Ch 14: Going Too Far
Back at the guildhall:
"And what exactly do you find so funny about all of this?" asked Levy as she glared at the iron dragon slayer, with a look that would have made anyone else cower in fear. She thought that he must be taking some sort of enjoyment at watching the other members of the guild get slowly crossed off one by one after being forced into fighting each other.
"Easy there shrimp, just take a look at the most recent named crossed off and you'll understand why I'm chuckling." he replied while not even sparing a glance her way as he intently watched the door way that filled them in on what was going on in the city.
"I don't really see how that is going to make…" she replied, only to trail off as she read that Bixlow was eliminated from the festival by an unknown source. She was about to ask the dragon slayer if he had any idea why Natsu would all of a sudden turn on the people he was working for. But the distinctive sound of cracking caused her to hold her tongue as they all turned to the stage with the petrified girls still on it. All of them having the same horrified look come over their faces as they noticed the cracks forming on Erza, but before any of them could do anything they watched as the stone crumbled away and said woman fell to her knees.
"I'm going to make that snobbish bitch regret ever doing that to me." she growled out while getting back up.
"How in the hell did she break free?" asked Gajeel with a complete look of disbelief on his face.
"I would have to guess it's because of her artificial eye." mumbled Levy, thinking that was the only logical explanation that she could come up with.
"You'd be correct about that Levy, and it would seem that we couldn't have asked for a better time for her to return to us." stated Makarov as he pointed to the doorway that showed their numbers being down to the single digits.
"Master, what exactly is going on?" asked the scarlet haired knight as she looked at her fellow guild mates still petrified on the stage. Barely being able to keep her rage contained as she looked at her family obviously being in some sort of danger that she once again couldn't prevent.
"Laxus is using them as hostages to try and prove that he should be running the guild." he replied, shocked when Erza after hearing this headed straight towards the exit. "Wait just a minute Erza, there is more going on here that you should know about." he said, which seemed to get the pissed off knight to stop a few feet away from the doorway.
"Is Evergreen responsible for us being his hostages?" she asked in a calm tone that slightly surprised them.
"Yes she is, but like I said before Erza, there are other things going on that you should probably be informed about." he answered with a slight smile since it seemed as if Erza was going to listen to him. That is, until a small smirk spread across her lips as she once again started to head towards the door.
"Then all I need to do to end this is take her out so he no longer has any hostages." she stated causing most of their mouths to drop open in disbelief. "And I'm confident that whatever else you were trying to tell me about can be handled by either of them." she said while pointing up at the tally of participating members that was currently two more than the number it was when they last looked at it.
"Erza, wait just a minute for crying out loud!" shouted Makarov, already knowing that she was completely focused on her new mission that she had just set for herself. So all he could do was let out a tired sigh and hope that she would get lucky and not run into him, since that would probably be awkward for her after what happened the last time they saw each other.
"Who in the world is she talking about, because she can't actually think that it is Salamander coming in to save the day again?" Gajeel asked with a perplexed expression on his face.
"I hope she doesn't." mumbled Levy to herself, knowing that Erza would probably take it harder than most of the guild once she found out that Natsu was once again being used against them. "Who she was most likely referring to are two of our guild's strongest mages, Mystogan or Gildarts. If it's Gildarts then this little plan of Laxus' is as good as finished." she stated with a slight smile.
"What if it's the other one?" he asked, knowing that Gildarts was seen even less at the guild than the mysterious Mystogan.
"Then our chances of stopping my idiotic grandson are a whole lot better than they were just a few minutes ago." replied Makarov while still having an uncertain and concerned expression to his visage.
"Even with Salamander being a complete wildcard?" asked the dragon slayer that definitely wanted to wait a little longer before trying his luck against that monster again.
"Unfortunately I don't know if even he will be enough to stop Natsu, if the boy's properly motivated then there isn't much out there that can." he answered while shaking his head. He just hoped that his grandson would be smart enough to not provoke the fire dragon slayer if they eventually faced off against each other. Because he had a strong feeling that Laxus would possibly mention Natsu's biggest regrets, which seemed like a sure fire way to get him to completely lose it.
"That reminds me." stated Levy as she looked back up from her work and was staring at the dragon slayer still with them. "Why in the world would Natsu all of a sudden turn on Laxus and the Thunder Legion?" she asked with an expression that said she would wait until she got her answers.
"My first guess would be that they said something to piss him off, the man has an extremely short fuse these days." answered Gajeel, as he did a nervous gulp after finally looking at the resident bookworm glaring at him. "Or he might just be fulfilling his contract; your arrogant grandson seems like the kind of guy that would purposely have it where Salamander would eventually fight against him. I can't see him liking all of the attention Salamander has been getting recently, not to mention rumors going around about him being the strongest mage to come from Fairy Tail." he finished before going back to eating some more silverware.
"Knowing Laxus that is exactly what's going on here." replied Makarov with a faint smile, imagining how his grandson is probably going to soon regret that decision of his.
With Ikaruga and Juvia:
Both women now looked way worse than they did just a few hours earlier, which just showed how intense the battle was between the two of them. Juvia didn't have any new tears or cuts to her person or outfit, but judging by the way she was staggering and could barely stand it was evident that she was exhausted both magically and physically. As for Ikaruga, it looked like she had gotten into a fight with a wood chipper and just barely made it out alive. Her kimono was barely clinging to her and could barely even be considered a proper garment anymore since it just barely covered her essential parts.
"It would seem that we're actually pretty evenly matched, wouldn't you agree, Juvy?" asked Ikaruga while somehow still having that smug smirk of hers.
"Juvia would have annihilated you if we remained near water." she panted out, trying to keep her guard up but was having a really hard time just remaining on her feet.
"But we didn't, and now I'm going to enjoy myself as I get rid of my mate's creepy stalker." replied the sword mistress as she started to close the distance between the two of them.
"Juvia isn't a sta… AHHH!" she started to say, only for it to turn into a pain filled scream as she clutched a large cut just given to her on the right side of her stomach.
"I think I've heard enough of your crazy talk for an entire lifetime." stated Ikaruga with a stern expression, now on the other side of the water mage. "So let's figure out how physical pain you can take, since you're too drained of your magic to turn into water like you were constantly doing before." she continued to say as a slightly evil smirk spread across her face.
