Stark
The image projected by Stark, was obviously much larger than the actual man was, but even without that, he would still have been a horrible man to see in the flesh. He had ice blue skin, that was stiff and wrinkled, almost as if it were frozen. His blue eyes, which seemed to glisten like crystals, were so sunken in, they looked like they belonged on a skull instead of man. But worst were the horns that circled his head, almost like a crown. He was wearing some kind of black armor, with a some kind of strange symbol on his chest. Stark spread his arms before his saurian servants, as they gathered beneath the projection, as if he were their god. The ones who were actually working, continued working, as if Stark hadn't even appeared.
"My loyal followers!" he spoke. His voice was chilling, and almost seemed to make the group feel physically cold.
"I come before you, bearing glorious news!" Stark continued, "Tonight, our great plan will be finished! All your hard work will be rewarded, as you take your rightful place as the rulers of Ishgar! Never again will you have to fear the torches of humanity, as your hatchlings grow in peace! Let the humans know the fear you do now!"
"Long live Lord Stark!" Shon'rin proclaimed.
"Long live Lord Stark!" the saurians cried in response.
"Fear?" Richard said, "We know nothing but love! Oh yeah!"
"I'm not going to lie," Simon said, "Saurians are not particularly well treated in Ishgar. But never did I think they would grow so desperate as to turn to serving Lord Stark."
"But there is still more cause for celebration!" Stark said, "Several people, who have helped in the building of this great monument, have returned home! We must welcome them with open arms, as they are here to witness our great triumph!" The group couldn't help but feel cold at Stark's words.
"What do we do?" Sho asked, "He knows we're here?"
"For now, we lay low," Erza answered, "Its best that we avoid conflict if it can be helped.
"Aye!" Happy said, "There's no way he can know where we are!"
"Now to my good friends, come out of the shadows, and shows me your faces!" To illustrate his point, Stark waved his hands, right where the group's hiding spot was. The saurians all looked in that direction, as several of them drew weapons.
"How did he…," Kagura began.
"You are in my dominion," Stark said, "Hiding from me is a nearly, nay, completely impossible! Now come, don't be shy, step into the light." In a brief instant of fear, Erza's grip loosened, allowing Natsu to spring out as if he had springs in his legs.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" he yelled. The saurians and dark mage looked over, as he punched at Stark, only for his fist to go right through his projection. Stark arched a non-existent eyebrow, as he looked down at the Fire Dragon Slayer.
"You are familiar, but I can't place you," he said.
"Intruder!" Shon'rin said, "Seize him!" He then held up his staff, and thrust it forward. The staff's eyes glowed a menacing red, before sending out a shockwave of magic energy, which blasted Natsu away. As he flew, several saurians on skeeters swooped down at Natsu.
"Natsu!" Erza cried, as she jumped out, in order to save her husband.
"Damn it Natsu!" Gray said, pinching himself between the eyes.
"I guess the cat's out of the bag!" Lucy said.
"I was in a bag?" Happy asked.
"No time to have deal with this!" Lucy said.
"Nothing left to do now, but start fighting!" Cobra said, "Let's go Kinana!"
"Right!" Kinana said, as her body glowed purple, and assumed her snake form. A pair of wings sprouted from her body, as Cobra jumped onto her back, and she swooped down.
"Come on, bro! It ain't dandy to let one guy do all the fighting!" Wally said.
"Oh yeah!" Richard concurred. Soon enough, the entire group was jumping down to join the fighting. The saurians all charged at the group. That attracted Stark's attention, as he looked down on the group, and narrowed his eyes.
"Ah, there they are!" he said, "I was beginning to worry that you would hide all this time."
"No one's hiding, Cold King!" Jellal roared up at the projection, "Save for you! Come down and face us!"
"And what would be the point of that?" Stark responded, "You're not my enemies, you're my welcome guests. For now, I'll be keeping a close watching on you, while you advance up the Tower. Until then, appreciate all you're hard work. And in addition…" He then flicked his wrist. Immediately, all the workers dropped what they were doing, and charged the mages.
"Appreciate those who worked so hard to finish what you should've." With that, Stark's image faded.
"Stark!" Jellal roared. He was interrupted when a saurian charged up.
"Meteor!" Jellal said, as he shot away in golden light, knocking away several away.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu said, as he let loose a steam of fire against the skeeters chasing up. They fell to the ground in a burning mess.
"Let's go Happy!" Natsu yelled.
"Aye sir!" Happy answered, as he flew up, and picked up Natsu.
"Kel'ra neglected to mention the Dragon Slayer," Shon'rin said, as he let out a whistling sound. The same skeeter he came down on, which had red markings, perched next to him, allowing for the red saurian to climb onto its back. The skeeter buzzed back into the air, before Shon'rin thrust his staff forward, letting a blast of red energy from the snake's eyes. Happy pulled Natsu out of the way, as the beam of red energy blasted through the wall.
(outside)
Wendy looked up, as she saw a beam of red magic blast emerge from the wall, not far from where the group entered.
"What's that?" she asked.
"Well if you had to guess," Z'tar sneered.
