AN: Chapter 8 and 9 where shorter than usuall... and to make up for it, enjoy the longest chapter I have ever written! And the next segment of "Help me Professor Kokonoe! Enjoy!
The Wheel of Fate is Turning
Rebel: 1
ACTION!
"So... how is this going to- HEY!" Ragna dodged a sword strike mid sentence. Erza had decided to strike without giving so much as a warning. "If that's how you're going to play it, then fine!" Ragna suddenly turned and kicked straight. Erza blocked with her sword but was forced back. "Hell's Fang!" Ragna lunged with his fist incased in darkness aimed straight forward. Erza quickly side-stepped to the side and dodged the strike, when Ragna thrust his other arm toward her, launching a wave of darkness from it at her. She was launched by the wave; however she blocked it with her sword, feeling a dull pain when doing so. Confident in her skills, she was shocked that even though she had blocked the wave, red orbs; pieces of her soul, had still flown of her body; traveling to Ragna. Despite being blocked, the attack still broke through her defenses and pierced to her body… no, her soul. Her body itself was physically unharmed… she had to be carful from now on.
"Lets try this then." Erza rushed forward, a second sword entering her hands. She slashed repeatedly; forcing Ragna to block the attacks with swift speed. 'If I keep on the offensive, he wont be able to hit back, so I can wait for… there!' She thought. She saw an opportunity and took it; during one of Ragna's blocks she was able to deflect his blade upward with one blade; leaving him wide open. She bought down her other sword expecting to strike, but it was blocked… by Ragna's left arm. 'How…. Shit!' She thought as Ragna forced her own sword back, opening her guard. 'That's right… his left arm is a complete fake… made of metal…!' Ragna brought his sword down on her. She quickly used both her blades to block, but the force smashed into her, breaking apart the ground. She couldn't force him back against the massive amount of force he was presenting. 'This much strength… in one arm…?' Suddenly the force let up as Ragna pulled his sword back and quickly spin-kicked Erza in the stomach, launching her back into a tree and demolishing it.
"E-Erza… is losing!" Happy shouted.
"I never knew Ragna was that strong!" Lucy shouted. Tager merely pushed his glasses up; not particularly surprised.
"Hey, don't bullshit me. No holding back; if you fight me, you fight to kill." Ragna said. A flash of light could be seen as Erza reappeared in the elegant form of her Heaven's Wheel Armor.
"Ask and you shall receive." She simply stated, rushing forward with blades in hand shortly after.
"It's never the easy way out…" Ragna commented. Erza swung to which Ragna blocked, like before. However, suddenly swords appeared around him and flew towards him; as if moving on their own. "Fuck!" Ragna jumped back dodging the blades. They vanished after clanging together and reappeared in front of Erza; charging straight forward at Ragna. He jumped to the side to dodge, but more appeared, making it harder to do again. It eventually got to the point that he had to individually dodge each blade rather than a whole set; virtually pinning him.
"Come, my Blades!" Erza shouted, suddenly appearing in the air, a massive array of swords surrounding her body in a circle around her.
"They hell is she - GAK!" Ragna tried to speak, but didn't notice that the barrage of swords hadn't stopped; several piercing his torso and others cutting the rest of him. "D-damn it…!"
"Blumenblatt!" Erza leaped forward with her own two blades in hand, and the massive array she had summoned. When she got close, she slashed with her blades, and the one's she summoned followed her action, each one cutting through Ragna's body and meeting at a specific point. Ragna fell forward onto one of his knees as Erza landed behind him.
"F-fuck…!" Ragna shouted.
"Don't stress yourself-" She started to say as she turned around only to see Ragna at point blank in front of her; bringing his sword down on her.
"Carnage Scissors!" He shouted as the blade fell. "I'll devour you!" Ragna spun and swung again, this time his blade came up and a massive wave of seither discharged into a massive wave with several spears of seither that pieced her body. The attack kicked up a large amount of dust, blocking both fighters from view.
"A-Amazing!" Lucy said.
"A-Aye! There isn't that many people who can keep up with Erza; especially after an attack like that!" Happy added.
"Erza Scarlet… very impressive indeed. I must admit; I didn't think much of her combat wise before, but I must admit she is very proficient on the battlefield… There are very few people who can injure Ragna the Bloodedge that severally." Tager commented.
"Erza is the strongest female of Fairy Tail." Happy said.
"Number one huh…" Tager said.
"Not the most powerful person in the guild, but without a doubt the most powerful female and the only female in Fairy Tail to achieve the rank of an S-Class Wizard." Happy added. "She is known as Titania, the Queen of Fairies!"
"That's… quite the reputation." Tager replied. The dust seemed to have settled down; both opponents had a fair distance from each other. Erza stood injured from the two-part Carnage Scissors, while Ragna had many cuts and still several blades impaled in his body.
"Son of a bitch… FUCK!" Ragna shouted as he pulled out one of the blades. He continued to take them all out until they all were completely removed from his body, despite his blood getting all over his clothes. "That shit hurts…"
"You… have a very high pain tolerance…" Erza said.
"Unless you can top my arm being lobbed off, you're not going to slow me down with just a little pain." Ragna replied.
"I see…REQUIP!" She shouted, and in a flash of light she re-appeared in a different and much more… demonic looking armor. The armor was a very dark color; covering her entire body save for her neck and up. Spikes were on the knees and the shoulders, as well as along her forearms. Unlike her other armors, which revealed quite a bit of skin, this armor showed very little. She wielded a large steel club of sorts; larger than herself in size. It had several spikes like her armor near the base, and it had a curved point near the top. She slammed the top of the club into the ground after the light faded.
"Well… haven't seemed this before…" Ragna said, putting his sword on his holster.
"This is currently my most powerful armor, Purgatory. No one has seen this armor and lived to tell the tale!" Erza shouted.
"Well then, I guess I'm the first then, because I have no intension of dying here!" Ragna shouted, holding up his right arm the red shell on it presented toward Erza. The shell's middle crease shined for a moment then opened, revealing an azure sphere surrounded by a metal ring with a small form of writing all around it; it was illegible however. Tager noticed this, and almost immediately appeared worried.
"So… he is going to use it then…" Tager said, pushing his glasses.
"Use what?" Lucy said.
"The power that made him the most wanted criminal in the history of mankind, and a walking legend. BlazBlue." Tager replied.
"Blaze… Blue?" Lucy asked, somewhat confused.
"The function to activate the Azure Grimoire and pull the azure power from the boundary is the function known as BlazBlue." Tager replied.
"How strong will Ragna be when he uses his?" Happy asked.
"A whole other level… the Azure itself is the most powerful source of energy in existence; even pulling just a tiny bit of it; like the Azure Grimoire does, can make a man into a nearly unstoppable juggernaut… Ragna is no exception, and the idea engine only increases that power further. And now that it is fixed… Ragna's full power will be unlocked." Tager trailed off.
"Restriction 666 Released…!" Ragna said, and almost immediately a massive aura gathered around. The grass moved back and forth wildly; the trees swayed; the massive aura kicking up a massive whirlwind.
"So this is it… the Azure…" Erza thought, feeling the pressure.
"Dimensional Interference Field Deployed…!" The Azure Grimoire flashed red as a massive red energy burst from it, gathering all around Ragna. As Ragna was about to continue but a massive explosion erupted from the ruins in the distance. It was a large fiery one; signaling that it was Natsu. "God damn it… the hell is he doing now?"
"Destroying things… like he usually does." Erza answered.
"Eh… fuck." Ragna said, putting his arm down. The massive energy that previously was coming from his right arm now quickly dissipated and the red shell closed once more. "Though… smashing that place to pieces would probably be a good thing at this point." He then noticed the purple light coming from the top. "We should… probably stop that… hey Erza, which do you want to fight more; me of a giant monster?" Erza appeared confused for a moment, but suddenly smiled.
"You in all honesty." She replied.
"Well then; let's put this on hold for now and finish it later… avoid Option B and later resume Option A, sound like a plan?" Ragna asked.
'It's amazing how he can switch from battle to friendly talking just like that…' Erza thought to herself before replying. "Sure."
