Hello everyone ! I hope you're all feeling good and that your Christmas was full of food, family moment and amazing gifts. And in a good Christmas fashion, here's what you could consider as my Christmas gift to you all. I hope you'll like it.
We are going to start with a little flashback to see what Sento was doing while the rest was fighting in the train station. Here we go !
Chapter 10 – The deal made with Shocker
/- Flashback : with Sento when they reached the station -/
As they finally reached the station, they were blocked by a huge crowd gathered in front of the station, the citizen looking like they were half-scared, half-curious. The mages however had a good idea to what was happening inside. They were just beginning to walk toward the crowd when they were stopped by some noises that seemed to come from a construction site with hammering and drilling noises, which all stopped when Sento finally answered his phone.
- "Sento here. Oh, Gentaro. Just give me a moment." Sento put a hand on his phone to talk to the others. "Don't wait for me, I'll catch you later."
- "Okay, don't take too long." Simply said Erza as she began to walk to the station, followed by the others, Sento returning to his phone call.
- "Okay, Gentaro. What is it ?"
- "Well, we have some news from our friends back home." This perked Sento's interested, who listened intently while looking at the station. "First, they got to every places we know Shockers use or used as base to see if they could find anything useful. And alas, they didn't get many useful thing except for the fact that Shocker basically came to this world blindly."
- "Do you mean to tell me that they came here without knowing what to expect ? That's reckless, even for them."
- "Yeah, but they apparently tried many configuration on the gate before going in and they analyzed each one of them, looking for the one who had the strongest energetic signature."
- "So they knew they could get something out of this world." Said Sento, finishing Sento's sentence. "But that also mean we won't get anything else from our world. We'll have to figure out what they are planning on our own."
- "Yes, that seems to be the case." Sighed Gentaro before switching to another subject. "But that's not the only thing I had to tell you."
- "What the hell ?" suddenly said Sento, his eyes focused on the train station where two man were now unconscious on the steps leading to the building.
- "What ? Is there a problem ?" asked Gentaro, wondering why Sento said that all of a sudden, Fourze's voice bringing Sento back to the phone call.
- "No, it's nothing, just Erza headbutting people for no reason."
- "Wait, what ?"
- "It doesn't matter. What did you wanted to say, already ?"
- "Oh yeah. Kengo and the others managed to find a way to send us some help should we need reinforcement." This made Sento 's eyes widen slightly, happy by the news and also wondering how they did that. "They didn't told me how it worked exactly, but they managed to establish some sort of connection between the gate and a stone they used to create bracelet. They then give them to many other Riders who can use those to be send to us."
- "That's great, but isn't it dangerous if we, for example, call upon someone while he is already fighting ? And how can we make them know who we need help from ?"
- "They send us 6 remote control of some sort we can use to send a SOS to someone and make him come. It also say who is available at the moment and who isn't. That way, there's no risk of calling someone who's already taking care of something important. You can get it through the box just like for any other device."
- "Okay, that's really great, Gentaro." Said Sento, smiling at this great news, turning on his heels, a hand on the white box on his belt. "I'll go tell everything to the others right aw…" Sento suddenly stopped mid-sentence, shocked by what he was seeing now that he had turned back to face the station. "Hum, Gentaro ? Something came up. We'll call you guys back later." And without letting Gentaro the time to answer, he hung up on him, Fourze feeling left out and not understanding why he stopped the call so brutally. But Sento didn't care, busy looking at the huge tornado that was now swirling around the station, a huge pillar of wind that forced the curious citizen to now run away, leaving Sento to be the only one getting closer to the storm, while composing another number on his phone, putting the phone against his ear waiting for the answer.
- "Emu Hojo here."
- "Emu, it's Sento. How are thing inside the station."
- "Oh Sento. Are you still out there ? We have bad news. We'll meet you outside asap."
- "I'm afraid you won't be able to exit the station as of now." Emu frowned at that, turning to look at the others still listening at Sento.
- "What do you mean we can't go out ?"
- "The station. It's trapped in a tornado."
/- Flashback end -/
- "Wait just a second." Sento waited, hearing Emu press a button on his phone and hearing him call the other to get closer, the physicist guessing that he was now on speaker. "So, can you say that again, I think I misheard you. You said we are now trapped in a tornado ?"
- "It's just as I said, a huge whirlwind is preventing everyone from entering. And I have a feeling it will also stop you from going out."
- "It's probably Erigor's wind magic." Said Erza, now back in her usual attire.
