Hello! Welcome to Chapter 10, a chapter filled with fight sequences and action. Don't expect much dialogue in here, and prepare for flat out brawling. I hope I did not make the fights too repetetive and I hope you have fun reading it!

Mira took a fighting stance, sweat running down her face both from the intensity of Dryden's magic and Natsu's fire, which had already spread all over the nearby area.

With force strong enough to send wind currents so powerful they cracked the walls, both Mirajane and Dryden flapped their wings and rushed at each other, their fists clashing into each other, creating a powerful shockwave in the process. They both remained in the air just above the ground, both of them trying to overpower the other. Mira, feeling dull pain spreading all over her fist grit her teeth and growled from effort, Dryden's hard, heavy figure not budging even an inch. Feeling herself being pushed back, Mira relaxed her shoulder just a bit to let him overpower her and took away her fist at the last moment, dodging the strike in the process. She slipped her head to her right and immediately followed with a left high kick, only to feel it being blocked, as Dryden raised his right forearm just in time to catch the attack. Both wizards looked into each other's eyes before erupting in a vast exchange of kicks, punches and slashes of their claws, their movements becoming a blur.

Dryden's punch flew right above her left ear, his elbow blade lightly scratching the first layer of her skin. Memorizing what she witnessed few minutes ago, she copied Salamander's move and struck Dryden with the exact same blow right under his chin, her uppercut's swing creating wind that spread all around the area. However, unlike Natsu, she was unable to blow Dryden's head away, his powerful armor killing the impact. Mira grit her teeth in pain and jumped back, her right hand numb and shaking.

Not giving her too much time to rest, The Armor stretched his wings and dashed towards Mira, suprising the Demon. He slashed at her face with his right hand, forcing her to sidestep to her left. Just before she could complete her dodge, Dryden turned his hand around by 180 degrees and swiped his arm to his right, effectively catching Mira's cheek with his middle claw. Few drops of blood flowed down her face from her new cut, greatly angering the woman. She quickly stepped in and kicked Dryden's middle section with her right leg, pushing him back in the process. She extended her hands in front of her chest, a giant, dark-blue vortex forming in her palms and launched a follow-up attack.

EVIL EXPLOSION!

The vortex launched out of her hands and crashed into shocked Dryden, clearly suprising him with its speed. A giant explosion shook the entire floor, pieces of the ground flying in all directions. Mira breathed out heavily and steadied her breathing, waiting for the results of her attack in anticipation.

Suddenly, she felt dull pain taking over her stomach, as Dryden drove his right feet deep into her abdomen, blowing her back in the process. Blood streaming down the corners of her mouth, Mira spread her wings as wide as she could and used them to halt herself. She looked at Dryden, only to feel her eyes widen in shock at his unscathed state. His armor was dirtied, but that was all - not even a single scratch. Clicking her tongue in irritation she wiped the blood off her mouth with her thumb and put up a guard once again.

"Was that your strongest attack?" asked Dryden, a note of disappointment in his voice, which angered the Demon.

"A warning shot." she shot back.

"That's very good to hear." he grinned behind his set of teeth and dashed at Mira, with the woman parroting him a moment later.

Both mages crashed into each other, their forearms clashing. Mira used the moment to smack Dryden's arm with hers and smacked it aside, following through with a right straight afterwards. The punch connected with his jaw, rendered completely uneffective. He pushed her arm aside with his left hand and answered with a right straight of his own, only to have Mira duck right under it. Her knees bent, she closed the distance and wrapped her arms around Dryden's waist and left arm, leaving him with just his right hand free from her grip and lifted him off the ground, flying him towards the ceiling. Just before she reached it, she stopped and turned in the air, aiming her and Dryden's heads towards the ground and diving into it at mad speed.

"You're creative, I'll give you that." he taunted before being released from Mirajane's deathlock. He crashed into the ground, causing it to crumble around the place he fell in.

Just before the dust could settle, he flew right out of it, dashing at Mira at full speed. He planted his fist deep into her abdomen, causing her to buckle over in agony and leaned over towards her ear.

"Any more clever ideas?" he whispered. Before she could retort, he raised his arms up, joined his hands above his head and brought them down like a hammer, crashing them into Mira's back.

The Demon crashed into the very same spot Dryden was thrown into, causing the floor to collapse under her weight. Air leaving her lungs, she gasped in pain, her entire lower area burning and aching.

"That armor of his...it's too strong." she thought. "I doubt I'll be able to break it even with stronger attacks."

Mira stood up from the ground and took couple deep breaths, strength returning to her body. She looked at Dryden with hateful eyes, but kept her head coolheaded enough to think the situation through. "If this thing really is an armor, then it's not that different from Erza's armors. Unlike me, he does not gain features of the crratures he's subdued, his TakeOver relies solely around this stupid armor, otherwise he would have used some dragon attacks by now. If it's just an armor, then...". Mira's eyes squinted as she looked at Dryden's arms - his elbow blades were certainly a problem, and had to be dealt with.

Focused on the first step of her plan, Mira took a deep breath and took off the ground, slowly raising herself higher in the air. Natsu's fire was slowly taking over the entire floor, with Gray's elevator being the only place safe from the scorching flames. An all-out aerial battle was inevitable.

"I'm enjoying this battle more and more with each second." smirked Dryden and threw himself at Mira, who responded by doing the same.

"I have only one shot at this. If I fail, he'll figure out what I'm up to. I have to focus and wait for the perfect chance!" thought Mira, before blocking Dryden's kick with her right arm.

She pushed his leg away and unleashed a barrage of punches onto his body, forcing him to defend himself. Despite the hardness of his armor, he still protected himself as if his skin was bare and vulnerable. His fighting instincts were sharp and battle hardened, not seduced by his apparent invulnerability.

Dryden caught Mira's right hand with his own right in the middle of the strike and pushed it in his direction, throwing a right kick at the same time. The kick connected with Mira's left hand, which she put on her stomach at the last moment, killing some of the impact. They remained in this awkward position before releasing each other from their grips and engaging in yet another exchange of punches and kicks, neither giving up.

