Adventreader221: Whoo, now that's what I call a chapter. Not this one, the last one that is.
Phoenixlord42: Damn I have to agree with you really
Adventreader221: Well I honestly can't wait till we get to the You know what arc. Ah the revelations will be unlimited.
Phoenixlord42: Eh ok that is fine really. So who is going to show up next?
Adventreader221 *leans over and whispers inaudible words into Phoenixlord42's ear* so that is what happens.
Phoenixlord42: Oh that is just great him. Ugh Naruto is going to have a field day with this.
Adventreader221: Yeah I know, but it is in his nature. Now besides that-Have you seen these past series of reviews we have gotten? I think we need to do a Q&A session for some of the reader's. I mean we have been given some decent questions this time around, it is only fair we give them some answers. So what do you say?
Phoenixlord42: That is true I have not really seen them for awhile, I have been busy with my other stories.
Adventreader221: Meh, same problem all writer's experience on Fanfiction. Now what say you, Q&A session? I feel like I should really answer this one by TheForgottenSun75 about that tidbit of Information.
Review: Are to gonna revive naruto with the will of earth of someone finds it?
Adventreader221: Not at liberty to say at this moment. I mean I am pretty sure you can understand why we won't reveal this information, spoiler's and all, to you at this moment in time. It is not that we want to keep it hidden, it is because we wish to develop the plot fully rather than say what we want to do and have you go "Ah so that is what they are going to do, BORING." and then leave the story once the plot has been unveiled. What about you Phoenixlord42, which review do you want to comment on?
Review: Even if the other guy did co-write this you can't have two of the same exact story up so one of you will have to delete the story or the admins/mods will do something about it.
Phoenixlord42: This is a guest one. To answer this I have seen it done before and the story is still up.
Adventreader221: And you see my problem with things like this, this is why I removed the one o my profile. I have said it to you before, Why have two versions of the exact same story when all you need is the one where you don't have to see two versions and see that you have read it. That is why I removed my version on my file.
Review: DepressedNinja75: Please do not promote adventreader and go make a story with someone else, perhaps you don't realise it but he's a shit writer who can't formulate a story properly. All of his shit is rushed and just overall terrible especially with the pacing.
Adventreader221: Well, my response to this is you can suck my left fucking nut. I am adhd and bipolar, I can't keep still and yes I do rush a lot of things which is why I always have a different story to work with every week. And just to let you know, I have only been writing for about 2 years so I am still pretty new to this.
Phoenixlord42: Damn I did not know that. Well you learn something new everyday.
Adventreader221: I wasn't being rude, just statin fact. Here is the next one. It's not really a question, but I think it is important.
Review: Kuronodono12: Hmm honestly I think Tsunade is on to something regarding what happened with Hinata as she is right about what she said regarding Hinata...Definitely seems like there is more there than meets the eye...and get the feeling Sasuke and Sakura or at least one of the two are involved.
Adventreader221: I am really glad that this was pointed out. I never did like Hinata as a main character. For one she is just so shy and can't do anything without being told to do it. Second is she never grew close to Naruto until her sister was taken away where she revealed his memories to him which in my personal opinion makes it seem like he was obligated to marry Hinata. It's not that I don't like Hinata as a character, but personality wise, she sucks balls.
Phoenixlord42: So basically she's a stalker?
Adventreader221: Yeah. Now as to what I was saying, Kuronodono12, You have hit a powerful home run and we can say that people are involved with Naruto's missing memories, though it will be revealed as soon as we can make something up about him regaining only to lose those memories in the future. Phoenixlord42, I think you should answer the last review to the story posted.
Review: Boruto is alive? Hinata too? Um. Can you please tell me what ages everyone is?