- "And it also confirm my theory about them not wanting to broadcast Lullaby." Said Kouta. "But I'm still wondering why this station and not another one. Nor why they made the train derailed. " Both end of the line stayed silent for a moment until Sento finally whispered.
- "Unless they planned to block the station." He muttered, the mages and doctor wondering what he meant as the line went silent once again for a few seconds until Sento spoke once again. " I'm not mistaken if I say that the train is the fastest way to travel here, right ?"
- "No, it is. We use train to convey food, people, any kind of materials…"
- "And reinforcements. Just give me a second." This stopped Erza, whose gears went into overdrive, but still missing a piece of the puzzle, a piece Sento was about to gave her. "I know what's their objectives. I just checked with an inhabitant. This city station is the second to last of this part of the railroad. The only station after this one, the terminal, is in the city of Clover."
Everyone on the other end of the line gasped, realizing what this implied.
- "The target are the guild master gathered at the annual meeting !" Erza suddenly grabbed the phone, literally ripping it away from Emu's hand. "Listen to me. If we are stuck here, you have to go and stop Erigor before he can get to Clover."
Of course, Sento agreed but before he could hung up, Kouta added something that made the task even more important.
- "Sento. They are working with Shocker !" The line went silent for just a second, letting Sento process what he just heard has Kouta continued. "There were a Bugster and an Inves here with them and some Shocker soldiers and they clearly weren't expecting us to be here. Once you'll reach Erigor, you have to know why he had those guys with him."
- "Don't worry about it, I won't forget this. I'm going after him." Sento was about to hung up when he realized something, his voice sudden return making Kouta slightly jump in surprise. "And I suggest you find the guy who undid the Lullaby seal. That could help you. See you later." With that, Sento finally end the call, turning to the railroad that was going out of the storm-covered station.
- "Well, if I have to catch up with a flying man, I might as well fly too."
TAKA ! GATLING ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ?
- "HENSHIN !"
/- In the station -/
Kouta gave his phone back to Emu after they finished the call with Sento, both Riders looking tensed.
- "You really seemed nervous. Is that because of those Shockers guy ? They didn't seemed that dangerous with the way you dealt with them." Said Happy, not understanding why the Riders were so worried when the monsters weren't here anymore.
- "It's not about their strength, at least not for now." Answered Emu who just like Kouta was back in his civilian clothes. "Judging by the way they were surprised to see us, they didn't expected us to be here, which means they had another reason to team up with Eisenwald. We have to know why since it could help us understand what they are trying to do in this world."
- "Anyway, we have to find that Kageyama." Finally said Erza, sighing slightly out of tiredness, the fight plus the magical four-wheeled vehicle having drained more magic and strength than she though. "Sento is right, if he can lift the seal on Lullaby, he can probably dispel the tornado trapping us here."
- "Alright then, let's go find him and the guys." As they were about to leave the platform, they were interrupted by Gray who came running from the upper part of the station.
- "Erza ! Everyone ! We have to go ! They are targeting the old man and the others guild masters !"
- "Yeah, we know that ! Tell me, did you fight with a guy who control shadow ?" asked Erza, which took Gray by surprise, even if he was already when she said they already knew the plan.
- "No, I fought a guy who used some kind of bands. Why would we need the other guy though ?" he wondered.
- "Because we are trapped in a giant tornado Erigor put around the station. This guy can probably dispel it. Where is he ?" said Lucy, worried for the master, each second passing signifying that Erigor was getting closer to Clover.
- "He probably went after ash for brains. But we have to be quick, or else the masters are done for." Answered the ice mage to which Emu answered back.
- "Sento is still out there and got after Erigor and I'm sure he'll be able to at least stall him long enough. Let's not waste any more time, we have to find Natsu and that Kageyama."
/- With Natsu -/
- "ERIGOOOOOOR !"
Natsu was yelling all around the station, looking for Eisenwald ace looking in every room he saw, destroying the wall with a flaming kick instead of using the door that was basically just next to him. A show that the shadow man, who was watching him from the roof where he was merged with his own shadow, looking at Natsu with a bead of sweet running down his temple. After some time however, Kageyama had enough waiting and came out of his shadow, kicking Natsu on the back of his head, sending him crash in a wall, the fire mage going out of the rubbles, feeling his anger rising up.
- "You again !"
- "I think I got the general idea of your magic. You increase the destructive power by flaming up a part of your body. Pretty unusual, I'd say." Said Kageyama with a smirk. Natsu however seemed torn between two desires.
- "I really want to punch you, but It's not the time for that ! I want to punch you but I don't have the time to deal with you ! Where's Erigor !?"
