A/N: Here we are, with another chapter. I'm going to try, try and TRY to upload chapters more regularly. "Try", being the word here.
Now, let's get ready, for the final battle...of the Harmonic Convergence Arc at least.
Well, let's go!
浦うぇ
Chapter 12: Chikara
The four fairies charged at the elderly man with ferocious speeds, Laxus and Naruto being the fastest, taking the lead. Neither of the four wasting the slightest step nor breath.
Black smog erupted from Balthazar's hands, preparing himself for the children's' assault. The two blondes were about a foot away from their enemy, before they suddenly jumped up. Surprised, Balthazar's eyes followed them up, and widened when he saw the smirks on their faces.
Quickly looking to his front again, he was shocked to see Natsu, with a flaming fist and a look on his face that could kill thousands at a time, merely inches in front of him.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Screamed they boy. With only seconds to spare, Balthazar bent backwards to dodge the strike. As Natsu flew over his head, the aged man brought up a smoking leg to the child's stomach. More blood came from Natsu's mouth as the force of the attack sent him into the air.
Distracted by watching Naruto and Laxus catch the young dragon slayer, that by the time he noticed the blue glow in front of him, it was too late. Gray was now before him, his fist on his palm.
"Ice Make: Lance!" Bellowed the raven-haired boy. Too surprised to dodge the attack fully, Balthazar just managed to move to left as the frosted structure pierced his shoulder. He gritted his teeth and pushed himself off the lance. Now back up, standing properly, his hand transformed into a large one made of smoke. He punched the young boy a few feet away.
"Giant Flume Shot!" Yelled Balthazar, as Gray flew backwards. Hearing feet touch the ground, the old man twirled around, to come face to face with the other three. As Naruto steadied Natsu, Laxus' hand was engulfed in lightning and he charged Balthazar at high speeds.
"Thunder Dragon's Shocking Fist!" Screamed the scarred teen. But to the fairies' utter shock, the attack and Laxus himself, just fazed through the madman as that portion if Balthazar's body turned to smoke. Going into a roll, the dragon slayer turned around and grinded to a halt a small distance from his foe.
"What the hell are you?" Asked the boy. Balthazar smirked.
"I'm a Smoke-Man. I ate a magic fruit called the 'Flume-Flume Fruit', which gives me the power to control and turn into smoke. Neat, isn't it?" Said Balthazar.
"Damn." Thought Naruto. "That means, that if we want our attacks to hit him, we've got to catch him by surprise. Well then, take this!" Naruto then threw a three pronged kunai in a way that it curved and landed behind their enemy. Teleporting to his kunai, the blonde's right fist was engulfed in aura.
"Aura Dragon's Titanium Fist!" Yelled Naruto. But to his dismay, his attack passed through Balthazar. Then to his shock, the smoke tightened around his arm, trapping him. The others then began charging at Balthazar. The elderly man's forearm the completely turned into smoke, leaving his hand on top in a normal state. His hand then shot out like a rocket, with smoke still attaching it to his body, at Natsu. Once he fist was close to Natsu, he pulled his arm back so his fist and the smoke went soaring back behind him, and he then swung the attack back around at high speeds.
"Flume Whip Slash!" The attack crashed into Gray, smashing him into Laxus, but Natsu jumped at the last second. As Natsu was in the air, incredibly trying to think of a strategy for once, Balthazar turned to Naruto. His right leg then erupted into smoke as he kicked Naruto a ways backwards.
This was the time when Natsu decided to descend back down to the fight. As he closed in on their enemy, he swung a flaming fist vertically at Balthazar. But to his dismay, the attack just passed through the man. Now horizontal in the air, about half way up Balthazar's body, Natsu smirked, and said old man didn't miss this. His fist still aflame, Natsu blasted fire out of his elbow, super boosting his punch, taking Balthazar by surprise.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist: Revised!" Screamed Natsu, as his super attack collided full-force with Balthazar's face. The old man went soaring backwards, crashing into the ground a few times, creating small craters. The man picked himself up from the ground, scowling angrily at the fairies. He had Natsu in front of him, Laxus and Gray a ways behind the pink haired dragon slayer and he had his back to Naruto.