"Ok then… I'll go on ahead; see if you can find everyone and we will meet at the top; anyone who is still doing the ritual is going to be thrashed." Ragna proposed.
"But… your injuries…" Erza said; but as she looked she noticed that they seemed to have healed… quite a bit. 'How- wait… his soul eater… he broke off a large portion of my soul… and it healed him… how odd; it feels like I nearly killed him and then turned around and patched him up…'
"They are fine. You should be fine in an hour or so too; like I said your soul will heal up. See you later." Ragna said, running toward the temple. In a flash Erza returned to her normal armor, and Tager, Lucy, and Happy came out of hiding.
"Well… I'll give credit where credit is due; you kept up with Ragna the Bloodedge… very impressive indeed." Tager replied. He was about to say something more, but Erza interrupted him.
"Details can wait 'till later; let's go." She said, already on the move.
"H-hey! Wait up!" Lucy said, running after her.
"Aye!" Happy said flying in pursuit.
"I guess it will wait 'till later then…" Tager said.
-Ancient Ruins; Temple Grounds-
"Damn, I missed." Natsu said. He had tried Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame, but his aim was just a little off… and missed and ended up blowing apart the wall with a massive explosion.
"Keep your eye on the battle!" Lyon shouted from behind Natsu; preparing an attack.
"Your one to talk!" Natsu shouted; turning around with his fist ignited. Before they could strike each other however, a small wall of ice burst from the ground; stopping them both. A loud rumble was heard, and a wall shattered like the ice that was covering it; revealing Gray Fullbuster behind it.
"Gray? What are you doing here?" Natsu asked; a bit surprised.
"Natsu… let me take care of him." Gray said. Natsu's appearance of shock quickly turned to an annoyed one.
"What? No Fair! I was fighting him first!" Natsu protested. His objections didn't even faze Gray as he stepped forward.
"You're acting rather bold Gray…" Lyon said.
"Lyon… I'll admit that it was my fault that Ur… died ten years ago… but I cant forgive what you have done… hurting my friends, attempting to destroy the village, and melting that ice to let Deliora out…" Gray said.
"What of it? Do you think I care about getting forgiveness from you?" Lyon asked mockingly. As if in response; Gray leaned back a bit; bending his knees but keeping his back straight. He put his arms straight forward and then crossed them over one another, and when he did this a strange aura filled the air. "T-that stance… what the hell do you think your doing?"
"You and me both have sinned Lyon… it is time for our judgment." Gray replied.
"Iced Shell…! Are you insane!" Lyon shouted.
"What? What is Iced Shell…?" Natsu asked.
"Iced Shell is the magic Ur used on Deliora… By using one's body as a catalyst; it transforms it into a mass of un-melt able ice prison around its target." Gray replied.
"Catalyst…?" Natsu asked again; still confused.
"Gray… have you lost your mind!" Lyon shouted.
"Return the villagers to normal, get your comrades and leave this island at once, or else." Gray said. The formally panicked Lyon suddenly calmed down; he even smiled.
"I get it… just using Iced Shell as a threat, huh…? What a ridiculous bluff!" Lyon shouted. Suddenly a huge surge of magical power erupted from Gray, the sudden shockwave knocking Lyon down and Natsu on his back. Gray's hair had flown up and changed white; with a similar color change in his eyes.
"I'm serious, Lyon." Gray stated as his magical power raged out of control.
"You- GRK!" Lyon tried to attack; but the over-powering force knocked him back.
"Ur dying because of me is a fact… nothing will ever change that. So I will take responsibility for that." Gray shouted, his body starting to change color; the bandages from his injuries flying off. "That time to take responsibility has come. I'm ready to die." Lyon was slowly climbing to his feet.
"Are you… are you serious!" Lyon shouted.
"Answer me Lyon!" Gray shouted. "Tell me; do we live together! Or do we die together!" Once again; all worry left Lyon's face has he began to reply.
"Really now…? Do it. You don't have the guts to die!" He said back; confident in the outcome.
"…You disappoint me…" Gray said; his aura gaining strength. "This is the end for the both of us! Iced-"
"DUMBASS!" Natsu shouted; striking Gray cross the face with enough force to knock him to the ground. Natsu hit him several times to assert his point; leaving Lyon himself confused.
"Natsu…?" Gray said once Natsu had let up.
"Don't just come barging into my fight like that! This is my show!" Natsu replied; appearing angry.
"You're… show? What the hell!" Gray shouted.
"He is my enemy; so I'll take care of him!" Natsu replied.
"What…! I said I was going to take care of him!" Gray shouted back.
"Did you ever hear me say 'Sure buddy; go on ahead!' or anything like that?" Natsu replied. Gray's anger was made very apparent by his expression. "What? You going to attack me now too?" Gray suddenly shot up and grabbed Natsu by his scarf.
"Wake up! This is between me and him! I have to put an end to this battle between me and Lyon! Even if I have to die to do that!" Gray shouted; asserting his point. He was about to speak further, but Natsu and reached up and grabbed Gray's arm; his grip was intense enough to nearly break Gray's arm. Natsu appeared very serious.
"So you think that you just up and dying is going to end this? Stop running away like a scared brat!" Natsu said. Just as he said that; the area began to shake as the entire building seemed to move… back upright. Somehow; the ruins had realigned itself.
"What the hell? How did that happen!" Natsu said, stomping on the ground.
"Now the light will reach Deliora again…!" Gray said.
"Sorry to crash the party…" From the very hole that Gray had made; Zalty entered the room in a casual step or sorts; acting as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "The sun will set soon, so I figured it would be a good idea to fix-up the ruins a bit."
"So, it was you Zalty… I had a hunch." Lyon said.
"Who now…?" Gray asked; not really expecting an answer.
"Hey! It took me ages to tilt the ruins… how the hell did you fix them up again!" Natsu shouted.
"Ho Ho Ho!" Zalty replied, seemingly ignoring Natsu's demand for knowledge.
"HEY! How the hell did you do that!" Natsu shouted again, louder… if such a thing is possible.
"Well… I better get started on that Moon Dip ritual since everyone else is MIA; see ya!" Zalty said, practically skipping back out the way he came, leaving Natsu with a face of shock and anger due to him being ignored.
"YOU'RE DEAD YOU BASTARD!" Natsu shouted; running full speed after Zalty.
"N-Natsu…?" Gray stuttered out; a little on edge due to Natsu's out-burst.
"I'm going to kick the shit out of this guy! You take care of Lyon, got it!" Natsu shouted back. "And you better be alive!"
"Got it…" Gray replied.
"And don't disgrace the name!" Natsu shouted. "And I'm not talking about yours either!"
"I know what you mean…" Gray said; before both Natsu and Gray said in near unison.
"Fairy Tail's." They said as Natsu left sight. With the Salamander gone; Gray turned his attention back toward Lyon.
"What a noisy group…" Lyon said.
"That's them… looks like Iced Shell is out of the question then…" Gray said, seemingly deep in thought.
"I assume you still intend to fight me? You must know that it would be impossible for you to w-" Lyon was cut off by Gray as he began to speak.
"Knock it off." Gray, despite his choice of words, appeared serious. Lyon appeared confused. "Give up on Deliora and take your followers and leave."
"What? This again? You try to persuade me, threaten to kill me, and then try to persuade me again? You really are a piece of work!" Lyon responded with a smile; but with intended venom in his words.
"Listen… and Listen close." Gray ignored Lyon's comments and continued. "Ur is alive." Lyon first was shocked fro a brief time, then confused. "Iced Shell only transforms the user's body into ice; nothing more, nothing less. That means Ur isn't dead; she just lives on as the Ice." Gray paused to let his words sink in. "Sorry to wait 'till now to tell you; but I promised Ur I wouldn't tell you." Lyon began to step forward; as if in response to Gray's words. "Come on Lyon. Lets put a sto-" Gray was cut of… by a blade of ice piercing his stomach.
