A/N As promised, this chapter is long, and the next one will be posted next Monday. Until then, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Fairy Tail, or any of their characters, and I make no money off of this.
Chapter 21
"That just means he's being even more spineless than I thought." Natsu sneered.
"Not at all, Natsu. From what I've read about Phantom so far, it looks like their master… Jose, I think his name is, is also one of the Ten Wizard Saints. That means that if we went to war with them than we'd definitely cause more harm than good. That's also just assuming that both of them fight it out. If everyone else got involved… I can't think of the damage it would cause." Ichigo stated.
To him, at least, this was a very straightforward issue and the old man's decision, for now, appeared to be the best one. No one had been hurt, and should the two guilds essentially go to war that would not only bring about all forms of chaos but also put innocent lives in danger during the process. Then there was the fact that the Magic Council would likely become involved and above all else Ichigo desperately didn't want for them to get the impression he was here to start trouble.
"Ichigo is right, Natsu, we can't go to war with Phantom over something like this because the risk would be far too great. Should anything else happen, then we will give it special consideration, but given that no one was hurt and the master is against any form of retaliation our hands are tied." Erza said in agreement.
"Tch, figures…" Natsu scoffed.
Lucy's Home, The Next Morning…
The orange-haired teen released a loud yawn upon picking his head up from the floor of Lucy's bedroom. Oddly enough, he had managed to get a good night's sleep despite sleeping on a hard wood surface again, but perhaps that only meant his tolerance for it was increasing.
"Well good morning." Erza greeted cheerfully, revealing herself to be standing by the doorway in her usual attire as opposed to her pajamas.
"Mornin' Erza…" Ichigo replied, getting up as he did so.
The two looked back at the still sleeping forms of their comrades, after which they looked at one another and Ichigo gestured to the door. Erza nodded in agreement, obviously seeing the need to allow their friends to rest as much as they could.
Downstairs, A Few Second Later…
"You know I don't understand how they can sleep for such a long period of time." Erza thought aloud as the two sat down at the wooden table in the kitchen.
"After what happened yesterday, I guess it's a good sign they can sleep so soundly." Ichigo commented.
"I suppose you're right…" Erza replied.
"Speaking of which, did you sleep well?" Ichigo asked in a friendly manner.
"Yes, actually I did, and yourself?" Erza responded in kind.
"Same… but I don't know if that's a good thing. I've always hated sleeping on hard floors and I think that I'm starting to get used to it because I fall out of the damn hammock at Natsu's home from time to time." Ichigo replied, chuckling slightly as he finished.
The two then opted to get a drink of their own choice, after which they sat back down and silently enjoyed the morning. Even so, it was very clear that something was left to be said.
"Ichigo, I've been meaning to ask you something…" Erza began, gaining the substitute's attention.
"What might that be?" Ichigo inquired blankly.
"I wanted to ask you when…" Erza said, only to stop upon giving consideration to something.
Each and every time that she had tried to ask this very question, a certain blonde-haired celestial wizard would tend to interrupt. It had been true thus far that it had been inadvertent, but even so that still was an interruption that she truly didn't want to occur anymore.
"I will return momentarily." Erza stated before walking off.
Ichigo just watched with a confused expression on his face as the redheaded woman walked directly up the stairs and seemed to stop to check on their comrades as if to make sure that they were still sound asleep.
Just as she had said, Erza returned a moment later and took her seat across from Ichigo once more, clearing her throat as she did so. She knew what she had just done most likely confused the orange-haired teen a great deal, but if it meant her question would actually be asked this time, she didn't really care.
"I wanted to ask you when… actually, never mind. I… I don't really believe this is the appropriate time to ask such a thing." Erza stated, sounding highly disappointed.
"You can still go ahead and ask… I mean, I don't really mind being asked anything, you know. I can't guarantee I will answer it if it's too personal, but that doesn't mean I won't let you ask it in the first place." Ichigo said in reassurance.
"After everything has calmed down, I wanted to know if you would be open to finally having the spar that we discussed a short while ago." Erza explained, eliciting a slight chuckle from the substitute.
"That's what you wanted to know? Why wouldn't I be okay with that question? Oh, and I guess to actually answer it, no, I don't have a problem with that." Ichigo replied, seemingly to the scarlet-haired wizard's relief.
"Good… I must say that I will be looking forward to it." Erza thought aloud.
Yet another bout of silence kicked in between the two, thought this time it didn't appear that the person desiring to say something was Fairy Tail's practical queen. This time it was a certain Substitute Soul Reaper who had something on his mind, and he soon chose to voice it.
"Erza… how do you feel about what happened with Phantom so far?" Ichigo abruptly questioned, somewhat to his friend's surprise.
"I mean, I know that you said you were fine with not doing anything back at the guild and last night, but I never asked you exactly what you felt about it." Ichigo explained.
"While… while I may have appeared calm back at the guild for the sake of everyone else, I must admit that I was filled with anger at what had happened. I personally wish to fight back, but doing so goes against my better judgment since such a course of action would be brash and ill-conceived on top of being against the master's wishes." Erza explained.
"I see… I kinda figured you weren't entirely okay with what had happened." Ichigo thought aloud.
"What about you? How do you feel about what happened?" Erza questioned.
The scarlet-haired woman practically knew what the answer was going to be, mainly because the two were so similar in her eyes. The only real difference between the two in this instance was the fact that Erza was a bit better at hiding the fact that she wanted to take action, while on the opposite side of the spectrum the orange-haired teen made it very aspirant he disliked the inaction, though he still went along with it.
"I am beyond angry at what happened. Even though I've only been a member of Fairy Tail for a short while, I let someone get away with hurting the guild. I'm not the type of person that let's that kind of thing slide, and if I had to tell you the truth I wouldn't have listened to the master if anyone had gotten hurt. If that had happened, I would've tracked down whoever did it and taught them a lesson." Ichigo replied, a scowl and glare coming onto his features at the thought of what he would do should something like that happen.
'Then we really are of a similar opinion in that sense…' Erza thought, inwardly smiling at the fact that the man was so protective of their guild.
"I guess I should add that this isn't exclusive to this one time… if I find out that Phantom has hurt anyone in our guild, I'm going to get payback." Ichigo stated.
"If that day should come, then I will gladly fight alongside you for the protection of Fairy Tail." Erza said, a small smile forming on her lips.
"That makes two of us." Ichigo replied, returning the friendly gesture by smiling slightly himself.
Before the conversation could continue, however, a loud and urgent banging on the door caused both of them to immediately look towards the front of the home with widened eyes. The knocks were so loud that they even managed to wake up the remainder of those upstairs, which was evident by the fact that a small girlish scream coupled by several thuds were heard.
"Wake up! If any of you are in here you need to get up now!" Mira's voice called out from behind the door.
Both Ichigo and Erza immediately ran towards the front of the home and opened the door without delay, after which they saw a very saddened and concerned Mirajane sighing at the sight of their evident good health.
"Thank god you're alright…" Mira sighed out, clenching her heart as she did so.
"Mira, what happened?" Erza asked confusedly, noticing the distressed look in the barmaid's eyes and mannerisms.
