A/N: I added Pantherlily to the poll on my profile page. I said this before, but go vote! Seeing your opinion would make me happy :)
Chapter 10: Iron vs. Lightning
It was on! The all appraised S-Class wizard Laxus Dreyar vs the stronger, more powerful Gajeel Redfox. This was going to be one hell of a fight. Laxus, ironically wearing the same outfit as in Kardia Cathedral, took off and attempted to land a direct, lightning infused punch to Gajeel as the latter dodged it, immediately attacking with his Iron Dragon's Club and sending him flying back. Daniel was tactfully encouraging him as the fight itself progressed, creating an analysis from their stats alone.
"Remember, your iron makes for a perfect conductor for his lightning, so be careful." Daniel warned. Gajeel, however, already knew of that.
"I've gotten a taste of how his lightning works. It may have been quite powerful before, but this is a totally different kind of game." Gajeel explained whilst grinning. Daniel couldn't fully catch onto what he was trying to get at, but Laxus nevertheless charged at him once again.
"Is that the best you can do? I'm amused." Laxus said cockily, letting his ego take control as Gajeel was unimpressed. He expected this kind of thing from him.
"What, are you gonna let your precious ego run with you again?"
"If you're so confident, quit running your mouth and fight me." Laxus said, prompting Gajeel to take off after him.
"You're the one who's running their mouth lighting-breath!" Gajeel yelled, immediately attacking with his Iron Dragon's Club once again as Laxus took off. He transformed into a bolt of lightning, bolting around and attempting to get behind Gajeel and take him down from there, a trick Gajeel anticipated. "He's fast, but I've got power." Gajeel thought to himself, immediately using his Iron Dragon's Sword and destroying a large portion of the wall whilst taking Laxus out, who reverted back to his human state. Laxus tried guarding against the sword but couldn't fully comprehend it as Gajeel threw him into a wall, only for him to get up and attack Gajeel head on. As they clashed, energy was being shot out, powerful enough to make visible ripples within the air as they blocked each other's punches and threw their own. Laxus threw a punch to the face which Gajeel blocked, going for his stomach as Laxus grabbed his arm.
"Got you!" Laxus shouted, surprising Gajeel as he was about to hit him in the face, only to meet head on with his fist. They their fists collided with one another, stumbling back from each other as they painfully dealt with the effects. Gajeel had to deal with the pain of Laxus' lightning as Laxus was already in pain over Gajeel's iron fists. Laxus, however, still managed to keep up the cocky attitude. "You think your iron's going to stop me? What a load of crap." Laxus said egotistically, annoying Gajeel as the latter retorted.
"Then quit whining over how much it hurts." He scoffed, only angering Laxus as he once again went after him. He approached him with the same kind of style, turning into a bolt of lightning as he got behind Gajeel. Unfortunately, he was quick enough to pull it off and land a hit to Gajeel's face, sending him flying back before Laxus grabbed his arm tightly.
"Got you again!" Laxus shouted, immediately prompting to deliver a long series of punches to Gajeel's face as the latter couldn't help but take them. Daniel couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Come on Gajeel! Do something!" Daniel shouted, annoying Gajeel as he continued to receive punches. Laxus only continued to be cocky about it.
"See that?! That shows how much of a pathetic wizard you are!" Laxus shouted with pride, only annoying Gajeel. Eventually, Gajeel got fed up and pulled Laxus in as he kneed him in the chest, proceeding with a powerful upward punch to the jaw before round-house kicking him and sending him flying into the wall. Gajeel had some bruises on his face as a result of all that punching, but that hit to the jaw was powerful, and it hurt Laxus big time. Gajeel, however, did not like Daniel's advice on the fight, preferring to fight on his own. He was about to make that clear.
"Daniel, shut the hell up! I'm fighting Laxus on my own, you got that?" Gajeel angrily ordered, putting Daniel on the defensive.
"Okay, jeez, calm down. I was just trying to help, but if you want to fight on your own, be my guest." Daniel said defensively. Laxus got up, feeling his jaw as it not only hurt, but he felt as if he underestimated Gajeel.
