Loud clashes of metal were heard, the source came from within the large room where the two Erzas were fighting. Their battle was causing the entire room to shake as if there was an earthquake. Their battle had already sliced off half of the statue-Faust's head. Both Erzas landed on the single bridge that kept them above the water below them. Erza Scarlet was in her Fire Empress Armor while Knightwalker had three prongs in front of her spear.
"The same face… the same voice… It truly is uncanny." Knightwalker commented.
"Your strength is interesting as well," Erza replied.
"You're more irritating than that girl with the blue fire… It's time to end this…"
Both Erzas glared heavily at each other and they both shot forward towards each other. Knightwalker reeling back her spear with both hands while Scarlet had her sword on her right side as she prepared to swing it through her charging foe.
Both Erzas let out angered roars as they got closer and closer to each other. And their inevitable collision had created a bright gold spark in the middle of the room that created a shockwave the blew back anything in their wake and it even caused the water below them to move rapidly like stormy waters.
Their fearsome eyes glared at each other as their latest clash ended in yet another stalemate.
Elsewhere within Edolas, on the higher island of Extalia, there were three pairs of footsteps walking through the main city that had the feline inhabitants surprised. Wendy and Chun were walking through the feline city with Carla following behind them. The two girls walked with a purpose while the cats around them were asking questions among themselves.
"Hey… aren't those-" one of the cats asked while pointing at the three.
"That Fallen…"
"And she's with a human!"
"Ah! I've never seen one before!"
"Human! A real human!"
"W-why are they here?"
"That fallen has brought a human here!"
The trio stopped right in the middle of the city as they appeared to be surrounded by the nervous Exceeds.
"We aren't here to cause trouble, we come here with a warning!" Chun said, which made many of the Exceeds gazing at them with shocked faces.
"Please, we need to see the Queen. Extalia is in grave danger!" Wendy said with a serious expression.
There was nothing but silence as the three stood still waiting for a response from one of the Exceeds. While they could barrel through and see the Queen themselves, doing that would only send the wrong message.
They heard the sound of someone bouncing and they saw a black and white cat with a long neck jumping in the background, leaping through the crowd while throwing his fisted paw up and down.
"Move aside! Let me through!"
"-Sir Nabi!"
"Perfect timing!"
He leaped to the three and he looked panicked as he met with them. "You can't be here! Fallens and humans aren't allowed in Extalia!" Nabi said while still moving his arm up and down.
"This is no time for that." Carla sternly said as she had her arms folded. "If you value your lives, you'll hear us out!"
"Where did Mr. Nichiya and the others go?! They left to pursue you!"
Chun gave a serious look to the feline. "The Royal Army did the same thing to them as they did to our friends. They turned them into a lacrima!"
There was silence among the crowd of cats before they all looked to erupt in mocking laughter. Wendy, Chun, and Carla looked shocked by their laughter while Nabi had an expression that hinted more at nervous fear.
"Uh… you did hear us alright did you!?" Chun said. "The army turned your guys into a magic crystal, and you find that funny?!"
"As if humans could ever beat the Extalian Royal Guard!"
"What a bunch of baloney!"
Wendy glared at the laughing cats. "It's the truth! And the royal army is going to attack here next!"
"Hah, whatever!"
Another orange cat with a black top hat confidently folded his arms. "The queen'll just blow 'em away with her magic!"
"Yeah, yeah!"
Chun though wasn't amused. "Even if your Queen can somehow stop the Royal Army. Zong has a plan to massacre everyone. That includes all of you!"
"Oh please, he is only one person! What can he do against our Queen?"
"Yeah, she will send him flying off the island the second he gets here."
Despite their laughter, Nabi only looked even more scared and he was beginning to shiver.
"Everyone, this is serious! You all need to run away from here!" Wendy pleaded.
One of the Exceeds picked up a rock and she smirked as she still found their warnings hilarious. "Shut up human!" she tossed the rock at Wendy's face.
"Ow!"
"Wendy!" Carla and Chun exclaimed while glaring at the cats.
"You little- ah!" Chun found a rock hitting her forehead as the rest of the cats followed suit and tossed rocks at them.
"You don't know how strong the queen's magic is!"
"We're Exceeds!"
"We're better than humans!"
The rocks were raining down on the three and Wendy yelled at them to stop, yet they wouldn't comply. Their laughter turned to anger. Anger that humans and a Fallen would dare come onto their land. They immediately assumed that their Queen would drive them away if they couldn't.
"Get off Extalia!"
"You don't belong here!"
"The Queen rules this land!"
"Exceeds will always be better than humans!"
"We will always be better, as long as we have our Queen!"
Wendy tried to get a few words in while she was being pelted with rocks. "Everyone, if you hate humans so much, then take your anger out on us! But please leave, Carla. She's one of your own! Please! Listen to Carla!"
The Exceeds though was having none of it as they chanted for the three to get out. As this happened, Nabi stood there in fear as he continued to watch his fellow Exceeds try to drive Carla, Wendy, and Chun off their land.
"Wendy…" Carla suddenly found herself being hugged by Wendy, acting as her shield to keep the rocks away from her.
"Why… why!?" Carla cried as tears fell from her eyes. Not only had their warning fallen on deaf ears, but they were being ridiculed for it, and now they were being attacked for it.
Chun kept herself safe when she guarded against the rocks, but as she thought back to their comments. Chun could only remember how she had heard them before. How many people within the military of the Fire Nation view the rest of the world. They saw themselves as untouchable, and the royal families had similar thoughts. That they were better than the rest of the world, their military might would be unrivaled by any other nation. And just the fact that they saw their Queen as akin to a god, was all she needed to hear.
"ENOUGH!" she pointed her right fingers into the sky and fired hot lightning from them which lit up the entire city in blue flashes of light. The Exceeds immediately stopped as many of them looked in fear as Chun glared at them. Nabi at this point looked terrified. "We came up here for one reason, to warn you! To help you! But…" she clenched her fist. "…if this is really how you treat people who are different-" she then gestured to Carla. "-treat one of your own? Then maybe you deserve what's coming to you!" she exclaimed angrily.
"Chun…" Wendy muttered as she and Carla were still hugging each other.
"We tried doing this the easy way, we tried to save you because guess what? Despite how vile every single one of you is, we figured you don't deserve the fate of what happened to Nichiya and the others." Chun started to clench her fists. "But the way you see yourselves higher than everyone else… it makes me sick! I have someone down there who wouldn't think twice about slaughtering all of you! And she's on my side!" Chun slightly bent her knees and got into a firebending stance. "So go ahead! Just go ahead and try to throw more rocks at us! But if you do…" there were bright purple flames that covered her hands, as her bandages kept her hands from being burned. "You better be ready for me to fight back!"
Below them, on the island where the giant lacrima sat, Gajeel was blocking Pantherlily's giant sword with his iron wrist bangles. The force sent him sliding on his feet, and he was about to get to the edge of the island, but a thick wall had gotten in his way and it stopped his movement.
"Gajeel!" Happy cried, he saw Toph had erected the wall that saved him from falling.
"I gotcha!" since Gajeel's momentum was stopped Pantherlily tried to swing his sword back, but was shocked when he saw Gajeel holding it.
"Hey, brat! Now's your chance!"
A line of earth pillars rushed to Pantherlily, and he had nowhere to go so he let go of his sword and leaped upwards allowing the earth wave to miss him. His wings appeared and he flew to Gajeel and threw a punch to his face, sending him back. This also made him release his sword.
Pantherlily held his large sword in an attack stance as he eyed Gajeel and Toph. "My sword can shatter iron. To think it could be stopped barehanded…"
"Unfortunately, Iron Dragon scales ain't made of ordinary iron," Gajeel explained.
"To think I would be challenged by a Dragon Slayer and a blind girl, your Earth Land magic is incredible."
Toph pointed at him. "Please, I never needed sight since I was a child. I was taught Earthbending from the true masters, and now I can see… in more ways than you can imagine. But here's my question for you: The heck are you doing, helping the Royal Army? You're a cat, right? Shouldn't you be up in the sky with the rest of them?"
