Chapter 21- The Scorpion
The guild master of Manticore Stinger cracked his knuckles then raised one hand in the direction of the coalition of good. They stood their ground, each staring at his palm intently. A line of jagged steel columns erupted from the floor and sped forwards. Jura grunted and erected a wall of stone, but the steel pierced it effortlessly and shot into the wizard saint, propelling him backwards against the cave wall.
"Iron rock Jura, you're but a pebble…" The Guild Master mumbled. Bisca, Alzack and Alm took aggressive positions and fanned out along the sides of the man while Jura regained his footing. The Manticore Stinger master eyed them, standing still like a statue. Alzack and Bisca fired first, each letting a flurry of bullets soar into the stoic man's armor. To their shock, each individual bullet impacted but fell away with a flattened tip, none piercing the armor.
The script for lava seared into the air and an attack of pure magma flew onto him, but he simply whipped his mail cape over his head. The bubbling molten metal poured off the sides of the armor and pooled on the ground where the man stood as unshaken as ever.
"Was any of that meant to damage me?" Brass then swung his arm, and a wave of metal spines materialized in the air and flew into the walls. Alzack grabbed Bisca's shoulders and thrust both of them into the ground, but Jura and Alm were late on the defense. The wizard saint grunted and gripped the metal between both of his palms, his muscles taut and aching as he kept it from skewering him. With one great twist of his abdomen he pushed it aside and let it fly into the wall, before having several rock columns at his opponent. Behind him, Alm's arm was roughly cut in half, leaving him with one bleeding stump. The council lackey felt a sensation he had never felt before, and it overwhelmed all of his senses.
Jura and Brass faced off against each other, both unflinching and staring intently. Bisca quickly switched her weapon to the purple rifle, but even that minor infraction caused Brass to snap two fingers, sending a wave of saw-shaped steel discs towards her. Alzack too tried to distract focus by whipping his pistol out, but once again only a minor action from Brass was able to force the gunslinger to dodge defensively.
"Sit down, children. As for you, Jura, hit me with your best shot." Jura felt a bead of sweat roll down his forehead. This seemed like a trap. But it couldn't be, with how powerful this man was, he could have easily defeated every one of the task force already. Perhaps risks were necessary. The room began to charge with energy as light glowed around Jura's figure. The energy crackled with power and the earth cracked beneath his feet.
Brass finally showed a hint of emotion in the form of a minute grin. Jura focused the energy into the sky, and with a great deal of force he released his ultimate move.
"Rumbling Mount Fuji!" And the piercing light shot down from the heavens. It encircled Brass and the whole room became obscured in the brightness. But within seconds the light faded, and standing in the impact zone was Brass. Unscathed.
He began to chuckle, and before long it morphed into uncontrollable laughter. It was in mockery of everything they'd tried in vain to accomplish.
"If that was the best you could muster, you truly have no chance of defeating me! And even less of a chance of destroying what we're about to create!"
The group froze and turned their attentions to the man far above them, who towered over the spinning lacrima. Behind them, a metallic wail screeched into existence. This even took Brass by surprise, and they saw the headlights of a monstrous vehicle speed down the large hall. It was the land ironclad, in which sat the man with the book.
"We may now proceed!" Shouted the robed figure atop the pedestal. From the corpses across the room small blue orbs sparked, and each floated into the air toward the lacrima. "The sacrifices are being channeled, now we simply need a soul to bind them!"
From behind the cloaked figure Monte narrowed his eyes and glanced down into the chamber.
"Use Brass. The warsmith will have no further use for him." The mechanical man beneath the cloak nodded his head affirmatively and the lacrima beneath his palms glowed with power. Across the chamber, the book soared into the air and lit itself ablaze with purple fire. The lacrima shot a beam of blue energy into the book, which created a spinning mass of churning energy. The room became permeated with the shrieks and wails of souls, and the roar of the demon inside the book.
Brass felt himself grow weary, and he saw that there was something eeking out of his armor. It was ethereal and blue…
"What are you doing?!" He bellowed, turning to look up to the pedestal. "This wasn't part of the deal!"
"Too bad you don't get to choose the terms when you're the loser!" Monte replied. And then Brass' soul was rushed from his body into the mix. The members of Lamia Scale and Fairy Tail watched in horror as the great ball of energy slowly ceased its revolutions and lowered itself onto the framework of the metal scorpion.
It was a violation of the natural world. The iron expanded into grotesque muscle fiber and twisting flesh coils, wrapping themselves around the metal frame. Jagged spines of steel shot in bloody storms and pus seeped out of gaping gashes as the biological matter rushed to create a living organism. It retained the purple and black colors of the demon, but this new creature was far more vile than even a demon. The whole being thrashed violently as it took on a more and more complete form. Jura grunted and sprinted backwards, tossing Alm over his shoulder as he took off down the hallway. Alzack and Bisca followed him, running for the exit as fast as possible.
