Hello guys, how are you ? I know it's been quite a long time since we last saw each other but I took some time for myself the week before. Furthermore, I had a lot to do due to me moving out to a new apartment, without any internet which slowed me down greatly but things should be back as they were before now. I hope you'll like this chapter. Have fun !
Chapter 33 : Counter-attack
/- Central Magnolia, Kardia Cathedral -/
In the cathedral, Laxus was looking at a magic screen where the current situation of the battle was displayed. He witnessed the guild members fighting each other, his team wiping them all out easily. But when he saw that Erza was free and that Mystogan was back in town, he couldn't help but feel like things were about to become interesting.
- "Erza revived, and Mystogan is here… Including me, that makes all three of Fairy Tail's top fighters. This is what a festival should be like."
- "I agree, but I have the feeling those Kamen Riders can be quite dangerous." Said Freed, who was back talk to Laxus about what he saw, earning a curious gaze from Laxus. "I witnessed what those guys are really about and they can be really powerful."
- "There's nothing to worry about." Said Laxus. "They won't be a threat for us. They may have the advantage of us not knowing what they can really do, but it won't matter. I'm the best mage in this guild and if those guys think they can beat us, they are in for a surprise."
As he said that, Erza and Emu were running in the street, looking for Laxus to stop him and his friends before the petrified girls turn into sand. Back at the guild, Makarov and Shinnosuke could do nothing but wait and hope for the best while Gajeel and Natsu were weeping, wanting to go and be a part of the fight but unable to get out because of the barrier put by Freed. Seeing Erza and Emu running through the street was the occasion for the citizen to ask question about the situation to the redhead.
- "Erza-chan, what're you doing out there in that getup ?" asked a man.
- "All these guys from your guild have been getting in fights about the place and causing all sorts of trouble." Said a woman.
- "I must apologize." Said Erza with a smile. "We're just getting ready for the Fantasia parade."
- "That's some weird preparations…"
- "Well, look forward to the big event !" add Emu, who ran alongside Erza as the two citizen felt reassured, even if he felt like he lied to them. "I hope they won't have to cancel Fantasia because of what's happening."
- "Don't worry. As long as we save the girls, we won. Laxus won't be able to do anything if he lost his hostages." Explained Erza, turning to look at Emu who was struggling with something. "A problem with the glasses ?"
- "I'm not used to them, it's the first time I'm wearing some." Indeed, Makarov gave Emu a pair of magic glasses. Erza was already protected from the Raijinshu Eye Magic thanks to her artificial eye so he gave those glasses so Emu could be safe too.
- "Maybe, but you'll have to deal with it." Said Erza. "You won't be able to fight if you can't use your eyes. This is the best with our current opponent."
- "I understand that. Well, if those guys think it's a game, then let's play." Said Emu, grinning slightly like he usually did as M, his gamer persona. "I'll save the girls with my own hands. Well… WE'll save the girls with OUR own hands."
Erza smiled at his auto-correction as the kept running, looking for the Raijinshu, hoping to find Evergreen first so they could save the girls before it was too late. And fate decided to give them that chance. As they were running through an empty street, they were stopped by magic spears raining down on them, forcing them to dive into an alley to dodge them, knocking down crates as they did, looking up to see who the attacker was, the latter perched on the edge of a roof.
- "Well, looks like another rider decided to come out and play." Said Evergreen, looking down on the two, reporting her attention to Erza. "And you, Erza ? How did you managed to de-petrify yourself ? Well, not that it matters. Things will be more fun this way."
- "Evergreen…" said Erza as she look up at her comrade turned enemy as Emu glared at the woman.
- "I'm not one to turn down playing a game, but this one is too twisted to be called a game." Said Emu, readjusting his glasses, a little too big for his head. As for Evergreen, she seemed more focused on Erza than the Rider.
- "You really irritate me… calling yourself 'Titania'…" Said Evergreen as she looked at Erza with disdain. "I am the only Queen of the Fairies !"
- "I don't really get why you're so worked up about that." Said Emu as he grabbed his main Gashat. "It's not like she asked to be called like that. It's the others who called her Titania. But that's not important right now." As he said that, Evergreen had glared at him. "The fact is that the life of the girls back at the guild are at stake and as a doctor, I have to find a cure to their situation and the best way to do it is to defeat you."
MIGHTY ACTION X !
Evergreen's gaze left the Rider to look at the digitalization of her surrounding as Emu activated the Gashat.
- "You can say whatever you want, neither of you can beat me. The petrified girls fate is sealed." She declared, sure of herself as she smirked at the two who glared back at her.
- "It doesn't matter whose fate it is… I will change it ! HENSHIN !"
GASHAT ! LEVEL UP ! MIGHTY JUMP ! MIGHTY KICK ! MIGHTY MIGHTY ACTION X !
Now clad in his usual armor, Emu shared a look with Erza who nodded as she stood next to him, looking up at their target who seemed unimpressed. After witnessing the 'fight' between Takeru and Haruto, she should have been at least on your guard concerning Emu, but she was too confident in herself to care.
- "Let's clear it together with super co-op play !" They declared in synch, Erza playing the part easily and with zest, apparently liking to play role. As for Evergreen, she simply rolled her eyes, not amused by this but she quickly brushed it aside.
- "Your little act is really amusing, but I'm not here to see a play." She said as she flipped in the air, the wings like cape on her back fluttering slightly as her body began to emit a shining dust that rained around the duo who looked at it in curiosity.
FAIRY BOMB : GREMLIN !
The dust around the mage and Rider then exploded, trapping them both but not for long. Soon after, Emu came jumping out of the smoke, Gashacon Breaker in hand as he swung it down at the roof she had landed on, the auto-proclaimed 'Queen of the Fairies' jumping out of the way as the roof broke down to pieces as she landed on some kind of large chimney.
- "Looks like you have a hard time aiming, hm ?" she taunted, not seeing the smile on Emu's face under his helmet.
- "That's the point of a coop game. You aren't fighting alone."
As soon as he said that, Erza jumped out of the smoke, swords in hands as she tried to slash at Evergreen, only managing to cleave the chimney in three pieces as the glasses wearing mage flew out of the way.
- "Hah, that's Erza for you !" She said, superiority seeping out of her voice.
- "To think that you'd be the first one to show your face…" Said Erza. "If we defeat you, we can turn everyone back to normal !"
- "And you think you can do that ?" as she said that, she lifted her glasses, her pupils now shining green as she looked at the two of them, aiming to petrify them but much to her surprise, neither of them got petrified, Ever only seeing Erza closing her left eye.
- "Not going to work !" they both exclaimed, Erza slashing at Ever who barely dodged, only for Emu to came from above, slamming his Breaker on the mage, only to be stopped by the latter fan.
- "I see now… " She said, flipping her way out of their reach. "I wasn't aware that you had an artificial eye. And I guess that this armor of yours protect you from my eyes." She Turned to Emu as she said that, the Rider standing next to Erza.
- "Well, it's either that or the magic glasses Makarov gave me just in case." Revealed Emu, taking another Gashat out. "Either way, this means that you'll have to find another way to fight us since your dear petrification is out of the way."
- "Don't go thinking turning people into stone is the only thing I can do." Said Evergreen, slightly unnerved. And Emu seemed to be aware of that.
- "I know. And that's why I won't look down on you."
GEKITOTSU ROBOTS !
- "DAI DAI DAI HENSHIN !"
A GACHA ! BUTTOBASE ! TOTSUGEKI ! GEKITOTSU PUNCH ! GEKITOTSU ROBOTS !
- "Well, would you look at that." Began Evergreen, looking at Emu with a slightly amused face. "Why, are you trying to imitate Elfman ? I hope you'll be more of a challenge than he was."