"I know all that… you're wasting your breath." Lyon said; forcing Gray to the side as he removed his sword. "This block of ice isn't Ur anymore… it's just that; a simple unimportant block of ice that only stands in my way!" Lyon's sword of ice suddenly vanished has gray rolled to the side.
"You knew… this whole time!" Gray asked on the ground while holding his injury.
"Grow up. That isn't Ur anymore. It's long since ceased to by any sort of living creature…" Lyon said. He was about to continue talking, but Gray suddenly lunged at Lyon from the ground, raising up and punching Lyon across the face. The force was enough to knock Lyon back a fair distance, but allowing him to keep his footing. Blood poured from his nose; it was clearly broken. "H-how… how can you move your body when it's in that condition…!" He asked, only receiving a glare from Gray in response.
"I wanted to save you… save you from the kind of terror your trying to unleash… but now I see that's just a waste of my time." Gray said, with a noticeable tone of anger. Suddenly a large bow made of ice appeared in Gray's right hand, and several ice arrows appearing in his left. He shot the arrows at Lyon, only narrowly missing but causing Lyon to fall backwards. Desperate; Lyon quickly climbed to his feet only to be interrupted by the appearance of Gray's foot smashing into his face and knocking him further back. Gray continued his assault by kicking Lyon in the stomach; actually causing the latter to become airborne for a brief moment due to the force. Before Lyon could descend Gray smashed his own forehead into Lyon's, forcefully knocking him to the ground. Lyon struggled to his feet; using a wall as some sort of leverage, coughing up blood the entire time.
"I-I… I can't be… bleeding because of Gray… Because of Gray!" he shouted in anger; gathering a large amount of magical power. "Ice Make: Snow Dragon!" At his command, a massive Chinese version of a dragon appeared around Lyon and lunged itself at Gray. Thought he dodged the initial strike; the dragon exploded in a fury of ice on impact with the ground; pushing Gray back with the force combined with shards of ice.
"I… I don't want to waste anymore magical power than I have to… I have to be ready to fight Deliora you know…" Lyon said, shaking from his wounds.
"I won't let you… revive Deliora…!" Gray said, slowly climbing to his feet.
"You keep saying that… But it doesn't matter. Zalty will make sure the ritual is completed on schedule…" Gray was on one knee, but a sudden grin appeared across his face as he said one short phrase.
"Don't underestimate Natsu!"
-Ruin's Hallways; Path Leading to Deliora's Chamber-
"Wait! Wait up you masked bastard!" Natsu yelled as he chased down the ever elusive Zalty.
"Ho ho ho!" The masked man replied; seemingly enjoying the little chase.
"Tell me how you fixed the ruins god damn it!" Natsu continued to shout. Zalty suddenly turned around, while being a fair distance ahead of Natsu and thrust his hand upward; towards the ceiling section above Natsu. Almost immediately; the large section cracked and shattered; the broken stones falling downward toward the Salamander. "This wont do jack shit to me!" Natsu shot up into the air with a flaming spin kick; demolishing all of the debris created.
"Fufufufu…" Zalty chuckled as he moved his hand closer to himself. The demolished debris Natsu had demolished flew straight back up into the ceiling and back into the place where it fell; fixing itself brand new; as if nothing had ever happened to it, leaving Natsu frozen with awe.
"H-how… what kind of magic is this…?" Natsu asked; looking up. His mind was still somewhat dulled due to his own amazement.
"It is how I repaired the ruins." Zatly said. He looked up at his own handy-work with a smile. "It's a kind of 'Lost Magic.' So powerful that it was obliterated from history itself due to the power and its side-effects… Just like your Dragon Slayer Magic." This caught Natsu's attention. As he looked down, Zalty seemed to have completely and totally disappeared in a small cloud of smoke.
"H-he disappeared! Where the hell did he go! That bastard!" Natsu shouted. He looked around profusely before sniffing the air several times. He took off in a seemingly a random direction. His path took him down a long tunnel. After what seemed like forever; the tunnel let out… into the cave where Deliora was being stored. Zalty was in the room, lucky. He stood before the great but frozen demon with a look of anticipation. Natsu's reaction was as follows: Incase himself in fire and charge the fucker! "Burn Damn it BURN!" He shouted as he collided with the ground; Zalty jumped out of the way dodging the attack.
"What a nice thing to say!" Zalty shouted with a smile as he landed. "But I have to ask; how ever did you find me all the way down here?"
"I have a badass sense of smell; that's why!" Natsu shouted. "By the way; you smell like a woman… weirdo."
"Oh… so I see." Zalty nodded in understanding. "But I must see Deliora, you see."
"Don't even try; its way too late for that!"
"Oh? And why might that be?" Natsu's face beamed with confidence as he pointed at the masked man.
"Gray will take out Lyon… and I'll blow you apart 'till you're a million pieces! And with you two gone, its game over!" Natsu shouted with absolute confidence in not only his own abilities; but the abilities of Gray.
"Oh… You really think so, huh?" Zalty said; looking up towards Deliora. Natsu turned to look at what caught Zalty's attention… and he saw the light from the moon dip spell still hitting Deliora's Ice Prison.
"That light… the moon dip ritual is still going on!" Natsu shouted. Zalty laughed.
"Yes… though it seems only a handful of Lyon's men remain. With such low numbers the ritual is weak… but it doesn't matter anymore; we already have plenty of moonlight energy… oh look; it's already started to work its magic!" Sure enough, in the exact position where the light was hitting; the ice had begun to melt… quite a bit too.
"Oh… oh shit! The ice is melting!" Natsu said, running around franticly. "Oh damn it; I screwed up! I'll go fix this right now!" Natsu turned to run; but suddenly the ground below him crumpled apart causing him to fall over.
"Running away? Sorry; not going to let you." Zalty chucked a little. "Really bad idea to chase me down…. Really bad"
"Craaaaaaaaaaap!" Natsu shouted. The ice around Deliora's arms was already nearly gone. There were some cracks in there too. "Damn it!" Natsu incased his fist with fire and threw his fist at Zalty; who quickly dodged.
"You know… fire magic is only going to speed up the ice melting at this point." Zalty said mid dodge. Natsu replied to his comment with a flaming and rather explosive kick.
"Don't you WANT that to happen? Either way; I'm just going to kick the shit out of you as fast as I can. Then the people on top are next." Natsu said; his fires aflame with determination. Zalty chucked in response.
"Quick Resolve and flexibility on the battlefield… I like that!" The two seemed to stare each other down for a short time; all the while the ice prison that once held fast to the might Deliora quickly diminishing.
-Ancient Ruins, Temple Grounds-
"Ruins are shaking again… guess Natsu is having himself a ball." Gray said, wiping some blood off his lip. Lyon smirked.
"It's the Moon Dip ritual doing it's work… Deliora's ice prison is melting." Lyon said. "This is the finale. You could not stop us…!" Lyon raised his right arm as a surge of magical power erupted from him. "I've waited for so long… all these years! Gathering knowledge and subordinates…. And finding out about this place! Galuna Island… where the moonlight gathers!" Suddenly; a massive barrage of ice eagles burst from the ground and bombarded Gray, mashing into him continuously. "We brought Deliora here three years ago…and finally our efforts are finally bearing fruit!" Suddenly a large shockwave burst from Gray's body, blasting apart all of the ice eagles and catching Lyon off guard.
"So… you wasted three years on such a stupid thing… ridiculous." Gray replied. Lyon was taken aback by the comment, and quickly turned into anger.
"Ridiculous…? Ridiculous!" Lyon thrust his arm forward; creating some kind of creature that smashed into Gray. "How can you say that! After wasting ten years in a mage guild!"
"I believed in Ur's words. That's how." Gray replied. He remembered when his teacher told him about all of the powerful mage guilds in the western countries. "She was right you know… about those guilds. Powerful mages; I could barely believe my eyes." He remembered when he first wandered into Fairy Tail; asking the master Makarov about a spell to melt the ice, like Lyon. Makarov thought of something, but quickly dismissed. "Come to think of it… Master was probably thinking of the Moon Dip… that's beside the point. I'm really disappointed to hear that my senior would be willing to do something that would kill our Master." Gray stood firm with determination.
