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).

"I began revolution with 82 men. If I had to do it again, I do it with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. It does not matter how small you are if you have faith and a plan of action." - Fidel Castro

Chapter 24.

Lorraine watched as Quentin knocked Coco away with one hand, deflecting her kick to the head and then executing a palm thrust. Taking the strike to the chest, the legionnaire went sprawling away, allowing the cultist to turn his attention back to the archer.

She let an arrow fly as he fired off another projectile.

They met in the middle with the arrow, enhanced with her own magic power, piercing through the tip of the explosive projectile and setting it off in mid-air. There was a loud 'Bang' and Lorraine found her view momentarily obscured.

The nineteen year old let loose another arrow.

It flew through the cloud of dust and smoke, hitting its mark about a second later. On one side of the cloud, Quentin's curses rang forth.

"Fuck, that stings. Stupid bitch, die."

Lorraine threw herself to one side as another projectile, this one travelling in a falling arc rather than a mostly straight trajectory, shot out of the cloud. The floor cracked upon its detonation and the blast-wave threw her further than she anticipated, causing her to go flying into a wall.

She hissed as her her shoulder burst to life with pain.

Lorraine gave her shoulder an experimental roll, satisfied when the pain had already died down to an ache

Nothing was broken or dislocated. Just the result of blunt-force trauma from hitting something with more force than was necessary.

Quentin flared his magic power, prompting the lingering cloud of magic power to dissipate.

Rather than the long, tube-like weapon he'd been using previously, the explosion-happy cultist held what looked like an overly convoluted, black matte coloured, eight-shot revolver with a sizeable stock meant to rest against his shoulder and a wide barrel that she could easily stick her fist into.

Despite the comical appearance that an arrow to the thigh gave him, Lorraine tensed as he pointed it at her.

As he depressed the trigger, Coco appeared in a blur of speed, kicking at his arm.

The shot went wide and Quentin ended up launching a projectile at the black ice which sat in the doorway.

The projectile, which looked like half of a sphere, hit the ice and exploded. Save for a minor crack which would've been invisible to a really unobservant viewer, it dealt no damage to the ice whatsoever.

Coco ducked underneath a haymaker and then jumped over a spinning kick, before backflipping away from Quentin who aimed at where he assumed she'd stop. And as she did, he'd already depressed the trigger of his new weapon, firing off another projectile.

Judging from the slightly panicked expression on her face, Coco seemed to realize that she had no time to dodge.

Her body flared with magic power and she kicked the projectile back. Quentin didn't even blink as the projectile sailed past his head and detonated upon impact with the wall, leaving behind cracked and chipped brickwork.

"Nice one." Lorraine said, smirking as Quentin glared at her.

"You're welcome." Coco deadpanned. Clearly, unlike Lorraine or Gajeel, she wasn't one for mid-battle banter.

Quentin went to say something, but was cut off as another arrow suddenly sprouted from his shoulder. He hissed as he raised the grenade launcher and fired off another shot, narrowing his eyes when the Phantom Lord mage intercepted it with an arrow of her own.

'Where the hell are all those arrows coming from. She's not using a quiver. It's impossible for her to just summon arrows out of thin air. Hmph, she must be a Requip mage, just like me' Quentin thought.

He leant out of the way of a kick to the jaw from the annoying legionnaire. The shirtless cultist retaliated with a punch to the abdomen, forcing the young legionnaire to double over on his fist.

Then he swept his arm out in an arc, throwing her away from him. He noted, from the constant fluctuations in her magic power, that his strike hadn't knocked her out.

'That brat's one tough little cookie. But she won't take me down through speed-' Quentin was brought out of his thoughts as a pair of arrows buried themselves, head-first, into the ground at his feet.

Glancing at the two arrows and the blonde who'd fired them at him, the brunette chuckled and nudged one of the arrow slightly.

"Heh, looks like you missed. Tired already? Come on, we've only been fighting for... what, five, six minutes?" He inquired, smirking.

The blonde simply raised an eyebrow, looking unimaginably smug as she did so.

'What's she looking so high and-'

Quentin yelped as the arrows at his feet exploded, one going off a split-second after the other.

The pair of explosions, in addition to launching him off his feet and across the room, caused him to drop his grenade launcher which was simply returned to his hand via Requip.

"If anybody missed, it's you," Lorraine said, a chunk of black ice flying past her head, "missing the two giant hints at your feet."

