AN: Okay guys, here's the end of the arc. Took a bit longer to finish than I would have liked, but overall I think it came out pretty good. Also, the next chapter is already finished! It is written by Strum and Drang, originally it was supposed to be a little omake like the others but it got a bit out of control. It will be posted either one week from when this comes out or when I hit 420 reviews.
Chapter 24: The Phantom Menace Part 6: The Spirit Awakens
Gray raised a brow as the water mage squeaked and passed out, before shrugging and plopping down on the rooftop with a low moan. He was covered in bruises, he'd been nearly boiled like a lobster, and he was almost literally soaked to the bone. He eyed the unconscious mage carefully; she looked really happy for some reason despite the savage fight that had just taken place.
He'd nearly gotten whiplash from how fast she had gone from calm to berserk the moment he'd mentioned Lucy's name. He couldn't help but wonder what horrible thing Lucy had done to her to trigger that kind of response.
After a few moments he turn to look down at the battlefield still raging below. The Fairies were gradually getting pushed back, it looked like more than a third were down for the count; lying in a big pile surrounded by the able-bodied. Then he glanced back at the castle, that gigantic seal had vanished the moment Juvia had gone down, she must have been the last of the Element Four to fall. Which left Gray with a bit of a dilemma. Should he go down and reinforce the struggling defenders, or would it be better to go try and help defeat Jose? A picture suddenly flashed in his mind of Goku and Jose, likely the two strongest combatants left on the field, going head to head with the castle crumbling around them.
Yeah. Thanks, but no thanks. He chose life.
Down on the field Cana let out a bitter cry of pain as a wraith phased straight through her gut, sending her crashing to the ground twitching in pain. Decision made, Gray leapt straight off the side of the building, shooting a ramp beneath him as he fell. The moment he landed on the slick surface he had materialized an icy bow in his hands to launch a quartet of arrows at Cana's attackers, simultaneously defending her and creating a landing zone for himself. The teen landed hard on his feet and pulled the girl back up onto her own, ignoring the sharp protests of his ribs. Moments later the pair found themselves surrounded once again as yet another wave of creatures poured out of the castle. Gray smirked.
"Loser treats winner the next three rounds at the bar?"
"Oh, you are so on!"
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Goku was slowly becoming annoyed. The Phantom's had finally wised up and decided against just rushing him all at once. Now they moved in three groups, a melee group to keep him off balance, a ranged group to stop him from fully removing any of the melee mages from the fight, and a small healer group that was constantly patching up the people he took down and sending them right back out again.
Backhanding away a mace-wielding girl for the fourth time in as many minutes, Goku decided that it might be time to get serious. If this kept up, they would actually succeed in wearing him down. He punched apart a lightning bolt aimed at his head, ducked underneath a sword; thrust his arms out to the side, and screamed. The entirety of the melee team was blown across the room to slam into walls, pillars, and other mages. The group quickly moved to recover and the ranged mages were preparing their next move when Goku shifted out of his fighting stance and calmly stood to his full height. Then he thrust his hand forwards with two fingers pointed straight up to the sky.
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As one, wraiths and Fairies alike paused in their battle at the sudden massive flash of white light. A massive section of the roof had been blown sky high and Gray had to sidestep a falling slab of stone. Smoke was billowing out of the building, blocking whatever was happening inside from view. As he turned back to the battle and turned a trio of wraiths into ice sculptures he smirked to himself.
Yep, definitely the better choice.
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Goku breathed deeply, trying to calm his pounding heart from the massive surge of power. The room had been completely annihilated and he could sense unconscious bodies all throughout the area. Whether the number he felt now matched the number from before his attack, he couldn't be sure. Ignoring that for now, Goku turned towards one of furthest corner of the room.
"So, did you enjoy the show from back there?" For a moment there was no response but he maintained the same level stare, never wavering for a moment. Finally the shadows shifted like water and a man stepped out.
"Well now, that's interesting. Sensory abilities are exceedingly rare, especially for a combat specialist. I didn't recognize you at first, when you arrived on that little cloud of yours and destroyed my Jupiter. But that show you put on has jogged my memory. The newest and least famous member of Fairy Tail's elite. Not even popular enough to have been given a title yet like the Demoness or the Titania. I was so caught up in my victory that I forgot all of the research I put in towards learning about your guild, forgot that there were still fighters left that could challenge me. That was a mistake on my part, I should know better than to underestimate my opponents."
"So that would make you Jose then? I've been looking forward to meeting you."
"Ah, that's right. My notes mentioned how you enjoy fighting powerful opponents more than what could be considered healthy. Excited for the chance to test yourself against a Wizard Saint? I myself am quite excited for this. Once I've brought you down and throw your battered body from the top of my tower, the spirits of those last few defenders shall be broken. Not to mention, I plan to take the price of my cannon out of your body in blood."