"It's horrible… it's Phantom, they…" Mira began, only to stop as she seemed to have be out of breath.
At this, Ichigo's eyes shot wide open. Now he knew full well that something had happened, and if the saddened appearance of the white-haired barmaid was anything to go by, it wasn't good.
"Mira… what happened?" Ichigo asked, a high level of anger in his tone though it clearly wasn't directed at the woman in front of him.
Magnolia: Town Square, Some Time Later…
Ichigo, Gray, Natsu, Erza, Lucy, Happy, and Mira currently stood in front of a large tree, each currently being speechless either out of rage, sadness, or disbelief. Immediately at their front, three Fairy Tail guild members were hanging from a tree, their bodies battered and beaten.
Among the three were Levy, Jet, and Droy, the three person team that Ichigo had met only just recently. That, however, wasn't really the most glaring thing about the practical crucified appearance of the three wizards.
Directly on Levy's stomach as she hung on the tree, unconscious and bruised, was the insignia of Phantom Lord tattooed on the skin directly over her stomach. Seeing this, Ichigo's fists balled up so hard that had the force almost caused his hands to bleed, and at the same time Natsu began to shake with rage.
"Levy… Jet… Droy…" Lucy sighed out worriedly, almost being brought to tears as a result of seeing her new friends and guild mates in such a sorry state.
"Phantom Lord did this…" Natsu growled out.
Immediately after this was said, the master himself began to walk towards the tree in his wizard saint attire, clad in a white-furred overcoat with a wooden staff in his hand. Despite his usual carefree nature, an aura of rage and anger exuded from his being.
"Master…" Erza uttered in a tone of disbelief, unable to take her eyes off of her three comrade's forms.
"I can deal with our guild's headquarters being trashed… but I will not allow harm to come to my children without taking revenge!" Makarov roared angrily, snapping the wooden staff within his hands out of pure rage.
"That's all I needed to hear… Mira, can you hold on to my body? I think we've got some business to take care of." Ichigo requested.
The white-haired woman looked at the substitute and nodded, after which he grabbed the combat pass and entered his spirit form. This time was different from any other she had seen, however, as his eyes and body gave off an aura the likes of which she, alongside everyone else, had never felt.
'I can feel his energy emanating from his very being… is this what his power truly feels like?' Erza wondered.
It seemed that everyone present, even the townspeople look at the man in awe, taking note of the powerful aura and the light blue glow in his eyes as he walked off. He didn't even bother waiting for the master to say anything more, and Natsu was much the same as he too followed unquestioningly.
All he needed to know was that they were going off to get some classic revenge, and if other people wanted to follow, then that was fine too. A few seconds later, that's just what happened as Makarov, Erza, and Gray also began to walk away, clearly desiring the path of war.
"Ichigo…" Mira called out.
The orange-haired teen stopped dead in his tracks, after which he looked back at the barmaid with a stern look still evident on his features. Upon seeing those eyes again, however, that's when she knew. Those eyes held power in them, and they serviced to tell her that no matter what was sent his way, he would win.
"Kick their asses, Ichigo." Mira practically demanded, eliciting a nod of understanding from the substitute before the group continued to walk off.
Oak Town: Phantom's Lord's Branch, Some Time Later
"Hehehe, those Fairy Tail losers got what they deserved, eh boys?" One of Phantom's members cheered, raising his glass as he did so.
"I heard Gajeel took down three of them no problem, what a bunch of weaklings!" Another exclaimed.
Currently, within the massive structure that towered over all others in the city, the members of Phantom Lord sat in place, drinking and cheering over the news of recent events. It was perfectly obvious that none of them really had any love for Fairy Tail if the general mood was anything to go by, and in fact some of them didn't believe the damage that was done was sufficient enough.
"Heh, we can't let Gajeel have all the fun. About time we went and clipped some fairy wings ourselves." A man sneered as he and two others readied to exit the large castle-like structure.
Just as three were about to open the door and head out to cause some sort of havoc, the door seemed to burst forward in an eruption of fire. A large cloud of smoke shot into the air, and the bodies of the Phantom Lord members flew across the room, now being charred and scorched as a result of what appeared to be some kind of attack.
Each and every single wizard present within the building turned and looked to see a large gathering of Fairy Tail members standing directly on their doorstep, looking incredibly angered and clearly possessing a hostile intent.
At the forefront of the group was none other than Fairy Tail's Salamander, Erza Scarlet, Gray Fullbuster, the guild's master himself, and an orange-haired man with a scowl and glare that seemed to give off an extremely hostile intent to everyone who stood in his way.
"Fairy Tail has come calling!" Makarov exclaimed.
"Get 'em boys!" One of the Phantom members shouted.
It took not time at all before four individuals specifically jumped directly into the large incoming wave of enemy wizards. Natsu jumped towards the left with his fists lit up with fire and an angry look in his eyes. Gray took the right, using his magic to dispose of anyone stupid enough to come near him. The center though, that had been the most directly obvious advance.
Two individuals, one known to be Fairy Tail's Titania and the other unknown, started to burst through everyone they saw nearby with nothing more than simple swords. Moreover, the rage the two currently felt was translated perfectly well by the oh so convenient illustration of countless Phantom Lord members flying across the room.
"Take them down, they can't beat us if we take them on at once!" A man shouted, rallying a large amount of nearby wizards with his call for a full frontal attack.
"Requip!" Erza exclaimed.
Within an instant her body was engulfed in light before she donned her Flame Empress Armor and charged into a nearby wave of enemies, fire coating her sword all the while. She relentlessly lit up her opponents without a moment's hesitation, leaving only the remainder of the Phantom Members that were currently attacking her companion.
For the briefest of moments, each of the attackers appeared pleased that they had managed to separate the two from one another given how easily the duo had taken care of at least two dozen of their guild's members in an instant. However, they quickly realized that joy was the furthest thing that they should have been feeling in the face of this particular opponent.
"You'll need to come at me with more than this!" Ichigo shouted angrily, after which he openly leaped into a section of incoming enemies.
With his sword drawn, he challenged anyone who dared to continue with the attack. Whenever one of the wizards would try to stab him, their weapon would shatter just upon coming into contact with his zanpakuto, after which they would be punched, kicked, or simply batted away as if they were nothing but a nuisance.
Within a few short moments, the attacking Phantom members were dealt with, but he didn't stop there. Without any further delay, he leaped towards a group of wizards that were attacking at range and putting pressure on his comrades and quickly took them down, after which he looked towards the nearest gathering of opponents and did the same.
His style of fighting at the moment was one word, relentless. Everyone present could see an aura coming off of him as he continued to punch and slash his way through every enemy he could get his hands on. No matter what they tried to do, they couldn't fight, they couldn't run, and they couldn't hide.
"W-Who is this guy?!" One of the wizard exclaimed fearfully.
"I'm the person who wants to know who attacked our guild, and one of you is gonna tell me or I'll rip through everyone here to get an answer!" Ichigo shouted.
Those nearby only looked at him fearfully and said not a word. Even if they were eventually planning on telling him to spare themselves the pain of getting taken down, they were too slow to respond for his tastes. Thus, with one fell swoop and a couple uses of flash step, he took down those nearby before he charged across the enemy guildhall in an attempt to find answers and take down whoever else he could.