- "I'll let you be the judge of that !" Emu then ran at Evergreen, swinging punches at the fairy who either dodged or blocked the punch, but quickly forgot the idea of blocking as the first she tried to stop nearly broke her hand. After some times, Erza joined the fight and they both soon took the upper hand on Ever who had to think of something to get out of her current situation. And this occasion came, but not as she first though.
KIMEWAZA ! GEKITOTSU CRITICAL STRIKE !
Emu fired his Smasher at Ever, hitting her in the stomach as she was taken for a ride with it, slamming her into a bunch of crates as Emu came running at her who, pinned by the fist, couldn't do anything to save herself. As Emu came, he punched inside the fist which triggered an explosion that sent her flying though the crates but Ever wasn't as frail as she looked and was still able to fight and now that she was away from them, she had the opening she was waiting for.
- "Your strong, but let's see if you can dodge this !"
FAIRY MACHINEGUN : LEPRECHAUN !
This time, instead of exploding dust, Evergreen summoned a flurry of magic needles at the two of them, forcing them to dodge while preventing them from getting closer to her. In fact, Erza was more at ease than Emu whose Gekitotsu Robots wasn't his most agile form.
- "Let's see if you can dodge my torrent of needles !"
Soon, it became a hot pursuit with Erza and Emu pursuing a fleeing Evergreen, Erza easily repelling the needles with the swords in her hands while emu was in a pinch, missing the speed to dodge and repel the attack. After some time, he was falling behind, leaving Erza alone to ran after Ever, much to the woman amusement.
- "Well, it seems like your little friend couldn't keep up." Said Ever, glancing behind her at Erza who was still there, the gap between them staying the same.
- "I'm sure he's alright. And I'm sure I can take care of you either way." Declared the redhead, which amused Evergreen a lot.
- "To think that you managed to dodge all those needles… You're pretty good." She admitted, smirking at the mage. "However, what if I were to double them ?"
Doing as she just said, Ever summoned even more needles which rained down on Erza who kept swinging her swords repeatedly to repel them but there were too many of them, some needles reaching their target, stabbing her in the leg, arm and grazing her face, much to Evergreen joy.
- "AHAHAHAHAH ! From now on, the name of Titania belongs to me ! I am the one true Fairy !"
But alas for her, Erza wasn't done and proved that she was more than fitting for that name. She discarded her boots, leaving her bare feet, allowing her to grab swords with them. Now wielding four swords at once, she began to flip and dance her way through the needles, much to Evergreen shock as she repelled all the needles coming her way.
- "Im… Impossible !" She cried as Erza was getting closer and closer, the glass wearing mage looking around her to look for an escape route. "I have to get out of here ! If I can stay hidden long enough, we…"
DRAGO KNIGHT HUNTER ! Z !
*CRASH* Without letting her finish her sentence, Emu came back breaking down a wall as he dived at Evergreen, clad in the dragon themes black armor of his Full Dragon Level 5, swinging down his Dragon Blade at Ever's feet, making her lose her footing before pointing the Dragon Gun at her, shooting at the mage, sending her flying into a room where she slammed into a wall where she was pinned down by Erza who, barely noticing Emu's return, did what she aimed for at first which was sending the two blades she hold with her feet at Ever, pinning her to the wall thanks to the swords holding her by her dress. Now unable to move, she was at the mercy of the Rider and mage in front of her, Emu controlling the full Drago Knight Hunter Z, for now at least.
- "You may be intolerable, but you're still a member of Fairy Tail, and I will honor that." Began Erza as she looked at Ever. "If you want to call yourself Titania, then by all means feel free ; I don't even know who gave me that name in the first place."
- "Now I'd advise you to stop this nonsense and return everyone to normal." Said Emu. "If you don't, I might lost the control I currently have on Drago Knight and trust me, you don't want to see me go on a rampage."
- "Ohoho… Aren't you being a little naïve ?" laughed Ever as she sneered at them both. "My stone eyes have one more power, you know. Remote control." Then, she looked at Erza with madness in her eyes. "Now, take off your clothes ! Prostrate yourself naked before me ! If you do not… then I will reduce every one of those petrified women to dust right now !"
Emu was amazed that Evergreen had the nerves to do this kind of threat given her current situation, even more as he felt like she wasn't even serious about it, only trying to look like she was. When he saw Erza activating her Requip, he feared for a moment that she might do as she was told, but she quickly proved him wrong as for when she reappeared, she was wearing her Heaven Wheel Armor and all of the weapon she have in her possession all floated around her, all aimed at Evergreen as Erza glared at her, two impressively massive swords in her own hands.
- "I see? If you feel winning or losing is more important than your own life, then so be it." She said, Emu looking at her with wide eyes as Ever looked at her, he face blank and slightly sweating at what she as seeing, all that pure anger aimed at her. "In taking your life, I will avenge the souls of those crumbled maidens."
As Erza was slowly making her way toward Evergreen, the latter began to sweat and shake more and more, letting out an ear-piercing shriek of terror as Erza was now standing in front of her, the redhead attacking…
… With a simple punch to Ever's face.
- "… And THAT … Is how you do a real bluff."
- "I… I surrender." Said Evergreen, her voice muffled by Erza's fist as Emu sighed, pulling his Gashats out of his Driver.
GASHUN !
- "You got me for a moment Erza." Admitted the guy. "For a moment, I thought you were really going to kill her."
- "I would never do that to a fellow comrades, no matter what he did." She said with a smile before turning her attention to Evergreen. "Now, free the girls, right now !"
- "Alright. I'll do it. Let's…" *CRASH* As Ever was about to free the hostage, the wall she was pinned to opened, a small troop of black clad men appearing and grabbing Evergreen, in a way that prevent her from moving a single finger, much to the shock of everyone here, Ever included as she tried to fight back. "What the hell !? You're from that Shocker group ?"
- "What are they doing here !?" asked Emu, trying to jump in but he was stalled by another group of soldiers. "You're working with them ?!"
- "NO !" Answered Ever who was as shocked as everyone else. "I don't get why they are here !"
As soon as she said that, one of the guy pulled out a Gashat out of nowhere, activated it and literally plugged it into the Fairy Tail symbol on Evergreen, the Gashat entering her body much too Emu's horror.
- "NO !"
At the guild, they were first ecstatic when the first message came.
Evergreen vs Erza and Emu. Winner : Erza and Emu !
- "Yes ! They beat Ever !" Cheered Happy.
- "Then this means that the girls are now safe !" said Natsu as he turned to the girls… who were still petrified. "What ?"
- "I don't understand. Why aren't they back to normal ?" Wondered worriedly Makarov when Gajeel called them back to the board.
- "Maybe because of this." He said as he pointed at the board where another line had appeared. "Looks like they aren't really done with it."
Erza and Emu vs Evergreen Bugster.
Back with Emu and Erza, they were now facing something they weren't expecting and that could make things a bit more complicated. In front of them stood what once was Evergreen. She was now looking like a fairy, a demonic one but a fairy nonetheless, with fluttering ragged wings on her back as she hovered over the ground. Her slim body was covered in green armor with a little bit of scales pattern, her head looked like a dragonfly, with two large red eyes covered by a red visor. Her fan was still here, now welded to both of her forearm, also much more larger and sharper. In addition, little light being were orbiting around her and if one looked closely at them, they would see that they were small flying girls with shining bodies, like real fairies.
- "And she wanted to be the 'Queen of the Fairies'." Said Emu as he took in what happened to Evergreen, Erza standing by his side, swords in hands.
- "I have to say it's impressive, but also worrying." Admitted Erza. "I fear that as long as she'll be like this, the stone curse will stay. We have to get rid of her."
