I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited or followed this story since I updated it, and I also want to thank you for getting this story to over 71,000 views!
Altajir95: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it.
Guest: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. Yeah, Natsu taking part in the games was something I came up with awhile back and decided to go with. I've got a few plans in mind for him, so bear with me on that.
Cl9763 (ch 1): I know I couldn't change much from canon, but you can only do so much with the first chapter. Give it time, the biggest changes are yet to come.
Cl9763 (ch 3): Luke would've left someone capable in charge in his absence, and keep in mind that with a dark guild making its move, this is the case of an emergency, so he would need to be there.
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As the games continued, Gray entered a library at Mavis' instructions and found Rufus already there, sitting alone with a book. Having been told of his location, Gray announced his intention to defeat him. Rufus then went on to taunt Gray by claiming that he had forgotten about him and asked if he could help him remember. However, Gray went on to say that their was no need, since he was going to be defeated soon enough.
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Meanwhile, in the stands…
"Oh here we go, things are about to get really interesting! Gray and Rufus the rival Maker mages have met up in the library and I have a feeling that their battle is going to be one for many to behold!"
"So they have two different types of Maker magic going up against each other." Levy and the rest of the Fairy Tail spectators observed from their place in the stands "Gray better be sure not to let down his guard."
"Yeah no kidding, that guy really worked him over last time they fought." Max noted "He really is a lot tougher than he looks."
"Tell me First Master, did you know that the two of them were going to fight today?"
"I did know." Mavis gave a simple nod.
"Then that means he's gonna pummel that cocky bastard." Warren muttered "I'm gonna go ahead and guess you gave them some sort of fool proof strategy right?"
"No not exactly, I'm not even sure that he's going to win."
"You mean you seriously don't know about this?" asked Max "Do you at least know what sort of chances he has at winning against him?"
"I honestly can't say that for certain either, but in any case he absolutely must win. Rufus is the key to conquering the Sabertooth guild once and for all. I told the members of our team about my strategy and how Rufus needed to be taken down as soon as possible. Gray essentially demanded that he be allowed to defeat Rufus for the sake of Lucy, and for the sake of the guild. There are times when emotions and conviction can surpass what has been calculated. Conviction can open the gateway to true strength, and now the time has come for him to show us how strong his own conviction is."
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The battle in the library began as Gray started things off by attacking Rufus with his Ice Make: Freeze Lancer. Rufus promptly leapt out of the way while the ice was left to rip and smash through the floor and furniture, memorizing Gray's attack as he did so. Gray continued going on the offensive and tried to attack Rufus again to no avail, as he dodged it while the massive ice hammer crashed through the floor. Gray then went on to ask Rufus about what it was he had been muttering throughout their fight, to which he went on to explain that his own memories could be used as a weapon and how he could use his memories as a base for new types of magic. He then went on to elaborate by pointing out that from him he remembered ice magic and from Orga he remembered lightning magic, and then went on to attack Gray using his Memory Make: Sword of Frozen Black Lightning, sending a mass of ice and black lightning towards him, something that left those present in the stands shocked by how Rufus was able to create his own spells with such ease.
Rufus then went on to unleash a follow up attack in the form of his Memory Make: Shrine of the Storming Wind Fang, which conjured a series of miniature cyclones and then sent them hurtling forward. Gray tried to use his Ice Make: Shield to defend himself against the barrage of tornados, but Rufus was able to make the spell disappear by memorizing and then forgetting the spell. With no way to defend himself against Rufus' attack, Gray was left to be hurled into the air, much to the shock of those that were watching from the colosseum, while Rufus was left to freely gloat about his own power. He then went on to read several books and memorize the spells in them, and then create a number of soldiers out of ice and sent them to attack. Gray went on to cover the books in ice, though Rufus revealed to him that he had already read all of them, and then he went on to attack Gray with another spell.
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Meanwhile, in the colosseum…
"This has to be a completely one sided battle ladies and gentlemen, if Gray does have some sort of strategy in the works then I am certainly not seeing it right now."
"It's a pretty impressive type of magic." Levy frowned in thought "He has infinite combinations at his disposal, not to mention he can memorize and erase an attack after he's seen it only one time."
"This is a bad situation, there's no doubt about that." Max noted grimly.
"I did make certain to warn him about this." Mavis pointed out "Maker magic is a very powerful force indeed, but it is also easy to memorize so he knows what he's up against."
"If that is the case, then what kind of strategy does he have going for him in this fight?"
"But that's just it, he's not following any sort of strategy. He's allowing himself to be guided by his conviction and emotions alone. His strength flows from the intensity of his unwavering resolve, and that is what makes him strong."
"Along with pretty much everyone else in Fairy Tail. Speaking of which, as epic as this is I can only wonder how Luke and Bolt and the others are doing right now?"
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Meanwhile, with the rescue team…
"Well this isn't getting us anywhere." Luke glanced around at the surroundings as he and the others wandered through the Abyss Palace 'This is ridiculous, we've been wandering for at least an hour but I don't feel like we're getting anywhere. I'm pretty sure I've seen those stalactites over there at least four times.'
"Can you find anything with your scent?" asked Cana.
"Not really no, my guess is that it's probably because nobody has been down here in a really long time."
"Yes that's right, Dragon Slayers have a strong sense of smell don't they?" asked Yukino.
"Oh yeah, Dragon Slayers have really heightened senses. The only problem is that the scents of people don't really last too long, so they're not easy to pick up very easily."
"Speaking of picking stuff up, check these out." Bolt held up a skull that he picked up from within some rubble, earning a few odd looks "What, I figured I might as well get something out of this."
"Dude, I'm pretty sure that picking those up is one of the most tasteless ideas you've ever had. I mean just take a look around and see for yourself." Luke gestured around at the large number of lifeless skeletons scattered throughout the area "I think I'm starting to figure out why this place is referred to as the City of Death."
"Well the princess did mention that this is the last taste of freedom that criminals get in their lifetime." Cana pointed out.
"If it can be called that, and frankly it looks a lot more like despair than freedom. Plus she looked like she was pretty sure about there being no way out, but I don't buy that. Fairy Tail pretty much acts as a gigantic middle finger to anything and everything that says that a limit is set or a certain something is impossible."
"You're not gonna receive any objections from me, if she thinks that any of us are just gonna lie down and die like a pack of stray dogs then she's clearly never heard of our guild."
"All we have to do is work together and keep searching, and we're bound to find a way out of this place eventually."
"It truly is something to behold." Yukino muttered "How is it that all of you are so strong and so optimistic?"
"Well there's two main reasons for that. One, we've survived a hell of a lot worse than something like this. Two, one of the most important lessons I've learned over the years is that it's always important to stay optimistic, if not for yourself then for the sake of those around you. Besides, you can do anything you set your mind to as long as you have good people by your side you can trust and count on. Just something to think about."
"...Hold thath thought for a second." Bolt suddenly spoke up very slowly "Be honest with me guys, what are the odds that the princess is watching what we're doing right now from wherever she is?"
"Well if I had to guess, then I'd say the odds of that are pretty fair."
"Well if that is the case, then I think I just got a pretty good idea for helping us to get the fuck out of here."
"I'm gonna ignore the chill running down my spine as I hear you say that and just hear you out for the time being."
"Well like you said, the chances of the princess or somebody else watching us while we're in here are pretty good right about now. If I had to guess then I'd say there's probably a lot of royal soldiers watching us from in here too."
"Keeping an eye on us in the event that we do try to escape, that does seem pretty fair for us to assume."
"So I'm thinking that all we have to do is get their attention and give them a reason to come down here, and then we start smashing some skulls into the ground."
"Or we go the less bloodthirsty path and go out the same way they came in, let them show us the way out themselves."
"Well if you want to do it the boring way."
"I'm talking about the way that draws the least amount of attention to ourselves. And just to point out the gaping hole in your plan before anyone else does, how exactly are we going to lure them in here in the first place? We don't have a clue about who exactly is watching us aside from the princess, let alone how to get their attention."
