Geoffrey's Legacy
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Fairy Tail - all rights and stuff belong to Hiro Mashima. If I was the one to start Fairy Tail, fan-service wouldn't be so prominent and there would be side-series' focused on Irene's ascension to a Queen, how the Mermaid Heel, Lamia Scale and Phantom Lord guilds came to be, Makarov's rise to Guild Master and how Gildarts joined Fairy Tail and became Guild Ace. I only own self-made characters, magic and storylines (I don't).
"If you live long enough, you'll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you'll be a better person. It's how you handle adversity, not how it affects you. The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit." - Bill Clinton
Chapter 18.
(Ministry of Defence: Navy Command Building - Crocus, Kingdom of Fiore)
Toma E. Fiore - current King of Fiore who'd reigned for the past three decades - held his head up high as he strode through the corridors of his country's defence ministry for to a meeting with his Minister of Defence and Chancellor of the Exchequer in regards to a defence project that apparently required his oversight and final approval.
It had been something he'd been aware of for the past eight years, and despite his faith in his kingdom's defence ministry, had never expected it to come to fruition after all the snags and issues he'd heard about.
As he walked, he was being escorted by a squad of eight Rune Knights who were armed to the teeth and effortlessly matched his pace with stiff backs and watchful eyes, scanning every inch of the surrounding area for potential danger.
The Rune Knight to his front-left moved and pushed open the heavy oak doors which stood before him. The Knights lining the next hallway snapped to attention as he passed by them, then the next door was opened and he found himself in the meeting room.
Already present, were four other individuals who stiffened and bowed deeply upon noticing him.
"Your Majesty." They chorused.
The first was Darton Black, an old, short man with fair skin and hammer-shaped eyebrows who had been his faithful Minister of Defence for the past eleven years.
The second was Zephyr Lucius, a middle-aged man with pale skin and dark hair who was Minister of State for Defence Procurement, and had been for eight years.
The third was Marylin Quinn, a beautiful and busty woman in her forties with vibrant purple hair - Toma had to hold back the urge to ogle her and giggle like a schoolgirl, 'Damn you, Makarov' - who had been his Chancellor of the Exchequer for the past four years.
The last was Admiral Davidson Romney, a balding middle-aged man who was First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff - head of the Royal Fiorian Navy.
"At ease, gentlemen, my lady." Toma called.
Behind him, his escort of Rune Knights cleared out, except for two who stood guard by the doors which were drawn shut.
"So, what is it that you've called me here for?" He inquired.
Davidson crossed his arms, "Milord, I'm sure you're aware of the Kingdom of Alvarez's ongoing naval expansion and modernization?"
"I am."
"And the fact that your Defence Ministry has an ongoing certain defence project?"
"I am." He repeated, raising an eyebrow.
Zephyr cleared his throat and stepped towards the large, rectangular table in the middle of the room and grabbed a wide sheet of paper which had a sketched design drawn onto it.
"This is the final result of our ongoing project. We'd like you to have a look at it, and if it's to your liking, give your approval for funding and construction."
"Very well. Let's have a look then." Toma said as they gathered around the table.
Admiral Davidson positioned himself to Toma's left, Darton and Zephyr stood to his right, and Marylin stood directly opposite him, leaning slightly on the table to get a better look at the blueprint as it was laid out for all to see.
The King almost blanched when he noticed that her posture had allowed her breasts to be prominently displayed, even without spilling out of her clothing.
'Damn woman. She must know what she's doing! Don't stare, don't stare, don't stare, don't sta-"
Hoping to avoid potential embarrassment, he quickly - and quite forcefully - diverted his attention to the blueprint laid out in-front of him.
"Huh? What's this, it doesn't look like a sloop-of-war." He mused, scanning over the blueprint.
Zephyr chuckled, "That's because it isn't. This is a dreadnought, a weapon for new generation of naval warfare, and the Alvarez Empire is already ahead of us in regards to these things. And just two of these could sink our entire fleet of one-hundred and forty sloops. Alvarez already has six, Milord, and they're currently building more."
