AN: As everyone can see, this is a bit late. I am currently working 2 part time jobs, an internship, and taking online Grad School classes. I'm honestly not sure how much I will be able to write in the foreseeable future. I'll keep posting as soon as the chapters are finished, but there's probably going to be a longer gap than there has been. Sorry.
Chapter 52: Time's Turn Part 3: Indestructible
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Goku pulled his hand away from the final tile, the rune on it twinkling mockingly at him. He sighed. It seemed Ultear had been telling the truth, they'd sucked up his Ki without so much as a hint at breaking; which meant he was well and truly trapped.
He glanced at the window, the screens beyond showed his friends desperately struggling to fight off Ultear's minions—at least, the ones who could still move were. Natsu and Gray were suddenly kicking it into high gear, but that didn't mean that they were out of the woods yet.
Goku turned his head back to look down at this tail laying limp against his leg. With so many people out of the fight, there wasn't even any guarantee that they would be able to find this room at all. Not to mention there was no guarantee they'd be able to get him out even if they did. He wrapped his hand around the base of his tail.
…It could grow back.
"Graaaagh!" *RIIIIIIP!* Ultear spun around to see Goku's gritted teeth, his red face, the tiny trail of blood staining his clothes from the small of his back, and the twitching, fuzzy appendage that he grasped tightly in his fist.
Her face could have been made of stone.
For a few seconds Goku just stood there, catching his breath and staring her dead in the eye.
"There…it's done. If you need the ape so badly for your plan, then this means that you won't even be able to do anything until the next full moon when this grows back. If you really can't get me out, I'm going to starve or something a long time before that. Now come on, if you stop now I promise I'll try and help you fix things. We can work in the now, you don't need to go back to the past to make the world better."
"That looked very painful." Ultear said, sighing. "I was hoping you wouldn't actually think of that. I didn't want to mention that it wouldn't work because I figured that it would guarantee you would make the attempt." She shook her head. "I already told you, I've been planning this for a long time. I know that the tail can regrow, and even that it has been ripped away from you dozens of times throughout your life."
The runic array around Goku lit up with an angry red glow. A hum filled the air, arcs of crimson energy crackled around Goku's body. The fighter crouched, his instincts shouting at him to move, but there was nowhere to go.
"GAAAAAAAAH!" Ultear watched impassively as Goku withered and screamed. After a few moments the energy cut out and left Goku twitching violently on the floor. The tail that he had been holding had crumbled to ash and the small puddle of blood had evaporated without a trace. But, most importantly, on his back there now lay limp a brand-new tail.
"Again, I apologize, but I cannot afford to drop the ball here. You must take on your more monstrous form . Incidentally, this same thing shall happen if you attempt any other form of self-harm, complete with the crippling shock. I suggest you sit quietly, recover, and just wait this out. There is no need to keep torturing yourself before the end. At the very least, you can try to stay comfortable."
As Goku watched, she turned back to the screens.
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GRAY (Gray Fullbuster's Theme )
Gray…win!
The voice echoed in his head as the frost armor finished forming around him. The necklace twinkled once more in icy reassurance before it turned dim. Ur, and that was Ur, was gone for the moment. But he could breathe now. He could breathe…and that meant that he could fight.
No magical circles, no hand gestures. With a stomp of his foot, a sheet of ice stretched out across the entire room, engulfing the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling.
Bellos exhaled slowly, staring curiously at his suddenly visible breath. With a thoughtful expression, he looked over the Fairy's new garb and then nodded once as he came to some sort of conclusion.
"I swear, you fairies-" The ice moved. Thousands of spikes and fired from every surface. The air mage turned himself to gas before he could get pin cushioned and waited for the attack to subside. But the blizzard of icicles raged on with no sign of stopping , the ice on the walls were actually absorbing the ice back in on impact and recycling it to fire it right back out.
In the eye of the storm, Gray stood tall, his arms crossed and a corona of cold blue energy pouring out of his body. The chill seeped into the air, filling the air with diamond dust and making the temperature plummet.
Gray smirked, while the barrage passed harmlessly through the air mage, he could see the them leaving frigid water droplets throughout the cavern. Through the ripples of the water slowing down as the temperature dropped further still. It was only a matter of time before he made Bellos condensate.
But the air mage knew it too and a tornado exploded out from the assassin, shattering the icicles before they could leave the walls. Gray's attack fell apart as the winds pulled the ice into a whirlwind of frigid shrapnel. Then the tornado began to move towards him and Gray found himself being dragged across the floor. Scrambling, the ice mage fired down at his own feet, forming anchors that reached up past his shins and held him in place.
"YOU'RE GOING TO NEED TO TRY HARDER THAN THAT!" Gray roared, gathering even more power into his hands. He hadn't used this move in a good bit, but if anything was going to be able to stop a storm, it would be the move that he had used to stop Goku... cold.
"ICE MAKE: COLD SNAP!" A bolt of blue energy crossed the last few yards between them. The tiny bolt disappeared within the winds, but only for a moment. The blue glow spread like a cancer, tearing through the tornado until every gust of wind was tinged with Gray's magic. Mere inches before the winds tore into his face, Gray snapped his finger.
The gale gave an echoing shriek as everything came to a grinding halt. In place of the storm, a massive twirling ice sculpture gleamed in the dim light. Gray saw the dark outline of a man within the ice and put his hands together once more.
"ICE MAKE: CANNON!"
Bellos went flying back in a shower of shattered ice. He turned to mist as he hit the ground and vanished from sight completely.
A moment later Gray was nearly knocked onto his face when he felt a fist collide with the back of his head, but when he spun around there was nothing behind him. The next shot caught him on the side, and that was more than enough for Gray.
"I've seen this trick before!" he yelled, raising his hands. "We're ending this right now!" Gray slammed his palm against the ground, and with the roar of a winter storm an ice blue beam punched upwards, straight through the ceiling. Hail began to fall through the hole as the sky opened up above them.
There was a rush of wind towards the hole and knew the air mage was moving to escape out into open air.
Gray smirked.
"ULTIMATE ICE MAKE…ABSOLUTE ZERO!"
The blue beam surged as glaciers erupted from the walls, and the sky became white with snow. As the air turned blue, a figure materialized; a crystalline man with his hand stretched out towards the sky.