Juvia was about to say something back, but before she could she once again shouted out in pain from receiving another slash from the sword mistress. And this carried on for the next few minutes until she was on her knees with some pretty severe wounds with Ikaruga standing victoriously in front of her.
"Any final words Juvy?" she asked once again having a smirk on her lips.
"Go to hell." Juvia spat out while she was defiantly glaring up at the pink haired assassin.
"Stubborn to the very end, well you've at least got that in common with him." she replied while bringing up her sword for the final strike. She locked eyes with Juvia as she brought her sword down, only to stop just a centimeter away from removing the water mage's head from her shoulders. And the reason she did this was because she could have sworn she heard Natsu's voice in her head telling her that was enough.
"Go ahead and get it over with already." shouted out the water mage thinking that this was the sword mistress just toying with her.
"As much as I would love to, it seems that I can't because of someone thinking I'm better than this." replied Ikaruga while putting her sword away and turning away from her defeated opponent.
"Who in their right mind would think something like that?" she asked her back in a flabbergasted tone.
"That would be me." replied Natsu as he casually strolled into the street. "And if you recall correctly, I thought the same thing about you when you were a member of Phantom and even when you were trying to figure out what to do after it was shut down." he said with a small smile sent her way.
"Natsu-sama?" she asked hesitantly, hoping that her tired mind wasn't playing tricks with her.
"The one and only." he replied with a little chuckle as he got right in front of her. He was then slightly caught off guard when Juvia lunged at him and almost took him to the ground. "I'm happy to see you too." he once again said with a little chuckle.
"You said that you would visit." she said just loud enough for him to hear her as she continued to cling to him.
"I know, but I've been a little busy since the last time we met." he responded while giving her a soft smile that would have shocked the rest of Fairy Tail if they saw it. "But I'm here right now, aren't I?" he asked with a little chuckle that he instantly lost when Juvia glared back up at him.
"For how long?" she demanded to know.
"Not for long." he replied with a frown slowly forming on his visage.
"Why?" she asked while still giving him a glare.
"Because I highly doubt that I'll be welcomed with open arms after what we've been up to lately." he answered while Ikaruga could only let out a little chuckle at the thought of them just strolling into Fairy Tail after everything is all said and done. This caused Juvia to start glaring at the woman who could only chuckle more at seeing her like that while still hugging Natsu.
"I'll give you two some alone time and get back to what we're supposed to be doing." stated Ikaruga as she started to stroll away from the two of them and giving a quick wave over her shoulder.
"Is it true?" asked Juvia, while staring intently into his eyes.
"You're going to have to be a little more specific than that Juvia." he stated with a little smirk that he lost after she didn't smile back at him.
"Do you already have two mates?" she asked him nervously, no longer being able to look him in the eyes.
Hearing this and seeing how upset she was about it caused Natsu to let out a tired sigh, he had a feeling that she wasn't going to take the news of this very well. "Yes it is, but before you hit me and decide to never speak with me again, please let me explain myself." he said, and was happy to see her nod her head and wait for him to explain himself. And for the next few minutes he explained the mating habits of dragon slayers and how Ikaruga and Ultear became his mates.
"So all I need to do is share a kiss with you and then you'll know if I'm one of your mates?" she asked with a slight blush.
"Yeah, that is pretty much all there is to it. All it takes to figure out if someone is one of my mates is for the two of us to share a kiss that we both are willing to do ." he said looking over at her since they moved to one of the few benches not destroyed during the two women's encounter. "But after we do that there really isn't any way for us to go back to how it used to be, and you do realize that you'd have to share me if you are in fact one of my mates." he stated, wanting to make sure that she understood everything completely.
"For now at least." she mumbled to herself, forgetting how good his sense of hearing was.
"You will not get rid of any of them, I won't allow it." he said in a menacing tone while glaring at her as well. This caused her to get the message loud and clear since it reminded her of how he was when he completely demolished her old guild.
"Fine, Juvia won't try to get rid of any of her love rivals." she said after letting out a huff and having a slight pout on her face.
"Good, well I guess I should get back to it then." replied Natsu while getting back up and intended on heading towards one of the few places that still had fighting going on. But he stopped when he felt a soft tug on his sleeve, and when he turned back to ask Juvia what she wanted he was shocked when his lips ran into hers. After his slight shock he deepened the kiss, something that clearly took Juvia by surprise since she let out a little moan. The kiss lasted until both of them needed air; apparently Juvia needed it way more than he did since she almost passed out as soon as they separated. Then again that could also possibly be attributed to her overactive imagination that was more than likely already imagining their children only after having shared their first kiss together.
"You're definitely one of a kind Juvia." he said while giving her a tender kiss on the forehead as he laid her back down on the bench. With a little smirk he started to head off in the direction that he planned on going to before she surprised him with that kiss, which was when he noticed that the fighting seemed to be resolved. So with a shrug of his shoulders he started to head the other way since it appeared that something else was going on over there.
At Fairy Tail:
"So that ladies, is what we're dealing with right now." explained Makarov to the recently freed girls.
"Since we're no longer his hostages, shouldn't this be done by now?" asked Lucy as a few of the other girls nodded their heads in agreement.
"I'm guessing Laxus is going to play this out to the bitter end." he replied with a frown while shaking his head once again at his foolish grandson.
"You'd be correct about that Gramps." said a hologram of Laxus that appeared in the doorway. And instantly Makarov could tell that he wasn't happy with how things were currently going for him.
"It doesn't have to be Laxus; you can stop all of this nonsense right now. You've lost, you no longer have Evergreen or Bixlow backing you up and you also don't have the girls as your hostages anymore either." he pointed out, hoping that his grandson would see that it was over.
"I'll be honest and say that I'm a little surprised that those two lost like they did, but Titania and Salamander are definitely worthy opponents. But this little festival of mine is far from over, especially when I've got the Thunder Palace to hold the entire city as my hostages. You've now got just an hour to either hand over the guild to me gramps, or hope that one of your precious little brats can take me down before then." replied Laxus only to then break out into a crazed laughter before cutting off his connection to them.
