After 10,000 years, it's finally ready! Wait, there's only two of you left? Aw fuzznuggets. Oh well, for the two of you that stuck around this long, here's your long awaited tenth chapter.
Upon arriving back at the camp, the Espionage team set about reporting to Makarov.
"So, do we have our motive?" He asked patiently.
"We believe so, yes." Levy said, handing Makarov a scroll. "This is a set of orders detailing plans for the kidnapping of two of our members for some kind of ritual."
"Amazing that someone would be so dim-witted as to record this." Makarov hummed to himself as he was handed the scroll. "Have you read who was planned to be kidnapped?"
"Yes. They planned to capture both Lewis and Jason for some kind of ritual." Levy said as Makarov opened the scroll to read its contents in more detail.
"Us?" Lewis asked.
"Why us?" Jason asked.
"And why not me?" Katie hummed. "Not that I'm complaining, but that's a bit strange."
"It's strange alright." Makarov said, rolling up the scroll. "But for whatever reason, Primordial Fist wants you for something, and since we're attacking their stronghold it would be a bad idea to have you join the assault. So for that reason, the Offworlders will stay here while the rest of our forces ruin whatever party they were planning."
"So we're just supposed to stay here?" Jason groaned.
"On our own? Are you sure that's wise? I mean we do have one of their elite in extremely close proximity." Lewis said, jerking his thumb towards the now moving sack slung over Taurus' shoulder.
"You brought one of them back here?" Makarov asked, jaw dropping slightly.
"For interrogation purposes." Droy explained. "We still don't know what this ritual is about, or what it involves. This information might be necessary before we assault their headquarters."
Makarov contemplated this for a while before nodding. "That's understandable. Now we just need to wait for the Distraction teams."
A few hours passed and sure enough the camp began filling with many of the other members of Fairy Tail, some lightly injured but others were more seriously wounded. However Natsu, Gray, Gajeel and Erza were all fine.
"Hey Gramps! We're back from kicking butt!" Natsu laughed.
"Do you ever shut up?" Gray snarled.
"Enough you two!" Erza said sternly before turning her attention to Makarov. "So what's the situation here? Have we figured out their motive?"
"It seems Primordial Fist attacked our guild hall because they wanted to kidnap Lewis and Jason as part of some kind of ritual. Although its purpose and why these two specifically is still a mystery." Makarov explained.
"That and the reports indicate that the guys who attacked our guild hall were unable to locate them, even though Lewis and Jason did show up when they were there." Levy said. "I guess it was just good luck you happened to have your genders swapped around that day huh?"
"Don't you start." Lewis growled.
"See? I told you that had a purpose!" Jason laughed, slapping his friend on the back.
Makarov cleared his throat again and they all fell quiet. "It if for that reason that Lewis, Jason and Katie will all be staying here while we assault their stronghold. Anyone who wishes to volunteer themselves to guard our rookie wizards will be more than welcome to."
"Well I know I won't. I wanna get some action!" Natsu roared before being bonked on the head by Gray.
"Cut it out you lamebrain. If what they're really after is these two then I'll stay to protect them." He said stoically.
"Oh Gray, you are so noble…" Juvia gushed a short distance away.
"Alright. Anybody else?" Makarov asked.
"If Gray is staying here he may need some assistance. I will help." Erza said.
"It's probably better if you stay on the frontlines." Lucy said. "Don't worry, I'll help Gray guard these three kids."
"Hey! We're not kids." Katie pouted.
"What?!" Juvia shouted before rushing over to the group and eyeing Lucy dangerously. "No way will Juvia allow you to have Gray all to yourself! Juvia volunteers herself to stay here with Gray!"
"Well, that should be more than enough." Makarov nodded with satisfaction. "After we interrogate the mage you brought back with you and send them off to the Magic Council for trial and imprisonment, Fairy Tail will march on Primordial Fist's stronghold. The six of you will stay here until we get back. Dismissed!"