Mira's limbs were slowly starting to get overtaken by dull pain, caused from repeated strikes on the Commandment's hard armor. Feeling that she could no longer keep this game up, Mira lowered her guard and allowed Dryden to quickly close the distance. His right straight flew right beside her ear, as she headslipped to her left. He followed with a left hook, which she ducked under and using her wings, flew away from him. He quickly caught on with her and threw another set of strikes, all of them missing their target.

Mira was completely on defense, dancing in the air and dodging each and every single one of Dryden's attacks, which greatly irritated the man. He threw yet another right straight, only to have Mira slip away to her left once again.

"Watch closely." she reminded herself in thoughts, leaning her body backwards to avoid a right roundhouse. "Wait for your chance. Don't miss it!"

Suddenly, a wave of pain spread all over her right cheekbone, as Dryden successfully feinted a right straight, followed by a compact left hook. Mira felt her body being pushed away, but quickly regained her position and continued to dodge his strikes.

Losing his temper, Dryden growled and threw a barrage of punches at Mira, all of them losing their previous sharpness. His anger dulled his reasoning, which opened the golden door to Mira's plan. She ducked right under his overhand right and stepped to her left. She quickly got a hold of his elbow blade with her left hand and securing him in place, delivered a powerful right kick to his left cheek, at the same time twisting the blade downwards.

The part of Dryden's armor broke, as it stayed in Mirajane's hand, while its owner was sent flying. Not wasting even a second, Mira threw the blade aside and dived after Dryden. Anticipating it, he came to a halt just before hitting the ground and prepared for the Demon's attack. He dodged her strike and kneed her in the chest, making her gasp for air. He then grabbed her hair and pulled her head back, delivering a right uppecut into her stomach afterwards. Gasping and wheezing for air, Mira buckled over and dropped to her knees. Dryden pulled his right leg back and kicked Mira in the ribs, making her roll on the ground. He quickly chased after her and followed through with a right straight, only to feel Mira's foot on his nose, as she retaliated with a kick. His fist stopped just before her twisted with pain, smirking face. She grabbed a hold of Dryden's dragon-like hand and twisted her hips. She threw both of her legs over his head and put his elbow in-between her inner thighs, pushing down a second after.

Mirajane secured Dryden in a tight armbar, as she smashed him into the ground with enough force to crack it, immediately pushing her hips upwards. As she expected, Dryden's elbow was covered with a thin layer of skin-looking material, which started to easily crack under her pressure.

"It's working!" she chanted to herself. "First his arm, then his legs!" With that said, she pushed her hips to their absolute limits, her calves beginning to cramp. Dryden's armor cracked under her power, pieces of blue crystal flying in the air.

"You really are creative." muttered Dryden, his voice a mix of pain and ironic amusement.

Suddenly, Mira felt her grip loosening, as Dryden started to pull his arm out of her hands with the strength of his shoulder and right breast alone. Her eyes widened in shock for a moment, before gritting her teeth and pulling back, turning her arm-lock into a power struggle. Feeling himself being overpowered, Dryden started to twist his body to his right, effectively laying down on his side, fighting Mira's attempts at keeping him under herself in the process. He then twisted even more to allow himself to put his left knee on the ground and pulled his right leg back, his right knee touching the ground as well. His teeth clenching themselves in pain from the angle his hand was twisted in, he quickly walked on his knees towards Mira and got into kneeling position, leaning towards her and bending his elbow in the process, which loosened the pressure on his already sore joint. With this position secured, he breathed in relief, pain already leaving him, as Mira desperately tried to break his hand.

Seeing that it was pointless, Mira released Dryden's head from her legs and quickly changed their position, switching from an armbar to a triangle. She squeezed him with her legs as hard as she could and grabbed his sticking right arm, pulling it down and starting to break it once again. Fed up with the woman's holds, Dryden put his feet on the ground and straightened his back, with Mira still wrapped around his torso. He lifted her as high as he could, before using the momentum to pull him back towards the ground, as he intended to smash Mira into the ground. She anticipated it, however, and released her grip at the last second, her feet landing safely on the ground. She landed one final punch on the Commandment's face before backstepping away from him.

The Armor breathed out heavily and moved his arm around, getting the pain out of his sore joint. "I don't know whether I should be impressed that you've managed to break my armor, or be furious." he said, his voice losing its previous playfullness. "I think I'll go with furious."

In one, swift movement he dashed at Mira at speed she hasn't seen before and kicked her in the gut, causing her to cough up blood. He quickly followed with a left hook to her temple and right roundhouse in the same spot, effectively sending her rocked figure flying. Barely hanging onto consciousness, Mira used her left hand to launch herself off the ground and flipped in the air, before landing on all fours. She kicked the ground as hard as she could and flew straight into Dryden, suprising him with her speed. He blocked her punch with his right forearm, the shockwave waking up his aching elbow. He angrily brushed Mira's hand aside and kicked her in her right side, only to have it blocked by her right hand. She brushed his leg away and put her hands in front of his face.

EVIL EXPLOSION!

Another explosion hit him, this time point blank. Although it didn't damage his armor, the impact sent him flying backwards. Dust and smoke filled the entire floor, Natsu's fire already catching the walls in it, the entire floor slowly beginning to burn down. Dryden tensed his senses and searched for Mirajane, anticipating a sneak attack from the Demon. Unknowingly to him, she was already behind him, her hands held behind her back with a giant orb of energy forming in-between them. When he finally noticed, it was too late, as Mirajane unleashed her attack on his defenseless figure.

SOUL EXTINCTOR!

Dryden's dragon-like form was completely swallowed by a large black-purple beam, as it cleared out the dust and a good portion of the flames. The attack flew through the entire floor and crashed straight through a wall, flying towards the ocean.

Panting heavily, Mira lowered her arms, her exhaustion slowly catching up to her. Blood flowed down her face from her head wound, multiple bruises on her body, her hands numb and shaky from repeatedly hitting Dryden's hard armor. With her vision still blurry after being hit in the temple, Mira squinted her eyes and carefully watched the spot where Dryden was. Finally, after a good minute the dust settled and the sight shocked and terrified Mira right to the core.