"He wouldn't." stated Makarov with a horrified expression coming over his elderly face.
"He wouldn't do what Master?" asked Cana as she came up to him. But before he could reply Bisca came back into the guild with a worried look on her face.
"You guys should take a look outside, these weird orbs all of a sudden appeared in the sky surrounding Magnolia." she said causing the other girls to rush towards the exit, but they all came to a stop when a small thud was heard coming from behind them.
"Master!" called out a few of them in a worried tone as they watched him clench his chest while now on his back, that was on the floor. "We need to get Porlyusica now!" shouted out Cana as she took off, intent on doing just that. She didn't know that a certain blonde decided to tag along with her just in case she needed some backup.
"I guess I'll go and try to figure out what I can about those weird orbs above the city." stated Bisca as Gajeel started to carry Makarov to the infirmary where he would have to wait for the guild's unofficial healer to arrive.
With Freed:
"The only members left are Erza, Mystogan and the rest of the girls that were released from Evergreen's petrify." said Freed to a small hologram of Laxus that was floating about on his outstretched hand. Underneath him was the beaten form of Elfman, who was also released from Evergreen's petrify like the other girls and decided to try and participate again. This of course was something that Freed couldn't stand for since he was all about rules and order, not caring for anyone that would willingly disrupted either of them.
"You're forgetting about Natsu and his girlfriend." replied Laxus with a huge grin spread across his face.
"I told you that he wasn't going to go along with all of this." he stated with an upset expression, knowing that he was the only one capable of taking out Bixlow.
"Actually he is, I hired him to take out anyone with the Fairy Tail emblem on them and that is exactly what he's doing." stated Laxus to the shock of Freed. "And seeing how easily he dealt with Bixlow I'm even more excited to face off against him. But I think he might need a little motivation since he seems fine with taking out whoever he happens to run into. So why don't you give him a little push." he said with a wicked grin before cutting off his side of the communication lacrima.
"And how in the hell am I supposed to do that?" Freed asked out loud, only for him to spot a certain barmaid frantically looking around just on the outskirts of the city. He knew that she was off limits and that if he so much as touched her in a threatening way that Natsu would more than likely be out for his blood. But that didn't mean he couldn't do something that would upset her and then more than likely upset the fire dragon slayer into going after him and Laxus. This was something that he would rather not do at all, but it was what Laxus wanted him to do so he didn't really have a choice in it.
"Sorry about this Elfman, but you really should have stayed out of this after you were first knocked out." he said while glaring down at the still knocked out takeover mage. So with a few quick swipes of his fingers he sent a string of runes at the downed man, only for him to let out a loud gasp as he regained consciousness.
"What the hell is going on?" asked Elfman as he looked up at Freed standing over him with a sword pointed at his neck.
"You're going to help us upset Natsu." he replied with a blank expression.
"And how exactly am I going to do that?" asked the only male Strauss.
"With your screams, DARK ECRITURE: PAIN." he answered in monotone voice as he sent the runes he wrote out with his sword at the still extremely confused mage beneath him. The next second Elfman let out a loud scream as he started to writhe on the ground in the hopes of lessening the pain he was currently feeling.
"That's not loud enough, Elfman, I need your sister to hear you." stated Freed still with a blank expression on his face. "DARK ECRITURE: PAIN." he said while sending another one at the takeover mage, but was shocked when rather than getting more screams of pain like he expected. He actually got less and was also shocked to see Elfman now glaring up at him with a determined look, clearly not willing to involve his older sister in this if he had anything to say about it.
"Interesting, I never would have guessed that you of all people could withstand two doses of my DARK ECRITURE: PAIN. My guess is you're only able to do this since you don't want to fail your sister like you did last time, which resulted with poor little Lisanna being taken away from us." said Freed with a faint smirk coming over his lips.
"DON'T YOU DARE!" growled out Elfman as he got up to his knees and looked at the green haired mage with nothing but contempt.
"DARK ECRITURE: PAIN!" he replied with his smirk getting a little bigger as he could visually see Elfman struggling to not scream out in pain. "I'll hand it to you, being able to handle three of these isn't something that most mages can deal with. But it probably isn't much when compared to the fact that you have to wake up each morning knowing that you killed your own little sister. Not only that, but being able to come back to the guild and pretend that everything is okay even though everyone else can only see the scum that killed his sister." he finished with a full on smirk as Elfman now screamed out to the heavens. But what he wasn't expecting was to then be promptly sent flying from the man that shouldn't be able to move because of the pain that he should be feeling.
"YOU'LL REGRET SAYING THAT TO ME!" bellowed Elfman as he charged at Freed with a murderous look in his eyes.
"DARK ECRITURE: FEAR!" shouted Freed before the behemoth of a man could land another punch on him. This resulted with Elfman falling to his knees and clutching his head as he screamed his lungs out. "Oh this is only the beginning, DARK ECRITURE: PAIN!" he shouted now glaring at his opponent. But he didn't stop there; he kept on sending it over and over again at the Strauss that was no longer able to do anything but scream out in agony.
"FREED!" came the shrill scream of Mirajane as she finally arrived on the scene. This caused the green haired swordsman to stop his constant barrage of spells sent at her younger brother so he could turn and get a good look at her.
"If it isn't the woman we've both been waiting for." he replied while giving her a creepy smile.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked with clenched fists, wondering what could be the reason for him to mercilessly attack her brother like that.
"Because Laxus wants Natsu to be at his best once they fight each other." he explained with a little smirk now coming over his visage.
"And attacking Elfman will accomplish that?" she asked while giving him one of her patented glares that could stop a guild wide brawl.
"I had hoped it would, but it would seem that I might need to go further if I want to get a good reaction out of you." he said while sending another spell Elfman's way, eliciting another pain filled scream that rang out across the city.
"Stop, just please don't hurt him. If you need to hurt anyone please do it to me." begged Mira, now once again feeling completely helpless when her family needed her the most.
"Sorry Mira, but I can't do that since I think he would literally kill me if I harmed you. Which leaves me with the only logical option of going back to hurting Elfman, DARK ECRITURE: SUFFERING!" he replied, which resulted with Elfman letting out his loudest scream of pain yet.
