A/N: Battle yay! So I guess insert anime battle soundtrack here(^_^) Sorry I get kind of excited while writing battle scenes and get ahead of myself so if it helps just read it slowly I guess... Also I updated Tempting a Dragon to correlate to this chapter as well.
DISCLAIMER: same old, mashima's.
Lucy sneered at the imposter in front of her.
"And what makes you think I'll do that?"
"Because if you become my vessel, I'll have no other choice but to let this girl go," Levy ran a hand down the length of her own body. "Pity though, it was so nice while it lasted." She turned and winked at Gajeel affectionately. The iron dragon slayer looked as though he was going to be sick.
His body jerked as if he was attempting to get up, but Levy tsked several times as her hand sent him flying back against the boulder.
"Stay." He hissed in pain from the impact. "Good boy."
"Besides, I have been a bit rough on this Levy girl. I don't think I've fed her body in days!" She laughed as if at a very funny joke. "It's a wonder it hasn't crumbled yet!" Lucy's eyes glossed over as her anger shot to a new high.
"Release Levy!" she spat in warning. The other merely crossed her arms confidently.
"Of course, but in exchange for you."
"Lucy! Don't… Argh!" An unseen force slammed into Natsu from behind, effectively burying his face into the ground, cutting off his protests.
"Fine," Lucy blurted without hesitation. "It won't matter because we'll stop you." Levy looked around skeptically at the fallen bodies and scoffed.
"Right, I'm sure that's going to happen." Slowly, she walked closer to Lucy and leaned in. "Then we have a bargain?" Now Lucy hesitated. There was something else going on here, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
Turning her head so that Natsu could hear her loud and clear she cried, "Fight her, Natsu! Fight her and show her what the members of Fairy Tail are made of!" Her voice choked off as the force wrapped around her, suffocating her as it entered her mouth and ears. Blue script flowed from Levy's body, sneaking its way over to the stellar mage, levitating over the path. Then it climbed up towards her, greedily clinging to her as it moved closer towards her head. Just as the script made a move to enter her, Levy leaned forward and whispered something into her ear with her token smile.
Lucy's eyes widened as the other's words made impact and tears began to gather at the corner of her eyes. Then the script descended on her and filled her from the outside in. Natsu's enraged screams filled the void. Shaking loose of the weakened hold over him he ran down the causeway, still hoping that he had time to stop this madness, but it was too late. A bright blue light erupted only moments later, blowing him yet again back to where he had started.
"LUCY!" He shielded his eyes briefly from the light, trying to see what had happened. Gajeel was crawling his way towards the women, using every ounce of his strength that was left to get there. Finally, Levy collapsed into his arms just as he arrived. Lucy continued to levitate as she slowly began spinning round and round. Her eyes opened, no longer brown but the chillingly blue orbs that moments ago were Levy's, the hair had grown longer and white as bone. That smile, that cursed smile, spread its way across her face again.
Taking a deep breath she seemed to experiment with the new body.
"Ah, this is so much better! I feel it! The life source is immense in this one!" she cried happily as she came back to the ground examining her hands and legs. "Though, I think I might be in need of a feeding again…"
"Lucy!" Natsu bolted down the path towards his mate only to freeze as she ticked her finger back and forth at him.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Something bad might happen to your precious Lucy." Slowly, she drew a light line down Lucy's neck, her meaning became clearer as a shallow cut formed in its place.
"Stop!" He was beyond furious. He was beyond reason. He was literally checking out and letting the dragon take over. The scales began to come back as he took one step and then another, ground was crumbling underneath his feet. Lucy took an involuntary step backwards.
"D-Didn't you hear me? Stay back!" she yelled at him, losing some of her composure for the first time. The switch of vessels had left her meter pretty low and he seemed to be calling her bluff.
"Gajeel, get Levy to the entrance." It was an order, something Natsu only did when he was getting serious. There was little said from the iron dragon slayer as he began to move his own fallen mate to safety. Slowly, Natsu turned and shouted at Happy who was crouched down next to Erza.
"Happy!" Nothing else needed to be said.
"Aye sir!" Seconds later Natsu was airborne. Lucy's cool had returned as she rose up off of the ground to join him.
"Flying will do you no good, dragon slayer. I can beat you grounded or not." Their standoff seemed to go on forever. "What will you do, Natsu? Do you have it in you to lay a hand on your precious mate?" she taunted. He was no longer listening to her.
Instead he lunged forward with perfect synchronization as Happy veered around in a way that was completely unexpected by Lucy. A flaming knee came from behind as he drove it into her upper back, pushing her back down into the ground, attempting to pin her from moving away. The less movement, the less likely she was going to get hurt. He knew Lucy was tough and he'd seen her take a far worse hit than this, but he preferred being on the safe side.