Frozen, trapped, the assassin could do nothing as he plummeted back to the ground and shattered into a thousand glittering shards.
After a few moments the blue light petered out, and Gray hunched over with his hands on his knees as his icy helmet fell away.
He took a deep gulp of air fresh air, reveling in the fact that it wasn't trying to kill him anymore. He took a moment, probing his energy reserves, He felt like he'd just come out an all-night, all-out Fairy Tail brawl. But… he'd won. Gray grasped the necklace and smiled fondly.
"Thanks Ur." He murmured. "Couldn't have done it without you."
With a wave of his hand, the ice that was covering each of the doors in the room vanished, and Gray began to look back and forth between them.
"Alright, where the heck am I supposed to go now? Got a bit turned around there, not sure which door I came in through? That one maybe...?" Gray hesitated for a moment, indecisive. Then a flash of heat washed over his face, and Gray looked through the hole in the roof to see a massive pillar of fire mixing with the snowstorm he had caused and sending flaming, electricized balls of hail pelting to the ground.
"…That's probably the right way." Gray chuckled to himself as he slipped out the door.
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NATSU (NATSU DRAGNEEL'S THEME )
"You pathetic Fairies…you can never figure out when you should just stay down, can you?" Jose snarled as the fire and lightning crackled into the sky. "It's just like before, you throw yourselves pointlessly at people far out of your league, and you just expect that everything will turn out just fine for you. You never recognize your betters, do you?"
"I don't see any betters here!" Natsu growled right back. "I see a washed-up has-been who should be rotting away in a cell right now!" The dragon slayer smirked. "Maybe you got lost. What do you say old timer, do you need help finding your way back to bed? I can get you your cane if you want!" Natsu punctuated his sentence with a lightning bolt fired from his hand like glowing spear. Jose glared, and the shadows twisted to block the shots before returning fire with a sphere of purple and black power.
"FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR!" Natsu's flames danced out eagerly to consume the dark magic, but an instant before the techniques collided, the black gemstone on Jose's necklace started to glow once more. The sphere split in three, one continuing forward to meet Natsu's counter while the other two twirled around it, following it straight back to its source and detonating.
Natsu cried out as he was flung backwards into the wall. The stones cracked around him and crumbled to the ground but Natsu was already moving once again. With one hand encased in electricity and the other in fire, he jumped right in to point blank range and slammed his palms together.
"LIGHTNING FIRE DRAGON'S BRILLIANT FLAME!" The shadows that Jose threw over himself as a last second shield proved useless, and the draconic magic punched straight through. The former guild master forced himself to remain on his feet, and with a tug of his magic he sent Natsu's own shadow up to try and strangle the teen.
"FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!" Natsu caught fire and the shadow burned away.
"Damn you! The last time I fought your guild, it took a combination of some of your strongest members, and a fused attack with all of your magics to defeat me! How is a simple Dragon Slayer standing even with me!?"
"Please, that was months ago." Natsu scoffed, cracking his neck. "Did you think we'd just sit around with our thumbs up our butts that whole time? I've been training like crazy ever since. Plus, I bet you've noticed my newest upgrade." Electricity arced around Natsu's body as he spoke. "Bet you haven't seen a Dragon Slayer with two elements before."
"No. I haven't." A vein in Jose's forehead pulsed as he spat out the words through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, neither have I before today. I don't want to bore you with the whole backstory, but end result is; you're not dealing with the average Dragon Slayer anymore."
"…I agree. You are far above average now." Jose said slowly. "If Gajeel could be considered an average power for your kind, then you are far and away his superior. However…" The lights across the walls blinked out as one. The room nearly fell into total darkness, the sole exception being the blaze surrounding the Dragon Slayer's form. The shadows writhed all around them, dancing up into the air like a gelatinous sludge. They curled themselves around Jose, seeping into his pores and engulfing his limbs. Natsu watched as the shadow mage's eyes flashed red before he was completely devoured by the magic.
"A Wizard Saint," Jose—or the thing that had been Jose—hissed. "Already one of the most powerful forces walking the planet, signing a contract with the demons of Hell for a chance at revenge. Greater power than I could ever hope to achieve…than you could ever hope to achieve. While I may no longer be dealing with a normal Dragon Slayer, you will find that you are facing something far, far worse. A true DEVIL!"
"…Prove it."
"GRAAAAAAH!" Streaks of shadows exploded out of Jose's cocoon. Black and red tendrils twisted through the rom, keeping well clear of Natsu's flames even as rose up around the room like a whirlpool.
Whispers began to trickle out from the darkness, just barely reaching Natsu's ears. As the tide of shadows grew taller, the noise grew louder. A cacophony of anguished moans and wails sounded from the substance at Natsu's back, and the Fire Dragon turned his head over his shoulder to see a half-decayed man fall from the darkness. The creature snarled through rotten, yellowed teeth and pulled a rusty blade from its hip. Another squelch came from Natsu's left, and a broken woman holding a crystal staff chattered her teeth at him. Natsu's flames curled around him as more and more bodies dislodged from Jose's magic and surrounded him. The shambling hoard snarled and roared as the dark mage's laughter echoed through the room.
"The bodies and souls of those who have broken pacts with the demons are at my beck and call. My undead shall tear you to pieces, and you shall scream in agony as you become yet another part of the hoard. NOW…KILL HIM!"
One of the resurrected mages blurred like Jet, tackling Natsu to the ground. As the rest of its brethren surged forwards, the monster leaned in, its jaw aimed straight at Natsu's exposed throat. With a harsh crunch, its teeth slammed shut…and shattered uselessly against the scales that were still spreading down his body.
Right before the first waved added their bodies to the dogpile, a spark lit on the first one's chest.
"FIRE LIGHTNING DRAGON'S ROASTING BATH!" The first body was instantly incinerated, while a half dozen others around the room caught fire. Not a single one reacted as what little remained of their flesh began to melt and their muscles boiled. As Natsu hopped back up to his feet the next zombie reached him, a large man who pushed magic through his body to make his muscles swell and bring his body up to a towering 10 feet tall.