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
The interrogation of Patricia proved fruitless as the day crawled on into evening, as she either refused to answer any of their questions or simply fell asleep during the interrogation.
"Man, that woman is really narcoleptic!" Lucy said exasperatedly as she sat down with Lewis, Jason, Katie, Gray and Juvia around a small campfire.
"Well as long as she doesn't cause any major trouble I'm happy for her to stay asleep." Gray nodded.
"And hey, maybe she'll be too busy sleeping to bother trying to kill us." Jason suggested.
"Somehow I doubt anyone would be that lazy. But one can hope." Lewis said, jabbing at the fire to keep it alive. "So what should we do while everyone else is going to attack Primordial Fist? I'm bored as all hell."
"It's probably too late in the game to develop any new techniques," Katie muttered. "And training would just make us tired for the fight ahead."
Erza marched to the small group to tell them some news. "Alright, we'll be heading off to fight Primordial Fist now. You six stay safe."
"Of course." Katie nodded.
"Name one time we'd do otherwise." Lewis shrugged with a smirk.
"Well there was that one time…" Jason began.
"You didn't have to answer that." Lewis cut him off.
The group eventually succumbed back into extreme boredom. Evening soon turned to night and Katie was soon disturbed by the darkness encroaching upon them.
"Should we make some more fires?" Lewis asked.
"No, we don't want any of Primordial Fist's elite to gain an advantage from keeping a whole bunch of lit fires around." Gray said. "That Verbrennen guy could show up, and having a bunch of campfires around him would be handing him victory."
"But if it stays this dark they'll all have an advantage." Lucy pointed out.
"Maybe I can write up a few lanterns." Katie said, taking out her notepad and pen. A few minutes later, several glass lanterns began floating around the camp, softly illuminating the area.
"Well, now we can see. Trouble is there's not much to see." Lewis huffed.
"I know. Some entertainment really is in order." Jason said before getting an idea. "Hey Katie, can you get me an electric guitar?"
"Not unless you want me to use up all my magic energy before the fight has even begun." Katie snorted.
"Maybe I could be of assistance. Or rather, someone I know." Lucy said, holding up a silver key. "Open, Gate of the Lyre! Lyra!"
A brief flash of colour and light later, a young looking girl in a long dress and a bonnet appeared with a large harp sitting on her back.
"Hey there! How's it going Lucy?" she asked excitedly.
"Great thanks." Lucy smiled. "My friends here are a little bored. Do you mind singing a song to help lift our spirits?"
"Of course! Any friend of Lucy's is a friend of mine!" she chirped before taking the giant harp off her back and placing it gently on the ground.
Lyra's fingers began to pluck the strings of the large instrument and a gentle sound began to fill the air. As the delicate notes flitted through the air, a sense of gentle calm descended upon the group as the fire between them crackled with a softly pulsing warmth and glow.
"That was such a great song." Lewis sighed happily.
"Thanks!" Lyra chirped.
"Yeah, that song was super!" cheered a small girl in a checked grey jester outfit, sitting right next to Lucy.
Needless to say, almost everyone around the campfire jumped in shock at the small girl's sudden appearance.
"Hey, that's one of the Five Fingers of Death!" Jason shouted. "Grab her!"
Lucy's whip immediately coiled around the small girl and Lewis leapt across the fire and knocked into her, forcing her to the ground.
"Hey! We don't appreciate that kind of thing!" she pouted.
"We?" Gray asked, his hands soon coated in an icy aura of cold.
A great crack in the earth snaked its way across the ground before reaching the grey clown girl, and when she was about to fall into the chasm created a burst of air around her that knocked everyone back and freed herself from the confines of Lucy's whip. As they got up, they saw a mountain of a man covered in moss and stone armour step out from the forest, the tiny jester girl riding calmly on his shoulder.
"Are you alright Mentir?" the giant asked with a voice that reminded Lewis of gently creaking willow trees.