Looking to his right to face the Spirit Tree which contained Obscurum, his eyes fell onto the multiple dark spirits trying to crack the seal.
"What are you gawking at?! Get back to freeing Obscurum!" He barked. The spirits immediately went back to breaking the seal. A few moments later, the crack that had been forming on the red sphere trapping the monster, widened a great deal.
"We're running out of time!" Naruto yelled in his mind. Suddenly, an idea came to mind. Crossing his fingers, there was a puff of smoke and a Shadow Clone of him appeared. It began channeling Eternano round the originals right palm in a sphere. The odd rotating sound caught Balthazar's attention, just like Naruto planned.
As the Smoke-Man turned to the blonde, the Rasengan was now fully formed. Balthazar's eyes widened slightly, but narrowed quickly.
"So he must be Minato Namikaze's son. Now I can see the resemblance." Balthazar thought. Naruto's voice then snapped him back to reality.
"Come at me you damned geezer! Or are you wary in your old age?" The Uzumaki mocked. Balthazar gritted his teeth in anger.
"If it's a fight you want boy, a fight you'll get!" He yelled. The two then charged each other. The madman smirked. "Stupid child."
As the two approached each other, Naruto still had the Rasengan cocked back. He then pulled out another tri-pronged kunai, and threw it at Balthazar's forehead. The knife simply passed through to the other side of his head. At the last second, they jumped at their foe, and everything seemed to slow down. Just as Balthazar's hand was approaching Naruto's forearm, he internally roared in triumph.
"The minute I grab him, I can suck out his Eternano." Balthazar's hand was now only centimeters from Naruto. "I win."
Then suddenly, Naruto was gone in an orange spark. Shocked, Balthazar's eyes searched everywhere for the boy, but to no avail. He then noticed an incredibly strong blue glow from above him. Turning to look, he gasped when he saw Naruto above him, still holding the Rasengan.
Not giving the elderly man a chance to dodge, the blonde slammed the attack into Balthazar's back.
"Flying Raijin: Level 2!" He bellowed. The attack crushed Balthazar into the ground with such extreme force, that a series of giant spider-web-like cracks spread out a considerable distance, before all the rubble flew into the air. Blood splattered out of the old man's mouth.
Smirking, Naruto pushed himself off of Balthazar's back from his one arm handstand. He did a few backflips, and landed on his feet. Standing up properly, he took delight in watching all the chunks of the ground fall back down.
But to the four fairies' annoyance, Balthazar stood back up, blood dribbling down his bearded chin. Him and Naruto locked eyes, before the team of four and Balthazar charged each other again.
浦うぇ
Levy's right eye drifted open when she felt someone shaking her. The bright light hurt her eye immensely with the added terrible pain coming from the left side of her head. Now that she thought about it, she couldn't actually open her left eye.
Opening her usable eye completely, she came face to face with a teary Cana. When said card mage realised the petite girl was awake, she smiled happily and grabbed the girl in a tight bear hug.
"Levy!" She exclaimed. "I was so worried!" Levy smiled at her friend. When the car user finally let the solid script mage go, the bluenette grinned.
"I'm fine. But, what's wrong with my eye?" She asked.
"I don't know. I only woke up five minutes ago." She sighed. "It's just bruised and a little swollen."
Levy felt her eye and did something what Cana deduced to be a frown. It was bar to tell with her swollen eye.
"Where are the others?" Levy asked. Cana turned around and pointed through some bushes. You could just see the top of Erza's head.
"Down there somewhere, looking for the other four." She replied.
"Other four?" The small girl enquired. Cana's face noticeably fell.
