness come for him. He was quickly surrounded by a wall of men all holding out pikes ready to skewer anything that approached through the air.
"Blaze Whiplash!" With another crack of her whip of fire she was able to disorganize the pike formation with a firestorm scattering the soldiers. Each of them running around like lit chickens. Mira dropped to the street and readied herself for a fight with the knight only to find he had run off. "And he called me a coward." She grumbled as she looked around for any sign of him. Mira caught a brief glimpse of his golden armor before he rounded a corner. "There you are." A savage smile grew across her face as she began her hunt. She fired off a blast of fire, propelling herself onto the rooftops. Her Ifrit Soul lacked any manner of flight and right now she wasn't going to lose her prey with a moment to change into something that did. She was quickly was tailing him form the rooftops, pretty sure he was unaware. "Let's just end this…" Mirajane thought as she jumped forward and landed right in front of Cedric. "Where do you think your going sir knight?" She asked sweetly but the predatory aura she had around her told the truth about her plans for the knight.
"I uh… my lord Sparkle requires my aide!" He said far to fast for it to be true. The looked of fear on his face was not well hidden by a mask of superiority. "Now hurry and fall so that I may do so. I cannot let my lord Sparkle be waiting."
"That is just so pathetic." Mira commented as the whip in her hand vanished and was replaced by a pair of flaming claws. "Both you and your master, who the fuck goes by Sparkle? That is by far the worst name I have ever heard." She said before pouncing forward toward the knight, who just barely dodged a grave wound. But it was in exchange of a minor yet no less painful hit to the leg.
"AGH! You… you little demon whore… you will pay for this!" He screamed as he clumsily swung his blade at her. Which she evaded effortlessly.
"You know… when you recovered from my first attack so fast… I was sure you were a great fighter. That with how easy you seem to move in that heavy armor seemed to confirm what I thought. But then you went out of your way to avoid fighting us directly at ever fuckin' turn." She mocked as she continued to play with her opponent. Without his goons he was nothing. He swung right and left, all without any skill or grace. Mirajane was used to fighting a true knight with actual skill in her craft. This poor bastard was a insult to the name swordsman. "And now… yeah… all your good for is sucking up to your boss and throwing the lives of other better men in front of you."
"SHUT UP!" He raged as he took his last swing only for it to critically fall and for him to fumble it into the street. Cedric tugged at the impaled blade but it would not leave the cobblestone street.
"Aw… that's just so sad." Mira giggled at the utter impotence that was the man in front of her.
"I… can not do this… but I will not fail in my duty." He mumbled as he fell to his knees in front of hi sword. "Evil of your kind will be purged from this land… our master has declared it so. By his name…" Cedric wasn't able to finish his prayer as Mira knocked him out with a hard kick to the back of his head.
"I have no idea what you were planning but the air was starting to get sickeningly filled with holy power." Mira growled before she looked to the blade that had given this lump of a fool all his power. She went to grab it so that the guild could later hand it over to the Magic Council, but it vanished in a deafening boom and flash of light. "WH! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" Mirajane yelled as her hearing had been impaired by the sound of the sword vanishing.
The future Overlord hung over the street from the roof like a small gargoyle. His glowing yellow lizard like eyes darting back and forth as he kept track of the explosions and sparks of magic in the town. The battle was waning, in favor of the Fairy Tail guild and the town's small royal army presence that was here mostly to watch Fairy Tail and reinforce the fact that this was part of Fiore. But there was still a great threat to the failure of the Holy Order's invasion. And that was the master of the Holy Order.
"You need to find this Lord Sparkle. That… power… that incapacitated the guild master has not been seen since. Likely it is from the ringleader." The Armored Specter said as he loomed over Aizen. His voice unflinching in his use of the stupid name, a feat that Aizen thought impossible for any sane or Evil person.