"I'm okay Terra." She said, hugging the massive man's neck. "But they tried to hurt me."
"To be fair, we did attack them first." Terra nodded before stepping towards them. "However, that changes nothing. Wizards of Fairy Tail, give us the ones known as Lewis and Jason, as well as our guild member you have taken captive and you and the rest of your guild shall be spared."
"Like we'd do that!" Lucy scoffed.
"There's no way we'd ever sacrifice a member of Fairy Tail." Gray said.
"And boy, are we thankful for that." Lewis said, drawing his shortsword. 'Okay, think. What's the elemental weakness to earth and wind? These two opposites are working together and they should draw power from their own element, so what the hell are we supposed to use against them?'
The great man sighed heavily, his voice turning to a more gravelly tone. "Then I assume we shall do this the hard way."
"Yay! This is gonna be fun!" the jester girl chimed, two sickles now in her hand as her smile turned from childlike and innocent to menacing. "I'm gonna turn you inside out."
Terra roared loudly before slamming both his hands into the ground, causing a giant split in the earth to envelop almost the entirety of the Fairy Tail group as well as Mentir and Terra causing them all to fall into the deep chasm.
"Hold on everybody!" Gray shouted before a giant blue magic circle appeared before him. A giant bowl shaped arena of cyan ice formed as they fell and they were caught by the steep and slippery slope, sliding down close to the centre relatively unharmed. A whirlwind sprang up before clearing away as quickly as it appeared, revealing Terra and Mentir standing in the arena with them.
"Nice going Gray, you've trapped us in with them!" Lucy panicked.
"How dare you doubt Juvia's beloved!" Juvia cried.
"Now is not the time to be fighting, ladies!" Lewis shouted.
The group readied their various spells and weapons, but there was still one member who was unsure of what to do.
"Uh… Lucy? I'm not feeling all too confident about this." Lyra shivered, clutching her harp. "I mean, I'm not a combat spirit."
"Don't worry Lyra, you can go. I'm sure one of the others will be able to help out." She said, reaching for her keys, but felt nothing there! "Hey! What the-"
"Wheee! These are so pretty!" Mentir giggled, the silver and gold keys jingling in her hands. Lucy's eyes bugged and a vein bulged in her forehead.
Terra sighed and turned to the small girl. "Mentir, what have I told you about taking things that don't belong to you?"
"Sorry Terra…" she said apologetically. "But she won't need them after we kill her right?"
"You must remember that stealing is wrong." Terra shook his head. "But yes, after we kill them you may keep the young lady's keys. But if we are defeated you must return them and apologise to her."
"Okay!" she said cheerfully before dropping the keys down her top before drawing her sickles once more.
"Here they come." Jason said before draining a strength potion.
Lyra was getting more panicked by the moment. "What should I do? I don't want to leave you here alone Lucy!"
"Play us something. Some kind of battle ballad maybe." Katie suggested.
"A battle ballad huh?" Lyra asked before balling her fist and nodding. "Alright, I'll give it a shot!"
Lyra thudded her harp onto the ground and began plucking the strings. Lewis recognised the song she was playing. It was a harp rendition of the Fairy Tail theme song. The group felt their heart rate rise and muscles tense as the song wafted through the air, giving them a sense of impending victory.
"Alright! Let's go!" Jason shouted, rushing towards his foes. "I'll take the big guy, you guys focus on the loli!"
"Whoops!" Mentir giggled, suddenly appearing next to Jason in a flash of movement before tripping him over, sending him sprawling and sliding onto the ice. "You should really watch where you're going."
"Man, she's fast." Lewis said. "Isn't the ice unbalancing her at all? She should have been sent flying going at that speed."
"Look at her feet!" Katie gasped. The small girl's feet were suspended in the air by two tiny whirlwinds that blew around her feet.
"So she's just floating above ground? That's unfair." Lucy said.