Picking himself back up and raising the grenade launcher, Quentin watched as an arrow flew into the barrel as he depressed the trigger. The weapon exploded in his hand, sending several pieces of shrapnel into his chest and arms.

Cursing about Lorraine's and Coco's disgusting audacity, the cultist shook his left arm and summoned yet another weapon into his right hand which was burned and had bright pink, peeling flesh hanging off of it.

This new one looked as if someone had welded two metal tubes together and jammed an oversized shoulder stock to the back of the tubes.

He aimed the new grenade launcher and, once more, depressed the trigger.

A loud 'Pop' came from the open hole in the top tube. However, nothing which looked like an explosive projectile came out. Only a peach-coloured sphere which burst open in the air, revealing multiple steel darts with vaned tails flying towards her.

Lorraine bit back a curse as one buried itself up to the tail in her left thigh, followed by another two jamming themselves into her left forearm and one more burying itself into the bicep of her right arm.

Quentin's annoying chuckle swam into her ears. He sounded like someone was strangling a circus clown who was doing their best to laugh whilst being murdered.

"Heh, did you like that? Those are flechettes. Usually employed by Rune Knights to introduce a fast-acting knockout drug into their intended target. Don't worry about falling asleep, except for blood loss, I'm above that cheap shit." Quentin spat, flexing his wounded hand.

Lorraine grunted as she pulled the flechette out of her thigh and flung it at Quentin.

The cultist batted it aside with one hand, preventing it from becoming lodged in his forearm and then flared his magic power.

A brief glow came from the wide barrel of the grenade launcher, then it died down, then he fired and the ground next to Lorraine exploded, once more launching her off of her feet.

She probably would've broken her neck upon hitting a wall if it weren't for Coco. The young, brunette legionnaire tackled her in mid-air, using her speed to counteract Lorraine's weight, and they crashed to the floor in a tangle of limbs.

Coco quickly pushed her off, rolling onto a patch of black ice and knocking another projectile away.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"I will be," Lorraine replied, huffing and getting to her feet, "this guy is a real pain in the ass."

"I am to be a pain in everyone's ass. Though I wouldn't mind being a pain in yours, blondie" Quentin called over to them, laughing.

"Can I incinerate him? I really want to incinerate him." Astrid offered, sounding far too eager to do so.

"No. This asshole isn't worth your time. The guy Gajeel's fighting is though." Lorraine replied internally, hoping she'd satisfied the majestic bird of fire.

The Phantom Lord mage was brought out of her inner thoughts by Coco, the legionnaire giving her a light nudge.

"We need to attack him together. I mean physically, disarm him of that grenade launcher first." She suggested.

Lorraine nodded in agreement, "Disarm him and don't give him a opening to summon anything else. He's a big motherfucker, but there's no way he can take on the other of us."

"What are you two muttering about over there? I can't kick your asses from over here!" Quentin called.

"Your foul language notwithstanding, I agree." Coco replied, watching as Lorraine summoned a combat knife with a seven inch blade via her Requip.

She glanced at the brunette, "You take the lead."

Without another word, Coco backed up and then blurred out of sight. Already running towards Quentin, Lorraine watched as she reappeared next to the cultist, ducking underneath a swipe which would've seen her get hit in the face by the grenade launcher before planting a solid punch just underneath his ribs.

Quentin flinched and kicked out at Coco.

The legionnaire jumped back, giving enough space to Quentin for him to get another shot off.

Before he could depress the trigger, Lorraine's combat knife sailed through the air and buried itself into his wrist, prompting him to drop the grenade launcher. It sank into the flesh, the blade sticking out of the other side of his wrist.

"Shit, you-"

Lorraine's punch to his neck was stopped as he caught it with his other hand. She blocked his attempted backhand before swinging her leg up to his crotch, causing him to groan and double over, leaving him wide open for a headbutt which had been staggering back.

Coco materialised to his left, the kick striking him in the face and knocking a tooth.

Unperturbed by the newfound freedom of Quentin's premolar, Coco wrapped her arms around the bigger man's neck and forced her knee into his throat, eliciting a series of choking noises from the cultist.

Having moved behind him during Coco's assault, Lorraine kicked him in the back of the knee as he tried to get up and retaliate.

The leg gave out and he dropped into a kneeling position. The Phantom Lord mage raised a brick she'd retrieved from one of the destroyed walls and smashed it over Quentin's head.

The brick fell apart under the blow and Quentin's whole frame jerked, as if pulled on with very large string, then his head slumped, followed by his body.