"Tell you what, I'll say that you've got spunk, but don't think that's makes you able to beat me." Laxus explained. Gajeel could only laugh at Laxus' words, surprising the latter quite a bit.
"We're evenly matched and you keep runnin' your mouth? Ridiculous."
"What was that?" Laxus questioned sternly, only provoking a grin from Gajeel in response.
"I thought knocking you in the jaw would teach you a lesson about humility, but I guess I was wrong. It looks like you've still got a lot to learn about controlling your ego." Gajeel explained, getting ready to fight as Laxus did the same. The two just stood there, charging up their magic power as they stared each other down with the passing time. Laxus couldn't understand Gajeel's determination, especially when he put himself up in such high regard.
"What makes you think you can beat me?" Laxus questioned, taking the fight more seriously as Gajeel responded.
"I don't think, I know. I'll tell you this, ever since I've been away from the guild, I've grown a lot stronger. Actually being a leader is different from you used to think it was." Gajeel said calmly. He remembered the incident in which Laxus tried to take over Fairy Tail, but of course Laxus didn't. It was gone from his mind like Gajeel himself was from Natsu's.
"I don't know what you're talking about, but you won't be talking when I'm done with you." Laxus threatened, ready to attack as Gajeel was himself.
"Yeah, well let's see it!" Gajeel shouted enthusiastically, proceeding to attack as did Laxus. They weren't about to stop just yet.
The others, of course, took their respective routes and started turning the school back to normal, breaking everyone free of the empire's manipulation. Roxanne found herself aimlessly running through the building in the hopes of finding people to save, eventually running into a group of students who were set on taking her down.
"Take the green-haired freak out!" One of them shouted, going after her as she immediately threw the tan ball onto the ground. She was already irritated over the nickname they gave her.
"You're lucky that being brainwashed is the only reason you're saying that, because if this was for real, you would be sorry!" Roxanne yelled, immediately taking one of the brainerasers and chucking it at the group. It exploded and engulfed the group within a large cloud of smoke, knocking them out and somehow managing to erase the brainwashing influence that was controlling them. Roxanne though was a bit perplexed over them being knocked out, and decided to question it.
"Hey Kyousuke?" Roxanne questioned through her headset, "Is being knocked out a result of the brainerasers?"
"Yeah; that's just how it works. The smoke puts them into an unconscious state in order to eliminate the substance behind the brainwashing." Kyousuke explained. Earlier, Kyousuke managed to give everyone a headset and wired it up so that the three could seamlessly communicate with one another. Kyousuke was the only one who could speak to Sophia though, and Gajeel was not online at the moment since Kyousuke had disabled their connection for the time being. He would use it to inform Gajeel of having finished his part of the mission, but that hadn't been accomplished just yet. Roxanne, nodding, continued running throughout the school in order to find more students to save from the brainwashing, but then something hit her.
"Wait a minute!" Roxanne said, stopping as she came upon a strange realization. The other two stopped in their tracks upon her request.
"What is it?" Erza questioned, as Roxanne went on.
"It's about the gas incident the school went through before; I don't think we're the only ones who weren't there." Roxanne explained. Erza and Kyousuke both agreed, willing to believe that others could have been absent as well.
"That's right," Erza shouted, "but whom?"
"I don't know, that's the question." Roxanne stated. The three stood there and thought about it for a bit, just as Erza suddenly found herself stumbling across a group of students that were brainwashed. One of them was a girl with blue hair that somehow reminded her of someone she knew in the guild.
"Of course! She wasn't there at the school either; she was at the library the whole day." Erza explained, surprising the other two.
"Okay, who is that?" Kyousuke questioned. Roxanne, however, quickly picked up on it.
"Wait, you don't mean Lucy's best friend?!"
"Yes, that's exactly who I'm talking about." Erza said, putting the two into a state of worry.
As time passed, a blue-haired girl was quietly walking through the school; desperately trying to avoid being noticed as she went down the area Gajeel went in previously. She had a book in her hands, one about ancient, mystic items as she observed her surroundings.