"Whatever… I have lived for this day to surpass Ur; this day!" Lyon replied. He lunged forward with an ice wolf covering his right arm. "Now that our Master is dead, it is up to us, her students, to surpass her! And with Deliora; I will do just that!" Lyon thrust his right arm and the wolf leapt of his arm and charged at Gray. He ducked under the wolf quickly and moved to the side; successfully dodging the attack.
"You're ambition is admirable… but you chose the wrong path. Do you think someone as blind as you can surpass Ur! Your one-hundred years too early for that!" Gray replied. He made an ice sword in his hands and slashed at Lyon who was still recovering from his attack missing; outright cleaving him in half. Unfortunately; Lyon turned into ice and split in half; shattering on impact with the ground. The real Lyon appeared behind him, crafting his magic.
"Ice Make… Snow Tiger!" A massive tiger of ice appeared and lunged at Gray attempting to claw him down. Gray flipped over the tiger into the air.
"Ice Make: Prison!" A massive and rather elegant cage of ice appeared below Gray, trapping the snow tiger within its bars. "What's wrong Lyon? That all you got? This tiger is really weak." Gray said; now standing on the top of the cage.
"Ridiculous! I'll just smash your cage into-" Lyon started to say as he commanded his tiger to break out of the cage. What caught him off guard was the fact that no matter what; the cage would not budge; not even slightly. Gray jumped down from the cage.
"One-Handed Ice-Make is very unbalanced. That's why when you really need to use Ice-Make it won't pull through for you." Gray said upon landing. Lyon continued to attempt to free his tiger; not even paying attention to what Gray was doing.
"Ice Make: Ice Cannon!" On command; a massive bazooka made of ice appeared in Gray's hands. "This is the end!" Gray pulled the trigger; firing off an absolutely massive burst of pure ice at Lyon. It struck him dead on and smashed into a wall; demolishing it. When the smoke cleared; Lyon barely stood; his body shaking and bleeding. "That… is what Ur taught us; remember that this time." The bazooka disappeared from Gray's hands as Lyon continued to stand.
"G…G…Gr…Gray…!" Lyon stuttered out, eventually succumbing to his own wounds and collapsing on the ground, unconscious. Gray let out a sigh of relief… and blood squired from a spot in his gut.
"Damn… I should have healed this first…!" Gray said; incasing his wound in a layer of ice. Suddenly; a loud and demonic roar filled the air. It came from deep underground; below the ruins. It had happened; Deliora had been released. "That roar… its something that I will never forget… Deliora….!" With dark emotions in mind; Gray took off; determined to finish the demon once and for all… if he could.
-Ancient Ruins, Hallways-
"What the fuck was that!" Ragna shouted; holding his ears. Accompanied by Lucy, Happy, Erza, and Tager, they had made their way to the temple. They too had heard Deliora's violent roar.
"I think it was Lucy's stomach!" Happy replied.
"I know your just messing with me… annoying cat." Lucy replied.
"Deliora… is the only thing that comes to my mind." Erza said.
"I-its already revived!" Lucy shouted in worry.
"Well… isn't that just perfect. Looks like he busted out of prison… pain in my ass…" Ragna said; scratching is own head.
"That light…?" Happy said; walking towards a hole with a deep purple light. "Moon Dip…? It's got to be the light from the Moon Dip!" Happy shouted.
"That may be an observation… but if the ritual is still going on… wouldn't that mean Deliora is not revived? At least not fully?" Tager pushed his glasses back into place.
"That's a good point…" Erza said. Just as she said that another loud roar filled the air; once again coming from Deliora.
"God damn it… Tager! Do me a favor and shut that damn demon up!" Ragna shouted.
"…You expect me to be able to take on a giant demon?" Tager replied.
"Yes! Well… no. Fucking hell! Just see what's going on down there, will you?" Ragna replied.
"That I may be able to do. However, what about you?" Tager asked.
"Figured I would head top-side and stop that ritual. If we can slow Deliora down a bit we might be able to off him." Ragna replied.
"I'll join you Ragna, it's a good idea." Erza added.
"Count me in on that too!" Lucy added.
"Aye!" Happy finished.
"Alright so it's agreed. We will meet you downstairs once things are wrapped up topside; sound good?" Ragna asked the metal giant.
"Sounds like a plan to me." Tager replied. They all went off in the designated direction; Ragna and company taking a flight of stairs while Tager forced his way downward towards the basement where Deliora was kept.
-Deliora's Chamber-
"Yes! He is here; finally here! Hahahaha!" Zalty laughed in joy of the demon's roars which signaled his rebirth.
"Damn…. Damn it!" Natsu shouted. "Enough screwing around; I'm gonna end this!" After he finished this threat; a large circular crystal smashed into the side of his head, knocking him over. The Salamander quickly climbed to his feet and saw the crystal in question flying around seemingly of its own free will. Then it flew around Zalty who seemed to be directing its path with his hands.
"My thoughts exactly, Salamander-kun!" Zalty said, launching the crystal at Natsu again.
"Oh yea! Bring it on you masked bastard!" Natsu leapt forward with his hand-blazing with fire and smashed the crystal into bits and pieces. With a slight movement of his hand, however, Zalty used his magic to restore the crystal ball and launch it at Natsu again, this time nailing him in the stomach. "What the hell…! It's fixed again!"
"I am a master of time, my friend. When you broke my crystal ball, I merely returned the ball to a time previously in which it wasn't broken." Zalty replied; the crystal floating around him once more.
"You can… change time? That's impossible!" Natsu shouted in response.
"My magic is lost magic; like I said. It is known as 'The Arc of Time,' and I must say it comes in rather handy in situations like this." Zalty replied. "What do you say we see… the future of this little crystal ball?" The crystal ball sped past Natsu; who barley noticed it. When he turned around to look; suddenly his body shot up in pain. Although he could barley see it; he was being continuously bombarded with the same crystal ball.
"Damn it!" Natsu threw a flaming punch, and seemingly accidentally hit the crystal dead on demolishing once more. But just as quickly as it shattered; it seemed to appear again good as new. It struck his head, and then flew off and started to come around for a second assault. Natsu threw a second fist at the ball aiming to hit it. But the contact never came; the crystal ball stopped right in front of Natsu's fist; just outside his reach.
"Ah yes… I can even stop time; as you can see." Zalty said. The crystal ball took a sharp right and then began to quickly fly around Natsu; but it didn't make an attempt at striking him.
"Something like this… there is no way it can work on humans, can it?" Natsu commented. Zalty laughed in response.
"My! Very perceptive I must admit. Yes, the Arc of Time cannot work on humans at all… to be a bit more broad; it doesn't work on any living or dead creature. Otherwise I could have just reversed the ice around Deliora to its original state as Ur." Zalty explained; the crystal flying around still.
"…The more I think about it... the less sense you being here makes." Natsu said, catching Zalty's attention. "You want to revive Deliora so that Lyon and kill it… but that's his dream. What do the other followers here have to do with it? What would their gain be?"
"I actually have no idea what their relation to Lyon is, aside from being loyal idealists of course. I only joined up a few weeks ago myself." Zalty replied.
"Doesn't answer why you're here though… what's your objective here?" Natsu questioned. Zalty grinned a bit, and even started to laugh.
"Wow…! I'm that much of an odd-ball here? I'm no match for you when it comes to hiding it seems." Zalty laughed for a short time before continuing. "Lyon… that brat doesn't stand a chance against Deliora."
"That's… doesn't make sense! Who is going to beat it then once it wakes up!" Natsu shouted.
"No one. No one at all." Zalty's grin widened. "All I really want to do is make Deliora mine! Even though he is an immortal monster…it can be manipulated to serve my needs! Wouldn't you agree that having the kind of power like that under my command would be-" Zalty paused as Natsu appeared bored and uninterested.
"Meh… never mind. I wasted my time asking about the damn subject." Natsu replied. The grin fell from Zalty's face. "I thought you had some kind of burning passion to end Deliora or something like that! It would have been much more exciting!" Zalty sighed.