Pantherlily remained silent as he glared at them. "Um… You're an Exceed, right? Just like me…" Happy muttered as he shivered while asking his question. He shakily pulled his green pack to his front and was looking to pull out something. "Hey… Want a fish?"
"The heck are you scared for?" Toph exclaimed directing her voice at Happy. "I can feel your shivering from here. Also, how long has that fish been in there, and where'd you even get it?"
"I left them…" Pantherlily answered.
"Huh?" Gajeel inquired.
"I abandoned my homeland…" he shot forward to the pair in renewed anger. "That kingdom of false gods!" he slammed his sword on the ground where they stood and Gajeel looked to have taken the full brunt of his attack. His arms crossed in front of him as the sword grit against his arms yet again. Pantherlily flew in the air so that he wouldn't get caught off guard by an attack from Toph.
"False gods?" Happy questioned.
"Sounds to me you've got a problem with those cats up there too, don't you?" Toph asked.
"You didn't fit in, huh?" Gajeel said. "Nice. You're just like me and the brat." Gajeel thought back to his time in Fairy Tail back when he didn't fit in. He was treated as hostile by nearly everyone there, even though he tried to stay out of everyone's way.
"I can understand where you're coming from… not fitting in. People expecting you to be different from who you are. You're not too different from us, y'know." Gajeel was heard laughing as there was bright energy glowing from underneath him. "Haha, I like ya!" the ground below him was starting to collapse as he sunk into it. Pantherlily's sword was cracking from the sheer magical power that Gajeel was putting out. "Gihi!" he threw his hands open and he managed to shatter Pantherlily's sword entirely and the large metal bits rained all over them.
"I'm making him my cat!" he declared with a smirk.
"HUH?!" Happy exclaimed with white eyes.
"Haha! Hell yeah!" Toph yelled in gleeful excitement.
Pantherlily looked in shock as his sword was destroyed. "My Bustermarn!" Gajeel leaped up and off of the crystal and he threw a powerful punch to Pantherlily's face.
"First, I gotta teach ya which of us is stronger!"
The largest bits of Pantherlily's Bustermarm were floating in the air before they magnetized towards Toph, Happy was shocked to see that Toph made herself a pair of rocky gauntlets with very sharp maroon spikes sticking out of them. The spikes were the remains of Pantherlily's sword.
"If you're gonna be Gajeel's cat, you can't be weak like the other two!" she shot herself into the air and threw a hard punch to Pantherlily which send him flying outward and his wings expanded to keep him in the air. Toph landed hard on the ground and Gajeel stood alongside her.
"Follow my lead, brat!"
"Sure, just don't get in the way, metalhead!" they both shot to the hovering muscular Exceed and they were throwing hard punches with their fists to Pantherlily who could no longer defend himself.
Happy saw the two of them taking turns to pummel Pantherlily. "Whoa…" Happy gasped. "It's like a switch has been flipped or something…"
Toph threw a fisted uppercut, making a few cuts thanks to the metal from his own sword. Gajeel punched him hard in the face and sent him back down to the hard ground. "Now I can hold my own against Salamander and the little girl!" above him, Gajeel was puffing his cheeks. "Iron Dragon's Roar!" A tremendous force of iron shards fell onto Pantherlily and he was sinking into the ground.
This attack had taken out a chunk of the island, as an explosion rocked the floating landmass. Gajeel and Toph stood, waiting for the dust to clear. "AAAAH! Gajeel looks so scary!" Happy cried as he flew far from the battle, not wanting to get hit by the massive debris. Gajeel was laughing manically after he landed his attack.
"Heh, don't laugh too soon, metalhead. This kitty's got some fight left in 'im!" the dust was clearing and they saw Pantherlily on his feet. He threw off his cape as his helmet was destroyed. This revealed his circular ears and the scar around his left eye. He had armor around his top half and had metal wrist bracers and black pants.
"Gihi! That's more like it!"
"You're both strong," Pantherlily said, and in a surprise, he smirked and shot past Toph and threw himself at Gajeel and punched him square in the face. A wicked smirk that almost mirrored Gajeel's was on Pantherlily's face. As Gajeel slid back, his excited face returned and gave the black Exceed an uppercut, which made him reel back. Suddenly the floor underneath Pantherlily moved him back and he looked to his side and Toph landed a punch into his face with her sharp rocky fist. He slid back, cracked his fists, and smirked.
"Hehe, bring it on c-!" Toph didn't get to finish as she was punched in the face, sending her back flying.
"Oi! You're my cat!" a hard punch hit Pantherlily yet again and this developed into a three-way fistfight between the combatants where Gajeel and Toph double-teamed the muscular feline.
"RAAAAHH!" the three exclaimed.
Happy landed back on the island and eyed them nervously as a beat of sweat fell down his face. "You guys… it is me, or have you forgotten why we're here?"
The three slid back from each other and smirked at each other while chuckling evilly.
Meanwhile, within the castle's dark halls. Zuko and Gray stood over the defeated body of Sugarboy. Gray held the icy key above his hand. They both turned back when they heard footsteps approaching them.
"GRAY, ZUKO!" Natsu was fast approaching them with what looked like a furious look on his face. "I finally caught up to you, you jerks!" he slid to a stop and glared at the two.
"What are you so mad about?" Zuko asked. "We took care of it." he gestured to Sugarboy's defeated body as he was in nothing but black brief and pink boots as all of his pink armor shattered.
Natsu shook the unconscious body of Sugarboy. "Where is the key!? Hand it over! You chinny bastard!"
"Uh, Natsu…" Zuko tried to get Natsu's attention to the icy key.
"Nah… let him figure it out on his own," Gray said with a smirk. "Anyway, things are ok. The situation's changed a bit, though."
However, they could see the rest of their group catching up with them. "Hey!" Azula exclaimed, glaring at Natsu. "The hell is with you leaving the rest of us there? That eager to get into trouble, idiot!?"
Natsu dropped Sugarboy. "It's not my fault you slow me down!"
Lisanna bowed in apology. "Sorry… Aang and Hen had to Earthbend all of us out of there."
Azula jerked her thumb back to Lucy. "If anyone slowed us down it was Lucy. Do you have any idea how top-heavy she is? The Avatar and the blockhead had to use their combined Earthbending just to pry her out." she giggled. "I must admit, it was hilarious…"
"HEY!" Lucy hotly retorted.
Katara had her hands on her hips. "Is it too much to ask to keep the snarky comments to yourself?"
"Hey… I'm not trying to kill you guys, that's all you're getting from me!"
Aang placed her hands on Katara's shoulder. "Maybe we should give her a little more time?"
Hen stepped forward as he had Coco on his back. "Whoa… what you guys to him?" he asked referring to Sugarboy.
"Hey, it's not our fault he has… questionable fashion choices." Zuko retorted, he then eyed his sister. "Speaking of which, Azula. What… are you wearing!?" Gray snickered as he tried to hold back a laugh.
Azula's face turned red and she covered her top half with her arms. "Oh trust me... I'll tell you all about it after I kill both Sokka and Hen in the most painful way I can think of!" she then eyed Gray. "And why should you laugh? Half the time you never wear a damn shirt! Who are you trying to impress here? Lucy?"
Lucy gasped while Katara had a tired look on her face. "If Juvia was here… she'd be freaking out by now…"
Aang walked up to Zuko and Gray. "So about that?" he asked, looking at the ice key.
"We can use this as the key itself," Gray said. "We can save our friends… Save everyone!"
"Huh?"
"Wait… really?" Katara asked.
Zuko explained. "Their goal was to use the Dragon Chain Cannon to crash the lacrima into Extalia. But Sugarboy let something slip while we fought him. If we fire the cannon directly at the lacrima. The condensed Dragon Slayer magic should turn everyone back to normal!"
"Haha! Yes, I don't really get it, but let's do it!" Natsu exclaimed.