"Well I've got one idea in that regard, we start showing them some skin." he was met with a number of looks "No seriously think about it, all of the soldiers that took Lucy and Yukino away in the first place were men right? So I'm thinking that the drunkard, the blonde and the she devil over there show off some swimsuit action and those jackasses will be like nosebleeding putty in our hands!"
'...Resist the urges Luke, bad thoughts lead to bad actions.' Luke forced himself not to grab the hilt of his sword, then shot a dull glance over at Bolt "How many of those special brownies did you have before we came down here?"
"I stopped counting after seven."
"Dude."
"What? I went three full months without any of those things while we were training for the games, I had to compensate for the lack of the good stuff during all of that. Besides, do you have any idea how hard it was for me to not have any of those bad boys during the 7 years you guys were gone? You have your own coping method in the form of training yourself until your bones crack, Cana has her coping method in the form of drinking until she drowns in the stuff, and now I have my own coping method in the form of stuffing myself with those brownies until I'm about as high as an elephant's eye. Let me have this."
"...Yeah okay, we'll have an intervention for you after all of this is done."
"Well it's not like the wouldn't fall for it, enough of these guys did." Bolt jerked one of his paws over at the skeletons in the corner of the area, which just so happened to have a number of magazines with them.
"Huh. Well that's a thing."
"Tell me about it."
"It kind of does take me back." Cana let out a sigh "Sometimes I forget that I used to do some modeling for Sorcerer Weekly."
"Well none of them did by the looks of it, honestly just the vibes I get from a few of these things makes my skin crawl. But in any case I say it's about time we put my plan into action, a little bit of something I like to call Operation Glammor Escape. Alright ladies let's do this thing, time for you to start stripping!"
"Okay that's enough of that." Luke promptly dealt Bolt a swift chop to the back of the head, which earned him a series of looks from the others present "What? I was trying to humor him long enough for the rest of the brownies to make their way through his system so he could get his shit together, but clearly we don't have time for that."
"Hey it's like you said, we'll give him an intervention later." Mira told him nonchalantly as she started stripping down to reveal herself to be wearing a simple black bikini.
"And why the hell are you going through with this part of the plan?"
During that little exchange, Yukino spared a quick glance over at Wendy "All of them are so cheerful and easygoing, is Fairy Tail always like this?"
"No, not all of the time but often enough." Wendy told her "I guess that this whole thing does seem pretty weird to you doesn't it?"
"I don't know, it seems… really nice actually."
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Things weren't much better for the team in the games, or Gray to be more specific.
The fight continued on as Rufus continued boasting to Gray about his power, but then Gray was able to pull himself back to his feet and thought back to his training with Ur, and all of the battles that he had won. It was at this moment that he shocked the crowd by ripping off his top, which should be commonly known as the universal sign that an anime character is about to go all out in a fight, and told Rufus that since he had been in Fairy Tail, he had never lost against the same opponent twice, to which Rufus asked what he planned to do then, looking increasingly smug as he said it. Gray prepared one of his spells and Rufus got ready to memorize it, but then he came to realize that what Gray was preparing was no ordinary spell. Gray then began to shape a large number of ice blades at an incredible speed, which left even Rufus shocked by his skill. Once he was finished, Gray asked if Rufus was able to memorize his spell, but because of the sheer speed at which it was created, Rufus wasn't able to memorize anything. Gray then went on to use his Ice Make Unlimited: One Sided Chaotic Blade Dance, which left Rufus encased in ice from the waist down as a result.
Rufus then went on to break free from the ice after Gray's attack using the flames of his Memory Make: Karma of the Scorching Earth, engulfing Gray within the flames, but then Gray was able to force his way through them, claiming that he had faced stronger flames before and then went on to cut through Rufus using his Ice Make: Ice Bringer. Rufus then fell to the ground with a soft thud, much to the relief of Mavis and the adoration of Juvia, and as Gray caught Rufus' hat in mid air, it was announced that he had won the battle and claimed another point for Team Fairy Tail.
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Meanwhile, with the rescue team…
"Okay this is about as much of a waste of time as watching Dragon Ball GT." it was around this time that Luke finally decided to finally get things back on track for the group 'Shit, I can't believe I let myself get sucked into this sort of batshit insanity so easily. How in the name of hell did I let myself lose my concentration like that?'
"Well all things considered, it was kind of fun." Cana pointed out from where she was clad in a simple black bikini "Even if it was pretty much pointless, but then again we should've expected as much from a cat that was as high as an elephant's eye."
'...Oh yeah seeing Cana in a bikini, that's why I went along with it for as long as I did. Dammit this is getting ridiculous, I'm letting myself lose my focus so easily because of this. I mean I swore to myself at least half a dozen times that the guild would come first. No I have to put that out of my mind for the time being. Well it doesn't matter now, if that didn't work then we'll just have to find another way out."
"Yeah I guess, but trying to be sexy for that long can wear a girl out."
'And that makes it even more official, this is gonna be one hell of a long day.' and so the group continued searching throughout the caves, unaware of a certain flower watching them from a short distance away.
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Meanwhile, back at the colosseum…
"And just like that, Gray Fullbuster from Team Fairy Tail has managed to claim the victory in our showdown between Maker Mages, after Rufus had managed to snatch the top spot away from him during our first event of the first day, Hidden. I guess revenge really is a dish that's best served cold. I think I speak for everyone when I say that what we just witnessed was one doozy of a battle. But considering we're talking about Fairy Tail, it's no surprise that they toughed it out and came out on top. As a result of this victory, the team for Fairy Tail ends up earning another point for them."
"Excellent Gray, it's just as I had predicted." Mavis looked on at the increase in points with nothing but pure pride radiating from her "The way he fought was wonderful."
"Well first master, it seems you were right after all." Makarov noted "Emotions and conviction are able to exceed calculations after all, even in the most trying of times."
"You have to hold a firm belief in certain victory, because without that, all of the calculations in the world won't mean enough for you to claim victory. I simply bet everything on the resolve he displayed, and when push came to shove I believed that Gray had far greater levels of inner strength than Rufus."
"All of the strength they hold within will have to be superior as, for Luke and everyone else on the rescue team as well. This is a battle we're fighting on two fronts, and even now it's only just begun. Now then, the time has come for us to show everyone that Fairy Tail is still the most powerful guild in all of the kingdom!"
"Now then, I think it's time for us to have a look at the current scoreboard. Right now in another tie for first place is Team Fairy Tail and Team Sabertooth, both of them currently holding a score of 49 points. Team Fairy Tail still has all five members left, the leader and the four normal members of the team. Following that last battle, Team Sabertooth is down to four members after the defeat of Rufus, but since Team Fairy Tail was only given one point for that victory, that means the leader of their team is still out there among the four remaining. At the moment, the team for Lamia Scale is in third place with 48 points. They still have their leader, I think it's pretty obvious who that is, and two normal members in the forms of Lyon and Xian. Lastly we have Team Mermaid Heel in fourth place, with a score of 43 points. They still have their leader and one normal members remaining. It's a close game, but Fairy Tail and Sabertooth are both dominating the competition out there, and it's only a matter of time before those two guilds end up going head to head. Fairy Tail in particular is dominating though, since they're the only group that still has all of its members. They do have a serious advantage, but the question still remains. Can they utilize it?"
"So long as they follow my strategy properly, they have no problems with claiming victory in the games."
"Aye sir!" Happy promptly gave a salute "With Natsu and everyone giving it their all in the games, there's no way we can lose!"
"I know you're right about that, but it's not going to be easy. People like Jura are still out there, and he's not going to be easy to beat." Lisanna took Happy into her arms and enveloped him in a tight embrace "But don't worry, I know that they can win. We just have to have faith in their strength."
'Lisanna is right, all we can do now is have faith in them.' Mavis looked down at the colosseum and frowned in thought 'Though I will say that I am getting worried about Luke and the rest of the rescue team, they do seem to be taking longer than I would like. Unfortunately, I think it's only safe to assume that something has gone wrong. At this rate, all we can do is have faith that they can work through whatever obstacles they face.'