Phoenixlord42: That is a good question. And the answer to that is, Boruto canon season 1. And this is just assuming the age's right now-Boruto: 12-14, Sarada: 12-14, Sakura: 20-25, Sasuke: 25-26, Hinata: 23-25, Kiba: 25-27, Shino: 25-28, Choji: 24-27, Ino: 23-25, Shikamaru: 25-26, Tenten: 25-26, Lee: 25-27
Adventreader221: Of course Tsunade is in her 60's, if not older, now with Kakashi being in his mid 50's
Phoenixlord42: Ok so on with the story?
Adventreader221: Yep, we have wandered on for awhile now. Please enjoy and tell us what you think now that we have sated those curious teenage minds of yours.
Previously: Naruto was bounding up the side of the Tower as he made his way to the top. What better way to bypass all the stairs and shuffling when you could move up the side of a building? Naruto looked up past the peak of the structure before he came to an abrupt halt in shock. The black clouds above the Tower started to spiral around and turn like they were becoming a tornado. But instead of reaching down to the surface the clouds slowly parted away from each other. A brilliant light started to appear in the center of the open vortex and caused everything underneath it to start glowing.
Naruto looked over himself to see he was also bathed in the encompassing luminous that bared down on them. He looked up at the light "Oh no." he said quietly as he watched the light fall from the sky down towards the tower of heaven. He was too late... he had failed to save his friend after all... again...
"Etherion." Erza stated in a neutral tone as she looked around to see everything was aimed down upon with that ultimate weapon. There was no escape... And yet... she wasn't scared. Why? Was the fact that they were now most certainly going to disappear just not scary? Or did she already know she was resigning herself to this fate by staying behind to face Jellal? It didn't matter because it was happening right now…
"I'm sorry Erza." Jellal said. The redhead looked down at the kneeling blue-haired man that was facing away from her. His voice and tone were defeated and he lowered his head, "In the end I've condemned you to oblivion as well." he told her. Erza looked around sadly at the state they were in. They only had a few seconds left before Etherion hit and destroyed everything. She spoke with a quiet voice, "I always knew that I would one day face my end. I never thought it would be here when it happened..." A ghost of a smile came over her face while looking down at the tattooed man, "And I never thought I'd be by your side while it did." she told the man.
Jellal's head raised up and he looked back at her to see the smile even in their doom. He turned back around before quietly asking, "Erza...I can never ask you to forget my sins or the horrible things I've done. But now, at the end...can you forgive me?" he asked her.
She still wanted to do so many things. She wanted to see Gildarts return to the guild. She wanted to get married. She wanted to start a family. And she wanted to say goodbye to the people she loved most in the world. But right now...she at least didn't want to die with hatred in her heart. She stepped up to Jellal's back and kneeled down as well to gently rub his hair and hug around his shoulder. She felt him tremble in fear and she whispered as she closed her eyes, "I forgive you, Jellal." she told him. The light grew even brighter, becoming so intense she could see the shine even through her closed eyes.
She felt the final weight of the light weapon finally bear down on them as one last thing reached her ears before oblivion- "Thank you." he said.
And then silence engulfed all of them.
It was like a infinite number of Lacrima Bombs had gone off directly in front of them. The ocean seemed to crater under the force of the incomparable blast as massive waves rippled out from the center of the destruction. They were so violent that the small boat the Fairies and Tower refugees were on was nearly completely engulfed by the tidal wave before Juvia created a bubble to protect them. Even with the Water Mage's protective the bubble bounced over the waves like a roller coaster and everyone fell out of the boat in a heap. Even with their injured and broken bodies and the pain of tumbling so violently like that, they could only stare at the worst of what had happened.
The Tower was gone now... gone forever... A massive cloud of steam, dust, smoke, and water vapor created a pillar that dwarfed where the Tower of Heaven once stood. It traveled high up into the sky and even merged with the clouds as the water settled and ground zero continued to smolder. The survivors could do nothing but look at the cloud of smoke in silence as their thoughts were so rampant that they didn't know what to do.