- "I won't go down as easily." Said the Ever-Bugster who looking down at them. "As I am right now, you won't be able to lay a single blow on me."
- "I don't think so !" Shouted Erza as she ran at Ever who didn't even bothered to move out of the way or to protect herself, and that was cause she didn't have to. As Erza swung her sword at Ever, some of the fairies around her gathered to block the blow, taking Erza by surprise as the others fairies shot magic beam at Erza, sending her crashing to the ground.
- "As I said : not a single blow."
LEVEL UP ! BANG BANG SHOOTING ! A GACHA ! JET COMBAT !
REQUIP : BLACK WING ARMOR !
Assuming Taiga level 3, Emu flew around the room, opening fire on Ever but just like Erza, the fairies all blocked the shots with their own bodies or with shots of their own. Luckily, Ever apparently had a limited amount of fairies to use as she couldn't use them to deal with Erza this time, but she wasn't just about the fairies. She also became stronger physically, easily dealing with Erza, toying with her as she barely broke a sweat. After some time, she decided she had enough and that it was time to end it. Light gathered around her as did her fairies, creating a sphere of light all around her, sphere that exploded after some time, the explosion coming with an incredible amount of needles similar to the ones Ever shot with Leprechaun. Basically, she became a frag grenade, sending shrapnel all around her, successfully nailing Erza and Emu, the two of them flying through the room and stumbling on the ground before coming to a stop, struggling to get up, Emu having reverted to his civilian form.
- "What did I just said ?" repeated Ever, looking down at the two, mocking them. "You can't do anything to me. You'd better give up, the both of you."
- "Maybe, but we haven't said our last word yet." Said Emu, pulling two Gashat which he handed to Erza. "We still have one option."
Erza simply nodded, grabbing the two trinkets and did as she already did before, letting her magic into the devices, which changed them, the first one going from black to scarlet red with a drawing of a woman in a samurai armor wielding two sickles and the second going from blue to metallic grey and pink showing a man in a medieval armor with a large sword and shield. Keeping the first, Erza gave the second back to Emu as they both got up and activated their Gashat.
GIRI GIRI TITANIA !
FAIRY QUEST !
Evergreen looked curiously at her two opponents, a white Buggle Driver II appearing at Erza's waist as they both triggered their transformation.
- "HENSHIN !" (x2)
GASHAN ! LEVEL UP ! FAIRY MEGURU ! FAIRY MEGURU ! FAIRY QUEST !
GASHAN ! MAGIC LEVEL UP ! SHÕRI NO YÕSEI ! SUBARASHI TATAKAI ! GIRI GIRI TITANIA !
Erza was now wearing some kind of scarlet samurai armor with yellow design, like the Fairy Tail symbol drawn on the left side of her chest plate, the right side adorned with the same kind of gaming pad. Her hair was tied in a braid, flowing through a helmet that covered the rest of her hair, his face still visible. She had two weapons on her back, two yellow sickles with scarlet colored jagged blades. By her side, Emu was in a slightly different version of Taddle Quest. The blue was now grey and the part that were grey before, like the front of the helmet were now a dull pink. Basically, the armor was now much more medieval looking with plates on the abs, legs and arms. In term of weapon, it was easily the shield on his left arm. It was no longer attached to it as Emu hold it in front of him, much more larger than before, a sword hidden inside it whose handle could be seen peaking from behind the shield who had the Fairy Tail symbol embed onto it.
- "Those are nice armors, but they won't save you !" Declared Evergreen proudly. "Now, die !"
A new swarm of magic needles and beam rained down on the two mages but this time, they were more than ready. As the projectiles fell on and around them, it lifted a large cloud of smoke and dust which hid the two fighters from Ever. When she thought she was done with them, she was taken aback when a flurry of scarlet colored energy-made arrow came out of the cloud, taking down most of the fairies, Ever looking in shock at the damages done before looking down at the receding smoke to see Erza, holding her own Gashacon Sparrow in Arrow Mode, pointed at her. Ever gritted her teeth, unleashing another series of shot at her nemesis, only for the shot to be stopped by Emu's large shield, the Rider jumping in between the two to protect the redhead who took advantage of this to jump at Ever, the Sickles at the ready before exchanging blows with the Fairy Bugster and this time, Evergreen physical boost wasn't enough to hold her own against the Titania, the Fairies almost all gone by now, destroyed by Erza or Emu who had squashed all the fairies he could with his shield. Once the fairies were all done for, Erza and Emu teamed up against their progenitor who couldn't do anything against the onslaught she was undergoing. After some time, she was left panting, a few feet away from the two attackers who were about to trigger their Critical Strike when Ever did something unexpected. Her wings began to flutter at high speed, a mix of dust and light gathering in them as she did so and with one last wide flutter, all that gathered energy exploded in a myriad of bullets at the two mages, like a tsunami of magic that came at them from the front, but also from above and the sides, Ever aiming to make sure they couldn't escape. Erza had already began to move when she was stopped by Emu who simply showed her the Gashat in his hands, Erza nodding in understanding as Emu plugged his own Gashat into his shield as Erza pressed the button on her Buggle Driver II.
KIMEWAZA ! FAIRY CRITICAL FINISH !
KIMEWAZA ! CRITICAL TITANIA CREWS-AID !
Emu lifted his shield which began to glow, literally drawing all of the projectiles to it, absorbing them all, the shield shining brightly with the power of the shots. But Emu wasn't done. He took a hold of the sword handle on top of the shield and hold the shield like a sword, the shield changing to literally become the sword blade, a long and large blade covered in crackling digital pink and silver energy which he hold with both hands. As for Erza, she was holding the Sickles whose blades also had yellow and scarlet energy crackling around them. Ever could only stare in horror as the two jumped at her and slashed her at the same time, Erza spinning on herself to cut her like a sawblade while Emu simply slashed her horizontally, the cumulated energy making the Bugster explode in mid-air as a large GAME CLEAR appeared, ignoring Evergreen, now back to normal, as she fell to the ground, utterly defeated.
- "Wow. This was pretty cool." Said Emu as he undid his transformation, looking at the Gashat before it goes back to its original shape.
- "I have to say, it was refreshing." Admitted Erza looking at her own as the Buggle Driver II disappeared. "I don't think I ever thought about using two sickles. This could be a good idea. But this is not finished." Suddenly, Erza was serious once again, giving the Giri Giri Chambara Gashat back to him. "I have to go and take care of Laxus. With Natsu and Gajeel stuck in the guild, me and Mystogan are the only one who have a chance against him."
- "Then take this with you." He said, giving her the Gashat back, surprising her. "Shocker doesn't work with them apparently, but that didn't stopped them from appearing and turning Evergreen into a Bugster. So just in case they did the same to Laxus, you should keep it for now."
- "Well, thanks. But what about you ?" asked Erza, grabbing the Gashat.
- "The girls should be free now, but maybe some need some healing. I'm heading back there and while I'm at it, if I can I'll take all the mages I can find back in case they need help. Good luck with Laxus."
- "Thanks."
Erza then ran out of the building, leaving Emu alone for a moment, the doctor looking at Evergreen's unconscious form, sighing as he knelt down next to her, checking out her wounds before leaving for the guild. After all, he was a doctor first and he couldn't leave someone like that. But as he was checking Evergreen for any kind of serious wounds, he couldn't help but wonder how things were going to be now that Laxus lost Ever and, incidentally, his hostages.
/- Back at the guild -/
Evergreen Bugster vs Erza and Emu – Winner : Erza and Emu !
As soon as that message appeared on the battle feed, all the girls in the guild turned back to normal, the stone around their body shattering like glass. As the girls all looked around, wondering what happened to them, the boys turned to look at them, at first surprised but then, either a smile or a grin appeared on their face. Happy instantly lunged at Lucy, hugging her while crying, much to the blonde surprise who had yet to realize the current situation. Gajeel smirked but said nothing more while Natsu was obviously very happy, mainly looking at Lucy while Shinnosuke and Makarov smiled.