"Not unfair, just tricky to beat." Lewis said, deep in thought.
"Okay, new plan!" Jason shouted, speed potion now in his grasp. "I'll take care of the midget while you take the big guy!"
"Be careful Jason, you're unarmed!" Katie said as Jason drank his potion.
"What do you think I've got these for?" Jason asked, slipping on his brass knuckles.
The girl blurred with speed again before appearing behind Juvia, both sickles to her neck.
"Juvia!" Gray gasped.
"Bye bye bluey!" Mentir cackled before pulling both sickles straight through Juvia's throat. What she didn't expect was for Juvia to turn around afterwards and punch her square in the face, sending her tumbling backwards in the air.
"Blades will not work on Juvia, you foolish child." Juvia said before trying to take a step towards her, but she found her feet were unable to move! "Gray! Juvia is trapped by your cold embrace!"
"What? Oh come on! You can't be serious!" Lucy shouted.
"Don't worry, I've got this." Jason said, cracking his knuckles as Mentir pushed her jester cap out of her face.
"You think you can keep up with me? This'll be fun." She said, picking up her sickles.
Jason charged towards Mentir, brass knuckles clanging against her sickle blades as he soared past and skidded up the wall of their icy arena. Dropping off the wall again, he sped towards Mentir who simply dodged around and tried to bring her sickle down on Jason's neck, but he was going far too fast for her to slice through.
"Damn, I'll never hit her at this rate!" Jason said, skidding around the arena in a circle.
"Jason!" Katie shouted, holding a pair of studded metal plates above her head. "Put these on your feet!"
Katie hurled the spiked plates to Jason who managed to catch them without injuring himself. Quickly tying them around his feet, he stamped the studs into the ice beneath him, confirming his newfound grip.
"Alright, let's go!" He shouted, charging towards Mentir.
"Where did you even get-" Lewis asked, turning to Katie who simply held up her pen as an answer. "Oh, right."
"Your time is limited, mages of Fairy Tail." Terra growled, a huge boulder now in his hands above his head. "Your blood will be used to claim the new world!"
"What the hell is he talking about?" Lewis thought aloud before the boulder began sailing through the air. "Oh crap!"
Lewis leapt out of the boulder's path, sliding on his belly along the smooth ice before getting back to his feet. Gray entered combat with the mountainous man, chunks of ice breaking rock and stone shattering crystal while Juvia, Lucy and Lyra could only watch and cheer support.
'Alright, let's go.' Lewis thought, sliding along the ground to Terra before swinging his sword at the huge man. But the short blade only clanged against the rocky pauldrons of the man's armour.
"You didn't seriously think that puny blade would slash through my armour did you?" Terra grumbled, swinging his fist around behind him but only narrowly missing Lewis as he scrambled out of the way.
"Damn it! This isn't going to work…" Lewis said, looking between his sword and the giant fighting Gray in front of him. Then another idea formed in his head.
Opening up the book to Gravalanche, Lewis ran the spell over the blade of his shortsword and encased the blade in a thick rod of brown stone ending in a sledgehammer head. Swinging it around before smashing it into the ground, Lewis nodded approvingly.
"Oh yeah. This'll do nicely." He grinned before turning his attention back to Terra.
Lewis ran to Gray's defence, swinging the newly made sledgehammer into Terra's shoulder and cracking a great chunk off Terra's stone armour and revealing a mat of thickly knotted roots and moss underneath. Terra growled at Lewis with both confusion and annoyance before Gray saw his opportunity. Leaping over Terra's shoulder Gray stabbed into the exposed inner armour with his sword of ice, piercing into Terra's muscle. Terra roared in agony before slamming a fist into Gray and sending him flying to the other end of the ice arena.
"Gray!" Lucy shouted.
