Chapter 41: Fairy Tail vs Sabertooth Part Two: The Iron Dragon's Lament!

"Pathetic…I expected a little bit more of a challenge from the famous Ice Demon…" Rufus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, sneering in disappointment as Gray laid motionless under the wooden fragments of what used to be a bookshelf. Gray winced and tried to sit up, but it was no use he had been taking too much of a beating. His body was all scraped up, sweat dripping down his face, his chest heaved with every pant that came from his mouth. He hated to admit it, but he was outclassed in almost every way. Rufus hadn't even broken a sweat, and yet Gray was already too worn down to put up too much of a fight. Every attack Gray attempted Rufus had a counter for.

"I'm just getting warmed up…" Gray groaned and stood up, he glared at Rufus who stood there pompously with a grin plastered on his face. Gray slapped his fist against his palm causing the library to turn cold, Rufus yawned as a large shuriken made from ice formed in Gray's hands. Gray spun himself around and whipped the throwing star at Rufus who stood still, his hands crossed behind his back, and at the very last possible second before the icy weapon took him out he leapt up over it. He flipped in the air and landed behind Gray who spun on his heels and created an ice sword in his hands. Slashing it through the air at Rufus who didn't even flinch, instead he simply snapped his fingers.

"Forget." Just like the last time he had muttered that word Gray watched helplessly as the ice in his hands melted into water.

"What the...again?!" Gray questioned, Rufus smirked softly to himself and outstretched his arm.

"You still fail to grasp my power it would seem…" He muttered. Gray just glowerd and got in the stance to use his power again.

"I don't need to understand how your power works to kick your ass!" Gray snapped and created a large hammer. He was in the process of swinging it at Rufus when it just like the sword melted into a liquid state upon Rufus snapping his fingers and muttering forget yet again.

"Tsk tsk...it's an attitude like that gets you killed….can't you see it's pointless? Anything you can construct I can destroy, you're outclassed." Gray snarled, the way Rufus spoke down to him made his blood boil.

"Is that so? Then try this on for size!" Gray challenged and placed his fist against his palm. He then slapped the floor causing six cannons to form from the ground, Rufus' grin faded away slightly as the cannons immediately began firing balls of ice relentlessly. Rufus was forced to duck, and weave to avoid getting his head taken off by the blasts. Gray took advantage of Rufus' momentary distraction and ran at him, his fists becoming encased by ice. Rufus glanced his direction slightly and noticed that as he was rushing towards him the cannons were firing less rapidly as they had been before. At once Rufus knew it was, because Gray was no longer focused on shooting them, and instead was now preoccupied with sprinting through the library towards him. Gray swung his large ice encased fist at Rufus who grinned and ducked the punch. Placing a hefty kick in Gray's stomach caused Gray to be launched onto his back.

"Thanks for the opening….now, forget." Rufus snapped his fingers causing the cannons to explode, Gray cursed as even the ice that covered his hands were defrozen.

"Bastard." Gray mumbled and got back up to his feet. Rufus grinned.

"Now what to do with all this water?" He asked rhetorically as he glanced around the now flooded library.

"I got it! I'll use a technique that one girl used on me!" Rufus chuckled upon seeing a flash of anger on Gray's face.

"You see, anything that I have seen before….I can copy and turn into my own. In the case of the Rain Woman I studied her up close this morning, so my mind is fresh with ideas about how I can use water in battle…" Rufus held his hands forward and all the water on the wooden floor began to float up into the air. Gray scoffed and backed up, surveying the water closely he got into his stance preparing to go onto the defensive.

"Let's see...which one should I try first?...Got it! A legend of the sea, the mighty sea serpent!" Rufus grinned and snapped his fingers causing all of the water droplets in the air to converge together forming a large bubble in the air. It didn't stay in the spherical state for long, soon it began to morph into a long shape and take the appearance as a giant snake with gills. Gray's eyes widened as the serpent made of water began slither, floating through the air a reptilian-tongue danced out from its mouth. Gray was stunned, he could create some life-like things, but nothing like this. The snake was acting almost entirely independently, it was like it was alive.