'Glad to see your combat skills are as sharp as ever.' Erza thought, smiling very briefly as she saw the orange-haired teen continuously tear through the building and any Phantom Lord member he could find.
"You are all a waste of my time! Tell me where I can find Gajeel and the element four!" Erza exclaimed, her sword burning with fire all the while.
Much like with the substitute, the wizards didn't answer despite the fact that they likely knew what would happen to them. They were a brave bunch, however, and opted to stupidly charge her in an attempt to take her out. Needless to say, the second they were close enough they were dispatched in an instant with their burning bodies sent flying across the building.
They, however, weren't the only ones that were currently doing a massive amount of damage to Phantom Lord. Across the building, Natsu, Gray, Elfman, Azlak, Bisca, Loke, and all the others put all their efforts into defeating whoever tried to stand against them. This wasn't a simple mission they were asked to do, at this point it was personal.
From atop the rafters of the building, a man watched the display with a sinister smirk etched across his face. At the sound of his name being called, he almost wanted to jump down and get in on the fight, but that wasn't what he was asked to do. He needed to wait for the one person he thought could beat him to take his leave, and that was just about to happen.
"Erza, Ichigo, I will leave the rabble to you. Take care of them in the name of Fairy Tail!" Makarov ordered as he made his way up the stairs, carelessly batting away anyone who was stupid enough to stand in his way.
"You got it, old man!" Ichigo shouted back, never ceasing his assault even as he spoke.
"Understood, Master Makarov!" Erza replied, choosing not to stop her aggression just as the orange-haired teen that had also been addressed.
A few seconds later, the two found themselves back to back with one another, their swords pointed at two opposite waves of enemy wizards all the while.
"Think he'll be okay?" Ichigo asked, momentarily ignoring the upcoming skirmish.
"Yes… I have faith that the master will be victorious. Even so, we must hold up on our end." Erza replied.
"Yeah, but with me here that ain't gonna happen!" A man's voice exclaimed from above.
Everyone in the guildhall stopped combating the enemy guild, whichever it was from their respective points of view, and looked up to see the owner of said voice jump down onto the floor of the building, chuckling as he did so.
"It's him!" Someone from Phantom exclaimed, sounding somewhat afraid for some reason or another.
The man who had just arrived was an individual with long, spikey black hair that happened to be slicked back and had a pair of red eyes. He didn't appear to have any eyebrows, rather they seemed to be replaced by small round studs. Across his body, actually, the simple studs made themselves evident, appearing on his ears, nose, eyebrows, and just below his chin.
His attire consisted of a shabby, black sleeveless tunic with studded edges, a piece of cloth wrapping around his waist as if acting in place of a belt, and a pair of loose beige-colored pants that were tucked inside a pair of studded black boots. He also wore a pair of brown cloves with metal attacked on the back of the area that covered his hands as well as two metal wristbands immediately prior to the cloves themselves. The last remaining part of his appearance was a wing-like ornament that covered his upper right shoulder that was dark green in color.
"It has to be him… the Iron Dragon Slayer, Black Steel Gajeel." Erza muttered at the sight of the man's form.
"You're the one who did that to Levy and the others!" A Fairy Tail member shouted angrily.
Said wizard almost immediately leaped towards the black-haired man in an attempt to exact revenge, but all the dragon slayer did in response was to smirk and wait until just the right moment.
When he was within striking distance, a large iron pole replaced his arm and shot forward, effectively launching his attacker far across the guildhall and taking out some of the other Phantom Members in the process.
"He took out his own guild mates with that attack?!" Gray exclaimed confusedly. It wouldn't surprise him if this was a dark guild, but for a legal guild to have someone who was so easily able to fight his own comrades was very disturbing.
"Heh, so which of you Fairy Tail losers is next?" Gajeel sneered.
"Hey, guy with the weird metal jewelry on his face, I got somethin' to ask you." Ichigo stated, walking to the forefront of the group.
At this, the Iron Dragon Slayer growled, obviously not appreciating the insult. The rest of his guild mates, upon seeing their most powerful member's anger rise, paled and began to very carefully step out of his way.
"What'd you just say to me?" Gajeel questioned, looking directly at the orange-haired teen as he did so.
"You're the Iron Dragon Slayer, right? So that means it was you who hurt Levy and the others, that it was you who destroyed the Fairy Tail's guildhall?" Ichigo inquired, prompting the man to chuckle evily as if he relished the memories of doing so.
"Yeah, I did, what of it ya Fairy Tail weakli…" Gajeel began.
The red-eyed dragon slayer didn't even have a chance to finish his sentence before a powerful punch sent him flying across the guildhall. He smashed into a wooden pillar like a piece of construction equipment, after which he picked himself up and smirked heavily at the man who had just challenged him.
"You see that's a bit unfortunate because it means that you're the one who's managed to piss me off this much." Ichigo stated.
"Pretty big talk… but I gotta say I was watchin' how you took out quite of few of our guild's members. I was surprised… but if ya think I'm as big a pushover as those weaklings, then you've got another thing coming." Gajeel replied before lunging at his opponent.
Upstairs: With Makarov and Jose
Currently, a very much so enraged Makarov Drayer stormed towards the body of his colleague with his magical energy raging so powerfully that the floor beneath his feet was currently cracking under the pressure. However, the man who sat on the practical throne directly in front of him didn't so much as move a muscle in the wake of the large torrent of yellow magical energy.
The man who currently sat before the elderly wizard was wicked in appearance. He was a tall, slim man with straight, black hair that reached down to his shoulders. He had green eyes, a sharp face, dark-colored lips, and a thin moustache on his face.
He wore high-collared purple coat with pink trimmings and a jagged mantle, beneath which was a plain-looking shirt with his Wizard Saint's medallion showing around his neck with two light ribbons falling down from it. The most outstanding characteristic of his outfit, however, happened to be the pair of bat-like wings that seemed to be a part of his overcoat.
"Come and face me Jose!" Makarov roared angrily as he stared down the smirking image of the man that had aggravated him so heavily.
"My, my, look who's come to my doorstep on such short notice." Jose thought aloud, completely ignoring the demands of the short man before him.
"Tell me why your attacking Fairy Tail Jose!" Makarov shouted, his magic energy still flaring all the while.
"It's been a while Makarov… six years ago at a guild master's conference. I remember that day, I was a complete ass. I can't hold my liquor as well as the rest of you…" Jose stated.
In a fit of rage, the leader of the Fairy Tail guild sent forth an enlarged fist directly towards the sitting form of a man he currently considered to be his enemy. Dust roared upwards from the point of impact, but the elderly wizard knew that such a small attack wouldn't be the end of this fight.
"I didn't come here to make small talk, I want answers…" Makarov began.
He, however, stopped upon seeing the image of Phantom's guild master flicker and give off a small amount of static. Evidently, it had been nothing more of a projection, a parlor trick that he truly should have seen coming.
"A projection… you coward. I should've known you'd flee with your tail between your legs." Makarov stated matter-of-factly.