"Oh... anyway, give me the details." He ordered.
Admiral Davidson nodded, "This is the Fiore-class Dreadnought. This class of ship will be the backbone of our fleet's combat strength for years to come, supplemented by a larger number of sloops. With this, we can ensure that the Alvarez Empire does not maintain their naval supremacy of the oceans to the west. To ensure that we can match Alvarez's fleet, we would need at least eight of these."
"And from how... complex these look, I doubt we could introduce these into the fleet quickly."
Darton shook his head, "Exactly, Milord. Where our sloops take one and a half years to construct and commission, these would take up to four years; three at minimum."
"Understood. Specifications?"
Zephyr coughed and spoke up, "Milord, this ship - fully crewed and loaded - would weigh up to 22,500 tonnes."
"What, 22,500 tonnes! That's preposterous." The King barked, unable to imagine something so big being able to remain above the waves, especially in the midst of a chaotic battle
Marylin scowled, adjusting her posture, "From my understanding, Milord, any lighter and this ship would not be able to serve as the equal to the ships possessed by the Alvarez Empire. It's either 22,500 tonnes and upwards, or nothing at all."
"Okay, okay, I apologise for my outburst. I just... expected it to weigh less." Toma admitted.
"No need to apologise, Milord. Your surprise was, in all honest, anticipated. Would like to hear the rest of the specification?" Davidson inquired.
Toma nodded, "Yes. Please, proceed."
Zephyr sipped at a glass of water - although, it was probably a gin and tonic or vodka; Toma couldn't tell since they were all colourless - then continued.
"The Fiore-class Dreadnought will be up to 168 metres long, or 551.181 ft; have a beam of 25.7 metres, or 84.317 ft; a draught of 9.4 metres, or 30.839 ft." Zephyr stated, then paused so Toma could process.
"168 metres long? My my, these would put the 60 metre sloop-of-wars to shame."
Darton chuckled, "Precisely. The great length is meant to serve as an intimidation factor against a fleet composed of sloops. A show of strength if you will."
Zephyr nodded, "He's right. The ships would be powered by 3 lacrima containing the Lightning Dragon scales seized from Ivan Dreyar's laboratory in Bosco; together, they would allow practically unlimited range, constrained only by maintenance and material resupply needs, and produce up to 285,000 shaft horsepower which would give them a maximum projected speed of 34 knots."
The King of Fiore tried to imagine what something cruising through the seas at such speeds would look like.
He failed.
"34 knots? No sloop would be able to successfully pursue it or escape it!"
"A show of military might. The Fiore-class Dreadnought would ensure naval superiority in a war against lesser nations." Marylin added, a smirk hidden behind two fingers.
Darton hummed, "She's right. No sloop-of-war would be able to hit it, at least not without a great deal of luck."
"And one cannot rely solely on luck during an high-intensity conflict." Admiral Davidson noted, scowling.
When it became clear that the King wasn't going to say anything more, Zephyr continued with his briefing.
"The average crew would be compromised of eight hundred and sixty sailors. Meaning, in the event that we failed with a massive military recruitment effort, several of our sloops, and preferably the older ones, would be decommissioned, with their crews transferred." He said.
Toma E. Fiore nodded, looking slightly apprehensive, and gestured for him to continue.
"Primary armament would consist of 3 double-barrelled 4 inch guns capable of firing highly concentrated beams of electricity, harnessed directly from the lacrima with the Lightning Dragon scales. The second armament would consist of 10 single-barrelled 11 inch guns, five on each side of the ship, capable of launching 11 inch shells, projectiles which are a vast improvement over cannonballs, over a projected distance of 3,700 metres." Zephyr finished.
Toma had a single eyebrow raised.
"That's a lot of firepower. No wonder a fleet of sloops wouldn't stand a chance in hell at surviving, and having seen young Laxus in action, I must say that I pity the poor fools who find themselves on the receiving end of the primary armament."