"The qualities of the energy this manuscript was describing should be down here. I'm surprised that it would've been here all this time, if it is actually here." She explained to herself. As she was walking through the place, she heard a loud rumble throughout the area, immediately pushing herself up against the wall as she slowly walked down it. "People are down here?" She questioned to herself in surprise, slowly moving up against the wall as she heard a large man getting up, revealing to be Laxus.
"Wow, you can put up a pretty good fight! That's not gonna get you the win though." Laxus said cockily, unable to contain his overly-expanding ego. Gajeel couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You keep saying that and look where we are. It looks like you won't be going anywhere for a while." Gajeel explained, annoying Laxus somewhat. The blue-haired girl couldn't believe her ears, it was really him.
"No way, it's Gajeel." She thought to herself in astonishment. All this time he was gone and now of all times, he shows up. She couldn't contain the urge to peek around the wall and see him for herself, seeing him clothed in his Stealth Overdrive outfit. He was in the same condition as Laxus, both covered in some bruises here and there and a bit worn out, but that wasn't a concern. What was shocking was that his expression was unmistakable; those red, piercing eyes and that long, black, spiky hair; it was definitely Gajeel. "I can't believe he's really here; where the heck has he been all of this time?!" The girl thought to herself in shock. Gajeel suddenly found himself picking up a peculiar scent, picking up on her location ae he quickly eyed where she was, only for her to whip around the corner before he could actually see her. "No, I can't let him see me; I'll distract him. It's already shocking enough that he's able to put up this much of a fight against Laxus." She explained to herself, hiding as the Iron Dragon Slayer was put into a state of disbelief. Memories of her came rushing back to him within seconds.
"No way, it can't be." Gajeel said in disbelief, letting his guard down as Laxus took advantage of it.
"You should be paying attention!" Laxus shouted, immediately clocking Gajeel in the face as Gajeel was stunned by it. He retorted by doing a sweep kick, flipping Laxus off of his feet before pummeling him back with his Iron Dragon's club, giving himself some time to think it over.
"Out of all the times, why now Levy?!" He said in frustration. Seeing her get caught up in this mess was the last thing he wanted, especially since he had other things to do. Daniel couldn't help but wonder what he was talking about.
"Huh? Who's Levy?"
"No time to explain!" Gajeel shouted as he guarded from another attack made by Laxus. He was starting to get impatient with this fight continuously dragging along and not going anywhere. "All you need to do is work on finding where the dagger is; I'll deal with Laxus and figure out the rest." Gajeel explained, firing his Iron Dragon's club at him again as Laxus turned into a lightning bolt and bolted away from the attack. Daniel immediately got to work on it, just as Gajeel continued fighting Laxus, now having Levy on his mind.
Erza and Roxanne, on the other-hand, had to find out where Levy was as soon as possible.
"We need to find her ASAP!" Erza ordered, just as Roxanne continued her search. Kyousuke didn't know who she was, so he dismissed the order and continued working on expelling the substance that was brainwashing everyone. Unfortunately, he came across an annoying opponent, one he really despised.
"Thought you could get away, did you?" Natsu said angrily, pounding his fists together as Kyousuke looked at him with annoyance. Surprisingly enough, Happy wasn't with him, but that could just be a result of the brainwashing.
"Honestly I did, and I'm going to." Kyousuke said in response, provoking Natsu as he immediately took off after Kyousuke.
"You won't be when I'm through with you!" Natsu shouted angrily, attempting to use his Fire Dragon's Iron Fist again as Kyousuke dodged it. Kyousuke really didn't like Natsu, especially after the angry encounter they had with each other, but Kyousuke couldn't let his hatred get ahold of him now.
"Sorry, but I don't have the time to fight you right now." Kyousuke said, immediately tossing a smoke bomb and clouding Natsu's vision. Natsu couldn't help but start coughing as a result, covering his eyes and relying on his scent to find Kyousuke.