"Please… I simply wished to avoid a fight between two of the Ten Wizard Saint's. I always have preferred a sensible victory without all the commotion." Jose replied, a cocky smirk present on his lips.
"Why are you hiding… come and face me like a man!" Makarov shouted.
As opposed to initially giving a verbal reason, the currently smirking man decided to let a picture paint a thousand words, so to speak. The tied up form of Lucy appeared via holographic projection directly before the elderly wizard's eyes, which caused his rage to shoot up even farther than it already had.
"Lucy… but why?" Makarov uttered confusedly.
"Why you ask? Well, I am quite surprised that she's in your guild and you still don't know… well, it seems that Ms. Lucy Heartfilia hasn't told you the truth just yet." Jose mused.
A second later he gestured his hand towards the blonde, after which a magical seal reminiscent of an attack spell appeared. In just a moment, if it happened to fire, the celestial mage would have been disintegrated.
"No, don't!" Makarov shouted, reaching hopelessly towards the holographic projection.
That, however, would prove to be his downfall, as the moment he did so a large man clad in great robes with an orange undershirt and a piece of cloth covering his eyes appeared out of nowhere.
'What?! I didn't even sense his presence, so how was I…' Makarov thought, an instant after which he lost the capability of even moving.
Ground Floor: With Ichigo and the Others
"Ya know, if you bothered to stop caring about everyone else here, then maybe you'd be able to beat me." Gajeel stated from his position across the orange-haired teen.
"Why don't you shut your mouth?" Ichigo barked.
"Heh, testy, testy… all I did was point out the obvious." Gajeel replied.
"Well you can keep crap like that to yourself since I don't care." Ichigo stated.
"Oh well, let's continue!" Gajeel exclaimed, launching a large iron pole directly at a currently fighting group of Fairy Tail wizards.
Ichigo, much as he did before, blocked the attack and allowed no harm to come to his guild mates. Still, while he was doing this, Gajeel was already moving onto terrorizing a different group.
This wouldn't usually be a problem, but currently the massive number of Phantom Lord's wizards in the building made it so that most everyone else was tied up dealing with the grunts. As a result, Ichigo was the only one capable of freely fighting against the Iron Dragon Slayer, which meant that he had no ability to prevent him from randomly attacking. Had this been a one on one fight in the sense that no one else was around, it would have been over in an instant, but as it stood his opponent was quite literally stalling.
The entirety of their fight, thus far, had simply consisted of the red-eyed dragon slayer aiming for his opponent's comrades, which would force a defensive reaction from Ichigo given that he didn't want others to be hurt at the expense of taking out his opponent. Once this was done, Gajeel would just repeat, and it simply went on and on.
'He isn't attacking me… and he's never had the intent to. That can only mean he's stalling… but why the hell would he do that after all his talk?' Ichigo wondered.
Yet another of the Iron Dragon Slayer's attacks were deflected, effectively preventing Elfman from taking a large iron pole to the kidney and allowing the practical pattern to reset. For the time being, however, the red-eyed man had stopped his constant onslaught in favor of some small conversation.
"Damn, you're ridiculously fast… what's your name?" Gajeel questioned, smirking at the prospect of someone he would otherwise be having a large amount of fun with.
"Ichigo Kurosaki… now answer one of my questions. Why are you stalling? Is it because you know if you don't I'll lop off one of your arms in an instant?" Ichigo asked, glaring daggers at his opponent.
"Well… from what I smell in the air right now, you're about to find out." Gajeel replied, his smirk growing in size despite how impossible that seemed.
From the highest point of the building, a body fell like a ton of bricks. It hit the ground shortly thereafter, bringing everyone's attention to it. When the smoke had cleared around the point of impact, there wasn't a single person fighting, and a majority of Fairy Tail's strongest members went over to aid the man who looked substantially strained, if not close to death's door.
Makarov lay on his back within a small hole his landing had created, his skin green and his magical energy fading with each passing second. It he didn't look as if he was violently ill, then the only other alternative would have been that someone had hit him with a truckload of sickly-green makeup.
"I'm so sad! Why do I suddenly feel so melancholy?! Perhaps it is because that on this day the world has lost a great wizard!" A man sobbed loudly from the rafters, though he was ignored by most everyone given that the priority for the Fairy Tail mages was to tend to their wounded leader.
'He… lost… but how is that possible? I didn't feel a single thing coming from upstairs, which meant that it had to have been a sneak attack…' Ichigo thought, momentarily being paralyzed by what had just happened. He could feel his anger rise even more, so much so that he pupils quite literally shook with rage.
Currently, a man that he owed a great deal to was nearby him, dying, and all he could do was stand in place with his sword gripped tightly in his hands. However, the second that he had his senses back, that's when he noticed it, or rather a lack of something. His body wasn't paralyzed out of shock, he truly couldn't move it. At this moment in time, his limbs wouldn't respond to his commands.
'What the hell is going on?!' Ichigo thought worriedly.
"Master Makarov!" Erza exclaimed as she ran towards the seemingly defeated wizard.
"I don't understand… I don't sense any magic energy coming from him at all!" Gray exclaimed fearfully.
"No way, you mean he's just an ordinary old man now?" Elfman asked, sounding highly concerned.
"That can't be right!" Natsu shouted defiantly, as if he simply wouldn't consider that to be an option.
"Still, I don't get it… gramps is so powerful, so how'd they beat him?" Gray wondered aloud.
"Children…" Makarov's voice called out weakly, capturing the attention of everyone nearby.
"Gramps, what is it?!" Natsu asked urgently, fighting the urge to violently shake his master in order to wake him up. He knew that wouldn't work, but he couldn't think of anything else.
"Save… Lucy… captured by… Jose…" Makarov mumbled, after which he seemed to black out.
The Fairy Tail wizards released a collective gasp, after which they were broken out of it by the chuckling that came courtesy of Phantom's dragon slayer. He had yet to make another move, but very clearly he enjoyed watching his guild's enemies quake in fear over what had just happened.
"Oh, so Master Jose told him what we did with the blonde. Too bad he can't do a damn thing right now." Gajeel sneered.
"Yes, but it makes me so sad that he had to be dealt with in such a way!" The large green-cloaked man wailed.
"Well you're just as creepy as ever… still, I gotta commend you on taking down the Fairy Tail geezer, Aria." Gajeel stated.
"I only did what Master Jose ordered." Aria replied, sounding as if he truly didn't take any joy in what he had just done.
"Whatever… now there's just one little fly I've gotta deal with and then we're done here." Gajeel said.
An instant later he directed his sights towards the still immobile form of Ichigo, who just stood in place with a blank look in his eyes as if he was unable to do anything but remain standing. At this, most everyone else in Fairy Tail looked at him worriedly, clearly knowing what was about to happen and yet still being incapable of doing anything about it.
'But he is more than fast enough to dodge anything that guy can fire at him!' Natsu thought, sweating slightly as he stared with concern at his currently endangered friend.
"Iron Dragon's Roar!" Gajeel exclaimed.
From the mouth of the dragon slayer a massive blast of tiny metal shards that roared within the confines of a tornado-like attack. The large wave of magical energy approached its target within seconds, appearing as if it would end up in a dead hit.