The behemoth threw a haymaker at the pinkette's head. Natsu easily moved to the side, grabbed him by the wrist, and chucked the monster into a trio of its friends. The smaller ones were crushed beneath the weight of the monster, popping like grapes. As the giant tried to clamber back up, Natsu landed a blazing knee straight to its jaw, then used the top of its head like a springboard to launch himself into the next creature in line even as the first began to burn away.
A razor whip shot towards Natsu's back, and instantly melted away on contact. The mage didn't even notice the failed attack and plowed straight through a flailing wood mage. A water mage tried to extinguish his flames, and an arc of lightning went straight back up the current and blew the fragile phantom's torso in two.
An enchanted sword fared no better on Natsu's scales than the zombie's teeth, and with a quick movement he snagged part of the fragmented blade out of the air and turned it white hot before burying it into a magical boxer.
"Hey Jose, maybe next time don't make all your minions so flammable, idiot ! FIRE DRAGON'S BLAZING TWISTER!" Natsu slammed his fists onto the ground and a spinning tornado of fire. Dozens of bodies flew through the air, and Natsu leapt right after them, blasting straight through the next wave before the previous could even land.
The next fighter threw a haymaker, and with a quick chop Natsu found himself holding a severed limb at just below the shoulder. Both the dragon slayer and the zombie looked at one another, down at the limb, and back up again. The zombie began to whine, gesturing helplessly at its arm.
Natsu swung it like a club and knocked the creature's head straight from its shoulders. The head screamed as it flew through the air, then was abruptly cut silent when it beamed another of its kind between the eyes and the stunned beast fell on top of it.
"Come on, Jose, get out here and fight me yourself! I can keep tearing through these idiots all day, all you're doing is letting me get into the swing of things!"
A gunner mage was fed their own weapon, a sand mage was melted down to glass, a hammer-wielding woman had her torso caved in, and zombie after zombie followed them. But the shadows only created more. The red veins running through the shadows were beginning to thicken, and Jose's cocoon was starting to look redder than black.
Natsu's eyes narrowed.
"You know…part of me really wants to see what you're doing in there. I figure you're probably using a whole bunch of magic to turn yourself into some sort of giant shadow demon or something, right? But as cool as that might sound, I don't have time for that right now! I won't let you finish!"
Natsu blitzed forward, scattering the zombies when a shadowy whip cracked out and wrapped itself around his neck. The teen jerked back at the sudden pressure on his windpipe, and the zombies around him rushed in, finally finding an opening. The hoard grabbed his arms, grabbed his legs, and began to pull. Lightning, darkness, flashes of magic of every color of the rainbow arced out and bombarded his body as the creatures tried to pull out his joints.
Then, a wizened looking woman with a long face and clothing from a time long forgotten, a time before any dragon slayers walked the earth, unleashed a giant stream of purple flames right into the pile of bodies.
"Nooooo…." Jose groaned from within the pod.
The flames turned bright orange and began to compact before it disappeared completely within the swarm.
BANG!
Suddenly, Natsu was standing alone, smoke curling off of his body, and out of his mouth as he let out a long, tried exhale.
"Now…I've got a fire in my belly."
(DRAGON FORCE THEME)
"RRAAAAAAAAAGHH!" The electricity in Natsu's attack turned down to a trickle as his flames consumed all. The zombies burned away, and the shadows around the room began to pull back as Natsu's light burned brighter than ever.
"HAAAAAAAAA!" The roof exploded outward as a massive column of flames pushed its way out of Natsu's body, eradicating all the shadows, incinerating the creatures that it had spawned, and sending Jose tumbling out of his cocoon.
The former guild head now looked half man, half monstrosity. Dark fur covered half of his body, and his mouth had turned to look like the muzzle of a wolf. One eye had grown wide and bright yellow, with bulging veins running through it. But Natsu's eyes were drawn to the crystal on Jose's necklace; it had sunk halfway into his chest and looked like it was trying to worm its way further.
Every Fairy knew what a big glowing target looked like.
"Come on ugly! I'm going to take you down in one punch!"
"GRAAAGH! FOOL, EVEN WITH HALF OF A DEMON'S POWER , I'M STILL MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR YOU!" The two rushed straight for one another, shadows and flames swirling together as they came head to head with their fists pulled back.
"DEMONIC DEAD WAVE!"
"FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!" Their hands slammed together, cracking the floor and walls with the force of their power. Purple and red battered one another, pushing for dominance. Wails of rage and agony poured out of the jewel on Jose's chest, fueling his power and pushing him to even greater heights. Yet, it is still Jose's feet that slid back first. The guild master scrambled, trying to call forth the power of his master as much as he could, but his unstable body couldn't regulate their power, nor even fully control his own. His feet dragged back another couple of inches.
Jose looked up past his fist, up towards Natsu face and saw the form of a massive red dragon growling its dominance behind him. Fear filled his heart and the former guild master tried to break off the attack, tried to get free. Natsu's iron fist found the man's hesitance, and with a roar he pushed past the man's attack and pulled back his other arm.
"HIDDEN FIRE FORM- CRIMSON LOTUS: PHOENIX BLADE!"
Fire filled every corner of the room. Jose screamed in agony as the magical flames washed over him, eating at his skin and burning away the demonic magic that he had tried to encase himself in. His power faltered, his body shuddered…
The crystal shattered.
"No!" The dark mage screamed, even as the power fled his body. He was flung against the wall from Natsu's attack, and as he landed the shadows on the ground began to curl towards him.
"No! No!" Natsu watched in shock as the shadows bubbled upwards, forming into a giant mouth. Jose scrambled to get himself off of the tongue, but his hands sunk into the bubbly blackness.
"NOOOOOOO!"
CRUCH!
Part of an arm and half of a leg twitched wildly, sticking out from between the razor-sharp teeth. A pair of large eyeballs opened from the top of the shadow and stared directly at the fire mage.
Natsu raised his fists, one crackling with fire and the other with lightning.
The massive mouth curled up into some sort of twisted smile, and the eyes batted their lashes at him before fading away to nothing, taking Jose with it down to… wherever it came from.
Natsu stood staring at the spot where it disappeared for a good while before he finally found his voice.
"Did…did that thing just try to flirt with me?"
"It liiiiiiiikes you!" a voice said in his ear.