"Please Freed, please just stop!" she sobbed while falling to her knees and watching helplessly as her brother was being tortured right before her very eyes.
"I'll stop once Natsu finally takes notice of your suffering and comes here to stop me." replied Freed before going back to launching more spells at the already helpless Elfman, which only caused the large mage to scream out more as his sister continued to sob helplessly. "You should do something to bring Natsu here quickly, Mira. I don't know how much more your brother can take of this, or is that what you're waiting for? Do I need to kill Elfman for you to finally realize that I'm not messing around here?" he asked with a blank expression as he looked over his shoulder at her.
Upon hearing this Mira stopped crying and just froze there, stuck in her own mind as she relived events that led to Lisanna being taken away from her. Just like back then, she just watched from the sidelines as one of her family members was being taken away from her. But this time it was somehow even worse since Freed seemed completely fine with killing one of his fellow guild members, all just because Laxus told him to do whatever it took to get Natsu upset and ready to fight him.
Once again it seemed like all things these days came back to the pink haired dragon slayer, who used to be the person that they all looked to when they needed cheering up. Something that she was sure he could definitely use after everything he has had to go through in his life already. But at this moment he was once again on the other side when he should have been with them, leading the charge to protect the guild and its members. Unfortunately it didn't seem likely for that to happen, which was why she came out here in the first place, hoping that she could talk some sense into him.
But from the rumors that she and the rest of the guild have been hearing about him recently, these were the only type of jobs that he could get. Ones where it didn't matter how much damage he caused, so long as he took out the people that were opposing his client. And from how things have been going for the dragon slayer recently, she could suspect that it wasn't going to change for him anytime soon. Which he appeared to be completely fine with, even if it meant that he was going to have to face off against his old guild.
"You've left me no choice, Mirajane, I definitely would've preferred it if I didn't have to kill your brother. But I can't fail Laxus like the rest of my team have so far." he said with a frown, not realizing that he just snapped Mira out of her thoughts about Lisanna's final moments and about a certain dragon slayer that the world seemed to have a grudge against for some unknown reason.
Hearing that he did in fact plan on killing Elfman right in front of her caused something in the barmaid to snap, she let out a bone chilling scream. But along with that scream came an overwhelming sense of dread for anyone in a quarter mile radius of Mira as waves of what could only be described as dark magic started to flow from her. This caused Freed to stop momentarily as he glanced back at the woman that was now surrounded in a purple aura, but other than that she still seemed to be just a simple barmaid. So he decided to go back to what he initially planned to do since so far it seemed to be working, because there was no way Natsu couldn't sense her right now.
But he wasn't the only one shocked by the sudden appearance of magic coming from Mira, she herself was probably the most stunned by this recent turn of events. Which caused her to remember a certain conversation she had with Natsu just a few months after Lisanna's death, it was around the time when she started to work at the bar and no longer held the title of active mage.
Flashback:
"So how was your last job Natsu?" asked Mira as said dragon slayer and Happy came up to the bar with huge smiles spread across their mugs.
"You should have seen it Mira, those bandits didn't stand a chance against Natsu's roar." cheered Happy as he plopped down on the bar while grabbing a fish from his bag and starting to chow down on it.
"You wouldn't have happened to destroy anything of value while doing this, now did you?" she asked while looking at the pink haired teen with a knowing look as he looked away from her while rubbing the back of his head nervously.
"Only just a few of the things that we were supposed to get back from them is all." Natsu replied with a little laugh. "Unfortunately they were the most expensive things apparently, so we didn't get any of the reward." he finished just loud enough for her to hear him. This caused Mira to let out a little giggle that caused most of the guild to go silent and look at her as if she had a second head. Because it was the first time since Lisanna's passing that she ever let out a true giggle like she just did.
And the reason she let it out was because she finally got to see that Natsu was truly back to how he used to be before the incident. Which was him causing a mess on every job he took, most of the time barely coming back with any of the reward at all. But even after pretty much working for free he would return to the guild with that huge toothy grin of his and become the center of attention. Most of the time it was thanks to him starting a fight with Gray that would eventually lead to a guild wide brawl.
"What's so funny about me and Happy not getting any of our reward?" he asked with a grin that went from ear to ear.
"I'm just glad to know that some things will never change." she replied with a bright smile, that then quickly changed to a frown as she remembered that two huge changes happened to her recently. "But what I'm really curious about is how are you two always so happy after not getting any of your reward for all of the jobs that you complete?" she asked, trying to hide the frown that came along with those kind of thoughts.
She hoped that neither of them would notice it since she just recently convinced the rest of the guild that she was fine and didn't need them constantly asking her if she was okay any more. And to her relief it looked like they didn't since Natsu's grin didn't falter for a second like it usually would when he was concerned about one of his fellow guild members. While Happy on the other hand finished off the rest of his fish and looked up at her with a big smile.
"Either way I get more delicious fish once we return." replied Happy with a bright smile as Mira gave him a fish that she had been saving all day for his return to the guildhall.
"It looks like that might be something I need to change then." stated Natsu with a pensive look that just looked completely wrong on him. One that Mira could tell right away was fake, something that apparently Happy couldn't detect since he and Natsu promptly got into a heated argument that caused her to giggle at their antics. Only for the two of them to decide a few minutes later that they would keep things how they were to maintain balance.
"So why do you seem completely fine with barely getting any of the reward after completing a job?" she asked while looking at Natsu directly in the eyes. This caused the dragon slayer to once again have a pensive expression come over his face as he tried to come up with a coherent response.
"I guess I'm just happy to help out the less fortunate and it's never really been about the reward for me. It's about meeting new people and going to exciting new places and experiencing everything I can." he replied with fond smile coming over his face as he thought about some previous jobs that he really enjoyed.
"Figures, of course you are just trying to have as much fun as possible in all aspects of your life." she stated while having a slight smile spread across her lips.
"Isn't that what everyone else is doing?" he asked with a puzzled look as she shook her head at him and suppressed another round of giggles from escaping. And it was an extremely hard thing for her to do since his current expression was one that she really enjoyed seeing on him. "Well it's how Happy and I live our lives." he stated while grinning at his partner.