"Now….attack." Rufus commanded at instantly the snake turned it's head to look at Rufus almost as if it was processing what he had said before looking at Gray's direction who stood completely still. At once the snake darted through the air at Gray who snapped himself out of his shock.

"Crap!" Gray cried out and formed a wall in front of himself to shield himself from the snake. The snake crashed into the wall and Gray half expected for his wall to shatter, but he had forgotten that the serpent was made of water. Upon impact the liquid burst in every direction instantly losing its shape. Rufus frowned at this and sighed.

"I suppose water does have it's limits….so perhaps I should take a page out of your book…." He snapped his fingers and the water solidified turning into large pointy icicles in the air, all pointed directly at Gray.

"What is this? You think you can use ice against me?" Gray smirked cockily, but Rufus just beamed right back at him.

"Perhaps, let's see how you handle my icicle shower…." Yet again he snapped his fingers causing the thousands of icicles that hovered in the air to shoot down towards Gray who grinned. He placed his hand on his torso causing his entire body to become covered in ice. Soon he was standing clad in armor reminiscent of a knight made completely of shining blue frozen water.

"I'd like to see your icicles break through my armor." He challenged as the icicles bounced harmlessly off of his armor and shattered on impact.

"Clever...it would seem that you are more creative than I first thought...no matter, if the water in a frozen state has no effect on you we will try a gaseous state!" As the words left his mouth Gray's armor soon became scorching hot. Steam began to emanate off of the icy armor along with all the icicles that were still pounding against him.

"Agh! What's happening?!" Gray cried out and fell to his knees as the growing heat was becoming too much, the ice was quickly melting into boiling water that evaporated right after it hit his skin. Soon his entire suit of armor was melted and evaporated into a large cloud of steam that covered the entire room.

"I created this technique from watching some films of Aria from Phantom Lord as well as one of my guildmates….I call it the thundurus twister!" Rufus explained proudly, causing Gray to look up at the large steam cloud that was now beginning to slowly spin and form into a large funnel cloud. Black and yellow flashes of lightning cracked around the vortex.

"How is any of this possible?" Gray asked in amazement.

"It's like I said, anything is possible as long as I have it saved to memory...now I must bid you adieu…." With a final snap of his finger the twisting funnel cloud sped up and shot towards Gray whose eyes widened in horror. At the last possible moment Gray was able to leap out of the way of the attack, it was so close to hitting him that he could feel the sparking electricity graze his skin as he got out of the attack's path. Rufus merely chuckled and snapped his fingers once more, causing the electric twister to make a U-turn in the air and as soon as Gray had landed back onto the ground he turned just in time to be hit with the full force of the attack. Gray let out a cry as his breath got kicked right out of him, he was thrown into several bookshelves making them explode into wooden splinters. Electricity sparked around Gray's body making him spaz in the air and momentarily black out in pain. He barely even felt it as he shot through the side of the library, crashing through the bricks with enough force to crack a rib or two. He skidded across the street outside of the library finally snapping back into consciousness.

"Shit, that hurt…" Gray hissed in pain as he stood back up to his feet. A loud roll of thunder alerted him to the fact that it was now raining. He looked around and saw Rufus crawling through the hole in the library that had been created by the strong gale that threw Gray outside.

"You are still standing? I must say I am impressed. You certainly don't go down easily…" Rufus' pompous voice irritated Gray to no end, maybe more than Natsu did. A growl escaped his throat as he stood up straight. The air turned colder as his power began to swell.