- "Well, here we are." Began Shinnosuke as he looked at his watch. "All the girls are free and just in time."
- "Indeed." Belt-san followed suite. "And with the girls free, Laxus just lose his hostages, the only mean of pressure he had on us."
- "That's wonderful !" Makarov piped up, a large proud smile on his face as he turned back to look at the board which shown an increase of 6 in the remaining combatants. "So ? What will you do now, Laxus ?"
At the cathedral, the mood was in complete opposition with the one at the guild. When the message revealing that Evergreen had been defeated, he had felt his anger boil, soon replace by confusion and annoyance when he saw the message talking about the round two with a Bugsterized Ever, wondering how this could have happen since he made it clear that he wasn't interested with their help. But he said nothing as long as this didn't made his little game go haywire. But when the second announcement of Evergreen defeat came, he felt his frustration peaked up once again, fueled up even more when he saw the number of fighters go up, sign that the girls had been freed.
- "Damn you…" he seethed, punching a column in pure anger. "Why the hell did Ever get herself taken out by the likes of Erza and one of those Riders !? Damn it, Ever, when did you get so god-damn weak ?!"
- "Erza in simply too strong for her. You should have sent myself or Bickslow." Said Freed, who was standing a few feet behind his leader. "Besides, those Riders can do some things we can't even imagine from what I gathered."
- "And what are you doing back here, Freed ?" asked Laxus, barely listening to what his bodyguard said.
- "Well, the game is over." He said matter-of-factly. "With the hostages freed, the Master will never give in." The lightning bolt that cracked the ground of the cathedral barely missed him, taking Freed by surprise as he covered his face, shocked by Laxus reaction.
- "It is not over." Said Laxus calmly, bit of lightning still crackling on his skin. "If you want to chicken out now, then get lost. I don't need weaklings like that in my Fairy Tail."
Freed simply stared at Laxus, taken aback before nodding and looking back at Laxus, his loyalty speaking for him as Laxus turned back to the screen, already knowing what to do to keep the fight going. Meanwhile at the guild…
- "The battle of fairy Tail ?! Laxus really pulled a thing like that ?"
The girls were just informed by Makarov of the situation and needless to say, they were surprised.
- "It doesn't really matter, now." This was Emu, finally back to the guild. He decided it was best to come back to the guild before looking for the others fallen combatants. "With all of you free, it's a Game Over for Laxus, he can't keep this game going without a mean to pressure us."
- "Emu ! Where's Erza ? I thought you fought together ?" asked Makarov, worried that something bad might have happened.
- "She's alright. She just left to take care of Laxus. And Evergreen is still alive, don't worry about it."
- "Are they really teaming up with Shocker ?" asked Shinnosuke, the girls looking at him wide eyes at the accusation as the policeman gestured toward the board. "It showed here that you fought a Bugster Evergreen."
- "Wait ! Laxus teamed up with Shocker just to take over the guild ? That bastard !"
- "It's not like that, Cana." Said Emu, putting an end to the chaos this misunderstanding could have caused. "They were approached by them but they refused their 'help'. However, that didn't stopped Shocker from following them and forcefully using a Gashat on Ever. She never wanted this."
- "That's nice to hear, but still…" Mirajane was looking down, a sad expression on her face. "What about everyone who was caught in Freed's traps and got seriously hurt… ?"
- "That's right !" Shouted Bisca in agreement, fist tight. "Laxus had better see some punishment for this; We can't simply tolerate it !"
- "Oh, you can be sure I'll give him a proper seeing to later !" Said Makarov, anger showing on his face. "Damn you Laxus… You've gone too far this time !"
- "Hold it a second." Natsu hold his hand up to grab everyone else attention, having some things to say. "Here's the thing… I've gotta admit it was a bit screwed-up of Laxus to force everyone into situations where they had to fight against each other…"
- "Just a bit ?" Piped up a sweat dropping Emu, just like Shinnosuke and Belt-san, Natsu ignoring him as he continued. "But there's nothing wrong with his basic idea of finding out who's the strongest in Fairy Tail, is there ?"
- "I'm… not sure I agree, but…" said Levy, only to be cut out by Natsu who smiled at the master.
- "All I'm saying is… Don't be too harsh on the guy. Okay, old man ?"
Makarov looked up at Natsu admiratively, impressed that Natsu could be like this toward Laxus despite everything he did to them. But the Riders weren't that naïve and were now waiting for the incoming stupid conclusion.
- "So yeah…" Natsu then smiled broadly, turning toward the girls while cracking his knuckles. "Let's start the battle of Fairy Tail, round 2 ! Who wants to try me, huh ?!" Makarov did a spit take, the girls all gawked at Natsu and the Riders facepalmed, all of them not believing that he could be so focused on the idea of fighting. "I mean, we still haven't even done anything ! C'mon ! Bring on the battle !"
As the Riders sighed, looking at Natsu who was literally running after Lucy to force her into a fight with him, which made the girl run away in fear, much to the other girls amusement who laughed at the whole ordeal, Juvia walked over to Gajeel who was looking at the scene with a blank expression on his face.
- "What's wrong, Gajeel-kun ?" she asked, the Iron Dragon simply frowning.
- "Nothing…" was his answer, but Juvia already knew what this was about as she looked at the laughing group with a smile.
- "…This guild is a lot of fun, isn't it ?"
- "They're fucking crazy."
After a moment of 'calm', they were all reminded of their current situation as the display board on the door got completely black, a pirate skull with a lightning over his left eye appearing on it. Soon after, many others screen appeared all around the guild, multiplying until there were about 30 of them in the whole guild.
- "What is that ?!" asked Shinnosuke, worry showing on his face at the unknown screens.
- "The enchantment display board are flooding the guild !" explained Levy before a familiar voice could be heard, echoing through all the screen in the room.
- "Can you hear me, old man ? And everyone from the guild, too…" Natsu snarled as he heard Laxus voice echo through the hall, gaining their attention. "It looks like we've lost one of our rules… So I'm going to instate a new one."
- "Can't you just let it go, instead ?" asked Emu, feeling annoyed. "When you lost the game, you don't made up rules on the go to make the game continue when the outcome wasn't the one you wanted."
- "So as to keep this battle of Fairy Tail moving…" Whether he heard Emu or not, Laxus continued, not paying with he said any mind. "… I've activated the Hall of Thunder."
- "The Hall of Thunder ?!" repeated Makarov, apparently the only one to know what this was and judging by the old man face, this thing was bad news. Really bad ones.
- "Only one hour and ten minutes remain.. Do you think you can defeat us ? Or will you play nice and retire, 'Master' ? HAHAHAHAHAHA !" With that last laugh, Laxus voice died out as the screen all disappeared and needless to say, Makarov was furious.
- "What on Earth are you thinking, Laxus ?!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, his heart speeding up with each words that left his mouth. "Are you trying to drag innocent civilians into this ?! NGH !"
Suddenly, the old man put a hand to his heart as he fell to the ground in pain, taking everyone by surprise, most of them only staring in shock, Emu being the first one to react, his doctor instinct kicking in as he knelt next to the master.
- "Old man !" shouted Natsu worriedly, Lucy standing by his side, just as worried.
- "What's wrong ?!"
- "It's his heart !" said Emu, alarmed by what this could imply. "It can't have happen just now. As he been sick before ?"
- "Yes !" Confirmed Mirajane as she stood on the other side of Emu. "He already had some problems before, but never as serious."