"Snap out of it Ichigo!" Erza shouted.
The scarlet-haired woman's cries fell on deaf ears as the attack landed a direct hit. Large amounts of smoke and dust shot out of the attack's collision point, at which time the Fairy Tail wizards could do nothing but stare worriedly at the opaque cloud with the hopes that their comrade was at least only mildly injured. After an attack like that, they didn't believe even he was capable of being unharmed.
"Nobody can take a hit from Gajeel's dragon roar and make it out alive!" One of Phantom's members cheered.
"Tch, I thought he'd put up a bit more of a fight than that." Gajeel scoffed, turning his back to the cloud of smoke as he did so.
Just as the dragon slayer was about to turn heel and leave the guildhall, however, his comrade and one of Phantom's esteemed Element Four called out in an attempt to gain his attention, if only for a moment.
"Gajeel…" Aria called out, his tone slightly shaken.
"What the hell do you…" Gajeel began, only to stop his speech the second after turning around and seeing the still standing form of his opponent within the lessening cloud of dust.
"There's no way…" A man trailed off, several repeating these very words as the smoke continued to dissipate.
The Fairy Tail wizards had surprised looks or small smiles on their face upon seeing that their latest member was evidently more powerful than they had originally believed him to be. To be able to withstand something with that much magical energy without even having to move an inch was impressive to say the least.
Any sense of relief, however, evaporated the second that his actual appearance became evident once more. The prevailing emotions at this point, by most everyone in the guild, were nothing more than a sheer sense of fear and shock.
"What the hell…" Gajeel trailed off, gazing at his opponent's new appearance with a confused expression.
The formerly human appearance of the orange-haired teen was currently warped from its usual state. For one, a hole made itself evident at the center of his chest, out of which a white substance exuded outwardly and extended in all directions. Normally that would have drawn more attention given that nobody walked around with a hole located in such an area, but the fact remained that his face was infinitely more terrifying and glaring.
A mask with red markings covered the entire left side of the substitute's face, which gave off a seemingly demonic and sinister appearance as opposed to the traditional warrior-like feel his usual looks gave off. However, the most terrifying feature of all was his eyes. The brown orbs were replaced by golden ones while his sclera became pitch black. On top of that, he was smiling in an evil and sadistic manner, gazing predatorily at the wizards directly in front of him.
"I-Ichigo…" Erza uttered in a tone of disbelief. This definitely wasn't something she had seen or been told about before, but most everyone else was just as lost as she was.
"Now just what the hell is this supposed to be?" Gajeel questioned, appearing as if he were demanding to know the answer.
"Hehehehehe…" Ichigo laughed in a warped voice, only adding to the fear that most currently felt and reinforcing the shock and confusion of his comrades.
"Did you hear me? I asked what the hell you just did?!" Gajeel roared angrily.
Much to his and everyone else's surprise, the masked man's body vanished into what was seemingly thin air, after which he reappeared directly in front of the Iron Dragon Slayer and firmly gripped his face within the palm of his own hand.
An instant later, he launched the man directly across the guildhall, releasing a quiet laughing sound all the while. With that done, he stared at the recently thrown form of the black-haired man, staring uncaringly and expecting the fight to continue.
"Don't stand around here boys! This guy's just one man, let's help Gajeel out and finish this for Phantom!" A man shouted, charging the masked form of the orange-haired teen without a sense of fear or worry about what could possibly happen.
Several of the others registered what was said, and as a result they shook off their sense of fear at the warped appearance their opponent currently sported. Still, that sense of newfound courage dissipated as quickly as it formed due to what happened next.
The Phantom Lord wizard that had so bravely charged the practical demon with his sword in hand quickly found himself incapacitated. Without giving it a second thought, Ichigo's hollowfied form brought Zangetsu forth and slashed the man across his body from hip to shoulder, shattering his weapon in the process.
With a large amount of blood pouring forth from his wounds, the seemingly brave, but stupid, wizard just gasped before he hit the floor. When this occurred, the black and gold eyes of the creature turned to look at the surrounding group of enemies who had considered moving in, however they were seemingly paralyzed once more in the wake of what they had just witnessed.
"Hahahaha…" The creature laughed out, after which it charged directly at everything that surrounded it.
Within moments at least two dozen of the Phantom Lord guild members were on the ground laying in a pool of their own blood. No mercy was given to those who stood in this being's way. In fact the injured men were lucky to even be alive given the current circumstances.
"What the hell is going on?" Gray wondered aloud, knowing full well that this wasn't like the Ichigo they knew at all.
'That thing… it resembles a demon, but the hole in the center of its chest… could it be a… a hollow?' Erza wondered confusedly.
Despite the fact that this thought lingered on in her mind, she refused to accept that as the reality of the situation. She knew that a hollow was a monster, something that consumed the souls of whatever it could get its hands on, and Ichigo was the furthest thing from something like that.
"Tch, I see you finally got the guts to really rip into anyone in your way… I gotta say I'm a bit surprised, Kurosaki." Gajeel thought aloud as he stared down the white-masked creature.
It didn't respond to his words, not directly at least, as all it opted to do was stare at the raven-haired man with a manic expression and demonic eyes. A series of raspy breaths echoed in the air, but that was the only movement or action that it chose to take.
"Not gonna talk, huh? Well then… take this!" Gajeel exclaimed.
The red-eyed dragon slayer extended his right hand in the form of a large metal club that shot towards the masked being without delay. As opposed to previous instances, however, the creature didn't choose to move and counterattack, the result of which was the large metal club piercing directly through his shoulder and leaving a rather somewhat sizeable hole as it retracted and once again morphed back into Gajeel's hand.
"Ichigo!" Many exclaimed worriedly, though that was to be expected upon seeing their comrade with a large hole in his upper right shoulder.
"Ain't so tough now, are ya?" Gajeel taunted, smirking at the damage he had done.
"Graaa…." The creature hissed out, after which a white substance, different from the materials of its mask, began to cover the wound.
Everyone present watched with absolutely shocked and confused expressions as the wound, a literal hole in the man's arm, healed completely before their very eyes. The only thing that was currently missing happened to be the clothing, but no one particularly cared about that given what had just occurred.
"What the hell?!" Gajeel exclaimed.
"The wound healed?" Gray wondered aloud, his eyes wide as he continuously stared at the area that had just reformed on Ichigo's body. For a moment he thought he might have been going insane.
'What kind of healing power is that? Nothing I've ever encountered has even come close to something like that…' Erza thought, now being captivated by the fight in its entirety.
"Let's get him while he's standing still, men!" One of the Phantom wizard's shouted.
A group of about a dozen wizards or so then surrounded the orange-haired demonic beast and extended their hands in an effort to fire a series of concentrated attacks with the high hopes of finishing him off.
Within the next moment, each of the gathered mages let loose a powerful burst of magical energy, subsequently after which the collection of attacks shot towards their opponent without delay. When the attacks made contact, a large amount of smoke shot out from the point of impact, and it seemed that they had been successful.