"Young Laxus, Milord? You mean Makarov's grandson, correct?" Marylin inquired.
"Aye, that's him. He's exceptionally powerful, worryingly so for someone of his young age. I can foresee him becoming Guild Master or Ace if his grandfather or Guildarts retires." Toma replied.
The purple haired woman suddenly looked displeased at the mention of Fairy Tail's Guild Ace; however, there was some other emotion in her eyes.
"Guildarts, that destructive fool, Milord? Because of him, we're running a 4.4% budget deficit; pouring away jewels into our infrastructure budget to continually update anti-Crash measures and defences, and ensure he doesn't annihilate every town he goes to. Can... we arrest him?"
Toma nearly choked on the water he was drinking.
He didn't like that tone. That was less of an 'arrest him for being a walking WMD', and more of an 'arrest him so I can secretly have my way with him in secret'.
Darton glanced at Zephyr, struggling to keep a knowing smirk off of his face.
Admiral Davidson simply sighed with disapproval and shook his head.
"Heavens no! King or not, Makarov would have my head if I did such a thing. Gah, Zephyr, is there anything else you'd like to add?" The King asked, wiping his mouth with a cloth.
"No, Milord, but do we have your approval for the construction and funding of eight Fiore-class Dreadnoughts?"
"Most certainly. And one more thing, how much will these things cost and where will they be built?" Toma asked.
"If my calculations are correct, about 625 million jewels," Marylin answered, "and before you came, we decided that the Phantom Lord subdivision in Cedar would be in charge of the shipbuilding process. Is that okay with you, Milord?"
"Yes. When we're finished here, I'll contact Jose and the subdivision master of the Phantom Lord guild in Cedar right away."
Marylin nodded, "If you excuse me, Milord, I'll get started on my second draft for the budget of fiscal year X780."
"You're excused."
The Rune Knights by the heavy oak doors stepped aside and pulled the doors open, allowing Marylin to leave the door, then closed the doors once she had passed through.
"Well," the King breathed, suddenly feeling tired, "that was certainly something."
"Indeed, Milord, I can only hope that the first stage of our navy's modernisation is complete before the Alvarez Empire makes their move." Admiral Davidson mused.
"Indeed, and if they attack us earlier, then we'll have to fall back onto using that."
"That? Oh, I understand, Milord."
Giving his Majesty a bow, Admiral Davidson dismissed himself and left the room.
(Phantom Lord Main Building - Oak Town)
Meanwhile, a woman in her late teens groaned as she awoke, opening her eyes and almost immediately regretting it as the bright lights above her irritated her sensitive eyes.
"Oh, Lorraine, you're awake? It's... way too early!"
"You can thank me for that. I accelerated the healing rate of your body and burned that awful drug out of your system. It was quite potent, so it took a bit of magic power. You might be feeling slightly feverish."
The Phantom Lord mage paused. Is that why it felt like someone had left a radiator on at full blast in her room?
"Yes."
"Okay, thanks, Astrid."
Holding a hand to her face to block out the bright lights, Lorraine glanced in the direction of the voice and saw Emilia standing over her.
"Guess I've got a really fast healing factor, huh?"
The other mage didn't return the smirk, "So it seems."
"..."
Lorraine offered Emilia a weak smile.
"Eh, I guess you're not happy with me, and I think I know why."
Emilia snapped forwards and smacked her over the head, prompting Lorraine to cringe, lean away and protectively hold her hands to her head.
"Hey, what was that for!?"
"What do you think!? For making us all worry; you had Gajeel worried, and that guy doesn't worry about anyone. One of his few proper friendships and that person nearly got herself killed, never-mind what it would've done to our reputation." Emilia hissed.
"I'm sorry, alright? What do you want me to do, get on my knees and beg for your forgiveness.
Emilia nearly slapped her again out of frustration.
"For you to not be so darned stupid! You nearly got yourself killed trying to fight Erigor the Death God. What were you thinking?"
"..." Lorraine flushed with embarrassment and looked away in shame.