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Team Sabertooth had their own thoughts about Rufus losing, with Orga and Rogue both still raring and determined to fight and win. Sting on the other hand was lost in his thoughts, as he reflected back on the events from the previous night. After defeating Jiemma and blasting him through the stomach over Lector's supposed death, Minerva told him that what he displayed was the power of emotions that he lacked because of Jiemma's influence, and now that he had this power back, he could possibly surpass Natsu and defeat him, knowing that was what he wanted more than anything. She also took the chance to console him about Lector and revealed that she used her magic to teleport him away, but she also demanded that Sting lead them to victory in the Grand Magic Games in order for her to return him. When Sting insisted that Lector be returned to him, Minerva told him that while she wasn't like her father, she still had to ensure the victory of Sabertooth, and that he should not harbor such foolish thoughts about trying to go against her, especially considering that Lector's life was in her hands. Keeping this in mind, Sting made a vow to win the games.
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Meanwhile, with the rescue team…
"Okay you've had long enough to come down, now get up." by this point, Luke and the others had gathered around where Bolt's human form lay unconscious on the floor of the dungeon, and they were trying to make him regain consciousness "Seriously man come back down, we need you aware and ready to fight if we have to."
"He's not moving, is there anything we can do for him?" asked Wendy.
"That depends, do you have any support spells that can bring someone down after they ate more than half a dozen brownies stuffed to the gills with weed."
"Wait what?!" Lucy's jaw dropped as she glanced over at Luke "Weed? That's what you mean by brownies all this time?"
"Of course it is, what did you think I meant?" he was met with silence and a series of blank looks from everyone else "Yeah you know what, let's not pull the pin on that grenade."
"I'm sorry, I've tried everything I can but whatever the problem is I can't help." it was at this moment that Wendy started tearing up "I'm so sorry, he needs me right now and I can't do anything to help him."
"Hey come on, you don't have to blame yourself for this. Great, he binges on the good stuff and now he makes you cry. I swear to god, once we get out of this I'm cutting him off and sending him to rehab."
"So then how the heck do we wake him up?" asked Mira.
"Well I have one idea… Hey Bolt guess what, Kaname Chidori is here and she's dressed in a skimpy bikini."
"Where?!" Bolt suddenly burst onto his feet and looked around like a maniac, only to shoot a glare at Luke once he settled down "Not. Fucking. Cool."
"Maybe not, but it got you to come back down didn't it?" he was met with a few more odd looks from the others "Okay see, during our training he was browsing Deviantart and found a meme that mentioned an anime called Full Metal Panic, he started binging it. It's not bad, and now he's officially added Kaname Chidori to his best girl list. But nevermind that right now, we've got some incoming, but the good kind."
Sure enough, it was at this moment that Lily and Carla hovered towards the group "Sorry to keep you waiting."
"How about it Lily, did you have any luck?"
"Unfortunately no, the ceiling is completely blocked as well. There doesn't appear to be any way for us to get out of here."
'Great, we go to all of the trouble of busting in here to get Lucy and Yukino free, and now we end up being trapped ourselves. Irony, thy name is Fairy Tail. Hey out of curiosity Yukino, I don't suppose you know of a way for us to get the hell out of here, or at least how big this place is supposed to be?"
"Well I've only about rumors from the other guards." Yukino told him "However, I believe that it's hidden below the castle and is roughly ten times larger than all of Crocus."
"...I guess the flaw of never being able to shut up is contagious throughout the guild. I guess we should've remembered to keep a map while we were looking around."
"Speaking of which Luke, weren't you supposed to be fighting in the tournament today with all the others?" asked Lucy.
"Change of plans, I was spear heading the team that got sent to get you the hell out of here, as well as that's going right about now, so they had Laxus take my place. Now he's fighting in there right now along with Natsu, Gray, Gajeel and Erza. Then the master had me pick a few people to come with me, so I chose Bolt, Cana, Mira and two members of the Exceed squad, and now here we are."
"Aw, it's nice to know that you care so much."
"We're part of Fairy Tail, it's part of the job description."
"You know, it's actually kind of funny." Yukino muttered quietly.
"What is?"
"I can't really explain why, but even though we're in a hopeless situation, I feel so at east whenever I'm around all of you."
"Fairy Tail tends to have that effect on people." Mira told her "Besides, that's the sort of thing that happens when you're around friends. It's kind of weird at times, but it's just how it works sometimes."
"Um… Fair enough I suppose. If I may, you said Natsu was participating in the Grand Magic Games today right?"
"Yeah, he's part of the main team fighting right now." Luke told her as the group started making their way once again "Why do you ask?"
"If you don't mind, could you give Natsu a message for me?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"There's something that I've been meaning to thank Natsu for, the way that he stood up for me the other night. Bolt told me all about it. He said that when Natsu heard about why I had been kicked out of Sabertooth, he stormed Crocus Gardens in a rage and took on the entire guild all by himself."
"Oh yeah, that. We tore into him pretty hard for that one, Bolt in particular."
"You were drunk as fuck, someone had to do it." Bolt pointed out dryly "I tore him a new asshole for what he did. Even if his heart was in the right place, it almost got Lisanna killed and almost got us disqualified from the games."
"Well neither of those things happened, and we have more important things to focus on at the moment."
"You know, it's rather strange." Yukino told them quietly "Ever since I joined, my entire world revolved around being a member of Sabertooth. I had nothing after I was kicked out, and even now I'm only working for the Royal Army on a temporary basis."
"So you have nothing?"
"No she doesn't, not even a place to call home." Lucy told them "Her parents were killed when she was little and her older sister went missing, she has nothing."
"Oh man, I'm sorry."
"Still, there's something else." Yukino went on "When I heard that Natsu had fought for me like that, I felt a happiness I can't even describe. It really meant the world to me, and I want to be sure to thank him for it."
"Knowing him he'll probably get all worked up about it, either that or he won't even remember it when you bring it up. Don't get me wrong, Natsu is a good guy with a good heart that's usually in the right place, but I doubt anyone will disagree when I say that most of the time, he's got the brain power and attention span of a squirrel."
"And take a look at this." Mira suddenly went up to Yukino and studied her for a moment "Is it just me, or does she look a lot like Lisanna?"
"Now that you mention it she does."
"Yeah it's like I thought, she's got the same demeanor and the same hairstyle."
"Lisanna, so who is that exactly?" asked Yukino.
"Aside from being Natsu's girlfriend in all but name, if he ever tries to say anything otherwise then I'll kill him, she's my little sister." this caused Yukino to blush.
"Oh, I see."
"You know, you could always join Fairy Tail when this is over." Luke offered, which caused her head to snap up.
"Really? But why would you want me to join your guild?"
"You haven't given us a reason to not want you in our guild." he was met with a series of nods of agreement "So what do you say, you want to be part of Fairy Tail?"
"I…" Yukino's reply was promptly cut off by the cavern beginning to shake violently around all of them.
"You guys smell that?"
"It smells like there's a new flow of air in here." Wendy muttered.
"Which might mean that there's an exit. Bolt Lily, Carla, go on ahead check it out but if it looks like anything dangerous then clear out right away." that sent the three Exceeds on their way.
"You think that shaking caused some kind of cavein?" asked Cana.
"We can only hope, I would try blasting a way out for us, but there's no guarantee that doing it wouldn't bring the entire place down on top of us, and if this place is as big as Yukino makes it out to be, then we sure as hell don't want that to happen."
"You guys might wanna take a look at this." Bolt suddenly popped up in front of them "We tracked down an opening the rest of you might be able to squeeze through."
"Works for me, let's see if it really works."
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About 3 minutes later, at the opening in question…
Soon enough, Luke and the rest of those present were squeeing their way through the opening in question, but it was easier said than done "Looks to me like this is less of a passageway and more of a fissure in between some melted rock."
"It's one hell of a tight squeeze." Cana grumbled.
"That's one way to describe it, everybody squeezing through okay?"
"More or less, it's gonna take a second though. What I wouldn't give to know how the hell to use transformation magic right now."
"Speak for yourself." with a flash, Mira suddenly turned herself into a piece of paper and slid her way through the fissure, then turned herself back.