"You don't stop talking do ya?...No matter, this fight is over! You will pay for what you and your buddies did to my guild! As for you….you attacked me and hurt Juvia….I intend to make you suffer for an eternity!" Gray threatened darkly and before he even knew the words had come out of his mouth he had his arms outstretched and crossed in front of him. Rufus just stood there looking on in amusement. The smug look on Rufus' face just served to fuel Gray's anger, strong gusts of wind began blowing off him as the temperature continued to drop rapidly. He was going to end this fight once and for all, he had the technique that he had intended for if E.N.D ever returned, but he was willing to use it now...for her. For the woman he loved who laid unresponsive in Magnolia. For the girl who had been obsessed with him since middle school and finally introduced herself to him during their freshman year of high school. For Juvia.

"Oh? And how exactly do you plan on fulfilling your empty threat?" Rufus asked cockily. Gray just growled lowly and closed his eyes. Ice began to cover his arms, and exposed torso.

"Gray-Darling….I want you to promise me you will never use that technique and throw away your life. I love you too much to lose you." Juvia's voice rang out in his head, but he tried his best to ignore it, and instead focused on concentrating on his attack.

"Listen to me Gray, I forbid you from ever using that move. I won't let you meet the same fate as my brother…." Ur's voice was the voice that reached out to him this time in his head. His eyes snapped open as he finally began to think clearly. The memory of Ur telling him, Juvia, Ultear and Lyon the story of how his father used a move that turned his body to ice that trapped an etherius for an eternity. Was he really going to use it against Rufus? Slowly the wind died down and his power began to decrease, the ice on his body began melting. He slowly uncrossed his arms, and Rufus grinned.

"It would seem you were all talk….Just like I predicted you and your pathetic guild have no real power Saber-AGH!" Gray's eyes widened as Rufus was thrown into a parked car by a golden explosion. Gray turned his head in the direction the attack had come from and his eyes grew yet again as he saw a caramel-haired woman in a green dress land on the street next to him. Glowing wings on her back disappearing, and a cold glare coming from behind her glasses.

"Evergreen?" Gray questioned, and the woman tilted her head to grin at him.

"A pleasure to see you again Gray, don't worry the Thunder Legion is here to help!" She beamed, and as she said that Rufus watched as a floating doll flew at him, crashing into his chest as he was standing up.

"Haha! That's what my baby thinks about you and your guild!" The laughing voice of Bickslow came from behind Gray who turned and saw the man beaming with his arms crossed and his tongue hanging out.

"Fairy Tail is many things….I wouldn't say pathetic is one, now Gray….I think you deserve to be the one to finish this guy off." Evergreen winked at Gray who was still too stunned to do much.

"Impossible, I cannot be defeated by lowlifes such as you! I am Rufus Lore of Sabertooth! The strongest guild in Fiore!" Rufus snapped angrily and stood back up to his feet glaring over to the three fairies standing across from him. Bickslow chuckled at this and roughly pat Gray on the back.

"That's your cue Ice boy! Why don't you go ahead and show off your true strength! You certainly didn't hold back against me! Why should you be against this clown?!" As the words left Bickslow's mouth Gray grinned.

"You know what...you're right….this has been going on for long enough…." Gray's voice darkened and the black substance began crawling up his body, his hair spiked up and the air yet again grew cold.

"You fool! You can't beat me!" Rufus snapped and threw several fireballs from his hand in their direction. Evergreen reacted quickly and shot several small golden blasts from her own hand. Meanwhile Bickslow pointed his finger in the direction the fireballs were coming from causing his dolls to fly at top speed and crash into the balls causing them to erupt on impact. Gray smirked and clapped his fist against his palm before punching the ground.

"Ice-make….Rain!" He yelled out and at once all the rain that was coming from the sky froze into icicles and plummeted down towards Rufus who sat there stunned.

"You dare use my own idea against me?" He shouted and snapped his fingers causing the icicles to melt, but Gray just grinned cockily, while Rufus had been distracted by the icicles Gray rushed at him.