"Aye Sir!" cheered Happy as he gave Natsu a high five and then went back to eating a fish.
"You two wouldn't be yourselves if you didn't." she said while giving the duo a bright smile.
"Darn right, but I think it's time that we get back to training Happy." stated Natsu as he got up from the bar with Happy following after and actually passing him and flying out of the front doors in a blur. As Natsu came to the doors he stopped and turned back to see that Mira was watching him still. "Just so you know Mira, it's not gone despite whatever you might think. It's only being blocked for some reason, which I'm sure you'll figure out how to overcome when you really need to since you're one of the strongest people I've ever met." he said before exiting the guild and leaving an extremely confused barmaid behind.
End of Flashback:
"I'm truly sorry that I have to do this Elfman." stated Freed as he started to spell out the runes for his next spell.
"Not again." mumbled Mira as her magic started to become less erratic and even grew to greater heights than before. This caused a certain someone to stop from tracing out the last rune of his spell and glance over at her since it felt like she was about to unleash a spell.
"What was that?" he asked, not knowing what else to say since he was slightly intrigued to see what she was planning on doing.
"I said not again, I'll never sit back again and watch as someone tries to take away my family from me as I sit by do nothing!" she yelled back as more of that dark magic radiated from her in overwhelming waves. "TAKE OVER: SATAN SOUL!" she shouted out as one final burst of magic shot out from her. And where the barmaid of Fairy Tail once stood, now in her place was what Freed could only describe as a pissed off demon.
Mira's overall figure remained similar to her usual form; she just now had a few additions that definitely made her a force to be reckoned with. From the bat like wings that sprouted from her back and allowed her to take to the skies, to the new tail that she could use for various things such as grabbing onto her opponent and tossing them aside. And where the barmaid once had soft and dainty little hands, she now had claws that looked razor sharp. With this take over, the only other things to change for her were the cracks that now appeared on various locations on her body. And she also was now in a very revealing outfit that truly left nothing to the imagination, with the final change being her hair now sticking up which gave her an even more intimidating appearance for some reason.
"So the She Demon has finally decided to come out and play." he replied after getting over the slight shock of seeing her actually do a take over. "But guess what, I don't see Natsu yet, which means I've still got a job to do. DARK ECRITURE: DEATH!" he shouted out as a Mira could only look on in horror, knowing that she wouldn't be able to get there in time since she was still a little rusty.
In that exact moment it felt like the whole world came to a complete stop around her, letting her take in everything that she could see. Looking over at her little brother who somehow had a smile on his face as he looked back at her in his final moments, making her want to cry right there. But that emotion soon turned to anger as her gaze focused on the man that was trying to take him away from her. And upon seeing his face her anger only rose, thanks to him having a completely blank expression as he mercilessly killed her last living relative. In that moment only one thing was on her mind and that was to kill him in the most excruciating way imaginable.
But before she could act on that impulse, in the blink of an eye a red blur smashed into Freed and took said mage farther away from the city where a fiery red explosion went off. This caused Mira to stop in her tracks and try to process what just happened, only for her to lose her train of thoughts as another large explosion of red flames erupted from the distance. She was about to chase after to figure out what was going on, that is until she heard a cough come from Elfman's direction.
"Elfman!" she shouted out while whirling around to look and see if he was the one that had just coughed. And what she saw brought her instantly to tears as she lunged at him and brought her brother into a tender hug.
"Too tight." he wheezed out. Causing his sister to quickly let go of him and start looking over his injures, which apparently weren't that bad on the outside. But they both knew that definitely wasn't the case for him overall, since Freed's magic targeted his sense of pain as well as his emotions.
"How are you still alive?" she asked still crying tears of joy as another loud explosion rang out.
"Because of you and Natsu." replied Elfman as he got into a comfortable sitting position. He knew that his sister was most likely going to be going after the pink haired dragon slayer now that she knew he was alright.
"Natsu…" she mumbled while glance over in the direction of the fight currently raging on.
"You should go after them." he coughed out while trying to give her a reassuring smile.
"I can't, you still need my help." she stated while giving him a stern glare.
"Yes you can and I insist that you do, Mira. I'll be completely fine on my own, and who knows the next time we'll ever see him." he said still smiling at her.
"But…" she started to say but got cut off by him.
"But nothing, I know that everything that has happened with him recently has been really hard on you." said Elfman with a frown now coming over his face. "Ever since he joined the guild, he's been a part of our family and I only wish I would've realized that back then. If I had then who knows what could have gone differently that day." he said in a somber tone that almost turned into a whisper at the end of it. "But I didn't, and even after causing him so much pain and suffering he never blamed either of us. He was even responsible for getting the both of us to realize that she never would have wanted us to blame ourselves. And only would have wanted us to both be happy, which means you need to go after him and help him like he helped us." he finished while wiping away a few tears that he couldn't hold back.
Mira honestly couldn't believe what she just heard from him, or the fact that he wasn't intimidated by her earlier glare. Probably because he was too determined to get all of that out and help push her into going after the dragon slayer currently destroying the countryside surrounding Magnolia. And after thinking over his words, she couldn't help but agree with everything he just said which meant that she had to go after him.
"Thanks Elfman." she said before taking off and flying in the direction that she knew the two were currently fighting at.
With Natsu and Freed:
"Ooohhh Freeeeeed!" sang out Natsu as he continued to chase after his prey that was just barely avoiding his devastating attacks that were completely annihilating whatever he hit instead of the green haired mage. And the only reason that Freed was able to keep this up was thanks to him quickly casting DARK ECRITURE: WINGS after the initial attack.
Currently the only thought running through the green haired mage's head was for the love of god keep moving. Since he knew that if he didn't he would definitely be on the receiving end of another powerful attack. Luckily the first one that Natsu dealt to him was obviously a new move of his that enhanced his speed and prevented Elfman from being murdered. Something that Freed was actually thankful for since that was definitely something you can never come back from.
"Are you just going to keep running from me?" asked Natsu as he continued to try and smash the rune mage's face into the ground. "Because even that pussy Bixlow, put up more of a fight than you currently are. Well that is until I made him scream out for mercy and had him screaming for Laxus or you to come and save him." he said while coming to a stop. Only to lean back as a sword whizzed through the spot that used to contain his head, which caused his grin to grow.