"Naruto, Laxus, Gray and Natsu. We don't know where they are." She mumbled. Suddenly, Elfman burst through the bushes.
"Everyone!" He yelled, catching the attention of the rest of the team. Mira and Erza walked back through the bushes to see what all the commotion was about.
"What is it, Elf?" Mira asked. His grin almost took up all his face.
"Come see what I found." He said, gesturing them to follow. Looking between themselves, they followed the boy through the vegetation. After a good four or so minutes of walking silence, Mira got bored.
"Where are we going, Elfman?" She inquired. Then, the boy came to a stop. He then pulled back a few bushes to reveal something that made the team gasp.
"Ta-da." He said. Erza couldn't help but smirk.
"So it survived, huh?" She added. Cana climbed into the object they were looking at, and landed in the lowest level. Looking to her right, she saw a large metal object that wasn't in too bad of a condition. Climbing back up, she addressed the two rivals.
"The engine's not in bad shape. Do you two think you can get it flying again?" She asked. The two girls looked at each other for a second, almost scowling, before turning back yo the card mage with smirks on their faces.
"Definately." They replied simultaneously. There was an explosion in the far distance, so Mira jumped up a tree to see higher.
"What's going on, Mira?" Levy called up. The girl faced downwards, but kept her eyes on the glows and explosions in the distance.
"I think there's some kind of battle going on in a massive clearing far away from here. But I can see this massive tree. That must be where Balthazar is." Erza's eyes narrowed in the direction of the sound before she spoke.
"If that's where Balthazar is, then that's where we'll find the others." She said. "C'mon! Let's get going!"
浦うぇ
Naruto screamed as he tried a normal punch against Balthazar, only to have him faze through it again. The boy rolled and turned back around, glaring at his enemy. All four fairies surround Balthazar. Naruto growled to himself.
"Argh! Dammit! Obscurum's nearly free!" He looked to the tree, to see that the giant, red sphere inside of it was covered in cracks. "We need to stop him before it's released. But what?!"
Then suddenly, an idea came to mind. He mentally slapped himself for not thinking of it before. Sitting on the ground. and quickly crossing his legs in a meditative state, he drew the attention of the other four people present.
"Natsu! Gray! Laxus! Keep him off of me for two minutes." He ordered. Balthazar shot towards him.
"You think I'll let you try anything!" He hollered. But, in an instant, a lightning covered fist connect with the elderly man's jaw.
"Thunder Dragon's Shocking Fist!" He went flying into the Spirit Tree and bounced to the ground.
"Don't take your eyes off me." Laxus warned. Balthazar was about to get up, when he was flung into the air. He looked downtown the ground, to see Natsu with his arm outstretched into the air.
"That little shit!" He thought. He was brought back to reality when he heard a cry from behind him.
"Laxus!" Gray cried. Balthazar turned around to see Gray holding a very large ice hammer. The master's grandson understood what Gray was asking for. Summoning his power, he shot a blast of lightning, from his mouth, towards the hammer. The element hit the hammer and it began surging with power and sparking with electricity. The raven haired boy looked ferociously towards the old man as he pulled the hammer behind his head.
"Ice Make:
Balthazar's eyes widened immensely when he understood what they were going to do, but he couldn't move. He looked to his arms and legs only to realize, that Gray was probably freezing them whilst he was distracted with Natsu. He turned back to the boy, ready for his fate.
Mjölnir!" The child screamed. The giant attack smashed head on into Balthazar, sending him plummeting at insane speeds, his back to the ground. Natsu's fist was then engulfed in flames as Balthazar neared him. Then, when the man was right above him, he attacked.
"Fire Dragon's Searing Uppercut!" He bellowed as his attack smashed at full power into the elderly man's back. That, added with the power and speed at that which he was sent plummeting, caused an ear splitting crack to resound throughout the area.
Blood splattered out of Balthazar's mouth as he fell to the ground. But, by some, dark omen, he picked himself up again. His eyes were bloodshot and he was shaking all over.