"I can't believe he fell for it! Now's my chance!" Gray formed a large baseball bat in his hands as he closed in on Rufus who turned to look at the last moment. Gray swung the bat and hit Rufus in the side of his torso, causing him to fly through the air. The bat disappeared allowing Gray to form another cannon that was aimed right at Rufus as he crashed into the ground and shot a large chunk of ice at him that knocked him back down. He laid on the street unconscious and purple text began to glow and float around him.

"Excellent work Gray…" Freed's calm voice came from the direction of the library where he stepped out of the hole holding an old tattered book open.

"So that's where you were….I thought you were missing a person." Gray noted and the black substance on his body faded away.

"Figures you were inside the library, you are so predictable…" Evergreen sighed.

"Guess some things never change huh?" Bickslow laughed. Causing Freed to shrug.

"It is quite an interesting read, the Magnolia library never has anything this old, in a way I am glad that we made it here, who knew the capital city had such a great selection." Freed closed the book and walked over to the other three.

"On that subject, what are you three doing in Crocus in the first place? I thought you were out of town on a mission…" Gray asked, causing the three to look at each other nervously.

"Ummmm….it's complicated." Bickslow admitted.

"Well fill me in while we search for Sabertooth's guild…" Gray muttered and walked off leaving the other three to look at each other and shrug before following him.

While the fight between Gray and Rufus may have ended, another one was still going strong. Across the city on a construction site Gajeel landed on a stack of cardboard boxes that all fell over and caused the contents to spill out as he slowly sat back up.

"I'm upset….Lady Minerva promised me a real fight, and instead I got a human lightning rod." Gajeel glared up at the large, buff figure that was stalking closer to him. Electricity flickered around his body.

"Trust me bub, I ain't having a great time neither." Gajeel groaned and cracked his neck as he slowly got back up. He winced in pain and held his midsection.

"Then let's hurry things up and get this over with...I'm getting sleepy!" The man's greenish-blue spikey hair blew behind him with the wind. The sound of rain pounded from the roof of the unfinished tower. Orga's heavy footsteps against the metal floor echoed in the night sky as he grew closer to Gajeel.

"That's good to hear, you'll get plenty of rest after I knock you out cold for what you and your guild did to Levy!" Gajeel snapped and rushed the large man who stopped in his tracks and grinned as he waited for Gajeel to throw his punch. Gajeel's entire fist became coated with a layer of steel as he jumped into the air and threw the punch towards Orga's head. Orga ducked the strike and grabbed Gajeel's throat. He then spiked him into the ground like a football. Luckily Gajeel was fast enough and turned his entire body into steel to protect himself from sustaining any damage. He kicked the man off him and rolled onto his feet, his arms morphing into sawblades, as the morphed he returned his body to metal to avoid being anymore of a conductor for Orga's electricity.

"I got no idea who this Levy girl is, but if she is part of your weak guild then she got what was coming towards her." Orga grinned, which caused Gajeel to growl and speed at him.

"Bastard!" He yelled and slashed his saw blade arms at Orga who held up his arms to block, but the sharp edges of the blades cut through his tree trunk like arms causing the man to groan out in pain and drop his arms. Gajeel took the opportunity and turned his leg into steel, with a spiky boot on his foot. He leapt up into the air and swung a kick at Orga's head. Gajeel didn't much care for the man's wellbeing, this was the guy who had attacked Levy and he deserved every ounce of punishment that Gajeel threw his way. Orga was able to step backwards and avoided getting a spiky boot to the side of his head.

"Enough of this! I am a godslayer!" Orga shouted and once Gajeel landed on the ground threw a large right hook at Gajeel who blocked it with his arm.

"And I'm a dragon….you ain't beating me that easily….gihee!" Gajeel grinned, which made Orga scowl and tighten his fist. Electricity began to spark all around Orga, Gajeel's eyes opened in horror as the black lightning made a course from Orga's arm all the way to him. Orga clenched his other fist and while Gajeel was watching the electricity slowly trail it's way towards him, punched him harshly in the chest. Gajeel cried out in pain as he was lifted off his feet by Orga's fist and was electrocuted. Orga grabbed Gajeel out of the air and threw him back down into the ground before electrifying the metal floor itself.