"Yeah yeah… what do you think I've been doing for the past two hours." Aizen grumbled as he shifted back into a shadow and phased down to the street. He remained in shadow form as he flowed through the street and neared the town's edge. The lone shadow continued to move unseen until he came to an army camp that was being quickly packed back up. All around were tents that had been set up the day before, exactly how thorough was this attack going to be was a question on Aizen's mind. This was a camp that was set up for a full siege, were they just trying to flex their muscles here or did they actually expect the sleepy town of Magnolia to have a real military threat.
"Get this stuff away and ready to be moved. Lord Sparkle has called for a full retreat." One of the soldiers yelled out as many of his fellows did as told. Aizen watched from in the shadows as men packed up several interesting things. Three trebuchets were the biggest of those interesting things he saw.
"Now those… could be useful." He said as he phased out of the shadow with a greedy look in his eye. His hand glowed bright blue as he sent a mental command for some of his Thralls and a Branded to come at once. He would need to take these trophies quickly before they were noticed by his guild and any authorities.
The trebuchets were a prize simply because military equipment like them were highly watched and regulated by the government. Holy Orders barely were able to get away with having things like them because they were supposedly used for attacking large bastions of Evil like necropolises, large camps of monsters, or demon infested castles. Aizen knew that while he had no use for them now, they could come in handy and it was better to steal them now than have to find plans for one to steal later.
"Demon!" Aizen heard someone yell and in nearly a second later he was surrounded. A circle of soldiers all pointing their spears at him with either hate or fear in their eyes. He had to suppress a sigh at the poor judgement of these fools. But at the end of the day Thralls didn't need to be smart.
He phased back into the shadows and before any of the soldiers could understand what just happened he jumped out behind them. Mid-air the God Slayer kicked the helmeted head of one of the footmen and sent him crashing into his comrade next to him. And caused a chain reaction that sent half the guards tumbling back to the ground. Before the other half could react, they were blinded by a snapping blue light. Aizen held his Evil Presence on them long enough for the Domination to full enthrall their minds. He finished just in time to turn to the other side as the solider he had just attack began running away from the demon. And just like before it didn't take long to enthrall them as well.
"Everything is gray and pointless."
"I don't feel nothin' no more."
"Command me my lord." They all were just as the other thralls. Waiting to be given orders in service to their Overlord. Aizen just gave them general orders to continue to pack things up but to be ready for when the rest of his thralls arrive. The future Overlord then shifted back into the shadows and continued to snipe the rest of the camp into becoming his thralls. None of the soldiers looked to be any real worth so he didn't get any Branded. That was until he found two of the three people he was looking for.
"It would seem that you have found the guild master and his abductor." The Armored Specter commented as Aizen looked down from the peek of the single trebuchet that hadn't been packed up yet. "One Sir Dickon, he seems to have a certain strength to him. And it is so nice to turn the champions of good to your side."
"Yeah but… branding him would be so… quick. If I'm corrupting anyone like that it will be slow and with mind games rather than just popping my hand on his face." Aizen responded but he wasn't against the idea of taking the knight for himself… if it wasn't for Master Makarov being right there. The small elderly man was outside a large tent on a chair, still under whatever had been done to him. He was helpless and could be handled by anyone without worry.
"This is your chance, Makarov is a man to be feared at this stage. And I doubt that he hasn't gained some idea of what you are." The ghost warned and Aizen frowned at the advice. "After all the time you have spent with him and this guild, you know that under him it will be profoundly difficult to influence the majority of them to Evil. Those closest to you sure… but the rest of them will follow his lead."
"Do you think I don't know that? But I'm not going to do it. He's a threat now but some day I will be the stronger one. And he has shown no sign that he'll out me." Aizen retorted with no small amount of venom. Makarov took him in without any objection and so Aizen felt a debt to the man. Killing him at all felt wrong.
"Only because he has a misguided idea that he can turn you. He can't. Evil is in the blood, you were born to be Overlord."