"Damn you! DAMN YOU!" He yelled. He turned into smoke and sent a terrible kick to Natsu's stomach, sending the boy backwards. He then went to attacking Gray and Laxus viciously. That's when Naruto finally stood up.
"Hey!" He yelled. "What's wrong old man, losing your cool?" He mocked. A large vein appeared on Balthazar's forehead.
"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" He screamed. Naruto then shot towards the man and went to punch him without magic. The old man smirked. "Stupid boy!"
But, to everyone's shock, the fist smashed into Balthazar's face, sending him into a rock. The Smoke-Man immediately picked himself up and looked the blonde in the eyes and was shocked at what he saw. Orange pigment was around his eyes, his irises were now a wonderful gold and his pupils were now resembling that of a frog.
"Sage Mode! Dammit!" Balthazar cursed. "How does a child like you know a technique like that?!" Naruto smirked.
"Let's just say that my birth dad left it behind for me to learn." He replied. Balthazar growled. Suddenly, an ominous crack resounded through the air. All eyes turned to the Spirit Tree, to see parts of the red sphere falling off. Balthazar grinned like a madman whilst the team gritted their teeth in anger.
"Hahahaha!" Laughed Balthazar. "Looks like the time has come for Obscurum to rise again! And what you boys, with all your powers, failed to notice, were the camera lacrima in the air."
Naruto gasped and looked up. Sure enough, in a large circle around the battlefield, were camera lacrimal. How had he not noticed them before? Was he too caught up in fighting Balthazar? It was all so frustrating.
"That's right boy! Everyone across Fiore has been watching this fight from the beginning!"
浦うぇ
Magnolia was basically by now in shambles. Entire houses, shops and statues were in rubbles. Even Kardia Cathedral had sustained a lot of damage. Explosions could be seen all over the town, but had moved more towards uptown, near Fairy Tail.
The guild had been turned into a shelter for the people of the town, and a last line of defense. Dark Spirits were surrounding the place, magic shooting from every window, door and opening from the old building.
Inside, people were being treated for injuries, eating, sleeping or recharging their Eternano. Makarov was in his office, watching some of his kids fight the man who he suspected was behind this war.
He was amazed with their teamwork, especially Laxus, who always refused to work in a team before. But he never expected Naruto to be this powerful. A child as young as him using Sage Mode? Unheard of. But then again, Minato and Kushina were his parents after all. Having Namikaze and Uzumaki blood in one person and then adding dragon slaying magic into the mix and you have one very terrifying mage.
But, they were also up against a very dangerous enemy. He was the one in control of all these Dark Spirits. Plus, over half the team were missing. All he could do was hope.
"C'mon brats. Beat him."
浦うぇ
Natsu wasted no time. His fists set ablaze and the flames took the shape of lion heads. He charged the Smoke-Man at full speed.
"Dragon Slaying Art: Fire Dragon's Twin Lion Fist!" He yelled, swing his fists at Balthazar. The old man no longer had enough energy to make the attacks faze through him, so he was forced to dodge.
Naruto took this opportunity to start that attack. Creating two shadow clones, he ordered them to start charging the Rasengan and add Wind Eternano.
After a minute of straight out attacks, Natsu was finally sent crashing into the ground. Hearing a loud screeching noise, Balthazar turned around to come face to face with a white light. The most annoying of all the four, Namikaze's son, was holding a Giant Rasengan above his head, but it had four, bright white shuriken blades spinning around it.
He dropped into a stance, sweating with nervousness and slight fear.
"I can't let that hit me!" He thought. Naruto then began running forward towards Balthazar. The old man was ready to dodge. But what he wasn't ready for, was for Naruto to throw the attack.
"Wind Style: RasenShuriken!" He bellowed as the lethal attack flew at the elderly man at ridiculous speeds. Balthazar just managed to jump over it. He watched it fly into the air and burst into a massive, blue, spherical explosion.