"Lucy wanted me to fight and so I will. If I can't beat you out, I'll burn you out!" he roared. The flame from his knee exploded around his body, driving her further into the path. "Lucy! You also have to fight! Fight her!" Suddenly, Natsu was thrown back through the air by a wave of script only to be quickly stopped by Happy's wings. Slowly, the woman stood up and stared at him.
"Burn me out? I'd like to see you try," she growled as a loose hair flopped down into her eyes. Natsu grinned, feeling the excitement of a challenging battle coming on.
"You asked for it. Karyu no Hoko!" A funnel of flames burst forth from his mouth as Lucy quickly dodged it. In response, she flipped up into the air and landed her heel against Natsu's cheek, driving him back. She gave him little time to recover as her fist plowed its way into his stomach. Laughter burst out of her with every blow she was able to land. And still he refused to throw a punch or kick. He refused to hurt her.
For a moment she was able to catch his arms from behind and swing him headlong into a jagged wall before grabbing hold of his leg only to fling him into another. His head cracked up against a wall as he attempted block a closed fist. The power of it sent his head crashing through rock. As he fought he felt something leaving him, his energy and focus began to waver drastically. Lucy only grinned at him.
"Do you feel it? I'll take it from you slowly so that you can feel every bit of it." With a final roundhouse, she sent him flying back to the causeway.
"You'll never beat me! Just stay down and let me eat your life force. I promise to make it quick." Lucy landed several paces off, looking triumphant as her magic slammed him back into the ground. Natsu and Happy shook as they lay sprawled out on the path, trying to get back up. He paused as a foot landed within his peripheral vision. He saw the leg shake momentarily before stiffening. He followed the limb up to its owner and was shocked to find Gajeel staring at Lucy, fists clenched and teeth grinding.
"Get up," he declared without looking down at Natsu. "I don't like this version of Bunny-girl."
"Gajeel, how…"
"She gave me back my Levy." That's all he said as Natsu saw the magic gathering into his two hands. Natsu was unsteady as he stood up as the battle was beginning to take its toll on him. He found himself resisting the urge to cradle his side, probably a cracked rib.
"We're bringing home our nakama. All of them," Natsu growled out past the pain.
"Fairy Tail never leaves their own behind, they never stop fighting. They never give up." Gajeel's voice carried throughout the cavern.
Suddenly, Erza's voice floated out to them as well. "Even with the odds stacked against us, we overcome our enemies." Natsu and Gajeel glanced over at Erza who was leaning heavily on her sword as the tip dug into the ground. Her breathing was heavy as she fought to use the life force that was left in her.
"We are stubborn and once you piss us off, there's nowhere to hide because we will chase you down until the end of time if necessary," whispered Gray through his pain. He heaved his body up from its prone position. His eyes attempted simply to focus on the ground underneath him. Slowly, he made his way over to Lucy's foot and grabbed hold of it, as weak as he was. She was shocked and tried to yank her foot away, but some ungodly strength kept her within his grip. Happy suddenly appeared, bruised and beaten, grabbing hold of her other foot, gripping tightly as well. She attempted to shake him loose but found him to be too tenacious.
"You can't have Lucy! Who else is going to feed us when we are out of money?" he yelled angrily. "Lucy! Wake up!" cried the little blue cat.
"You… Get off of me!"
"Lucy," Natsu called to her. "You can't stay like that any longer. Come back to Fairy Tail. Come back to me." She was infuriated as she felt a voice inside of her scream in rebellion.
"No!" Her hands clutched at the sides of her head. "No! We had a deal! You can't come out now!" A pained smile spread across her face. "Fine, if that's the way you want it, then I'll take your dragon as payment." In a complete frenzy she pulled her arms together across her chest and began to chant, her script reaching out to Natsu.
He stared unblinking at it as the script floated ever closer. Suddenly, his mouth gaped open and he began to inhale all of it.
"What are you doing?!" yelled Happy.
"That's not fire you idiot!" cried Gray. Natsu did not listen as he continued to pull in the other's power. It raged against him, fought being digested, but his fire overtook it, forcing it into submission and turning the lethal tip outward. Finally, he could eat no more. All eyes were on Natsu as his eyes steadily opened to stare at his opponent, his mate. Blue! Bright blue! It stunned everyone including Lucy.
"I-impossible… How did you…"
"You're magic may be powerful, but it still comes from Lucy. Anything that comes from her I will always accept." He grinned as his hair slowly tinted white around the edges. It was quite possibly the most radical change anyone had ever seen in Natsu during a battle. He flexed his magical power and let it expand and contract, merging into a hybrid with his flames. This power was quite something indeed as he felt his energy being restored.
"Don't look down on me!" screamed Lucy as she attempted to break free from Gray and Happy.