"I can't even with you…" Azula muttered at Natsu's words. "So… where exactly is this Dragon Chain Cannon."
"The cannon is apparently up ahead," Gray said. "But… there's also no way to get inside the room."
"Why's that?" Sokka asked.
"It's apparently made from a 'Wizard Canceler' anti-magic lacrima or something. Magic won't work on it."
"Magic won't work on it!" Hen repeated. "Last time I checked, Bending isn't magic. Plus… if it's a Lacrima we gotta deal with, a little earthbending here, and lava explosion there, and boom, we're in! And even if that won't work! Just look at our team! We've got so many powerhouses that no 'anti-magic' door can hold us back!"
"Exactly!" Sokka said in agreement. "Plus we have Aang if nothing else works. Then Aang can use his Avatar State and we'd be all… Boom! Pow! Dragon Slayer slice! And we win!" he said.
Azula sighed. "Well… if we're going to do this. Let's do it as quickly as possible! Last time I checked we can't linger around."
They could hear footsteps coming towards them accompanied by tired panting. They saw Erza Knightwalker slowly walking to them, presumably tired after her battle with Erza Scarlet. "Here you are…" she said.
Lucy and Lisanna comically held onto each other. "GAAAH! IT'S EVIL ERZA!" Lucy exclaimed.
"The Edolas one!?" Hen exclaimed, he put Coco on the ground. "Sorry little one, things are about to get intense."
"B-but if she's here…" Aang started. "Then doesn't that mean…"
"No…" Natsu clenched his fists. "Our Erza… lost?!"
Zuko got in a stance and was about to fight along with everyone else. "Then we'll just have to rescue her when we are done with this one!"
Azula stepped forward in front of everyone and glared at Knightwalker. "You guys can relax, she's our Erza."
"B-but… how can you tell?" Lucy asked while she shivered.
"Unlike the rest of you, I have an eye for details. Your Edolas counterparts may look similar, but there are key differences. Remember when we met Edolas Lucy? She was missing Lucy's Fairy Tail marking, and she had a black tattoo. And as I went toe to toe with Evil Erza and I got a close look at her. She got scratched across her nose below her eyes. However, this Erza doesn't have that mark. So are you going to reveal yourself, Erza?"
The red-haired woman smirked. "Aye, yeah it's me." The rest of the group was comically shocked while Azula proudly folded her arms.
"Where would you people be without me?"
After Azula revealed her ruse, Erza was surprised to see a certain white-haired girl among them, and her eyes shrunk. "Wait… Lisanna?!"
"Eh… hi Erza," she answered with a nervous smile.
"But… how… wait, are you her Edolas counterpart?"
Aang stepped forward. "She isn't, and it's a long story but we don't have time. We'll explain later."
"So, where is Evil Erza?" Lucy asked.
"She's indisposed at the moment," Erza said. "But she might not be down for long."
Coco looked in shock at Erza who was dressed exactly like the Erza she knew. "S-She really beat Erza… the Fairy Hunter?!"
"So?" Azula started. "Seeing as you've decided to dress just like her, I can assume you have a plan in the works?"
Erza smirked in response to Azula's question.
…
Erza was seen walking over to the central chamber for the Dragon Chain Cannon, she was still in Knightwalker's clothes and behind her, she had Natsu and Gray. Tied in chains behind her. She dragged their beaten bodies to the chamber where four guards were standing in front of them.
The guards looked shocked to see her. "Captain Knightwalker?! Are you unharmed?"
"Does she look unharmed to you?!" another guard muttered.
"But how did you get those injuries?"
"It doesn't matter!" she replied with a serious tone.
"Who are they?" he asked, referring to Natsu and Gray.
"The keys to the Dragon Chain Cannon." The guards muttered among themselves for a moment before she continued. "Is His Majesty inside?"
"Y-yes!"
"Please go on in!"
The thick stone door started to open upward, as a bright light illuminated the dimly lit hall. "Everything is set. Everlasting magic power is now within our grasp."
…
Right below them, within a tunnel, Aang and Hen were burrowing a path underneath them. Behind them was Katara, Lisanna, Sokka and Zuko. They needed to move while the sound of the door opening would prevent the people above from hearing them.
"This is so not fair!" Hen complained as he pushed the wall forward to continue digging their path. "I wanted to be the one to be captured, I wanted to show that King what for."
"But you're not a Dragon Slayer." Zuko started. "And unlike Gray, you can't make a duplicate key. You'd be of little use. Erza Knightwalker would have killed you on the spot rather than bring you to the King himself."
"Plus… just in case this doesn't work. We still have Lucy, Azula, and Coco with a backup plan." Lisanna said.
"And if all goes right… then there should be significantly fewer soldiers to deal with."
…
After the door opened, they could see King Faust with a large group of guards inside. The King was quickly informed of Erza's arrival and he questioned her. "Erza. Is it true that you've brought the key?"
"Unfortunately it was destroyed, but fear not!" she roughly dropped the two on their stomachs and pointed her sword at Gray. "This one can make a new one with his magic. He is one of the Dragon Slayer's comrades." Gray angrily turned away.
"Is he connected with the lacrima that disappeared from the town plaza?"
"Indeed. But that isn't all. Zong is planning to betray us!"
The King's face showed a wave of rising anger. "What did you say?"
"He's been using us. He wants to absorb all the magic for himself and use it to destroy Edolas! I recommend that we apprehend him, immediately!"
Faust threw his arm out and looked at the soldiers on his right side. "You lot! Search the palace and find Zong quickly! Bring him to me, dead or alive! He will not get in our way to achieve everlasting magic!" The soldiers on the King's right gasped and many of them were nervously muttering to themselves. Knowing how powerful Zong was, they didn't want to even get close to that monster, let alone try to defeat him. "Why are you still here!? Did I not give you an order!?" he angrily asked.
The soldiers sprinted out of the room and underneath them, the second group could feel their footsteps leaving the room.
"And there they go… this will make it much, much easier," Sokka said.
"I don't like this," Aang added. "If they find Zong, or if he finds them. He won't hesitate to kill them."
"I don't like it either," Sokka said. "But it lightens the load. Besides, you and Natsu beat the life out of him and forced him to run away. Maybe they can actually capture him, which means we can take Zong out of the picture without doing anything."
Aang thought back to Zong's sinister smirk in the prison and while they were fighting. He knew that despite what he and Natsu did to him, he wouldn't go down easily, even if he was injured and licking his wounds somewhere. Zong enjoyed the pain being inflicted on him and enjoyed inflicting pain onto others. "Sokka, I really hope you're right."
…
Above them, Erza cut through the chains that restricted Gray. Erza held her sword to Natsu's neck in a threatening manner. "Stand, Ice wizard. Don't try anything funny." Gray stood and saw the large structure in front of him that formed the mechanism for the Dragon Chain Cannon. "Activate the Dragon Chain Cannon."
"So this is the thing." Gray thought. "Seems to be a pretty complicated gizmo!"
Erza feigned impatience. "Hurry up!"
"I've got no choice…" he stood close to the machine and he formed the ice key in front of everyone. Many of the guards were impressed by the somewhat simple action that Gray had performed with his magic.
"W-Whoa…"
"So that's Earth Land magic?"
"Why is he naked?"
Gray rolled his eyes. "Man. I'm not some sideshow freak!" he walked over to the main console which had a large keyway, specifically for that key. Gray stuck the ice key inside and turned it, making a loud clank that echoed all over the room. "I've only got one shot at this!"
The console started to glow brightly, the Dragon runes on the machine had fiery auras all over it as the cannon began its activation sequence. The flame auras spread through the marking on the cannon and it was spreading through the veins of it. The eyes of the Faust statues shone bright red and let out bright, gleaming lights.
The King eyed the cannon as it was activating and for the first time, he showed excitement as opposed to his usual stoic anger. "Oh! Wonderful! Splendid!" he laughed to himself as Erza eyed him as she was also astonished by the wonder of the cannon.