As he slowly collapsed, Lorraine and Coco let out a sigh of relief when the grenade launcher dissolved into magic particulates, returning to wherever Quentin kept his Requip items, and when he didn't make a move to get back up.

Lorraine's nose wrinkled when it caught the smell of blood in the air.

Upon closer inspection of Quentin, she saw the skin at the top of his head had been busted open and blood was slowly pouring out, forming an expanding puddle underneath his face.

"You must've fractured his skull." Coco mused, leaning over the man as the temperature suddenly dropped.

"Guess so," Lorraine replied, flinching as the whole room froze over with black ice, followed by icy spikes descending from the ceiling and smashing through the floor, punching through Quentin's body as Coco leapt back to avoid suffering the same fate.

A deafening crash followed and when Lorraine turned to look at how Gajeel was doing, she noticed that the Iron Dragon Slayer and the Ice God Slayer were gone, presumably having vacated the room through the massive hole in the wall.

"I'm going to go and help out Gajeel," Lorraine said, glancing at Coco, "You go and... help out your boss or something."

Without waiting for a response, she ran and jumped out of the massive opening in the wall, following the trail of destruction to two combatants had left behind.

(A few minutes earlier - Gajeel Redfox vs Henderson Quake)

Gajeel smirked as he stared down the God Slayer who looked bored out of his mind.

"Dunno what's with that look, but I'm about to put you in your place," Gajeel told him, "recognize what a Dragon Slayer can do."

Henderson started rolling one his arm, almost as if he was giving himself as warmup. It was so casual and blatantly condescending that it was starting to piss Gajeel off.

"I apologise, but the difference in power between us is so great, that it's not even funny. You really think that you can contend with me?" Henderson inquired, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I won't know unless I try."

"How foolish," Henderson sighed, "save yourself the humiliation. You think that because you and your friends avoided my Ice God's Bellow, that puts you on my level. Give me a break."

"Oh, trust me, I'm about to give you one and a killer headache to boot." Gajeel replied, narrowing his scarlet eyes in anticipation.

Henderson's magic power flared slightly, "If you're so insistent on dying, then show me what you can do, Dragon Slayer!"

"It'd be my pleasure, God Slayer," Gajeel replied, then cupped his hands in-front of his mouth, "Iron Dragon's Roar!"

Confident, the Phantom Lord mage watched as his signature technique burst forth and slammed into Henderson who didn't even try defending himself or avoiding the attack which launched him back into the opposing wall which cracked under his weight and the power of his technique.

'Gihihihihi, how'd you like that?'

Stopping his attack, Gajeel's smirk fell slightly when he saw that Henderson hadn't even taken any damage from the attack. There wasn't even a little scratch on his skin and even his clothes appeared to be unmarred, despite the fact that they should've been shredded.

'Piss off! My Roar did nothing to him?' Gajeel thought, furious with himself.

"Was that it?" The Ice God Slayer questioned, voice monotonous.

"Huh?"

"Surely that wasn't the extent of your power? Strike me again. You've got three chances to wound me and you already wasted one." Henderson said, cupping his jaw with one hand.

"Treating me like a child? You'll regret that." Gajeel sneered, his eyes flashing his anger as he raised his magic power output, covering his skin with the familiar sheen of his Iron Dragon's Scales.

Henderson watched as the Iron Dragon Slayer transformed one of his arms into what appeared to be a long club and lunged at him.

He braced himself as the club was slammed down onto his shoulder. The impact, which shattered the floor beneath him, would've obliterated any lesser man's shoulder, but Henderson barely felt it.

Noticing his lack of response and total lack of failure to deal any damage, the dark-haired Phantom Lord jumped back, his arm returning to normal as he did so.

Henderson had fought many mages of different calibre over the years, but he'd never fought a Dragon Slayer before, and so far, this was a phenomenal let-down. Heck, some mages who wielded the basic elements would've managed to deal damage to him already.

He raised a single finger, "Second attempt wasted. Make this last one count."

Battles between mages, especially when the fight was solely executed through magical techniques, required one to be more proficient with their magic or possess a superior magic power output.

The amount of magic which saturated a technique and strength of the mage unleashing the technique mattered, always. A trained martial artist could chop their way through bricks because they'd refined their muscles and techniques to do so, whereas a beginner would simply break the bones in their hand when executing the strike because they hadn't refined the technique to do so.

Interest seeped into his boredom as Gajeel paused momentarily and then flexed his magic power.