"Who the hell said you moron's could interrupt my fight?!" Gajeel roared angrily, grabbing one of the wizard's by the collar and glaring heavily into his eyes.
"B-But we got him." The man stuttered fearfully. One monster was enough to deal with, he didn't need a second.
Before the Iron Dragon Slayer could even make a reply, something that only added to everyone's shock and confusion occurred. A large, gray, snake-like creature with massive teeth erupted from the pile of spoke and began to charge around the battlefield in a clear attempt of whipping out each and every one of its enemies.
"What the hell is that thing?!" Someone exclaimed.
"Outta my way!" Gajeel ordered, after which he jumped directly in front of the monster's path.
He caught the beast by its teeth though his body was still easily being pushed back simply due to the massive force the snake-like creature was using to move forth so relentlessly. Thinking on his feet, Gajeel let loose a powerful Iron Dragon's Roar directly into the creature's mouth, after which it erupted and seemed to just disappear from existence.
With that taken care of, the sound of a raspy growl once again caught his attention. His eyes widened out of shock given that he believed the snake was his opponent, but nevertheless he turned back to face his enemy once more.
When the dragon slayer's eyes finally looked to the source of the sound, all he could see was a smoke-covered figure that clearly happened to be his opponent. The second the smoke cleared, however, the form of the orange-haired teen had once again altered.
The white substance that had initially sprouted forth from his chest now covered a majority of the right side of his upper body, now being present on his shoulder and arm as well as his lower left abdomen. The mask as well had expanded slightly, and the now white-coated arm now sported claws as opposed to human fingers.
"What the hell are you exactly? Ya some kind of demon?" Gajeel questioned, honestly wanting to know the answer.
"Graaa…" The demonic-looking being replied in a raspy tone.
"I'm gettin' really pissed with this whole you not answering me thing!" Gajeel roared angrily.
For a brief few seconds, the white-masked creature did nothing in response. However, after those short, precious seconds, nearly everyone in the guild became paralyzed by an enormous jolt of dark energy.
Large amounts of black spiritual energy laced with red began to swarm around the practical demon, acting like a powerful storm that seemed as if it would never let up. Massive and rapidly flowing winds crushed against the interior of the guildhall, and the energy itself expanded outwardly and began to twirl in the air relentlessly.
"What is this energy… it's so… dark…" Erza uttered in a shocked voice.
She, along with the others, were completely paralyzed due to the deadly energy that currently sparked to life right before their very eyes. Even if they wanted to run, they couldn't, and so they were forced to watch as the white-masked creature began to shriek, the vortex of black energy swirling around his form all the while.
The spiritual energy coalesced around the demonic hollow-like creature and began to twirl more rapidly than it had at any point prior. A moment later the large vortex of gathered power burst forth in a show of sheer force, dissipating rather quickly shortly thereafter.
However, despite the fact that the energy had vanished from view and the fact that it no longer had the chance to bring harm to those near it, an entirely new problem emerged in the form of an even greater threat that presented itself in the wake of the storm of raw energy.
Ichigo now stood with his apparent evolution coming to a close. His orange hair was now significantly longer and wild in nature, extending to his lower back and sprouting forth from the back of his head. The mask now fully covered his face, effectively giving him an even more demonic look, only now one of the eyes was covered by the visage itself in the form of a faux-golden eye. In addition, the white substance now covered each and every part of his body. A tail now exuded from the lower portion of his back, and his general physique became more muscular than prior.
His clothes were torn completely from his upper body while the only remnants on his lower half were tattered remnants that left parts of his pitch-white legs exposed. Both of his hands were now clawed, as were his feet, and tuffs of fur made themselves evident on his wrists and ankles. A series of dark red tribal markings were now scattered throughout his body, and within his right hand the large cleaver-like sword was still firmly gripped.
'That mask… the hole in his chest, and that dark energy… he can't have turned into a hollow, could he?' Erza wondered fearfully.
"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" The creature roared, instantly causing the redheaded wizard's body to tense up out of fear.
That roar sent a chill through the bones of whoever happened to hear it, be they a lowly grunt or a hardened veteran. The air itself seemed to become thicker as this occurred, the result of which was for most wizards nearby to shy away in favor of not angering something capable of such power just as a result of a simple roar.
Despite the fact that everyone was stricken with a sense of fear, none were more affected by this than Erza herself. She had heard the battle cry of a hollow firsthand during the questioning administered to Ichigo by the Magic Council, and the sound of it was something that she wouldn't ever forget until her dying day. That, however, wasn't what struck her with a sense of fear, it was the fact that the roar of her formerly human-looking friend was identical to a hollow in every way she was capable of imagining.
"You think I'm gonna cower away just cuz' you look like that?! Bring it on!" Gajeel shouted, extending his hand and forming a large metal sword with the clear intent to fight his opponent head on.
The white-skinned creature immediately ran towards its challenger without delay, bringing Zangetsu to bear in an effort to deal with the dragon slayer quickly and without mercy.
Within moments, the two swords began to clash, though it was very clear who held the upper hand. The practical monster relentlessly ran forward, slashing from side to side in a clear quest to draw blood.
To his credit, Gajeel didn't allow his pride to get in the way as he correctly opted to back away and parry each of the consecutive strikes. That, however, proved to be equally as futile an attempt at victory the second after the two engaged, mainly for the only reason that no matter how one looked at the skirmish, the orange-haired demonic-looking creature was far quicker with its blade.
Seeing himself being backed into a corner, the raven-haired dragon slayer opted to hold his ground following the next occasion he blocked his opponents sword. Still, in the end it only served to seal his fate as the beast then opted to slam its head directly into Gajeel's chest with the enough force to crack open a brick wall.
"Gah!" Gajeel uttered, almost forced to do so upon his chest being hit with that much raw strength behind the blow.
He flew backwards in the air, shooting into a nearby wall and creating a sizeable hole in it despite the fact that it was made of stone bricks. His body injured and in dire need of a few moments in order to recover, the dragon slayer could do nothing but fall to his hands and knees, a pained expression present on his face all the while. Just speaking at this point seemed as if it would be a difficult task.
"What the hell are you?" Gajeel grunted out, bringing his head up to look at his opponent.
In response, the creature just extended its free left hand and directed its open palm towards the red-eyed man. Within a second thereafter, a ball of pure crimson spiritual energy formed within said palm, spiraling to life and exuding a large amount of raw power.
It shined so brilliantly that the building itself seemed to reflect the color as it sparked to life, but all Gajeel could do was stand in place and stare down the attack he knew would be coming his way in just moments.
Predictably, the attack fired off, after which a colossal wave of crimson consumed almost everything in front of the creature that had launched it. The cero tore through the ground of the building, through any tables in its way, and even the support beams that happened to be caught in the crossfire within seconds, subsequently after which the dragon slayers body was eclipsed by the wave of energy.
A massive explosion sounded off, causing smoke and light bits of fire to coat the currently demolished wall, though the body of the man who was hit by it wasn't currently anywhere near the point of impact. It wasn't likely that he was incinerated, but still it did mean that this fight was over.
"I-It… it beat Gajeel…" One of the Phantom Lord guild members uttered out of disbelief.