- "If you manage to defeat me, maybe I'll tell you." Said Kageyama in a mocking way, putting a hand on the floor, his shadow stretching toward Natsu who just jumped to dodge a shadow punch, Kageyama seething at that. "You're quick. But you won't be quick enough to dodge that !"
OROCHI SHADOW !
A bunch of shadow made snake suddenly emerged from the mage shadow and rushed at Natsu. But much to Kageyama's surprise, Natsu didn't flee nor got destroyed. Instead, he managed to punch each one of the snake, destroying them all, which shocked Kageyama who was too surprised to dodge what came after that. Natsu punched him with a fire fist before grabbing him by his jacket to threw him at the top of a wall before unleashing a stream of fire from his mouth at the other mage, the explosion resulting from the attack shaking the whole building.
- "Natsu !"
The Dragon slayer turned around, forgetting for a moment the beaten shadow mage in front of him to look at his friend, who came running at him.
- "Huh ? What's going on ? What are you all doing here ?" he asked, not getting an answer from Erza who just walked past him to grab and talked to Kageyama, her sword on his throat, leaving the explanation to Kouta.
- "Long story short, Erigor's objective is to kill the guild master at Clover." This caused Natsu's eyes to open widely in anger. "And he trapped us within a huge tornado and that guy probably know how to stop it. Luckily you didn't knock him out."
- "I want the magic wall of wind to be nullified at once. You'll gain a new cut every time you say no." Erza's threat was more than serious, Kageyama eyeing the sword getting close to his face with fear, Emu watching the scene with uneasiness, his doctor instinct not really liking the idea of torturing someone to get him to do something. But as Kageyama was about to agree, he suddenly spat blood and got limp in Erza's hand. Dropping to the ground, the rest of the mages and Riders saw a sword in his back and Karakka's upper body sticking out of the wall. They didn't had to be geniuses like Sento to understood what happened.
Karakka tried to kill his fellow guildmates. As Erza, Gray and Emu jumped on Kageyama, trying to keep him awake, Natsu eyes were on Karakka.
- "Aren't you… his nakama ?" his said quietly, but loud enough for the big guy to hear and try to flee by phasing through the wall like a ghost, as Natsu's eyes were now filled with fury. "Aren't you nakama from the same guild ?!" He then jumped at the wall which he destroyed with a fire punch, knocking Karakka's out in the process. Around Kageyama, Gray and Erza were shouting at him stay awake until they were shoved aside by Emu, both mages shocked by his behavior.
- "What the hell, man ? We have to save him you stup…"
- "I'M A DOCTOR !" Emu's shout stopped Gray dead in his track. "I'll try to save him but I won't to anything with you shouting like madmen in my ears !" Once they had all calmed down, he grabbed a first aid kit he had inside his vest, something he always had on him in case of emergency like this one. Emu took Kageyama's vest of his body, looking at the wound to see what .
- "Well I have some good news. His survival rate is quite high. He can be saved. The sword missed the vitals and just grazed the spine." The mages sighed in relief at that.
- "Will he be able to neutralize the wall of wind ?" asked Lucy, Emu suddenly a little less optimistic.
- "I don't know if he'll be able to quickly enough." He said with a professional look in his eyes. "I'll first try to save him. We'll see how it will go after that." Emu then began to work, disinfecting the stab wound with an antiseptic then used some surgical wire and needle he had in his first aid kit to sew the wound close that he wrapped in bandages to prevent the wound from reopening to quickly. Once it was done, he also took care of his others wound to increase the chance of him waking up as soon as possible, Kageyama now out cold but alive. Alas, the doctor wasn't that optimistic regarding him waking up soon.
- "So he won't wake up, huh ?" noted Gray, a sour look in his eyes.
- "Even if he did, he probably won't have enough strength to do it. We have to find another way."
Once that was said, they all walked to the entrance of the station, now facing the raging wall of wind, that made them unable to exit. Well, it didn't stopped Natsu from trying, rushing at the wall only to be repelled as if he had been struck by the shockwave. As Natsu kept trying to go force his way through the wall with Lucy begging him to stop, Kouta turned to Gray.
- "Hey, maybe you can try and froze it ?" he suggested to the ice mage who just shook his head in answer.
- "I would have already done that if I could do it. And can't one of your armor be strong enough to do it ?"
- "To be honest, we've never tried to do something like that before. But I guess we can try." Answered Kouta, grabbing the Suika Lockseed as Emu grabbed Maximum Mighty X, but before they could use it, a shout stopped them in their tracks.