Lewis gritted his teeth and dodged out of another of Terra's massive strikes that smashed a hole in the hardened ice, revealing a man-sized hole leading down to the void beneath them. As Terra swung at Lewis again instead of simply dodging Lewis stepped out of the way and brought his hammer down onto Terra's fist, shattering the stone knuckles and revealing only his bare hands although those still posed considerable threat.
"Hrmph. This changes nothing. The earth will still reclaim you!" Terra grunted before lunging at Lewis once again.
On the other side of the arena, Jason and Mentir were locked in a high speed duel with neither side having a clear advantage. Jason was able to dodge around Mentir's sickle slashes but the same held true for Jason's strong punches.
"Will you just stand still?!" Jason roared as he swung his fists before ducking under Mentir's sickle slash.
"But it wouldn't be fun if I did." Mentir said before leaping into the air.
Jason gritted his teeth and leapt up after her, but then Mentir did something unexpected. Instead of attacking Jason again in sweet mid-air kung fu like Jason hoped, Mentir soared straight towards Lucy with her sickles at the ready!
"Lucy! Watch out!" Jason shouted.
Mentir was just about to strike when the harp music ceased. Lyra had picked up her giant harp and slammed it into Mentir's face, knocking the childish mage away and skidding over the ice.
"Don't you EVER harm my best friend!" Lyra proclaimed loudly as she set her harp down with a loud thump.
Mentir got up, wiping blood from the corner of her mouth. "You really like music huh? Well I guess you won't mind if I use your tendons to make a lute!"
It was at that point that Jason slammed his fist into Mentir's skull as he fell back to the ground, landing heavily on the ice as well as making Mentir see nothing but stars until she toppled over.
"Oh no you don't. Not on my watch." Jason smirked as he tipped his hat forward.
"Thanks Lyra." Lucy said gratefully. "You really saved my bacon there."
"Not a problem!" Lyra said with a smile. "To be honest I'm surprised I was able to do that! I guess my own battle ballad affected me as well."
Lewis wasn't having as much luck however. Terra hadn't lost any more of his armour and was starting to go on the attack. Terra's giant fists smashed the ice around Lewis turning it to pulpy slush as Lewis desperately swung his maul at Terra missing often but occasionally striking with enough force to crack the stone armour.
"I grow tired of your games!" Terra roared before splaying his fingers. A root whipped its way out from underneath Terra's armour and latched onto Lewis' ankle, tripping him up and sending him crashing to the icy ground.
"Damn it!" Lewis cursed as he felt himself getting dragged towards Terra.
Swinging the maul into the ice, Lewis tried to slow himself down. Looking back at Terra, he saw that the roots matted around Terra's shoulder had unravelled to form the whip that had wrapped around Lewis' ankle. Dispelling the earthen maul from around his silver blade, Lewis let himself get dragged towards Terra before leaping at his unprotected shoulder and leaving a deep gash in his flesh, causing the root to release its grip on Lewis' ankle. Lewis heard the sound of metal clinking together as he leapt off Terra. When he looked back he saw that Katie was struggling to pull the armoured giant to the ground by a set of giant black chains.
"Well don't just stand there!" Katie shouted. "Help me out!"
Lewis nodded and rushed to Katie's side, pulling on the other side of the chains to try to force Terra to his knees. At the end of it all, Mentir had been knocked out and Terra restrained.
"Finally that's over." Lucy sighed with relief.
"You weren't even fighting." Jason snorted.
"So what's happened to Gray? Juvia hasn't left his side ever since she got herself free." Lewis observed.
Juvia was currently helping the ice wizard to his feet as they made their way over to the rest of the group.
"Gray is hurt. He has suffered major bruising and three cracked ribs." Juvia said. "We cannot wait for the others to return, we have to go find Wendy."
Gray groaned as he clutched at his wounds and Lucy inspected them as well.
"Yeah, that looks really bad. He definitely won't be able to hold out until the others come back." Lucy nodded. "But we can't just leave Lewis and Jason here by themselves."