"You know, normally you'd be right. Taking on powerful opponents, it's one of my favorite things in the world. There have been plenty of times where I've even let someone snag a dangerous object or give them time to fully power up just because I'm hoping for a better fight." Goku grinned, before scowling, "But not this time."
"The power of friendship then? You take me down so you can end the war and save the day?"
"That's a part of it. But that's not the main reason I've been looking forward to this. You shoved your hand through my best friends back. I'm going to return the favor!"
"Ah, revenge. Now that's a motive I can-ack!" The greasy man slid back clutching a bloody nose.
"Careful with that, you don't want your lipstick to run." The man snarled before he could compose himself, gritting his teeth together as he trembled in rage. He wiped off the trickle of blood down his face with his hand before he stared down at it, utter contempt in his eyes. He forewent cleaning off the blood and instead summoned his magic, summoning massive purple shadows all around him.
"I shall treat to you to unfathomable pain before I kill you for that." Three shadows shot forward like tendril, reaching out for the martial artist. Goku ignited his fists in an aura of ki and chopped straight through the shadows as he charged at the Phantom leader. Jose blocked the first incoming blow and the two began a fierce exchange of blows. Goku bobbed and weaved around dozens of shadowy fists and launched his own Ki enhanced strike for every attack sent his way. Every time their auras clashed burst of energy flew off of the two fighters and the ground cracked beneath them as they maneuvered throughout the room. Goku ducked underneath a wide roundhouse punch and jammed his fist into Jose's gut. The older man was sent skidding backwards, coughing blood.
"BASTARD!" Jose thrust has hand forward and suddenly there were dozens of tendril whipping through the air. Goku dodged backward, firing off short burst of Ki whenever a tentacle got too close. Snarling, Jose poured even more power into his attack. The shadows from around the room rose up, encircling Goku to assault him on all sides. His arms and legs were barely visible to the naked eye, battering aside the shadows in an unending blur of motion. The teen was caught off guard when one of the tendrils he went to strike broke apart, splitting in three that all wrapped around his arm and jerked him off balance. The rest moved to rapidly engulf him, coating him entirely in a cocoon of shadow. Smirking, Jose closed his fists and the ball erupted in purple lighting. A pained scream erupted from within the sphere that had Jose lipping his lips in excitement. Slowly he ramped up the power, trying to find the exact point that would make the teen snap.
Within the sphere Goku was twitching violently, it felt as though every last nerve ending in his entire body had been set on fire. His screams lasted for only as long as there was air in his lungs, the dark magic prevented any oxygen from entering. Suffocating, electrocuted, crushed, Goku could barely process the depth of the assault.
But he wasn't even close to being done.
Another detonation rocked the castle to its very foundations when Goku unleashed the full power of his Ki. A wave of white energy blasted from his body, shattering the sphere and dispersing it into the air. Goku landed lightly on his feet and greedily sucked in a few gulps of air.
"HAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Jose threw his hands in front of his face as it seemed a miniature hurricane had spawned in the center of the room. Brutal winds tore around the room, rocks and even the unconscious bodies of the Phantom mages were lifted off the ground and sent bouncing around through the air. And in the center of it all, Goku continued to scream. A pure white aura surrounded his body, slowly expanding and pushing back everything around him. The few tendrils that Jose tried to send his way were torn apart by the force Goku's aura alone. Then the winds halted, the debris settled, and Goku was gone. Jose blinked and looked around. The teen had simply vanished in thin air, something that he shouldn't be capable of.
The old man's eyes widened in realization and he whipped his shadows up behind him just as a sharp cracked filled the space near his back. Jose whipped around and was treated to the sight of a new crater just behind where he was standing, yet still no sign of Goku. Jose whipped his shadows up around him, creating a shifting barrier of energy. Tendrils constantly shot out in every direction, fishing for the missing Fairy. Then Goku reappeared right in the middle of the shield and slammed his fist straight into Jose's spine.
The leader of Phantom Lord cried out as his back arced painfully before he swung backwards with a shadowy backhand. Goku caught the arm by the wrist and squeezed. Jose only just had time to use his magic to reinforce the bones before they snapped, and the split second he took to do so gave Goku an opening.
Punch to the throat to disorient. Follow with quick jabs to shoulder joints to decrease mobility. Duck shadow blast from the left, take advantage of new positioning. Punch to the knee, combo with side kick as he falls. Finish with Ki blast to send him across the room.
Start to finish, Jose was sent hurtling across the room in just under 10 seconds. As the man rose to his feet, he was greeted by the sight of a rapidly expanding blue light.