…
The crystals within the palace, in the chamber where Natsu, Wendy, and Aang were previously held, shone bright red. The outsides of the palace, going through the entire city was covered in the same red aura. There were loud clangs that were heard from all over.
Within the Royal City, the people were celebrating as the Dragon Chain Cannon was activating. The city was the brightest thing in the sky as the sun was setting and the sky was transitioning from peach to black.
The red energy suddenly ceased and the palace started to sink into the city as it looked as if it was transforming along with the entire palace. There was a cannon-like muzzle that was formed from the swirling steps of the kingdom.
The soldiers outside of the palace that was guarding the cat Lacrima, stood by as buildings were moving.
"The city is transforming!?" Lucy exclaimed as she, Coco, and Azula were running through the outside halls. "What in the world is going on?!" her white eyes hinted at terror as she looked at the shifting buildings.
"The Dragon Chain Cannon's been activated!" Coco replied.
"It's almost like the Gildarts shift!"
"So the Dragon Chain Cannon causes the entire city to move around?" Azula questioned. "Is this because of some destructive moron too?"
"The King designed it!" Coco replied.
Azula had an annoyed expression. "That's what I thought…"
...
Gray was eyeing the machine as the entire room was shaking. "Crap… how do I re-aim it!?" Erza still stood firm, while holding Natsu. The king was outstretching his hands as he laughed maniacally to himself.
The room was covered in a bright glow and from the top of the Cannon's muzzle, it discharged a tremendous beam of red magic that fired into the sky. The King finally made his command. "PREPARE TO FIRE!"
Erza whispered into Natsu's ear. "This is the end…" she tossed him forward. "NOW NATSU!"
Flames were covering him as he smirked evilly. "YEAH!"
The King looked back. "What?!"
Natsu broke free of his chains and had flames swirling around him. "Fire Dragon's… Wing Attack!" He made tremendous whips of fire from his arms that shot a huge amount of soldiers into the air.
"What in blazes…?!" the king asked as he tightened the grip around his staff. However, the ground below him was heating up and there were bright red cracks that spread through. He stepped back as a thick pillar of lava exploded out of the hole and when he looked up he could see Hen above everyone.
"Finally!? I was sick of waiting!" he used the lava pillar to form a thick lava whip to take out even more guards. He landed on the ground and behind him, was the rest of his group. "Hi… this is an ambush!" he said with a smirk as the smoke was clearing. He then made two long walls and he made a straight line between himself and the King. The guards couldn't do anything to scale or climb the wall. "All yours!" the King could see Erza speeding towards him allowing her to restrain his arms behind his back and held his sword close to his neck.
"THE LAUNCH IS OFF!" Erza exclaimed. As Hen let down the walls, the guards could see the danger their King was in. The guards were silent as they didn't know what to do, they knew that any wrong move could end in their king getting killed.
"Erza! Curse you!" the King exclaimed. "What is the meaning of this!?" before he could get an answer, Erza was covered in a golden light as she returned to her regular clothes and armor.
"I am Erza Scarlet of Earth Land!" The King was fuming as he eyed his captor.
"Nice work, Erza!" Katara said.
"Haha, you dopes fell for it!" Natsu exclaimed. "This was Plan D! 'D' for Deception!"
Zuko stepped forward. "We only want one thing! Aim the Dragon Chain Cannon at the lacrima! Or your King won't live long enough to see you have 'everlasting magic'!"
"Don't listen to her! FIRE IT NOW!" Faust exclaimed.
"Shut your face, old man!" Hen said. "We have the high ground!" He looked at the rest of the guards. "And if any of you idiots make the wrong move, your helmets won't protect you from the concussions I'm gonna give you!"
"W-what do we do!"
"You guys are cowards, resorting to taking hostages!"
Aang looked at that single soldier. "You've forced our hand! You've could have come to Earthland and just asked for help with your disappearing magic, but instead, you just want to take it all for yourselves," he said. "I can't believe that I'm agreeing with Zong… He actually made a fair point back there…"
Natsu smirked. "We'll do whatever we have to for our friends!"
"Hurry up!" Erza hurried.
"We have to do as she says! His Majesty's in danger!"
"Never mind me!" Faust exclaimed. "Fire it and exterminate the Exceeds!"
Despite the King's order, the guards finally made their decision. "Aim for the giant lacrima!" There was a giant dragon's face that stuck itself out of the cannon's muzzle.
"YOU FOOLS! You're going to ruin our chance for everlasting magic power!"
Erza though sensed something above them and from the top of the tower, there was a red-haired figure falling towards them. "SCARLET!" she exclaimed. Knightwalker fell from the high ceiling and swung her javelin and Erza blocked it with her sword, forcing Erza to relinquish her hold on Faust.
"Knightwalker!?" The King exclaimed.
"H-her!? I thought you beat her!" Katara exclaimed.
"It doesn't matter! We have to get him!" Gray exclaimed, but they were swarmed by attacking soldiers that kept the King safe
They quickly changed their order. "His Majesty is free! Reset to the original target!" Once the order was made there was a tremendous dragon's roar that echoed through the entire kingdom.
The two Erzas clashed their blades again. "Knightwalker! Now, of all times…!"
"We're not finished! Scarlet!"
Faust stood in front of the console and raised his arms. "FIRE!"
The cannon was nearly completing its charge cycle as the blades around the cannon were spinning while red energy was covering them. The blades spun faster and faster and the dragon's maw opened making a tremendous roar.
Everyone in the group was terrified as there was nothing they could do to stop the cannon from firing and they couldn't change its course. The dragon's head, shot out of the cannon with a dragon chain made of bones, tethering it to the Kingdom. It roared and snapped at the air as it was speeding to its target.
…
Meanwhile on the giant Lacrima. Gajeel, Toph, and Pantherlily's fight was brought to a pause as they heard the roar. "Hey brat did you hear that?" they felt a crash below them.
"I felt that!" Toph exclaimed. Happy bounced on his head in front of them after the crash.
Pantherlily smirked. "Hmph, the Dragon Chain Cannon has attacked."
"So that's what that was!?" Toph fearfully exclaimed.
"So the others didn't make it in time!?" Gajeel yelled.
Happy flew down to see the dragon's head, jammed into the rock that held the giant Lacrima. "What the…? There's something big stuck to it!" The eyes of the dragon grew wide and there was fiery energy spreading through the veins of the creature and it looked to be burrowing through the rock. "Oh no…"
Toph could feel where the Dragon was burrowing through. "Metalhead, this is really, really bad!" her eyes grew wide as she heard a clink below the ground. "It… it's… ATTACHING ITSELF TO THE LACRIMA!?" the lacrima was changing to bright red and orange in color.
…
In the palace, the King was notified that the Dragon Chain attached itself to the lacrima. "Attachment Complete! Your Majesty!"
The King had a maniacal expression. "CRASH IT INTO EXTALIA!"
"NO!" Aang's arrows started to shine brightly and he made a tremendous explosion of wind that blew away all the soldiers, leaving the King wide open. His eyes were engulfed in white.
"W-what is that power!?" Faust thought. Aang was about to make his move on both the King and Knightwalker but there was an explosion in the wall.
Arriving through the hole was a giant, blue dragon-like creature. Lucy and Azula were sitting on top of it. "GUYS!" the blonde mage yelled.
"Lucy!?" Katara exclaimed.
"When did you turn into a monster?" Natsu asked.
Lucy and Azula showed themselves on the head of the creature. "JUST GET THE HELL ON, MORON!" Azula exclaimed.
"A Legion?!" one of the beaten soldiers muttered.
Faust looked at the creature. "H-How does that girl have a Legion?!"
Coco appeared next to Lucy. "It's mine!"
"Coco!" Faust angrily exclaimed.
Everyone was climbing on the Legion, except for Aang as he was still looking at the machine in his Avatar State.
"Hey, Aang! You too!" Lucy exclaimed.
He took a deep breath, calmed himself and he looked at the Legion behind him and leaped right onto it. But Azula noticed Knightwalker standing on the ground. "YOU AGAIN!?" she made lightning dance around her fingers.