"Ugh, where the heck did you go?" Natsu said in frustration, sniffing out him as he eventually figured out his location. "There you are!" Natsu shouted, focusing on Kyousuke as he stood there with a braineraser in his hand.
"Good job, here's your reward!" Kyousuke shouted cunningly, immediately throwing the braineraser at him and hitting Natsu. Natsu tried to burn it with his magic, but that resulted in it exploding and knocking him out anyways. Kyousuke managed to take Natsu out and set him back to normal. "Listen up, I got Natsu." Kyousuke told the others, who were filled with relief, especially Roxanne.
"That's good to hear." Erza said calmly, just as Roxanne was filled with even more confidence, heading off and saving more students. "With him out of the way, getting the others should be easier."
"Right." Kyousuke said, hanging up the call. He just stood there and looked at a knocked out Natsu, somehow actually having felt bad for holding all that hatred for him. It was so strange to Kyousuke, but he wanted to see if he could forgive him. "I tell you what Natsu, after this whole thing is over, we'll see what happens next. Perhaps then you can be considered just a rival, no longer my enemy." Kyousuke said with a smirk on his face to the unconscious Natsu. With that, Kyousuke walked off, heading out to find more students as the unconscious Natsu just lied there, coming back from the brainwashing effects of the empire's substance. As for Erza, she couldn't help but find herself come across Gray and Lucy, both teaming up against her.
"Looks like we found her." Gray said, catching Erza's attention.
"And it seems that I've found you two, which is perfect regarding the situation." Erza explained. Lucy started charging after Erza, followed by Gray as Erza got ready. They were quick to engage in battle.
"Let me start; gate of the raging bull: Taurus!" Lucy shouted, summoning Taurus as he went after Erza.
"Moooooo! You've got to give this lady some roooom!" Taurus shouted, colliding with Erza as he was suddenly put into surprise. "Wait a minute Lucy, isn't she one of your friends?" Taurus questioned in confusion. Lucy, being brainwashed, continued on with her elimination anyway.
"Ugh, no! She's a threat to the school, and we've got to put her out of commission!" Lucy shouted, persuading Taurus to do her bidding.
"Alright, whatever you say Lucy! I'll do anything for that smokin' hot body of yours!" Taurus said enthusiastically, ready to fight Erza as she was suddenly pummeled with frustration.
"Dammit! He has no choice but to fight me based on her terms!" She thought to herself frustrated. However, she then remembered the task at hand. "Wait a minute; I'm not here to fight them!" Erza reminded herself, suddenly chucking the braineraser at Lucy and Gray as Taurus tried to stop it. It managed to fly past Taurus, hitting both Lucy and Gray and knocking them both out. Because of her state, Taurus' gate was forcibly closed and he was sent back to the celestial spirit world, just as the substance was being erased from Lucy and Gray. Erza looked at them both in relief. "Well that's finished." Erza said calmly, only to be met with another issue at hand.
"Well well Erza, I didn't think we would meet up like this." A white-haired girl said standing there with a peaceful smile on her face as Erza was met with surprise.
"Of course, I should've expected to run into you Mira." Erza said calmly. Dealing with Mira was going to be tough, especially since she was on the same caliber as Erza herself. Mira's expression suddenly turned devious, following with her charging up her energy as Erza did the same.
"It's been awhile; ready to settle the score once and for all?"
"I would be glad to." Erza said in response, getting caught up in the fight and losing track of the mission. With that, Erza and Mira went at it as Kyousuke and Roxanne continued saving students from their predicaments, not encountering much trouble as they were able to avoid getting caught up in fighting.
As that took place, Gajeel and Laxus were still duking it out, tiring each other out as the two stood there breathing heavily. They had much more bruises and some blood here and there, but they weren't finished. Laxus was quick to engage with another attack.
"I'm not done with you yet!" Laxus shouted preparing to attack with a special attack he had been saving up. He started pulling in air as if he was sucking up something, just as Gajeel realized what he was about to do.