"HAAAAAAAA!" With sudden urgency, Jose threw a titanic wall of shadows before him. The blue beam smashed into the wall like a battering ram before detonating, engulfing half the room in a pale blue glow. When it faded away, Jose was still standing tall, his hands smoldering from his attempts to block the attack. Goku frowned.
"You're a Wizard Saint aren't you? I know I'm not on that level yet, so why are you so weak?"
Jose snorted.
"That title is one step short of meaningless. There are plenty of mages capable of matching up with the Saints; the council just doesn't like recognizing them. They would rather pretend that there are no wizards capable of going against their chosen elite to prop of their system of power. As for my current level of power…it's just a bit taxing to simultaneously battle every single mage of Fairy Tail at once."
"…Wait, what?!"
"Those wraiths that they've been fighting, ever so slowly wearing them down. They're all a part of me, a part of my magic. As we fight, I've had to split my concentration over a hundred ways to pilot them. But since you insist on being difficult, I suppose I'm going to have to signal the last remains of my forces to attack and dispense of my extras. Congratulations little Fairy. You shall have my full attention."
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Gray and Cana grinned widely as all of the wraiths suddenly began pulling back, flying straight up into the sky. Soon the air was filled with Fairy Tail taunts, cheers, and catcalls.
"HA! About time they start running! Well Gray, I do believe that my 36 beats your 29. When do you want to hit up the bar?"
"Heh, I can't even be mad at this point. I'm just glad to see those bastards leaving."
"Yeah, no kidding… wait, why are they just flying straight up? Shouldn't they be going back to their castle?"
"Oh…crap that might be bad." The Fairy Tail mages watched as the wraiths began to condense in the air, forming a solid mass of back energy.
Then it began to fall.
"EVERYBODY TAKE COVER! ICE MAKE DOME!" Gray led the charge as every able-bodied mage threw up any and every sort of defense that they could over themselves and their injured comrades. The orb fell in perfect silence until it hit the roof of the guild hall, where it detonated.
The sky turned black with the force of the blast and even the overlapping shields of the mages were strained to their absolute limit, cracking to near uselessness before the explosion faded away. Gray groaned as he dropped the dome, his magic nearly totally depleted. Cana jumped up from behind him and pulled him up, her own magic having been useless for defensive purposes. When the two looked around to check on their friends, the first thing their eyes fell upon was a crater that occupied the spot that Fairy Tail used to reside.
"Holy shit…" Cana mumbled out. Gray couldn't even vocalize his feelings, he merely stared at the dark scar in the ground with empty eyes. Cana had no such trouble.
"THAT BASTARD! I'M GOING TO TEAR HIM APART FOR THAT! ALL OF US, LET'S GET IN THERE AND KICK HIS ASS!"
"Oh I don't know about that." A voice sounded out from behind her. The remaining Fairies turned to see a drawbridge extending across the water with two dozen mages waiting patiently at the end. They smirked confidently at the rattled defenders, the last batch of fresh fighters left in the conflict. Outnumbered, outgunned, tired to the bone, and unwilling to back down, Fairy Tail rallied itself for the next round.
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"There we are. The Master has been defeated, his home annihilated, the defenders too weak to carry on, and the last true threat is about to learn his place in the pecking order. This feels right." Jose congratulated himself, nodding happily.
At his feet, Goku trembled as he tried to force himself back up to his feet. The explosion outside had caught him off guard and he had almost instinctively looked out the window to try and identify the cause. Jose had moved before he could react, burying a shadow charged fist straight into Goku's chest. Rather than engulf him in it once more, Jose had injected the magic straight inside of Goku's body. Now his inners felt like they were on fire and he could barely get his limbs to respond. The dark energy was overloading his nerves, stopping signals from his brain. No matter how much he strained, his body would not obey his commands.
"Well then Fairy? Have you realized how futile your struggles are? Are you ready to give in to the darkness?" Goku growled in response, gnashing his teeth together helplessly. Jose smiled down at him.
"I'll take that as a yes." A shadow twisted into the shape of a spear in midair, pointed straight at the martial artists back.
"SOLID SCRIPT: RADIENCE!" Jose blurred out of the way the second the cry reached his ears and the attack sailed uselessly across the room. Levy cursed under her breath before turning to her partners.
"Try and slow him down for me!" Jet nodded and shot forward, his fist cocked back and a smirk on his face. Droy wiped some sweat off his brow before putting his hands together, trying to dredge up the last few drops of magic he had left. In the fraction of second he had to react to the first attack, Jose grinned.