The blonde was now panting again. Balthazar looked towards the boy shocked. How many more of those could he use? That didn't matter now, as the child was now tired. He put his hand out behind him and sucked in one of the Dark Spirits working on freeing Obscurum. He then charged a black beam and pointed it at the young Uzumaki.
The madman was about to fire, when a sword stuck into the ground where he was standing before he dodged it. Looking up, his eyes widened at the sight, as did the four fairies.
Above them, was the ship that the group had arrived at the Spirit World in. It was broken and falling apart, but it was still flying. On it, stood the rest of the group.
"Guys! You're okay!" Gray yelled. They all nodded, but an ear piercing scream broke up their short reunion. All eyes locked onto the Spirit Tree to see the red sphere completely shatter, and Obscurum stepped out, it's nine heads taking everything in.
Balthazar smirked and pulled a necklace out of his robe. It was a plain black cord, but it had a mysterious, glowing, purple jewel on the end. He threw it towards the monster.
On its way, it passed a spirit, and the spirit grew bigger, more dangerous and even more powerful. Naruto's eyes widened in realisation.
"That's what's doing this to all those spirits." He thought. The necklace then stopped at the middle, and biggest head out of the nine. It then sunk into its forehead. Balthazar began to laugh crazily.
"Yes! Yes! Obscurum is mine! Ahahahaha!" He cackled. Naruto scowled and jumped towards the creature.
"You think I'll let you hurt anyone else?!" He roared. He punched the middle head straight on, and to his, and everyone else's utter shock, the beast burst like a bubble and the necklace fell to the ground. Balthazar was frozen with shock.
"W-Wha...how..." He stuttered. Naruto smiled slightly.
"So, all this time, the Spirit Tree must've been draining Obscurum's power." He grinned. He then held the purple jewel in his hand, and crushed it to dust. All around them, half of the Dark Spirits returned to their normal state.
浦うぇ
Back on Earthland, the mages and watched the lacrima screens in shock as Naruto crushed the crystal and half the spirits outside the guild returned to normal. But there were still countless Dark Spirits to fight.
Makarov, didn't care. He knew his brats could win now.
"Go brats! Kick his ass!" He ordered.
浦うぇ
With bloodshot eyes, Balthazar twirled around in furiousness as his mind snapped.
"DAMN YOU!" He cried. "I'LL KILL YOU ALL!" Naruto's eyes narrowed viciously.
"Fairy Tail, CHARGE!" He bellowed, as the four on the ground charged at the insane old man whilst the other five jumped off the ship. Well, most of them jumped off, Mira carried Levy and Erza carried Elfman.
Naruto and Laxus took the lead, as two shadow clones appeared beside Naruto. The lightning in Laxus' hand, to his shock, then changed from yellow to blue. Naruto's clones had made and unstable RasenShuriken that would soon disperse, but was powerful enough to create a small tornado.
The two came to a stop in front of Balthazar, as the small tornado took off, the RasenShuriken dispersed, causing Naruto's Sage Mode to disappear and Laxus pushed his blue lightning into the ground, making it run along the rock towards their foe. The tornado then somehow picked up the lightning and created a wind and lightning tornado, which crashed into Balthazar, sending him flying.
The two blondes then fell back to Natsu and Gray as the five from the ship took the lead. Erza was the first to attack, as she ran incredibly fast alongside the flying old man.
"Demon Blade: Crimson Sakura!" She yelled as she slashed Balthazar across the chest. Next was Mira.
"Darkness Stream!" The many black energy hands then shot out and swiped at old man, cutting him in places. Elfman then jumped up, using the one takeover he knew.
"Beast Arm: Black B-Bull!" He stuttered loudly as his now jet black arm smashed Balthazar into the ground for a second, but he kept on soaring from Naruto and Laxus' attack. Then came Cana.