"Happy!" Natsu jumped, blinking at the cat. "The hell did you come from? Were you hiding?"
"Aye!" the cat said happily, flapping over to the place where the shadow creature had disappeared and poking the ground curiously. "I don't like lightning. It makes my fur all poofy."
"You wuss," Natsu huffed. "You could have helped me, ya know?"
"I'm not fireproof, Natsu." Happy said reproachfully.
Natsu raised a finger, then shrugged.
"C'mon Happy, we got a friend to save."
"Aye sir!"
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"Good job on that mission, guys," Levy grinned. "You were really on point back there."
"Come on, Levy," Jet laughed, "You're the one who broke the mummy's curse!"
"Yeah, but I couldn't have done it without the Pharaoh's scepter and getting that was all you."
"Oh please." Jet smiled. "Those booby traps guarding it were nothing, I was just too fast. I like how Droy tied up the mummy with vines. Did you see the look on its face?"
Levy smiled. It had been awhile since she'd been able to go on a simple mission with the rest of team Shadowgear—No ancient demons and giant monkey monsters, no evil wizard saints coming down to destroy them all, and no horrible demons from another world.
Just her, Jet, Droy, and a run-of-the-mill ancient curse that needed breaking.
But the job was done, and it was time to get back to the guild. She wanted to find out if Erza had finally managed to ask Goku out and if she'd been able to get him to understand what that meant. Levy wished Erza all the luck in the world and couldn't wait to ask Mira for all the juicy details.
Yes, she was looking forward to a week of taking it easy.
It was at this moment that the night sky was lit up by a brilliant pillar of icy magic that exploded far off in the distance. Team Shadowgear stopped at once, blinking at the sudden snow storm.
"So…" Jet said after a moment. "How much you wanna bet that was Gray?"
"I mean, he's not the only ice mage in existence." Droy answered doubtfully. "There's not necessarily a reason for us to get involved."
There was an earsplitting crack, and a red and yellow pillar of fire climbed into the sky. It struck a cloud burned straight through, turning the water in the air to steam.
"Well," Droy sighed. "Natsu's there too, then."
"Come on, guys!" Levy said, breaking out into a jog. "They could need our help."
Jet gave his friend a gentle pat on the shoulder. "Sorry, dude, troubles calling."
"Why don't you carry Levy on ahead?" Droy said, waving him off. "I'll catch up."
"Sure thing, man." Jet's became a blur as he took off after their leader, neatly scooping her off her feet and leaving a cloud of dust behind.
Droy sighed. "One mission. Just one mission without an explosion. Was that really too much to ask?" He sighed again and broke out into a jog.
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"Black within, red without. Four corners round about. What am I?"
"Annoying?" Cana hazarded.
The sphinx's eyebrow twitched slightly. "Is that your final answer?"
"No." Lucy yelled, clamping a hand over her friend's mouth. "Cana stop antagonizing the giant cats." She hissed.
"Why?" Cana whispered back. "We don't have time for riddle games, Lu. We're in a hurry, remember? We should just beat them up!"
"And I've told you that sphinxes are magic. Unless you answer their riddles correctly, they're invulnerable to any sort of attack. Just look at them!" Cana did. Their faces were human and pretty in a predatory kind of way. Their leonine bodies were the size of cart horses, with golden fur that actually shimmered in the gloomy underground. "I've read about them." Lucy continued. "That shimmer on their fur protects them, and it won't go away unless we answer their riddle."
"That's stupid." Cana huffed.
"We're waaaaaiiiittting~" The second sphinx purred, laying splayed across the floor and eyeing them as though trying to measure how many bites it would take to swallow them.
"It doesn't matter if it's stupid," Lucy said. "I don't make the rules. We just need to answer both of their riddles, then they'll let us pass."
"Ugh, fine!" Cana rolled her eyes. "Any idea what the answer is?"
Lucy thought for a moment, and then she grinned, looked the sphinx in the eye, and spoke. "The answer is: a brick chimney."
The sphinx rumbled in displeasure and the golden shimmer around her went out. The second one tittered, her fur just as shiny as ever. "I told you that was a silly riddle, darling."
"Shut up." The first sphinx grumbled. "Let's hear your riddle then."
"Very well." The second lion woman stretched luxuriously and rose to her paws. She padded forward and gave a smile that had altogether too many teeth. "Listen well, my soon-to-be dinners." She raised her head imperiously and intoned:
"Τι είναι ένα συν ένα?"
The fairies stared at her, but the sphinx said nothing else.
"The heck was that?" Cana demanded.
"The riddle." The sphinx replied amiably. "I merely spoke it in sphinx."
"But… that's not fair," Lucy said weakly. "We don't speak sphinx."
"That is hardly my problem." The sphinx said smugly. "My associate was kind enough to ask you her riddle in your language. It's only polite that answer one in ours."
"That's not very sporting." The first sphinx huffed.
"You're just upset because they solved your riddle." Replied the second, flicking her tail dismissively. "Now, can you answer my riddle?"
"Of course not!" Cana shouted angrily. "You're cheating!"
The sphinx's grin widened. "Sticks and stones, little morsel, sticks and stones. But now that you've admitted you can't answer it…" she took a long step forward, her claws scraping against the floor.
"Wait!" Lucy called desperately, throwing up her hands. "You need to answer our riddle first!"
The sphinx paused, staring incredulously, then glanced at her companion. "Can she do that?"
"Why not?" the first grumbled. "It's only polite that they get a turn." Lucy blinked as a golden shimmer covered her body at the sphinx's words.
"Oh wonderful." The second sphinx groaned. "Now see what you've done? You've given her the protection of the riddle magic!"
"Is the big bad kitty upset about having to work a bit harder for her meal?" The first sphinx rolled her eyes. "And after you thought of such a brilliant riddle." She glanced at them. "Do you know what she asked you? It was: What is one plus one?" she scoffed, "How pitiful is that?"
"That is pretty lame." Cana agreed. "At least yours was actually a riddle. It even rhymed."
"Why thank you," the sphinx huffed. "Some of us actually like to make an effort."
"Will you shut up!" the second sphinx snapped, shooting them each a glare before turning back to Lucy. "Ask your riddle so that I can answer it and eat you and not share a bite with the sore loser."