"Mind your tongue, saurian!" Carla scolded, "Don't forget how Wendy's been treating you!" Z'tar hissed, before averting his eyes.
"I know its magic," Wendy answered, "But what kind of magic is that?"
"Probably the work of that staff Shon'rin carries," Z'tar said. Wendy noticed that he sort of spat the name.
"Who's Shon'rin?" she asked.
"He is one of Stark's three lieutenants, the others being named Kel'ra, and Nok'vor," Z'tar answered, " All three of them are among the worst of my kind. Shon'rin was a crime lord who terrorized the people of Raktar's capital for years. Kel'ra was an agent of the government, until he was disgraced in torturing people for no reason other than he found it fun. Nok'vor is a maniac who still thinks the civil war is going on, and won't stop until every saurian who opposes him is dead. All three were exiled from Raktar for their crimes. They are only interested in themselves, not the saurian people."
(inside the tower)
"I won't let such a cute kitty-witty fight on his own!" Millianna said firmly. She then held out her arms, as several thin tubes, which wrapped around several saurians, after which she smashed them together.
"I won't let myself get outshone by a catgirl!" Lucy declared, as she pulled out one of her keys, "Now open, Gate of the Goat: Capricorn!" From the glow, came a goat man dressed in a butler suit.
"I'm here Madame Lucy," the goat said, "What is that you need me for?"
"Take a guess!" Lucy said, pointing at the thugs charging them.
"I shall take care of it!" Capricorn answered, as he sprung at the thugs, and punched several of them away with one strike.
"A Celestial Spirit Mage, eh?" Sorano said, as she seemed to appear behind Lucy.
"Don't sneak up on people like that!" the blonde said angrily. Sorano let out a smug smile as she pulled out a golden key.
"Is that…"
"Open, Gate of the Scorpion: Scorpio!" Sorano said, as a guy with tanned skin, red and white hair, and a mechanical tail shaped like a scorpion tail appeared.
"Wicked! Its good to get into action again!" Scorpio said, as he made the "rock" sign with his hands.
"You're also a Celestial Spirit Mage?" Lucy asked.
"I've probably been one longer than you, so it should be said you're also one," Sorano answered smugly, "Now do your thing, Scorpio!"
"Wicked!" From the tail, erupted a stream of sand, that shot away several of the cloaked thugs. Lucy couldn't help but feel slightly jealous.
"Alright, but can you do this?" she said, as she pulled out her whip, and knocked away another couple thugs. Sorano's response was to punch a saurian in the face, much to Lucy's dismay. But when the blonde wasn't looking, Sorano was shaking her fist in pain.
Meanwhile, Kinana held up her arms, as he body glowed purple, as she took on the form of a snake. Come on Erik! she thought. Cobra grinned, as he leapt onto Kinana's back, who opened up a pair of wings, and flapped into the air.
"Let's show them what Team Snake Venom can do!" Cobra said proudly. Kinana let out an excited hiss in response. She then swooped down, knocking away several people away with her tail. There were suddenly being chased by three saurians on skeeters. One of the saurians set a cloud of acid at Cobra, who whirled around, and sucked in. He promptly swallowed most of the acid, before breathing out a cloud of dark red, that knocked away all of the skeeters.
"Oh yeah!" Richard said, as he held up his hands. The ground underneath several of the cloaks suddenly surged up by water, knocking many of them off their feet.
"That's dandy, bro!" Wally said, as he held up his arm, which turned into a cube gun. He then blasted all the ones that Richard was missing. One cloak lunged at at Wally from behind, only tot be frozen, with a card in his place.
"Not this time," Sho said, as he carried several cards in his fingers.
"Ice Make: Lance!" Several lances of ice struck down a couple of cloaks.
"These guys are way to easy," Gray muttered, "Something's not right."
"No! Nothing's right when we're not together!" Juvia said, as she turned into a wave of water, which washed away several hoods.
Simon held up his hands, which sent out blasts of energy, incapacitating several enemies in the process. He then looked over at Kagura.
"Let's see how you're training has paid off!" he said. Kagura nodded confidently, as she drew her sword, and sprung at several cloaks, cutting all them down with one slash.
"Well," Erza said, looking at Kagura, "I'm impressed." She was broken from her thoughts, when she saw several skeeters descending down on her. Erza requipped into her Heaven's Wheel armor, and brought a sword into each hand.
"Pentagram Slash!" she said, as she slashed down two skeeters in one slash.
"Die, mammal!" a saurian yelled, as he fired a crossbow at Erza. The red head cut the bolt in half, before slashing the saurians skeeters down to the ground.
(at the top of the Tower)
Stark kept his arms folded behind his back, as he watched the battle progress from his model of the Tower of Heaven. As he expected, they were completely annihilating his minions, but he couldn't be angry at that. What should one expect when a gecko challenges a dragon.
"I'm sending reinforcements, my Lord!" Nok'vor said.
"No need, let them come," Stark answered, "In fact, order your warriors to retreat."
"But my lord…"
"Do I need to repeat myself?" Stark said, looking at Nok'vor.