"AGHHHHHHH!" Gajeel screamed out in pain, black electricity danced around him and as soon as Orga's attack ended steam came off of the metalhead. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air. Gajeel lay motionless on his back. Orga grinned and stood over him before raising his large boot and brought it down onto his stomach. Gajeel coughed up blood as that happened.

"What were you saying about me not beating you easily?...I might be a high school dropout but even I know metal is weak to electricity! I learned that from Pokémon!" Electricity flashed around Orga's foot as he once again brought it down onto Gajeel's chest. Gajeel yelled out in pain as once again his body began to spaz and writhe in agony on the floor. His eyes closed as the pain soon became too much for him to take, and caused him to black out. It was true, he had always been weak to people with electricity powers. As a child a fear of lightning showers had developed after one or two close calls. As his consciousness faded he recalled the last time he had been in this much pain, when he risked his life for….her.

"LEVY? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Gajeel looked up at the sound of Natsu screaming out. Laxus stood towering above him, Gajeel tried to make the most of the opportunity and do something, anything. But it was no use his body was unresponsive, he had been taking way too much damage throughout this fight.

"I'm trying to help you!" Levy yelled back at Natsu in a pleading tone, Gajeel turned to look at her. There were tears in her eyes, and Gajeel recognized the girl. It was the same girl who had been with Salamander and that blonde girl the night he had attacked them, and taken the blonde one for his then guild master Jose. A sensation of guilt flooded Gajeel's body as he looked at the girl who had tears forming in her eyes.

"Don't worry about it, you need to leave!" Natsu snapped in a commanding voice he struggled to get up to his feet, and Gajeel watched on as Laxus growled and stepped away from him, his eyesight was fixed solely on the blue-haired petite girl who had interrupted their fight. His eyes opened in horror, as did Natsu's as they saw electricity flash in Laxus' hands. Natsu let out a yelp of pain as he got onto his legs, trying to support himself the best he could. He was limping over to Levy obviously in a lot of pain. Levy seemed to understand what was happening now as her head turned to look at Laxus who was holding up a fist. He shot a bolt of lightning straight at her.

"LEVY!" Natsu yelled out desperately, and tried to move faster, but his leg gave out from under him he collapsed to the ground and watched horrified as the bolt of lightning grew nearer to the girl. She shut her eyes tightly, and all the guilt that was swimming around inside of Gajeel gave him strength, the strength to stand up and sprint. He ran as fast as he could, praying he was fast enough, and he was. He stood protectively in front of the girl and took the strong blast himself. He only managed to stay up a second after the blast had hit him, but it was enough. He had saved her.

"Truth be told…..I only saved her because I felt bad for what I did to her on Christmas, it wasn't out of some righteous, heroic instinct I had. It was only because I felt that I owed her a debt…needless to say I paid it back." Gajeel thought, an image of Levy flashed in the black void that was his mind.

"But….I didn't expect to wake up and find you sleeping in the chair next to me….I didn't expect that you, a small, frail, and physically weak girl had single handedly dragged my useless, good for nothing body back to your guild…."

"Come on you big lug, the master wants a word with you…."

"Why? So he can tell me to get out and never come back?"

"No, not quite…..I told him what you did for me…..and he wants you to join the guild, and honestly I think you should…."

The memory came and went in Gajeel's head.

"You were the reason I was allowed to join Fairy Tail in the first place...you were the reason I was no longer going to sleep in alleyways…..but even then…..I was still too blind to see what was right in front of me." Gajeel thought, and another face flashed in his mind, the face of his rival. Natsu.