"Alright." Cana could see the wheels turning in her friend's head. Lucy's mouth opened and closed a few times before she came to a decision. She grinned at the sphinx and asked:
"What have I got in my pocket?"
The sphinx stared at her for a moment. "That's not a riddle." Lucy crossed her arms and gave the cat a hard look.
"It's a classic. But if you don't like it, that's hardly my problem, is it? You going to answer or not?"
The sphinx sneered, looked her up and down. "A celestial spirit key?"
"Nope!" Lucy's hand plunged into her skirt's pocket and pulled a piece of paper, there was a tiny image of Cana printed on it, holding an oversized phone over her head with a hopeful expression. "It's a magic communication card."
"I call it the booty call card." Cana said proudly.
"It's not important what you call it!" Lucy said, hurriedly shoving the card back into her skirt pocket. "The point is that it wasn't a key." She pointed at the sphinx. "You lose." Cana grinned as the golden glow faded from the sphinx's fur. "Now let us pass."
"Fine." The monster spat, turning away from Lucy and looking at Cana. "But I'm eating your friend."
"Hmmm. How about no?" Lucy raised a key. "OPEN: GATE OF THE BULL!"
Taurus materialized in a burst of smoke. "Lucy! You look as moo-gnificently hot as always!"
"Yeah, thanks." Lucy pointed at the sphinx. "She called me fat."
"What!" the bull spirit roared! steam shooting out his nose as he whirled on the giant cat. "How dare you! Miss Lucy's body is a dream!" the cow man threw himself at the cat, wrestled with it until he got his arms around its waist, then supplexed it into the ground. Taurus stood over the downed monster and flexed. "I dedicate this victory to Miss Lucy's killer jugs!"
"That's… great." Lucy grimaced weakly, raising his key. "Bye Taurus."
The spirit vanished.
Lucy pointed a second key at the first sphinx, who was eyeing the other in amusement. "You want some?"
"No. No." the sphinx waved her paw dismissively as she padded out of the way. "You solved my riddle; therefore, you can pass. I have respect for tradition."
"Oh. Well... good." Lucy stepped toward the door on the far side of the chamber. "C'mon Cana."
"Right behind ya, babe."
They had almost reached the exit, when the door was flung open and a large, unkempt man stepped through.
"Good evening, Master Red." The sphinx called politely.
The man grunted, shooting Cana and Lucy an ugly look. "Looks like I get the lion's share of the prey." Cana raised her cards and Lucy her keys as his look turned into a leer.
"Takeover Magic: Hail Hydra."
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"Someone kidnapped Goku?" Levy asked, staring at Wendy in disbelief. When they'd approached the area of the fiery explosion Shadowgear had encountered the diminutive dragon slayer and two others Levy only vaguely recognized as being former Phantom Lord mages.
"That's right," Wendy nodded. "And so, everyone available went to rescue him and now—"
"Someone. Kidnapped. Goku." Levy repeated, trying to wrap her head around the thought. They'd been away for the guild for, like, a day. How—Levy shook her head, snapping herself out of it as a wave of indignant fury envelopedher.
No wonder the area outside had been leveled, if everyone who came for the recuse had been as anger as her. Honestly, she was surprised there wasn't a crater instead. After everything Fairy Tail had been through there was yet another person stepping forward to mess with them. Couldn't all the villains and monsters at large take a hint?
"Do you know anything else about who came here?" Levy asked, glancing at the various passageways lining the cavern. "They didn't split up, did they?"
"We left after they did, so we didn't see." The bald phantom mage—Booze? —supplied. "But Wendy thinks they did."
"I don't think they did, I know they did!" Wendy declared. "I can smell it. All the pathways have only one scent walking down them… except that one. I think Cana and Lucy went down that one together." Levy frowned thoughtfully at her.
"Need I remind you that Wendy is a dragon slayer?" Carla huffed. "Her senses are far beyond your mere human ones."
"Right, sorry." Levy sighed, massaging her forehead in annoyance. One the one hand, splitting up was basically the stupidest thing her friends could have done. On the other hand, they were angry… and they were fairies, and so generally only had enough brains to hold on one thought—usually something along the lines of 'find someone who's asking for it and hit them'. She glanced around at the passageways again, which one should they go down? Who was the most likely to need help?
"I'm going down this path." Wendy declared, pointing to the one she meant.
"Why?" Carla demanded.
"I can smell Juvia down that way." The girl took another sniff. "She doesn't smell right. Normally she smells like rain but now she smells more like… dust."
"Well, that's not ominous at all." Sue commented, but Levy could see the worry on the woman's face.
"Can you tell me about any of the others?" Levy asked.
"I think…" Wendy concentrated. "I think Gajeel went that way." she pointed. "I can smell his iron and lots of it. I think he's fighting something."
"Well, we're probably better off not getting in his way then." Boze said. "He'll be fine."
"Then…" Wendy sniffed. "Erza is down there and Mira is over there." Wendy pointed to two holes. "I don't think either of them are moving."
Levy swallowed. Erza and Mira not moving? When a friend was in trouble? Ridiculous. But… if whoever had done this had taken down Goku…
They didn't have time for hesitation. Levy made a snap decision. "Jet, Droy," she called moving forward. "We're going to check on Erza first."
"You got it, Boss."
"Right behind you."
Levy glanced back towards the other fairies, but Wendy was already marching down the path to Juvia, the two phantom mages scurrying behind.
Levy bit her lip and moved faster. Natsu, Gray, and the others would have to hold out on their own. They were pretty good at that, but she hoped Lucy and Cana were watching each other's back and that they weren't meeting anything too dangerous.
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The man's body melted, his face elongating and turning emerald green. His arms and legs stretched out as scales sprouted along them and his fingers became fangs, then his legs followed suit. In moments, Cana and Lucy were staring at a mass of five serpentine heads, each one equipped with fangs that would fill a sabretooth tiger with envy.
Cana swallowed audibly. "I… don't think I was drunk enough to see something like that."
"Sssee if you can last more than a few sssecondsss, will you?" one of the heads hissed. Then all five heads surged towards them.