"And I will be, but I will do it my way." He said before he jumped off of the peak of the siege weapon. In his sights was the might that had taken Makarov. "Shadow God's Vulture Strike!" Aizen impacted with the Knight, his booted foot hitting and knocking off Sir Dickon's helmet. Aizen used the knight's head as a springboard and jumped down to the ground with a victorious smirk on his face, he wasn't going to let up. "Shadow God's Bellow!" The surge of swirling ripping shadows impacted the knight and the tent behind him. Blowing both forward and tumbling many feet away. "Well… that was easy."
"You little asshole!" Sir Dickon raged as he ripped his way out of the tangled mess of the tent that was sent flying with him. "Do you really think you can do some shit like that and get away with it!"
"Yes." Aizen said nonchalantly before sticking his snake like tongue out. "Hey do you know how to fix up our master? Because I really don't think the guild can keep dealing with all the paper work the council sends us with him like this." Aizen said pointing the to the cuteifed Makarov.
"You won't live through this demon so I'm not going to…"
"Shadow God's Leech Strike!" With a shadow enhanced open palm strike Aizen knocked the wind out of the knight's lungs and crushed his armor. Aizen then pulled his hand back as he tore off a piece of Sir Dickon's shadow. "If you are not going to be useful like this than I have other ways of getting what I want." Aizen said before he popped the small piece of shadow into his mouth. He licked his lips at the taste and then looked down at the wheezing knight. His helmet off and his will weakened enough to Dominate his mind. The future Overlord began to reach toward his new servant's face but before his hand reached the knight's face… it was impaled with a long spiral lance. The knight's head, not Aizen's hand.
"Not so fast evildoer!" Aizen scowled as he looked up to see a golden light behind a tall standing man on a white horse. His golden hair flowing in the wind from under his open helmet, pristine golden armor much in the same fashion as the rest of the knights only somehow even more audacious, his eyes almost rainbow in color. He was… in every sense of the idea… an overly glamorized hero. "I do not know what it is you had intended for my noble knight but I shall not let it happen!" Aizen's eye twitched in annoyance for both his casual disregard for his subordinate and the high nasally voice that this hero had.
"So… you decided that killing him… would be best?" Aizen deadpanned and the hero just blew it off like it was nothing.
"That boy was nothing but trouble." He dismissed before refocusing on Aizen. "And you will share his fate demon spawn. I mean look at you… I just have to smite such a clear beast of evil." He said as he took out his sword, it burst into flames. Again… he was the very ideal of hero who thought way too much of himself. "I am the great and amazing Sparkle! I will bring about a glorious age of cuteness and goodness!" Sparkle cheered out as he began charging on his horse toward
"This is the lamest hero I have ever seen." Aizen sighed as phased into the shadows and began circling the charging horse until he had done enough to spook the animal. The horse bucked at the strange phenomenon and Lord Sparkle was on his ass in moments. "Lamest… hero… ever."
"Sparkle Ray!" And out from the Paladin's hand came a rainbow of light that shot towards Aizen. The future Overlord barely escaped the attack having not expected the attack coming. The light seared his shoulder as it made contact.
"Fuck! Damn that fucking hurts!" Aizen cried out as he held his wounded shoulder. He tried to phase back into the ground but found he couldn't fully change his body. Mainly… the shoulder that got hurt. "What… what did that attack do to me?" He groused before he reached and ripped open his shirt to find that his flesh had turned pick and fuzzy. "The fuck did you do to me?!" Aizen raged as he looked back to the gloating hero.
"Yes! Now do you see demon! You too shall be turned fluffy and adorable. As well as helpless. Sparkle Ray!" The hero sung out as he fired another one of his rainbow beams toward Aizen. The Netherspawn hybrid used all his speed and dexterity to move away from the beam. Everything that the multicolored ray hit was instantly turned disgustingly cute, the ground turned into beds of flowers. Perfect for fluffy bunnies to frolic and waiting to be snuggled.