"Ever since our fight on Christmas, all I wanted was to grow stronger than you….I always thought that I was the strongest, but then I fought you and you beat me, because you were fighting for someone….I never understood that. But now I do. That feeling of desperation and anger that makes you stronger, you told me that we could have been friends….I swore to myself that night that I would get stronger than you…..but I never could, I was made aware of this after our fight with Laxus. I had heard about what you did, the power you used to defeat him, the power that was capable of destroying the entire cathedral….and I realized that during our fight….you were holding back. Ever since that fight I have been forced to watch as you have continued to grow stronger….while I watch from the background…."

Another memory came into his head.

"You went ahead without me you big jerk!"

"Oh sorry my bad! You're just so tiny I thought I packed you in my bag!"

"Salamander…..I only ever wanted to be stronger than you ever since I met you and your dumb guild….but now…..I'm a member of it…..I'm a part of this dysfunctional family….in my quest to become stronger than you I stumbled into something I have never known before...happiness, true happiness….damn you! I've gone soft cuz of you!" Once more Levy's face smiling brightly appeared in his mind, filling the dark void with light.

"Fine….I don't care if I am as strong as you…..I don't want to be stronger than you, not anymore…..I just want to be strong enough to protect her….the only person to ever see me as a human…..not a monster…...I don't know when it happened, nor do I know why…...but I had fallen in love without realizing it….Levy….I dedicated my life to being the strongest, being better than everyone….but now…..I want to be better for you, I want to grow stronger to keep you safe…..if only my old man could see me now…...if only he could see how I have finally realized why I couldn't beat Salamander….up until now I had been fighting for myself. I was number one, the only person I needed to worry about was me…..dammit all to Hell….." Soon the dark empty void of Gajeel's own mind was being faded away. His eyes snapped open and he cried out in pain as his body was still laying on the metal floor of the construction site. His body writhed in the ground as he screamed out in pure agony. Electricity sparked all over the ground and was frying his body.

"Have you had enough yet!" Orga taunted with laughter. Gajeel groaned and glared at him despite all the pain he struggled up to his knees. He cried out as Orga increased the amount of electricity that was dancing throughout the metal structure.

"No!...I won't stop fighting…..because…..I HAVE SOMEONE FIGHTING FOR!" Gajeel yelled out, and despite all the pain he rose to his feet. Orga watched stunned as Gajeel gave him a nasty look. Gajeel attempted to take a step forward but Orga punched the ground and more and more electricity danced around the ground. Gajeel cried out in pain and fell back to his knees.

"No, this isn't it…..it can't be it…..I will beat you!...You hurt Levy! MY LEVY!"

"You're nothing but a dog that is all bark and no bite! You fairies will lose! Now just stay DOWNNNNNN!" Orga shouted and once again increased the voltage of his black lightning. Gajeel fought to stay on his knees, he was crying out in pain, but refused to go down. He fought to stay conscious, he wasn't going to lose. Not again, never again….he needed to win for Levy.

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Gajeel's pain filled shouts mixed with Orga's sadistic laughter echoed throughout the rainy night sky. There was a loud crack of thunder and a blinding flash of yellow electricity. Orga's laughter was cut off suddenly, as did the electricity that was electrifying the steel floor. Gajeel took several deep, shaky breaths. Steam came off his burnt flesh, his skin had several dark black burns from the prolonged exposure to Orga's electricity. He didn't even question why Orga had been suddenly cut off. That was until….

"Sheesh you're pathetic…..get up would ya?" Gajeel's eyes snapped open at the familiar voice.

"No way…..what're you doing here?!"

"I'll fill you in after we kick this guy's ass….he's one of the people who attacked our guild right?"

"Y-yeah…."

"Then what're you waiting for. Get up. We'll take him on together…." Gajeel blinked a few times before he stood up on his jelly legs. His breathing was still harsh and rapid, but he was ready to fight. For Levy.

"You got it…..Laxus."

Chapter 42: Fairy Tail vs Sabertooth Part Two: Duel of Queens!

Q: Thoughts on the prodigal son's return?