Debris around Gajeel's feet was blown away as viridescent magic power exploded out of his body. Henderson felt a slight weight press down on his form as the magic power coalesced behind the younger mage, creating a bright green avatar of a dragon's head which floated behind him.

Then, like before, the Dragon Slayer leapt towards him, the speed at which he did so disturbed the dust around him as he cocked a fist back

"Eat this, you son of a bitch. Iron Dragon Hard Fist!"

'Another basic attack. This really is a-'

Henderson felt pain explode across his face as Gajeel's iron fist careened into his face. He let out a grunt as his head snapped back, followed his body tilting as he staggered backwards.

Before he could get a chance to recompose himself, Gajeel's fist struck him in abdomen, knocking the breath out of him. Then, the Iron Dragon Slayer's leg shot upwards, driving his knee into Henderson's face and forcing his head to snap back, and then as Henderson looked back down, Gajeel's iron skull crashed into his own forehead.

Filled with elation at the fact that he actually might get a decent fight from the Phantom Lord mage, Henderson stumbled back and crumpled to the floor.

Somewhere above him, Gajeel breathed heavily as he reigned in his magic power, sounding like someone who'd just run back-to-back marathons.

A scowl made its way across his face as Henderson chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Gajeel questioned, "Need me to beat the laughs out of you two?"

"No, I'm just glad you didn't let me down." Henderson said, picking himself back up.

Ruby orbs widened in disgust.

"You smug prick, who the fuck do you think you are?"

The temperature suddenly plummeted as Henderson flared his magic power in response, causing black ice to materialize beneath his feet and begin spreading across the floor. Gajeel prepared himself as the cultist punched the ice with one hand and fixed him with a piercing stare that chilled his spine.

"The God that will bring an end to the proud and feeble Dragon."

A vein throbbed on Gajeel's temple, "Feeble? I'll show you-"

"Ice God's Blizzard Storm!"

Black ice exploded to life, propelling the God Slayer forwards as ice rapidly spread across the ceiling and walls, forming dangerous-looking spikes which descended rapidly across the room, driving themselves into the floor with impressive force.

Gajeel never got to call out to Coco or Lorraine as the distance between himself and the Ice God Slayer was cleared in less than a second. An icy spear grazed against the iron second skin coating his neck, leaving behind an sizeable scratch and then Henderson tackled him by the waist, driving him backwards and through a wall which gave out under their weight and magic.

"Ice God's Howling Avalanche."

He grunted as Henderson placed a hand against his stomach and unleashed his magic, producing a heavy mass of black ice which slammed into Gajeel, pushing him away from the cultist and launching him towards the ground where he impact was defined by a long, icy trench.

"Dammit." Gajeel spat, heaving for breath as he lay flat on his back.

He watched, feeling sick to his gut, as Henderson descended to his level on a platform of black ice - largely resembling the tracks of a rollercoaster - which melted away with a wave of his hand.

Knowing that their fight was far from down, Gajeel rolled himself onto his front and pushed himself, slowly raising himself into a standing position.

The entire time, Henderson didn't attack him. And when Gajeel looked to see what the holdup was, he saw the cultist was casually inspecting his fingernails.

"Are you done with the theatrics? I thought you'd be tougher than that, Dragon Slayer." He commented, offhandedly.

Not even bothering to dignify his statement with a proper response, Gajeel sneered and cupped his hands in-front of his mouth.

"Iron Dragon's Roar."

His anger grew as Henderson smirked at the oncoming attack, acting as if he were entirely unconcerned about it, and then copied the gesture he always used for his signature roar.

"Ice God's Bellow!"

A swirling mass of black ice crashed into Gajeel's vortex of compressed air and bits of jagged iron, knocking it aside and crashing into him. Gajeel cried out as was thrown backwards, picked up off his feet and sent sprawling away, shivering as black ice clung to his Iron Dragon's Scales which'd been dented in several places.

'F-Fuck, so that's what it feels like, being on the receiving end.'

He felt a slight pang of pity of the various, unfortunate mages who'd happened to end up on the wrong end of his Iron Dragon's Roar.

Even still, Gajeel couldn't remember a time - and the one instance where he had tried to fight Master Jose didn't count because that nutcase was simply on a level that he aspired to be on - where his signature roar had been so effortlessly overcome.

Once more, the Iron Dragon Slayer picked himself back up and flared his magic power.

"I ain't going down just yet." He huffed, glaring at Henderson who walked over to him at a leisurely pace.