"He didn't you fucking liar!" shouted out Freed as he continued to slash at Natsu, who only just dodged them as he waited for just the right moment to strike back.
"Oh he did Freed, he begged for me to show him some mercy." he said before jumping over a slash at his knees. "I thought you guys were supposed to be the strongest team in Fairy Tail?" he asked while twisting and turning to dodge the attacks just by mere centimeters.
"We are." growled out the rune mage, knowing that Natsu definitely wouldn't give him enough time to cast any of his spells.
"Really, because it was quite easy for me to finish off that freak and I was actually planning on doing the same thing to Evergreen." he said with a sly grin. "Actually that is wrong, I was going to make that self-righteous bitch learn her place by making her mine." he finished with a little chuckle as Freed's attacks started to become hectic and actually started to leave behind small cuts.
"Does that upset you Freed? Knowing that I was going to make her mine and that she would be calling me master and doing whatever I told her to." asked Natsu as he landed a hard punch to his opponent's chest, which sent him skidding back a few feet.
"She never would have done any of that for you." he growled out while his free hand clutched his chest.
"Maybe, but Erza stepped in and took her out before I had the chance to try. Which didn't upset me since it meant that I now had the chance to go up against Erza, who was definitely going to put up more of a fight than any of you guys have so far." stated Natsu as he looked at all of the new holes in his coat, luckily none of them came near his armband.
"You're making it sound like you didn't get to for some reason." he said while getting ready to strike at the dragon slayer at a moment's notice.
"You'd be correct, because some asshole decided to go and start fucking around with one of the few people that I specifically said were off limits." replied Natsu now using a deep tone as dark red flames started to swirl around him menacingly. "So I'm like, okay I'll go and make whoever this dipshit is realize how bad they've fucked up. But on my way there they decided to go so far that Mira is forced to try and use her magic to stop them from whatever idiotic thing they were doing. And I'm honestly grateful that you helped her get her magic back, but you did it by threatening to kill her brother!" he shouted out as his flames exploded from him and destroyed everything around him in a ten yard radius. Luckily for Freed he was able to fly away from it just in time, but as he did that he lost sight of Natsu.
"FIRE DRAGON'S CRUSHING IRON FIST!" came the shout of Natsu from right above him. And the next thing Freed knew he was being smashed into the ground, causing a small crater to from around the area where he hit. He let out a pained moan as he started to get back up only for his eyes to widen and roll to the right as fast as humanly possible.
"FIRE DRAGON'S CRUSHING TALON!" yelled Natsu as his flaming foot smashed into the spot that used to contain the green haired mage's head just a second ago. Freed's mouth dropped wide open as he watched Natsu pull his foot from a two feet deep hole that he just created.
"What's with the face, Freed?" asked Natsu as he started to walk towards the mage backpedaling away from him with a terrified expression.
"Y-y-y-y-you…" he stuttered out.
"Yes Freed, I'm trying to kill you." replied Natsu as he glared down the man that pissed him off more than Gray did somehow today. "What did you expect when I just stopped you from killing Elfman, who might I add is a fellow guild member of yours?" he asked back while condensing the fire around him to just his feet and hands. This left Freed speechless, since what did he expect to happen after he almost just murdered someone only to help Laxus try and reach his goals.
He was about to surrender and apologize to the two Strauss siblings for his earlier actions and hope that they could eventually forgive him. But the next second he felt an intense heat coming towards right cheek, which resulted with him being launched and tumbling across the ground. When his body finally came to a stop he didn't even get time to try and get up before a flaming foot connected with his gut and sent him flying into the air. And just as Freed reached the peak he regained enough composure to look back down at what he was falling towards.
Which of course was Natsu Dragneel standing there with a menacing look on his face with red flames dancing around his hands as they grew in size. "FIRE DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME!" he shouted out while bringing both of his hands together and then throwing the giant ball of flames at the mage coming down towards him.
"DARK ECRITURE: REFLECT!" shouted Freed as he hastily inscribed the runes in the air just before he would've been engulfed by the most recent attack sent his way. And to his relief he watched the huge ball of red fire fly the other direction and cause an enormous explosion on impact.
"I'm surprised that you were actually able to deflect that one, but I'm guessing that is the most you're able to do with it." stated Natsu as he casually walked out of the smoke and wreckage that his last attack caused. Making Freed want to smack himself for forgetting the giant fact that fire was completely pointless against a fire dragon slayer.
"You're right, and I want to apologize for this and surrender." replied Freed as he put his sword away, hoping that it would show Natsu he was serious about it.
"Funny that you think you still have that option." he said with a little chuckle as Freed nervously gulped at hearing him say that.
"Why wouldn't I?" Freed asked while once again starting to back away from Natsu.
"I don't know, maybe because if I hadn't been there then Elfman would be dead right now which is more than enough to justify me ending you. Or how about you doing all of that just to upset Mira in the hopes of luring me out and into a fight." he answered while sneering at his ex-guild member that he barely interacted with.
"But I didn't kill him and Mira is fine." refuted Freed as he started to feel like an animal backed into a corner.
"I know, because if you had then you'd already be reduced to nothing more than a pile of ashes by now. But seeing as how your precious Laxus is now threatening all of Magnolia I need to know how to stop him. After which I'll promise to finish you off painlessly." he stated while slowly closing the gap between them.
"You're still going to kill me after I help you?" asked Freed, hoping that he misheard him.
"Yep, and it's because I honestly think the world wouldn't miss a piece of shit like you." he said while cocking his head slightly to the left.
"DARK ECRITURE: DARKNESS!" shouted out Freed, resulting in his body being covered in darkness. Only to then fade away and reveal that he was slightly bulkier, now almost completely covered in black fur with the few spots that weren't being a dark gray complexion. And along with those changes he now had horns coming from his head giving him an overall demonic appearance that exuded a lot of power.
Freed hoped that this would startle Natsu and allow him to get a few good hits in on him, which would hopefully let him escape from the clearly insane dragon slayer. But the first punch he threw was stopped effortlessly just an inch away from striking his intended target. And before he could pull it back and try again he felt a sharp twist, while at the same time his fist felt like it was being crushed.