"I see what you mean. There might be more of these guys kicking around." Lewis said. "Is it going to be safe?"
"We just took down two of their elite, and the third's in our custody. So yeah, I think we'll be alright." Jason said.
"Although we are carrying wounded." Katie pointed out.
"Getting Gray back on his feet isn't going to happen if we just stand around here talking about it, so let's go!" Lucy said.
*v*v*v*
*v*v*v*
After Lewis carried everyone out using his Aera magic, the group made their way to the fortress the rest of Fairy Tail was assaulting. Needless to say it looked like the entire front of the stronghold was pureed, probably courtesy of Erza, Natsu or possibly both.
"Man, this place is a wreck." Lewis said as he stepped over a fallen roof beam.
"Gee, thanks for clearing that up for us. I had no idea." Katie said, rolling her eyes.
"Hey, I'm just saying what everyone else was thinking." Lewis shrugged.
"Then there's no need to say it now is there ya dumbass?" Jason asked.
"Shut up, the three of you!" Gray wheezed. "And I thought Natsu was insufferable…"
"Keep an eye out. There might be a few stragglers or mages waiting for an ambush." Lucy said cautiously.
Katie quickly wrote up her burning pickaxe again as they walked into the base, straining their ears to hear the sounds of combat, but there wasn't even a breeze to be heard. As the group walked further through the ruins, there was an uncomfortable feeling that descended on the group.
"Why do I get the feeling we're walking straight into a trap?" Gray asked.
"Probably because we are." Lewis said, drawing his sword from his tome again. "Stay alert."
There wasn't much through the corridors until they found a large wooden door. Behind it was the sound of conversation and preparation. Jason banged on the door with a fist and the door opened slightly, revealing a cautious looking Erza.
"Jason?! What are you doing here?" She asked before seeing the others. "What happened to Gray?"
"We got jumped by two of the five fingers, but we defeated them." Lucy said. "But Gray took a nasty hit and needs Wendy's help."
"Alright. Get in here, quickly." Erza said, opening the door.
Inside the doors was a large stone room where easily half of Fairy Tail was being treated for their wounds by the other half.
"What the hell happened here?" Lewis gasped.
"Primordial Fist was much smaller than we anticipated, but they were also much more powerful than we initially expected." Erza said. "Their underlings have all fled into the forest, and now it's just the remainder of the members of the Five Fingers of Death and their Master. However they seem to have locked themselves in the room past those doors after their Master told them to retreat, and something about a ritual of some kind."
Erza pointed to a set of iron-bound wooden doors set in the stone walls on the other end of the giant room.
"That's where they are. We haven't tried to break down the door yet since we're already treating our wounded." Erza explained.
"Erza, what are they doing here?" Makarov asked angrily, striding up to Erza. "I specifically told you kids to stay behind!"
"We did, but we were attacked by two of the Five Fingers." Lewis reported. "Gray's been badly wounded and he needs to see Wendy as soon as possible!"
"Well he's gonna have to wait. Wendy's got her hands full as-is. We haven't had any casualties so far, but there's no way I'm going to let any of my family die!" Makarov growled. "So just hold on a little longer Gray."
Gray nodded wordlessly as Makarov turned to Lewis and Jason.
"And as for you two, you'd better stay out of trouble. When Primordial Fist is so close we don't want them getting what they want." Makarov ordered. "Do I make myself perfectly clear?"
"Yes Master Makarov." Lewis nodded.
"Sure." Jason said.
"Katie, keep an eye on these two. Don't let 'em out of your sight." Makarov nodded as he hurried off.
As the team regrouped, Lewis began to wonder. What the hell was behind those doors? Were the wizards of Primordial Fist so powerful that they were actually able to take out what seemed like more than half of Fairy Tail?
"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" Natsu asked as he walked over. "I thought gramps told you to stay at camp. Did something happen?"
"We got jumped by two of the Five Fingers. Gray was badly injured and we had to take him back here." Jason said. "What happened here anyways?"