The senior Phantom Lord mage sighed, "Exactly, you weren't thinking at all. You put your blasted ego and arrogance ahead of common sense and sense of self-preservation. And for what? Erigor got away and your nearly got yourself killed."
"Emilia, I-"
"No, your not going to wiggle or excuse yourself out of this situation. Did you really think that you could take on Erigor by yourself."
"..."
The blonde smirked and Emilia felt her blood pressure spike.
"What's so funny? It better be good, or I'm getting Totomaru to put you back to sleep."
Lorraine looked past Emilia to see the black-and-white haired fire user leaning against her door.
"Good to see you awake, Sleeping Beauty."
"Oh goodness... you haven't been watching me whilst I slept, have you?"
Totomaru blanched, "What do I look like to you? A stalker?"
"Dunno, you're most certainly coming across as one though." Lorraine retorted.
The fire user smirked, "A shame, I'll have to be more discreet about hanging around you next time."
Emilia poked her in the cheek, "Stop flirting. What was so funny?"
"I was actually going to ask for a glass of water earlier."
Totomaru got up from his lounging position and walked over to the small table next to Lorraine's bed. He grabbed a cup and jug full of ice cold water, then poured the liquid into the drinking utensil.
"Here." He handed the cup to Lorraine who held it with both hands.
"Thanks."
She raised the cup to her lips and downed the cold liquid, shivering as the cold sent waves of chill down her spine.
"Ooo, fuck, I needed that."
Lorraine set the cup down on the table next to her.
One her hands clenched into a fist; the other was seized by Emilia before it could curl in on itself.
"Now then, why did you try and take on Erigor the Death God?"
The blonde thought for a moment, and then shrugged, "I'm not entirely sure. I guess, it was to reassure myself, or to impress Gajeel. I know, it sounds like a stupid-ass reason."
"..." Totomaru silently raised an eyebrow.
Emilia frowned, "To... impress Gajeel?"
"Have you seen the maniac? He clearly respects power and strength. I just thought that if I could fight Erigor, on equal ground, but not outright defeat him, Gajeel might open up a bit more." Lorraine admitted.
"Idiot." Totomaru deadpanned.
"Right, I guess that makes some sense, but no more semi-suicidal crap, you understand?"
The blonde chuckled and saluted, "Heh, yes ma'am."
"One more thing," Totomaru said, holding up a finger, "you're in a lot of trouble. There's a Rune Knight Captain waiting for you in Master Jose's office."
Lorraine arched an eyebrow, "Why?"
"They said magical napalm with your magical fingerprint was found at the scene of your fight with Erigor." Emilia said.
The archer winced.
'Oh shit.'
"Indeed."
"Did you use a napalm-based technique during your fight?" Totomaru asked, prompting the blonde to nod.
Emilia sighed and shook her head in disbelief.
"Master Jose doesn't particularly care about the fact that you technically committed a crime, but this Captain doesn't look amused at all. Let's hope he isn't too harsh on you and just gives you a slap on the wrist."
"Doubtful," Lorraine mumbled, "the crime for using napalm in any form is punishable by 30 years in prison. He'd have to be in a good mood to let me go with something like a 'slap on the wrist'."
"Well then, let's hope he is." Totomaru stated, a light frown marring his face.
(Back with Gajeel, Sue, Boze and Katherine)
Gajeel was having anything but a good time at the moment.
This criminal - smug, talkative bitch that she was - had managed to avoid everything they tried to throw at her and managed to injure all three of them.
Boze, whilst trying to help, ending up being more of a hindrance to the Iron Dragon Slayer since his Sound Magic was doing a number on his ears, and Sue was trying her best to deflect beams of lights with mirrors.
Their efforts had resulted in more damage to the forest than to the actual person they were fighting.
Deep, symmetrical trenches lined the ground, bits of glass and iron were scattered around the area, the atmosphere had become thick and heavy with the release of four different sources of magic power, and dozens of trees had been either shattered or knocked down.