"Sun's Strength!" She bellowed as she threw ten red cards that then burst into flames and shot through the elderly man. Next, was Levy.
"Solid Script: Laser!" She said, as the word 'Laser' appeared in the air and red lasers shot Balthazar. Now it was time for the other four to attack.
The four boy slept into the air, ready to fight. Then, the Spirits began sending energy into the boys. Red scales began to form in places on Natsu's face and arms, as his irises turned yellow and his pupils became slitted like a lizards. His nails turned to claws and his fangs became a lot sharper.
Ice began growling out of Gray's elbows and knees, as well as two horns made of ice out of his forehead.
Naruto and Laxus' transformations were almost identical to Natsu's, except Laxus' scales were yellow and his irises were silver. Naruto's scales were a bluey green colour and his irises were a light green. Natsu was the first to attack.
"Dragon Slaying Secret Art: Fire Dragon's Pulverizer Sword!" The boy began spinning as he was engulfed in flames. He then stuck his fists out in front of him and he smashed full force into the Smoke-Man, making him fly even faster. Then Gray came plummeting down.
"Ice Make: Glacier Reckoning!" He yelled as two massive glaciers quickly appeared and he slammed them into Balthazar. The old man the rolled on the ground and somehow managed to stay on his feet. He was covered in his own blood, but still conscious.
Naruto and Laxus were still running at him and they smirked at each other. Laxus the called forth his blue lightning at full power. Once it surrounded his left hand, he realised that it sounded like thousands of birds chirping.
Naruto then formed a Rasengan in his right hand at full power. He looked to his right at Laxus, who turned to him, and they both nodded at each other before merging the two attacks together. The spiraling sphere darkened to a dark blue colour as the light blue lightning surrounded it. The attack was unstable, and would explode soon
All his time they were still running, and were now approaching Balthazar. At the last second they jumped and slammed their attack into the old man's chest.
"Dragon Slaying Hidden Art: Aura Thunder Dragon's Rasen Chidori Master Strike!" The both cried as they kept on flying forwards at untraceable speeds, their attack pushing Balthazar along with them. A large, strange, black sphere then began forming behind the man. Strange, faint, rainbow coloured glowing markings then began spreading around the sphere, before it exploded into a gargantuan white light, destroying all nearby land.
Naruto and Laxus were sent rocketing into different directions. Laxus, who was still conscious felt his features return to normal. He then noticed that Naruto was going to crash in spiked rocks. So, once again today, everything super slowed down except him. He then began running at normal speeds to catch Naruto, but he noticed the was covering a lot of ground in just a few steps.
Everyone else now on the ships, as they watched Laxus run at blinding speeds,surrounded by his normal lightning, towards Naruto. He managed to catch the young Uzumaki, at the last second. He then ran and jumped up very high and landed not he ship.
Everyone ran over as he collapsed to the floor and dropped Naruto, who also appeared to still be conscious. Elfman was the last to run over, as he was carrying Natsu and Gray, who were awake but also unable to move.
"Sorry that I can't move you guys. Otherwise I'd give you all a big hug." Naruto mumbled. The group giggled at his antics, but the happiness didn't last long, as strange shields erupted around the two spirit portals, cutting them off. Then, a massive one in the clouds that they had failed to notice began closing. With no other choice, they began flying up.
"Harmonic Convergence must be ending! It's the only time every one hundred years that beings from Earthland and the Spirit World can cross over!" Levy yelled as she held on tightly to the old manuscript.
The team gritted their teeth as they began their ascent to home.
浦うぇ
A/N: Done! Jeez, this took all of today to just FINISH! I've been writing this chapter for days!
Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter full of action.
Next chapter will be the last of the Harmonic Convergence Arc, then the one after that will be the last chapter that is set before the canon.
But it'll be a few days(hopefully) before that chapter is released,because there'll be a lot to write.
Well, R&R if you like and I'll see you guys next chapter!