Lucy's hand shot up. "Taurus, get back out here!" the bull spirit materialized brandishing his axe and brought it down on one of the snake heads, neatly vivisecting it. Blood splattered everywhere as the head recoiled and two more shot out, one wrapping around the axe's pommel and the other sinking its fangs into the spirit's shoulder.
Taurus mooed in distress as he was pulled off his feet. It happened with such speed that Lucy could do little more than watch in horror as a third head bit into the cow-man's shoulder and almost casually tore him in half.
"Taurus!" She cried, reaching for another key. But the last remaining heads were already lunging for her with jaws open wide. She got a clear view of the dark red gullet when several pieces of paper flew passed her and into the creature's mouth.
"CARD MAGIC: FIVE THOUSAND FIFTY-TWO CARD PICKUP!"
There was a shuffling noise, and the head jerked back as cards began to fountain out of its mouth. The head shook wildly, trying to dislodge the mass of cards and gagging as they poured out of the opened maw like a waterfall of paper.
Cana grabbed her and hauled her back across the chamber as Red shook off the pain. As Lucy watched, the head that Taurus had cut rose off the ground. The cut splitting it down the middle mending as she watched.
"So that's distressing." Cana commented. "What do we know about hydras? Don't cut their heads off, they'll grow more."
"Hydra's have some of the most potent venom in the world," Lucy said. The four heads turned toward the gagging one and helped rip out the still expanding pile of cards "If those fangs so much as scratch us, we're dead."
Cana eyed the foot-long fangs. "Given the size of those chompers, I think venom is overkill, but okay." she glanced at Lucy. "I don't suppose you know any weaknesses?"
"Fire is supposed to stop the regeneration."
"And Natsu is nowhere to be found. Typical." Cana groaned, rooting around in her rucksack. "Oh well, we'll just have to improvise." She pulled something out and tossed it to Lucy. "Can you keep him busy while I do a thing?"
Lucy stared for a moment, then grinned.
Red started to slither towards them again, all five heads hissing with fury. Lucy opened the thing Cana had tossed her and stuck a key into the opening.
"OPEN: GATE OF THE WATER BEARER!"
The was a flash and a wet explosion exploded.
"A water bottle!" Aquarius screeched, towering over Lucy. "In all my years, never have I had a summoner who showed me such—"
"Scold me later!" Lucy shouted back, pointing at the scaly monstrosity baring down on them. "Make him go away!"
Aquarius glanced over her shoulder, sneered, and raised her jug. "Drown."
For a moment, nothing happened. Aquarius frowned and gave the jug a shake. Then the jug let out an ear-splitting boom that echoed around the chamber. Water surged of the jug, sending the water bearer staggering backward and nearly bowling Lucy over. The water struck Red with a crunch, lifted his enormous body off the floor and sent him hurtling into the far wall.
Lucy stared, slack-jawed. She glanced over and saw her expression mirrored on Cana's face. Even Aquarius looked taken aback, eyeing her jug suspiciously.
"Have you been working out?" the spirit demanded, glancing back at Lucy suspiciously. "You look as flabby as ever, how are you supplying me with this much magic?"
"I… I don't…"
"It must because of Flute!" Cana exclaimed grinning. "I'll be damned, you're a powerhouse now!"
Lucy blinked, staring at her hands in wonder. She'd known that her magic reserves had grown after the demon fiasco, but she'd never really had a chance to test out just how much. Summoning Aquarius away from the sea usually left her borderline tapped-out, but she hadn't even broken a sweat.
It had been awhile since Lucy had a surprise that was actually pleasant.
"Well, whatever." Aquarius scoffed, putting her jug under one arm. "You're still just a scrawny chit of a girl."
"How can I be scrawny and flabby?" Lucy demanded indignantly.
"Don't ask me." The spirit sniffed. "It's not my fault your body is a freak of nature. By the way, the lizard is getting up."
"I, what?" Lucy turned her head and saw Red rising; five pairs of eyes were staring at her with murderous promise. "Well, blast him again!"
"Mmmm… nah."
"What?" Lucy squawked.
"I don't feel like it. Also, I'm pretty sure that water bottle was a violation of my contract. You're only supposed to summon me in actual bodies of water."
"That's not what the contract says!" Lucy cried.
"Fine, fine. I'm taking a vacation day." Aquarius huffed. "Oh don't look at me like that, you've got plenty of magic to burn. Summon the alley cat or something. It's not my problem." With that, the spirit vanished.
Red began to slither forward, snapping them both back to the immediate problem.
"Don't worry, Lu. I'm ready to do the thing!" Cana upended her rucksack, spilling out cards across the floor. She pointed at the approaching monster.
"CARD MAGIC: HOUSE OF CARDS!" The bits of paper swirled up around the monstrous man, boxing in the writhing mass of scales and fangs with walls of paper. As the cards settled, they formed a house complete with makeshift doors and shingled roof. There was a momentary silence and a glowing yellow eye stared out at them from a tiny window in the house.
"You cannot be ssseriousss." Red hissed flatly. "Thisss isss one of the ssstupidessst thingsss I've ever ssseen."
"Well just you wait!" Cana yelled back, holding up a single card triumphantly. "It's about to get even stupider!" She flicked the piece of paper at the house. "I call this one: Burning Down the House!"
The card struck the house and every card lit up with orange magic circles before exploding. When the smoke cleared, the snake head were sprawled across the floor, their scales blackened by fire and soot.
"How d'ya like that!" Cana cried, crossing her arms. "If it's stupid, but it works. It ain't stupid."
Then five sets of reptilian eyes snapped open and glared at her.
"But…" Cana protested as Red pulled his heads off the ground. "I thought hydras were supposed to be weak against fire."
"They are." Red shook his heads, burned scales pattered to the floor like rain, sloughing off as new ones sprouted beneath them. "You're jussst weak."
Before either of them could react, the head snapped forward, covering the distance between them in an instant and slamming into Cana like a battering ram.
She crunched into the far wall and slid to the ground unmoving.
"Cana!"
Lucy dashed toward her friend, but a wall of scales slammed down between them.
"I don't think ssso." The neck gave a jerk and sent Lucy spinning away across the stone floor until she rolled to a painful stop.
She scrambled to her feet, only to see all five heads hovering over her, fangs bared.