- "I said stop it !" Lucy had apparently got enough of Natsu's reckless behavior in trying to force his way out of the tornado and had grabbed Natsu who stopped to turned and look at her, heaving a sigh and muttering a 'Fine' that clearly showed that he hated being powerless. That's when Lucy came up with an idea.
- "Wait ! What if we try to go underneath the tornado ?!" This made everyone looked at her with a slight hope in their eyes as she turned to the Riders. "Well, I don't think any of our magic can do such thing, but you all look like you have many kind of armor, isn't there one who can dig a tunnel ?"
This time, the hopeful gazes landed on the Riders who were biting their own lips, realizing something.
- "Well, yes some Riders have that kind of power. But both of us have no such thing. That could have worked if it was Gentaro or Haruto, but…"
- "AAAAAAAAH !" They all jumped out of their skin as they Happy shouted for apparently no reason, his eyes wide in realization, as if he just remembered something important, the flying cat turning to Lucy. "Lucy, I just remembered the thing I was going to tell you about !" he then proceed to take his little bag of his back, looking inside of it, some fish being pulled out of it before he finally got what he wanted.
A golden key with the symbol of the virgin constellation on it.
- "That's Virgo's key !?" shouted Lucy seeing the key the cat now had in his paw, the blonde pinching his cheeks. "You shouldn't be taking someone else's key without permission."
- "No, Virgo herself wanted you to have it."
- "What are you all talking about ? We are all wasting time here !" said Gray, annoyed by the little show while Kouta seemed to remember something.
- "Wait. This Virgo is a spirit that was used by that Duke you fought, right ?"
- "Huh, yes. How do you know about that ?" asked Lucy, wondering how he heard about it.
- "Gentaro told us about it." Answered the fruit Rider. "He also told us she could move underground like a mole or something like that."
This sparked everyone interest as they understood what that meant. With those powers, they could go out of their jail by going from below it.
- "I see ! Good job Happy !" said Lucy with glee, forgetting her previous annoyance she felt toward the cat. "Why didn't you mention that earlier ?"
- "Maybe because you were busy pinching his cheeks ?" muttered Emu, kind of annoyed by her sudden change of heart. She didn't mind though, grabbing the golden key and calling upon the spirit without losing any more time.
- "I am the person who connects the road to the stellar spirit world. Thou… shalt respond to the calling and pass through the gate."
OPEN, THE GATE TO THE VIRGIN : VIRGO !
- "How may I help you, mistress ?"
And in a puff of smoke, the spirit of the virgin appeared with a slight bow, in the same outfit as the one she wore when they first met her at Everlue's mansion. But there was one slight difference. No, scratch that, she was basically a whole different person, much thinner and smaller than before. Basically, she was now what a normal person would call cute.
- "You lost weight." Simply said Natsu at the spirit, as if he didn't though of anything else.
- "Lose weight ? More like she's a totally different person !" shouted Lucy, at a lose of words from what was happening as she turned to the spirit. "Y-Your appearance…" she trailed off, letting the pink haired girl explaining.
- "I'm a loyal stellar spirit of my owner ; I work in whatever appearance you'd like me to."
- "Well, it's all nice and all, but we are in kind of a rush, so…"
- "Yes, of course !" shouted Lucy, being remembered of the situation by Emu's comment, so she turned back to the maid. "We don't have time ! Can we make the contract later !?"
- "As you wish, my mistress."
- "Don't call me mistress !"
- "Then how about 'your Highness' ?"
- "Rejected !"
- "How about 'Princess' ?"
- "That sounds fine."
- "I think I did say that we were in a rush, didn't I ?" reminded Emu, putting an end to the two girls pointless dialog, the spirit finally doing what she was called for, literally diving into the ground, digging the much needed tunnel in the process, opening a way out of the tornado. As they began to enter the tunnel, they turned to see Natsu and Emu picking Kageyama's up, which the others didn't understand.
- "What are you both doing ?" asked Gray, not knowing why they'd bother with him.
- "I won't feel right if he dies after fighting me." Simply said Natsu, a determined look in his eye.
- "And as a doctor, he is like my patient and I'm not leaving him go while I'm not sure he is completely healed."
The other mages and Rider looked at the two guys with a proud look in their eyes as they all began to proceed in the tunnel to, after a quick walk, finally reach the other side, now free of the storm. As they finally were outside, they heard Kageyama, who was awake and laid down on the ground, a satisfied look on his face.
- "You…You might have found a way out, but there's no way you'll catch up with Erigor now… We won…"
- "I wouldn't be so sure, Kageyama." Said Kouta, helping Lucy out of the hole. "Don't tell me you didn't realized that there's one of us that's missing ? You should remember him from the train with Natsu, hum ?"