- "He must have some medicine for this, right ?" asked Emu, to which Mira nodded in confirmation. "Then go fetch them ! We have to at least stabilize him !"
With Mira now gone to fetch the medicine, Levy and Bisca knelt next to the old man, worried for their master and saying him to hold on, talking to him to try and keep him conscious. Meanwhile, Shinnosuke and Natsu were asking themselves the same question, the Rider being the first to voice it.
- "What the hell is the Hall of Thunder ?" he asked the girls. "I guess it's not a good thing judging by Makarov's reaction but I think we need more details."
- "It's terrible !" said Mirajane as she walked down the stairs, medicine in hands, her other hand pointing to the outside. "Everyone… Look outside !"
Doing as they were told, leaving Emu and Mirajane alone to try to heal the master, the mages and Rider ran up the stairs and walked onto a balcony where they could see what Mirajane wanted them to see. All around the city, large spheres that seemed to be made of glass with a lightning bolt inside and some kind of blue belt around them where floating high in the sky, creating a perfect circle large enough to fit the whole city inside of it.
- "What the hell is that ?" Asked Natsu, wondering about those strange sphere.
- "Thunder Lachryma …?" Guessed Levy, a worried look in her eyes. "All those Lachryma are packed with an enormous amount of magical lightning…"
- "So they're probably the Hall of Thunder. But what's their purpose ?" Wondered Shinnosuke, his brain in top gear as he tried to understand the way it worked. And thinking about what Makarov said before, it began to make sense to him. "… He's holding the whole city hostage."
- "WHAT !?" was the main reaction around him as he had dropped that bomb as if he had said 'nice weather today.'
- "He said that by losing a rule, he decided to make another one. And since the 'rule' was about the hostages, he had to find another way to pressure us since you girls are now free. In about an hour, he'll probably activate those Lachryma…"
- "And with the power stored inside…" began Cana. "It could engulf the whole city in a storm of lightning strike."
- "Well, I'm not going to let that happen !" Shouted Bisca as she summoned her magic.
REQUIP : SNIPER RIFLE !
Summoning a magic Sniper Rifle, she knelt next to the railing, taking aim for one of those Lachryma, only to be stopped by Shinnosuke.
- "Wait a second, Bisca !" Everybody turned to him, only to see him smile while waving a green Shift Car in his hand. "I'm tired of being trapped here, unable to do anything, so I'd like to be of some help now that I can."
- "Of course, be my guest." Said Bisca with a slight smirk. "Or is it that you think you can outclass me in a shooting contest ?"
- "I won't pretend that I can." He said, turning his Driver on, Belt-san asking him to 'Start your engine !'. "But I can try. HENSHIN !"
DRIVE : TYPE TECHNIC !
Now clad in his green, shooting expert armor, Shinnosuke stand by Bisca side, the young woman aiming for a Lachryma on the other side of the city, trying to use this occasion to display her sharpshooting ability. As for Shinnosuke, he held his Door-Ju in one hand and Midnight Shadow in the other.
HISSATSU : MIDNIGHT SHADOW FULL THROTTLE !
At the same time, both gunner shot at the Lachryma, Bisca destroying one on the other side of the city while Shinnosuke destroyed 5 of them at the same time, each one taken down by a purple shuriken shaped bullet.
- "All right ! Nice going Bisca ! You too, Shinnosuke !" praised Lucy, making the two of them smirk.
- "Don't worry you all. We got this." Said Shinnosuke, ready to go for another round as Bisca got her gun ready.
- "We'll take down every last one of those…"
Bisca never finished her sentence as she felt something happen to her, and the next second, she got electrocuted out of nowhere, the poor girl falling to the ground, unconscious after just one shot and she wasn't the only one who suffered. Shinnosuke also got zapped, and if his armor took most of the damages, he also receive five times what Bisca had, which meant that he was still conscious, but not in the best shape.
- "What… What the hell happened ?!" asked Shinnosuke, breathing deeply in shock as Belt-san seemed as lost as he was.
- "It's like this sudden burst of electricity came from inside your body, Shinnosuke." He revealed. "I don't understand how…"
- "Living Link Magic !?" exclaimed Cana, apparently recognizing this magic. "Those Lachryma are enchanted with a form of magic that links any damage done to it back to the attacker."
- "Then that means that if we attack the Lachryma directly, we'll get zapped too !" Deduced Shinnosuke as he turned his transformation down. "There's no way we can do it like this. Not with so little people fighting."
- "The only way is to take out Laxus himself !" finally said Cana, turning back to go back inside the guild. "We'll also have to try and evacuate as many people as we can ! And there's still two Raijinshu left so be careful, everyone !" As Lucy, Juvia, Cana and even Mirajane left the building, Natsu jumped over the railing and slid down the roof.
- "What the hell is that asshole thinking ?!" he growled as he slammed his head on the barrier which was also here on the roof. "You're going way too far ! If you really want to be master that much, then fight the old man yourself ! GIVE IT UP ALREADY, LAXUS !"
- "Natsu, stop that ! Come on back up !" Asked Levy, Natsu ignoring her as he desperately tried to break the barrier by force. "It's an enchantment, right ? That's a form of written magic… I might be able to do something about it."
Now THIS got Natsu, but also Gajeel and Shinnosuke's attention, both of them hoping that she might be right as they followed her back inside.
- "Seriously, Levy ?!" asked Shinnosuke, who was waiting for an opportunity to exit this building and do something to help in this battle.
- "I… I believe that you have what it takes to stop Laxus !" she said as Natsu nod but also made a slightly sour face.
- "That's good but I hope you can do it fast enough." He said, looking at the door. "They are strong, but I doubt any of the girls can take Laxus or the Raijinshu for what matters."
- "I know and I'll be as fast as I can." Said Levy as she entered the library, the three men following her as she exited it, her arms full of books. "Besides, I think they won't have to fight alone."
She said that while looking at the broadcast screen, the boys looking at it too to see that the number of remaining combatants had changed once again.
Remaining combatants : 10 - 13
- "That's three more fighters." Noticed Gajeel, arms crossed as Shinnosuke smirked at the number.
- "They are back." He said, the others boys looking at him in confusion while Levy smiled even more as she knew what it meant. "Three more Riders entered the fight."
/- Kardia Cathedral -/
- "You would go this far… ?!"
Freed was looking at his boss back, sweat sliding down his face. Apparently, he wasn't that sure about the use of the Hall of Thunder which made him doubt ever so slightly his boss choices. But Laxus wasn't paying this any mind.
- "This far, you said ? I decide my own limits." He said under his breath, before looking up, teeth clenched and frowning deeply. "This is a battle ! It's not over until one side or the other is obliterated completely !"
"The Hall of Thunder…" Thought Freed, thinking about this plan which he found to be too much. He may have said nothing, but Laxus knew he was still here and that didn't pleased him at all.
- "What are you doing, Freed ?" he asked slowly, without turning to look at his bodyguard. "Bickslow is still out there hunting fairies, you know… The old man's resting his hopes on Erza… I'll take her myself and the same goes for Mistgun. So you get out there and take out Cana and that Phantom girl. I don't need either of them in my Fairy Tail. Feel free to kill them."
- "Kill them ?!" Repeated Freed, the order coming as as shock to him. "We may be fighting them right now, but they're still members of…"
- "DID YOU NOT HEAR MY ORDERS !?" The sudden shout took Freed by surprise but he simply closed his eyes and took a deep breath, refocusing on the task at hand.
- "…Now that we have come this far, I feat there is no turning back." He said, his face void of any emotion for now, his devotion for Laxus taking over everything else. "I will accompany you along this path… Even if it leads to hell. I will accomplish my mission." He said as he turned toward the exit. "I will be aiming to kill. Don't get cold feet now."