Dryden's body was covered by his left wing. It was burned and seemingly broken, with pieces of its skin missing and hanging from their original spot, his joints twisted and disfigured, however other than that, he was uninjured. He slowly put his wounded wing aside and stared at Mirajane, his eyes wide and furious.

"This is the first time someone has injured me this far." he whispered, his voice full of anger. "I'm impressed."

Mira grit her teeth and put up a guard once again, her breath unsteady and body heavy.

"Damn monster." she growled to herself, before bracing herself for Dryden's charge.

Tower of Heaven, Second Floor

Gajeel grunted in pain and clutched his wounded shoulder, a giant, already cauterized cut spread all over its length, up to his left breast.

"Stop treatin' me like a kid! Let me fight!" he roared at Gray, who was standing right in front of him.

The Maker clicked his tongue in annoyance and kicked the ground with his right leg, a giant chain of ice spikes growing in front of it and heading in Jolene's direction. The woman jumped over them and Requipped a shield underneath her feet to launch herself at both males. Anticipating it, Gray punched his open palm, a wall of ice growing in front of him. Jolene slashed at the wall and cut right through it, melted ice falling onto the ground. As soon as her feet touched the ground she dashed at Gray, who threw several ice spears in her direction in response. Having no means of dodging them, Jolene blocked them with her swords, as they melted a short moment after coming in contact with the blade.

"You can't even stand! Shut the hell up and stay here!" yelled Gray in response, before molding yet another set of spears. "Support me if you're so eager to fight!"

Gajeel growled in anger. Gray was right, he couldn't stand on his wounded leg, even with Gray's first aid in form of ice put over the wound. He looked at the Maker, his teeth clenching even more. He was in no better situation, forced to stay in one place and unable to move like he used to. Blood flowed down Gray's pants from his stomach stab wounds, a small pool of blood forming by his feet. Jolene, on the other hand, although weaker and slower than before, was rather fine when compared to them and continuously blocked every single one of their attempts of taking her down. Her blade was a perfect counter to Gray's ice - its edge was hot enough to burn through literally anything. Wounds inflicted by this blade did not shed blood, instead, they cauterized them immediately, greatly increasing the pain in the process. No matter how Gajeel looked at this situation, they were in deep shit.

Gray slipped his head to his left in panic, one of Jolene's iron spears flying right by his ear. The woman used this moment to close the distance and thrust her blade at Gray, who managed to block it with an ice barrier. The ice immediately started to melt, with The Arsenal pushing it closer and closer towards his heart.

Sick and tired of being protected, Gajeel stood up on his only healthy leg and, much to her suprise, punched Jolene right in the jaw with his Hard Fist. Jolene's head flew to the side, the grip on her blade loosening. Using this golden opportunity, Gray molded an ice warhammer and struck the woman right in her ribcage, causing her to cough up blood.

Jolene's body was blown back, as she struggled to regain her position in the air. She landed on her back and quickly flipped back, sliding on the ground on her knees. Gray quickly walked around his barrier and grabbed the woman's sword by the handle, locking it in place. Gajeel limped from the other side and crashed his fist into its blade, both men successfully breaking the weapon.

"One pain in the ass less." said Gajeel, as Gray threw the broken sword aside.

"Don't be too happy, she probably has twenty more." reminded grimly Gray.

Jolene stared at Fairy Tail mages with pure hatred in her eyes. She stood up from her spot and wiped her mouth with her sleeve, at the same time extending the other one to the side. Bright, familiar energy formed around her hand, as it began to take a shape.

"Gimme a break." sighed Gajeel and took a fighting stance, best to his ability.

The light has finally taken a shape, a black katana forming in Jolene's hand. Its blade, guard and handle were pure black, with white bandages wrapped over the handle, a quite lengthy strap of said bandages extending past the handle, as it hanged off the sword.

"Seems like I'm still too slow." she muttered to herself, Gajeel briefly her words.

"She's up to something. Don't take your eyes off of her." he said to Gray, who simply nodded in response.

Suddenly, Jolene disappeared. Gajeel's eyes widened in shock, his senses confused. She did not run, jump or even dash - she simply vanished in thin air. Then, his ears picked up the sound of a blade being raised behind him and quickly turned around, blocking Jolene's strike with his iron club.

The woman was already behind them, her attack intended for Gray interrupted by Gajeel. Gray turned around, just as shocked as Gajeel and punched his palm, despair grabbing his heart.

ICE MAKE: TOWER!

A tower of ice grew from beneath Jolene, as it took the woman upwards and smashed into the ceiling, seemingly crushing the woman. Gray panted and relaxed his hands, his eyss glued to the ceiling.

"Looking for someone?"

His eyes widened in horror, as he turned around, only to find Jolene slashing at his head from behind him. He leaned back at the last second, her blade brefly catching his forehead, as it left a small cut over his left eye. Jolene stepped in to finish her job, only to be forced to block Gajeel's club, aimed at her solar plexus. She brushed it off and jumped back, creating distance between herself and her opponents. Just before her feet touched the ground, she vanished again.

Not even a second after that, Gajeel felt stinging, terrible pain spreading over his back. Jolene was already behind him and slashed his scaled back, her blade cutting through the metal and cutting his skin. The scales greatly killed the impact, however the cut was still serious. The Dragon Slayer feel to his knees, breathing heavily. Jolene raised her sword above her head, intending on stabbing Gajeel, but Gray quickly rushed in and blocked the attack with his ice sword. He pushed it away and slashed at Jolene, forcing her to defend herself, much to her shock.

An exchange of slashes erupted between the mages, both of them showing great skills in swordsmanship. Grateful to Erza for training him in swordfighting, Gray blocked Jolene's slash with one hand and molded a new blade in his other one, as he struck horizontally at the woman. She jumped over it and kicked at his head, only to have it blocked by his blades. Gray slid on the floor on his feet and grimaced, his wounds letting him know off their presence.

Jolene vanished from his sight yet again, but this time, he remained calm.