"Good," Henderson replied, nodding, "I want you to entertain me, Dragon Slayer. And you dying right down would be an immense disappointment."

"Quit your yapping. I'm sick of shits like you, always running your mouths."

Henderson caught the Gajeel's sword arm and pushed it to one side, then slammed his fist into the Dragon Slayer's abdomen. Gajeel, feeling the impact through his scales, coughed and staggered back, then revved up his sword arm.

He jumped forwards and swung at the cultist who sprang backwards to avoid being sawed in two. Pressing forwards, Gajeel thrust his arm into the ground, causing his spinning sword arm to chew up the dirt and fling it into Henderson's eyes.

Instinctively, the Ice God Slayer closed his eyes and began trying to rub the dirt out.

"You're wide open! Iron Dragon's Battering Wing."

Turning around and jumping, Gajeel unleashed an Iron Dragon Roar which pushed him backwards and towards Henderson. Mid-air, he turned around and held one arm out, hitting Henderson in the neck with a powerful clothesline which knocked the God Slayer into the dirt.

Gravity quickly reclaimed its hold on Gajeel who skidded along the ground, then ran back towards Henderson who was already coughing and blinking rapidly.

He kicked out towards the recovering cultist.

"Iron Dragon's Hard Foot!" Gajeel roared as his foot struck the cultist in the stomach.

Henderson doubled over and made a horrible noise which was stuck somewhere between coughing and gagging, then placed his outstretched hand against Gajeel's abdomen as he magic power flared.

A mass of black ice surged forth and pushed Gajeel back a few dozen metres, creating a considerable amount of distance between the two Slayers and knocked him onto his back as the ice arced and surged above him like some kind of frozen tsunami from hell.

Then, multiple icy spears began to rain down towards him, threatening a severe case of impalement.

"Ice God's Blizzard Storm!"

"Shit, Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!"

Gajeel threw a punch which shattered a spear which would've ran through his face, causing obsidian pieces to ran down around him. Another struck his shoulder and shattered in impact, though it still shook him slightly, and then one more hit him in the back of the neck and forced him onto his front.

Before he could even consider defending himself, pain exploding throughout Gajeel's left leg as a black ice spear pierced through his iron skin and rammed straight through his thigh, pinning him to the ground.

Magic power surged into his throat as Gajeel closed his eyes and screamed.

A sonic shockwave burst forth from the Iron Dragon Slayer's mouth, pulverizing the ground beneath him - including the part of the ice spear which was in the ground - and obliterated the black ice around him, shattering it into small, fine pieces which fluttered about in the wind.

"Holy fuck." Gajeel cursed, breathing ragged as he forcefully heaved himself up onto his good leg, blood staining his trouser leg a dark crimson.

Turning his attention to where Henderson was, he noticed the bright-eyed God Slayer was observing him with newfound interest.

Noticing that he didn't seem intent on attack him at the moment, Gajeel turned his focus to the broken ice spear which sat in his thigh, resting his hand against the injury site

'Should I pull it out?' He thought, trying to recall a particular lesson he'd been taught by one of his fellow Phantom Lord mages soon after becoming a member of the guild.

He shook his head and retracted his hand, 'No, best to leave it where it is. Huiqing said the blood loss caused by impalement will only be exacerbated upon removal of the impaled object. Leaving it in would... enable me more time to seek medical assistance. Tch, I'll thank you the next time I see you.'

Hearing footsteps, he looked up to see Henderson walking towards him.

"What is a human to a god?" He inquired, watching Gajeel inquisitively.

The scarlet-eyed teenager snarled at him, "And what is a god... to a nonbeliever? Iron Dragon's Roar!"

His signature technique surged forwards, pieces of iron tearing up the ground as it crashed into Henderson who flared his considerable magic power and dispelled the technique with a mass of black ice which careened into Gajeel knocking him down.

With an injured leg, dodging was nearly impossible. Gajeel was riding on his endurance lasting until someone else could come to his aid. He'd put away his pride for the sake of accepting help... unless it came from that weird legionnaire with the obsession with calling him and Totomaru a 'sweet man.'

Ignoring the screaming of his tired and aching muscles, the Iron Dragon Slayer began to pick himself up once more as a cold shadow fell over him, threatening to engulf him entirely.

"Why get up again? You cannot defy the power of a GOD!" Henderson stated, irritation leaking into his voice.

Gajeel felt a sneer cross his face, "Oh yeah? How's this for defiance?"