He caught the speedster's punch straight on and tossed the man to the side with a simple flourish. Then brought both hands up and flicked his fingers. Droy and Levy were sent flying backwards into the wall with enough force to shake the stone before they slid to the ground unconscious. Jet was back on his feet in a flash, blitzing straight at Jose and lashing out with wild abandon. Jose almost perfectly matched his speed, blocking or dodging each blow. Jet quickly found himself off balance, having never had to fight continuously at top speed against someone who could match him before. Then with another flick of the finger it was over and Jet landed in a heap on top of his friends.
Jose sighed to himself and turned back to Goku. The brief skirmish had been enough to throw off his control of the magic infecting the fighter and now he was forcing himself up to his full height. Jose met his gaze dead on and brought his fingers up once more.
Then a bottle shattered on the back of his head. The Master of Phantom Lord screeched in pain as his head caught fire and he tumbled to the ground. The man rolled around blindly, trying to wrap shadows around his own head to smother the flames. Elfman jumped in at the opportunity, taking on the monstrous form of the Beast once more. He lifted Jose straight off the ground and tossed him into the air right into the center of an earthshaking clap. The mage fell limply to the ground and Elfman brought his arms up for another attack. Still prone, Jose flared his magic and the shadow of a support pillar shot out and wrapped itself around the Beast's neck. Rather than struggle, Elfman immediately shifted his form, shrinking down from the size of the Beast to a size just barely larger than his own. The power of the Beast still coursed through him though, as Jose tried to redirect the pillar's shadow Elfman lifted up the pillar itself and launched it at the dark mage like a javelin. Jose rolled out of the way and fired off a beam of deep purple energy. Elfman was caught straight in the gut and sent hurtling backwards across the room. When the dust cleared the teen was lying on the ground in his own body once more.
Jose turned to Mirajane next and despite the situation, Mirajane couldn't help but to let out a little laugh. Her bottle had burned off almost all of Jose's hair, leaving him patchy and burned.
Jose laughed, when he blasted her through the nearest wall.
"HYAAAAH!" The Master of Phantom Lord turned to see Goku on his feet once more, his white aura crackling around him.
"Is the yelling really necessary to power yourself up? Most of us just throw a quick seal into the air. Are you so stupid that you cannot form the seals at all and just get by yelling like a barbarian?"
"DESTRUCTO DISK!" Jose tracked the spinning razor blade of energy carefully, he had seen how easily it had torn up his castle before. As the projectile approached he flicked his finger straight up and a single shadow erupted from the ground, spearing the disk straight through the center. The attack fell apart, shattering into small glowing fragments that quickly faded.
Jose's confident grin faltered slightly when he looked past the vanquished attack. Goku was standing in the middle of over a dozen spheres of energy orbiting around him like moons. Thrusting both hands towards the dark master he sent the ki blasts flying. Jose flicked his finger once again and the shadow spear broke apart, separating into hundreds of strands like a spider web. They pierced straight through Goku's explosives and kept going right for the martial artist. Goku sank back and cupped his hands together as they approached.
"Ka…me…ha…me…HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The web burned away inside the intense blue beam and Jose was barely able to create another shield in time to try and block the attack. Once more Goku's strongest technique strained against the attack but the shadows were holding, only cracking under the assault but never breaking. Jose smirked from behind his shield and prepared to finish this when a fist broke through the strands and square into his jaw.
The moment Goku had fired his beam he had launched himself forward at top speed, straight down the center of his own attack. With his own energy coursing around him, he punched straight through the weakened barrier. As Jose stumbled back Goku pushed past the remains of the barrier and launched himself at the dark mage. Jose fired blindly as he attempted to reorient himself, blinking tears from his eyes. When his vision cleared Goku was inches away from him, a ball of Ki pointed directly at his chest. Goku looked the dark mage dead on in the eye as he slammed the attack home. The detonation tore through Jose's cloak and nearly blew his chest apart, leaving a raw gaping wound.
Jose barely reacted to the attack though. With a wave of his hands his own shadow leapt up from the ground and wrapped around him, pulling the wound closed and sealing it in a matter of seconds. Then the shadow reshaped itself, forming a dark armor around the man from head to toe. Goku paused for a moment at the sudden change in appearance, examining the dark armor. Then he blitzed in with a barrage of bunches and kicks, each and every one aimed at a joint or potential weak point.
For the first few strikes Jose merely weather the blows, confident that his armor could outlast the assault. When his shoulder was nearly dislocated from a well-placed strike though, he was forced to take the initiative. His hand shot up and closed around Goku's incoming fist, stopping him cold. Goku strained against the grab, pulling and pushing wildly as he tried to break free. Jose stood unaffected by the struggling and gradually increased the pressure of his grip, dragging out a gasp of pain from his captive. Desperate, Goku charged up a giant Ki blast in his free hand and fired it point blank into the armors chest plate. Before it could land though the armor morphed, firing off tendrils that engulfed the energy sphere, capturing it in midair. Then the tendrils launched themselves forward and Goku let out a scream of pain as his own attack detonated against his gut.