"Azula! What are you doing!?" Lisanna asked.
"Doing what we should have done earlier, eliminating a threat!" she shot a lightning strike down to Erza Knightwalker who didn't see it coming and she narrowly avoided it, but the lightning strike grazed the side of her face and it exploded down on the ground, even sending a few more soldiers flying.
Knightwalker recovered and she glared at her counterpart and Azula as they flew off on the Legion.
"Azula… Scarlet…!" Knightwalker muttered to herself, she took a blade and sliced a large chunk of her hair off. Drastically shortening her hair and she tossed it to the ground. "After them!" she commanded. She took a large group of soldiers with her as she walked out of the room. "2nd Magic Warfare Unit, Legion Platoon! All forces, move out!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Faust looked straight ahead as he grew tired of the people from Earth Land trying to ruin his plans. "I, too, will go. Ready the Dorma Anim." every one of the soldiers around him flinched. "B-but that's forbidden magic!"
Another spoke in his place. "Article 23 of the Royal Charter says any usage of it is strictly prohibited!"
He didn't care and he angrily glared at the soldiers. "READY IT!"
Zong who was on the castle grounds looked up at the sky to see the lacrima moving to its intended target. He had water on the palm of his right hand and he looked to be healing his wounds. "Hehe, I may be beaten up… but I've got a good seat to see the destruction of those feline 'gods'. Looks like I get to watch a slaughter for once, rather than cause it. Feels kinda weird honestly." He shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well, ya can't kill 'em all!"
He could hear footsteps behind him and saw a large group of soldiers surrounding him, ready to apprehend him. "Oh, hello. I hope you came to watch the beautiful destruction."
One of them nervously stepped forward. "W-we've come to a-arrest you for your c-crimes against the Edolas Kingdom. W-we ask that you c-come p-p-peacefully."
Zong's smile turned to a frown as he raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure about this?" All the soldiers flinched at his question. "You all look like you're about to soil yourselves. Seriously, this has got to be the lamest attempt at a capture I've ever seen," he added while rolling his eyes. "And as you can see, I'm busy trying to watch the show," he said pointing to the lacrima that was speeding through the air. "So I'll give you a chance to make the right decision. Get me some snacks, grab a chair, and let's watch the Exceed extinction together." All the guards stood stiff and they aimed their javelins at him. "Hmph... your loyalty is misplaced…" He had electricity surging around his hand which had many of the soldiers shivering. "I guess I'll make this quick so I don't miss a second of this. Before we do this, I ask that you bow your heads, put your hands together, and pray to your god that you somehow live through this…" Zong smirked. "But spoiler alert…" He aimed his hand at them as it was crackling with lightning. "I won't be listening!"
Gajeel looked outward at the sky as the crystalline object was soaring through the sky. "What the…? Is it me, or is it moving?!"
"Yep!" Toph said. "And that can't be good."
"This is our military's plan at work." Pantherlily said "We're going to smash the lacrima into Extalia and annihilate both." he said.
Even Gajeel was disgusted by their plan. "That's messed up. You guys are insane."
"Like 'worse than Fire Nation' insane," Toph added.
"How…?" Toph turned back to Happy who was shivering to himself as tears were hanging below his eyes. "How can you do something so horrible?"
Below them, the group that was previously in the chamber for the Dragon Chain Cannon was speeding through the air, closing towards the Lacrima, with Natsu standing on the head of the Legion.
On Extalia the Lacrima was getting closer and close as the peach sky finally turned dark and the planets above were illuminating the sky. Within the Royal Extalia Palace, there were elderly Exceeds on the palace floor.
"Here is our report: The rebelling humans have attached the Dragon Chain Cannon to the large lacrima and are attempting to crash it into Extalia." Reporting this was an Exceed who was part of their royal army as he had many Exceed soldiers behind him. "Sir Nichiya and most of the Royal Guard have been turned into a Lacrima are being held in the Royal City. Unless something is done, Extalia will be…"
"Oh… this is horrible!"
"How could they do this…"
"To think they would stoop so low…" The elderly Exceeds commented on the situation as there was a lone figure on a throne that was covered by a shadow.
The lead soldier continued his report. "Additionally, a Fallen and two humans have appeared in the castle town, and are apparently telling everyone to abandon and flee Extalia. The town is in an uproar, what should we do about it?"
The figure on the throne finally stood. "Take me there." she requested.
The elder Exceeds looked at her curiously. "Your Highness! You cannot be serious!"
"What do you even intend to do?"
She eyed everyone in the throne room. "The time… has come… to finally end this charade…"
"GUYS!" Happy cried. "Hurry and demolish the lacrima and turn everyone back!" he cried to Gajeel and Toph.
"Not enough time!" Gajeel said as the lacrima was closing in on Extalia. "And It's speedin' up!"
Happy looked at Toph. "TOPH, do something!?"
"What can I do?! Even if I could move this thing by myself - through the damn air, mind you, that weapon swinging it would be way too powerful for me to overcome!"
As Toph said this, the Legion flew right up to the lacrima island.
"HURRY UP!"
Toph's eyes widened slightly after hearing Natsu's yell. "Wait… is that…?"
The legion was closing in on the island. "We can't let it crash into it!"
The Legion crashed headfirst into the island, making a loud crash as it tried to somehow push back against the lacrima island. "Stay strong! Legion!" Coco encouraged as the monster was pushing against the Lacrima. It roared as its eyes shone.
"Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the thing isn't slowing down!" Azula noted.
"We must release our magic onto it!" Erza said.
"PLEASE STOP!" Lucy cried. She, Lisanna, Erza, and Gray starting pouring their magic towards the lacrima island, Natsu sped forward.
"STOP YOU!" he ran to the nose of the Legion and was physically pushing against the island, an orange magic seal appeared as his hands were pushing onto it.
"NATSU!" Happy flew down near him and he looked nervous as he was supposed to have gotten Gajeel and Toph to free the others from the Lacrima. But he saw Natsu's frown turn into a confident smirk.
"Help me, partner!"
Happy was touched as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "AYE SIR!" he flew down to help push against the Lacrima.
Gajeel smirked after he saw the sight. "We have a cease-fire, for now, black cat!" he exclaimed as he was sprinting to the edge of the lacrima island.
"Y-you're running away!?" Pantherlily asked.
"I ain't gonna run or hide! I'll finish our fight after we've stopped this thing!" Gajeel said.
Toph smirked. "And I'm gonna have a front-row seat."
"Wait! You think you can stop this giant island and the Dragon Chain attached to it?!"
The blind earthbender threw her fist into her palm. "We won't know unless we try won't we?"
"It's pointless!" Pantherlily said. "There is no 'after' for us!" he closed his eyes and started to shiver to himself. "There's going to be nothing left!"
"HEY!" Gajeel pointed at him. "After this, I'm takin' you back to my guild, even if I hafta drag ya! And then you'll be my cat! Gihihihi!" he leaped off the Lacrima and Pantherlily watched as Toph was about to walk off as well.
"You can go down cryin' or you can go down fightin'!" Toph said glaring at Pantherlily. "I've made my choice, so what will you do?" she leaped off the lacrima along with Gajeel.
Azula looked forward as she sat next to Lucy. She looked at Hen, Aang, Sokka, and Katara. "You four, with me!"
"Huh!?" Sokka asked as they saw Azula running to where Natsu was standing.
"What are you doing?" Hen asked.
"PLAN S!" she exclaimed.
"What's Plan S?" Katara asked.
Azula kicked off the shoes she was wearing. "'S' for Stupid! This whole thing is STUPID!" she leaped up and had flames shooting from her feet, boosting her to the lacrima and she was pushing against it, above Natsu.
Hen and Sokka followed her lead and they pushed right with Natsu. Hen stuck his hands into the rock.
Aang's arrows shone and he started to push against it as hard as he could. The island was closing in and the energy surrounding them was starting to chip off the island that Extalia sat on.
