I do not own any of the original Fairy Tail characters.

Jellal

The blast reached the tower. The light became blinding. The tower lurched and shook. A deafening explosion reached his ears. And then it was over. His ears were ringing but slowly returning to normal, his sight was completely obscured by smoke, and when he knelt, he felt lacrima below his feet. He stood as the smoke began to clear and Erza stared around in confusion. The entire tower had become a lacrima. Jellal stood, laughing maniacally.

"What have you done?" Erza asked.

"It's here," Jellal said. "At long last my hour of glory has arrived."

"It's a lacrima," Sado said. "The entire tower. It's one giant lacrima. It absorbed the Etherion, charging itself to capacity. Now once it gets its sacrifice, it'll be activated."

"In other words, I was your pawn?" Erza asked, looking to Jellal.

Jellal grinned as another voice spoke.

"Your expression is priceless right now," Siegrain said, stepping into view behind them, Sado turning to him. "He isn't capable of putting forth his full power right now. So he had to manipulate you in order to save himself."

"Siegrain," Erza snarled.

"No," Sado said. "That's Jellal."

"What?" Erza gasped. "So then, have we been fighting Siegrain?"

"No," Sado said. "Both are Jellal. Isn't that right? The reason you're not at full strength, the reason you haven't used any Heavenly Body Magic, is because you actually split your soul in half, so that you could manipulate the council as Siegrain."

"My my, you're quite sharp," Jellal commended. "Just one glance and you figured out my secret."

Siegrain began to flicker before stepping over, passing into Jellal and fusing with him, waves of Magic Energy beginning to flow through Jellal so thick they distorted the air around him. Instantly, Erza summoned a pair of massive swords, attacking Jellal with them. However, after the fourth attempt, a bind snake spread over her body immobilizing her.

"What's happening?" Erza gasped as her body failed to respond.

"It's just a Bind Snake," Jellal said. "I slipped it onto you during our heartwarming embrace earlier."

Erza began to scream and Sado walked forward, stopping beside her and resting a hand on her shoulder.

"My turn," Sado said.

Jellal turned to him, smiling. "Well then, come onPhoenix."

Sado shot forward, flames streaming from his fist at the same time as shooting out of his elbow and feet. Jellal sidestepped the punch and Sado spun, kicking at him, only to freeze as he saw Erza sinking into a lacrima wall.

Erza!" He shouted, only for Jellal's foot to crash into his side, launching him into the side of the tower, fracturing it. Suddenly, Natsu had arrived and was pulling Erza out of the lacrima.

"I've got you," Natsu said. "What are you doing hanging around with this loser. If we don't get back to work soon Lucy's not going to be able to pay her rent, and she's scary when she gets mad."

"Sorry, but I can't move," Erza said.

"No way," Natsu said before grinning.

Suddenly, he was tickling her, Erza laughing and successfully thrashing about.

"Natsu this is serious! Quit goofing around! Stop it!" Erza shouted, Natsu finally letting up. "You have to get out of here."

"I'm not leaving," Natsu said. "If you can't do the fighting yourself then I'll just have to do it for you."

"He's too powerful, besides, you don't know anything about him," Erza said.

"Who says I have to know the guy to beat him up?" Natsu asked.

"Please," Erza said, Sado kneeling beside her and lifting her. "What are you doing?"

"Honestly, I don't really know you all that well either," Natsu said, pulling a fist back. "But I can still..." he drilled the fist into her gut, knocking her unconscious. "...take you down."

Sado sighed, gently setting her back down. "There were gentler ways to do that, you know."

"Are you going to complain about my methods, or are we going to fight Jellal?" Natsu asked.

"Natsu, once again you seem to underestimate the simplicity of the situation," Sado said.

"And what's that?" Natsu asked.

"He can't use the Tower of Heaven to sacrifice Erza if there's no tower," Sado said, lighting both hands on fire, Natsu grinning and doing the same.

"You're right," Natsu grinned. "That does simplify things."

"Distract Jellal," Sado said, Natsu shooting forward. At the same time as he attacked Jellal, Sado jumped, clasping his hands and forming a ball of fire around them, bringing them down on the tower. A massive explosion went off, blasting huge chunks of lacrima away. Sado pulled his fist back to do it again, only for Jellal to crash into him, his cloak and jacket suddenly gone and a golden aura around him. Sado pushed himself up, grinning.

"Meteor," Sado said. "A spell that allows one to fly at high speed and increases their attack power. Natsu, we're handling Jellal first!"