"You may not understand this yet… but there are times when you'll need power…" Zalty was about to continue; but the temperature seemed to rise dramatically. Natsu's right arm had been completely engulfed in fire; he pulled it back and appeared ready to strike,
"If a time like that comes… I'll put my trust into my friends AND my own power! The Power of Fairy Tail Wizards!" Natsu replied in a no non-sense manner.
"Vanity will destroy the body… time crumble the roof of this cave and rush him!" Zalty raised his right hand towards the ceiling and it shattered; raining massive shards of stone down in Natsu's general direction. Zalty was caught off guard when something large… and metal fell on top of him. It landed with a large crash; kicking up a large cloud of dust.
"What the…?" Natsu kept his guard up just in case, but quickly dropped it when an uncurious and… broken, to say the least, Zalty flew form the cloud. Natsu looked into the cloud to see what was going on… and was shocked to see Iron Tager standing in the middle of it; dusting himself off.
"Man… I just keep falling today." Tager said as he finished dusting himself off.
"H-hey! You stole my mark!" Natsu shouted. Tager looked up, appearing confused. "You ruined my fight damn it!"
"O-oh… I'm terribly sorry…" Tager said in response. Natsu was about to actually attack Tager; when a loud roar interrupted him… louder than any they had previously heard.
-Top of the Ruins-
"A-avenge me!" Toby shouted as he flew through the air. He landed with a massive cut across his chest; which was left on him by the blade of Erza Scarlet.
"How dare you!" There seemed to be several of Lyons followers as well. "We are going to kill-" The speaker stopped speaking at the sight of a familiar white-haired man popping his right knuckle.
"Oh… you're going to do WHAT now…?" Ragna asked.
"N-nothing! Nothing at all! …Please don't kill us!" The speaker and his men quickly backed off.
"That's what I thought… you little bitch." Ragna said; walking forward. Lucy was following close behind.
"H-hey! The light is going away! Doesn't that mean we stopped the ritual?" Lucy asked.
"Aye!" Happy replied. But suddenly the light burst back even brighter than before.
"You're too late! The ritual is finished already!" Toby shouted. A massive roar flew from the depths of the ruins; much louder than before.
"Shit…!" Ragna shouted. "We are finished up here! Let's get to the basement with everyone else!"
"And do what exactly!" Lucy shouted over a second roar.
"To kill the bitch, what else!" Ragna simply replied.
-Deliora's Chamber-
The Beast roared at the top of it's lungs after being bathed in the bright light. It faded, and the demon known as Deliora was finally free from its ten-year ice prison. It roared continuously; although if it were out of anger of being imprisoned or joy of being released was not known.
"So… this must be the Demon Deliora that I was informed of…" Tager asked, receiving a nod from Natsu in response. A figure jumped from the ground above them and landed in front of them both; it was Gray.
"Gray! Where the hell were you!" Natsu shouted, but quickly shook his head. "Wait, never mind; forget that I asked! Deliora woke up, so any other plans are out the window. Let's take him down; ok!" Someone breaking the tension, the sound of a man crawling could be heard. Shifting their attention to the sound's origin, the found that it was Lyon; crawling to meet the beast in person; despite his broken body.
"It's… impossible… for you to… kill Deliora… let me… let me do it… and surpass Ur…!" Lyon said as he crawled closer.
"If it's impossible for is, then its suicide for you. Back off and let us handle it." Natsu replied to the broken man. Lyon, seemingly ignoring Natsu's comments, slowly began to stand.
"So… we finally meet… Deliora… the only thing the master couldn't defeat…!" He reached something of a standing position; blood dripping from his body. "I'll… kill you… right now..! With my own hands… right now! I'll surpass you… Ur... right now!" Before he could speak further; Gray struck him in the back of his neck, knocking him to the ground in an act to subdue him.
"That's enough Lyon… leave this to me…!" Gray crossed his hands, one over the other; the form of Iced Shell. "I'll seal Deliora myself!" A massive magical power erupted from Gray's body as he prepared himself to use the forbidden technique once more.
"Iced Shell…? No… no!" Lyon shouted. "Don't do it Gray! Do you have ANY idea how long it took to melt the ice! History will just repeat itself! I'll melt the ice and challenge Deliora again!"
"That doesn't matter right now… this is the only way to stop him in his tracks." Gray said. He was about to do the deed; use the spell by sacrificing himself, but someone stepped in the way…
"Natsu…! What the hell are you doing!" Gray shouted.
"I'll fight him." Natsu simply replied.
"Natsu, get the hell out of the way!" Gray shouted.
"I stopped you before because I didn't want you to die… didn't you understand that?" Natsu asked. Gray seemed to calm down; the massive magical aura starting to fade. "Use it if you want; it's not really my business if I can't make you listen." At this; Gray's magical aura out-right vanished, Gray subconsciously releasing the spell. Deliora seemed to have enough; roaring loudly and raising his right arm in preparation to smash it down on Natsu.
"Natsu! Look out!" Gray shouted. Natsu pulled his right arm back and engulfed it in fire.
"I'm not giving up, you hear me! I don't care of you're the devil himself, I'm gonna smash you to pieces!" Natsu shouted; egging the demon Deliora on. Just as Deliora was about to strike. His arm, and the rest of him, seemed to tremble. It started small, but gradually grew larger. Suddenly Deliora's arm broke off at the elbow, like a piece of stone, and fell to the ground. Other pieces of him began to do the same thing as well.
"What… no… no that's impossible!" Lyon shouted as the great and terrifying demon Deliora shattered into the smallest bits of rock. "Deliora… Deliora was dead a long time ago…!'"
"Strange… how did this happen? I thought he was simply in a state of forced hibernation due to being frozen… I figured that suddenly being awoken like that would have adverse effects; but I had no idea they would be this extreme." Tager said.
"For Ten years… Deliora was subverted in Ur's ice… By Ur's Ice… weakened long past the point of death… all we saw… were his final moments…" Lyon finished; seemingly losing his mind as he lay on the floor. A single tear dripped from Lyon's eye. "It's… It's no use… I just can't do it… I can't surpass Ur…" Out of silent pity, or perhaps out of genuine kindness, Gray walked over to Lyon and held out his hand. Cautiously; Lyon took it, and Gray slowly helped him to his feet; slinging Lyon's arm over his shoulder. Gray smiled when he hoisted Lyon up, and Lyon himself couldn't halt a small one appearing on his own face as well.
"Guess it all worked out in the end…" Natsu said; his face beaming with a smile.
"Natsu Dragneel…" a very threatening-sounding voice came from behind Natsu. What made it worse was that Natsu knew exactly who it was.
"OH SHIT! RUN!" Natsu shouted; attempting to make a break for it. A swift and strong arm grabbed him by his collar has he tried; effectively holding him in place. "Have Mercy Erza…!" Natsu said; struggling for freedom.
"No." She simply replied with everyone else right behind her.
"Jesus… I still don't see why you all are so scared of her." Ragna commented.
"You just don't understand…" Natsu said softly; being subdued by Titania had its effect on people.
"And apparently I never will; thank you for helping me reach that conclusion… little moron." Ragna replied.
-15 Minutes Later-
"Yea! We did it! Yahoo!" Natsu shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Aye!" Happy shouted as well.
"His mood sure did a 180 since you let him go." Ragna said.
"Guess his fear of me was quickly over-come with joy of the current situation being over." Erza replied.
"Or maybe he is just happy that you didn't kill him?" Ragna grinned a bit. Erza smiled.
"Either or… does it really matter?" Erza replied.
"I was really worried about what was going to happen back there… Ur was amazing." Lucy sighed in relief. Gray leaned against a rock with a smile.
"We accomplished an S-Class job! Does that mean we can go onto the second floor now?" Natsu asked, mostly out of joy. He was met with a serious glare from Erza, which quickly killed any sort of celebration in the room.
"T-that's right! We are going to be punished…!" Lucy said out of fear. Erza's glare softened a bit as she began to speak.
"No… there is something that must be done." Her glare died down further as everyone tuned in, curious. "Wasn't the original goal of this job to save a village of people who were turned into demons?"