"CRAP!" Sokka exclaimed. "It's no use, we're still moving!"
Natsu pushed even harder. He threw off the jacket and poured more of his magic into it. "DAMMIT!"
Aang focused harder and his eyes were covered by the bright aura and he let out an angered yell that echoed across Extalia. The Lacrima island crashed into Extalia island with a large crash, there was a brief silence as both Natsu and Aang were screaming. Natsu was between himself and the island and Happy was next to him pushing with all his might. Above them, Aang was still pushing as he had a spout of air pushing from his legs. His eyes and arrows glowing as bright as possible.
"NOT YET!" Natsu roared. "Don't give up yet, Happy! Aang!"
Erza pushed as hard as she could against it and she could see Gajeel and Toph helping her push as well. "Gajeel! Toph!? Why aren't you turning the others back to normal as you did with us?!"
"THE BLACK CAT IS IN THE WAY!" Gajeel comically yelled.
"And he was able to hold us both of… so that's not happening!" Toph added.
"It'd take too long now, anyway!" Gray added as he pushed against it with Lucy on his left side.
"This is our only chance! We have to stop it! I mean we will stop it!" Lucy exclaimed.
Hen was still pushing as his hands were still inside it. "Well it's not like we can turn and run!" he eyed Sokka. "Push harder, noodle arms!"
"WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING!" Sokka comically exclaimed with his head growing.
Lisanna and Katara pushed on it as well and above them, Azula was still pushing by using her feet as jet thrusters, the energy around them was so intense that Azula's blue flames looked red in the light. Katara was surprised by this as she expected Azula to have turned and run. She was glad that she was helping them, despite everything. "Can't one of you circle around and… oh, I don't know… CUT THE DAMN CHAIN!" Azula exclaimed.
"The island is already in motion, cutting the chain might not make a difference," Lisanna said.
Katara saw Coco pushing on her left side, this sight surprised Pantherlily as he watched Coco pushing against the island.
"Coco! Why are you…?!"
"Lily!" Coco smiled as she eyed her dear friend. "I've come to realize that I don't need everlasting magic power!" she gleefully smiled and closed her eyes. "I'd rather have everlasting smiles."
"WHAT NONSENSE IS THAT!" Pantherlily roared. "Get out of here, Coco! There's no stopping this island now!" he exclaimed.
Natsu was defiant to those words. "We'll stop it! Even if it destroys our bodies, we'll stop it with our spirits alone!"
"I'd like to keep my body, thank you!" Azula exclaimed as she pushed harder. She eyed Pantherlily. "And you… your little friend here is doing all she can, and you only stand there and do nothing! Some friend you are, this tiny girl is braver than you! I wonder what that says!?"
Pantherlily gulped to himself as he watched the island surface of Extalia cracking.
As the Lacrima was slowly ripping through the land, the Exceeds, Lucky, and Marl saw what was happening from their farmhouse.
"Dear…" the feminine blue cat fearfully said.
"KAH!" Lucky yelled. "What is this hullabaloo, dagnabbit?!"
…
Within the town, the Exceeds watched at there was a growing red hue on the horizon which made them fearful of what exactly was going on.
"The royal army is attacking!"
"The humans are invading!"
Though some were showing anger and retaliation from an attack by the humans.
"They're revolting against the Exceeds!
"They don't know our queen's power!"
"I bet the queen's gonna use her magic any minute now!"
"Still, if she is, I wish she'd counter-attack soon…"
"Nothing to be afraid of the Queen will arrive soon."
Within the crowd, Wendy, Carla, Chun, and Nabi watched as the horror was unfolding.
"The lacrima has collided…" Wendy sadly said as she had realized what that loud bang was that they heard earlier.
"B-but… shouldn't the island be falling apart by now?" Chun fearfully asked.
"Not quite!" Carla said. "It looks like it stopped at the edge of the island!"
Wendy felt her knees weaken. "I'm sorry, Carla. It wasn't supposed to be like this…"
Carla though found her resolve and she raised her paw. "Don't be stupid! We can't give up yet!" she surprised both Nabi and Chun as she walked to the angry crowd. "Everyone, listen!"
One of them glared at her. "You're still here, you lousy Fallen?!" he prepared to throw a rock at her.
Chun glared at him as she aimed her fist at the green-furred cat. "You even try and I'm not going to hesitate to attack you!"
"You think I'm afraid of you, you weak Human! Even if you burn me, the Queen will heal me, eliminate you, and save our kingdom!"
"You're in denial!"
"Shut up! I ain't gonna listen to a Fallen!" He tossed it, and Carla flinched as it flew to her, but in a move that shocked everyone. Nabi stood in front of the rock and his long neck shook as soon as it hit. Chun let out a sigh and she fired a long stream of fire that flew in between the cat's ears. The top of his head was singed.
"GAH!"
"Sir Nadi!"
Wendy was seen running to her partner. "Carla!"
"Th-Throwing rocks is dangerous, you know…" Nadi said as he was recovering from the whiplash that rock gave him.
The green-furred cat was confused, as was the rest of the crowd. "Huh? But they're a Fallen and-"
Nabi waved his arms rapidly and got in their faces. "These people went out of their way to warn us of the danger!" he exclaimed. "And now we're in this situation because no one listened to them!"
However, not even Nabi's pleas wouldn't sway them. "This is nothin'! The queen's magic will make quick work of it!"
"Please, Your Highness! Hurry!"
Chun bit her lips and she glared at all of them. "SHUT UP!" all the Exceeds kept quiet as they looked at Chun's face. "If your Queen is so powerful!? Then where the hell is she!?" she exclaimed. "If her magic is that strong! Then why doesn't she stop the Lacrima right now?! It's her kingdom! So why isn't she protecting it?!"
All the Exceeds suddenly went quiet, they didn't want to doubt their Queen but she did raise a point. Why didn't their Queen save them?
"It's all right…" they all saw the elder Exceeds and a tall female, white Exceed that stood in front of them. Her thick robes covered her entire body apart from her face and she had a gold tiara on her head.
"It's the Queen!" many of the Exceeds were starting to celebrate as their Queen had arrived to supposedly rescue them.
Wendy and Carla were worried as they looked at her, Chun protectively stood in front of the two.
"Speak of the devil…" Chun said.
"Your Highness!" all of the Exceeds were bowing to her with their tails pointing upwards. Nabi even bowed nervously.
"She's the queen?" Carla asked. The Queen slowly eyed Carla, and she smaller cat could only stare back.
She closed her eyes and begun to speak. "Please lift your heads, everyone. And please, calmly listen to my words."
"What is the queen doing here?" a pink Exceed asked.
A tiger-striped Exceed smirked. "I bet she's gonna use awesome destruction-"
"SHH! Be quiet!" another said with his fur frizzing up.
"Right now… Extalia is currently on the verge of annihilation." the queen said. "This may be our inescapable fate. Therefore I have come to a decision."
The elder Exceeds looked down in what looked like shame, but the citizens were the opposite of shameful.
"Oh, you're going to destroy the humans?!"
"Hey, be quiet!"
The queen started to disrobe herself, confusing many of her citizens and even Nabi. "Y-Your Highness! What are you doing?!"
She lightly landed on her feet as the robe disappeared in gold light leaving her in a pink top and pants. "I have decided that you must be told the truth. She dropped her tiara on the ground. "I am just an ordinary Exceed. I am neither a queen nor a god." she rose one of her wings. "I am an Exceed no different from you." Though she was revealed to only have one wing which shocked everyone who stood there. Wendy and Chun gasped at the sight. "I do not have the power to fight the humans. As you can see, I only have one wing!" Many of the Exceeds couldn't believe what they were seeing and hearing. "For Exceeds, our magic power is symbolized by our wings- our Aera. Two wings signify one's control of true magic power. "My magic is very weak."
Wendy, Carla, and Chun gasped. "S-so this whole time…?" Chun muttered.
"Wendy, Carla, and Chun, was it? You have my apologies as well. Please do not think ill of everyone here."