He lunged forwards, fist brimming with magic power as he punched Henderson in the jaw.

The God Slayer grunted and staggered backwards. As Gajeel pressed on with his assault, Henderson, with his longer each, grabbed him by the throat and hoisted him into the air with one hand. With his other hand, he brought it up, clamped his hand around Gajeel's injury and squeezed.

The Iron Dragon Slayer screamed, then began to choke as Henderson applied pressure to his windpipe through his sturdiness of his Iron Dragon's Scales which by now were a horribly dented, dull mess.

His legs flailed about and Gajeel grabbed at Henderson's hand, trying to muster the strength to pry his hand away.

Henderson simply tightened his grip on Gajeel's throat, causing visible cracks to begin appearing, branching out from beneath his hand.

Above him, as the cracks spread further and further, with one stopping just below Gajeel's right eye, Gajeel began to wheeze pathetically as his vision darkened and his attempts to pry away Henderson's hand slowly.

'F-Fuck, is this how I go out? I ain't even made S-Class. I don't wanna fuckin' die.' Gajeel thought, his Iron Dragon's Scales fading away and returning his skin back to its normal colour.

Suddenly, the tight grip on his throat loosened and Gajeel found himself heaving and coughing as he greedily took in air, filling his lungs with as much oxygen as he could. Almost immeidately, he tensed upon realising that he was completely at Henderson's mercy; the man could break his neck without an issue at the moment if he wanted to.

Henderson brought the Dragon Slayer closer to him, then thrust his arm out and released his adversary, letting him fly back and grunt as he crumpled to the floor.

Lying on one side, and feeling incredibly lightheaded, Gajeel glanced at Henderson as he massaged his bruising throat, still breathing heavily to make up for the oxygen he'd been denied.

He opened his mouth to speak, made a small noise and quickly turned his head away as his body shook with heavy coughs.

Once he stopped, Gajeel turned back to him and sneered, "Why the hell did you leave me alive, huh bastard?"

Henderson simply snapped his fingers, sending a small wave of black ice surging over to Gajeel and encasing everything but his neck, effectively immobilizing him and making the Iron Dragon's Roar his only possible method of attack.

The raven-haired teen flinched and gnawed at his tongue to avoid screaming as the immense cold bit savagely at his body, the magic power within it seeping in his pores.

"That's to stop you from activating that pitiful armour of yours. Your Iron Dragon Slayer Magic interests me," Henderson said, crossing his arms over his chest, "it's young and uncultivated, but it has potential to be something greater. Something worthy of a god."

Crimson eyes narrowed, the brain behind them working to figure out what the cultist was going on about.

"Just get to the damn point!" Gajeel snapped, shivering violently.

"If you die, you'll be of no use and this whole endeavour will've been worthless. I'm going put you into a state of cryostasis and extract your Dragon Slayer Magic. The process will kill you, the end result will be me wielding both God and Dragon Slayer Magic. I'll be one of the most powerful mages in Fiore, if not the most powerful, stronger than Gildarts and the Ten Wizard Saints." Henderson said, kneeling his next to him.

Despite the cold, Gajeel immediately began thrashing about in his icy coffin, throwing at a headbutt at the God Slayer who moved his head back to avoid it.

"Like hell you will! Come here and let me at you, fucker!"

"Save your energy," Henderson purred, his voice deathly cold, "you'll need it for the rest of your life."

Ignoring him, Gajeel launched his Iron Dragon's Roar as best as he could at his black ice surrounding him. As he wasn't in the stable position, it simply pushed him - and his prison - along the ground and spinning wildly, causing the attack to be blasted towards several different points.

"Struggle as much as you want, you'll never free yourself, Dragon Slayer. Spare yourself the effort." Henderson said, watching him with an amused smirk that sent chills running down Gajeel's spine.

It was like that of a vicious, imposing predator stalking towards its weak, cowering and vulnerable prey, and for the first time in his life as a mage of Phantom Lord, Gajeel found himself playing the part of the prey.

This was a new, unfamiliar feeling.

It was deeply unsettling and frankly horrific, and Gajeel didn't like it at all.

Suddenly a shot rang out, prompting a tired, bruised and freezing Iron Dragon Slayer to turn his head in the direction of the gunshots. In his peripheral vision, Gajeel noticed something strike Henderson in the chest, causing him to take a careful step back.

Lashing out with one hand, he caught an arrow before it could pierce him through the left eye. Snapping it in two shortly afterwards, he let the two halves fall to the ground.