"This sword does not increase her speed." he thought. "Her attack speed has not increased, in fact, it's much slower than before. If I tried to use swords against her earlier, she'd have killed me in a matter of seconds, but now, I actually have a chance. If her overall speed has not increased, and yet she can disappear in thin air, there's only one answer..."

He quickly looked up and backstepped away from Jolene, who attacked him from above. As soon as his feet touched the ground he stepped in and clashed his blades with the woman.

"Teleportation." he said, smirking at the woman. "This sword allows you to teleport, with an interval in-between each jump, doesn't it?"

Jolene scowled at him. "Do you want a reward for figuring out something this simple?"

The ice mage smirked back in response and pushed harder, effectively gaining the upper hand on the woman. She grit her teeth in fury and pushed as hard as she could, brushing Gray off of her. She quickly followed through with a kick to his abdomen, making him cough up blood. Gray fell onto his back and slid on the ground, his blades falling out of his grip. Jolene ran after him and jumped in the air, landing on top of him. She raised her right leg and crashed her foot into his wound, her heel slowly entering it*.

Gray's screams of agony echoed throughout the floor, as he desperately locked his grip onto her ankle and tried to shake her off. Jolene stared at his squirming figure with a sadistic smile growing on her face and her eyes expressing pure lust, as she listened to his pained cries in pure delight and pleasure.

"You look so cute right now." she breathed out as he continued to yell and raised her blade up. "I almost regret having to kill you."

The Commandment brought her blade down, only to have it blocked by Gajeel's iron sword. Clenching her teeth in irritation, she switched her target and pushed his blade away, before slashing at him. Wobbly on his feet, Gajeel grit his teeth from pain and sidestepped, dodging the attack. He followed through with a slash of his own, only to hit nothing but thin air. Using his senses to their maximum, he pinpointed her new position and put his arm on his back, blocking Jolene's thrust. He turned his left hand into an iron club and backfisted at the woman, successfully hitting her in the cheek. Blood spilled onto the floor from her freshly cut mouth, as she lost balance and was forced to take couple awkward steps to remain on her feet.

Dragging his leg behind him, Gajeel rushed after her and pulled his arm back, ready to strike her yet again, only to feel dull pain in his lower area, as Jolene kicked him just above the crotch. He buckled over and allowed Jolene to kick him in his left temple, which sent him to the floor. She gently walked up to him and raised her blade up, only to feel her head being blown back, with Gajeel kicking his right under her chin with his healthy leg. The kick rocked her harder than she anticipated, the grip on her weapon loosening against her will. Before the blade fell to the ground, Gajeel grabbed it and punched the woman in her left side, her ribs slightly cracking under the weight of his iron fist. He then lifted up the sword and broke it on his knee, casting the smaller part with its handle aside. He then ate the remaining part, a small chunk of his magic power coming back. After swallowing the last bit of the metal, he leaned back and puffed his cheeks out.

IRON DRAGON'S ROAR!

Jolene's figure was once again swallowed by a whirlpool of iron blades and shards. Although weaker, the attack was still powerful enough to reach the wall of the floor and greatly crack it.

His lungs getting empty, Gajeel stopped his attack and panted heavily, regaining his breath. He listened to the woman's movements, expecting her to rush out of the cloud at any moment. He was right to do so, as couple seconds later she dashed out of the dust unharmed, a giant shield in front of her. She charged at Gajeel and crashed into him at full speed, sending him flying. Gritting his teeth in pain, the Dragon Slayer shifted his right hand into a club and extended it towards the ground, stopping himself from falling. He looked at Jolene who was already in front of him, a new blade in her hands. Seeing no other way, Gajeel put up his left arm and felt the blade pierce right through his iron scales, as it came out on the other side of his forearm. He screamed out in pain, with The Arsenal pushing the blade with all her remaining strength. Seeing that it won't stop there, he quickly grabbed the blade with his remaining hand, stopping it right in front of his eye. This stopped Jolene's advance and left both wizards in a power struggle, both of them straining each other past their limits.

"How the hell can you even move?!" she growled in annoyance.

"You're simply too weak to take me down, that's all." he smirked through pain, his body at its limit. "No wonder Salamander took one of you down already, you ain't worth shit."

At the mention of Grigol, Jolene's face twisted in pure fury, which in turn greatly increased her strength, as she began to overpower Gajeel. The tip of her blade was now slowly impaling itself into his face, as he struggled to keep it away from himself, his face still grinning. In quick session he picked the perfect moment to counterattack and let go of the blade, as it slid off his left cheek, leaving a long scratch on his iron scales. He quickly put his hand on hip level and struck the sword with an uppercut, breaking it in the process. He used Jolene's shock as a chance and delivered one final kick to her abdomen, before succumbing to exhaustion and blood loss, as he fell to his knees, his iron scales dispelling.

Unfortunately for the Dragon Slayer, the woman stayed on her feet and was now Requipping yet another sword, running towards him at the same time. Just when she was about to cut his head off, Gajeel's life was saved by an icicle sent by Gray, who was back on his feet, his face twisted in determination and anger. He punched his palm and send another set of icicles in her direction, making her to deflect them one by one. Cursing the man in her mind, Jolene deflected one final piece of ice, before dashing at Gajeel once again, only to find that he was no longer there, but instead in front of her, with his fist pulled all the way back.

IRON DRAGON'S CLUB!

Jolene's face was bashed in, her nose and lips leaving rivers of blood in the air, as she began to fall onto her back. Hanging onto her consciousness with great difficulty, she grit her teeth and pulled herself back, only to find Gray and Gajeel right in front of her, both of them reading their attacks.

ICE MAKE: GAUNTLET!

IRON DRAGON'S HARD FIST!

Both men drove their fists into the womans stomach, leaving her gasping for air. She bent over and slid on the ground on her feet, saliva flowing onto the floor from her open mouth. Not giving her any chances, Gray roared and punched his open palm, using a vast portion of his remaining magic power to finish off the woman.

ICE MAKE: GUNGNIR!

A giant lance of ice grew out from the ground beneath Jolene and smashed her into the ceiling, breaking it in the process. The woman's limp figure fell to the ground, vanishing in dust. Not finished with her just yet, Gray and Gajeel prepared their final attacks.