"AHHHHH! It burns! It burns my eyes!" Aizen yelled as he continued to run for his evil life from the ray of sunshine and rainbows. He needed to get some means of distracting the hero. "He's a puffed up do-gooder… hmm… I think I got it." Aizen smiled as he jumped into the few trees that were around the clearing that the army camp had set up on. "Look over there! Some puppies and kittens aren't getting along!" Aizen yelled as he pointed away from his hiding spot.
"No!" Sparkles cried out as he turned around. Ending his Sparkle Ray attack. "You all should be friends… wait… he tricked me. That's not nice or fighting fair. Just leave it to Evil to be so dastardly." Sparkle pouted as he scanned the camp for any sign of the demon child.
"Lamest… fucking… hero… ever." Aizen thought to himself. He wasn't able to phase into the nearby shadows but had always had a good talent for hiding all on his own merits. "My Branded is still a good hour out from here, and thralls will just get hit with that stupid beam of his."
"He might be a irritatingly disappointing hero in term of personality, but he seems to have the threat down right." The Armored Specter said as Aizen peered up and out of the barrel he had hidden himself in. "My suggestion is to engage in close combat. Sneak behind and press your attack. Any chance that you might be pulled back into range get out quickly and repeat what you had done before." Aizen couldn't think of any other way of dealing with this lame hero. He couldn't just wait for someone else from the guild. They might get caught by the goodness beam and he still didn't know how to reverse its effects. Aizen needed to beat this hero on his own… because not only was he attacking the Fairy Tail guild but this was Aizen's first true step in become the Master of Evil. To kill a Hero was a big deal, he just wished his first was someone else. Anyone else.
"Just think about like your ridding the world of evil a truly worthless enemy. I'm doing Evil a favor by killing this dope." Aizen told himself as he quietly snaked his way out from the barrel and made his way to the top of one of the more structured tents that had been set up. He was able to stand on top of it with relative ease. He watched as the hero Sparkle moved between the tents, it was clear that he was slightly confused to the lack of his men around the camp. Aizen smirked, they were either dead or under his control.
"Come on out little demon! Face your fate with what little dignity you have." Sparkle called out as hunted the spawn of evil. It had been so long since he had killed something so truly vile as a demon. The hero smirked, flashing his shining white teeth that almost sparkled in the light of the sun. He then pulled out his sword and blocked the incoming axe blow that the demon had tried to pull from above. "Impressive tactic! But I am no silly little novice. I am the great and mighty Lord Sparkle!" The hero continued to ramble on and on as Aizen delivered several more swings of his battle axe. "You will fail Evildoer! And I shall cover this town in my mighty power of cuteness. Magnolia will be as adorable as its name. For too long as this town hosted a vile and destructive Guild such as Fairy Tail…"
"And I thought it was villains that liked to monolog." Aizen grumbled, but his comment did throw off the hero for a small moment. The Netherspawn's eyes focused on that single moment and took the opportunity. "Shadow God's Specter Spears!" With a step to the shadow of one of the surrounding tents, Aizen sent his magic through and created several long spears of darkness that thrusted toward Sparkle. The hero proved to be a decent combatant and was able to dodge the attack, though not fully. Three of the many summoned spears were able to hit their mark.
"Ooh!" Aizen cringed at the lame way the hero screamed in pain. "W-what… what did you do to me vile fiend!" Sparkle demanded as he felt his strength drop. None of the shadowy spikes did any physical damage but they did something, the hero was sure of that. Because now he felt as if he had run thirty miles without a single break.
"I use Shadow God Slayer Magic. Only a few of my spells do actual damage to your body. When I hit you, that's all me. That's the drawback to Shadow God Slayer magic, it doesn't really help in a direct way. My magic instead steals away pieces of your shadow." Aizen pointed down to Sparkle's shadow on the ground and right where he had been hit by Aizen's spell were three holes in the shadow's body. "So in essence… my magic saps your very soul. Your lifeforce, your stamina. Until it's all gone you're unable to continue fighting."