"Goodness, you three are terrible. If I knew it was gonna be this easy, I would started the fight with my eyes closed."
Gajeel sneered in response to the taunt.
"Fucking go ahead, I'll show you what happens when you underestimate me." He growled as Sue edged closer to his right side.
"Damn, she's tough." The brown-skinned mage huffed, bleeding from a cut to her bicep.
The Iron Dragon Slayer glowered, "She wouldn't be if I could get my hands on her."
"We need a new plan of attack." Boze muttered, his glasses destroyed and discarded.
"What are you mumbling about over there? I hope you not planning on giving up and running away. I'd be sorely disappointed if you did. At least make me feel like you're a decent challenge."
Ignoring the pounding in his head, Gajeel focused his piercing, red gaze onto Sue who shrank back slightly, expecting a harsh dismissal.
"I'll take the lead. You two back me up, and Boze, try to warn me before you attack. My hearing doesn't appreciate your attacks."
Boze nodded, "Sure thing."
The trio turned back to Katherine who was leaning most of her weight onto one leg, but straightened up slightly when she saw the three turn to her.
"Oh, good, looks like you're ready for me to continue kicking your asses." She said, a cocky smirk plastered onto her face.
Gajeel scoffed and nudged the dark-skinned male who twitched, "I don't think so. From here, it'll be you getting your ass kicked."
"Huh, I'm not so sure about-"
The Iron Dragon Slayer and Sue heard nothing more as they clapped their hands over their ears; coating their eardrums with their magic power.
"Wha-"
"HOWLING!"
Katherine buckled and dropped to her knees as a blast of musical notes, each emitting a horrible, high-pitched screech, burst forth from Boze's mouth and slammed into her.
"Ugh, you damn-"
"DISTURBED!"
Katherine screamed as blinding pain raced through her skull, akin to that of a severe migraine, although it was drowned out by the screeching sound of the sonic vortex that she was trapped within.
"GREAT PITCH!"
The sonic vortex dissipated, leaving behind an intense buzzing noise which rose in pitch until she couldn't hear anything. Seconds later, she gagged and then vomited.
"BASE DROP!"
Boze whistled, directing a multitude of soundwaves to the disorientated Katherine, where they gathered in-front of her in a tightly packed sphere and then reverberated outwards with a dull 'THROOOM', launching her backwards and into a tree stump.
"SONIC FIST!"
A fist composed of purple musical notes shot forth from Boze's outstretched fist, slamming into Katherine - obliterating the stump she was laid against, dragging her into the ground and carving up a deep trench, more than 30 metres in length.
The Phantom Lord mage smirked, turned to Gajeel and Sue - the latter of whom was wide eyed in shock - and gave them a nod.
A manic, near bloodthirsty grin nearly split Gajeel's face in two.
"You... you've been holding back on me, you fucking bastard! I don't care when and I don't care where, but I'm fighting you sometime in the foreseeable future." He growled, an underlying hint of respect in his voice.
Sue whistled in appreciation, "Holy shit, you absolute madman. Is it done?"
A burst of magic power erupted roughly from where Katherine was partially buried in the ground.
"Guess that's your answer." Gajeel deadpanned.
They watched as Katherine - surrounded by an aura of her magic power - approached them, her face twisted with rage and lined with shallow cuts and bruises, as blood steadily leaked from her ears.
"You," she started, slightly louder than normal, presumably because Boze had partially deafened her, "all of you are dead. I'm going to make sure of that."
'Iron Dragon's Scales.' Gajeel thought, his skin taking on a dull, metallic sheen as he settled into a fighting stance, "Heh, bring it, bitch."
Sneering with contempt, Katherine held out one arm and aimed her clenched fist at Gajeel who tensed. Streams of light began to gather at the end of her fist, coalescing into a tennis ball-sized sphere.
"Spear of Hyperion!"
There was a bright, blinding flash which would've most certainly caused damage to the eyes of any unfortunately soul who looked directly at it, and a thin laser-like beam of light shot towards Gajeel who crossed his arms to block the attack.