- "Very doo, Dark Freed." Smiled Laxus, satisfied by Freed's answer as the latter left the building, leaving Laxus alone. "It's time to show them your real power."
In the meantime, the girls were walking the street of Magnolia, looking for Laxus. Cana was with Juvia and Lucy was by herself. Well almost since she had Happy with her? They were currently talking about the situation and needless to say, things weren't looking good.
- "Why no one thought about using the guild megaphone ?" Asked Happy, walking on a railing. "We could have used it to warn everyone."
- "There's an enchantment on it." Explained Lucy, who was shivering due to her lack of jacket, the blonde still wearing the cheerleader uniform she wore for the contest. "'During the Battle of Fairy Tail, only the master can use the megaphone.' They really thought of everything… Anyway, we have to get the townspeople to evacuate !" Said Lucy, looking decided but Happy wasn't agreeing with her.
- "I've thought about that, actually… And I thought that maybe we shouldn't…" Lucy looked at him curiously, not understanding why he was saying that. "Right now, thanks to the festival, there are tons of people visiting from outside town… And the place is really busy. We don't want to cause a panic – it could just end up causing unnecessary casualties."
- "Yeah, that's true…" admitted Lucy now wondering what to do. "But then… What should we do ?"
- "Yeah… What should we do ?... Yeah…"
Lucy turned her head, surprised by the three little voices that repeated her words, only to find three small wooden totem flying next to her. Thanks to Happy's speed and reflexes, she was pulled out of the way as the totem fired at her, magic bullets exploding all around the spot she was in a few seconds ago. Flying to a nearby roof, Happy put Lucy's down, immediately noticing the man who was standing on top of a toy store insignia.
- "It's Bickslow !"
- "Hey there… Are you the newbie I've heard so much about ?" said Bickslow, looking down at Lucy and Happy.
- "And what's that supposed to mean ?!" she asked, frowning in apprehension. "I get the feeling that I don't want to know what you've heard…"
- "The cosplay-maniac queen, right ?"
- "That's taking exaggeration too far !" shouted Lucy at Bickslow's nickname, knowing that he wouldn't have the right image about her. Even if, truth to be told, her current get up would tend to prove this nickname right. But now wasn't the time to play around.
- "Hey, babies… Take her out !" Following Bickslow's orders, the totem began to shoot at Lucy, who dived to the side to dodge the bullet which destroyed the spot she was standing on before. "Hey, I'm sorry – I should probably be a little nicer since you're new around these parts. But since we're in the middle of this game right now, y'know…"
- "Do you actually think the master is going to forgive you people for this ?!" She asked, wondering if he was aware of the implication of their acts and apparently, they were.
- "I don't need forgiveness from that guy. When this game's finished, Laxus will be the new master."
Shots kept being fired at Lucy, forcing her to dodge again and again. It didn't took her long to understand that the real threat wasn't Bickslow himself but the puppet he was controlling which were currently flying in circle above her. She then grabbed a key, knowing exactly which one would be perfect for the job.
OPEN THE DOOR TO THE ARCHER ! SAGITTARIUS !
- "Moshi, moshi. You called ?" said Sagittarius as he appeared, saluting as he always does while Bickslow whistled, genuinely impressed as he wasn't expecting this.
- "Ohhh ! Stellar Spirit Magic ? And your spirits are cosplay freaks as well !"
- "Oh, shut up !" Shouted Lucy, annoyed that this was how people were seeing her and she will prove that she was much more than that. "Sagittarius ! Take down those flying things, all right ?"
- "Moshi, moshi ! Orders received and understood !" said the Archer as he aimed at his current target, firing five arrows, each one of them destroying one totem until they were all destroyed, Lucy cheering at this as Bickslow looked in shock, head in his hands.
- "My babies ! First you get frozen and now that ?! Nooooooo !" he cried before smirking, tongue pulled out. "Just kidding." Out of nowhere, another magic shot came and shot the spirit down, sending him back to his world, much to Lucy's shock as she turned to Bickslow, only to see 5 wooden toys flying next to him.
- "You can destroy my dolls all you like, but it won't stop the souls within the that I control !" Explained Bickslow with a big smile, Lucy's eyes widening in shock as Happy explained a bit more.
- "Bickslow's magic allows him to implant souls into dolls and control them !"
- "And we're standing on the roof of a toy store !" realized Lucy as she understood the implications. "He basically have an unlimited amount of dolls to use !" As she said that, one doll sped by her and took her keys off her waist, making her defenseless as the dolls kept on attacking, one kicking Happy away as the others managed to send Lucy to the ground by making her trip on her own feet. As for Bickslow, he was feeling pretty great and was having one hell of a time.
- "I'm afraid there's no escape for you now." He said with a smirk as his puppet gathered and got into a pentagon formation, their bodies shining brightly. "Sorry about this, little cosplay girlie. Your soul will be serving Laxus purpose from now on !"
BARYON FORMATION !
Magic swirled around the puppet, creating a whirlpool that quickly formed a mass of energy in the middle which then got shot at Lucy, a large beam of magic that would surely destroy the poor blonde. Happy tried to help her but he wasn't fast enough but luckily, there weren't any need for him to do so. Just as the beam was about to reach its target, Lucy was pulled out of the way by a newcomer who had grabbed her just in time, the ground exploding behind them as they fled it to avoid getting hurt. Everyone wondered what happened, or rather who just saved Lucy asno one was there just a second before.
- "Now, why could it be, I wonder… ?" began the savior, his voice pretty familiar to the three fairies on the roof. "It looks like I alone have the power to pass through the gate whether you call me or not." Lucy looked up at the guy, instantly recognizing him despite his suit, wild orange hair with cat ears like strands and blue glasses. "I suppose this is just proof that the barrier between human and spirit… crumbles to nothing before the power of our love."
- "… Love ?" repeated Lucy, her annoyance barely discernable behind her relief. "What are you talking about, you silly idiot ?"
- "It looks like it's time to fulfil my promise." Said the guy, standing up and looking at Bickslow with a scowl, as the Raijinshu was shocked, remembering that guy from the times he was at the guild.
- "You're… Loki !" Once the surprise passed, he began to smile, his tongue still hanging out of his mouth. "Why, so you were a Stellar Spirit after all, huh ? I always had a feeling that you might be… And what, now you're gonna bare your fangs at me even though I kept it quiet for you ?"
- "He knew ?" asked Lucy, surprised that someone could have known Leo's secret to which Happy answered.
- "It's possible… after all, he has the ability to see human souls."
- "So you're joining the Battle of Fairy Tail, hm ?"
- "Can't say I really care much what's going on around here, to be honest." Admit Leo, straightening his suit. "But I'm afraid… no matter the circumstances, hurting my owner Lucy is the one thing I cannot forgive."
- "Can't forgive ? HAHAHAHA !" Laughed Bickslow, amused by the spirit's words. "Don't forget, you've never once beat me in a fight ! Hell, I'm always playing the nice guy, going easy on you ! And teaming up with your new owner won't change the fact that you have not a single chance against me !"
DONGURI SQUASH !
Bickslow, until now at ease on his spot above the others was forced to jump to the side, dodging the large projection of an acorn, spinning like a drill, but not without getting a graze on his face as the acorn came crashing down on the roof, in front of Lucy and Leo who could only stare in shock but when the acorn disappeared, they could help but smile.
- "If two isn't a challenge for you, then maybe three will be."
- "Kouta !" Happily shouted Happy, looking at the Rider, in the Donguri Arms, hammer in hand, looking at a smirking Bickslow.
- "Well, if it isn't one of those famous Kamen Rider." Said Bickslow in a sing-song voice. "Well, to be honest, I hope this will be a challenge. If this is not, I'll be really disappointed. Babies, let's destroy them !"