"You just had to do this the hard way didn't you?" asked Natsu as he glared at Freed who was now on his knees. From Freed's current position he could now see that there were scales underneath the dragon slayer's eyes, and it also looked as if the scales were also on his forearms as well. "To think that you four just threw away something that most people would kill to have a chance at having just for a few days." he said while in one quick motion positioned himself behind Freed and twisted the man's arm until a loud pop was heard by both of them.
"You were part of a family that would literally do almost anything for each other, but what do you idiots do?" he asked, being slightly caught off guard when Freed head butted him and took off in the other direction as fast as he possibly could. This only caused Natsu let out a deep chuckle before taking off after the mage fleeing from him. "FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!" he bellowed as he appeared right in front of Freed and sent him crashing back down to the ground in a torrent of flames.
"And as I was saying, you fucking idiots go ahead and try to take over the guild just so Laxus could feel important." stated Natsu as he landed next to the now slightly burnt Freed, who was then pushed back down to the ground by one of his feet. "Don't get me wrong, Freed, I wouldn't mind seeing Makarov kicked out of Fairy Tail and forced to never come back. But you assholes decided to involve some of the people that I actually still care about, which is somewhat okay since they're members of the guild. FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FISTS!" he said, before starting to savagely hit Freed over and over again only to stop once the rune mage stopped trying to fight back and now lay there completely helpless.
"Now Laxus is going so far as to try and threaten all of Magnolia just because things aren't going his way anymore. Oh and he also apparently gave you the fucking okay to go and kill Elfman just so Mira would become upset, and then just maybe I'd go and fucking fight him." he shouted out while having his foot firmly placed on said mage's throat just enough to keep him under control. While also causing the poor mage to barely get enough air to breathe properly.
"So I'm only going to ask you this once, Freed. How can I get rid of those orbs threatening to destroy all of Magnolia?" he asked while lessening the pressure on the other mage's throat.
"You can't." answered Freed, only to have an extremely terrified look come over his face when looking up at Natsu. "But please let me explain." he begged since he could have sworn that the expression Natsu made was going to be the final thing he ever saw. But seeing as he was still alive at the moment, it meant that the dragon slayer was at least willing to hear him out for a few more seconds.
"You can't because he's used Organic Link magic on them as well, which means you can't destroy them without them hitting you back." he hurriedly explained, and would have been shocked at the thoughtful expression that came over Natsu's face if he wasn't completely terrified for his life right now.
"Smart move on his part; so is there anything else I should know before you depart on your final journey?" asked Natsu as he gave Freed one final creepy grin as he started to build up his magic.
"That I'm sorry." he mumbled back while closing his eyes and waited for his imminent demise.
"And that means absolutely nothing to me these days, but you can at least take some comfort in knowing that most of Fairy Tail would probably forgive you after everything you did today." said Natsu as red flames started to form on his right hand, to the point that you couldn't see his hand anymore. "Unfortunately I'm not a member and even if I was I don't think I would ever be able to. Because despite how sorry you might be it can never take back what you did or what transpired because of your actions." he finished with a sad frown going across his face.
"Farewell Freed Justine, FIRE DRAGON'S DEMOLISHING STRI…" he said as his red flames looked like they were forming a large and sharp claw. But something completely unexpected happened before he could finish his move and send Freed over to the other side.
"DEMON BLAST!" came the menacing voice of Mira as he was promptly blasted away from Freed and skidded a few feet until he connected with a rocky cliff edge.
"So you're finally back, the She Demon of Fairy Tail." replied Natsu as he let out a little grunt of pain as he got out of the small indentation he just created with his body. He wasn't able to hide the small smirk that slowly came over his lips as he looked at the shocked Freed who couldn't figure out why Mira of all people just saved him.
"Yes Natsu, and I didn't want to do that to you, but I couldn't think of any other way to stop you." she said while looking at him with uncertainty clearly written all over her usually bright and cheerful face.
"Are you sure you didn't get a little satisfaction out of hitting me like that? Because I can definitely remember when it was one of your favorite things to do, well that and get me to cry and tease me about how cute I look while doing it." he said with a little chuckle as he slowly walked towards them.
"Yes I am and that was years ago Natsu, I was just a stupid girl back then and didn't know any better." she replied, already not liking where their conversation was heading.
"That's where you're wrong Mira, you had it completely correct back then." he stated with a smirk as Mira's expression changed to one of shock. "Those with power are free to do whatever they want in this world. And before you start arguing with me about how that isn't how the real world works let me explain myself." he continued to say, noticing that Mira did in fact want to argue with him on that.
"Yes there are slight exceptions to this rule, which mainly come about when groups of weaker people come together. Which is actually a different form of power, but that isn't the point I'm trying to make here. Whether it's the Council, Kingdom, or some random dark guild, they all go about doing whatever they feel like since they currently have enough power to back themselves up. Until someone or something else finally has enough of it and puts a stop to them." he explained now only just a few feet in front of her.
"You don't believe that." she said in hopes that he would crack one of his toothy grins at her and agree with her.
"I didn't want to, but after everything I've been through in my life so far I can no longer deny it. It's the reason I'm no longer a member of Fairy Tail and why I'm in my current position, all because those with more power than me decided to do what they wanted." he answered while looking her dead in the eyes with a completely serious expression on his face.
"Natsu, I…" replied Mira with a sad yet also concerned look on her visage.
"This isn't really the time for us to be discussing things like this." he said while cutting her off. "So if you would step aside, I can finish what I was planning on doing just a few moments ago." he continued to say while trying to step around the woman blocking him. But was once again face to face with her, but her expression was now one of complete and utter determination as they locked eyes.
"I can't let you do that Natsu." she said while her magic power started to rise. She knew that if he went through and killed Freed like he planned, then that small bit of hope that she and a few other members were holding out for him eventually returning to the guild would be completely destroyed.
"And why the hell not?" he snapped back at her as his magic power rose to heights even greater than hers. "He was just about to fucking kill Elfman right in front of your very eyes. All for the stupid reason of trying to get me angry, well guess fucking what? It worked and now these assholes are going to pay!" he shouted at her while actually bearing his fangs at her.