"What does this all mean?" Wendy asked.
Chun let out a deep breath. "This is… far from what I expected. What's going on here?"
One of the elders who wore a red hood spoke up. "No, the blame rests on us elders who created this idea of a 'queen.' We are a very weak race. Humans did many terrible things to us long ago. So, to protect ourselves, we made the humans believe we were powerful."
Another elder continued the explanation as many of the Exceeds were either terrified or had tears streaming on the corners of their eyes. "And then, to restore all of the Exceeds' confidence, we also convinced everyone in Extalia that she had the power of a god." the queen made her wing disappear as she couldn't bear to look at her citizens.
"This diving power was entirely a bluff concocted by us few Exceeds who was privy to the real state of affairs."
"However, although the humans didn't believe it at first, they gradually came to fear her god-like power. Take, for example, the idea that she chooses which humans should be killed. In truth, it's all a façade. We don't decide which humans should die or have the power to make that happen. All we really have is Shaggott's ability to see a little into the future. She can see people's deaths. So we made it seem as if humans had been killed at the queen's behest."
"You're lying!" one of the Exceeds exclaimed, still refusing to accept that this was the truth.
Many of them were crying or trying their best to fight the tears. They had the wool over their eyes for many years, and they all just couldn't accept it. It was much easier to remain in denial.
"Our queen is a god!"
"Hurry and beat up those lousy humans!"
Chun clenched her fists. "So… this is your god? You're just like him," she muttered, as her thoughts drifted to Ozai. "You think your past justifies what you've done?" she threw her arm across her body. "Do you have any idea what it's like for people down there!?" she pointed off the island. "Yeah, there are bad people in this world, heck in all worlds, but there are more than a few good people too!" she pointed at Queen Shaggott. "And while you sit up here comfortably in your little throne, people are dying down there, fighting each other for scraps because they think you're hoarding all the power for yourselves! But rather than help the people who need you, you're using your power to rule through fear, like any other tyrant! As bad as the Edolas King, as bad as Oz…" she cut herself off as she realized she had tears shooting from her eyes and she quickly rubbed them. "The only difference between them and you is they have the ability to follow through. The people of Edolas are terrified of the Exceeds! They don't see your greatness, they hate you! And look where that's lead us!" she gestured her hand out to the rising red hue that was starting to slowly fill the sky. "The Royal Kingdom is trying to wipe out your entire race because of what you did!" she threw an accusatory finger to Shaggott. "You've put our friends and your entire race in danger! All of this is your fault!"
Wendy eyed Chun who was shivering slightly, mostly from anger at what Shaggott had revealed to them. "Chun…" Carla also eyed the firebender with some sympathy.
Shaggott hung her head in guilt. "You're right… So many innocent lives, Humans and Exceed, suffered because of my deception. I have become a monster."
"Deceitful Nonsense!" Carla spat while glaring at the queen.
"Carla?" Wendy looked down at her partner in surprise
"Whether you have power or not, you ordered my friends to be killed! That's an undeniable fact!"
One of the elders tried to reason with her. "Shaggott never gave that order. It must have been the doing of humans exploiting the queen's-"
"NO! You planted memories in me, controlled my mind, and ordered me to eliminate the Dragon Slayers before I was even born!" Carla's voice was starting to break down into a sob.
Shaggott held her arm and turned away slightly. "T-that was…"
Nadi got in between them and waved his arm in a panicked tone. "I-I-It's not like that!"
Chun glared at him. "Really? I wonder what your excuse is this time?"
"It's actually a really long and complicated story!"
"It doesn't matter!" Carla retorted. "It's still inexcusable!"
They all heard the sound of a sword slowly being slid out of its scabbard. Nadi was shocked to see Shaggott holding the sword.
Carla and Wendy looked terrified while Chun stood tall, but to their surprise, the blade was tossed to Carla's feet. "Carla. You're absolutely correct. You've done absolutely nothing wrong. Yet I've put you through the most painful of all." Shaggott bowed to one knee and while the elders showed concern. "I ask that you, personally punish me for my crimes." Chun and Wendy eyed Carla as she looked at the sword tossed to her. There were shocked gasps within the crowd. "More than anyone, you have that right as one who loves both humans and Exceeds."
"Carla…" Wendy saw her friend slowly pick up the sword as the Queen's citizens were crying for their queen. Nadi looked between Carla and Shaggott nervously.
"Everyone! Run away! I will join Extaila in its ruin!"
She slowly walked towards the queen with the sword in hand. "Carla… No! Please don't!" Wendy pleaded.
"I-Is she really going to do it?" Chun thought to herself.
Many of the Exceeds had expressed their desire to stay with their queen, despite the imminent disaster. Their cries of sorrow made Carla grit her teeth as she was getting closer and closer.
"You can't stay!" Shaggott exclaimed. "Everyone, leave now! This land is doomed!"
When Carla got close, she rose the sword over her head, looking to take the queen upon her request. "No! CARLA!" Wendy cried at the same time Chun turned her head away as she didn't want to watch Carla do the unthinkable.
A loud clank was heard and Carla had stuck the sword into the ground, allowing the Queen to see her own reflection in the steel. "Don't you dare… Don't you dare just give up like that!" Nadi eyes Carla as she looked at her and the other Exceeds. "This is your land, isn't it!? Do you seriously need a god or a queen to get anything done?!" Even Carla looked to have tears hanging from her eyes. "You've held on for dear life all this time, even if it meant resorting to lies! How can you give up so easily, now?! It's okay if you're weak! You can all achieve anything if you all work together." she tightly gripped the sword with both her paws. "This land won't be destroyed! It's my homeland after all!" The queen only looked at the younger Exceed with surprise. The others were just as shocked. Despite everything that happened to her, despite the lies, manipulation. She was still calling Extalia her home, and not only that. She expressed a strong desire to protect it. "I won't give up! I have to stop it! Even if I have to do it myself!" her wings appeared and she flew off while leaving a strong trail of Aera magic in her wake. Her magic left sparkles that were raining down on everyone, all the Exceeds were tears as all they could do is look up into the sky.
"Carla!" Wendy called out to her. She then felt Chun grabbing her hand.
"We're not going to let Carla do this alone, are we?"
Wendy nodded and the two of them followed Carla's magic trail to try and reach the Lacrima. Just as the two girls left, another pair of wings spouted, this time from Nadi.
"N-Nadi?" Shaggott questioned.
"I'm going too because…" he sniffled as he tried to get out of his crying fit. "Because I love this land!"
At the collision site, everyone was still doing their hardest to push back against the Lacrima. Natsu was growling to himself and above him, Aang's eyes had lost their glow, even so, he still tried pushing back. "This isn't good…!"
"It's about to squish us!" Lucy cried.
Gajeel and Hen were looking fatigued as their hands were smoking from the hot rock they continued to push against. "Hold your ground!" they heard Gray yell.
"We must protect this land at all costs!" Erza exclaimed.
"This is ridiculous!" Azula exclaimed.
"We can't give up!" Zuko exclaimed.
As the island was attempting to dig through the land, Pantherlily could be seen looking at the coming disaster. "How pointless! Human strength can do nothing to stop this!" as he said this a strong arrow of Aera magic passed over him. "Huh?"
Carla was seen flying down to the site and she threw her paws forward right onto the rock and pushed while next to Happy. The blue cat was surprised to see her. "Carla?"
"I won't give up! I'll protect both Fairy Tail and Extalia!" Before long, they head another Exceed approached them and he crashed headfirst into the lacrima, almost squishing his neck before pushing onto it. "You…!"
Nadi eyed his fellow Exceeds. "I want to protect my home… too! I'm sure the others do too!"
Pantherlily meanwhile could see streaks of Aera magic flying from the capital of Extalia. "W-what is going on?"
Carla even looked back and she recognized the gleam that those lights were putting off. The Exceeds were flying towards the Lacrima, hoping that they weren't too late to save their home. Among them, Wendy and Chun were being carried by two of them as they joined in on the effort.