Kageyama frowned, realizing that if that guy was right. He didn't saw the bi-colored armored guy when they were in the hallway were Karakka stabbed him. He gritted his teeth but managed to find a comeback.
- "Even if he can catch up with Erigor, he won't stand a chance."
- "Wait. Where are Happy and Natsu ?" Lucy wondered, not paying any attention to Kageyama who, just like everyone else, was wondering about that. They were here just a few seconds ago.
- "What ? Did they are already gone after them ? Just how fast is that cat ?" wondered Emu, amazed by how fast they were able to fly away. They couldn't even see them anymore.
- "Really fast. Let's not waste any more time. We have to catch up to them." Erza ordered, the group heading to the magical vehicle, hoping to reach their friends before anything bad could happen.
/- With Erigor, about 15 minutes ago -/
Erigor was standing on a railroad on a bridge that cut through a ravine of some sort, towers of rocks surrounding him on all part. He was looking straight ahead, in the direction of his objective.
- "Clover town, where the guild masters gather… It's getting close." He said to himself as wind began to gather at his feet. "Since I've recovered most of the magic power I used up when creating that magic wall of wind, I should speed up." The wind at his feet then push him off the ground, making him hover in mid-air. "Those geezers who took away our jobs and rights… Just wait and see. I'll kill you all with the melody of the Lullaby ! It's Shinigami's purge !"
But just as he was about to fly away to Clover, a shadow suddenly loomed over him, making him look upward, only to see a bird of some sort, a strange orange halo around the silhouette that he thought was the sun hidden behind it at first. Thought it wasn't as it was revealed to be a flock of birds made of an orange energy that suddenly rained down on him, sending him back on the ground.
- "What the hell ?" he asked himself as the form landed on the rail, acting as some sort of wall between Erigor and Clover, was revealed to be much more human than he thought at first, but in a shape that made the mage wonder aloud. " What is that thing ?"
- "Tenkuu no Abarenbou. HawkGatling. My flying BestMatch. Cool, isn't it ?" asked Sento, taunting the mage as he stood up to face an angered Erigor.
- "You're one of those flies, isn't it ? I wonder how you managed to escape my Wind Wall, but those useless cannon fodder are going to feel my wrath after I'm done with the old geezers."
- "Don't be too hard on them, I wasn't in the station in the first place. And I think you meant fairies, not flies." Said Sento with a laugh in his tone before loosing it suddenly, glaring through his mask at the mage. "But I do have some question about what you have in your 'troops'."
- "Huh ? What the hell are you talking about ?" Erigor asked, trying to understand where he wanted to go.
- "I'm talking about those weird monsters my friends are fighting back at the station." Answered the scientist, Erigor now seeing what he was talking about. "Where did you found them and why work with them ?"
- "I don't know why it's that important to you, but I could tell you since you won't be alive long enough to tell anyone else." Said Erigor with a taunt before giving Sento his much awaited explanation. "I don't know who they are nor where they are coming from, but they came to them a few days ago. They knew we had the Lullaby and they asked us to give them some explanation on what it was. Of course, we tried to fought them, but they some really weird powers and threaten to destroy the Lullaby if we didn't did as they told. So we told them our plan and they proposed to help us by giving us those creature to help us and in exchange, we'll let them do some research on the Lullaby. Well, I'm probably going to get rid of those once I'm done with the old geezers, but I guess you don't have to know more of that."
Sento didn't need to know more, he had what he wanted. So Shocker wanted to do some research on the Lullaby ? That wasn't good. But if they could stop Erigor and get their hands on the flute, it would solve both the life of the masters and stall Shocker's plan.
- "I see." Simply said the Rider as he grabbed some Fullbottles. "Well, thank you for the informations, now, I have three reasons to stop you." As Erigor stayed silent, looking at Sento with squinted eyes. "Firstly, as a Kamen Rider, I can't let Shocker get their hands on such a dangerous thing, so I'll take it with me. Secondly, as a Fairy Tail 'mages', I won't let you go and harm our master, or any other guild master. And Thirdly, as a sane person, I won't let you kill anyone for such a selfish reason."
- "Selfish ?" That word seemed to finally get a reaction out of Erigor. "I'm only getting back at those old geezers who rid us of our rights. I'm doing it for the guild."