Natsu nodded, both beginning to try to predict Jellal's movements and trying to strike him as he passed, only to miss and subsequently be batted around the room. Finally, he stopped in front of Natsu, slamming his fists into him for several seconds before Sado appearing, narrowly missing with his flaming sword. Jellal grinned, flying into the air, holding out his hands, heels of his palms together with the lower hand having all five fingers extended and splayed and the upper hand having only the index and middle fingers extended.

"May the Seven Stars bring judgement upon you!" Jellal shouted, seven golden spell circles forming before him and arranging themselves into the big dipper, golden lightning connecting them. "Seven Star Sword, Grand Chariot!"

Seven blasts of golden energy shot toward them and Sado grabbed Natsu, launching fire out of his entire right side and hurling both of them out of the way of the explosion. However, he wasn't fast enough and the explosion hurled them into the wall before dropping them down a level, their bodies cratering the lacrima floor there. Jellal landed in front of them, grinning.

"That spell packs the same amount of force as being hit with a falling meteor," Jellal said. "I'm impressed their bodies are still intact. Maybe that was a little bit much. The R System can't sustain any more damage or it'll be rendered useless. I can feel the Magic Energy leaking out."

"Is that right?" Sado asked, raising his head to grin up at Jellal, the lacrima around his hand beginning to bubble.

Jellal's eyes widened.

"So if I do this..." he yanked his hand straight out to the side, a massive explosion blasting a huge section of the tower into fragments, Jellal shouting in rage. "...It'll probably put a bit of a damper on your day, huh?"

Jellal roared in rage, his golden aura returning just as Sado swung both arms forward, twin massive walls of flame rushing past him, connecting around Jellal in a massive explosion, blasting even more of the tower into shards. Jellal shouted in rage just as Natsu sprinted at him. Jellal swung his arm, a spell circle firing several blasts of golden energy. Natsu grinned, easily avoiding them as they barely cracked the tower with their explosions. Sado grinned. The tower had to be badly damaged for him to hold back like that. Natsu leapt at Jellal and Jellal sent a single massive blast directly into Natsu, but Natsu crossed his arms, skidding backward a ways before spreading his arms, dispersing the spell.

"Hah! You so worried about wrecking your precious tower that you're gonna hold back!? 'Cause that ain't gonna work against me!"

"I'd watch my mouth if I were you!" Jellal shouted, blasting Natsu backward as he was about to attack.

"I'd watch my back if I were you!" Sado shouted, stopping directly behind Jellal and slamming both hands into his back, a massive wall of flames exploding outward, blasting a section of the tower and badly burning Jellal's left forearm and hand, Jellal having managed to mostly escape the blast. "Not bad. Your reaction time is impressive."

A half second later, Natsu landed from being blasted, slamming a Fire Dragon Brilliant Flame into the tower, sending a massive explosion skyward, tearing the tower apart as it did. Sado grinned. Between the two of them, Jellal had no way of defending both himself and the tower.

"Now I'm angry!" Jellal snarled. "I didn't spend years building this tower just to have some brat tear it down!"

"Sucks to be you," Sado smirked. "All that wasted work. But you can't say we didn't warn you. Breaking things is what we do best. But hey, you could still save the tower. Just let us kill you instead and the tower will be safe. Until we break it after your death."

Jellal snarled, crossing his arms over his head. A very strong wind began to kick up instantly, Sado shielding his eyes as light shone from Jellal, only for Sado and Natsu's shadows to reach toward Jellal anyway. Sado's eyes widened as a ball of black Magic Energy began to form above him, white specks of light inside it like stars.

"Altairis!" Sado cursed.

"Don't do it!" Erza shouted, stepping in front of them. "Unless you want to kill me too!"

The spell faded.

"That would be a problem," Jellal said. "The ceremony requires the body of a wizard comparable in strength to the ten Wizard Saints. However, I can find a suitable replacement. You're not the only one that fits that bill. I'll worry about that after I kill all three of you!" He reformed the spell as he spoke and Sado clenched his fists.

Mira fit the bill. And Jellal knew that. Siegrain had met Mira multiple times. He looked to Jellal, who grinned.

"I hear Mirajane Strauss has regained her magic," Jellal grinned. "I think she might come looking for her missing lover, don't you?"

"Move," Sado snarled, shoving Erza aside.

"Heavenly Body Magic, Altairis!" Jellal shouted, hurling the spell.