"We got attacked as well." Natsu frowned. "I managed to keep that fire guy with the sword away from the others, but that didn't stop that girl with the water. After a while they stopped and made this huge cloud of hot steam and disappeared through that door over there."
Lewis looked to the door Natsu indicated and frowned. It looked tightly sealed up, complete with chains, deadbolts and iron bindings.
"Think you can break it down if we need to?" Lewis asked.
"Psh. Of course I can!" Nastu grinned.
"Good, because I've got a plan." He smirked.
"Whatever it is, I don't want to hear it!" Makarov ordered. "If you fools are planning on going ahead and attacking the remaining members of Primordial Fist then you'll be walking straight into a trap. It's highly likely you won't survive. Besides, we already have wounded. I won't tolerate any more of my children getting injured."
Lewis was about to argue, but he saw Makarov's points were valid. "Yes Master Makarov, you make a fair point."
The elderly wizard nodded before something caught his attention. There was a distant rumbling sound as flagstones slid away from the floor, revealing deep holes in the ground. Water slowly began to bubble up from the holes in the ground and Makarov's eyes widened.
"Everyone out, now!" he roared, his arms growing massive and scooping up as many wounded Fairy Tail members as he could carry. The iron-bound door at the other end of the room exploded into fire as the man with the giant two handed sword stepped through, a smirk on his face.
"Finally, we've got 'em right where we want 'em." He said, pointing his sword at the Offworlders. "You two are coming with us."
"We're not going anywhere." Jason said sternly, yanking a strength potion from his bandolier.
"You don't get a choice in the matter." The humourless woman from the raid said as she stepped out from behind Verbrennen, several orbs of water hovering around her.
"Ah, there you are Suzanne. Been wondering where you've been." He nodded. "So, which one do you want to fight?"
"You know I'll just be stuck with whoever you're not fighting, so why bother?" she snorted.
"Okay, fair enough." Verbrennen shrugged, raising up his sword. "Alright, are you gonna come quietly or is this going to get interesting?"
Lewis responded with a blast of Sparkstream that was blocked by one of the blue mage's hovering balls of water.
"That was quite rude. You should be ashamed of yourself." Suzanne spat.
"Well, all's fair in love and war." Verbrennen reasoned. "But seeing as this is war we'd better start fighting huh?"
"Agreed." Suzanne frowned, raising her arms as a wall of water that stretched up to the ceiling surrounded Lewis, Jason, Katie and Natsu as well as Verbrennen and Suzanne.
"Why is it that we always find ourselves in arenas?" Lewis asked. "Seriously, this happens almost every time."
Nobody could really reply as Verbrennen swung his giant flamberge, a gout of flame bursting from its tip as it sailed towards all the escaping wizards. However Natsu pulled the flames towards him and ate the fire.
"Ugh, you again? This is gonna be difficult." Verbrennen sighed.
"There's no way your fire's gonna work against me you wannabe amateur!" Natsu shouted back.
Suzanne frowned and held out one of her orbs of water. "So noisy."
As the orb sailed towards Natsu, Jason quickly stepped in front of it and punched it to the floor.
"Too bad you suck so much!" Jason taunted.
Suzanne frowned again and sharply brought her hand upwards. "This should shut you up."
Lewis dived and tackled Jason out of the way as the ball of water cannoned past, smashing a hole in the roof.
"You alright?" Lewis asked as he got off Jason.
"I think I hit my head." Jason grumbled.
"Eh, it won't change much." Katie snickered.
As the Offworlders got to their feet, Suzanne stood at the opposite end of the arena, orbs of water hovering all around her as Natsu fought off Verbrennen.
"We do not need these children alive. All we require is their blood." Suzanne seemed to remind herself, taking in a deep breath and opening her eyes. "You will not leave this place alive."
The three readied themselves for battle and shouted together.
"JUST TRY TO STOP US!"