"This power… its diabolical. Pure Evil!" Sparkle roared and all Aizen could do was chuckle. Throwing words like that was humorous to the future Overlord because… yes… it was. He was stating facts like they were insults because on his side of the moral spectrum they were, but to Aizen it was a different story.
"Big talk from the guy who killed one of his own men to keep him quiet. That's something even I wouldn't do, seems when it comes to scruples I seem to be leading no?" Aizen mocked and the look in Sparkle's eye was… pure undiluted rage. The Hero speed toward Aizen, sword ready and began slicing and stabbing uncontrollably at the Netherspawn hybrid. The hero had begun to attack with such wild speed that a few times Aizen had to manifest the spectral armor around parts of his body.
"I will not be talked down to by a filthy disgusting demon that should even have the right to breath the same air as a valiant and shining hero like myself!" Sparkle screamed as he continued to swing at Aizen with wild abandon. The future Overlord blocked and dodged with growing ease. While he was having a hard time keeping up with the speed of the attacks, it was becoming easier to predict the flow of strikes and out maneuver the sloppy yet savage slashes.
"It would seem questioning this hero's morals is causing him to lose his control. So many heroes delude themselves into thinking that they are above the petty morals that they claim to stand for. Pointing out their hypocrisy is always amusing."
"I'll talk down to you all I want." Aizen mocked as he dived under the hero's last swing. "Shadow God's Leech Strike!" With his hand, Aizen struck Sparkle's sword arm with his open palm attack, the sound of a bone breaking could be heard by both of the fighters. But then Aizen closed his fist around the broken limb and with one fluid movement pulled the paladin down into the ground while at the same throwing himself up above into the air. "Shadow God's Vulture Strike!" And with that Aizen landed back down, his boot crushing into Sparkle's helmet, this piece of his armor proved to be sturdier than the rest and the hero wasn't brained that moment.
"Acceptable… but be careful. It may look like he has been beaten, but just as followers of Evil feign defeat. Heroes have their own trick… called the heroic second wind. They get back up thinking that they have no choice, that they have to beat evil for the good of all. Annoying."
"I… I will not be beaten…" Just as the Armored Specter predicted. Sparkle began stirring and muttering about how he wouldn't let evil triumph. "… I AM TOO PRETTY TO BE BROUGHT SO LOW!"
"So fucking lame… and he was getting slightly better too." Aizen sighed as he leaned on his heavy battle axe. He thought that the paladin would go on and on about how his duty to the people or he had to avenge some love who had been killed by evil or talk about some other hero's backstory. Something that a villain like him could sneer at and dismiss. But nope… it seemed only vanity drove this hero. Aizen had enough of this embarrassing fight. "Shadow God's Bellow!" Aizen bellowed and sent out the normal storm of ripping Darkness. This was one of his spells that did physical damage, and it did a devastating amount.
The hero Sparkle was left barely standing after the torrent of shadows that came raging over him. His limbs trembled as he struggled to maintain his stance. But the hero made a step forward, and then another. Defiant and stubbornly not giving into the pain that wreaked his body. His golden armor had done little to protect him against shadow itself, the darkness had flowed in ever crack and opening in the plates.
"I… I will not be beaten." The hero repeated that statement. "I have been chosen, picked among the masses for my beauty and skill. I have a great destiny in front of me… to bring about a age of cuteness and goodness to these lands. It cannot have been a lie." Aizen frowned at this, due to what it implied. Sparkle did not seem to be a godly man, there was a difference between fighting for a god and good. If Sparkle had been fighting for some religious purpose, there would have been far more invoking of that deity during their fight. So that left the question, who was Sparkle talking about?
"What are you going on about now?" Aizen said as he flipped his battle axe back onto his shoulders. It was clear that this fight was over, that Sparkle had no more energy left in his body.