"Well well, here goes." Gajeel said doing the same thing as the two prepared to do a roar. Levy could overhear what they were doing, and realized that the resulting impact was going to be quite destructive and dangerous, prompting her to jump out of the way. Within seconds, the two dragon slayers were charged up, both immediately firing their roars at one another and engulfing the entire area within a cloud of destruction. Daniel couldn't believe what he was hearing; having his ears become stressed from all the noise that was sent his way.
"Jeez, what the hell happened?!" Daniel shouted, just as Gajeel was quick to respond.
"I attacked him with my Iron Dragon's Roar; apparently our attacks were equally powerful." Gajeel explained, surprising Daniel.
"Of course they were, not to mention quite destructive to my ears." Daniel said, amusing Gajeel in the process.
"Oh quit your whining."
"Whining?! Why don't you sit here and listen to your destruction and tell me I'm whining? I like to keep my peace you know." Daniel retorted in annoyance as Gajeel chuckled. Gajeel focused on the result of the explosion, having seen part of the wall torn apart as Levy was revealed behind it. Gajeel couldn't help but stare at her in shock as Levy did the same to him.
"Levy, what the hell are you doing here?!" Gajeel shouted in shock, just as Levy couldn't help but wonder the same.
"I wanted to ask you that; I haven't seen you for a whole year!" Levy shouted in surprise. Gajeel couldn't help but just stare at her as Laxus' attention slowly drifted to Levy, seeing her and perceiving her as the perfect hostage.
"What do we have here?" Laxus questioned in wonder, putting Gajeel into a state of alarm as Laxus immediately went for Levy. She couldn't do anything but just sit there in horror as Laxus went after her, Gajeel desperately trying to stop him.
"Levy, get out of the way!" Gajeel yelled as Levy was paralyzed by Laxus' domineering appearance. Unable to do anything, she found herself in Laxus' clutches as he held her in a chokehold, keeping her as a hostage and using her against Gajeel.
"Attack me again and she's dead." Laxus said, quickly infuriating Gajeel.
"Damn you bastard!" He yelled as Laxus merely snickered at his rage. Levy desperately struggled to break free, staring at Gajeel as the latter looked at her in shock. Daniel couldn't help but panic himself, unaware of what was happening.
"Gajeel, what's going on? Are you there?!" Daniel shouted as Gajeel ignored him. He couldn't let them get away with the dagger, yet Laxus could easily kill Levy if he wanted to. He clenched his fists angrily, unable to come to a solution as Laxus started hysterically laughing.
"What's the matter?! You liked to talk up a big game, and look at you now! You're nothing but trash." Laxus said, angering Gajeel while Levy continued to struggle.
"Leave...him...alone." She gasped, trying to break free. Laxus wasn't exactly choking her, more like restricting her whilst putting her in a position for an immediate demise. However, he was about to after she told him that, lightly choking her for his own amusement.
"Think you can talk to me like that?" Laxus questioned as he did so. Gajeel aggressively retorted as a result.
"Let go of her or I'm gonna snap you in half myself!" Gajeel yelled as Laxus was only amused. Gajeel was both angry and scared; anything could happen to Levy at this point. At that point in time, something strange hit him, something that would guide him to the solution he was seeking. Thoughts kept floating through his mind.
"It made me wonder if the same phenomenon happening in the school was finally happening to me." He remembered. The thought itself allowed for him to regain control as he stood there and closed his eyes, putting his energies into sync as Laxus looked at him confused. In fact, he laughed a second time.
"What is this, your way of surrendering? You should've known from the start that it was going to end with you losing!" Laxus shouted as Levy stared at him in surprise. However, she knew it wasn't that; he was doing something odd.
"His energy, it's falling back into place." She thought to herself in surprise. She watched as Gajeel took the time to immerse himself within his thoughts, relaxing himself and ridding himself of the tension, replacing it with focus and coordination. After a minute passed by, Gajeel opened his eyes, focused on Laxus and suddenly appearing behind him. Both Laxus and Levy were sent into complete awe as Gajeel clubbed Laxus in the back of the head, sending him flying into the wall as he got Levy and jumped back. Laxus was put into a dilemma as he got up, angry as he was weakened from the attack. It was thanks to Gajeel's impressive speed that Levy was safe. Gajeel set Levy down as the latter looked at Gajeel in wonder.