Much to her surprise, Katherine's own attack was unexpectedly redirected back towards her, forcing her to jerk to one side to avoid having the attack slam into her chest.
"Eh?" Gajeel lowered his arms, appearing to be slightly confused.
Boze looked baffled, looking back and forth between Gajeel, who clearly had no clue as to what had just happened, and Katherine, who looked stunned.
Katherine looked outraged, "What! How did you... no, it doesn't matter."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Sue called, looking incredibly smug.
"Barrage of Heaven!"
Hundreds of bullet-sized projectiles of light shot forth from Katherine's fist - there where so many that her view of the trio was obscured - and once more, she found all of the projectiles fired back at her.
She was forced to dissolve her body into a stream of photons to avoid the attack, reforming once the attack had passed and destroyed several trees behind her.
Katherine narrowed her eyes at the trio, glancing first at Sue who still had that infuriating smug expression on her face.
Turning to Gajeel, she noticed that he had the biggest shit-eating grin on his face.
Lastly, Boze looked like he'd had an epiphany.
"What is this!? Why're you all so smug? What's so fucking funny?" She hissed at them, confused.
Gajeel snickered lowly.
Sue twirled a strand of green hair around her finger, "Oh, I don't know. Why don't you try and attack us again. Surely you must've seen my magic when you were attacking us earlier?"
'The hell does that mean?'
Rising to the mockery of a challenge, Katherine prepared and fired off another Spear of Hyperion, watching as a large mirror materialized in-front of the trio, absorbed the attack without budging, and in the time it took for her to blink, fired it right back, forcing her to dodge once more.
"Finally got it yet?" Sue asked, smirking.
Katherine nodded, "You use Mirror Magic, allowing you to absorb and reflect the attack of your opponent,"
"That's right, but don't forget that I'm not the only one fighting you."
'Shi-'
"DISTURBED!"
Katherine doubled over, holding her hands to her temples as once more, she was trapped within a sonic vortex of musical notes.
Through blurred eyes, she watched as a dark figure leapt into the air, lunged towards and yelled, "Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!"
"Photon Blast!"
Gajeel grunted as a sizeable blast of light erupted from Katherine's fist and slammed into his own, knocking him back to Sue and Boze, and heating up his scales so much that they began to glow an uncomfortable shade of orange.
Then, Katherine warped over to Boze and kicked him in the side of the neck, instantly knocking him out.
Unceremoniously, she crumpled to the floor as, from the point of contact with Boze, a burst of sound ripped through her body and rattled her insides.
Sue jumped away from her, and before she could overcome the Sound Magic technique to attack the dark-skinned female, Katherine suddenly found herself entrapped within a prison of mirrors - she found herself staring at the reflection, no matter which way she turned.
"Kaleidoscope." Sue called, gazing at the trapped dark mage.
The blonde sneered, and despite the pain coursing through her body, managed to muster a glare.
"You think something as meagre as this can hold me?"
The Phantom Lord mage smirked, "Absolutely."
From somewhere beyond the mirrors behind Katherine, Gajeel unleashed his Iron Dragon's Roar which shattered the mirrors and barrelled into the dark mage, carrying her away in a furious cyclone of wind, iron and shattered glass.
Katherine grunted as she hit the floor once the attack dispersed, leaving bits of iron and glass laying around, and stared at the multitude of cuts lining her arms.
'These absolute little shits. How can children, barely teenagers, be giving me so much trouble?' She thought, furious.
"Iron Dragon's Club!"
"Shattered Reflection."
She rolled to one side as an iron club pulverized the ground where she lay, then as she flipped to her feet, was immediately confront with a mirror.
It unexpectedly exploded as soon as she caught a glimpse of her reflection, and she flinched as a shard of glass cut into her cheek.
Then, a kunai was lodged into her right shoulder, courtesy of Gajeel Redfox who produced more and flung them with unerring accuracy; one landing next to the kunai already in her shoulder and another sinking into the shin of her left leg.