As the teen's body gave out and began to collapse Jose released his grip on Goku's wrist. Instead he caught the falling boy by his spiky hair and hoisted him up to eye level.
"A nice try boy. You almost had me a few times, I never would have expected that out of someone your age. Unfortunately, you've made a critical error. You've underestimated me. You don't know the power of the darkness."
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Gray let out a massive sigh of relief when a blast of fire caught the mage he was fighting from the side. Natsu charged onto the scene dishing out fiery punches and kicks to every Phantom he encountered until he slide into position between Cana and Gray.
The pair had been the last ones standing, every other Fairy was either unconscious or completely drained, taking cover behind a small ice dome that Gray had thrown up to try and protect the wounded. They had barely managed to take out a measly third of the Phantom mages before they were overwhelmed so badly that they could no longer go on the offensive.
"About time there flame brain, what kept you?" Gray shouted out as he hurdled a lightning bolt.
"Shut it Popsicle, I was busy! That other dragon guy was no joke, I had to get Macao to give me the rest of his fire just to get over here." Cana groaned in annoyance.
"So you're running on fumes too then? Shit, just when I thought things might start turning around. Where's Happy, maybe we can get him to grab some of our fighters from the infiltrator group to help out?" Natsu shook his head at the girl as he ducked under a pair of glowing throwing knives.
"I made him turn around when I saw the guild go up. He wouldn't be safe here." The assembled Phantom mages began shouting out curses at the Fairies, angered that they would dare try to hold a normal conversation in the middle of a battle. Like a swarm of wasps they began to strike, throwing everything they could at the trio in a final push for victory. Gray chuckled quietly to himself as he threw up another icy shield in front of himself. As Cana and Natsu slide into cover beside him the girl grabbed the icy mage by the shoulder and began to shake him violently.
"Come on man, don't you dare conk out on us here!"
"I'm sorry it's just…this is the end isn't it? We're at the end of our ropes, we have literally given everything we can. We're screwed." Natsu popped out of cover for a second to return fire briefly but quickly ducked down again when a lightning bolt almost caught him in the throat. He blinked the flashes of his life out of his eyes before turning over to Gray.
"So…how much longer do you think you can hold this wall up?"
"Honestly, the thing should have broken by now. I have no idea how I'm doing this." Cana and Natsu looked at the wall and watched as the cracks began to form, as pieces began to fall away. Then they joined their shirtless friend in laughter. They laughed long and hard, deep full body chuckles as death rained around them.
"Damn, this really is it!" Cana giggled.
"Yeah! Ah well, At least we broke the stupid robot." Natsu chuckled.
"So, what do you guys say? One last charge for them to remember us by?"
"Sure, why the hell not?"
"Heck yeah! I'd get fired up to that!" With that the trio rose up, lightning, ice, and fire all flashing. The attacks mixed together as they flew, creating a rotating beam of power that tore through everything in its path, spell and person alike. A half a dozen mages were sent flying back into the ocean in the blast and the rest were forced to scatter out of the way. But the attack faded away as quickly as it came, and as one the three Fairies staggered, their power completely drained.
Before either side had a chance to recover a massive white seal erupted into existence directly between the two warring sides. Like a monster rising from the depths of hell a figure slowly floated up out of the ground. The Phantom's watched the figure cautiously but the moment the Fairies spotted him their eyes lit up. The man was covered almost head to toe in bandages and whatever clothes he had been wearing before were barely more than charred strips of cloth. However, the small tuffs of blue hair sticking out of the top of the mummy's wrappings and the collection of staffs on his back made the man's identity all too obvious.
"Mystogan!"
The man nodded to his comrades briefly before he unfurled the largest of his staffs, pointing it straight into the center of the Phantom mob.
"SLEEP!" The single, overpowering command swept through the ranks like an unstoppable typhoon and as one the remaining mages collapsed to the ground. Grinning madly Natsu limped over to stand beside the S-class mage.
"Man that was so cool! You took them all out at once, we won!"
"Not quite yet." Mystogan corrected quietly. "Jose still stands, Goku is struggling to match him."
"WHAT? Goku's losing? We have to get up there right now!" Natsu staggered forwards toward the shore like he was going to dive straight in before Gray managed to catch him.
"Don't even think about it man. You're in no shape to help out right now and he's a Wizard Saint. Even if we went up there we would get flattened in a couple of seconds."
"For that matter, how are you even planning on getting up there?" Cana questioned.
"…Damn it. Mystogan, you gotta get up there and help him!"
"I am unable to do so."