"Gajeel, let's go," signaled Natsu. All he got was a grunt in affirmation.
Lucy froze at the sound of metal slamming into rock. Slowly, she looked over her shoulder to find that Erza had rammed her sword fully into the boulder with the sad face appropriately carved into it.
"What are you doing?!" she screamed in a panic. "Stop that!" Her eyes dilated as she prepared to send forth a body shattering blow at Erza, but was stopped by the battle cry of Natsu and Gajeel. They were powering up and what she saw froze her in utter fear. Dragons, two enormous dragons stood before her, each gathering its force into its jaws. She would have backed away if it hadn't been for the cursed ice mage and exceed.
Slowly, Gajeel's hands slapped together above his head and let the magic gather, spiraling higher and longer until finally the sword became fully visible. Natsu also stood firing up with everything he had left. As if something straight out of a bad dream, the two dragons came charging at her and she knew she was dead. Her arms came up in a weak attempt to block the oncoming attack. It took several seconds for her to realize that the two dragon slayers had passed her completely and were headed for the platform.
"NOOOOOOOO!" In unison the dragon slayers and the Titania struck at the three boulders.
"Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!"
"Karma Demon: Iron God Sword!"
"Yaaaaaah!" Erza thrust the rest of the sword home and twisted it through.
"Fairy Tail will never lose as long as we stand together!" Natsu yelled at the top of his lungs.
A blazing hot metal inferno exploded over the boulders sending each of them into a dusty oblivion. An ear-splitting scream rang off of the walls as a beam of light burst from Lucy's mouth, nose and eyes. Gray and Happy had released her in favor of covering their ears. The walls shook precariously. The anguished cry went on, it seemed, forever. Finally, the screaming stopped as it slowly was replaced by manic laughter.
"It's no use!" she cried as her eyes shook from the insanity of it all. "We'll just keep coming back again and again, you cannot stop us! Not without the seal! Ahahahaha!"
"Cumino ve to reshlo vento k'tresh. Nova sest noto gra et vu." Lucy ceased her laughter, the sweat pouring off of her now. All eyes turned to the voice coming from the entrance. Levy was barely standing as she leaned against the entrance, her hands clutched together in a strange position, shaking from exertion. Her eyes were closed as she attempted to remember the rest of the incantation.
"You…" Lucy's voice was dripping with hate and outrage as she shifted her feet unsteadily towards the previous vessel. She took one step, then another before faltering. All of her magic was nearly drained with the destruction of the boulders. Her advancement was suddenly stopped by a hand grasping her upper arm. It wasn't until her face was buried into Natsu's shoulder that she realized she was being held tenderly in his embrace.
"It's enough, Lucy. It's time to come home now." Tears forced their way out of the corners of her eyes.
"Natsu…" Her hands quaked as they reached up and grabbed hold of the back of his shirt, squeezing tightly. "I'll take you to hell with me," she hissed. Natsu's eyes popped open in alarm as he felt the remaining rush of magic burst out of her in a flash. Gritting his teeth together he held onto her, refusing to let go.
"Lucy… I love you… do you hear me?" the magic was tearing at his defenses, ripping his clothes, slashing at exposed skin, cutting even the dragon scales. "I love you, LUCY!" His scream sought to reach her, he could feel she had fallen so far from him. In the distance he could still hear Levy chanting. And suddenly, everything stopped. The energy was gone and the magic dissipated. Lucy and Natsu collapsed to the ground with their arms still held tightly around one another.
The ominous atmosphere that had settled on them was gone, but the weak foundations of the surrounding cavern began to shake uncontrollably.
"It's caving in!" yelled Gray as Erza came trudging towards him. Together they leaned on one another as they hurriedly made their way towards the entrance to the cave. Gajeel grabbed hold of Natsu intent on pulling the two apart to carry them out, but he wouldn't relinquish his hold on Lucy. Growling, he prevailed and threw each over one shoulder and used the last of his reserves to beeline it to the entrance followed closely by Erza and Gray. Happy flew ahead and snatched up Levy who had all but collapsed after finishing the incantation.
Each of them ran through the opening, avoiding the crush of a falling ceiling within seconds. They knew they weren't safe yet as more of the mountain fell in on itself. They ran hard and fast as their lives depended on it, dodging around crevices and loose rocks as the earth caved in behind them. It was as if a monster was following them, wishing to swallow them whole. None of them knew where the energy came from to get out, but eventually, they successfully made it away only to collapse into exhaustion where they stood. They had survived. Barely, but they did it yet again. Nothing less could be expected from members of Fairy Tail.
A/N: I hope I didn't disappoint anyone with the battle scene. Still some loose ends to wrap up here so stick around for additional chapters. Thanks everyone! Please R&R!