ICE MAKE: BAZOOKA!

IRON DRAGON'S ROAR!

A ball of ice and a whirlpool of iron made their way where Jolene fell, a big explosion of said elements erupting in hit place, shards of ice and iron flying in all directions. Panting heavily, both men released their magics and finally relaxed their tense bodies.

"She has to be down by now." wheezed out Gray. "She just has to."

Gajeel did not respond and stabbed the ground with his sword, stopping himself from falling to the ground.

"Can you walk?" asked him Gray, as he watched his friend struggle to stay on his feet.

Gajeel looked at him for moment, before sighing tiredly. "No. Gimme a moment, I have to-"

Gajeel's body was thrust forward, as something flew right through his right shoulder, leaving a big hole in his body. Gray watched in terror as Gajeel slowly shifted his head to take a look at his wound, before coughing up a large amount of blood and falling onto his face like a ragdoll.

"Gajeel!" cried out Gray, his voice full of horror and despair. He quickly looked in the attack's direction and felt fear grab every fiber of his being.

There stood Jolene, her body covered in blood and ice, a giant, as big as her black bow in her grip. Behind her were three enormous, stuck in the ground and battered in shields she most likely used to protect herself with from their last attacks. Her breathing was raspy and uneven, her eyes misty, as she reached out for another arrow, ready to defeat her last remaining opponent with it.

Seeing no other choice, Gray grabbed Gajeel as quickly as he could and lifted him off the ground, securing his arm over his neck. In the corner of his eye he saw Jolene knock her bow and punched his hand one more time, growing a wall of ice before him, separating himself from the woman.

The arrow completely decimated the wall, as it flew right through the solid water and flew out of the tower after hitting the nearby wall. The ice began to crack and few seconds later the wall broke, revealing that Gray and Gajeel were nowhere to be found, with the nearest window being broken into pieces.

Jolene breathed out heavily and slowly walked up to the window, only to witness an already crumbling staircase made out of ice, several trails of blood smeared on top of it..

She smirked at the sight and dispelled her bow, before limping away from the window.

Both Fairy Tail mages ran away from their opponent, exhausted and injured way past their limit, as Gray dragged unconscious Gajeel towards Christina. Gritting his teeth in effort, he put his hand on top of his friend's fresh wound and gently cooled it down with his magic. Emotions taking over him, Gray cried to himself in frustration, his pride and ambitions taking yet another hurtful hit.

"I'm sorry." he muttered, not sure to whom exactly.

Tower of Heaven, Third Floor

Erza kicked her last opponent, throwing him onto the nearby wall. She let out a small breath and looked around, seeing that her comrades have taken care of their opponents as well.

Upon getting further into the floor, they were ambushed by subordinates of Seven Commandments, who this time were not slaves, but Dark Mages. Taking this information with relief, the group was much more efficient in defeating the aggressors, as they now successfully made their way through the rest of the floor. However, despite overcoming thjis obstacle, Erza was not happy about it, as she dreaded setting her foot in the upper floor.

After couple minutes of running they took the last corner and the entrance to Fourth Floor was fully visible. Clenching her fists and her steps heavier, Erza ran up the last steps and entered the floor.

She was met with the familiar sight of Fourth Floor, other known as The Prison.

Unlike other levels, which were consisted of several rooms, corridors and halls, this one was an open one, its entirety seen just upon entrance. It was the highest floor out of all of them, standing at terrifying 30 meters tall from the ground to the ceiling. In the middle of the floor was a giant mining area, with cells spreading all over the floor from few meters away from the ground up to the ceiling. The previously enormous giant mountain of materials the tower was built with was now gone, replaced with an even terrain, covered with broken and used tools, some of them bloodied.

Seeing that Erza was not contacting, Laxus looked all over the area and sniffed, Natsu smelling the air right beside him as well.

"They're here." said the pinkette, with Laxus nodding in approval.

"You think it's another trap?" he asked.

Natsu slowly shook his head. "I don't think so. They don't care whether we save these people or not, all they want is me. Those guys below were used to kill you. They probably didn't think we'd get this far."

Seeing her friend's distress, Lucy walked up to Erza and put her hand on the knight's shoulder. "You ok?" she asked.

Erza closed her eyes and breathed out through her nose. "Yes." she said, before turning her head to meet Lucy's. "Let's get these people out of here."

"No." said Lucy, suprising the knight.

"What do you mean, no?" she asked.

"Me and Juvia will take care of this. You three head upstairs and defeat their Master."

Erza's eyes squinted. Originally this is where she'd planned on leaving them, however, she couldn't help but feel the hunch that this was a trap. Up until now, they have encountered three Commandments. with three remaining and one of them hiding. They were in the very middle of the tower, with three floors left. A chance that one of them was hiding in here was very high, way too high to leave both of them alone in here.

"We don't have time." said Laxus, irritating the knight. "Our priority is taking down that brainwashing bastard, and so far we haven't seen him. The enemy is smart, they're probably keeping him at the very top. We can't save those people and then head on to beat that guy. We have to split up."

Erza bit her lip. She couldn't help but admit Laxus was right. Still, she was hesitant to go with his idea.

"Arthur is not here."

Natsu's voice shook her out of her trance. She looked at him, slightly confused.

"That old man from first floor." continued Natsu. "He's the most loyal Commandment. He's probably right beside Silva by now. Ain't no way he's on this floor. Same with Luppi. Silva is probably keeping him on a leash. The last one is also not here, trust me, he'd let us know if he was."

Erza continued to stare at the pinkette. His words did calm her down, even if only a little. He spent a long time with those people, he knew them the best.

"Very well." she sighed. "We will head on ahead, while you two rescue everyone on this floor. Take them to the floor below and use the window right next to the staircase. You can use your magics to safely get them down. Go to the ship along with them and stay there until we come back, are we clear?"

Lucy and Juvia nodded before running up the stairs. Erza exhaled through her nose and looked at her remaining two companions.

"Let's go." she said and led them through the floor, as they followed her.