"They're escaping…" The cyborg hissed to Monte. With a brusque toss of his messy blonde hair, the overseer chortled.
"We'll catch them later, show me what it can do." The technomancer nodded and put his palms on the lacrima. The demon machine turned its gaze to the tank at the center of the room, where the Manticore Stinger members smiled up at it. With a swipe of one of its glowing pincers, the tank was cleaved in half. The men inside were flung every which way, shocked and puzzled. Several saw blades inside the beast's maw spun and in gory mess it consumed the survivors, adding new biological mass to its frame with each consumption.
"I guess it works, send it out," Monte commanded. He bit his lip and glanced out of the small window he'd carved to the sun. Something gnawed at him. Perhaps his conscience…
They were battered and broken. Lyon held Sherry bridal style as he hobbled over the sand. Beside him several paces, Kagura and Kinana walked slowly down the side of a tall dune, both parched but better off physically than many of their comrades. Lia, Ichiya and the Trimens stood in the small clearing outside of the front gates of the enemy base in various states of bloody tiredness. Jura barreled across the clearing towards them with Alm over his shoulder like a sack of lard, Bisca and Alzack behind him running as fast as their wounded bodies would go.
"We need to run, now!" Jura roared. The ragtag group had finally gathered and all looked to each other quizzically. It was when they all noticed the lack of an arm on Alm that the seriousness, though the details were unknown, became real to them.
And then a metallic wail echoed out of the mountain and the ground shook. Jura's heart was only one thing they could do now, but it wouldn't be easy.
"Is the demon back, men?" Ichiya asked. Jura shook his head and laid Alm down.
"Something far worse, something we can't outrun. We'll have to fight it, but I don't know if we can win…"
Everyone was shocked. The Iron Rock Jura, the stoic face of this operation, the wizard saint himself. He was doubting their ability to win. Clenching her fists, Bisca stepped forward and faced the semicircle of wizards before her.
"I can't describe with words the enemy in there. It's horrifying, something straight out of my nightmares. But the only thing between it and our homes is us. We've never given up before, through and against all odds we've always persevered. Natsu taught me that. And now we need to try to be strong, like Natsu, and face our worst fears with strength and courage! For the people left behind, and for our future!"
Sherry raised her fist, after which Lia, Kagura and Kinana each raised theirs. The Trimens followed suit, and before long everyone's face had solidified into one of confidence. Even Alm, who barely hung to his consciousness, feebly put his arm a bit higher than usual. A smile cracked across Jura's hardened visage.
And then from behind them the doors flew off their hinges and the chimeric scorpion flailed onto the desert floor, twisting and contorting as it howled in rage.
This was it. This was the fight that would change them all.
Natsu had a bad feeling about something. Instinctually he felt as if there was a great evil somewhere, and that caused him to do a great bit of worrying about the task force. Warren, as perceptive (due large in part to his magical abilities) as ever, sat beside the guild master at the bar.
"Is it the group?" Warren asked. Natsu nodded his head and took a sip of his ale. He leaned back against the bar and put his elbow onto the wood, gazing out at the hall.
"I wonder if this is how Makarov felt when we went out to fight Oracion Seis… I want to be confident, I want to believe as a fact that in a few days they'll march through those doors as heroes. But I can't help but think that the worst is gonna happen…" Warren pursed his lips and lowered his hands to his lap.
"I think you have a right to be worried, you've taken on a new role where you're responsible for the lives of other people, which is new. But you need that confidence, too. You always came back to Makarov, and they'll always come back to you. Bisca is S class, it'll all work out." Warren then patted his friend on the shoulder and retreated back into the hall. To the fourth master, everything was uncharted territory. And it didn't help that he could only sit inside powerless.
Feeling frustrated, Natsu stood up and paced towards his office. Paperwork was a good distraction. Forms and forms were stacked up, many of which were insurance claims filed by towns and cities where minor destruction was caused during the completion of jobs. Of course, it was nothing to rival the headache Makarov must have endured when Natsu and company were in their prime.
The office had come a long way. Natsu now had a personalized desk with his own pens, several framed pictures of him and Team Natsu, as well as decorations on the wall of noteworthy accomplishments from his time as guild master. His handwriting had improved by leaps and bounds as well. The personal growth would have astounded anyone else, but it didn't astound Natsu.