"Oh yeah, no need to show off or anything."
"I think we passed that point when we did the bikini contest before." Cana pointed out dryly from where she was wedged in between the two rocks "Now you mind giving me a hand? I'm having a hard time getting through because of… yeah." she glanced down at where she was having trouble pushing through because of a part of the rock pressed against her… assets.
"...Oh yeah totally, I got you no problem." forcing himself not to blush, Luke grabbed Cana by the hand and pulled her out of the crevice, but this resulted in both of them falling to the ground with her lying on top of him.
"Typical, nobody ever thinks of the obvious solution until some other smartass decides to throw it in our faces." having regressed to his cat form, Bolt squeezed his way through the crevice, only to stop when he saw Luke and Cana lying on top of each other, with everyone else blushing as they squeezed their way out.
"Not. A single. Fucking. Word."
"I don't have any words for this, I'm just gonna wait until we get the hell out of here and then laugh my tail off while your back is turned."
"You're such a good friend." Luke rolled his eyes as he pulled himself and Cana back onto their feet "Now look alive guys, we've got some unexpected company. I can't say for certain whether or not that's a bad thing though."
"He's right there's someone here, and I think they might be hurt!" Wendy gestured down to where someone was lying on the cave floor a short distance away from the group.
"So that's what we were smelling."
"Is that-" Yukino let out a gasp when she saw who it was "That's Colonel Arcadios, but what is he doing here? How did he get here?"
"Well if I had to take a guess on that then I'd say he probably got tossed in here by the princess like the rest of us."
"But a fall wouldn't explain all of the injuries he has. Maybe there's some kind of traps hidden around this place, or… maybe we're not alone in here."
This was when Arcadios' eyes suddenly snapped open, and he spared a single glance over at the group, his voice low and barely audible "Run… You have to run…"
"What happened to you? Hold still and try not to move, I'll heal you right away." Wendy was quick to get to work with healing his wounds.
"Forget about me… you have to get out of here… There are others here…"
"Yeah I'm starting to get that vibe. Lightning Dragon Talon!" Luke suddenly spun around on his heel as a figure (A large round muscular with a soda bottle clamped between his teeth, his name is Neppan) tried to hit him from behind with a blast of magic energy, and instead he dealt the figure a lightning-enhanced kick to the jaw just as the energy left a burn on his leg, both of them being sent skidding backwards 'Shit, what the hell was that? It felt like acid, if I had to guess then that's probably what made the opening for us.'
"My first catch of the day, and she's one hell of a beauty!" this was when another figure suddenly revealed himself to the group (a figure named Uosuke, with a black mullet and a large fan in hand), and he suddenly sent most of them flying with a gust of wind magic.
"Bolt!"
"I'm on it! Storm Force!" in an instant, Bolt summoned the trident form of Shatterstorm and countered the burst of win with one of his own, both him and Uosuke sending each other skidding back as a result.
"Nice one, now who the hell are these guys?"
"Whoever they are, we've got more incoming." this was followed by a large wave of purple confetti appearing before the group, as well a a large plant creature, revealing two more figures appearing on the scene "Well I think we know what happened to Arcadios."
"You have to get out of here…" Arcadios struggled to pull himself off the ground "All of you are in danger…"
"To be fair, being in danger is part of the job description. What makes these guys different from all of the others?"
"These five are part of an independent squad that serves the kingom of Fiore from their place within the shadows. They're a group of ruthless and bloodthirsty executioners."
'Which means they won't be pulling any punches against us.'
"Attention Hungry Wolf Knights." the leader (a masked figure by the name of Kama) was quick to draw the attention of those present "The time has come for us to commence with Operation 1500."
'So they sent executioers down here to take us out, I guess they're desperate. Any idea what we should expect from them?"
"They're very good at the jobs they do." Yukino told him "If the rumors I've heard about them are true, then we'll have to face some relentless hunters. They're a group of royal execution machines, known as the Hungry Wolf Knights."
"Well that sounds promising."
"They're the reason why it's not possible to ever leave this cursed place." Arcadios told them, his tone grim "That is to say, why it's not possible to leave with your life."
"And that sounds even more promising."
"The time has come." Kama once again drew their attention "By the authority that has been granted to us by the kingdom of Fiore, we of the Hungry Wolf Knights will now carry out your sentence."
"Meaning you intend to execute us?" Luke's gaze hardened furiously as he drew his sword from its sheath and the blade began surging with electricity "There's gonna be a cold day in the darkest depths of hell before I let that happen, especially at the hands of a pack of Power Ranger rejects like all of you." he prepared to step forward, only to be stopped by Cana suddenly holding out an arm in front of him, a few cards in her hand "Um… What the hell are you doing?"
"I want you to stand back, I can handle this without you." Cana told him flatly.
"Okay, kind of harsh. What the hell brought this on?"
"It's more of a matter of pride than anything else." she breathed a sigh "It's something I need to do myself okay? I look at you and I see how hard you've trained over the years, how insanely strong you are compared to me and everyone else in Fairy Tail, and that was before all of that crap happened back on Tenrou Island. Since we got the back it's pretty obvious that the world has changed, but you didn't even flinch. You dove in head first training, and you managed to come out on top against a Wizard Saint, for the second time, third if you count Jellal. I know I spent a ton of time training with you and Bolt over the past few months, but I still don't know how well it worked for myself. Using Fairy Glitter in the games was well and good, but that's not enough for me."
"So then this is like a field test for you."
"Basically yeah. So please, just let me do this."
"...Alright, I get it. If you have to do this then I'm not gonna stop you, but I'm telling you now that if it looks like you're in trouble, then I'm stepping in."
"Deal. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna fight at least one of them on my own and end up punching their teeth in."
'...Why does this turn me on so much?'
"Don't let yourselves be fooled by their appearances." Arcadios warned the group "Be very cautious of the magic they use, make one wrong move with them and you'll be as good as dead in an instant."
"You clearly don't know a damn thing about what it means to be part of Fairy Tail, we face off against certain death almost every single day."
"And each time we do we grow stronger because of it." Cana brandished a handful of cards as she stepped forward, with Wendy and Mira following right beside her "Lucy and Yukino, the two of you don't have your keys with you so you should keep your distance. The rest of us can take care of these guys."
"Well that's just great." Lucy found herself grumbling as she and Yukino grabbed Arcadios and started carrying him away "I can't say that I'm really a fan of having to sit on the sidelines and doing nothing."
"Believe me when I tell you, it's not fun." Luke noted dryly, then shot a glance over in the direction of Bolt "I'm gonna go ahead with Lily and Carla and give Lucy and Yukino some backup, you stay here and give Cana and the others a hand."
"Hey I've got no problems with backing them up but I have no intention of getting in the way of that goddamn trainwreck." Bolt promptly flashed into his human form and then summoned Shatterstrom into his hand "It's been awhile since I've been in a real fight for something other than training, I have a feeling I'm gonna enjoy this."
"Yeah well, just don't go crazy over it. You've already been high once today, we don't need that to happen again right now."
"You have to stop them now." Arcadios told them, his tone grave "Trying to fight against the Hungry Wolf Knights isn't just reckless, it's suicide."
"We've faced worst odds in the past. Believe me when I tell you Arcadios, if there's anyone who can defeat these guys, it's my friends from Fairy Tail. Have a little bit of faith in them, and they just might surprise you."
"You got that right." Cana dropped into a battle stance, with Bolt and everyone else following her lead "Like Natsu would say every 2 seconds, I'm all fired up now."
"You're wasting your time wench." Kama let out a scoff "There are plenty of miscreants who are foolish enough to not fear the wrath of the Hungry Wolf Knights, but all of them are long since dead. Your bones are going to join theirs soon enough."
"I think we'll see about that soon enough."
"Indeed we will, and we'll start things off." this was when the two female members of the Hungry Wolf Knights (a pink haired woman by the name of Cosmos, and a black haired woman with long pigtails named Kamika) both stepped forward "I hope you're prepared for what's to come next. I am Kamika and this is Cosmos, and I believe the time has come for us to get this underway. We'll be sure to dazzle you with our beautiful dance, the last thing you will see before we do our job as royal executioners."