"Guns? How primitive. I'm afraid that taking your magic will have to wait." Henderson told him, but Gajeel found himself barely understanding half the words being said.

Two figures, both women, came into view. One brandished a pair of guns and the other held a bow of some sort. Both were looking at him worriedly.

One of them, if his addled mind could remember correctly, was named Amber and the other was Lorraine. He couldn't be too sure which one was which though.

"Shit, look at him, he's going into hypothermia." The one with the bow said.

Henderson sighed, "Yes, he is going into hypothermia, but I'm not going to kill him... yet. I need the child for a while longer."

"What do you want with him?" Amber asked, aiming both magical pistols at the cultist who smiled coldly at them.

"I'm going to extract his magic power and with it, his Iron Dragon Slayer Magic. There are very few who could stand up to the might that is one wielding both God and Dragon Slayer Magic." He explained, glancing at Gajeel who shivered violently.

Lorraine's fist tightened around her bow.

She might not have known Gajeel long, but he was her friend. As rough, tough and rude as he was, he'd still endeared to her, and having the magic power drawn from his body would kill him. Lorraine wouldn't have that.

Totomaru wouldn't let that fly.

Phantom Lord, not matter how scared they were of the young mage, wouldn't have that either.

And Master Jose would probably go on some kind of warpath through Oak Town.

"Hey, jackass, you're not taking Gajeel's magic. Let's just set that straight." Lorraine stated, staring down the God Slayer who held an annoyingly smug and confident air about him.

"And how do you intend to stop me? Neither of you possess Dragon or God Slayer Magic..." Henderson trailed off, glancing at Lorraine who had to reign in her magic power.

He narrowed his eyes at her, wondering what'd made him focus on the strawberry blonde woman and her magic power which'd been so fiery before his attention was taken by her, but when no clear answer came about and her magic power shimmered down to laughable levels, he shifted his weight onto one leg.

"As I was saying-"

"As Rune Knight Captain of the 5th Custody Enforcement Unit, I'll blow a hole in your chest if it means saving him," Amber declared, taking a couple of steps forwards, "now back the fuck up."

"No." Henderson deadpanned.

The answer was met with a pair of gunshots, but he flared his magic power and froze the magical projectiles which shattered against his torso. He also knocked aside the arrow which threatened to strike him in the neck.

"Cease fighting now and I'll spare you the pain of being frozen to death."

His attempted negotiations went ignored and two more magic bullets shattered against his chest. Another arrow was knocked aside, falling harmlessly to the ground until it exploded at his feet.

It wasn't a big explosion, but it still caused Henderson to stumble away from Gajeel who groaned as he too was blown to one side.

Dispersing of the smoke and dust with a brief flare of his magic power and quickly regaining his bearings, Henderson noticed Amber stood 30 metres to his right, one magic handgun aimed at him as a considerable amount of magic power quickly gathered in-front of the barrel, growing from the size of a pea to a tennis ball within a few seconds.

Quickly catching another arrow, he flung it back to the archer who ducked to avoid being struck in the forehead by the arrowhead and then watched as the Amber pulled the trigger of her handgun.

"Enforcement Shot."

A laser-like beam of magic power roared forwards at Henderson who conjured a wall of black ice to block the attack. He was taken aback when he saw the energy beam arc around his protective barrier and hit him in the chest.

It burned a hole through his clothing and knocked him backwards. Capitalizing on his newfound momentum, Henderson rolled with the impact and was already on his feet, allowing the ice wall to crumble away so he could see the Captain preparing to fire at him again.

"Enough of that. Ice God's Bellow."

A sickening crack could be heard as black ice surged forth and collided with Amber, throwing her back and leaving her form limp, unconscious, on the ground.

Her two guns landed nearby, covered in a light layer of black frost.

"And now, that just leaves you." Henderson said, turning to face Lorraine who stood off to his right.

He noticed that she was no longer armed with her bow. Was she giving up, especially with the Rune Knight Captain out of the picture.

"You're no longer armed," Henderson noted, "are you conceding defeat?"

Lorraine scoffed, a smirk gracing her face, "Not at all. I'm going to give you one more chance - back away from Gajeel or you're a dead man."

The Ice God Slayer narrowed his eyes at that.

She was threatening him with death? Her, with her magic power which was slightly less than that of the Dragon Slayer before he put some proper effort into his attack. What did she expect to do to, slap him to death?

"No, his Iron Dragon Slayer Magic will be mine." Henderson deadpanned.