The loneliness was crippling. After his most recent misfortune with Jenny it was especially bad. Through his head he saw flashes of them all. Happy, Lucy, Mira, Ezra, Gray, Gildarts. All of their smiling faces. Natsu slid forward and laid his head on the desk surface. He was drained. So incredibly tired… It was here that he noticed a small letter on his desk, not visible from the higher angle he'd been at before. He plucked it up between his fingers and opened it carefully, examining the contents. It was a small square of parchment, upon with was written a date, time, and location on the outskirts of town. And it was signed from Crime Sorciere. Natsu set it down and stood up. Something was serious, he could guess that much. And once again his worry for the members of Fairy Tail out fighting was reignited.
Natsu threw his scarf around his neck and retreated out of his office and into the hall. He marched straight out of the building and into the streets of Magnolia, his mind racing a million miles per hour. Every worst case scenario played through his head as his sandals clacked against the stone street. He was walking on autopilot, and didn't even notice who was approaching him.
"Babe!" Natsu's eyes widened as she rounded on him. Her messy blonde hair swayed in the slight breeze. Her face, smiling and sculpted, was accentuated and highlighted by her perfect makeup. Her pastel green dress clung to her upper body and poofed out below, meshing a sexy but elegant look to her. God she was gorgeous. She threw her arms around Natsu and he hugged her back. She smelled vaguely of fresh flowers and bread, mixed with sweetness and other pleasant scents. But Natsu instantly realized he still had somewhere to be, and for that reason he felt his soul crushed beneath another weight. He was now left with two options, and in a snap Natsu decided which was more important to him.
"I'm really sorry about the other day, so I figured I'd swing by and surprise you!" Natsu's spirit took a nosedive once again as he stared down at her smiling face. Her eyes shimmered like a tropical sea.
"Jenny, I'm so happy you're here. God, I missed you. But I have important guildmaster business right now, and it'll take an hour or two. Will you be here when I get back?" Jenny's smile retreated slightly, enough that Natsu could tell what she wore on her face was an act.
"Oh… Well I don't know how much time I have for sure, but…" The light reigninted in her eyes and she brightened up again. "But I can cancel my other appointment, it's been too long!"
And for the first time all day, and all week, Natsu's heart swelled and he began to smile like a huge idiot.
"Awesome! I'll see you then!" The two then shared a kiss, before Natsu spun and waved at her as he trotted quickly away. He then turned again, and ran back to snatch one last smooch from his beautiful girlfriend. Jenny giggled as her goofy boyfriend picked up his pace and started jogging down the block, becoming obscure in the foot traffic.
She sighed, knowing the headache of rescheduling was going to be a toughy. But to her, this relationship meant a lot. And she was going to do everything in her power to make it work. For now though, she wanted a glass of wine. It had been a long day.
The scorpion scythed a massive pincer overhead, cutting through the air and churning the sand with the vacuum of space the motion created. Jura slid and thrust several sharpened columns into its side, each one impacting and spilling blood and guts to the sand. The beast cried out in agony and jabbed the whirring stinger at Jura. On its tip hundreds of twisting sawblades and drill bits glowed red hot from their perpetual motion.
The saint erected a barrier of stone, but the stones were shattered into scraps and dust upon impact, leaving the stinger still catapulting downwards towards him. A purple beam pierced the iron flesh and severed the stinger from the rest of its length, dropping the hulk of flesh and metal to the sand where it collapsed and bubbled into a puddle of matter. The wound quickly healed and a new platform of churning machinery pushed out of the cauterization into the air. But this time it was glowing purple.
All the while the rest of the functioning members of the coalition were unleashing their magic at the beasts' feet, and in response it shifted its position constantly. But it couldn't focus on a target. It swung at the trimens, who dodged its attacks. It cut at Alzack and Bisca, who rolled beneath its swing.
The spinning orbs it had for eyes settled, and it ceased its motions. Out from beneath the group metal tendrils ripped through the sandy floor and stabbed upwards. The first punctured Ren's right leg, shearing through the bone straight to the marrow and destroying his whole femur. He screamed aloud and dropped. Another wrapped itself around Lyon and began to constrict him, reopening the frozen wound in his neck. Alzack started to frantically fire at the tendrils thrusting towards him, while also trying to keep them off of his comrades. Bisca broke the one constricting Lyon with a precise shot and set back trying to destroy the rest. Kagura turned to swing at one, but it ducked beneath and was posied to pierce her stomach when Kinana grabbed it in one hand and melted it.
"I'm useless against it!" Eve screamed as he hopped back towards Lyon. "And you must be, too! It's got a heat shield that melts my attacks before they get near it!" The two grimaced as the tendril assault stopped, and the beast contorted and was changing once more. A bulbous sack dropped from the neck of the great monstrosity and its whole face glowed orange. A wall of fire leapt out and illuminated the whole area, casting the land in the same orange hue as the sunrise. A stone wall leapt up, this time deterring the attack.