"I think you're gonna be in for one hell of a surprise."
"We'll just have to wait and see then. Paper Blizzard: Red Dance!" Kamika blew forward a piece of red paper.
"So some kind of fire magic then? No problem, I've been working on a few new spells for just this sort of occasion, and with Natsu in mind. Black Clover, eat your hard magic! Card Magic: Spiral Flames!" Cana threw forward a volley of cards that morphed into a series of streams of water that engulfed the cards, but unfortunately failed to overpower the flames "What the hell, how are they not burning?"
"My red paper is infused with the spirit of flames, touch them if you dare."
"I don't need to touch them, I've got something better. Card Magic: Sea God's Shield!" with another volley of cards, Cana summoned a series of shields made of water that blocked out the next series of simultaneous fire blasts "Card Magic: Cascade Destroyer!" she summoned a series of water streams from a single card, which subsequently ripped through almost all of the fire fists 'Note to self, next time go with the water spirits right away instead of trying to make yourself look like a badass.' it was then that she whipped around and saw one last fire blast trying to get her from behind 'Dammit, I let down my guard.'
"Cana hold on! Sky Dragon Roar!" Wendy rushed forward and unleashed a wind-enhanced roar that obliterated the last fire blast "Are you okay?"
"A little bit too close of a call for my liking, but I'm fine. Thanks for the save. You up for taking them two on two?"
"I'll follow your lead Cana."
"Glad to hear it." Cana glanced back at Bolt and Mira, and gave the two of them a subtle nod 'So the two of them want to hang back for the time being and keep an eye on the movements of the other enemies. Wendy and I should be able to handle these two easily enough. So how about it, are you ready for this Wendy?"
"I'm ready, now let's go."
"Right! Card Magic: Summoned Lightning!"
"Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!" and so the two of them charged forward, one of them unleashing a barrage of lightning from a card, and the other one unleashing a wave of wind from one hand.
"Quite beautiful." Cosmos dodged Cana's attack and watched as Kamika used a paper shield to block Wendy's attack "And such lovely long hair."
"Word of advice, you might wanna pay attention to your own opponent!" Cana suddenly blitzed behind Cosmos and aimed a kick at her head, only to be blocked by a wave of plants appearing in between the two of them.
"And you're the least beautiful thing here, I mean just look at those clothes! How scandalous can a woman get?"
"Give me a few minutes, you'll get an answer once I'm done with you." Cana leapt over an attack from Cosmos and landed next to Wendy as she drew another card "I think I've got an idea, just get a roar ready and wait for my cue, okay?"
"Got it." Wendy gave a simple nod and inhaled a large amount of air.
"You ready?" Cana pulled out a single card and received a nod of confirmation "Okay, I'll go first and then you follow up. Card Magic: Salamander's Fury!" she hurled the card forward, only for it to take on the form of a massive ball of flames "NOW!"
"Sky Dragon ROAR!" Wendy let out another roar, the wind enhancing the fire attack and engulfing the targets in a fiery explosion, and once it was done she let out a sigh "That was incredible, you're amazing Cana!"
"That was only half me kid, the other half was all you. That's not it though, not yet at least. Can you feel it? The two of them are concealing their magic power." this was confirmed by the smoke clearing away to reveal a large plant covered with red tape "See what I mean? The two of them combined their magic to protect themselves."
Sure enough, the plant opened itself to reveal Cosmos and Kamika standing in its center, completely unharmed "You see for yourselves, the two of us are the truly spectacular team present here. Now then, why don't you be good little law breakers and take your punishment for us?"
"Well this is just great, plant magic and paper magic are holding out a lot better than I was expecting them to. One would think that after three months of training with the most powerful mage on the continent this would be a peace of cake, but no."
"One would think, wouldn't it skank? You know if you like, we'd be more than happy to put your theory to the test. After all, I think my dear Kamika here still has plenty of colors to show off, just like me and my beloved plants."
'Oh crap.'
"Indeed I do. Observe." Kamika then blew forward a piece of yellow paper, which promptly set off a bright explosion that blinded those present.
'Dammit I can't see anything! One would think I'd know how dangerous paper can be after watching Konan from Naruto in action.'
"I've got you now little girl." Cosmos gave a smirk as she grabbed hold of Wendy with some vines and hoisted her into the air.
"Wendy hold on, I'll get you down from there in a second!"
"I wouldn't be so sure." Kamika sent forward a volley of white papers that enveloped Cana and began burying her in layers of ice "Why don't you take a moment to cool off, I promise you're going to feel that much better if you do."
"I've spent almost a decade and a half having to deal with the backlash of Gray's ice attacks, more than anyone else from my generation of the guild. This is nothing, I don't even feel any of it bitch! Card Magic: Salamander's Fury!" with a single card in hand, Cana burned through the ice that was encasing her, only to suddenly be snatched up by another set of vines and hoisted into the air.
"And there we go, as always our magics complement each other beautifully Cosmos."
'Dammit I can only move my arms because of these things, and that thorn better not be poking me where I think it's poking me!'
"So we've managed to capture two law breakers already, I guess the only thing left we have to do is execute them." Cosmos then went on to summon a series of carnivorous flytrap plants that revealed their long and slimy tongues and started to lower them in.
'Dammit I can just see it now, someone is gonna make hentai out of this one day!'
"Hang tight love interest, I'll have you two out of there in a second." Bolt then proceeded to point Shatterstorm at the plants and prepared to fire a blast of lightning.
"Don't even think about it Bolt, this one is mine and mine alone."
"Dammit Cana this isn't the time to pull the tough girl act, I promised Luke I wasn't gonna let anything happen to you."
"Don't test me on this, I'll take every last brownie in your fridge and throw them into the goddamn ocean!" that caused him to falter.
"Well now, this is a surprise." Cosmos and Kamika shared a surprised look "It seems that this one gave off the tough girl act pretty thick, I wonder if she'll be able to keep it up even as she gets eaten alive."
"How about you try and keep up those smug looks as your pets get ripped to shreds, case and point! Card Magic: Wind Blade Barrage!" Cana threw forward a single card, and that summoned forth a barrage of wind blades that ripped through the vines and flytrap that was binding Wendy "Now for the follow up!"
"Right! Sky Dragon Wing Attack!" now that she was free, Wendy unleashed a two-handed wind attack that freed Cana from her own restraints "Thank you for feeing me, that was a great strategy."
"Working on new spells from other anime isn't the only thing I did during the past three months of training. I guess Dragon Slayers aren't the only ones that work well together."
"It just goes to show how well you can work together when you know each other like the back of your hands. Are you ready Cana?"
"You'd damn well better believe I am Wendy, now let's go." and so the two of them charged towards Cosmos and Kamika, going to town on them through use of wind magic and a series of combination attacks.
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Meanwhile, on the sidelines…
Bolt let out a low whistle from where he was watching on the sidelines "Well that's one way to get the job done. I guess Luke was right on the money to not want to get anywhere near this one, even if he would never have the cajones to say it."
"And you're never gonna hear me say it." Luke noted dryly, though he did still accept a fist bump over this.
"I don't believe this…" Arcadios could only look on in awe "The Hungry Wolf Knights are being pushed back, just how powerful are they?"
"When you're going up against people from Fairy Tail, underestimating them is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. After everything we've been through together over the years, I wouldn't be surprised if each of us knew what the other was thinking. Take Bolt for example, he's thinking about the current progress of Yashahime and losing his freaking mind over it as a result."
"I can't fucking help it!" Bolt suddenly rounded on him "Yeah it's kind of mediocre but I keep going back to it every time they drop a new episode, I have to know what happens!"
"Yeah that's how they get you, and I get the feeling they're gonna keep dragging suckers in like that for awhile. As for the quality of Yashahime, it's still loads better than almost everything put out by Dragon Ball GT."
"But that's not really saying much."
"That is also true, but in any case Cana and Wendy trust each other, and that trust has evolved into the nearly flawless teamwork you see here and now."