"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" The hollow-like beast roared victoriously.
With its current objective seemingly accomplished, the golden-eyed creature turned to face the group of Fairy Tail wizards, its expression unreadable and its posture the exact same as it had been since its arrival.
"I-Ichigo…" Gray called out in an unsure tone, eliciting no reaction from the white-skinned demonic being.
For the time being, their still-perceived comrade didn't take any actions of aggression such as slashing at them or moving forward in an attempt to make a direct attack, but all the same it didn't exactly speak out to quell their worries.
"Hey Ichigo… that was awesome!" Natsu exclaimed cheerfully.
Most everyone looked at the pink-haired teen with a sense of clear concern showing on their faces. That sense of worry only increased upon seeing the Fairy Tail wizard walk up towards the creature with a large grin on his face and possessing no clear ability to defend himself in the case of an attack due to his own actions.
"Natsu, what are you doing?" Cana asked warily, obviously not being entirely sure of what was currently going on.
"What're you acting so afraid for? It's Ichigo, remember?" Natsu said, sounding as if he knew for a fact there was no reason to be concerned.
The dragon slayer turned to face who he viewed as the Substitute Soul Reaper he had met just a short time ago, now being within arm's length of him with no apparent desire on the creature's part to engage in a fight. This serviced to reinforce his belief that this was just one of Ichigo's abilities, but many still remained skeptic.
"You really tore through those guys, eh? Plus you look so cool! The eyes are a little weird though…" Natsu continued with a smile still etched on his face.
'Is it possible that… perhaps… this truly is Ichigo?' Erza wondered, though she still kept a close watch on the beast's body movements in case it was to randomly attack the unsuspecting dragon slayer.
A moment later the redheaded knight distinctly saw the creature tighten its grip on the large sword that had been typically wielded by Ichigo thus far. Upon this occurring, she frantically made a move to prevent her friend from coming to any form of harm.
"Natsu, get back!" Erza exclaimed.
It was too late for the pink-haired teen to retreat as the white-skinned demonic being brought its blade across the dragon slayer's body in an attempt to cut him in two. Erza, however, wasn't one to allow this to happen and thus she rushed towards the beast and blocked the attack with her own magical sword, albeit barely.
"Natsu… get… back… now!" Erza ordered, struggling to hold back the zanpakuto of the hollow that appeared to be in control of Ichigo's body.
Natsu was in a state of mild shock and as a result it took him a moment to react, but nevertheless this also had the effect of causing him to obediently listen to the commands of requip user that had essentially just saved his life.
Once Natsu had leaped back to safety, all eyes fell on the form of Fairy Tail's strongest female wizard as she continued to struggle to hold back the sword of the orange-haired creature.
"Tya!" The hollow grunted out, swiping its blade and ending the stalemate with one powerful motion.
Erza's magical sword broke into two separate pieces and she was forced to create a large distance between herself and her opponent as a result. Sweat began to drip from her brow as she stared down the still menacing creature that was clearly not the man she had grown to respect such a great deal.
'However… I have to keep in mind that this thing is still somehow Ichigo… I don't know why this is happening, but I can't just make an attempt at killing it.' Erza thought, being disgusted by even the mental consideration of doing such a thing.
She believed her best bet at the moment was to make an attempt to buy time. With how this hollow-like beast was acting, retreat wasn't an option, and even if it was that didn't solve the immediate problem which was the fact that a rampaging demon would be let loose if she chose to just ignore it.
"I suppose I'm not left with many other options… requip!" Erza exclaimed.
The scarlet-haired woman's body was engulfed by a bright light, shortly after which her appearance altered and a new set of armor made its appearance, this time being black with silver trimmings, though that was far from what made it distinctive.
Around her neck was a neck guard decorated with scarlet-colored gems, and her hair was now tied in a ponytail with only two bangs framing her face. She now sported a pair of large shoulder pads composed of two sequential silver-edged plates that flanked a metal high-rise collar which possessed a shape reminiscent of a dress.
Erza's chest was now covered by a silver-edged breastplate that revealed a fair amount of cleavage and left her stomach exposed while her sides were covered by two separate plates than ran down her body and connected to the her waist guard. Said piece of amour was fairy long but left the front of her body exposed, though the back was covered by a series of long silver-edged feather-like pieces of armor. Her hands were now covered by two slim gauntlets, and her legs were completely covered save for an area on her upper thigh on each respective leg.
The set of armor was complete with a pair of wings that appeared to allow her the ability to fly should she choose to do so and a purple and silver sword with intricate patterns and a golden guard that she gripped tightly in both of her hands.
'My Black Wing Armor should allow me to keep up with his offensive capabilities and also allow me the ability to evade his attacks. Still, with how easily it defeated Black Steel Gajeel, I can't let my guard down.' Erza thought.
"Is she… is she gonna fight him?" Elfman wondered aloud.
He and the others were in a state of confusion and fear, neither of the two being particularly dominant but both being the only things that anyone really felt. The reason was simple, and that was the fact that they didn't quite know how to react and the accompanying fact that they couldn't just do nothing. At the same time, against something that was apparently so powerful, it was very difficult to judge whether or not to fight it all out or hold back in case the comrade they all knew and had befriended was still in there.
"Ichigo… if you can hear me, get ahold of yourself! Whatever this is, I know you're not gone. Explanations can come later, but right now I need you to push this thing back!" Erza shouted in an attempt to send a plea towards the orange-haired teen she knew for a fact was still somewhere inside the demonic creature she currently faced down.
Without warning, the white-skinned hollow charged its new adversary with its sword brought to bear and its full force put behind it. Once it neared, Erza was almost immediately forced to take flight in order to dodge, her eyes being greeted with the sight of her former position being absolutely decimated by the powerful sword strike.
However, she chose not to acknowledge the hole in the ground where she had previously stood, rather she opted to use her positioning to attack the beast head on in an attempt to see its capabilities firsthand.
She came down on the demonic creature like a hawk snatching its pray, her sword aiming for its upper right shoulder in an attempt to at least do some damage, if not then at the very least force a reaction.
Somewhat to her surprise, her sword was batted away rather quickly by the beast's free left hand, after which the zanpakuto of her opponent came slashing across her body in an attempt to mount a counterattack of some kind.
Despite the fact she hadn't expected it, that in no way meant she was not prepared. Thus the scarlet-haired woman flipped herself in the air in order to dodge the attack and simultaneously allow herself to land behind the monstrous beast and slash it across its back.
The redheaded wizard successfully accomplished this feat, after which she turned as quickly as she could and positioned her sword so that once she had come full circle the entire force of her swing would gain momentum and perhaps she could injure the hollow in order to slow him down.
However, what occurred next was not something she considered possible. The second that her eyes looked at what she thought to be the back of her opponent, she was greeted with the sight of the haunting golden eyes and stared directly into her own.
The creature blocked her attack handily, though it put no force past what was needed. This, at first, confused Erza a great degree, but a split second later she realized why it had chosen to do so.
The hollow brought it's fist upwardly into the redhead's uncovered stomach, which caused most everyone present to widen their eyes in shock. The punch was directed in such a way that the scarlet-haired wizard wasn't sent flying backwards, but at the same time a massive amount of force ran straight into her body uninhibited.
