Laxus was about to leave the scene, when all of the sudden, he was stopped by Cole, who kept his palm on Laxus's shoulder.
'Listen, I can't thank you enough' he said as he stood behind him.
'Don't mention it' replied Laxus, who took Cole's hand and removed it from him. Cole watched as Laxus walked away.
'Man, that guy looks intense, I really do wonder who he is though'
'Hey! May I know your name?' yelled Cole in anticipation.
'It's Laxus!' he replied as he stopped for a second and further resumed.
'Laxus, Oh I remember now, this guy can use lightning as well, that's why I'm alive'.
'Sit down child, you've just recovered, don't be hasty' said Porlyusica.
'I'm fine, and I better get going, thanks for your help' replied Cole as he walked away.
Master Makarov had just arrived at the guild hall, where Ursa was still in shock, over hearing the news of Cole.
'My children, we cannot afford to wait, we must strike down Reaper before he grows even stronger. News just came in that a man in a red hood managed to take down an entire village all by himself, now I believe this man to be Reaper himself. If he continues like this, he'll go stronger. Who knows what he's after, thereby we must make haste' addressed Master Makarov yo the entire guild.
'With all due respect master, we simply can't afford to risk our lives without a strategic plan' interrupted Erza.
'Oh we have a plan alright, we hit him hard until he begs for mercy' replied Natsu angrily.
'He's not the only one we should be worrying about, an ice wizard named Frost is accompanying him too, she does pose a threat.' added Erza.
'An ice wizard?' mumbled Gray..
'Indeed, I did engage her in hand to hand combat before, she managed to best me in a sword fight' said Freed.
'Not to mention I had a tough time dealing with her too' added Erza.
'You... you just leave her to me' added Jen who had just woken up.
'Jen?' whispered Mira, soon after Jen added 'I owe her a payback after what she did'.
'Well then it's settled, Natsu and Erza will intercept them, where Gray and Mira will join in, Mira and Gray would handle Frost and join in Team 1 for backup.' Said Master Makarov .
'Sounds like a plan to me!' exclaimed Natsu.
'Indeed' added Erza.
'Just hold on a second, where are we supposed to go in the first place?' questioned Gray.
Cole reaches Magnolia, where he walks towards his apartment. Upon entering, he quickly equips his amp along with his sling bag.
'Alright, time to go' he mumbled as he was about to leave.
'Oh.. I should.. yeah..'
he quickly paused and walked towards his room. He took a piece of paper and grabbed a pen. He wrote a brief set of lines on it and placed it in the drawer.
'Heh, I'm gonna miss this place..' he wondered as he looked under his bed. He quickly took out the chocolate box and ate a few pieces.
'these chocolates are the best, can't believe I ate all of them within a week'
He then covered the box and kept it under his bed. As he left the apartment, he sprinted towards the guild hall.
'I gotta tell the others not to be involved, it's my fight, my responsibility'
'No, I'll take down Frost, even if it's the last thing I do!' yelled Jen.
'Calm down, you're badly injured, if you push yourself like this, you'll end up in a coma' replied Master Makarov. Jen glared, then looked at the ground in disappointment.
'However, we would like to know if she has any weaknesses' asked Erza.
'Erm.. just take out one of her clones, she's vulnerable for a short time then' answered Jen as he held her head.
'Thank you' replied Erza with a smile.
'However, it's that Reaper guy you should be worried about, he's a monster' added Jen.
'Monster or not, we mustn't be intimidated, if we work together, we'll be able to stop him' added Erza. Wendy could not keep up with everyone, she eventually walks out of the guild hall, when all of the sudden, Cole stands right in front of her.
'C..Cole? You're alright!' she exclaimed in tears.
'She looks like she'd been through a lot'
'Yeah, listen uhh' answered Cole when all of the sudden she hugged him.
'You don't know how worried I was' she said with tears dripping on Cole's shirt.
'I'm sorry' replied Cole as he held her for a few seconds and let her go.
'I gotta talk to everyone' he added as he walked towards the hall. As he entered, everyone looked at him with shock.