"That's right…!" Lucy was surprised; she had completely forgotten about it over the course of all the fighting.
"Uhm… um…" Tager grunted in confusion. "May I ask what you're talking about?"
"Oh... that's right. You popped up half-way so you have no idea." Ragna scratched his head. "A job we… somewhat illegally took on. It was to save a group of people who were turned into demons by the purple moonlight… We got caught up in all this Deliora business because we were searching around for an idea on what to do."
"Oh… that makes more sense, thank you." Tager replied.
"But… Deliora died… didn't his being here cause this?" Lucy asked. Erza shook her head.
"Moon Dip is what harmed the people here, not Deliora. Simply killing him off wouldn't cause them to transform back." Erza finished with her arms crossed.
"Then let's go heal us up some people!" Natsu shouted, offering Happy a hi-five.
"Aye!" Happy took in Natsu's offer.
"Oh sure… why not… how the fuck do we do that though?" Ragna asked. Gray turned towards Lyon, who was sitting on the ground, leaning against a rock, with a questioning look.
"Beats the hell out of me. I have no idea." Lyon replied.
"What? Are you serious!" Natsu was more than frustrated.
"But… if you don't know; how are we going to break the curse?" Lucy asked, worry very apparent in her voice. Lyon looked down a bit in thought.
"Look… we knew about their existence since the time we showed up three years ago… we never messed with them at all but… they never bothered to pay us a visit either." Lyon's explanation was clean and quick… and something seemed off. Not his explanation, it was more… what he was explaining that seemed so far fetched.
"Not once in three years…?" Erza asked; acknowledging the confusion.
"That's… more than a little strange… and on top of that; the light from the Moon Dip would have been clearly visible from the village… why wouldn't they at least try to check it out?" Lucy pondered the thought for a time.
"Perhaps they steered clear out of fear of getting closer making their condition worse?" Tager suggested, pushing his glasses back into place.
"Nah, not usual." Ragna shook his head. "Even if you're scared of something, a person would at least go look. Sure it may scare them shitless when they see it and find out what's going on, but they would still at least check it out… haven't you ever seen a horror movie before?"
"Hmm… good point…" Tager nodded in agreement.
"Eh… I have doubts about the effects of the Moon Dip on the human body." Lyon said.
"What? Are you bull-shitting us by saying it's not your fault or something like that…?" Natsu asked; suspicious.
"No… think about it. Me and every one of my followers were basking in the Moon Dip's light for three years." Lyon decisively ended his statement, leaving a feeling of revelation in the room.
"That's… true!" Lucy said.
"Look… I'm not going to dictate your actions or anything like that… but be careful of the villagers… they are hiding something." Lyon said, and then crossed his arms. "Oh well… It's not my business anymore. It's a Guild Job from now in, isn't it?" There was silence for several moments. Natsu stepped forward and broke the silence.
"No way… you sent people to attack the village-" Natsu was forcefully cut off by Erza… who closed Natsu's mouth with her hand. The Salamander was confused.
"Ok… listen up. All of Lyon's followers, you know?" Ragna asked. Natsu nodded. "Every last one of them was a survivor of a Deliora attack. Each one had lost family to him, and wanted revenge. Lyon wanted to kill him to surpass Ur. They had the same goal so they came here together to make it happen."
"Oh…" Natsu said when Erza let go of his mouth.
"They had their own goals of justice, and that's why they were here." Erza added. She turned to leave. "Come on, lets go."
"Wait… if we are going… does that mean you know how we are going to fix all of this?" Lucy asked.
"No idea." Erza replied. Lucy sighed in response. As they were leaving the cave, Gray turned back towards Lyon.
"What are you looking at?" Lyon asked, uncomfortable due to the stare.
"Join a Guild. You will find all sorts of friends and even a few rivals. You will find a new goal in this life, I'm sure of it." Gray replied. Lyon turned his head with an uncomfortable look on his face.
"R-ridiculous… just go already!"
-One Hour Later, The Village-
"How… in the hell?" Ragna asked… with good reason. Despite being completely obliterated, the village now stood in perfectly good condition… like nothing had ever happened to it. They had gone to the make-shift village of tens and fond no-one. A villager ran up to them and told them to come back to the village, describing his reason as 'It's… it's just really awesome!'
"It was demolished before… so why is it fixed now?" Tager asked.
"Hmm… maybe…?" Natsu asked to himself. The only person who came to mind with such ability was Zalty. "…Maybe he felt sorry for what he did…?"
"Wait… our stuff!" Lucy turned to grab their stuff, and saw the village chief standing over a gravestone… the one for his son. 'Even the gravestone is back to normal… what a relief.' She thought. The village chief turned around and saw Lucy, and decided to approach her with a question or two.
"Fairy Tail wizards… are you the ones who restored our village?" The chief asked.
"Well… no… not really…" Lucy answered, nervous.
"Regardless; we are very grateful… but, please tell me when you are going to destroy the moon…?" The chief asked again.
"Erm… well…" Lucy's voice trailed off.
"It's easy to destroy the moon." Erza came from behind and placed her hand on the chief's shoulder to re-assure him.
"She is saying that like it's absolutely nothing…" Gray said.
"Aye!" Happy added.
"But before we do that… I want to know something… could you gather everyone in the village together?"
-10 Minutes Later, Village Center-
"Alright... I want to clarify a few things before I decide what to do next." Erza said. She stood before a large group of the villagers; the entire population was in attendance. "All of you gained your current appearance only after the purple moon appeared in the night sky, is that correct?" She asked quickly once she believed she had their full attention.
"To be correct; we only take on this form when the moon is out." The village leader stepped forward.
"I see… and this started roughly three years ago, correct?" Erza asked.
"Y-yea… sounds about right." This came from a villager in the crowd. Erza started to speak again, taking steps to her right.
"But… the Moon Dip spell was activate every day for the past three years… you should have been able to see the light from the village every day- KYAH!" Erza fell through a pit that was covered in local grasses… made as a trap for Lyon's followers.
"Even the pit fall is back…" Happy said; jaw dropped.
"She Said 'Kyah'…" Natsu said, suffering from a similar condition…
"C-Cute…" Gray stuttered out.
"How did she… fall for such an obvious trap?" Tager said.
"Better question; who the hell made the damn thing!" Ragna shouted.
"I didn't do it! I didn't do it!" Lucy shouted over and over again.
"That means it would be the most suspicious spot to investigate…" Erza said, pulling herself out of the trap hole.
"She is talking like absolutely nothing happened… that takes a lot of nerve…" A villager said to another.
"Why didn't you investigate the light?" Erza asked. Several whispers came from the crowd before the village leader answered.
"That's… that's because it is tradition here not to travel anywhere near the ruins… it has been like that for centuries!" The leader replied quickly.
"But… it was a very serious situation right? You had causalities because of the moon, and also considering how large the reward is…" Lucy questioned carefully, trying not to insult them and their culture. More whispers came from the crowd.
"Can you tell us the truth?" Erza asked. The chief looked off for a moment; glanced toward his son's grave, before he replied.
"To… be truthful… we have no idea what's going on either." The chief replied with obvious concern in his eyes. "We tried to visit the ruins many times but… each time… we couldn't even get close to it at all." This caused the worry to spread to several other people as well. "Even if we walked in a straight path towards the ruins… we wound up at the village gate… we cannot get close to it at all." The worry turned into something more of shock for everyone.
"But… we could get close to it, no problem at all!" Ragna replied.
"Yeah! We could even go inside! No sweat." Natsu added.
"We kept it between us because we thought you would never believe us…" One villager said.
"But it's true! We tried over and over again!" A different one shouted.
"Not one villager can even get close." A third and final one added.
"…That is what I thought." Erza said, getting looks of confusion. Off in a large tree right next to the village, the man Zalty sat… with an obvious bruise on his cheek.
"Clever Titania… very clever. You figured it out already." Zalty said. But his words were far from hearable range. Back in the village, Erza used her requip magic to change into yet another set of armor.