Lucy quickly ran up to the first cell and grabbed the bars, peeking inside. She noticed three starved children, two boys and a girl no older than Wendy sitting in the back corner, all of them hugging each other in fear. The sight broke the blonde's heart, as she quickly summoned Cancer and used him to cut through the lock with Juvia breaking into the neighboring cell.

Lucy entered the cell and slowly walked up to the children, who whimpered at the sight of her, tightly clutching themselves.

The blonde gulped and felt her eyes sting. "It's alright." she said. "I won't hurt you. Look."

She gently lifted her right hand and showed her guild mark to the children. "I'm from Fairy Tail. I'm here to help."

The oldest boy stood up and slowly walked up to the woman, carefully putting his feet down. He inspected the guildmark, checking its authenticity. Lucy smiled even wider and whispered in soft tone. "I promise. I'm not here to hurt you."

The boy's eyes softened, as he quickly ran up to the blonde and hugged her, the rest of the kids following him. She felt her eyes widen in shock, but she wrapped her arms around the children and hugged them back, feeling their skinny bodies with her palms, their sticking out bones slightly hurting her chest. She felt tears flow down her face, but did not succumb to her anger.

"Let's get you out of here." she whispered, before standing up and grabbing their hands, leading them out of their prison.

They walked out of the cell and met up with Juvia, who was currently holding a small girl in her arms, as she slept from exhaustion in the rainwoman's grip. Juvia sent Lucy an understanding and burning look, as the blonde slowly nodded with a similar stare of her own. They knew it beforehand, but this sight confirmed their feelings entirely.

Seven Commandments were not human.

Tower of Heaven, First Floor

Mira locked yet another of Dryden's punches, feeling her body slowly give out. Each punch was taking a bigger toll on her, his superior durability allowing him to overpower the Demon. She threw a right high kick aimed at his head, only to have it blocked midway through and swatted away like a fly, followed by his counter attack in form of a right body blow, hitting right into her bruised stomach.

The amount of body blows she'd received in this fight was unimaginable, her entire abdomen slowly taking the color of light purple. The white-haired mage was blown back once again, her back hitting the wall. She gasped and slid on it to the ground, crashing like a ragdoll.

"I must thank you, Mirajane Strauss." said Dryden, as he watched the woman struggle to stand up. "Despite all the anger you've brought me, I have not enjoyed myself this much in years. You are truly worthy of the title "The Demon". You'd make a fine Commandment."

Mira's eyes widened, anger taking over her mind. "I'd rather die than associate myself with filth like you." she hissed, her voice poisonous. The Armor simply snorted in amusement at her remark.

Mirajane panted heavily, trying to come up with a new strategy. Although all of her previous tactics were successful, the effects were nowhere near what she'd imagined. Her damage was took much more grevious when compared to his. She then noticed the fire slowly catching up to her, which forced her to move away from her position.

"Damn Salamander, he just had to make things harder." she shot at the pinkette in her thoughts. "Why are all Dragon Slayers this obnoxious-"

Like a hammer, Mirajane felt something hitting her mind with enormous force, a crazy idea forming in her head. She quickly looked at the fire and then at her hand, at fire and back at the hand. She clutched her fist and thought it through one more time. After coming to a conclusion that she had no other choice, she stood up and looked over the area in search of a necessary item. Luckily, she found it and quickly ran up to it. She grabbed the remains of a cloak and tear it into a rag. She then wrapped it around her hand like a bandage and looked at Dryden, who continued to stare at her from above.

"It's been fun, but I must eliminate you now. Brace yourself."

With that said, he spread his wings and dived at Mira. The woman clicked her tongue in irritation, not yet ready to go with her plan, but seeing no other choice, she turned around to cover her right hand, clenched her fist and put it into Natsu's fire. The flames quickly caught the cloth on fire, which spread all over Mira's hand. Whimpering in pain, the Demon focused her pain and anger on Dryden and rushed at him, her burning fist pulled back behind her figure. She dodged his charge and flew above him. She pulled her right arm back and struck at his back, only to hit nothing but air. The Armor turned around in the air and kicked Mira in her lower back, making her fly towards the ground. She quickly shook it off and turned around, flying upwards, getting in position above Dryden and retaliating with an overhand right that was dodged once again. The fire started to severely burn her skin, tears of pain forming in her eyes.

"Have you lost your mind?" asked Dryden, utterly confused by the woman's actions. "Are you planning on killing yourself?"

The Demon did not respond with words, but a kick that was swiftly dodged and countered with a left straight to the face. Dryden struck Mirajane once again, this time with his right hand and kicked her right shoulder with his left leg. He was overpowering the woman in every aspect, rendering her efforts useless. Her right hand was already set in blaze, but even then she fought through pain and tried to strike Dryden. He kicked her away, only to have her charge straight at him once again.

"How unfortunate." he muttered, before dashing as well. He pulled his left arm back and struck at Mira's face, who, to his shock, dodged. She ducked right under his arm and pulled her arm back, ready to strike.

"If you want to hit me that badly, go for it." he thought. "Once it connects, you'll realise how futile and stupid this idea was."

A second after this thought, Dryden felt dull and excruciating pain taking over his left side. Roaring loudly from pain and determination, Mirajane delivered a powerful body blow to his ribs. The punch cracked his armor and sent majority of the impact to The Armor's body that was hidden behind it. Dryden buckled over in agony, confused, scared and shocked. Mira pulled her arm back again and struck once again in the exact same fashion, cracking the blue shell even further. Growling from pain, she finally extinguished the flames, her right hand scorched, its blackened skin peeling off.

"How?!" yelled Dryden in his mind. "How did she-"

Realisation hit him harder than any punch. The fire he thought was useless, the fire he thought was just a desperate, last attempt of his opponent, the fire he forgot about was actually the fire meant to slay dragons. Fire of a Fire Dragon Slayer, who was currently several floors above him.

"No one with a sane mind would think of something like that!" he wheezed out.

Mirajane grinned devilishly through the pain in response. "Fairy Tail wizards are not sane."

The success of her strategy filled the woman with a new found strength. She spread her wings and flew straight into Dryden, driving her fist into his cracked spot, making him feel even more pain.