"Evil of your kind will be purged from this land… our master has declared it so." Sparkle moaned as his body began falling to the ground. Only to then be picked up by some unseen force. The nearly defeated paladin opened his eyes, now shining even brighter with glowing light. He was lifted high into the air as from under his armor more light shown out. Soon shaping into angelic wings and a halo giving the vain hero a divine appearance. "By his name we will stain our own with the blood of the wicked. And the debt will be repaid, the Evil of this world will be eradicated. And so I give this body to his name to carry out his will." Sparkle cried out in what sound to Aizen like an almost orgasmic level of joy and power.
"Whatever is this power that he is using you must stop it now! It is not yet complete! If it finishes with whatever it is doing you will be annihilated!" The Armored Specter shouted with the deepest urgency that Aizen had ever heard from him. The future Overlord needed no more prompting in doing just as the ghost told him to do. With both hands, Aizen fired off all the Evil Energy that he had stored in him. The baleful blue lightning cracked and screamed as it made contact with the rising angel. Ropes of molten energy flew off the fighting forces of Good and Evil as both sides fought to overpower the other.
Aizen's body felt like dessert crying out for a drop of water. Every part of his body creaking under the pull that his Evil Presence spell was putting on him. The spell demanding that he give even more power, like it wasn't his choice anymore. That this fight was a grudge match between the two forces and Aizen and Sparkle were just two tools for the fight. The powers that extended between the two seemed to scream and roar with hate for each other, devoid of any other feeling but pure unyielding hate.
"Overlord, I will not defeat you here." A voice came from the angelic figure whose face had contorted in horrible pain. The voice was not the high pitched and self-loving of Sparkle nor did it match the current expression of the body it came from. "This vessel's body is weak and will expire soon after I have left it. But know this… I know you are here. In my lands." Where there had been an eerily calm and composed voice was now a jaded and bitter one. "I do not know how, but you and your taint will be expunged from these lands with great impudence. Know that you are not safe Overlord, no matter what form or face you wear I will purge you from existence. And soon it shall be!" And light that it was like someone blowing out a candle. The divine glow, wings, and halo vanished and Sparkle fell from the air with a great thud.
Aizen as well fell to his knees, his body feeling like it had been pulled and beaten across a table. The Netherspawn hybrid quickly crawled himself over to the large shadow of a still standing tent. With great vigor and desperation he began ripping off large chunks of the tent's shadow. He continued to do so until his actions caused the tent itself to fall apart as it was not only living things that were negatively affected by damage to their shadow. After a few large gulps, Aizen took a deep breath and looked to the fall hero who was still barely holding onto life. Aizen soon stood over the half dead hero and tore off his helmet.
"Tell me how to get rid of your stupid sparkle spell or so help me I will Brand you, heal you up, and force you to live out your life in the edgiest and most gothic clothing I can find." Aizen threatened as he pulled up the sobbing hero up to his face. A look of pure terror, pain, and utter sorrow was on the dying Sparkle's face.
"M-my… life… is nearly done. And yet y-you threaten m-me with such a existence?"
"Tell me what I want damn it!" Aizen raged as his eyes glowed sickly yellow. His Evil Energy sparking around him further enhancing his terror inducing state.
"Grease! Grease washes out the Sparkle Ray!" Sparkle cried and Aizen dropped the pathetic hero to the ground. "Just let me die already…" Sparkle sobbed as he weakly curled up into a ball as he felt what little energy begin to fade.
"Oh no hero… you still have your own debt to pay." Aizen said mocking that being that was possessing Sparkle with his own words. Aizen put a hand to the shadow of the nearly dead hero and began injecting it with his Shadow God Slayer magic. It was a temporary fix, it would really only keep him alive for about an hour or two. But that would last just long enough for Aizen to drag Sparkle back to Magnolia. There he would be thrown he in front of the people of the town. Aizen would use Sparkle as the seed of doubt in the minds of the townspeople and more importantly the Fairy Tail guild on just what exact was Good.
If these horrible people were the so called good guys, then what did that say about Good. If the good guys could go around killing anyone that they had arbitrarily decided was Evil, then was that something that they would want to support. Was Good and Evil something so easily defied and embodied. That there was something to doubt in themselves, that they could never again believe what claimed to be Evil or Good was actually what it said it was.