"You would be wise not to drop your guard just yet." Arcadios pointed out "This fight is far from over, and keep in mind that there are three more members of the knights as well. Even then, the true terror of the executioners has yet to come."
"Oh we know, and whatever happens, I know that we can handle it."
"Well we'd better get to it, they're making their move right now." Mira got their attention and pointed to where Neppa and Uosuke were charging towards them.
"I'll stay back with Arcadios and the girls, you and Bolt go take them down."
"Got it." and so Mira charged in without hesitation.
"Oh trust me she devil, I'm right behind you." Bolt charged in by her side.
"Time to get things underway, hook line and sinker!" Uosuke waved his giant flag and unleashed a large gust of wind that sent them flying.
"We've already gone over this you One Piece reject! Storm Force!" using the trident form of Shatterstorm, Bolt unleashed a blast of wind to counter, and then he morphed it back into it's axe form just in time to counter a punch from Neppa, resulting in the ground beneath him being turned to acid, forcing him to sprout his wings "So apparently nobody gives a shit about a fair fight anymore. Oh right you're assassins, you only give a shit about killing and sucking on the bones of your victims."
"Hey we was just testing the waters is all, we don't mean nothing by it."
"Looking in a fucking dictionary man, I mean god. So how about it Mira, you wanna deal with the mole man or the One Piece reject?"
"I could go either way to be honest." Mira gave a shrug "And why call him a One Piece reject anyway?"
"Have you seen the way he's dressed? Anyway whatever happens don't let down your guard, these guys aren't anything to scoff at."
"Good advice, if only your companions here would be willing to listen." Kamika called out to them and gestured to where Cana was pinned to the ground by a vine, and Wendy had been trapped by a large flytrap she was standing on, and then subsequently slaughtered "Soon enough that little girl will dance with the grim reaper, as my corpse flower is made to bloom by your very blood."
"Shit, Wendy hold on!" Cana tried to make a move to free Wendy from where she was trapped within the flytrap, only to be constricted by a series of vines wrapping around her 'Dammit, I can't even move my arms to pick up a card! This is just fucking perfect, I make all this talk about wanting to prove myself, and I can't even help a single friend.'
"How ungraceful can a woman prove herself to be? Besides it's far too late as it is, the process of digestion has begun and her sweet life has already come to an end."
"There isn't a chance in hell I'm gonna let that happen! I'd rather die then let you get your filthy hands on her!"
"You have no need to panic over this, for she will soon be reincarnated. It won't be very long before her remains are turned into dazzling blooms, along with the rest of my children."
'Dammit, what the hell do I do?!'
"Dragon Sword Style: Thunderous Purge!" a sudden blast of lightning burst down from above them, engulfing the area in an explosion and obliterating the venus flytrap with a single surge, freeing Wendy from its clutches, courtesy of Luke from his place on the sidelines "Sorry I let that go as far as it did, are you okay Wendy?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Wendy let out a shaky breath "Thanks to you."
"As long as you're alright, that's the most important thing. Mira, you might wanna back them up with those two. Bolt can take care of the big one."
"Way ahead of you." Mira promptly blitzed onto the scene as she flashed into her Satan Soul Sitri form.
'Quite the strange form of magic.' Kama notice what was going on from the sidelines and frowned underneath his mask 'Take Over spells are very unusual indeed, but something seems different about this one.'
"This is only one of my Satan Soul forms, I like to call this one Sitri and I mainly use it for when I have to rip someone apart. Case and point, what I'm about to do to you."
"It would seem that the rumors about you ring true, the She Devil of Fairy Tail and an S-class wizard as well. However, as impressive as your abilities might be, they won't save you from your inevitable execution."
"I think we'll see about that."
"Oh you can be sure you will, as soon as you freeze. Paper Blizzard!" Kamika unleashed another barrage of white paper that unleashed a wave of ice and snow.
"I've got something for that too, and this time I'm not holding back against you. Card Magic: Salamander's Fury!" Cana threw forward a magic card and unleashed an even more powerful stream of flames that countered the blizzard, resulting in an explosion.
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Meanwhile, on the sidelines…
"Oh yeah that's it guys, you show them who's boss!" Lucy and the others watched in glee from the sidelines as the battle raged on, but then she suddenly whipped around and saw a barrage of plants hurtling towards them "Crap!"
"Dragon Sword Style: Thunderous Blade Dance!" Luke blitzed in front of the group and unleashed a lightning-enhanced slash of his sword, ripping through the vines and vaporizing them in an instant "You guys okay?"
"Yeah we're fine, thanks for the save."
"These guys have a lot more going for them than we expected, whatever happens you'd better be sure not to let down your guard."
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Meanwhile, with another pair…
"Well now, didn't see that one coming." Neppa let out a low whistle as he glanced at Bolt "And here I thought you would've charged in to save the day."
"I don't need to worry about Luke or the others being able to take care of your teammates, they're as good as fucked." Bolt told him flatly, Shatterstorm in hand "If I were you though, I'd focus more on the fight in front of me."
"Sounds like one hell of a party to me."
"Don't get cocky fatass, I plan on taking this thing and cramming it down your throat faster than you can blink."
"You wanna bet? Sploosh!" Neppa activated his acid magic and coated his fist in it, and he let that fist fly.
"Not gonna happen." Bolt leapt over the attack with ease and charged at Neppa "You're gonna have to do a lot better than that if you wanna bring me down lardass."
"I'd be careful if I were you buddy, just one sploosh is all that I need to melt the skin right off of your bones." Neppa gave a smirk as he downed some of the contents of his bottle.
"If that's the case then I'm gonna have to cut you off, either that or cut your head off. At least then I'd be able to hear myself think."
"Unfortunately for you, you're not going to get the chance, case and poin Paper Blizzard: Purple Dance!" Kamika sent forward a barrage of purple colored papers that immediately latched onto everyone present, binding them in place.
'And one of them can paralyze people, why the fuck am I not surprised? Now the question is, how the hell are we gonna get out of this without blowing everyone to hell? I don't have anything that can counter a status ailment spell. If it was able to get Luke and Mira too, then I guess how powerful a victim is doesn't deter whether or not the paralysis works.'
"Every single one of my papers holds within it the spirit of confinement."
'Shit.'
"As you can see, our harmony really is quite lovely. Grow Flow!" Cosmos gave a wave of both hands and summoned an enormous flower for all of them to see.
'Well that's somewhat disturbing, and if I'm as high as I am furry then I know this isn't gonna end well.'
"Now the time has come for you to feast my pet, gorge away and let yourself be nourished by the lives of these criminals!" and that prompted the plant to start sucking all of those present toward itself.
'Great, now we're gonna end up as part of some kind of fucked up vore fanfiction!'
"What's the matter, you running away just like that?" Neppa started taunting the group "It's such a damn shame, I would've been able to kill you a lot quicker than that."
"Why don't you get up here and say that to my face, or better yet I can claw your fucking tongue out asshat! Hey if anyone has a way to fix this, stop pussyfooting around and do it!"
"I'm on it, just hold on! Oh sky, cleanse us of our ailments! Restore our bodies with your shining light! Raise!" Wendy held out a hand and cast a support spell, undoing the paralysis and destroying the papers.
"Now that's more like it, now we can fight, and better yet we can blow that thing to hell! Hey how about it Luke, you up for me using that move?"
"Whatever you do, just be careful about the backlash it could cause." Luke told him flatly from where he was holding Cana in his arms.
'Well I'll be damned, even in the face of death he seizes an opportunity. Or is it just him doing his whole "protector" thing? Probably both. Alright guys get back, this is gonna be one hell of a big one!" Bolt morphed Shatterstorm from its axe form to the form of a large broadsword with a wide blade and a golden hilt "You better be ready for this, you're about to see my ultimate attack in action. Eat your mother fucking hearts out! Excalibur: STRIKE OF ASCALON!" with a mighty roar, he summoned his wings and soared forward towards the flower, and unleashed an absolutely massive blast of lightning that obliterated the flower in an instant, but that was when things got bad.