'Is that?' whispered Mira.
'It is you!'exclaimed Master Makarov.
'Cole you're alive!' yelled everyone altogether and jumped over him.
'They missed me alright'
'Listen guys, I need to say something' he said, when all of the sudden Master Makarov interrupted,
'now now child, you don't need to worry about anything. Everything will be taken care of'.
'Yeah, but..' Cole further added, when suddenly Natsu interrupted 'Alright buddy, rest all you want, we'll handle everything from here'.
'Look, I'm fine, it's just..' Cole tried to speak out, when he spotted Ursa in tears.
'Ursa you alright' he asked curiously.
'I'm fine, knowing that you're alright' she replied with a smile.
'Okay, guys, listen' he added.
'What do you wanna say Cole?' asked Natsu.
'I'm gonna fight Reaper, all by myself' he added. Everything was silent for a while, when Natsu spoke out.
'You can't be serious Cole!' he yelled.
'I am, I don't want you guys to pay for my responsibility' he further added.
'That's non sense!' replied Natsu.
'Cole, we're a guild, we're supposed to work together!' said Master Makarov.
'I know Master, but please, I know what I'm doing, trust me' he replied.
'Cole, what are you trying to do? Why would you risk your life again?' thought Erza as she watched.
'Well that's strange..' mumbled Reaper as he and Kuo walked a path through a dense forest.
'What seems to be the problem now' asked Kuo patiently.
'All of the sudden, that signal just boosted, I can feel his power flowing all the way from here. What the hell did he do?' asked Reaper.
'Maybe his powers accelerated, or he woke up. He was badly injured after you last met him you know' she replied.
'He shouldn't be standing!' he yelled.
'I drained some of his power while he was unconscious, enough to make him sleep for a long long time. He wouldn't be able to walk, unless. Someone must have given him a power source' he further added.
'But where would he find electricity in this place?' she asked.
'Something tells me the blondie I fought earlier has something to do with this' he replied with a smirk.
'Cole, I'll come with you!' replied Jen as she stood up.
'These guys aren't ready to listen at all, how can I convince them? (Cole looks at Erza for a moment).'
'Why is he staring at me like that?' thought Erza as she looked back at him.
'I want to take care of Reaper alone, it's not something you guys need to get involved into' he said once again.
'And I say we're gonna help, no matter what you say!' yelled Natsu in response.
'Erza...' said Cole in a soft tone, which lit up her eyes.
'Wait, is he really going to? I think I know his plan, but why would he..' she gave no response as thoughts clouded her mind.
'Erza, I still believe you didn't accept me as a member of Fairy Tail. I don't blame you for that, but keeping that in mind, If you really want to save your friends, let me go in alone' said Cole in a low tone
Cole stared at her for a while.
'We're going together, weather you like it or not!' yelled Gray and Natsu.
'No, you two will stay here, and so will the other members' said Erza in a serious tone.
'What? You're joking right?' replied Gray in confusion.
'Cole might be the only one who knows how to defeat Reaper, and if he's confident, we must let him' she replied.
'No way! I'm not gonna sit around and wait for him to take out that creep!' exclaimed Natsu.
'Calm down Natsu, if anything is to happen, if you ever need our help Cole, take this flare and light it up, we'll send back up immediately' said Master Makarov.
'Thanks guys, it's been a pleasure' he replied as he was about to leave.
'Thanks Erza' he thought as he stared at the ground and walked towards the exit.
'You'll come back right?' asked Wendy in front of the exit, which lit his eyes. He turned around and gave a smile.
'Thanks Wendy' he said as he turned around and left the building.
'This sucks!' yelled Natsu as he sat down.
'Tell me about it, I was so pumped up about the fight, and now we're just sitting around.' added Gray .
'So what made you change your mind Erza?' asked Natsu curiously.
'Yeah, all of the sudden you started taking his side' added Gray.
'It was for our best, he looked determined to handle Reaper all by himself' she replied.
'Well in a way, he technically is as strong as Cole' said Gray.
'Yeah, (Natsu notices Wendy sitting all by herself) Hey Wendy, what's the matter?' he asked.