"There isss nothing you can do to usss." They hissed in chorus. "If you were capable of fire, you would have usssed it by now." Five tongues flicked in and out. "Sssummon another ssspirit. Ssstruggling will only make it more sssatisssfying."
Lucy shuffled backward, her mind whirling. He wasn't wrong. Even with all the power flute's boost had given her, her spirits could only inflict physical damage. It was hopeless! She couldn't—her eyes fell on Cana, still motionless on the ground.
But… so what if it was hopeless? Fighting Flute had been hopeless, and they'd beaten her! She was a Fairy! That's what they did.
She held up her hands, each clutching a key and glared at the takeover mage.
"Goooood." The snakes crooned. "Ssshow me what your final momentsss will look like."
Lucy thrust out both keys and poured her magic into them. "OPEN: GATE OF THE LION AND THE RAM!"
The sound of bells filled the air as Loke and Aries materialized. It was almost shocking how easy it was to call them both out. Perhaps it was just the adrenaline, but Lucy felt as though the feat had barely taxed her.
She pointed at the Hydra. "Show him just what Fairy Tail is made of."
"As you command, princess." Loke laughed, holding out a hand to Aries. "Shall we?"
Smiling weakly, the ram spirit took his hand. "Yes."
Loke entwined his fingers with hers and spun her around in a pirouette before pulling her close. Together, the spirits pointed their hands at the mass of scales towering over them.
Red yawned, five sets of jaws opening wide to swallow them whole.
"CELESTIAL UNISON RAID: GOLDEN PEACE!"
A cloud of golden fluff erupted from their hands and wafted towards Red. The takeover mage gave a chorus of snorts and a pair of heads snapped forward. Their fangs sunk into the shining wool and tore it in half.
Almost instantly, the pair of heads biting the fluff went still, their eyelids drooping heavily before shutting. The scaly necks went limp and slumped to the floor and began to snore.
The remaining heads jerked back, alarmed, as the shiny cloud of wool began to expand. Enveloping the mage. Red roared, his heads trying to jerk away from wool, but it was no use. Within seconds, he was completely covered. The cloud of fluff jerked around a few times as Red tried to break free. The struggles grew feebler and, in mere moments, stopped completely.
The golden cloud dissipated, and the takeover mage slumped to the ground, shaking the floor as his heads thudded into the rock.
"Well. That's that." Loke smiled, turning back to Lucy with one hand wrapped around Aries' waist. "You're welcome, princess."
"It's, er, been a long time since we've done something like that." Aries said, her face going red. "It was… nice."
"Oh?" Loke grinned. "Was it as good for you as it was for me?"
"Leo!" Aries squeaked, hiding her face in her hands.
Lucy ignored them, dashing around the slumbering monster and making a beeline for Cana. The card mage looked the worse for wear. What she could see of her friend's back was a giant black bruise streaked with blood.
Lucy crouched beside her, putting her hands on the mage's shoulders and giving her a shake. "Cana! Wake up!" To her relief, her friend stirred, one eye cracking open to look at her.
"H-hey Lu," Cana croaked. "Did we win?"
"Yeah." Lucy answered, her eyes wet.
"Sweet." Cana's words were slurring, like they did when she'd drunk a full barrel of booze. "Knew you could… do it." Her eye closed.
"Cana!" Lucy yelped. her head whipped around when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"She's just unconscious, Lucy." Loke said gently. "Cana's tough, she'll pull through." He turned his head, "Aries?"
"Right." The ram spirit thrust out her hands, and a pink cloud of wool materialized underneath the card mage, gently hoisting her off the ground. Cana groaned and sunk into it with an unconscious sigh of bliss. "That will help her recover." Aries said. "I-if you want, I can get h-her out of here. Take her somewhere safe."
Lucy bit her lip, looking back and forth between her friend, and the chamber Red had emerged from. She wanted to stay with Cana… but they had a mission to complete. Goku had freed her from Flute. That was a debt that couldn't possibly ever be repaid.
She nodded. "Thank you, Aries. Get her out of here, keep her safe." She turned to Loke. "You come with me. We're not done here."
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Levy surveyed the scene.
The floor was littered with pressure pads, the wall was lined with 347 tiny holes that were clearly designed to fire continuously when the corresponding pressure plate was activated, firing off some sort of expanding enchanted latex material that would glue up a person's movement until they were nothing more than a statue. It was a well-made, if fairly simple trap, nothing an experienced tomb raider and trap expert couldn't handle. If anything, Shadowgear was completely overqualified to handle this setup.
Given the Erza shaped statue in the center of the room though, perhaps this one time the trio would forgo their usual fee.
"Okay boys, do you two want to handle this like the desert temple, or that water mage base?" The bluenette asked.
"…Do we even have enough plastic explosives to do a repeat of the base?" Droy asked.
"I'm more concerned about the slope of the room. I don't think we've got the right angles here to pull that off without me getting my leg blown off." Jet added.
"Right, desert temple it is. Droy?"
"Right." The plant mage slammed his hands into the ground and massive vines burst from the stone around his feet. They grew and widened, twisting to the size of a small catwalk before they began to grow outwards. The vines reached around the entire room, each and every one of them passing near one of the holes were the blobs of goo were fired from.
While Droy exerted his magic around the room, Levy's pen was scribbling at supersonic speeds, pumping out little squares of magic with two words written on them. On one side, 'STICK', and on the other 'BACKLASH'. As the two worked, Jet began to stretch, watching the paths that the vines formed intently.
"This is a big room." Droy said as sweat began to trickle down his face. "I'm probably not going to be able to keep the whole thing up for longer than 30 seconds or so."
"Plenty of time." Jet shrugged off the concern. "Ready to go Levy?"
"344, 345, 346, 347. Ready. Path ready, Droy?"
"Just about. On your mark…" Jet quickly grabbed each and every one of the hundreds of squares, shoving them into every pocket he could on his pants and jacket. The rest he kept in his hands, ready.
"Get set…"
Jet sunk down into a sprinter's starting position, his focus entirely on the vines.