"ARRGH! WHY THE HECK NOT?!"
"Due to my carelessness I was caught up in a trap set by Phantom Lord. I used the last of my power to ensure that these mages would not be able to kill all of our injured. I could not reach the castle in my condition, nor would I be of any use in a prolonged battle."
"Shit! There has to be something that we can do!" Natsu groaned, desperately trying to force back an ever growing feeling of helplessness.
"I believe our best course of action is to simply wait. Help is already on the way." Cana blinked.
"Wait, who's left to come help? Did Laxus finally pull his head out of his ass?" Gildarts shook his head and pointed upward in response. The trio turned their eyes upward to witness a figure flying through the air, racing at top speed towards the castle.
"No way…" Cana breathed.
"How the hell…?" Gray murmured.
"Aw man, now I really want to get up there! I can't believe I'm going to miss this!"
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Goku coughed up a glob of blood as he dug himself out of the crater he left in the wall. He stumbled forward, barely stopping himself from face planting on the ground as he made his way back towards Jose. Jose stood in the middle of the room with his arms crossed over his chest, his shadows dancing around him as he watched the bloody fighter teeter around.
Goku stopped moving halfway across the room and stood staring at the Master of Phantom Lord with dead eyes. Then, slowly he rose both arms straight up into the air. Jose quirked an eyebrow up at the movement but made no movements to attack, curious of what Goku could be attempting. The two stood still for a full minute. Then two. Once the third one had passed though Jose's curiosity had vanished and his brow was twitching in barely suppressed anger.
"Well? Are you going to do anything over there or has your brain finally shut down?" Goku made no move to respond, he merely kept up that same blank stare and kept his arms firmly up towards the sky.
"Fine then! As entertaining as this has been, consider this battle finished!" Jose brought his arm up, his fingers waving slightly to form a shadowy spear beside him pointed straight at Goku's heart. Goku made no move to defend himself, he didn't even flinch. Instead he closed his eyes and waited. Snarling in rage Jose thrust his hand forward and the sphere was sent rocketing forward. Goku heard the weapon fly, he felt its approach and he knew without a doubt that he had failed.
The spear never hit.
When Goku opened his eyes again the first thing he saw was the remains of the weapon a mere three feet away from his body. Now though it was slowly coming apart, the shadows were bleeding off of one another, twisting up into the air and vanishing. Then he saw Jose stumbling backwards, his hands flailing uselessly towards his back. He saw the glowing dagger sticking out of the back of the dark armor, sunk straight up to the hilt. And then he saw her.
Erza Scarlet stood tall in her Blackwing Armor, her eyes hard as she watched Jose tumbled to the ground. She always kept one eye on him as she circled around the room to come to a stop right beside her best friend. Life poured back into Goku's eyes and he gave her a wide grin when she reached him. Erza responded with a small, hesitant smile of her own.
"Hey there Erza! How was the hospital food?"
"Goku, it is good to see you. I'm mostly recovered, don't worry."
"You broke out the minute you could stand didn't you?"
"The second actually. I'm glad you are here, I was worried that you wouldn't come back in time."
"Of course I came back. There's no way I wouldn't show up when my friend needed me."
"I know that, it's just…"
"Yeah, I know. You don't need to worry, I'm not going anywhere. Bygones and all that, alright?"
"Very well, if you are sure."
"Great! Now, you shou- Adamantine Armor!" Erza didn't question the order, the second the words left Goku's mouth she had shifted to her strongest defensive armor and created a massive shield in front of them right before a wave on shadows consumed them both. The shield barely even shook under the assault and once it faded away Jose was trembling with rage.
"How?" he murmured, his voice deathly quiet. "How can you be standing again? I struck you down with a mortal blow! Why do you pieces of trash continue to cling to me? You should be dead or dying right now!" Erza stepped confidently forward, placing herself right between the dark master and Goku.
"You can try to strike us down, but we shall only come back even more powerful than you will ever know."
"You really think you can beat me girl? Look around, this room is littered with your fellow trash, what can you possibly hope to accomplish?" Erza did just that, taking stock of the state of the room, the condition of her friends, and then she gave a grim smile.
"All of my friends appear to be okay, no permanent damage done. Your guild on the other hand, how many of them litter the floor in this room alone? Almost half of your fighters wiped out, and if I recognize the signs correctly, by a simple wave of two fingers." Erza ducked back behind her shield just in time to avoid another wave of dark energy. Smirking slightly she turned to Goku.
"I believe I have managed to divert his attention away from you for the moment. How much longer until you have finished?"
"Um…maybe five more minutes?"
"Wha…? How can you still have five minutes left?! This is a small one, I've seen you do them in less than a minute before!"