"God dammit Bolt, what the hell did I say about the backlash?!" and then a blinding white hot explosion went off, engulfing everyone present.
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Meanwhile, in the actual palace…
From her place within the palace above, Hisui was considerably distraught (although she hid it from the guards present) when she learned that the Hungry Wolf Knights had been dispatched, which left her sadly musing that her plan seemed to be falling apart on her, and she couldn't do much more than pray for Arcadios to be safe.
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Meanwhile, back in the Abyss Palace…
"Okay, that definitely wasn't part of the plan." Cana let out an audible groan as she picked herslef up out of the rubble and looked around 'Great, I got blown through at least half a dozen floors for the second time today. Hey guys are you okay, can any of you hear me?!" she received no reply, which caused her to scowl 'I can't sense any magic power from the others, they must have been blown into another part of the dungeon.'
"Well this is an unexpected turn of events, but not altogether unpleasant." it was at this moment that Kama landed on the ground a short distance away from her "It would appear that the attack launched by your comrade resulting in both of our parties being scattered far and wide. My own subordinates are all single minded when it comes to their work, so I can assure you that none of you are ever going to leave this place alive."
"You're not the first overconfident jackass that underestimated our guild, and I pretty heavily doubt that you're gonna be the last. We all came here to get Lucy out of here and we're not gonna leave without her, but if I have to go through you in order to do that then I'll do it without hesitation. So can I at least get your name before I do this?"
"You're wasting your breath, a criminal like you doesn't deserve to know my name."
"...So you're one of those guys then?"
"This is my way, the way in which I can best carry out my duties to the kingdom of Fiore."
"So it's about loyalty then. I guess that's fair enough."
"Before I do my job and end your life, you should take the chance to pray for forgiveness for the sins you've committed. You must reflect on your past with care, you must clear your conscience, and I will allow you a moment to do this before I strike you down."
"...You don't need to." Cana's bangs covered her eyes for a brief moment as she clenched her fist tightly, and she breathed a sigh in order to compose herself "I know fully well of the biggest sin I've done in my life. I let my obsession cloud my judgement, and I abandoned my friend for the sake of pursuing a goal that I became obsessed with. The one person who wanted to help me more than anyone else, and I turned my back on her."
"And this friend died?"
"No, but part of me still thinks that it was luck she was saved. I'm never gonna be able to forgive myself completely for what I did, but what I do know is that instead of throwing my life away feeling sorry for myself over it, I decided learn from that mistake. I'm never gonna let that happen again. I came here to save a friend, and that's what I'm gonna do."
"Hm. So be it then. Do your companions feel the same way?"
"I don't doubt for a second that they do, Fairy Tail is full of people that would never dream of doing anything horrible. We're all good people, even if we make mistakes we look past them and look to the future. Even if we do cause a crapload of property damage in the process."
"...I see." Kama's gaze hardened considerably as he drew his twin scyhes off his back "If you've made your peace then it's time for me to carry out your sentence. You must pay for your transgressions against the kingdom."
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Meanwhile, with the others…
As a result of Bolt's full power attack on the giant plant monster, everyone had been scattered throughout the caverns, whether they be from Fairy Tail or from the Hungry Wolf Knights. As a result of this, Wendy was being followed by Cosmos, while Mira had found herself stumbling upon Kamika.
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Meanwhile, with Bolt…
'Dammit…' Bolt looked around the scene before him and let out a low growl 'I can't sense the magic power of the others, I can't pick up any scents… Note to self, next time Luke says to be careful about the backlash, shut the fuck up and listen to him.' then he looked at the opponent in front of him, which just so happened to be Neppa "And what makes this even worse is that I'm stuck alone dealing with your bullshit. Let's just get this over with, I've got better things to do than waste my time listening to your crap."
"Oh is that right?" Neppa shot a smirk at him "Well I see things pretty differently. I think I'm the one that has to deal with you, but that's not how it's gonna be for very long." and he started downing the contents of his bottle.
'Yeah, this is gonna be one of those days isn't it?'
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Meanwhile, with the rest of them…
"Well that could've gone a lot better." Luke let out a sigh as he drew the blade of his sword out of the ground, causing the dome of electricity he was generating to vanish, and he promptly glanced over at where Lucy, Yukino and the others lay sprawled out on the ground "As much of a stupid question as this might be, are you guys okay?"
"I think we all could've done without the explosion." Lucy let out a groan "Why the heck am I not surprised that Bolt overdid it?"
"Because there's a pretty fair chance he's still as high as an elephant's eye."
"Oh yeah, right. So how far down do you think we are?"
"I don't think there's any way to be sure about that, considering how ridiculously big this place is supposed to be. I can smell any of the others either, we must have gotten separated by the blast."
"Crap, we have to go and find them!"
"Calm down Lucy, I want to find them too but we have to keep our cool."
"Dammit, I hate being useless at times like this. Without my gate keys I can't do anything, I'm practically useless."
"You're not useless Lucy, and now isn't the time to dwell on something lke that. But come back to me when this is over, Bolt and I were actually talking about a fix to that little problem on the way here."
"But in any case, we have a number of royal executioners hunting us, and they won't hesitate to use lethal force. We have to find Wendy and the others before-" this was when Carla suddenly noticed that she was being lifted into the air.
"Carla what's the matter?"
"I don't know but this isn't me, I'm being lofted into the air against my will!"
"Hold on a second." Luke paused and sniffed the air, and then his expression hardened "Well it looks like we don't have to go hunting for these executioners, because they found us."
"I caught one right off the bat!" as it turns out, it was Uosuke of the Hungry Wolf Knights resting on top of a nearby statue, using his magic to levitate Carla into the air as he willed it "Yeah, this one is gonna be fun to take out."
"I'm gonna tell you now, release the cat or we do this the hard way." Luke drew his sword from his sheath on his back.
"Oh yeah, we have to deal with this one." Lucy muttered dryly "He seems really weird, and he really doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the bunch in his crew either."
"Yeah yeah I know what you're thinking. he looks about as authentic as pretty much any character in One Piece. Or Gildarts when you think about it. But keep in mind that in our line of work, the people we come across might look like something out of a gag manga, but they're also typically strong as hell."
"My name is Uosuke, and I'm a member of the Hungry Wolf Knights." Uosuke continued giving them his typical creepy girn.
"I already knew that and it's not the question I was saying, it wasn't even close to the question I was saying."
"You'd better hush or else you're gonna make me mad, and you wouldn't like me when I get mad."
"You're not the first person to quote that, and you're probably not gonna be the last."
"Yeah, and there's no way you're gonna beat us!" Lucy called out to him "Luke is one of the strongest wizard in our guild by miles, he's gonna wipe the floor with you."
"I appreciate the vote of confidence, but too much of that can lead to you getting your ass handed to you on a silver platter time and again. Just take Yukino and the Exceeds and stay back, I can fight better with some more room."
"No please… don't do it…" Arcadios called out to him, his voice hoarse "You can't do it… You must not fight him… Uosuke is too strong… I've heard tales of the magic he uses… When he goes into battle, he annihilates his victims… Not even their bones are left behind…"
"...Well that sounds promising."
"You just made me mad." Uosuke gave a wide grin.
'Yeah it's like I thought, this is gonna be bad.'
"Terrain Effect Magic: Lava Zone!" Uosuke slammed his hands together, and the ground started shaking around them.
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Meanwhile, with the rest of the guild…
In the arena for the Grand Magic Games, Makarov suddenly started feeling uneasy, claiming that he suddenly remembered all of the letters of apology he had been forced to write on behalf of the guild. With Romeo praying for the safe return of the rescue team, Mavis took the time to recount how she as well had to write a number of apology letters on behalf of the guild, with both herself and Makarov concluding that Fairy Tail had always been a rambunctious guild ever since it was first created, and that fact had never changed. Hearing Mavis talk, Asuka then claimed that she believed that the First Master was amazing for a little girl, which left Mavis perturbed and also prompted her to tell Asuka that she was older than everyone else present. Asuka was left rather confused by this and inquired as to why Mavis looked like a child, to which Mavis replied that she only took on the form of a little girl due to her being an astral body, which only left the group even more confused.