- "No you aren't. Because there's nothing unfair in what happen to your guild." Sento didn't beat around the bush and his words clearly unnerved the wind mage. "By doing assassination jobs despite the rules, you became criminals and as such, had to be punished. Which means that your quest for revenge is just a pretext to just go and quench your bloodlust. You're nothing more than a crazy psycho and I'll stop you here and there."
Erigor was now really furious, grinding his teeth and literally growling at the Rider, the wind blowing furiously around him, Sento not moving an inch, two Fullbottles in his hands.
- "I see you really want to get killed. Very well, you shall be the first one to perish by the Shinigami's hand."
- "We'll see." Simply Answered Sento by showing the two Fullbottles at Erigor. "Now, shall we begin the experiment ?"
NINJYA ! COMIC ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ? "BUILD UP !" SHINOBI NO ENTERTAINER ! NINNINCOMIC ! YEAH !
Now clad in his yellow and purple armor, grabbing onto the 4Koma Ninpoutou, he rushed at Erigor who just swung his scythe at the Rider. Both weapon came in contact, sparks flying as both weapon grind against each other, the two fighter trying to land a hit on the others, Erigor being the first one, kicking Sento in his chest, sending him back and giving him an opening. But Sento wasn't finished yet.
BUNSHIN NO JUTSU !
All of a sudden, just as Erigor scythe was about to reach its target, three other Sento appeared, the one on the ground disappearing in a puff of smoke. The others Sento attacked him at the same time, but strangely, it didn't worried Erigor who just smirked as wind blew once again.
STORM SHRED !
Erigor called upon a flurry of wind-made blade that suddenly rained down on the three Build, not a single one of them being able to dodge everything, the two clone disappearing as the original was throw to the ground.
- "You aren't worth the effort. I have more important matter to take care of. So disappear."
STORM BRINGER !
A powerful tornado suddenly appeared under Sento, sucking in Build who was swept up in the sky. As he was spinning wildly in this cyclone, he could see that Erigor was about to fly away, so he decided to try something else. Erigor turned his back to the tornado and began to fly away when he heard something familiar coming from the storm.
ROSE ! HELICOPTER ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ? "BUILD UP !" JOUNETSU NO SENPUKI ! ROSECOPTER ! YEAH !
Using his Batrotor Blade, he managed to exit the tornado and flew down to Erigor, turning the crank of his Driver along the way.
READY, GO ! VORTEX FINISH ! YEAH !
Now in Sento's hand, the rotor began to cover itself with the vines from the Rose side of the armor, the blade spinning quickly as he came close to Erigor, slashing him on the back in an explosion of turquoise and vermillion. Erigor now back on the ground, Sento once again land in between the dark mage and the city, Erigor standing up without much difficulty, despite being injured by the attack. And talking about the attack.
"Hum ? It look like he wasn't that affected by the finish. Maybe our powers aren't as strong against mages. I'll have to investigate that."
- "You really are an annoying fly." Spat Erigor, unnerved by Sento's persistence, as he began to hover over the ground. "Besides, what you just called a 'finish' didn't do that much damages. You should just give up. You'll never beat me."
- "If I'm alone, that is." This made Erigor tilt his head to the side in wondering. "I mean, if my calculation are correct, and they always are, the reinforcement should come soon."
As Erigor opened his mouth, he was stopped, feeling something heading their way at an unbelievable speed. Turning his head toward said incoming unidentified object, his eyes widen in surprise.
- "This… is…. Happy's… MAX SPEED !"
Erigor had no time to dodge as Natsu suddenly land a flaming drop kick on his face with the strength and speed of a torpedo, dropped by Happy who managed to close the distance between them and the flying mage in a matter of a few seconds. The strength of the blow was such that Erigor was sent, once again, back on the train track, Natsu landing near him while Happy, completely tired up by the race, fell down, only to be caught by Sento.
- "Wow, I heard you were fast, but you exceeded my expectation and calculation. Nicely done." Praised the scientist as Happy simply whispered a tired 'Aye' before being set on one of the surrounding rock, away from the fight. Erigor was just getting up, turning to Natsu with his veins showing on his neck and face, clear sign that he was pissed off.
- "You… How can you be here ? I thought I ordered Karakka to kill Kageyama ?"
- "We didn't needed him. We had another way." Answered Natsu with a smirk, igniting his fists. " But now that I'm here, I'll defeat you, you gentle breeze bastard ! Now come, I'll burn you along with that flute."
However, if Erigor was angered and annoyed by Natsu's presence, he wasn't out of trick in any way. Doing some hand gesture, he sent a strong wind at Natsu, one that left some cuts on his arms as he tried to protect himself. However, Erigor intended objective was reached when Natsu was blown of the bridge, falling into the deep darkness of the canyon depth. But Natsu wasn't done either. As Sento was about to grab another Fullbottle to help his friend, a hand made of fire grabbed the side of the track, pulling Natsu back on the bridge, surprising the Rider and mage.