"This is our land! We have to protect it!"
"For our queen, who risked herself to keep this land and its people safe!"
"Wendy, Carla, Chun. We're sorry about before!"
"Everyone, we need to focus on what's in front of us!" Wendy exclaimed.
"Save the apologies until after your home is safe!" Chun replied.
Within the flying cats, Shaggott was trying to fly along with the others with her one wing. "Your Highness! You're not going to make it with your wing!" one of the Elders exclaimed.
"No! We must do all that we can!" she replied with a determined resolve.
Lucky and Marl from their farm eyed the sight. "Whoa… Am I dreamin'?" Lucky asked.
"All of Extalia has come together?" Marl questioned in similar wonder.
The Exceeds of Extalia began pushing against the Lacrima and poured all their magic into their wings, trying to push it back.
Hen saw Chun pushing next to him with a couple of Exceeds with her. "Welcome back!" Hen said. "Thanks for the back-up! How was your trip~?"
"How about I tell you late-" she looked up to see Azula pushing against the Lacrima as well. Her eyes widened, still shocked to see Azula there and helping. "Azula? You're here? I thought you would have run by now."
"Less talk! More pushing!" Azula exclaimed. She could see Wendy pushing next to her as an Exceed flew her closer to lacrima "I thought you were going to evacuate the city!"
"We were, but Carla's words reached them, so they are working hard to save their homeland!" Wendy replied.
"Hmph… looks like I was wrong about your cat…" she smirked as she looked at Wendy. "Let's make sure her effort isn't in vain!"
Wendy was surprised to hear Azula say that, she quickly got over it and nodded. "Yes!"
As Pantherlily eyed the sight, a memory came to him. About how he rescued an injured human child and brought him to their land. He was deemed as a Fallen and was forced to leave Extalia. The Elders banished him for breaking the rules while the queen only stood there in silence.
He was brought out of his flashback as he saw the Queen starting to fall from the sky. Her one wing was unable to keep her afloat. She was quickly caught by Pantherlily and looked up at the black cat.
"Lily…?!" Shaggott breathed in surprise. The elders eyed the sight and gasped to themselves Gajeel only laughed as he noticed Pantherlily's act of kindness.
"Your Highness… Have you finally grown weary of lying?" he asked as there were still Exceeds flying to the Lacrima.
"I'm sorry… I…" she could see sparkles of tears flying past her, and Pantherlily had tears going past the corners of his eyes.
"Me too… However much I try to hate it! Extalia is my homeland!"
"Lily…"
"But it's no use now. Even with all these Exceeds working together, it won't stop! I'M SORRY EVERYONE! IT'S MY FAULT!" he angrily roared. "I could have stopped it! I could have stopped the humans!"
Shaggott gently placed her paw on his arm. "I'm certain… I'm certain your feelings will reach them!"
"STOP ALREADY!" Natsu hotly exclaimed.
Everyone from Fairy Tail and the Exceeds was trying their hardest to push back on it too boosted by their desire to save their home. Even Lucky and Marl joined the others are pushing back against the Lacrima.
Eventually, their combined efforts of all the Exceeds produced a bright blue pulsing energy that spread out into bluish white streaks.
"C'mon everyone we can and will stop this!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Let's help them, dear!" Marl said as she and her husband were pushing next to her.
"Aye, sir!" he replied.
Happy pushed hard along with the other Exceeds.
"We can do this, everyone! We can safe Extalia!" Carla exclaimed.
"Aye, sir!" Happy roared.
"AYE SIR!" they heard the Exceeds yell behind them, unifying their efforts to save Extalia.
*BOOM* The lacrima island was pushed back with a loud boom and the Dragon Slayer that was directing the Lacrima into Extalia was equalized. The Lacrima island was floating backward. The red that was glowing through the crystals had completely disappeared.
Right as it was being pushed back, there was a surge of magic that came down from the sky and it engulfed the lacrima island. The Lacrima looked to have been covered by this powerful light as many of the Exceeds were being pushed away by the tremendous force.
This energy resulted in a long bright blue pillar that illuminated the sky, and everyone around Edolas could see it. The light remained for a long time, holding its place in the sky.
As soon as the light faded, Wendy covered her eyes and found that Carla was keeping her afloat in the air. "Huh? Carla…"
"Look." Without any supports to stand on, all the members of Fairy Tail were being carried by the Exceeds
"W-what happened?" Aang asked with a surprised tone in his voice.
"But this is…?" Erza breathed as they all saw that the crystalline substance that was going to be used to destroy Extalia had completely disappeared, leaving behind a cavity of where the Lacrima used to be. When they saw the Lacrima was gone, the island that the crystals stood on started to disappear too. Along with the entire Dragon Chain Cannon.
"The Lacrima vanished?" Gray questioned.
"And so did the Dragon Chain Cannon…" Lucy muttered as she was behind carried by Nadi.
"This doesn't make any sense…" Zuko muttered.
Pantherlily looked out in shock after everyone managed to push it back, before watching the entire island and cannon disappear entirely "It went back to Earth Land." he heard, he looked back to see a Legion floating in the air above them. Sitting on the creature was a fellow Edolas Resident.
"Mystogan!" Erza exclaimed.
"What the hell!?" Azula angrily yelled. "Nice of you to wait till we almost died to do that!"
"I apologize. My search for a large enough Anima vestige to restore everything back to normal took too long. And I would not have made it in time had it not been for you. You have my gratitude."
"O-oh!" Natsu happily gasped.
"So you turned them back to normal?" Happy asked.
"Yes. By passing through the Anima again, the lacrima will revert to its original form in Earth Land. It's all over."
Aang let out a sigh of relief. "We did it!"
The Exceeds were elated that they managed to save their homeland. Everyone was celebrating as they all hung in the skies.
Lily though never took his eyes of Mystogan. "Lily. You once saved my life." he took off the headgear he used to conceal his face. "I'm glad I could defend your homeland." Lily eyed him as Mystogan was indeed the same boy that he saved all those years ago.
"Yes… thank you… Prince."
Coco cried and had her hands clasped together. "The Prince has returned!"
"Prince?!" Lucy and Azula exclaimed with wide eyes.
Aang smiled to himself. "A prince who turns against his own kingdom in order to save it." he eyed Zuko with a knowing smirk. "That sounds familiar…"
Zuko smiled while rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.
However, Lily's pupils shrunk as a powerful bolt of lightning passed through his entire body, starting from his back. "AAAAHHH!" he was slowly falling as everyone watched in shock and horror as pieces of his armor were shattered. The strike looked to have left a scar on his stomach.
"No, what happened!?" Erza exclaimed.
"LILY!?" Mystogan and Coco exclaimed.
Hovering on an air-sphere above him was Zong and he looked like he was seething but he looked to be forcing a smirk. "Well look at that… My aim is as good as ever, hahaha!" he chuckled as everyone was watching him with horrified expressions. "I was watching the whole thing! Extalia should have been wiped off the map by now! You ruined the show!" He exclaimed with a furious expression. Aang clenched his fists as he eyed his counterpart. "You know I haven't felt like this before… I'm burning with rage since I didn't get to see the promised explosion of magic. I didn't get to take all that sweet magic for myself." his face of fury twisted into a smirk. "But… It's not all bad, because I get to take it out on every. Single. One of you!" he eyed the Exceeds that were holding Queen Shaggott. "Oh, and how could I forget about you? The 'One-winged Angel'. I'll save you for last!" However, he saw a beam speeding towards Erza and she managed to deflect it with her sword.
They could see the Edolas army approaching them with Legion of their own and they were led by a very angry Erza Knightwalker. "SCARLET! We're not… FINISHED YET!"
"Ohoho!" Zong laughed as Knightwalker's army was behind him. "This is it, everybody… Fairy Tail… Edolas… Extalia… Every single living thing here-" his red forks shone orange and his eyes were covered with the same glow. His voice fused with Vaatu's as he eyed everyone in front of him. "YOU WILL ALL DIE SCREAMING!" he roared.