"No, sire," the black reptile answered.
"Good, I hate repeating myself," the Cold King said, as he looked back at the model. Nok'vor then pulled out a horn, and blew into it.
(at the bottom)
The roar of a horn echoed throughout the tower, as the saurians all heard it, and retreated back up. The last of the cloaks was defeated when Natsu coated them with fire, and things seemed to be calming down. The magic projection of Stark reappeared.
"I'm honestly not that impressed," he said, "Defeating a few lackeys is nothing compared to the warriors that await you, as you advance up this tower. And it would be remiss of me to not give you a demonstration of what I can do myself." He then held up his arms, as his eyes seemed to darken even more than they already were. The cloaked bodies that had been knocked to the ground twitched slightly, before they slowly began to rise to their feet.
"Those guys are getting back up!" Lucy said.
"After all that punishment they can still get back up, what kind of men are these?" Simon asked.
""Because they aren't men," was all Stark responded with. The cloaks then charged the group again. Natsu inhaled, and let out a storm of fire at them. It blasted them again, but they quickly got back up, but some of their hoods had been blown off. They revealed faces the group had never wanted to see again.
The faces were withered, with purple skin, and skeletal mouthes. They had no eyes, like skeletons, and all that they had for hair were randoms tufts.
"Those are….," Cobra said.
"Magic soldiers," Millianna murmured in fear. The soldiers then charged the group again, as Natsu, Happy, Lucy, Gray, Juvia, and Kagura, moved to fight them. But the others didn't. They just stared. Memories came flooding back in. That didn't go unnoticed by Stark. He narrowed his eyes.
"How, interesting," he mused.
"Erza!" Natsu said, as he looked back at his wife. The scarlet haired girl was staring in fear at the soldiers, as they charged her. The horrors creeped back into her mind.
(Flashback)
Erza yanked the cart as hard as she possibly could. She knew what would happen if she failed to deliver in the right amount of time. There was a crashing sound, as Erza looked over, she saw one worker having punched one of the cultists in the face, and was making a break for it. Nobody tried to help or follow, they just watched.
One of the magic soldiers appeared, as it opened its mouth, as a massive blast of magic struck the slave, incinerating him instantly. Erza shook at the sight, especially when the soldier briefly glanced her way.
(End Flashback)
"Erza!" Natsu's voice broke her from her trance. She blinked to see her husbandfighting the soldiers.
"What are these things?" Lucy asked, as she lashed her whip at at another soldier.
"Reanimated puppets," Stark answered, as he held up his hand, "That is my power, the power of reanimation. That is how I created the magic soldiers."
"You created the magic soldiers?" Erza said softly. Somehow Stark managed to hear her.
"Of course, you thought those fools running the workers could perform magic of that calibre?" he asked, "You are more intelligent than that."
"Damn it!" Natsu said, as he punched one, only for it to get back up," Why won't these things stay down?"
"My puppets do not feel pain, they do not feel tire, they do not feel compassion," Stark said, "They will never stop until my foes have fallen."
"Then I'll just turn you to ash!" Natsu yelled, at the projection. Stark smiled darkly at that.
"You may make for some interesting entertainment," he said ominously, before glancing at Erza, "But a protagonist needs some motivation to defeat his foe. So what do you say I give you a little more?" He then held up his hand. A pair of skeleton hands erupted out of the ground, framing Erza. Before anyone could react, the hands closed around her, and puffed away into smoke.
"Erzy!" Millianna cried.
"Sister!" Kagura and Sho said together. Natsu didn't say anything, as he just stared in shock where his wife once was. Stark gave a sinister smile.
"I'll be waiting for you at the top of the tower," he said, "Come to me. And I'll be waiting." He then faded away.
"We've got to save Erza!" Wally said. Erza's kidnapping had knocked people out of their trance.
"But how are going to do that?" Lucy asked, "We can't even get passed these guys!"
"We'll hold them off!" Angel said, "You guys go up to get Erza!"
"We won't just leave you!" Gray said.
"Don't worry, we'll be dandy!" Wally said, as he blasted another puppet, "Just save the gal!"
"There's only so much they can take," Jellal said, as he blasted one puppet, "Eventually they will fall, and we'll be there to help!"
"ERZA!" Natsu roared, as he stormed up the nearest stairs. The others followed after him.
"Go Natsu!" Jellal mumbled as he watched, "Save our friend! Save your wife!"
Note: Something I decided to do was give Lucy Capricorn's key. Since it was supposed to be passed to her by her mother, and it gives another deviation from canon. Also, since Lucy won't be getting some spirits probably, I think its appropriate. Getting through this chapter's battle scenes was actually not that easy. Writing mook fights was basically supposed to see the group all fighting, but that pretty quickly becomes repetitive. I hope you enjoyed this though.
Take note, the saurians acid is a kind of venom. Think of it like an EXTREME spitting cobra. Also take note that I based Stark's design on the Night's King from Game of Thrones.
On an unrelated note, please check out my most recent story "Emperor of Sirius". I'm thinking of making it a Natsu x Harem.