"Yeah, that sounds about right. But I'm pretty sure I'm a bit concussed right now, he threw me through a LOT of walls. I'm having a hard time focusing."
"Very well. I'll just have to buy you those five minutes then."
"You sure you can hold out that long? You aren't at 100%."
"Neither is he. Trust me to hold out and I shall trust you to finish things. Agreed?"
"You got it! Kick his ass!" Erza nodded and leapt into the air, shifting into her Heaven's Wheel Armor in mid jump. Jose tracked her and fired another volley of shadows with impeccable aim. The red head thrust both her arms to the side, summoning dozens of glowing white blades that she thrust downward in a volley of her own, crashing them against the shadows with enough force to tear straight through. Jose stood stock still as the blades approached and began to chuckle to himself when they all bounced off his black armor.
"What's the matter Titania, haven't had the chance to fully recover yet? You should have stayed away, I might not have bothered to come after you once everything was said and done. My only real target here is Makarov, everything I've done so far has been to hurt him. An up and coming warrior like yourself could have been welcomed into Phantom Lord with open arms once Fairy Tail was no more! Now though, you're going to give me no choice by to eliminate you." Jose stretched his hand out like a claw, crackling with dark purple power. With a short thrust the magic unleashed itself upwards towards the flying girl. As it traveled the magic shifted, mimicking the outstretched hand that Jose held high. Erza's eyes widened as the attack approached and quickly activated her Requip.
Jose blinked in surprise as a ball of light corkscrewed straight down around his attack to kick in dead in the face. The blow did no damage but it stunned him all the same. When he had reoriented himself Jose turned to face off against Erza's new gear. She had changed into her Flight Armor, clearly hoping that the boost in speed would overcome the gap in their power. In her hand was a glowing blue blade, humming ominously as she steadied it. With a flick of the wrist Jose created his own blade out of shadows. Black and purple energy twisted around it, constantly moving and reforming themselves. Erza charged.
A normal person would see nothing but the occasional flash of sparks in the air appearing at random intervals all around the room. Erza was pushing herself to the absolute limit right from the start, moving so quickly that even she could keep track of her own movements. She had gone completely tunnel vision, tuning out everything around her to keep all of her focus on keeping pace with the Phantom master. The blue blade hissed as it burned through the air with each swing while Jose's weapon cast new shadows around the room as it slowly began to absorb all the light. All the while Goku stood stock still, waiting.
The Fairies themselves had been drained of magic long ago. He couldn't look to them for power or else he could accidently kill them. Instead he reached out into the air around them. The atmosphere was still charged almost to the brim with the power that they had unleashed in their war, spells of every kind hung around after their visible effects had long since disappeared. So he reached out to all this lingering energy and pulled it towards himself. He found Natsu's intense flames, Gray's chilling ice. He found Cana's fortuneteller magic, the Strauss's siblings Takeover powers, even Shadowgear's Unison Raid. Each and every member of the guild that had come together to fight, he pulled their essence into himself. He molded it, compressed it, and slowly he leaked it out until a pulsing sphere the size of a watermelon floated above his outstretched hands. Then he smiled.
It was like every single member of Fairy Tail was gonna punch Jose right in the face.
"ERZA, IT'S READY!" Across the room the knight heard her friend's cry and planted her feet to exchange a lightning quick exchange of blows with the dark mage. The exchange was fierce, even with her speed augmented she was struggling to keep up. Every few seconds a new shallow cut was start dripping blood down her body and nothing she did could prevent him from striking her. More and more she was pushed back on the defensive the whole while searching for any way to get clear of the blast radius. As another thrust nicked her forehead and began bleeding over her eye Erza decided to risk everything on a single move. She shifted the left boot into the steel footwear of the Purgatory Armor and kicked Jose square between the legs. The older man let out a pained squeal as the blow landed and he froze for just a brief moment in pain. Erza leapt back screaming.
"NOW!"
"FAIRY SPIRIT BOMB!" The sphere shot across the room like a bullet, homing in on the darkness that surrounded Jose. The man saw the attack coming and forced himself to straighten, powering up the shadows forming his armor to the maximum. They never stood a chance.
` Jose let out a wail of pure agony as he was swallowed up within the sphere. The orb grew to encompass him the moment it made contact, spitting white lightning in every direction. The energy ball began to ricochet around the room with the man inside it, slamming him around while simultaneously burning away his shadows. Then the bomb launched itself straight up into the air and Jose could only wail in horror right up until it detonated.