- "What was that ?" Sento wondered aloud.
- "I can change the type of fire I use. This one is a more solid kind of flame. Good thing I tried it out." Explained Natsu as he set his feet on fire. "Isn't it cold when you're naked ? Why don't we heat things up a little ?"
Suddenly, using the fire on his feet, Natsu dashed forward and violently struck Erigor with a punch to his stomach, sending him back and getting an opening to strike once again.
FIRE DRAGON'S CLAW !
With a flame covered foot, Natsu kicked Erigor in the head, and while the latter was on the ground, nursing his head, the first tried to hit him once again, this time with a fist, but Erigor jumped out of the way, sweeping Natsu's feet with a gust of wind and did the same hand gesture as before against Sento.
STORM BRINGER !
The same kind of tornado appeared around Natsu, sending him flying and spinning like a top in the air, giving Erigor the possibility to kill Natsu with his scythe, but that would have happen if he didn't forget someone. Build, using his Batrotor, appeared in front of the wind mage, taking the blow for Natsu, the scythe only graving his armor.
- "Did you forgot about me ? Forgetting to take a variable into consideration is a mistake one should never do."
- "Thanks Sento. Now get down !" thanked Natsu as he took a deep breath, Sento crouching while Erigor seemed to be surprised by what he was seeing.
- "Is he really gonna shoot flame from his mouth !?"
FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR !
As the stream of fire exploded out of Natsu's mouth, Erigor took flight once again, floating above the two fighters.
- "Hey ! Stop fleeing and fight seriously, will you ?!" roared Natsu, as Sento seemed more reserved.
- "I feel like he didn't show his full potential, yet." Theorized the scientist. "And I feel like we'll what he's really made of soon."
- "Indeed. I must admit that I underestimated your strength and abilities a bit. Let's fight seriously now."
STORM MAIL !
Wind blew once again, the wind this time gathering around Erigor. And after a few seconds, Erigor was clad in his own armor, or at least it looked like an armor, made of wind. Natsu's didn't look impressed by this change while Sento was more cautious. Erigor then dived at them, burying his feet where they stood, just a split second after they'd jumped out of the way. Natsu then tried what he knew best, a fire-coated fist sent straight at his opponent. But when the fist came in contact with Erigor open hand, the flame on Natsu's hand were blown away, like a candle in a storm. And no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't do anything to reach him anymore.
- "I see. This Storm Mail blows wind inside out." Realized Sento, Erigor confirming his thought by smirking through his wind armor.
- "Yes it is. So it doesn't matter what you do, pink fly. Flames can't win against wind." Natsu sneered at that while Sento took a step toward the wind mage.
- "Maybe they can't. But I wonder if it will also work against that."
Sento swung his right arm at Erigor, a flurry of black thorn projections being fired at him, but Storm Mail wasn't just a flame-dousing armor. It also surrounded Erigor with a strong wind, like a typhoon, that blew the thorns away.
- "It won't work. You now can't win against me ! DIE !"
He then sent a whole lot of air blade at the two guys who were barely able to dodge the attacks, and every time they tried to reach and attack Erigor, they were repelled by the powerful wind. After some time, Erigor decided to stop this fight by calling upon his strongest spell.
- "Take this ! Soaring wind magic that cuts up everything : Emera Param."
- "Emera Param ?!" this voice came from Happy who had finally woke up, grabbing upon the track to don't be blown away. "You'll be chopped into bits if you get hit by that !"
- "Die ! USELESS FLIES !"
Alas, Happy's advice couldn't be used as Erigor unleashed the strength of his spell, the sudden gust of slicing wind destroying the track and blowing both fighter away, who were out cold on the ground, Sento now out of his armor. Happy was worried for his unconscious friend while Erigor look satisfied with the outcome, even if he was slightly impressed.
- "NATSU ! SENTO ! WAKE UP !"
- "Not bad, you're still in one piece. You're pretty for a young mage." Said Erigor as he turned to walk away. "Don't worry. I'll send the geezers over to your place soon enough. With the Lullaby's melody, or course."
- "Yeah, as if."
Much to Erigor's horror and Happy's happiness, Sento had spoke from the ground as he and Natsu got up, battered up but alive and still ready to fight, Natsu taking his now shredded vest off.