- "Lucy, you stay back." Said Leo, pushing her behind him and Kouta, the Rider grabbing another Lockseed. "We'll take care of him."
- "I don't think she's the kind of girl to just stay on the side and watch the fight." Said Kouta, which Lucy confirmed.
- "He's right !" She said, taking her whip out. "A Stellar Spirit isn't a shield ! I fight together with my spirits… That's my style !"
- "Well said." Commented Kouta, smiling just as Leo did as he change his armor.
SOIYA ! MATSUBOKKURI ARMS ! ICHIGEKI IN THE SHADOWS !
As soon as the armor was on, bullets rain down on the group, making them jump away, each one in a different direction, the three of them taking a fighting stance, ready to go.
- "Kouta ! You and I will deal with those dolls one way or another ! Lucy, once we've made an opening, you go for Bickslow !"
- "Ok ! Let's go, Happy !"
- "Aye !"
- "I'll assist her if I can." Added Kouta, holding his spear firmly, Leo nodding as he began to shine while mumbling some kind of prayer.
- "O Regulus… Grant me your strength !"
With that, Leo ran at the dolls, destroying them with light-infused arms as Kouta followed suite, jumping and slashing at the dolls the Lion missed or forgot,. This would have been way too easy if they weren't standing on top of a toy store, giving Bickslow an uncountable amount of toys to use to replace his destroyed the destroyed ones. Many of them were speeding toward Lucy, but Leo was on watch and made sure that his master wasn't bothered in any way. Once she was safe, Lucy, using Happy's wings, flew up to the top of the building Bickslow was now standing on, swinging her whip down in a hope to reach him, but her opponent was quick enough to dodge, the whip slapping the floor where he stood a few seconds before.
- "Oooh, spare me, mighty queen !" mocked Bickslow, much to the girls annoyance. Meanwhile, Leo was still busy with the dolls but he wasn't in a tight spot, far from it, as he gave another advice to Lucy.
- "Bickslow himself doesn't have all that much power ! Keep at it !"
- "What was that, you freak ?!" shouted Bickslow, not liking at all Leo's comment, which gave an opening to Lucy who slapped Bickslow hard across his face whit her whip. "BUEGHH ! You little… Fire at will !"
Two dolls appeared suddenly behind Bickslow, aiming at Lucy who was surprised to see them here, just like Leo who had failed to notice them but luckily, the third member did saw them. With one stab and one slash with his Kagematsu, Kouta took Bickslow by surprise as the Rider redirected his attention toward the mage, which he slashed at once, lifting his spear and swinging it down on Bickslow, cutting him all the way from his head down to his waist. The cut wasn't that deep, barely missing the face and leaving a light cut on his torso, but this was enough to anger him. But while he should have been glad to see Bickslow taking some damages, Happy instead felt fear as he saw the metallic mask fall apart, cut in half by Kouta.
- "Damnit all ! I guess there's nothing else for it ! Thanks for taking the mask off by yourself !"
- "Everyone, cover your eyes ! Quick !"
FIGURE EYES !
Following Happy's order, they all closed their eyes just in time as Bickslow opened his, showing green shining eyes, similar to the ones Evergreen used when she turned the girls to stone. If they could open their eyes, they could see Bickslow real face, which was covered by a tattoo covering the upper part of his face, a stickman of some sort with spread legs and arms and also his hair, black and blue with the black part almost shaven and the blue part sticking out on top like a mohawk and above the ears. But they just couldn't and for a pretty good reason.
- "The Raijinshu all have something in common : a secondary ability in their eyes, even though Ever use her own as her primary." Explained Happy, his paws on his eyes. "Bickslow's Figure Eyes allows him to turn anyone who look into his eyes into a doll and take control of his soul !"
- "And how are we supposed to fight an enemy with our eyes closed !?" Asked Kouta, also closing his eyes under his helmet.
- "You can't !" Gleefully shouted Bickslow as his dolls all attacked the mages and Rider, who could do nothing to protect themselves since they were all forced to close their eyes, meaning they couldn't see a single thing. "HYAHAHAHAHAHAH ! There isn't anyone in the world who can beat my ultimate combo of Figure Eyes and Human Possession !"
- "Lucy ! Use Horologium !" Asked Leo. "I'll fall back for the moment and you can use Horologium to harden your defenses !"
- "That's easy for you to say ! He took my keys, remember ?!" Reminded Lucy, not liking Leo's idea. "And anyway, I'm trusting in you here, so do something about him already !"
Leo stayed silent a moment, still surprised by how much better Lucy was as a master than Karen, a smile gracing his lips.
- "Okay. I have a plan. When I give you both the signal, Kouta and you will open your eyes and go for him." Lucy was, at first, about to stop him, saying that if she opened her eyes she would be trapped by Bickslow but she said nothing, trusting Leo who then took a stance, one Bickslow wasn't going to let happen.
- "Don't let them pull anything funny – Finish them off immediately !"
- "If only they could stop attacking, even for just a second…" muttered Leo as he was constantly bullied by the dolls, a problem to which Kouta seemed to had a solution.
- "I know of a way. Wait for my signal."
LOCK OFF !
- "Wait ! Did you just cancel your transformation ?" asked Lucy who had recognized the Lock off signal, having heard it before. "What are you doing ?"
- "Don't worry. I may have kept this for myself until now, but I have other ways to fight."
Suddenly, his body shone and the second after that, Bickslow widened his eyes, shocked by what he had in front of him.
- "What… the… hell !?" He was awestruck by what he was seeing, but this was only the beginning as a zipping noise was heard and the moment after, the dolls had all been stopped, Leo not feeling them pummel him anymore. Kouta's body shone once again as he took a pair of Lockseed and finally gave Leo the signal.
- "Now, Leo !"
ZENITH OF REGULUS : LION BRILLANCE !
SOIYA ! MIX ! ORANGE ARMS ! HANAMICHI ON STAGE ! JIMBER LEMON ! HA-HA !
Bickslow, still shocked by what he had just witnessed with Kouta, got had by Leo who had used his magic to create a smokescreen of light, effectively blinding him. This allowed the group to finally open their eyes, Lucy immediately going for Bickslow who, still blinded, could do nothing to prevent her from wrapping her whip around his neck, preventing him from moving and giving Kouta, who was now in his Jimber Lemon Arms, and Leo the opportunity to finish him off.
- "There's no way… You can defeat me !" said Bickslow, hands on the whip, trying to free himself.
- "You said it yourself." Said Kouta, putting a hand on his Driver. "No one in the world can beat that combo of yours. And I'm not from this world."
- "Neither am I." added Leo, fist shining brightly. "Besides, I'm not the same as I used to be… Since meeting Lucy, I have recovered my original powers as a Stellar Spirit. Meeting Lucy itself has made me stronger. I'm not like those ridiculous dolls you control !"
JIMBER LEMON AU LAIT !
REGULUS IMPACT !
Kouta fueled Orange and Lemon energies into his body, before leading it toward the Sonic arrow, covering it in a mix of orange and yellow energies before slashing Bickslow with it, the slash forming a projection of two slices of Lemon and Orange and at the same time, Leo landed a punch at Bickslow at the same time, the explosion of light taking the shape of a large lion's head. The combination of power sent Bickslow to the ground, knocked out by the two guys as Happy cheered. Lucy smiled, Leo was about to go back to his world and Kouta to undo his transformation when something unexpected happen. Out of nowhere, and much to the group of friends shock, a small group of black clad men appeared and rushed at Bickslow, doing something to him quickly before fleeing the scene, not leaving Kouta the time to stop them. When he looked back at Bickslow, he saw something next to him that made his blood ran cold : an eaten Helheim fruit.