Erza felt blood flow out of her mouth as she fell to the ground, stopping her body from hitting the floors of the guildhall by using her hands and knees to essentially catch herself. Despite the fact that she wasn't currently face-down on the ground, it was very clear to most everyone present that she wasn't capable of defending herself.
'How could I have been so careless?!' Erza thought, even finding it necessary to chastise herself in the face of death.
When she had been hit in such a convincing manner, she had believed the fight to have been over. In fact, she was expecting to be cut in half by this point. To her surprise, and relief, the beast she had previously fought stood in place, staring down at her without any indication that it would land the finishing blow. That still didn't mean that it wouldn't eventually do so, but at the very least it was precious time for her to attempt a recovery.
'Is it not going to finish me off?' Erza wondered, lifting her head up and staring into the golden irises of the hollow just as she had before their fight had started.
For a brief moment, she regained the hope that perhaps something inside its mind was telling it not to finish her off. This wasn't the same confusion that she had seen when Natsu approached the creature. Rather, it was hesitation, pure and simple.
'Ichigo… I know you're in there somewhere. Just please… please snap out of it!' Erza thought.
Had she been able to do so, Erza would have shouted this at the top of her lungs. Sadly, however, she wasn't currently able to find her voice due to the severe pain that wracked her entire body. She could once again feel her limbs, but recovery was slow at this point.
Even so, she could still make an attempt to communicate with her eyes and facial expression. She poured whatever emotion she could into her eyes, staring into the very soul of the hollow directly in front of her. It wasn't a guarantee to do anything really, but at this point it was her only means of communication.
Her hope, however, vanished upon seeing the best extend its left hand once more, a gesture that made Erza's eyes widen out of both shock and fear. The palm of said hand opened, shortly after which the crimson energy of the attack that had defeated Gajeel spiraled to life.
All she could do was stare into the orb of energy, unable to feel anything at this point other than the fear of her life coming to an end. She wasn't a coward by any means, but whatever she was facing was like nothing she had ever fought before.
The energy it gave off was worse than demonic, and its strength and speed were truly terrifying for something as large as this creature was. Whatever it was, however, clearly wasn't Ichigo.
In truth Erza didn't quite know what was worse, the fact that Ichigo was about to kill her by extension of this thing, or the fact that she had allowed herself to get into such a deplorable state.
"Erza, get out of the way!" Gray exclaimed worriedly.
Those words fell on deaf ears as the scarlet-haired woman was paralyzed in the face of a large crimson cero about to fire off mere inches away from her body. All hope seemed to vanish, but then again that was the way a hollow fought, quickly and without mercy.
Abruptly, however, the illuminating glow of the energy sphere stopped emanating crimson light, directly before Erza's very eyes. An instant later, the creature began to roar in a random fashion, stumbling backwards as it did so.
'What is it doing? Why did it stop its attack…' Erza wondered.
The large white beast continued to roar in a pained voice, frantically moving about as if its body was in the middle of a tug of war, each side of which wanted desperately to come out on top.
'Ichigo… was it… you?' Erza wondered.
"Raaaaaaaaaaa!" The hollow wailed, all the while bringing its left hand up and gripping the mask that covered its face.
Cracks began to form on the upper right corner of the beast's visage, at which point a massive amount of energy once again flooded the entirety of the guildhall in a massive storm of spiritual energy.
This time, unlike previously, another distinctive type of pressure battled with the dark and deadly powerful demonic energy. Black laced with red and light blue, that which many had seen emanating off of Ichigo, began to swirl around the hollow as it continued to scream in what appeared to be a pained voice.
Within a few seconds, the mask was torn off, revealing the face of the Substitute Soul Reaper that everyone knew to have been underneath the form of a demonic creature.
When the mask shattered, so too did the essential shell that surrounded his body. The excess hair, mask, and tail all evaporated within an instant, after which Ichigo was revealed to be standing with his clothing extremely torn and a hole no longer present at the center of his chest.
"The beast is down men. Run for your lives, retreat!" A Phantom wizard shouted.
None of the opposing guild bothered to do anything at the moment, save for Natsu who had a very specific article of business to discuss with anyone he could get his hands on. Everyone else, however, just stared observationally at the seemingly normal form of their guild's latest member.
"I-Ichigo…" Erza trailed off worriedly.
The orange-haired teen didn't even give a response before his eyes closed and his body hit the ground of the large castle-like building. Seeing this, the scarlet-haired teen crawled up a few feet and began to examine his body, a fearful expression etched on her face given what had just happened.
Erza let loose a heavy sigh of relief upon feeling that Ichigo's heart was still beating within his chest and that his energy seemed to have stabilized. It was no longer dark and deadly in nature, but rather warm and protecting if ever she would describe it as something.
"Erza, is he okay?!" Gray exclaimed, running towards the body alongside many of the other Fairy Tail wizards nearby.
"He's fine… right now I think we need to retreat. Azlac, Bisca, take Master Makarov to see Porlyusica at once. I will take Ichigo back to the guildhall alongside the others and we will deal with Phantom later." Erza stated firmly, finding the strength to once again stand tall.
Her abdomen still hurt like all hell, as evident by the fact that she was currently clenching it, but she could bear with the pain. However it still remained that any counterattack would likely not occur given that the enemy guild's fighters were currently busy running like scarred children in the wake of whatever had just happened.
"Right. I'll help you take him back." Gray volunteered.
"Did I say I needed your assistance?" Erza growled out, her pride not allowing her to shy away in a time when action was necessary.
"Just shut up and take my help. With how hard you just got hit, I'd be surprised if you can make it out of the guild without having to support his body." Gray stated, after which he picked the orange-haired teen up and thrust his arm over his own shoulders.
"Tch… since when do you have the guts to speak to me like that?" Erza scoffed, doing the same thing as the raven-haired mage though on the other of Ichigo's arms.
"I'll probably regret doing this later, but right now we need to get moving." Gray replied, eliciting a nod from the redheaded woman.
"Right." Erza said in agreement.
A/N Okay, so once again the next chapter will be posted next Monday. Other than that, not much to say.
Explanations:
Ichigo's Hollow: Now those of you who know me are fully aware that, of course, this is the prelude to a little talk between two people that will take place in Ichigo's inner world. Rest assured, that much is so close it's almost ridiculous.
Reviews:
rc4817:Can't answer, sorry xD
Pokemaster94: I assume Urahara.
Gravenimage: Yes, he can still use Bankai. No, he cannot currently use his mask. Also, of course he will use Bankai in the future. I have answered all of these before, I believe.
cecebeec: Can't answer that, mostly because the big battle with Phantom is just around the corner so you'll find out soon anyway ;P
GirlFish: Most likely, the only crossovers I will do will involve Fairy Tail and Bleach.
BleachxFairyTail9121: No, but he has taken a passive approach since he has neither the ability nor the resources to figure out how to get home in his current position.
q: Um, no, this will not happen. I think I've said before what my stance is on other Bleach characters being in this particular story.
Do Fairies have tails: I think I answered this over PM if I am not mistaken.