Aizen turned back to a few of the Thralls that he had mentally commanded to come to him. With a small nod they came over and pulled the defeated hero up and began dragging him to the outskirts of the camp. There they would wait while Aizen gave a few orders to the arriving Branded. He told them to clean the place of anything useful, especially the siege equipment. After that Aizen found the cuteifed Makarov. Aizen carefully picked up the docile elderly man and curried him back with him to the town of Magnolia.
The town had been secured by a force of the local town guard, what few soldiers of the royal army that were able to respond to the attack in time, and the Fairy Tail guild. Relief efforts were already being carried out, the attack had done great damage to the town but thankfully the number of those that were dead from it was minimal. But not so small that people weren't greatly enraged over this.
Aizen had a great smile plastered over his face as he watched many townspeople throw all manners of rotten food and bricks at the so called heroes of the Shining Justice. Clarrisa, Cedric, and Sparkle all were locked into stockades out in the brick squire in front of the cathedral. It was great sight to see for the future master of evil to see his town be so wonderfully hostile to those that followed the banner of Good.
"They deserve every bit of it." Aizen glanced to his side and saw as Mira sat next to him on the edge of the roof he had perched himself on. "Fucking bastards nearly destroyed our town, all because they thought there was demon worshiping going on. That's no reason to burn down a whole town with everyone in the flames." She wasn't enjoying the sight so outwardly as he was. She was more inclined to get angry over this whole thing than to find joy in the responsible party's suffering like him. But what Aizen didn't understand was why, from all he knew about Mira he was sure should be right here with him in laughing at Sparkle getting pelted in rotten tomatoes.
"We beat them back, and now they aren't ever going to be able to claim the high moral ground again." Aizen said but Mira just snorted dismissively at that thought.
"There will always be people who think their right just because what's in front of them looks Evil." She said with a sad look as she stared down to the ground below. Aizen tilted his head slightly in confusion, that sounded personal to him. He could understand where she was coming from, he lived most of his early life under the shadow of discrimination. The gears of the future Overlord's mind began turning, putting together things he knew. He didn't have a good grasp on various social cues or what was the socially correct manner of responding to certain situations, but he knew pain and suffering. He had been through his fair share of it, and he could recognize that.
"They called me Witch-Boy…" Aizen started as he looked out to the mob of people. His eyes intent and studying what it was like on this side of the mob. Mira looked up a little surprised at sudden turn in topic. And also at the start of a reveal into his own past, Aizen even though he was a member of Fairy Tail was very secretive about his past. Even to people like Mira and Natsu who were considered to be closest to the Shadow God Slayer, they knew very little about his life before Gildarts found him. The only people that had any real idea was the Ace of Fairy Tail himself and the Master, but with Gildarts rarely at the guild and the Master respecting the boy's privacy there was no means of finding more out. "… what'd they call you?" He asked having picked up that she must have gone through something similar.
"Oh… they didn't come up with anything clever… just demon bitch or something else along those lines." She said with a sad smile. Even though what they were talking about was something that she normally wouldn't ever speak aloud, she couldn't help but feel comforted by the fact that Aizen had been through the same alienation she went through. "And I had saved them too, some demon attacked the church and I like an idiot thought I could take it on. I would have died if it wasn't for my Take-Over magic. I somehow used it on the demon and… I saved them." Mira said gripping her fists tightly at the memory of the looks of horror and anger that the people of her hometown had for when she came out of the church.
"The only people that we can rely on are those that know the real us." Aizen said still watching the mob. How quickly they turned on the Holy Order when the image of glamor and sparkles was washed away in the blood of their loved ones. Aizen knew the truth of humanity, people only cared about those they saw as their own. Their tribe, their faith, their nation, whatever. It was us, against the others. And in some ways… it was true. But only because they made it true. That wasn't the truth of the world, there was no law of nature that demanded this to be the way of the world. But humanity had made it so. Aizen would simply follow that. "We can only count on our real friends and family, not those that pretend to be so." He said looking back to Mira who nodded in agreement. And smiled as Aizen's words reminded her of what happened to return her back to good spirits.