"I can't do shit! I can't control its metal, and mine has no affect!" Lia cried as tears of frustration and rage spilled down her cheeks. Similar demoralization could be found on all of the faces in the group, besides Jura and Bisca. But there was no time for speeches. The scorpion smashed the wall to pieces and swung its pincer like a guillotine.
They stared in mute horror as Ichiya was split in half. His eyes were wide and the word men could be seen on the tip of his lips as each half fell to the ground, spewing blood. The trimens were frozen in place. Nobody seemed able to react to the foe that still loomed, besides those who had faced profuse death before. Lyon attacked with an ice dragon, but the attack was already melting into slick before it impacted. And when it did it served merely as a distraction. Sherry mustered the last of her power and created a sand golem, which gripped the scorpion's face in one hand and began to bludgeon it with its free fist. The creature howled then a purple beam screeched out of its stinger, destroying the golem and cutting into the ground.
The beam kept going, and caught Alzack in the hip, burning through the side of his abdomen. Bisca's eyes widened and she cried out, sprinting towards his body as it fell to the ground. She stopped in her tracks, requipping to her minigun and roaring in rage as bullets pummeled the creature. Its face was turned to swiss cheese and fell apart in seconds, giving her the window she needed to run to her partner.
The scorpion regenerated its head nearly instantly, and its stinger surged towards her. Lia and Kagura hopped between them and used as many sharp objects as they could muster to smash it, extending the time Bisca had to drop her gun and fall beside Alzack. He stared up at her with a smile as his blood poured onto the sand.
"No, Alzack. Please…" Bisca said through jagged gasps and tears. "I love you, don't leave me…" Alzack shook his head feebly and coughed.
"I'm just scratched, no vitals are ruined. But…" Behind them, the scorpion swatted Kagura and Lia out of the air and its stinger began to glow purple once again, pointed at the two lovers. Bisca looked up, and then back down at Alzack.
"At least we'll be together. Damn, I wanted to have kids with you…" Bisca sighed. She leaned down and gave Alzack one last kiss…
In the mountain base, the technomancer collapsed, a huge hole blown through his chest. He stuttered and gasped as he hit the ground, and Monte stepped over the body to shatter the lacrima.
"W-why?" the technomancer asked desperately. Monte shook his head and planted his boot in the abominations skull, shattering the brain beneath. He huffed and jammed his hands in his pockets.
"Oughta balance my karma for this week," and with a sigh he retreated out of the back door. He'd chalk it up to the superiority of the enemy coalition, though that couldn't be further from the truth.
Natsu didn't remember Crime Sorciere being this big. He stood in the shadows of the tall pine trees, their needles quaking gently in the breeze. In front of him, sitting on top of granite rocks and tree branches were figures in the blue cloaks of the rogue vigilante guild. Many of them had their hoods pulled over their heads, but he definitely recognized Angel from Oracion Seis, as well as the scent of Cobra.
"Thank you for coming, Natsu," Ultear said. Beside her, Meredy smiled. Natsu took note of the pinkette, realizing she'd aged a great deal in the last year. It had really been awhile since he'd last seen any of them. Jellal ran a hand through his hair and looked up into the sky.
"Something is very wrong in the world right now, Natsu. The guild your people was sent to fight is a front. Manticore Stinger was a strong dark guild, but they were content isolationists. So I did some digging and it turns out someone stronger made them into a tributary…"
"Was it the other member of the Baram Alliance, Tartaros, or whatever?" Natsu asked. Jellal shook his head in response.
"No, a guild I'd never even heard of before. There was basically no information on them at all, but I managed to get it out of someone. All I know is that they call themselves Demon Machine, and they want to enslave the Etherious inside mechanical bodies. My assumption is that they're testing the first one in the desert, where your people are at."
"Then why aren't you there?!" Natsu asked angrily. Jellal bit his lip.
"To tell you the truth, it terrifies me. But I think that with Jura there, they can beat it. We're going to try to figure out more about Demon Machine, and maybe try to interfere with their lower level plans. If we can locate their homebase, I want your help taking them down permanently."
Natsu crossed his arms and nodded his head. He looked around at the cloaked figures once more, many of them looking down with a grin.
"You've got Fairy Tail's support, Jellal. I don't know about any other guild, but we'll be there for you. Send word to me if something conclusive happens." Jellal hopped off his rock and strode up before Natsu. The two locked eyes, and then hands in firm shake. Ultear and Meredy leapt from their perches as well and each embraced Natsu. "Oh, by the way, who're your new additions?"
"Them? Mostly just old members of Oracion Seis. We freed them and they agreed to join our cause in an attempt to right their wrongs." Natsu nodded respectfully. He admired the goal.
"Is that all, Jellal?" The blue haired man nodded and Natsu turned to head back to the city. He had someone he needed to see.