"Because he's also a member of my family, everyone in Fairy Tail is!" she shouted back, hoping to hide the fact that she was actually afraid of the Natsu standing before her at the moment. "And yes he was about to do something unspeakable, which I'll never truly forgive him for." she continued to shout at him, while also quickly giving Freed a deadly glare. "But that doesn't mean we should stoop to his level, we're better than that. You're better than that." she finished while lowering her voice to just above a whisper at the end of it.
"A different life time ago, maybe I was?" he replied in a blank tone, no longer shouting at her. "And there aren't really any sort of levels Mira, the only thing that truly matters is if you're able to wake up the next morning and live with your decisions of the previous day." he said still in that tone that sounded so wrong since he used to always sound so energetic and full of life before whenever he talked with anyone.
"And would you be able to do that if I let you kill him?" asked Mira hesitantly, not knowing if she really wanted to hear his response.
"Yes, but only because I've already got bigger regrets than removing another piece of shit from this world." he answered with his head down so she could no longer see his facial expressions. "Now answer me this, Mira. Are you willing to fight against me in order to protect the very same man that would have killed your brother if I didn't come just in the nick of time? Knowing that it will more than likely ruin whatever bonds that we might still have between the two of us." he asked still with his head down as the two of them stood there in silence for a few more minutes.
"Yes, because if I didn't then those same bonds would still be broken." she replied while getting back into a fighting stance. In her mind she was praying and hoping that it wouldn't turn out this way, but some part of her knew that it would most likely end this way with him. It seemed like fate loved to mess with the two of them, never letting either of them have a normal happy life that they both yearned for. And as she waited in silence to see what his response would be, she felt like a little part of her was about to break. The last thing she ever wanted was to actually face off against Natsu like this, as enemies, knowing that she would have to go all out against him if she hoped to stand a chance. And even then she didn't know if she could win against him since she just got her magic back and he was apparently able to take on two different Wizards Saints.
What she wasn't expecting to hear from the dragon slayer was a sad little chuckle as he finally lifted his head back up. This allowed her to see him giving her a sad little smile that made him look like he was barely clinging on at the moment. "Figures, all of you women from Fairy Tail are way too stubborn for your own good. And I probably don't have any room to talk, well I guess I should probably head back into town and stop that moron from destroying it." he said only to turn away from her and start heading in the direction of Magnolia.
"We're not going to fight?" she asked as a confused expression washed over her face.
"Nope, did you want us to?" he asked while continuing to walk away from the two of them. Both members of Fairy Tail completely shocked by this recent turn of events, Freed happy that he was still alive while Mira was happy that she wasn't going to be forced to go up against him.
"No, but I thought you were going to kill him." she said while gesturing over her shoulder at the still downed Freed.
"I was and still might, but I've got better things to do at the moment." he responded while stopping to give said mage a deadly glare to show that he wasn't making a terrible joke. However, he didn't notice the slight smile that came over the barmaid's face while he said that back to her.
"You're not going to go and kill Laxus, are you?" she asked him still with a smile barely gracing her lips. She was unable to hide it since she had a strong suspicion that Natsu stopped with his plan of killing Freed, just so that he wouldn't break their current bonds like he mentioned earlier.
"Honestly it's what the arrogant prick deserves for all of this shit, but I have a feeling that you won't let me do that will you?" he asked while having his back to her and Freed.
"You know I wouldn't." she replied now with a small smile clearly spread across her lips.
"Figures, hey Mira." he said while once again starting to walk towards Magnolia.
"Yes?" she said while raising her voice slightly since he was slowly getting farther away from her.
"Don't change at all." he stated with a little chuckle before disappearing from their sight.
"Thank you and I'm truly sorry about what I was going to do." mumbled Freed as he tried to get up, but failed miserably thanks to his injuries.
"I didn't do it for you, and like I told him I'll never be able to completely forgive you for what you almost did." she snapped back at him, causing the mage to cower in fear. "Now let's get you back to the guild so Porlyusica can have a look at you once she gets there." she said not knowing that the healer was already there. Looking over the weak form of Makarov, not liking what she was currently seeing.
At Kardia Cathedral:
A lone figure with blonde hair could be seen sitting on the steps right in front of the alter. And upon closer inspection one could easily see that the man was seething with anger as he looked up at runes floating right in front of his face. Runes that soon faded away, but not before showing the name of Freed Justine being crossed out along with a certain barmaid's name as well.
"Worthless, the whole lot of them." he growled out as he slowly got up, not caring that in his current state his lightning was racing all over his body. Occasionally jumping off of him and striking the nearest object and leaving behind slight burn marks. "Guess I'm going to have to do this all on my own. Which really shouldn't be too hard considering who's left for to face me." he finished with a smug grin slowly spreading over his face as he said it.
"You did always think too highly of yourself." came a voice from the front doors.
"You're one to talk." replied Laxus as his grin turned from a smug one to a determined one as he stared down his first opponent.
"And why do you say that?" asked the figure as they slowly entered the cathedral.
"Because of the entire guild saying how strong you are. That definitely has to make you wonder who's the strongest out of the two of us." answered Laxus as he rolled his shoulders in preparation of the upcoming fight.
"It doesn't since I've got better things to worry about than petty titles like you." said the figure as they continued strolling through the main aisle and towards the lightning mage.
"Well I don't and it's something that I've been dying to find out recently." stated Laxus as he and the figure both started to let their magic out. Both of them knowing that neither of them were going to hold back in this fight between them.
End of Chapter
Author's Notes:
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. So it appears that I wasn't able to finish this arc up in this last chapter, which leads me to the question that I'm now going to be asking you. I was wondering if you guys wanted me to show you all of the remaining fights or should I just skip to the final showdown between Laxus and Natsu? And just so you know what some of the other fights I could possibly show you, remember that Lucy, Cana, Bisca and Erza are still out there and could easily run into Natsu or even Ikaruga for that matter. Well I guess that was the main question I wanted to ask all of you at the end here, but as always feel free to let me know what you thought about this last chapter. Or what you would like to read in the upcoming ones in either a review or PM and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.
Oh and feel free to check out my profile page for other information.
Until the next Chapter
Digem Out!