The Armor grit his teeth, fury taking over his mind. "You bitch!" he roared, before kneeling her in the stomach. He brought his arms up and crashed them into Mira's back. He then followed up with a right uppercut to the face, left hook to the liver and right hook across the temple.

Dryden began to mercilessly beat up Mirajane, his fists making contact with majority of her vital points, not giving her time to react. He delivered one final punch to her gut and kicked her in the face, making her fall to the ground. She crashed into it, with Dryden following her, as he landed right on top of her, both of his legs smashing into her chest and stomach, making her vomit blood. The force of this strike was so great it made them both crash through the floor, making Mirajane fall into the underground level of the tower, which served as sewers. Dryden flapped his wings to stay in the air. He watched his opponent, her limp figure falling into the water, as she began to sink, barely hanging onto consciousness.

"I guess this is it, then..." she thought, as she watched her blood leaving a giant trail in the water. "I think I've done everything I could. Hopefully someone wipes the floor with this guy...in my place..."

Her mind went black for a moment, the previously cold water suddenly getting warm. Just when she was about to pass out, her eyes shot wide open.

"What the fuck am I thinking?!" she scolded herself, anger building inside of her. "This guy sure as hell ain't getting off that easily. None of them are."

Mira turned around in the water and glared upwards, her face twisting into a scowl. "I'm taking you down, even if I have to go down with you!"

With this resolve in her mind, Mira summoned the last remaining bits of her strength and launched herself towards the surface at incredible speed.

Dryden, who was hovering above the sewers was staring at the water, carefully waiting for the woman to return. Seeing that the last air bubbles disappeared and the water started to settle in, he closed his eyes and turned around. Just when he was about to leave, his ears picked up a weird sound coming from the water. He turned around, only to see Mirajane shooting out of the blue body like a rocket. Without any chance of evading the attack, Dryden's body buckled over, as Mirajane smashed her head right into his cracked left side, effectively breaking the armor even further. Keeping him in place with her head, she pulled her arms back and started to repeatedly punch his abdomen, making the man feel more and more pain. Her right hand started to hurt in an itching, excruciating pain, but even then she kept punching, even if her right strikes were weaker, Fed up with the woman, Dryden raised his left arm and drove his elbow blade right into her back, its tip plunging itself in her body.

Due to her toughness and Dryden's drained strength, the stab was shallow, but it still made the woman gasp and stop her barrage. This allowed Dryden to fly backwards, away from her and regain his breath. Both TakeOver mages stared each other down, both trying to catch as much breath as possible.

Mira smirked, irritating the Commandment. "The hell are you smirking for?" he asked.

"We're finally on even terms." she wheezed out, her eyes barely open from exhaustion, but her smile still alive. "Let's see how good you are without that armor of yours."

His pride hurt, Dryden growled and threw himself at Mira, his right hook blocked by her left arm. She answered with a sharp right jab to his chin, followed by a left, long jab. These attacks had no effect on the man, as he threw a left uppercut, only to feel his fist hitting Mira's right knee. She smacked him with a right hook, which made his head fly to the side. This exposed his cracked left side, which was struck with a right middle-kick. Dryden grit his teeth in pain and wrapped his left arm around the woman's leg, before bringing his elbow down to her stretched knee, only to feel Mira get closer to him, as she bent the knee and headbutted him, freeing herself. She quickly flew back and breathed out.

The Armor followed her, however and threw a punch in her direction, which she blocked with one of her own. They looked at each other for a moment before engaging in yet another exchange of hits, this time much slower than their previous ones. For every punch landed on Dryden's ribs, Mira received a strike in the face in return, their hit count even. Her left eye was beginning to swell up, just like his ribs were growing more purple with each hit. With one final dual exchange they both flew backwards and gasped for air, neither giving up just yet.

Dryden held his right hand before himself and focused his magic in his claws, making them extend in the Demon's direction. Suprised that he can actually modify the shape of his armor, Mira flew right above them and charged at him, nailing him with a nasty right hook. The pain in her burned hand was so great it made her cry out, however it did not break her concentration. Dryden retaliated with a kick to her left side and kept the woman on his leg by straightening his foot behind her back. He turned in the air and pushed his leg downwards, sending the woman flying into the water once again. She flew out of it a second later, panting heavily, her body heavy and her magic on brink of running out.

"I won't bring him down like that." she thought. "I have to make a bet, I still have enough magic for one final attack."

Mira brought her arms behind her back, a dark-purple orb forming in her hands.

"Growing desperate, aren't we?" taunted Dryden, before dashing at the woman. "You seriously think you're going to hurt me with that thing ?I'll crush you before you even have a chance to launch it!"

With that said, he dived at the woman, catching her off guard. He kicked her in her solar plexus, knocking all the remaining wind she had out of her lungs. He then grabbed her by the throat with his left hand and lifted her in the air, slowly crushing her neck. Mira brought up her arms and wrapped her hands on his arm, trying to free herself. She wiggled her legs defenselessly, not strong enough to deliver a solid kick. She gargled and gasped for air, the grip of her hands loosening.

"This is goodbye, Mirajane." said Dryden, his voice merciless. "You can rest now."

Feeling that she was one second away from passing out, Mira decided to go for one final try. She brought up her heavy right arm and stuck her clawed thumb into Dryden's eye. As she expected, this area was not protected by the armor, her thumb easily entering the man's eye. He cried out in pain and let go off her neck, immediately clutching his face with his hands. Seeing that this was her one final chance, Mira brought her hands behind her back and formed the orb once again.

SOUL...

With his one remaining eye, Dryden watched the woman charge straight at him, and in the last attempt to protect himself raised his already wounded wing up, willing to sacrifice it in price for his survival. But the beam never came.

Mira ducked right under his wing and pulled her right hand back. Instead of launching the built up energy in the form of a beam, she kept it in her hand, greatly increasing her strength.

EXTINCTOR!