"God-fucking-dammit, you impertinent brats. Just drop dead!" Katherine snapped, pulling the kunai out and cauterizing the wounds with the heat emanated from a ball of light.
Gajeel snickered, smirking arrogantly, "After you."
Without a second thought, she warped above and behind the Iron Dragon Slayer, and swung a sword of light - eight feet long and similar in appearance to the plasma beam of a lightsabre - downwards, aiming to cut through his armour and cleave him in two.
"Hyperion's Great-sword!"
Gajeel pirouetted on the spot to face her, a grin on his face as he raised his left arm which began to morph into large, jagged blade.
A mirror materialised between them, but Katherine cut through it like butter; however, it slowed her enough for Gajeel to fully prepare his technique and counter.
"Iron Dragon's Sword!"
A sword of solidified light clashed against a sword of iron, producing a shockwave of force which blasted away debris surrounding them.
The Iron Dragon Slayer groaned as his sword arm began get warmer and warmer until the sensation was unbearable.
"How long can you keep it up. Eventually, my sword will cut through yours." Katherine said as she began to put pressure on him, pushing herself forwards as Gajeel began to slacken in the tense standoff.
Then, to her surprise, Gajeel gave up on the standoff entirely and shifted to one side, allowing her light sword to cut through nothing but air.
"Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!" He roared, slamming a powerful right hook into Katherine's face.
She cried out as she felt something above her right eye break and fell to the floor, watching as Gajeel bared down on her like a volcanic pyroclastic flow about to destroy a village lying at the base of a volcano.
"Drop dead, Iron Dragon's-"
"Spear of Hyperion." A powerful beam of light shot forth and slammed into Gajeel's chest, disrupting the attack he'd been about to unleash and knocking him back.
He grunted, tumbling into the dirt and she glanced at Sue who summoned a mirror, shrunk and morphed it into a lance and flung it at her.
"Mirror Lance."
Without a moments hesitation, Katherine formed a lance out of light and flung at Sue.
It destroyed the glass lance and forced Sue to dive to one side or be impaled.
The dark-skinned mage watched as it flew past her and pierced through the trunks of several trees.
'Holy shit, if that had hit me...'
Get your ass up and stop laying around!" Gajeel roared, slowly walking towards the dark mage with an irritated expression on his face.
"Oh, you're approaching me? Instead of running away, you're coming right to me?"
"S-Class Dark Mage or not, I can't beat the shit out of you without getting closer."
Once within range, he lunged once more at Katherine who backpedalled to avoid his wild punches.
'Kid's got power, but no proper technique or finesse to back it up. Unless fighting like a lunatic is his style.'
The blonde cocked a fist back, enveloping it in her magic power.
"Hyperion's Great Fist!"
She slammed her fist into Gajeel's face, causing him to grunt and recoil as a small dent was left behind.
"Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!"
Gajeel lunged forwards, throwing a left hook which Katherine deftly dodged as she got within his guard and pressed her hands against his chest.
He looked down at her, a hint of panic running through his eyes.
'Ah, dammit, this is gonna suck.'
"Photon Blast!"
Blasts of light leapt from Katherine's fist and impacted dead-centre against his chest, knocking the air from his lungs and throwing him onto his back.
"Gah, fuck, that actually hurt." He groaned, pushing himself back onto his feet.
The Iron Dragon Slayer took a moment to look away from the dark mage to inspect the damage done to his Iron Dragon's Scales.
Besides the unseen damage to his left cheek which he could feel through the armour, Katherine's Photon Blast had such stripped away the armour covering most of his torso and destroyed his shirt.
Besides his fight with Balderich, Gajeel couldn't remembered the last time someone or something had managed to bypass his Iron Dragon's Scales.
Perhaps the pink-haired bastard from Fairy Tail had, but the Iron Dragon Slayer didn't remember because he had been so caught up in the thrill of fighting another Dragon Slayer and concerned about Lorraine - not that he'd ever admit it to her face.