The strawberry blonde sighed, tilting her head to one side as the green in her irises were overcome and replaced with a fire-like golden-orange, "Shame, I warned you."

He perked up as her magic power began rising dramatically, surpassing Gajeel's within a second and rising still, surpassing the magic power of his fellow cultists and rapidly approaching his own.

'What? What on Earthland is this?'

To his horror, Gajeel's icy prison began melting before his very eyes, and no matter how much magic power Henderson used to maintain it, the black ice continued to melt.

The fluttering of birds could be heard, masses of them flying out of their homes in the trees and into the sky as many of the trees burst into flames. The flames licked at the sky, growing in intensity as more and more trees spontaneously combusted; some exploding as the sap within them rapidly turned into steam.

Even the atmosphere itself - previously nice and humid before - was getting drier and drier by the second.

"My ice... is melting?" Henderson's eyes widened, fear seeping into his usual monotone voice, "T-That's impossible. What are you?"

Lorraine fixed him with a calm, calculating stare as she began to speak, her magic power now twice that of Henderson's.

"Descend from the interrupted and tranquil skies. Settle within the unseen nest. Feel your wings ache at the unimpeachable end. Feel yourself melt away within the fires of rebirth. Tear the ground asunder. Boil away the seas. Set the sky ablaze and achieve rebirth. Take-Over: Mythic Soul - Phoenix!"

A bright flash erupted from Lorraine's form, almost blinding Henderson who looked away the second before.

Fiery magic power followed a split-second afterwards, expanding outwards in an omni-directional wave.

The flames rolled over Gajeel and Amber first, wrapping around the Dragon Slayer and Rune Knight Captain like a protective blanket. Then, they slammed into Henderson who exerted as magic power as he could to avoid being incinerated on the spot, before rushing into the trees and uprooting every single one of them and reducing them to nothing more than blackened masses of charcoal.

They crumbled away into ashes a couple of seconds afterwards.

The wave of magic power even reached the mansion that Gajeel and Henderson had vacated during their fight, rolling over and around the structure, peeling away at its walls which burned with such intensity that they appeared to melt.

Various bird species fell out the sky, all burned down to the bone by the sudden release of intense heat, their intact skeletons falling apart upon hitting the ground.

From his position on the floor, Gajeel blinked rapidly as his eyes tried to adjust to the sheer amount of light that was radiating from Lorraine. It was like a miniature Sun had just appeared in the clearing.

It was so fucking bright and the Iron Dragon Slayer's sensitive eyes didn't like it.

Huh, what did she want to show me? Is this what Lorraine's been keeping hidden since I met her?' Gajeel thought, noticing that his body was gradually warming up.

As if she knew he was watching, the light radiated by Lorraine was scaled back by several lumens, allowing him to see what she looked like.

She appeared to be clad in a protective full-body, form-fitting armour with a red, orange and yellow feather motif. When she glanced at him, he saw that her eyes were glowing a golden-orange. The helmet sat upon her head resembled that of a bird's open mouth, the lower beak covering and protecting her chin and neck, while the upper beak provided protection for her forehead.

Her legs and arms were covered by more armour which continued with the multi-coloured feather motif and her feet were hidden within clawed boots, looking the a fearsome talons of a bird of prey.

And two majestically vast wings of golden-orange extended from Lorraine's back, providing her with a impressive wingspan of approximately seventeen metres.

Nearby, Henderson was left in his burnt trousers as he stared in awe at the Take Over transformation of the Phantom Lord mage. His skin was bright pink, as his magic power had saved him from an instant cremation.

He shuddered violently, "Y-You-"

Lorraine raised a hand and he fell silent, "Earlier, you asked Gajeel 'What is a human to a god'. Well let me ask you this. What is a false god to the great bird of fire and rebirth?"

A/N: Before the Gajeel fans out there trash me for having him lose to Henderson, remember that this isn't the Gajeel who fought Natsu in X784 or the Tartaros demons in X791. This is a younger and inexperienced Gajeel, at least in comparison to his older self.

And once more, I thank Warmachine375 for the exchange of 'What is a human to a god/And what is a god to a nonbeliever' and for the design of Lorraine's Phoenix Take-Over.

I hope the reveal - at least for those who've stuck with this story - was worth the wait. Next chapter deals with Lorraine vs Henderson and the end of the Pergrande Satanists.

Weapons used by Quentin Beta for those who may be curious - the RPG-7, the Milkor MGL and the M79 grenade launcher.