"Now that I know… its time to destroy the moon!" She stood in a large yellow and white armor that revealed a bit of her thighs. The armor had several bits of white fur in various places on the armor. A pair of metal animal like ears also appeared on her head. She also held a massive lance to match the armor in many ways.
"Oh well… that's nice… how are you going to do that?" Ragna asked, curious more than anything. "Not to insult your strength or anything, but I think even the moon is a bit out of your reach." Ragna pointed upward for empathies.
"This armor is known as 'The Giants Armor.' True to its name, it drastically increases the throwing power of the user." She held up her lance. "This is the 'Evil Crushing Spear,' which has the power to destroy darkness." She finish her explanation, ending it by putting the non-bladed end of the lance on the ground.
"So… you intend to just throw it and hit the mark?" Ragna asked. Erza nodded, but Ragna was less than convinced of the capability of the plan working.
"I'll admit; my own strength alone will not be enough to reach… but I figured I could get a little help." Erza turned and smiled. Ragna smiled back and held his right hand to his chin; closing his eyes.
"A little help… interesting…" Ragna replied, turning around and walking in the direction of Tager, keeping his hand in place. When he got close to the Red Devil he turned and pointed at Erza. "I think I know someone who can help you there… oh yes I do…" Ragna said, nodding several times; keeping his right hand in place. Tager's face turned to worry.
"Um… Ragna… you don't mean-OOF!" Tager shouted at the impact of an object slamming into his stomach. Ragna had used his left arm to hit Tager in the stomach, silencing him.
"Mostly metal or not, you still got some very vulnerable-to-pain flesh Tager." Ragna said, finally dropping his right hand.
"But… shouldn't you of still hit some form of metal?" Lucy asked.
"Yea; that's why I used my left hand… you know, the also-metal one?" Ragna held out his empty palm as part of a motion when something clanged against the ground. Ragna finally opened his eyes and received several strange…and worried looks. "Hey… what the hells wrong...?"
"Oh my… umm…" Erza held her free hand close to her mouth, trying to keep quiet.
"That's… unfortunate." Gray said.
"Aye…" Happy added.
"Ok… seriously, what the hell is going on now?" Ragna asked.
"Umm… Ragna…" Erza said, moving her hand away from her mouth. "Your… left hand is… um…" Confused, Ragna held up his left hand, and despite his blank look, he knew what was wrong. His metal index finger has fallen off and hit the ground. He tried to move it, and saw the joints inside move. He looked up at Tager, who has something of a grin on his face. Ragna blushed a bit out of embarrassment, and crossed his arms, also mumbling something to himself, that lead to several; chuckles of laughter from the metal giant, and several other people, and a simple smile from Erza.
"Alright, wise guy… you tell them or I will." Ragna said, his blush fading. Tager's face turned serious. He still smiled, however.
"Tell us what exactly?" Lucy asked.
"Well… I have ignitable boosters in my legs. So I believe Ragna is suggesting that I take the lance to the moon and destroy it…" Tager answered.
"You can fly? For how long?" Erza asked.
"Well… on a full tank, I can make it into orbit and back, but it uses up all my fuel. In theory I could reach the moon but… I doubt I would be able to make it back or destroy the moon, and if I did it would be guaranteed need to find a fuel to use as a replacement. My boosters are only meant for emergencies." Tager finished quickly, pushing his glasses back into place.
"All… the way into… orbit? And back?" Lucy was stunned.
"That's father than happy can travel…" Natsu said.
"Aye…" Happy agreed quickly.
"So… I'm sorry, but I don't think it will work." Tager apologized.
"No… no, you will be able to go far enough if what you say is true, Tager." Erza replied, confusing Tager. She held out her lance to the Red Devil. "You won't go all the way… you won't need to. Simply rise to a certain point and come back… I'm sure you will be able to figure out when."
"I don't have any idea what it is you are thinking but… alright." Tager took the lance and held it up.
"Make sure to hold it tightly above your head, you want the lance to it; not you." Erza instructed.
"Got it…" Tager held it up by the very bottom of the lance. "Stand back… I'm going to engage flight mode."
"So… is it really going to happen? Is the moon really going to be gone!" A villager asked in excitement.
"Yahoo! Finally after three years!" Another shouted. Erza approached Ragna from behind.
"So…how did you know of this little 'flight mode' of Tager's?" Erza asked.
"His ultimate move… I believe he calls it 'King of Tager.' He grabs a target and lifts them over-head. He runs a small electric current through the target to paralyze their limbs, so they can't break free. Then he shoots off his boosters… flies into orbit… then turns the exact opposite direction and smashes them into the ground…"
"…Through re-entry into the earths atmosphere and all?" Erza asked, shocked. Ragna nodded. "That's… just… it sounds… painful…"
"It is… the guy I saw him use it on was screaming the entire time until impact… poor guy…" Ragna actually appeared somewhat… sad.
"Who…? Or should I ask why?" Erza asked.
"A bounty hunter, after my head obviously. Tager works directly under the head of Sector 7, Professor Kokonoe. Don't ask me what her first name is, I don't know." Ragna paused, then continued. "Anyway, Kokonoe and Tager are always on contact with each other, and Kokonoe can hear what's going on around Tager, and what she says cam be heard by people around Tager. The bounty hunter was after me when Tager showed up, coming after me… something about preventing the Black Beast form popping up again… Wait, you did hear about my world's whole back-story and what-not, right?" Ragna asked.
"Yes… while we were traveling, Gray brought it up." Erza replied.
"…Even about how my fate is supposedly going to be?" Ragna asked. Erza nodded, and nothing more. "What…? No reaction? I was kind of looking forward to that…" Ragna laughed a bit. He earned a smile for his efforts at comedy.
"I was taken aback at first… but your still you right now, and that's all that matters. Fate is what you make it, not what others decide for you." Erza replied. Ragna scratched his head.
"…It's about damn time someone started to believe in me. It's been what, ten years now?" Ragna earned a small chuckle this time.
"Anyway, as you were saying?" Erza prompted him to continue.
"Right… anyway, the bounty hunter caught wind of trying to steal his 'kill' so to speak. So he started slurring out insults at Tager. I used it as cover to get away from them both. But apparently the bounty hunter caught wind of Kokonoe's name and started slurring out insults at her too… and that was it for him. All I remember is hearing 'KING OF TAGER!' and hearing a massive impact moments later. I assumed Kokonoe ordered him to do it, despite a few objections from Tager… but orders are orders I guess that's how it goes…" Ragna finished.
"That's… a very irresponsible order." Erza commented.
"And Kokonoe is one of those people who are 'always irritated.' Seriously… there has only been a few times I've seen or heard her calm, let alone actually happy." Ragna replied.
"And on top of that… I would never do or order such a thing just for a few insults." Erza added.
"Same here. But… if I remember correctly, Kokonoe saved Tager's life so… he isn't exactly in a position to ignore her. All that bounty hunter did was piss off the wrong chick at the wrong time… and he was reduced to a finely burnt and flat paste… left a fucking crater too, like a meteor just hit or something." Ragna finished.
"I guess some people are like that…" Erza said.
"She isn't all bad… I unofficially work for her now too, so Tager isn't after me anymore. So it probably won't happen again anytime soon." Ragna replied.
"And you're working with her because…?" Erza asked.
"Mutual blood-curdling hatred for a certain individual." Ragna replied.
"…Teurmi?" Erza asked.
"Bingo." Ragna replied quickly. "You catch on quick."
"I guessed…" Erza said. Ragna clapped his hands a few times.
"Ok, show time, looks like Tager is about ready. Places people!"
Only through strength can we endure sufferings and torments
That would break and destroy a lesser being.
Darkness. Darkness was all that could be seen. After some time however… something of a red curtain appeared. And the voices of a certain Ice Wizard and Celestial Mage could be heard, saying one phrase and one phrase only…
"Help Me! Professor Kokonoe!"
The curtain lifted, revealing the dark un-lit lab once more, still as messy as before. Then a spotlight sparked to life, revealing the great and mighty Professor Kokonoe, not unlike five chapters ago. With a certain elegancy, she began to speak.