"Are you okay?" She questioned in concern, Gajeel getting up and focusing on Laxus again.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about me, just get out of here." Gajeel ordered, to which Levy refused.
"That's not going to happen Gajeel; you can't just disappear for a year and expect me to do that."
"It's not about me, it's about you! You need to get out of here before that lighting-freak gets ahold of you again!" Gajeel yelled. Levy didn't want to leave him behind again, and ultimately refused, starting an argument between the two as Laxus was about to attack once again.
"Your fight is with me iron chump!" Laxus yelled preparing to attack Gajeel as their attention was shifted to Laxus.
"Gajeel, look out!" Levy yelled as Gajeel noticed, preparing to fight Laxus once more. At that point in time, a green shockwave suddenly engulfed the area, affecting only Laxus as he was suddenly sent to the ground in pain. He started screaming as Gajeel and Levy looked at him in shock.
"What the hell is this?! My head, it..AAAGH!" Laxus screamed in an abnormal fashion. Gajeel eventually realized what it was, and he grinned over it.
"It looks like he managed to finish it." Gajeel said with a grin, invoking curiosity upon Levy.
"Finish what?" Levy questioned.
What Gajeel was talking about was Pantherlily's plan: he set up a device that would emit shockwaves which would eliminate the substance that the empire was using to brainwash everyone. While it would be more painful for everyone, it would work. Pantherlily stood outside as he wiped his forehead in relief.
"Well I'm glad that's finished. Hopefully the others are alright." He told himself, wondering of their progress.
Eventually, Laxus was sent into an unconscious state as Gajeel sat down, taking a breather as Levy sat down next to him. She had a big, bright smile on her face and she kept staring at Gajeel, who looked at her surprised.
"What are you smiling about?" He wondered. Levy was quick to respond.
"Oh, it's just that seeing you here makes me happy, that's all."
"Oh yeah?" Gajeel questioned, prompting Levy to go into further detail.
"I mean, you took on Laxus! You've gotten so much stronger and I can tell that you've changed a lot, for the better." Levy explained happily, continuing to smile. Gajeel looked at her surprised, noticing how her smile was so vibrant in the midst of everything that has happened, putting a grin on his face as he ruffled her hair a bit.
"Well you haven't changed one bit shrimp!" Gajeel said jokingly, annoying her once again.
"Well that part of you hasn't changed." Levy said annoyed as Gajeel could only chuckle. Their reunion was quite impactful, not just for Levy, but for Gajeel as well.
Outside of that, Roxanne noticed what was happening and was sent into worry.
"Wait, what's happening?!" Roxanne said in shock. Kyousuke was quick to reply, easing her stress.
"Don't worry, that's our mechanism we've got employed. It's taking care of the brainwashing substance for us, so our work is complete." Kyousuke said with a smile, putting the others into a state of relief. Erza relaxed, knowing that everyone was going to be alright as she stood in front of an unconscious Mira.
"Well that's a relief. It's a good thing everything is back to normal." Erza said calmly, relaxing as she stared at Mira, Lucy, and Gray. A smile covered her face as a result. "I'll admit, seeing Lucy as she was, being brainwashed, was quite interesting." Erza thought to herself in amusement, taking note of Lucy's poppy personality combined with the empire's desire to eliminate people. Roxanne took a breather as well, sitting down as did Kyousuke. The latter took a deep breath and stared about, thinking about the school and everything he went through. All the crap that was sent his way was a result of the brainwashing from the empire, and it being just that alone somehow amused him. He could laugh over it now, no longer bearing the hatred he once held before for the people in the school.
"Let's just hope that I get a chance to rewrite my story here." Kyousuke said calmly. The group had finally rid the school of the brainwashing and was able to get the Dagger of Radiance. Now it was time for the school to change their ways and stop the empire, and it was time for Stealth Overdrive to make their move.