The Demon's right hand crashed right into Dryden's exposed ribs. She felt them break with her fist, their owner's left side bending over, as he spat out blood, his eye growing with mist. Her shoulder cried out in pain, as she pushed him down, before pushing one last time and setting the explosion off, sending him flying downwards straight into the water, as he crashed into it, a giant explosion of said liquid erupting, as it flew high above its original spot and splashed the floor above, extinguishing a vast portion of the flames in the process. It then dropped back to its place, giant waves forming on its surface.

Mira breathed heavily, her figure finally free of the water, as she watched Dryden's defeated figure sinking towards the bottom, pieces of his armor leaving his body, a bloody trail forming behind him.

The woman closed her eyes in relief and with the last remaining drop of her strength flew up back to the first floor. She landed on her feet and canceled her form, before falling onto her face in exhaustion, her mind going blank. But before it did, she sent one final message to her friends in her mind.

"The rest is up to you, guys."

Tower of Heaven, Fourth Floor

Lucy watched as Juvia and Aries escorted the group of slaves. They searched through majority of the levels, the only one unchecked being the highest one. Overall, there were 30 people still held in their cells, most of them on bottom levels. Lucy and Juvia successfully grouped them up, and came up with an escape plan. After heading downstairs, they would take the nearest window. Aries would then create a pad with her wool down on the ground, with Juvia bringing the people down with her water. It was a timeconsuming task, but the most effective one. Lucy decided to stay on the Fourth Floor and search the last floor before leaving the tower.

She climbed the stairs and reached the very top of the floor. She then started to run, briefly looking at all the cells she passed by. Just when she thought it was empty, she reached the last cell. There stood a young man with messy, black hair, his back turned against the bars.

Lucy breathed in relief and ran up to the bars. "Hold on, I'll get you out of here in a moment!"

The boy jumped a little at the sound of her voice, before slightly tilting his head in her direction. He listened as Lucy pulled out her whip and used it to smash the lock, opining the door afterwards.

"Come one, let's get out of here." she said, before grabbing his hand. That was the moment when she realised something was wrong.

His clothes were in much better shape, and he did not look like the other slaves. True, he was skinny, but nowhere near as the rest. The teenager turned around and smiled grimly at Lucy.

"Fairy Tail, huh? How nice of you to save all those people."

"Huh?"

Lucy blinked in confusion. She watched as the boy turned around to fully face her. He was around her age, his messy black hair covering a good part of his face. He had a sad smile glued to his face, as he continued to talk.

"It's a real shame I haven't met someone like you all those years ago." he said sarcastically, a small smirk forming on his face.

Lucy was now frowning. Something was definitely wrong.

"What are you-"

Just before she could finish her sentence, she felt her whole body freeze in one place. Suddenly, she felt like she was looking through someone else's eyes.

"What the hell is going on?!" she panicked in her thoughts, as she desperately tried to move. She then felt her eyes widen in her mind in realisation. "He's the one controlling the Chairman!"

She watched as the boy in front of her reached out to his back pocket and threw a knife, that planted itself in the ground just by her feet.

"Pick up this knife and kill yourself." he commanded with a bored, expressionless voice.

Much to her shock, Lucy witnessed her figure bend over obediently and pick up the weapon, as she desperately cried out in desperation to stop herself, her body not listening at all.

"Stop! Stop, me! Don't do it!" she cried out, as she watched her hands aiming the blade towards her own throat. She then started to bring it closer and closer, Lucy's pleas and attempts of freeing herself becoming more and more desperate.

"I should have been on the front lines, none of this shit would have happened if I had been." sighed the teenager and scratched his head, with Lucy seconds away from killing herself.

Just before the blade could reach her throat, Lucy saw a hand get a hold of her right arm, successfully halting the blade. With the corner of her eye she noticed the familiar red tie and unbuttoned black jacket, combined with messy orange hair. Lucy felt her eyes water, relief and hope replacing her fears in her mind.

"What the hell you think you're doing to my Master?" growled Loke, as he glared daggers at the man in front of him.

Luppi clicked his tongue in irritation and released Lucy from his control. She gasped for air and leg go of the knife, which fell onto the ground with a quiet clank. Her entire body was shaking, but she managed to look at her friend and crack a smile at him.

"Thank you." was all she managed to breathe out.

The man took his eyes off his upcoming opponent and looked at his Master, his scowl replaced with a smile.

"Anything for my Master. Now rest. I'll take care of this." he smiled, before getting in front of her. He then shifted his eyes onto Luppi, his eyes turning into daggers once again. "Don't think you're getting off easy, punk."

Luppi stared at the spirit with bored expression and sighed heavily, before reaching out for another knife.

"What a drag,"

End of Chapter 10. To be continued in Chapter 11: Demons Of The Past

Phew! Writing fight scenes is so exhausting. You write, write and write for hours, you think you've created a great and solid battle sequence, you save it - 1,700 words. I'm a slow worker, but still, this is way too frustrating. Still, I enjoy it very much!

So starting with this chapter, I've decided to add disclaimers to my chapters. I like to reference previous chapters and some of you probably don't remember them that well, so you miss quite cool moments. So from now on, I will list them down in the AN. Right here there's only one, but later on there will be quite a few of them.

* - Jolene tortured Gray by stepping on his wound she inflicted on him in previous chapter. She pierced his right side, missing all of his vitals, but still crippling his mobility.

So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I hope the fights do not feel too "edgy" or repetetive - I've always considered manga superior to anime, and as well know, manga fights do get hardcore, especially for shonen standards. This story is rated M, so I've taken it up a notch.

Yes, I made Gray and Gajeel lose. Not because I wanted them to so much I couldn't help it, I just felt that I don't want my story to take the same course as canon FT - the only fight lost against the baddies was Elfman and Eva vs Rusty. Seriously? One loss in three major Dark Guild arcs? No, I am not counting Future Rogue vs Natsu - this fight never happened in my book.

I wanted to make the loss as realistic as possible, at the same time leaving the door for possible rematch. You never know!

Writing Mira was probably the hardest thing ever. Not only do we not have alot of content of her old, original self, but her fights are also quite rare. Sorry all triggered Mira fans!

With that said, I'm off. I hope you enjoyed it, and as always, leave your opinions in reviews and PM's. See ya!