Stupid fucking blonde.
Speaking of stupid fucking blondes, one had just managed to royally piss him off by damaging his Iron Dragon's Scales.
"That's it. No more fucking messing around. You're going down." Gajeel snarled.
"Likewise. This broken eye socket is incredibly painful and I don't want this to be dragged out long than necessary." Katherine hissed, a massive bruise developing where Gajeel had hit her in the face.
Without warning, she fired a Spear of Hyperion at him, but it was reflected by Sue's Mirror Form.
She turned to attack the green-haired mage, but was forced to disengage as an Iron Dragon's Roar tore up the ground where she'd previously been.
She then followed up with a Photon Blast, destroying the kunai he threw at her and forcing him to retaliate with another roar.
A glass lance sailed past her head, brushing against the tip of her left ear.
Katherine retaliated with a vast barrage of light-based projectiles that were also reflected back at her.
Gajeel lunged for her with a scream of "Iron Dragon's Hard Fist", but she knocked him back with another Photon Blast before being entrapped once more within Sue's Kaleidoscope.
Out the corner of his right eye, the Iron Dragon Slayer noticed Sue place her hands over her ears.
He immediately followed suit as Katherine's glass prison shattered around her.
Barely half a second afterwards, an absolute fuck-load of noise introduced itself once more to the dark mage
"I'M BACK, MOTHERFUCKERS! DISTURBED!"
Once more, Katherine screamed as she was trapped with a vortex of musical notes which frantically swirled around her.
"YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT! HOWLING!"
A massive blast of sound pushed her back up against a tree trunk which had somehow managed to avoid being destroyed during the chaotic fight.
"AND LET'S OPEN HER UP WITH A SONIC FIST!"
The tree was splintered and Katherine's herself was shoved through the pieces of wood, many of which embedded themselves into her skin, and into the ground.
Seeing an opportunity, Gajeel rushed forwards as Katherine - stubborn, tenacious bitch that she was - began to pick herself up once more.
"Not so fast! Iron Dragon's Roar!"
A swirling mass of wind, wooden splinters and iron slammed into Katherine, prompting her to cry out as she felt a rib break from the sheer amount of force that had crashed into her
"Sue, now!"
"Mirror Shift."
The Iron Dragon Slayer leapt into the mirror that materialized in-front of him in a flash of light.
Katherine widened her eyes in horror as Gajeel emerged from a mirror that materialized in-front of her, his right fist cocked back.
'Shit.'
"Lights out. Iron Dragon's Hard Fist."
There was a satisfying 'Thunk' as Gajeel's fist impacted against Katherine's face and slammed her into the ground.
She came to a pause and didn't make any moves to get back up.
Gajeel's chest heaved, his lungs greedily consuming oxygen, as his Iron Dragon's Scales slowly receded, leaving his bruised skin glistening with a faint sheen of sweat.
The ferocious glint in his eyes shifted to satisfaction as he stared at her prone form.
Sue and Boze, the latter being supported by the former, came up besides him to observe their victory.
Asides from the gentle rise and fall of her chest, Katherine didn't budge.
Gajeel's last hit had definitely knocked her unconscious.
Boze chuckled, rubbing his head where Katherine had kicked him, "We did it."
Sue nodded, "Hell yeah."
They flinched as Gajeel shot them a ferocious glare.
"We?"
Boze looked slightly hesitant, "Uhhhh-"
The Iron Dragon Slayer looked away and huffed, "Yeah, we did. Good job on not getting yourselves killed... morons."
If there was a secret compliment hidden in that statement, Boze and Sue grabbed at it with both hands.
That was probably as close as they'd get to Gajeel saying 'thank you'.
A/N: Took slightly longer than I expected, but I hope everyone was satisfied with Gajeel, Boze and Sue vs Katherine, and if you weren't, tell me what could've been improved. And please give feedback about what you think about the moves I made up for the two Phantom Lord mages.
Also, who caught the reference to another anime series?