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Meanwhile, in the games themselves…
As the Fairy Tail members conversed, the Grand Magic Games continued to rage on throughout the city of Crocus, with even the participants noting that the current roster of the games had been reduced to what was most likely the strongest fighters, and all of the became slightly more on edge as a result, all of them being aware that one wrong move could end up costing their team the game. It was during this time that Milliana was slinking around, pondering whether or not she should try to meet up with Kagura so that the team representing Mermaid Heel would have a better chance of victory. As she looked around, she ended up spotting a cat sitting on the lid of a nearby trash can, and she ended up getting distracted trying to get its attention, all the while remaining unaware that she was being watched by Minerva.
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Meanwhile, in the Abyss Palace…
"...I see." Kama's gaze hardened considerably as he drew his twin scyhes off his back "If you've made your peace then it's time for me to carry out your sentence. You must pay for your transgressions against the kingdom."
"I don't have time to waste messing around with you, just let me pass before this turns ugly already." Cana drew a few magic cards in one hand, only to suddenly be forced onto the evasive as Kama started swinging his scythes at her head, which forced her to duck one sweep, and then leap over another.
"Tell me, why do you run from me?"
"Oh sorry about that, but believe it or not most people like having their heads attached to their freaking bodies!"
"For the crimes you've committed against the kingdom, I must collect your head!"
"You are one seriously messed up dude."
"I am the hand of justice, what's truly "messed up" as you put it, is the thought of criminals who know they've done wrong, but they overlook their sins with such ease."
"You're still talking about that? I told you before I'm not overlooking my mistakes, I'm learning from them and using them to become a better person!"
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Meanwhile, with Bolt…
"Yeah yeah, sploosh or whatever." as he continued fight Neppan and fending off his acid magic attacks, Bolt sprouted his wings and took to the air to dodge the attack.
"You're damn right it's sploosh you pussycat!" Neppan barked out a laugh "What the hell is wrong with you, here I thought you were gonna use that thing to cut me down. What, did you get too scared?"
"Yeah here's the thing, I don't plan on getting burned alive by that shit. There's a little something called self preservation."
"What I put out is some pretty powerful stuff too, it can take that axe of yours and turn it into nothing but a gigantic puddle of goop and cat fur."
"The only puddle of shit and fur I wanna see is your brain melting out your nose from thinking too hard, and considering what I've seen of you so far, it's not gonna be too long before that ends up happening. This bastard must get his power from whatever he's keeping in that bottle, so does that mean he's got an endless supply of it? If that is the case, then the only way I can take him out without getting melted is by getting in close, snatching it from him and smashing the thing over his skull.'
"Yeah like I said, a puddle of pussycat. What do you say you just accept that's gonna happen and we get this over with, we don't need to be here forever you know. As far as I'm concerned, this is my happy hour!" Neppa brought down a fist and unleashed a wave of acidic energy that started melting the ground in front of him.
"Thunder Burst!" Bolt blitzed in front of Neppan with his axe and unleashed a surge of lightning from the blade, forcing Neppan to unleash another wave of acid to protect himself from the attack, which forced Bolt to retreat a short distance away "So we're breaking out the big guns then are we, sploosh?"
'As a warrior he knows what he can and can't do, and he makes his move to try and get himself an advantage over me! Thunder Blitz!" morphing Shatterstorm into its dagger form, Bolt then blitzed behind Neppa and aimed an attack at his back, only for a wave of acid to again force him on the evasive, which led to the ground between the two of them being split apart.
"Nice try kitty man, you can play as many games with that thing as you want, but not a single one of them is gonna help you to get out of here alive. I actually know a few ways to skin a cat, but I like to do it with acid.
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Meanwhile, with the females of the group…
Unfortunately, the battle agains the other members of the Hungry Wolf Knights wasn't starting out on the best note.
In her arrogance, Kamika had decided to question Mira's status as an S-class mage as she started surrounding her with her paper magic, whereas Cosmos was pushing Wendy back, using her fear and intense hatred of dried plums to scar her into running away.
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Meanwhile, with the others…
"Terrain Effect Magic: Lava Zone!" Uosuke slammed his hands together, and the ground started shaking around them.
'Yeah like I thought, this isn't gonna be good.' Luke glanced around as crimson energy started accumulating under the ground beneath his feet.
"Okay, this definitely isn't gonna be good." Lucy muttered "I can feel the ground burning right now, what the hell are we supposed to do?!"
"Well what we're not gonna do is stand around waiting for lava to erupt beneath our feet. The best thing we can do is get to high ground." to that end, Luke grabbed Lucy by the arm (because she was the closest one to him), used a burst electricity to propel himself into the air, and promptly trusted his sword into the side of the cavern "Grab onto the hilt and hold on like your life depends on it, because right now there's a pretty high chance that it does!"
"I wouldn't be so sure about that. Terrain Effect: Gravity Zone!" Uosuke gave a grin as he waved his hand, engulfing Luke in a white glow and forcing him to descend slightly, but it didn't make him loosen his grip "Well that's pretty interesting, I figured my Gravity Zone would've sent you plummeting by now."
"Haven't you seen Dragon Ball? You do enough intensive training and enhanced gravity doesn't do much to effect you, but I've got enough to worry about right now. Lily, Carly, I can't let go without risking being sent plummeting. Head over and rescue Yukino and Arcadios before they take a lava bath."
"Say no more, we're on our way!" Lily and Carla didn't waste a second as the two of them started flying down towards Yukino and Arcadios.
'I just hope they can get there before-'
"Nope to the nope. Terrain Effect: Gravity Zone!" Uosuke held up a single hand, and the same white glow engulfed them and sent them hurtling down onto a slab of rock, bound and unable to move "The guy with the sword might not have much to worry about with my Gravity Zone, but the little kitties aren't so luck now are they?"
'Evidently not. Shit this is bad, if I don't do something then the others are done for.'
"The guy with the Pinnochio nose is right you know, there ain't gonna be any bones left when I'm done with the lot of you."
'I guess I'm gonna have to risk it. I'll have Lucy grab onto the hilt of the sword while I lower myself to the ground, and if I can move fast enough then with any luck, I'll be able to get the others before-
"No… I have to do something…" Arcadios slowly pulled himself up onto his feet, his eyes burning with resolve as he slowly made his way forward "I can't let you die… the fate of this world… is counting on you… for the Eclipse Project…"
"Okay as much as I appreciate the dedication to the project, but we all pretty much agreed we weren't gonna be part of that. Even if it does take out Zeref and Acnologia, how do we know that something worse isn't gonna pop up instead?"
"The Eclipse is going to save the world… Lucy and Yukino, the two of you are the keys to the plan succeeding… My life is not as important…" to that end, Arcadios suddenly dropped himself down into the lava, the molten substance going up to its ankles "I will not hesitate to sacrifice myself in order to save you, and ensure that this world survives!" he started wading his way forward through the lava, letting out a roar of agony as he did so, with everyone looking on in stunned silence.
A/N:
Happy 2021 everybody! Now the Grand Magic Game is really heating up and Fairy Tail is starting to pull itself ahead of the others, starting with Gray taking down Rufus and avenging his humiliation from the first day. But at the same time, the team that had been sent to rescue Lucy from the dungeon has encountered some formidable resistance in the form of the Hungry Wolf Knights.
Before I close out this chapter, I just want to say I'm sorry I took as long as I did to update this story again. I've had a lot on my plate lately since I started my next semester of college, and ever since Yashahime came out, it inspired me to do a rewrite of my original Inuyasha fic (Rise of a Warrior), and a lot of my attention has been focused towards that lately. But now that I'm through the first two seasons, I decided it was only fair to get back to this and some of my other stories. After this, I plan to update my DBZ Next Generation fic, and then finally close out my DBGT story, Piccolo's Counterattack. Bottom line, I've got a lot of catching up to do with my other fics. But I fully intend to do just that. Until next time everyone, I know this is pretty overdue, but happy 2021!