Flames exploded to life from Sado's body and he shoved his hands forward, a massive stream of white-hot flames crashing into the sphere of magic, the flames spreading around it into a massive wall, sort of looking like a flower, if anyone had been paying attention to that. The flames tore through the tower anywhere they touched it, and the sphere was still pulling in chunks of the tower, cracks forming below it as it began to tear the ground apart. Then, it exploded. Sado ended his flames instantly, trying desperately to form a shield to block the blast, but he was too slow. Then, there was a body in the way, and a spell circle in front of them. The blast split around the person just before smoke and dust clouded their vision. After a moment, it began to clear and Simon was lying on the ground, burned badly but alive.

"Simon!" Erza shouted. "Why!? Why would you do that?"

"Too...protect you," Simon said, voice weak as the pain threatened to drag him into unconsciousness.

"You've got a hell of a sturdy body Simon," Sado said. "You're damn lucky you didn't take the full brunt of the spell or it would have killed you. Your burns will hurt for a while but, That's about it."

"You mean..." Erza stared at him hopefully.

"Yes Erza. Simon's going to live," Sado smiled. "Rest Simon. When you wake up, you'll be on your way to our guild hall to join Fairy Tail."

Simon smiled. "Take care of the rest."

"We've got this," Sado smiled. "Natsu, go."

Natsu streaked forward, slamming his fist into Jellal's jaw, launching him backward into a large growth of lacrima. Then, as Sado stood, Natsu picked up a chunk of lacrima, taking a bite.

"No!" Sado shouted just as pure magic energy began to shoot out of the tower and into Natsu.

Natsu roared in rage, slamming his fists into the ground and sending a wave of magic energy at Jellal, who dove to the side, barely avoiding it. Then, Natsu began to choke, rolling on the ground and clutching his throat.

"You idiot!" Sado shouted. "The Etherion's Ethernano is made up of every element! It's not just fire! It's poison to you!"

Suddenly, a massive wall of flames exploded up around Natsu, Sado's eyes widening as his knees buckled. The flames formed into a dragon above Natsu, but Sado's eyes were glued to Natsu himself. The flames behind him had left most of his body in shadow, his eyes glowing brightly. Sado felt something inside him roaring, flames growing to life in response to the sight before him. He stared down at his hands and the claws of flame they had become. But he wasn't angry. There was no way he should have those without being angry. He looked back up at Natsu as Natsu as his eyes stopped glowing, Natsu's upper body leaning forward and coming into the light, revealing scaled patches around his eyes and on his forearms and the backs of his hands. Just like that, Sado's flames began to shrink again. He blinked, pushing himself up, his legs trembling slightly.

"Get him Natsu," Sado said, keeping his voice level to mask how shaken he was by his own body's reaction to Natsu.

Natsu was off like a shot, slamming a knee into Jellal's face before jumping to the ceiling. "You made Erza cry!" he jumped at Jellal, grabbing him by the throat, beginning to crash down through level after level. "And I'm not gonna let you get away with that!"

Sado stared at the hole, dropping to his knees again.

"Sado, what's wrong?" Erza asked.

Sado turned, staring at her before shaking his head, taking a deep breath and forming a flame in his hand and muttering to himself as he stared into the flame. "These flames are mine and mine alone. I control them. Not the other way around."

He stood, crouching just as Jellal and Natsu shot past them into the air. For a moment, Jellal sent countless blasts at Natsu, only for Natsu to easily evade them all. Then, Jellal began to swing his arm rapidly, a massive Abyss Break seal forming in the air.

"Phoenix Flight!" Sado shouted, exploding off of the ground as his flaming phoenix-like shroud formed around him.

The Abyss Break spell circle was complete, but not nearly as large as Phantom Lord's had been. After half a second, Sado slammed into it, the circle almost instantly shattering, Jellal staring in shock, right up until the moment Sado's flaming wing crashed into his gut, blasting him skyward.

"Natsu!" Sado shouted, his flames going out as Natsu shot past him.

Then, flames began to form around Natsu as he flew, forming into a gigantic dragon. The dragon roared less than a second before it enveloped Jellal, Natsu's fist crashing into his face. A second later, the dragon turned into a perfectly spherical explosion and Jellal shot downward, past Sado and then exploded down through the tower, all the way to the bottom before finally stopping in a massive crater.

Sado landed on a lacrima spike, sighing in relief as Natsu crashed down on his hands and knees in front of Erza, turning to her and smiling before beginning to collapse. Erza caught him and Sado slid down to the ground, walking toward them. Just as he did, a massive fissure ripped open in front of him an a beam of Ethernano exploded out, shining into the sky. He dover out of the way, the beam managing to graze his arm, taking the skin off of it, exposing muscle. He swore.

"The tower's unstable!" Sado shouted, sprinting over to them, arm hanging limply at his side, blood running out of it. "Get Natsu out of here, I'll get Simon."

"Your arm!" Erza gasped.