"Go!" Jet disappeared in a blur, and the two mages were treated with the sight of an orange streak bouncing around the room off the vines. Occasionally they were able to spot as he slammed on of the many squares home, sealing up another one of the firing points. Right as Droy felt his magic begin to slip and the vines started to weaken, Jet slid to a stop in front of them with a bow.
"The room is clear, my dear lady and good sir."
"Nice job boys, less than three minutes from start to finish." Levy beamed as she walked through the miniature jungle to Erza. Her pen was back in her hand and the words DRY and RECEED were both glowing beside her. With a quick wave the pair slammed into the Erza statue and the black goo shriveled back up into the tiny black balls that it had spread from. The now useless beads fell harmlessly to ground and Erza fell to her knees, gasping for breath.
Jet and Droy immediately turned their back when they noticed her state of dress and prayed that she was too distracted to really notice that they had seen anything.
"You good to go, Erza?" Levy asked. "We need to get moving, we have no idea what's happening in the rest of this place and—"
Erza's eyes snapped open, revealing emerald green iris' that burned with fury.
"…Erza?"
The red head climbed back to her feet, summoned her Giant armor, and ran straight through the closed doors on the far side of the room with an enraged shriek.
Levy stared after her for a moment before turning around, grabbing both the boys and backtracking towards another one of the paths that Wendy had pointed out to her.
Following Erza like that just seemed unhealthy.
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He couldn't break it. He couldn't damage it. He was down to his last few minutes of life and there was no way that he could save himself.
Goku and Ultear had been watching the screens together in silence ever since Gray and Natsu's upsets. They'd become so strong, and he wanted nothing more than to test himself against their new abilities. But they wouldn't reach him in time, they kept running into dead ends. There was only one entrance to this room as far as Goku knew and if Ultear had planned this all out so well, what were the chances that this room even connected to the passageways his friends were on?
With how little time there was left, Goku was left with just two choices left. He had put it off as long as he could, but with the time he had left…
"It's just a year." He muttered to himself.
"Pardon?" Ultear asked, turning her face toward him.
"I'm just thinking, I'm probably going to die from this no matter what, right? Nobody is going to be able to get here in time, and I can't get myself out. If I let you kill me, then everybody I know is going to disappear too."
"When you say it like that, you make it sound like they will be dying, but that's not true." Ultear shook her heads. "Both you and your friends will still exist. Furthermore, you will be living in a safer and happier world than ever before. I know that I am asking a steep cost from you, but the benefits will far outweigh them." Ultear sighed. "I understand that this likely doesn't bring comfort to you now, but it will all be over soon. Soon, it will all be better."
Goku shook his head. "It won't be me though. None of those people…they won't be us. Everything we've done, every challenge we've overcome will be meaningless. Who we are will cease to exist." Goku rose to his feet and stared Ultear in the eye. "I can't let you do this. I won't let you take my energy." Goku rose to his feet and clenched his fists tight. Hardened eyes met dispassionate ones, and Ultear's voice sank back to its monotone.
"You can't stop me."
"Sure, I can. I just need to be willing to give more for my beliefs than you will for yours. You are willing to risk absolutely everything to make the world the way you want it to be, everything accept for your own life."
Ultear's eyes narrowed. "You think I haven't put my life on the line for this?" she scoffed. "Try serving under Master Hades for a week and see how safe that is. I've seen more of people put to death these last few years than you would ever believe. If Hades or any of the others had ever had so much as a suspicion as to what I am going to accomplish here today, they would have killed me on the spot. My life has been on the line since the moment I chose this path! I'd die to bring about this future if it meant success, but this will only work if I continue to live! Do you hear me! I'd die for the new timeline!"
"And I'd die for this one!" Goku snapped! "This is my timeline, with my friends and family. It's not perfect, but I'm not going to let you destroy it! Kaio Ken!" Red erupted around Goku's body.
Ultear shook her head.
"You can't use that technique to boost yourself to the same level as your monster form. That isn't anywhere near enough."
"I don't need to power up to break out of here! All I have to do is power up enough that I blow up my heart."
Ultear's eyes widened just a fraction. "…what?"
"The Kaio Ken strains my body the more I use it, and the higher I push it. Your runes can heal my injuries, but can they resurrect the dead?"
"No…no!" Ultear stepped forward, panic in her eyes. "Stop this! You can't!"
"You said it yourself, there is no way in or out of here! You can't stop me! TIMES TWO!" The aura around Goku flared again and Ultear could do nothing but slam her fists helplessly against the window.
"Don't do this! I've work too hard, too many people have lost their lives for this, you can't just throw it all away now!"
"TIME THREE!" The muscles on Goku's body bulged, and Ultear realized with growing horror that there was nothing that she could do to stop it. Her plans, everything that she had worked for. Her life's work…
"No…Mother…I'm so sorry…"
"KAIO KEN…TIME…FO-"
"ENOUGH!" A new voice roared through the room. Goku's aura vanished in surprise, and Ultear whirled around to find a sword pressed against her throat.
Erza Scarlet stood behind her, her eyes glowing green and a snarl on her face.
"Don't even think about it, Goku." She hissed. "I am going to have a very brief conversation with this woman, and then you and I are going home. Kill yourself, and when I bring you back I will make you regret it for the rest of your days."
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DRAGON BALL Z EPIC ANNOUNCER MAN VOICE MAN: TWO WOMEN TEST THEIR RESOLVE IN A CLASH THAT CAN SHAPE HISTORY. WHICH WILL RISE TO SURPASS THE OTHER? THE CONCLUSION OF ULTEAR'S ARC DRAWS IS COMING! NEXT TIME ON ESCALATION! TIME'S TURN PART 4: SOUNDS OF SILENCE.
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Okay folks, here are the current standings for the poll to see who is going to Edolas.
1st-Erza with 25 votes.
2nd- Gray with 21 votes
3rd- Mira with 20 votes.
4th- Kagura with 18 votes.
5th-Levy with 13 votes.
6th-Juvia and Cana tie with 11 votes.
8th-Elfman with 6 votes apiece.
And Sue and Boze are bring up the rear with a respectable 1 vote to put them on the board.
Okay folks, last chance to vote. With how much longer the chapter is probably going to take with my classes and jobs and such, I'm going to be posting the winner at the end of the next chapter. If there is a tie, I reserve the right to break it myself.