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One of the largest forces of Rune Knights rolled into Magnolia a full three hours after the fighting had ended. Three members of the Magical Council led them across the city to find the ruins of the two guild halls. More of the Fairies had returned to their feet and were helping where they could, securing the Phantoms and patching up their friends. Goku and Erza came out to greet the officials, carrying Jose's charged body between them. The man was barely clinging onto life and a squad of Knights were quickly dispatched to get the man medical attention. Statements were taken and arrests were made, much to the Fairies pleasure. For the first time in recent memory the council had taken their side, saying that the claims of defense held up. Even more Knights soon reached the city to help speed up the process of arresting an entire guild. As the bodies that needed burial were hauled away more than a few hateful glances were sent Goku's way but the warrior took it all stoically. He did what he had to do.
Jose's castle took several hours to remove, the Knights needed time to repair the massive robot's legs before it could be walked off the premise. Many mages under the Council's payroll were ecstatic by the seizure. Many were practically foaming at the mouth to the thoughts of discovering the secrets of the massive weapons stashed aboard the craft. Unfortunately for them, it would be months before they realized that the plans for Jupiter were nowhere to be found.
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"So I guess the question is; who's in charge?" Mirajane asked. They had finally gotten the diagnosis for Makarov. It would likely take an entire month before he would be able to recover enough to resume his duties as the Master of Fairy Tail. So now the defenders had gathered at the remains of their former hall to discuss the future.
Needless to say, Laxus would have been barred entry if he had shown up.
"I think our choice is pretty obvious." Cana remarked. "We need someone who is good enough with numbers to get the plans for the new building off the ground, someone who has enough force behind them to make sure the knuckleheads actually listen, and someone who isn't so scary that nobody's going to want to work with us until Master is back on his feet. That would be you." Mirajane blinked.
"What? But I…how can I be the Master?" She sputtered.
"You don't need to be the Master, you just need to be a good leader. We don't need you to fight or anything, just keep things in order until we have things sorted out."
"But…are you sure that everyone will listen to me?"
"Are you kidding? You helped take down an S class mage with like a tenth of your power, you know when to be nice and when to be mean, and best of all you know how to make sure the bar stays full stocked! What else could we possibly need?" The roar of support was deafening.
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It was well after midnight when Erza finally managed to track Goku down. He had apparently managed to dig out his weighted gear from the castle before the Rune Knights had taken it away and was now doing one finger pushups by edge of the forest. She stood and waited patiently for him to finish his rep. Only the slightest twitch of her hands marked how nervous she really was. When Goku finally hoped back up to his feet she started forward a bit faster than she would have liked.
"Goku, may I talk to you?"
"Hmm? Oh, hey Erza. What's up?"
"Umm, I…well. I just wanted…I wanted to tell you…" Goku blinked in surprise as Erza's face slowly turned to match her hair. In her mind Erza was cursing herself for allowing herself to become so nervous. Finally she just blurted out the first thing that popped into her head.
"You may strike me if you wish!" Goku cocked his head in confusion.
"Didn't we agree that you wouldn't say that to me again after that time I accidently knocked you into a beehive? Natsu wouldn't stop laughing at us no matter how many times you hit him.
"I deserve it though. I know that you said bygones in the castle but that was merely the heat of the moment. You know as well as I that I have done you serious wrong over the years."
"I'm not going to hit you unless you're planning on making a match out of it. I told you already that I forgave you. I know that you had a good reason for what you did, Grandpa Gohan knew what he was talking about. It would have been really bad if I had my tail at some point when the moon came up if none of us knew about it. You wouldn't have done anything unless you believed it would help. I just need some time to cool off, that's all."
"…You really trust far too easily Goku."
"Maybe you just don't trust enough. You could have told me what Grandpa said and I would have believed you. It could have saved a lot of trouble."
"You're right. I just…I wasn't sure what would happen."
"Well, if you're really sorry then maybe you can take a chance. I know you keep a lot of stuff bottled up Erza, maybe you should consider trusting me and everyone else at the guild some more. You don't need to face all of your demons alone." Erza nodded and bade Goku a quiet goodnight before walking off back towards Fairy Hills. She wanted to trust the guild, she wanted to trust him. She really did. But could she? How would they react when they realized that the strong warrior that so many looked up to was just the shell of a scared little girl still reeling from the destruction of her home and family more than a decade ago. How would they react once they learned of her time as a slave and how she chose to flee rather than confront her fears and try to save everyone? Would they still look up to her then? Would they even like her anymore?
If she was the kind of person who would flee and abandon her friends, did she even deserve their trust to begin with?
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DRAGON BALL Z EPIC ANNOUNCER MAN VOICE MAN:
THE THREAT HAS PASSED AND A NEW ONE LOOMS ON THE HORIZON…but not just yet. A bit of harmless fun between the big battles as Lucy tries to uncover what is wrong with her spirit Plue.
NEXT TIME ON ESCALATION: THE STAR THAT FELL FROM HEAVEN