"Hello lost children. Here we are again, as promised five chapters ago. Welcome to 'Help Me, Professer Kokonoe, round two!' Much to my amusement, I have been given a raise for my excellent work in chapter five. Of course… it would be that I threatened to shove a bomb up the author's ass if I didn't get a large budget. Needless to say he complied, so I'm in something of a good mood today!" She smiled and pushed her glasses back into place. "Oh, and as a heads up, we have new guests today, but besides that it should be business as normal, like back in chapter five." She paused for a moment before continuing.
"Ok, now that is out of the way… lost children of the day, you may enter!" She said, and suddenly the whole lab lit up and Kokonoe took a few steps back. As if on cue, Gray Fullbuster and Lucy Heartfilia quickly entered the room. The latter quickly became distressed while the former seemed to not care at all.
"Where am I! Who are you! What the hell is going on!" Lucy screamed in fright. "I'm in my bath, minding my own business, and suddenly I wind up here fully clothed! Someone please tell me what's going on!"
"That's what you get for being late…" Gray said. Lucy appeared confused. "Remember? We were told to be here a full hour ago, but you completely blew it off… or forgot, I should say."
"That makes sense… but how did I get here AND get clothed!" Lucy shouted.
"Eh, we used a Intervention Ars to bring you here. As for the clothes… well, lets just say your butt-ass naked body, with your huge breasts and rather attractive ass combined with the fact that most of the crew here has not ever been with a woman before… cause some unexpected fainting and blood loss. Since we didn't want the entire crew to be offed in a surge of their own personal glory of seeing such an attractive and naked woman, we sent a FEMALE part of the crew to get your clothes and fix the little problem. When you first showed up, you screamed, fell backwards, and hit your head… so I guess you forgot it all." Kokonoe finished, seemingly pulling out a bag of chips and eating several. Lucy fell to the ground with tears in her eyes.
"My… innocence…. gone…" Lucy sobbed.
"Quit your bitching. All of this is non-cannon anyway." Kokonoe said as she put the chips away.
"Yea, lighten up." Gray added.
"Yes… listen to the man who is almost butt-ass naked himself." Kokonoe said. Gray had once again subconsciously stripped.
"GAK!" Gray quickly re-clothed.
"There… now if people are done showing the goods in my little office, mind if we get started?" Kokonoe asked. She was starting to get annoyed.
"Sure I guess…" Gray said. Lucy sighed.
"As long as I can get back home, I'll do whatever you need." Lucy said, several sobs still able to be heard.
"Good to hear! Now let's get started with the first segment!"
-Questions and Answers!-
"Ok, straight forward this time, let's get this rolling with our first question!"
Are other BlazBlue characters going to be introduced besides Iron Tager?
"To be blunt; yes there are." Kokonoe quickly said. "To lob off another question, there are actually three characters slated for introduction in the next arc. As for who; wait and see. I'm not going to be the one to spoil the entire next arc for you."
"Guess we wait then…" Gray said. "What's the next question?"
Ragna and Erza seem to get along really well. Are they going to eventually be a couple?
"Well… it's probably been no secret since chapter five so… yea. And it's going to be a lot sooner than you think too." Kokonoe ended by yet again pulling out the bag of chips and eating from it again.
"I was wondering what was up with those two. I knew they got along due to a slightly similar bad past, but I couldn't place my finger on it…" Lucy said.
"Neither could Happy, apparently. That's if you remember all the way back in chapter one." Gray added.
"Good point…now what's the next question?" Lucy asked.
Are there going to be sex scenes in this story at all between characters?
"Gah! Why would people ask that!" Lucy shouted.
"Because human beings are naturally adapted to the thought of sex, men especially. Any sort of hints toward sex, even if it's not involving them, seem to be a rather common topic." Kokonoe answered.
"Yea… but still…." Lucy hesitated to answer.
"Alright… I'll answer the question; the author left me a note." Gray reached into his pocket for a piece of paper. "Ok… it reads as follows: 'I was originally divided on this subject. Being a man I was enticed by the thoughts of sex, but I also thought adding sex scenes would degrade my story. I asked one of my readers, the person in question being someone who reviews and evaluates my chapters before I post them online, his opinion. He had similar thoughts about the subject, but admitted that he thought it would be interesting to see, and thought it might actually help the story rather than hurt it in the long run. After a bit of thought, I was inclined to agree with him.' And that's all that is on here apparently…"
"But… what does that mean?" Lucy asked.
"Basically; it means there are gong to be scenes of sex. Probably not for while but they will eventually pop up." Kokonoe answered.
"…They aren't going to involve me, are they?" Lucy asked, a bit frightened.
"Donno, wait and see tall, blond, and stacked." Kokonoe replied. Lucy made a frightened noise.
"Can we move on before Lucy screams again?" Gray asked.
"Sure; it's about time for the next subject anyway." Kokonoe replied.
-Recap!-
"As before, we are only summarizing the past five chapters, nothing from before." Kokonoe readjusted her glasses.
"Ok, basically Ragna joined up with Fairy Tail officially and met a few members of the guild. Then the fight between Erza and Natsu started, but only led to Erza and somehow Ragna being thrown into jail because of what happened during the Lullaby Arc. When they got out, Natsu stole an S-class job request from the second floor, and got Lucy to tag along, but forced Gray into coming along and tricked Ragna into joining up. They traveled to Galuna Island, but shipwrecked there due to a storm. After seeing the villager's plight, they agreed to help them and traveled to the ancient ruins on the island. Eventually they stumbled upon the Frozen Deliora and Lyon and his followers. They fought for a little bit and then fell back to the village, but it was destroyed shortly after they all arrived there. That's when Tager fell from the sky and proceeded to thrash the three followers that followed them. Natsu and Ragna took off toward the ruins and Erza showed up. Erza and Gray spoke about the job and Gray left in anger, and eventually Erza went after him, dragging Lucy, Happy, and Tager along. They eventually came across Ragna fighting off a large army of the followers. Erza sent Gray up on ahead while she stayed behind in hiding until Ragna was done, and then proceeded to challenge Ragna. There was a lot of fighting up at the Ruins, which took too long so Deliora was released. But Deliora quickly crumbled to dust shortly after his release, his life drained by Ur's ice. They traveled back to the village to focus on the villager's problem, and may have solved it with Erza's help. And we now wait for Tager to blast off into space and destroy the moon." Gray ended with a breath, exhausted.
"Very nicely done. I was worried I was going to have to do it…" Kokonoe said.
"That's… nice…." Gray said in-between breaths.
"Ok… so last segment time!"
-Additional Information!-
"Do we actually have a need for additional information this time?" Gray asked.
"Yea; Your past and Tager's. We sort of skimmed yours and completely skipped Tager's. Don't worry; I'll take care of everything." Kokonoe offered.
"Well… ok then." Gray replied.
"Anyway, the only specific details about Gray's past would be his specific training habits… of forcing him to strip down to his boxers in below-zero temperatures." Kokonoe said.
"It's… how I developed my subconscious stripping problem…." Gray admitted. "It was to apparently make me feel at one with the ice, which made the training easier… but… well, you know."
"I could never do any kind of training like that…" Lucy said.
"Lyon and Ur did; both of them." Gray said.
"…My point still stands…." Lucy said. "Anyway, what about Tager?"
"Tager? Oh, we was a scientist turned soldier during the Ikaruga civil war, otherwise known as the second war of magic, after the Dark War against the Black Beast, which was known as the first war of magic. His body got hit by an explosive and nearly died, but I found him and fixed him up with some of tech around the Sector 7 labs. Kind of like that 'Bionic Man' Stuff but… well, you've seen Tager." Kokonoe finished.
"So… are we done?" Lucy asked.
"Yea we are done. Since I actually like you two, I won't kick you out like I did to Natsu." Kokonoe said.
"How did you kick him out?" Gray asked.
"Metal fist into his face." She answered with a rather mischievous smile.
"Oh…" Gray replied.
"Anyway, that's the end of the show! See you in another five chapters people!" Kokonoe said, causing the curtain to fall, signaling the end of the show.