"True friends and family, and fuck everyone else right?" She asked as she leaned her head on his shoulder, and then was pleasantly surprised at feeling herself being pulled in closer by Aizen's tail. She snuggled in deeper and enjoyed the warmth that his body pulsed with, a content smile coming over her as she felt right with the world.
"Fuck everyone else. We have to look out for ourselves and ours… now if people could learn to stop screwing around with us because we look a little different." He sighed as knew that humanity would never just let him take over the world. They would fight. And even after he conquered everything, that left the task of ruling over a population that wasn't so keen on an Evil demonic-looking Overlord ruling over them.
"People will never stop doing that, nothing short of forcing taking everyone's free will or their fear of the unknown will do that." The Armored Specter said dismissively at the foolish notion. Aizen initially was a little miffed that the ghost would comment during the nice moment he was having with Mira. But then… Aizen thought on the former Overlord's words a little bit.
"Nothing short of taking their free will huh?" Aizen thought as he didn't want to interrupt the emotional intimate air that had settled between him and Mira. He was enjoying her being so close as much as she was, the fires of torches and screams of anger set a nice maleficent romance to the setting.
"Don't even bother. Mass Domination is not a reliable or cost effective means of control. Several Overlords in the past have attempted to rule over whole dark domains of just thralls… it never ends well. Most often it leads to a weakened state where a hero is drawn by the stories of a mind enslaved population. Or just madness brought about by having nothing but minions to talk to." The Armored Specter warned but the gears of Aizen's mind were still working. Only just taking in the possibilities and limitations that the ghost had given him.
"Oh by the way… the Master actually sent me to get you. His bath in a vat of grease is over with and he wants to speak with everyone." Mirajane said, the reluctance in her voice very clear. She didn't want to leave her Aizen's side while they enjoyed the sights before them.
"Aw… fine." He groaned, sharing her displeasure in having to leave. The two eventually stood up and made their way across the roof tops, maybe taking the long way to play a messed up version of tag, but they came to the guildhall where the rest of the guild was waiting for them.
"About time you two showed up." Erza greeted them as they walked in. After fighting the fake knights and paladins of the Shining Justice, Erza was feeling extra righteous. And even more committed to the ideals of rules and proper behavior. Both Aizen and Mirajane just grunted a bit about the strict red head but they joined the crowd of guildmates as they waited for their master to give a speech.
"My children…" Makarov started out, he was still a little weak… and in a very dirty bathrobe. It seemed that he wasted no time in gathering the guild after his bath in a tub of grease. The substance did a great job of washing away the power of the Hero Sparkle but… Makarov needed a real shower to clean himself of the grease that saved him. Aizen was lucky in that only a small part of his shoulder had been hit, Makarov had been completely turned. "… toady we fought back an enemy we didn't ask for nor desire to fight. But fight we did and we saved our town from utter destruction. I can not express how proud I am that you were able to do this without me. Today we proved that no one can come to our town and ravage it, no matter who or what reason they have we will come and defend our neighbors and homes!" Everyone cheered at that.
Aizen cheered along but in the back of his mind he knew that this little attack had done far worse damage than just the loss of lives or the destruction to the town. That damage had been to the morality of the town and Fairy Tail. Every single person in Magnolia would be questioning just what was Good and what was Evil. Most would come to a normal, the world is filled with grays rather than black and white. But a few would see past that easy and true conclusion. Because while yes, nothing was black and white, there was more to the forces of Good and Evil than that. Good, might mean order and that could mean the loss of freedom. Evil, might mean survival over the good of all. In the end, people make their own choices and should be able to chose who they want to be without conventions telling than what is right and what is wrong. Because those labels should not be so easily placed.