Just like Kouta feared, Bickslow got up, his body having undergone the same kind of transformation that Gajeel did during their fight against Phantom Lord, something that always reminded Kouta of what happened to Hase back in his home world. As of now, Bickslow was covered in a vegetal looking armor, with leaves like plate covering his arms, legs and torso. His hands were now claws, his jaws now more reptilian than human with sharp teeth protruding out of it. His eyes were once again hidden behind his helm like mask, with roots seeping out of the slits and his hair, now longer, were laced with vines.
- "What the hell ?!" shouted Leo, taken aback by the sudden transformation. "What is happening to him ?"
- "Those Shocker soldier probably forced him to eat a Helheim fruit. We have to destroy this Inves before it completely replace Bickslow." Said Kouta, looking at the Inves who had yet to move.
- "Are you sure this can work ?" Asked Happy, fearing the worst.
- "It already happen with Gajeel when we were at war against Phantom." Answered Lucy, tightening her grip on her whip. "We can do it. And who knows : maybe it won't be that hard."
And as soon as she said that, things became worse. With a grunt, the Inves lifted his arms and it wasn't 4 but an army of at least 20 dolls that came flying out of the toy store, all of them floating next to Bickslow whose roots, the one on his face, extended and pierced the dolls, injecting them with something that changed the dolls into vegetal looking puppets, as if they were made of leaves, wood and vines, the eyes on the dolls shining dangerously.
- "You had to say something, Lucy. You just had."
- "Huh… Sorry ?" tried Lucy however, what was done was done, there were no other way. All at once, the dolls suddenly opened fire at them, rays of green light raining down on them in an unavoidable flurry. Kouta dived right at Bickslow, hoping the others could hang on until he took care of the Inves, hoping he could deal with him in time. However, this Inves proved to be better at close range than Bickslow was and not just to dodge. He was keeping up with Kouta in his Jimber Lemon but Kouta, as he swung his Sonic Arrow around, noticed that he weren't that good when it came to taking damages, the blows he managed to deal doing their fair share of damages. However, just like before, when the Inves feel threatened, he called back some puppets to fire at Kouta, forcing him back to the others who managed to survive the onslaught.
- "Those dolls are tough." Said Leo, panting as he looked at the floating toys. "I couldn't destroy a single one."
- "Maybe they are Hybrids, just like Bickslow currently is ?" Theorized Happy, theory which made Kouta nod.
- "That's probably the case. And I have the feeling this call for at least two Hybrids on our side too." As he said that, he pulled two Lockseed, giving Leo the Lemon Lockseed and Lucy the Peach Energy Lockseed. "Leo, put your magic in this Lockseed, I have a feeling it will work perfectly with Lucy. As for you Lucy, I'll use this one." He said, pointing at Peach. "The weapon will be the same as this one, if you can my drift." Lucy nodded, understanding what he meant as she grabbed the Archer Key while Kouta got up. "I'll try to protect you while you charge those up."
SOIYA ! MELON ARMS : TENKA GOMEN !
As soon as he had the Melon Defender in his hands, the puppets attacked once again, either with energy shot or by diving themselves at the Rider. Kouta used his shield but also the Musou Saber to repel the assault, a task proven difficult by the sheer amount of dolls attacking him but he held his ground : this was his stage and he'll defend it no matter what. However, he was slowly losing the battle but was saved by something he waited for but wasn't expecting that soon.
COME ON !
A white thin blade suddenly came out of nowhere, piercing three dolls in a blink of an eye by someone who was now standing in front of Kouta, long blonde hair falling around a blue helmet like a waterfall.
STAR LEMON ARMS ! INCREDIBLE SUMMONER !
Lucy stood there, wearing the same armor than Kamen Rider Duke when he used a Sengoku Driver, just like the one she was currently wearing. The blue of the Ride Wear was darker and covered in small stars, reminiscing of a starry night sky. Speaking of stars, the part of the armor normally shaped like a lemon was now a gold color and shaped like a star, on the torso and shoulders mainly where the symbol of the Lion Constellation was engraved. A small dark blue skirt with gold trimming had been added, the rapier guard was also shaped like a star and the visor on the helmet was gone, her face visible as well as her hair which were spilling out from the top of the helmet.
- "I'll hold them off for now." she said with a grin, throwing a differently shaped Peach Energy Lockseed back at him. "I hope this will be to your liking."
- "I'm sure it will."
SOIYA ! MIX ! ORANGE ARMS ! HANAMICHI ON STAGE ! JIMBER STELLAR PEACH ! HA-HA !
The armor was the same as before, the difference coming from the design on it, the pink part of the armor replaced with stars and in the middle of the chest stood the symbol of Sagittarius, whose power Lucy channeled inside the Lockseed. The Sonic Arrow was basically the same as usual but in a black and gold color (A.N. : The colors of the bow Lucy wield in her Star Dress Sagittarius.). Of course, he immediately wanted to try it, pulling the string back, charging up a shot and firing at the doll, or rather, the dolls since he fired not one but 5 arrows at the same time, each one of them destroying a doll, much to the Inves anger who grunted his displeasure and Lucy's joy who could see what kind of boost Sagittarius gave to this form.
- "So ? Does it please you ?" asked Lucy while dodging another shot, her rapier extending like a whip to slash at the doll from afar.
- "It does." Answered Kouta, shooting down another doll, which seemed pretty useless since every time they destroyed one, another one came from the store. "Hey Lucy, I'm going to take care of the puppets, you go for Bickslow."
- "Well, okay then." She said, turning toward the Inves with a small smile. "I guess I can say that this is my stage now !"
With that, the Inves ran at her, the puppets following him and Kouta running alongside the Stellar Spirit Mage. When they came close, Kouta jumped at the dolls, slashing at them and engaging the fight, leaving Lucy to fight the Inves. Lucy was amazed by how natural it was for her to fight with a rapier in this form, despite it being a weapon she never used before. She was slowly pushing the Inves back who tried to use his dolls to protect himself, but Kouta kept destroying them as they came, either with the blade of his Sonic Arrow or a shot and soon enough, much to the Inves frustration, the whole store had been emptied, not leaving a single one left for him to use. This gave Lucy the opportunity to land a powerful strike on him, sending him rolling on the ground. She then use her rapier like a whip, something that came with this new hybrid form, and wrapped it around the Inves neck to hurl him to the sky, above her and Kouta.
- "And now to finish it !"
STELLAR PEACH SPARKING !
STAR LEMON SPARKING !
With the Inves airborne above them, Lucy and Kouta both aimed at him. The tip of the rapier got covered in a yellow energy forming a star projection with the Lion symbol on it as orange and golden energy appeared on the blade. At the same time, Kouta shot an arrow while Lucy thrusted her arm toward her target, the rapier extending at the same time as the arrow got shot, the arrow splitting into many others as they all converged toward their intended target, exploding upon contact as the rapier pierced the Inves, the two attacks destroying the Inves in a large explosion. This resulted in making Bickslow fall from the sky as the Inves in him got destroyed, landing hard on the ground as Lucy sighed in relief. Kouta smiled with Leo as Happy cheered for their victory, meaning only Freed was left before Laxus.
Lucy and Kouta vs Inves Bickslow. Winner : Lucy and Kouta.
And here we are. First of all : Yes, it took me THAT long to figure out how to write a ~. For your information, this is the ~ symbol in Helvetica (there might be another way but this is mine.) I hope you can all forgive me for my delay but I was in the middle of a change of apartment, without internet so I had less time to write. But things should be better now. I hope you liked that chapter. Don't forget to review and comment if you liked it. See ya !
Next time : Shocker is here, the dragons will soon be. Unleash the demon. An unexpected threat. Sento's experiment : soothing a demon with match making.