'I don't know guys, when I asked him if he would return, he just smiled and walked away, I'm really worried now' she replied.
'Well that's weird' replied Natsu. 'I hope you don't try something stupid' he thought as he watched Wendy.
Cole walks on the busy streets of Magnolia, looking around and smiling on his way. As he left the city gate, he looked back and smiled.
'Got a nice view from here'. As time passed, he continued walking towards the Forest.
'I can feel his power, it's not far away from here' he thought as he entered the Forest.
Meanwhile, not far away from him, were Reaper and Kuo, who were on their way to find Cole.
'He's getting close' said Reaper.
'Wait a sec, stop walking!' he yelled, which made Kuo stop in a heartbeat.
'We're not going for him... He's coming right at us!' yelled Reaper, who was soon knocked away by a punch on his face.
'Reveal yourself!' yelled Kuo as she tried to fire icicle spears at the attacker, but couldn't land a single hit.
'It's been a while Kuo' said Cole as he dashed towards her and knocked her airborne using his amp. He further used an alpha rocket to knock her back, into a boulder.
'Oh, would you look at that, if it isn't mister goody two shoes Cole!' yelled Reaper as he stood up.
'So you must be Reaper, or should I say, Evil Cole' he replied.
'I am not you Cole! In fact, I don't want to affiliate myself with you, you disgust me!' exclaimed Reaper in anger.
'Coming from the guy who takes lives of innocents and show's no mercy' I could say the same for you' replied Cole as he folded his arms.
'Oh you don't understand do you? We conduits are a product of evolution, nature gave us powers for a reason, and that's why we're immune to the plague Cole. We don't die from it like those weaklings do. You cured the plague and killed all Conduits, but that doesn't mean the gene isn't dead, Conduits will be back. And once I return back to our dimension, I will rule them all!' Reaper grinned as he explained his cause.
'Keep that crap to yourself, if you think taking lives of innocents is what's gonna make you someone on top of a god damn food chain, then you're wrong! We were born to co-exist' replied Cole.
'That's what you think, and if you're gonna stand in my way, then be it! It's because of you, Zeke suffered from the plague, and it's because of you Trish died that day' Reaper further taunted with a smile.
'I'm gonna make you regret saying that pal!' exclaimed Cole as he began to charge his body, creating an aura of blue lightning around him.
'Be my guest' replied Reaper as he gathered energy around himself, creating an aura of dark red lightning around him. The massive spike of magical energy within the area was enough to create tremors, shaking the ground beneath them.
'Something's definitely not right, I can't sit around while he's fighting out there' mumbled Natsu in anger.
'Me too, but we're under strict orders, I guess we're stuck this way' replied Gray as he leaned on his back against a chair.
'Uh guys, can I ask you something?' questioned Wendy as she interrupted.
'Sure!' replied Natsu.
'Okay, but you need to come with me first' she replied as she walked towards the exit. Natsu and Gray looked outside, where dark clouds covered the entire sky, with a mixture of Blue and Red lightning, striking down on a concentrated area.
'Something big is about to go down there' yelled Natsu as he dashed towards the area. 'Where are you going? Don't go in without me!' yelled Gray as he followed.
'Guys!? Wait for me!' exclaimed Wendy as she followed them. The two catch up to Natsu.
'So we're breaking rules huh?' said Gray with a smile.
'Meh, I wouldn't worry too much about Granps' replied Natsu.
'Alright, let's keep heading forward!' he added as they run towards the battleground.
'Eat this!' yelled Reaper as he fired double grenades, detonating under Cole's feet.
'Not bad' replied Cole as he used his ice jump to propel himself airborne. He then fired a magnum bolt aimed at his shoulders, which the Reaper took a direct hit from. 'That wasn't too bad, but I'm just warming up!' he yelled as he prepared to attack.
'Alright, I need to take this guy out fast, before Kuo wakes up. Taking them out together will be a problem. It's now or never!'
'Me too!' yelled Cole as he charged his hand and posed to fire out alpha rockets.