"Go Erza!" Sado shouted, the tower beginning to break apart more and more, beams of Ethernano blasting out of it everywhere.

Sado turned, sprinting to Simon and catching him as he was falling off of a chunk of lacrima into a chasm. He slung Simon's enormous body over his good shoulder, grunting with effort as he stood, turning back to Erza. Except, she wasn't running. She was struggling her way into a massive pile of melted lacrima. He sprinted over, dropping Simon beside Natsu and grabbing her other arm.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Sado demanded.

"I can stop the tower from exploding!" Erza said.

"You'll die!" Sado snapped.

"If I don't do this we'll all die!" Erza said.

"Then let me!" Sado said.

"Absolutely not!" Erza said.

"Why not?" Sado demanded.

"Because I'm doing this so that you can see Mira again!" Erza said, Sado freezing, falling silent. "I'm making sure you can get home! You, Natsu, Simon, and all of our friends!"

"I see," Sado sighed. "Then you'll understand why I'm coming with you."

He reached out to the lacrima, but just as soon as he touched it, he was sent flying, crashing down beside Natsu and groaning.

"See?" Erza said. "It has to be me!"

And with that, she shoved forward, making it up to her shoulder just as Natsu sat up.

"What are you doing?" Natsu asked. "I don't get it, are you trying to go back inside that thing?"

"It's the only way I'll be able to stop it!" Erza said before screaming in agony.

"Stop what?" Natsu asked just as the tower shook, yet another beam of Ethernano shooting out of the tower, though it had slowed down its rate of decay now.

"Now you see," Erza smiled, now with both arms and legs in, facing them. "It's the Ethernano. It's slipping out of control. I promise I'll stop it, there's no need to worry."

Natsu pushed himself up, scrambling forward but falling. He scrambled on, finally stopping on the ground before Erza. Erza pulled one hand back out of the lacrima, cupping the side of his face and smiling sadly. The tower around them began to glow and Sado's stomach dropped. They were all about to be blasted by Ethernano.

"I can't even imagine what my life would have been like without Fairy Tail," Erza smiled. "If it weren't for you and the others, I probably wouldn't be here today. I hope you all know how important you all are to me. i care for you so much."

"Erza," Natsu breathed.

Sado grit his teeth. He hated himself for letting her do it. He hated himself for not being able to take her place. But she was right. She was the only one there that could do it.

"That's why I'm willing to make the ultimate sacrifice," Erza said. "If it means my loved ones will be spared, I'll gladly give my life-" Only her face was outside the lacrima now. "-so that you may live."

Then, she was fully inside, slowly floating away from them, deeper into the lacrima.

"No way!" Natsu shouted, pounding on the now solid lacrima as it began to glow. "You come out of there right now!"

Sado stood, limping over as he continued to pound away.

"You can't leave us!" Natsu shouted.

"Natsu, that's enough," Sado said. "She has to stop the tower's explosion, or Lucy, Gray, Juvia, Happy, Millianna, Sho, Simon, us...we're all die along with her when the tower explodes."

Natsu ignored him, continuing to beg Erza to come back, tears flooding down his face. Then, several thin beams of Ethernano shot out of the ground around them before the bubble Erza had sunk into suddenly glowed brightly, sending a beam of Ethernano straight up into the sky, all the others fading. Natsu lunged for the lacrima but Sado caught his shoulder.

"Let go of me!" Natsu more pleaded and cried than ordered. "I have to save her!"

"If you touch that Lacrima, you'll die!" Sado snapped.

"If it means saving her, I don't care!" Natsu shouted.

"Wait!" Sado said. "Not yet!"

Natsu stopped, staring at him.

"Just wait," Sado said.

Then, the Ethernano vanished.

They could still see Erza, more than a full body length away, but she was there. Sado felt the tower jerk as it began to break apart and he grabbed Natsu, slamming him into the Lacrima and jumping, flames shooting out of his feet. Natsu got the idea and began to fire flames out of his own feet as well. Natsu began to sink into the lacrima, try as it might to refuse him. Finally, he was all the way in, his flames stopping as Sado gripped his ankle. Natsu still couldn't reach. Sado set his feet, firing his flames out of his entire left side, letting his already injured arm be shoved into the lacrima along with Natsu. He watched his skin beginning to dissolve. He held on. Almost there. Finally, Natsu grabbed Erza and Sado reversed his flames, the lacrima ejecting both him and Natsu, Natsu bringing Erza with him. However, rather than hitting the ground, they found themselves in free fall as the tower collapsed. Sado sighed in relief at having saved Erza, then smiled as he slipped into unconsciousness.

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