- "If you want the old man's head, fight us fair and square." He said, his body covered in cuts as he ignite his fist once again to rush at Erigor. "If you're not courageous enough to fight, don't even bother !" But just like before, he was sent away by Erigor's wind. This sent his anger and frustration skyrocketing, his whole body covering in flame as he vent off his emotions on a steel rail.
- "Why can't I get close to you !? I DON'T GET IT !"
As he was bending the steel, as if twisting the rail could gave him an idea on how he could beat the mage, Sento got up, his Sparkling Fullbottle in hand when he felt something weird with the way wind flew around him.
- "Hey, Natsu !" This grabbed the Dragon slayer and Riders attention who turned to look at the Exceed, who was looking at Natsu, waving his paw in a 'give up' way. "Impossible. You can't win, Natsu. Let's leave it to Gray."
- "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT !?"
This, of course, angered Natsu even more, the steel around him melting even more but that's also when the weird wind around Sento became even stronger than before. Turning his head to Erigor, the scientist then noticed that the Storm Mail was becoming more and more clearer. In fact, it was disappearing.
- "But of course ! Why didn't I thought of that before ?" he said to himself as realization dawned upon him. "The air, heated by his flames, is creating an ascending current and a zone of low pressure that suck the winds toward him. Wait… Suck ? Why didn't I think of that before." Putting his Sparkling Fullbottle back in the white box by his waist, he grabbed to other Fullbottle as Erigor was now truly panicking.
- "My Storm Mail ! He really sucked it away ?!" he shouted in disbelief. "Such an incredible heat magic like this one… Does a Dragon Slayer user still exist ?!"
LION ! SOUJIKI ! BEST MATCH ! ARE YOU READY ? "HENSHIN !" TATEGAMI CYCLONE ! LIONCLEANER ! YEAH !
Turning to Sento, Erigor saw that he was wearing another armor, a cyan and gold colored one, proving that he was ready to fight to, his hand turning the lever of his driver. Realizing that this could end badly for him, he tried to flew away.
- "HEY ! Come back here ! I'll take you dooooown ! "
- "Don't worry. He won't go far away." Said Sento as he let go of the lever.
READY, GO ! VORTEX FINISH !
Using the Long Range Cleaner, he began to suck Erigor toward him, holding him in place, much to Natsu, Happy and Erigor's shock.
- "Nice one, Sento !" Said Natsu, still covered in flame. "Now I'll finish him off."
- "How about doing it together ?" he said As his Gold Lio Gauntlet began to shine. Both guys were now ready to strike, Nastu jumping at Erigor.
FIRE DRAGON'S SWORD HORN !
Natsu came like a rocket at Erigor, his head crushing his stomach as the wind mage gasped for air as the flames almost explode against him, sending him flying, charred up but not completely out cold. Still sucked in by the Long Range Cleaner, Erigor was coming close to the rider who threw his right arm at the wind mage, an energy lion head being send at Erigor, the lion head biting the mage, exploding upon contact, the wind mage getting send flying away, landing hardly on the ground, now finally out cold.
- "See, Happy ! I did beat that guy !" said Natsu, his back turned to Happy and a now unarmored Sento.
- "Aye. You did a great job, Natsu the Salamander."
- "And what did you say earlier ?" continued Natsu, now turning to look at Happy with a quite angered face.
- "Us cats have a really terrible memory…" this made Sento snicker a little bit as Natsu came closer to them, holding Erigor's head in his hand.
- "Didn't you say something like I wouldn't be able to defeat this guy, so Erza Blah, blah, blah ?!"
- "Wow, his memory is worse than a cat, it would seem." Muttered Sento as he and Happy smiled at him. "But hey, in the end, we won. I think that's what really matter, isn't it ?"
- "Oh well…" simply said Natsu, wiping the blood from his face. "But how did my last attack hit him ?"
- "Because you're amazing, Natsu. " said Happy before Sento could open his mouth but looking at the now laughing and proud Natsu, he decided to let it slide. Now was not the time to try and make him understand the principle of heat and ascending current. As they all shared smile and laugh, they didn't noticed the dark smoke that came out of Lullaby's skull as the flute laughed eerily.
And that's it for this chapter. I hope you liked it. Next time, it's going to be the last part of the Lullaby arc with the same Lullaby giant, but also the first use of this new device to call some temporary reinforcement. Who's going to be the first one ? You'll have to read to know. See ya ! Oh, and with the new year's celebration coming up, I'll probably be late with the next update, but by only a few days normally so don't worry, I won't forget you.
Next time : Makarov's words. The Lullaby real form and Shocker plan. In need of some help.