They had failed...their friends had failed to evacuate when they could and they had failed to save them... It was gone... it was all gone. Millianna found no joy in the fact the Tower of Heaven was finally gone because her friends were gone now too. Her knees buckled and she fell down in the bubble before tears filled her eyes, "Er-chan... Simon..." she whimpered before she hopelessly shook her head, "No..." she cried silently. She didn't think they would have been caught in the Etherion blast... but somehow... they were…
Wally lowered his head to hide his crying as Shō sat on the floor of the bubble and stared at the destruction in horror. Erza went back in there to fight because he had agreed with her wish and told her to go. He should have tried to convince her again! He should have tried to get her to leave! He should...he should have tried something.
"Natsu." Happy cried softly as tears started rolling down his face and slipped down his whiskers.
"Naruto... w-why..." Kurama wept silently.
Lucy cried and covered her mouth to stifle her sobs, "No. Please no." she said in denial.
Gray fell back and panted lightly before slamming his fist down on the bubble in unbridled anger. He seethed before whispering pitifully, "God dammit. God fucking dammit." he growled out.
"Wait, what is that?" Millianna asked as she spotted something large within the thick cloud of dust formed by the large explosion caused by the power that came from the Etherion blast. He looked up from the bottom of the bubble and craned his head back to see Juvia looking at the same thing as them in confusion. She blinked with a blank stare at the sight that captivate her attention, "There...there's something in the cloud." she said confused... how was that possible... nothing could survive such a powerful blast... especially something like the tower that had once been there.
Gray blinked in confusion before looking back up at the massive cloud as it began to travel with the wind. Taking a moment to stare at the obstructing figure and letting his eyes adjust to it allowed him to see something still standing in the midst of ground zero. Something had managed to survive obliteration?
Magic Council: Era
The Council members watched the screen projected with an image of the destruction they had caused to their target. The atmosphere was tense and no one said a word as they just stared at the carnage they had brought down on the last remaining R-System. Org gave a solemn nod, "We've done it. Let us hope the backlash is kind." the man said solemnly.
Michello shook his head, "There's no reason to be so dramatic." he told his fellow council members.
"He's not." one of the other Councilmen pointed out while looking over at the short man, "We'll be lucky if we get any sleep for the next week considering all the complaints and questions we'll be receiving." said with a sigh.
"We decided to do this. We made our bed and now we are sleeping in it." someone else stated before they turned around, "We should prepare the statements-" but before he could finish speaking he was interrupted by a loud noise reminiscent of a claxon.
*WEEEEOOOO-WEEEEOOOO*
A room-shaking alarm started to go off and everyone in the hall looked around in panic. One of the Council guards looked over the console monitoring the R-System location and called back in worry, "S-sir, our monitors are saying we missed our target! There's something still there!" he announced shocked that they had missed.
"What?!" Org yelled in disbelief before looking back up at the screen, "That's impossible! Nothing can withstand a blast from Etherion! How-" he didn't finish as they were finally given their answer when the smoke cloud dissipated over the area they attacked.
What stood was no longer a monument of stone and metal but instead a jagged, uneven tower of crystal that pierced the clouds. Every person in the room just stared at the screen in shock and horror as realization slowly started to dawn on them. Org struggled to swallow the lump in his throat as he turned to the boy who had warned them about the R-System in the first place, "Siegrain! Did you know about this?! Did any of those reports tell you the R-System was prepared to do this?!" Org demanded from the Wizard Saint.
Org was taken aback when he saw the small smile on Siegrain's face while looking up at the screen. Another look and they noticed that Ultear had a complex magic formula hovering above her hands as she concentrated on something. The whole room started to shake violently. And then the entire building. All of the Era Magic Council started to crumble and break apart. The councilmembers inside started to scream and run in a panic to escape the collapsing structure as Siegrain and Ultear quietly stood in the middle of calamity.
The blue-haired man turned around and faced his assistant/partner-in-crime as she focused on bringing the Magic Council crumbling down into pieces. This would be the last time he ever saw her before bringing his new world to life. He ignored the falling debris around him and spoke only loud enough that she could hear him, "You did wonderfully. Thank you for helping set up our new world." Siegrain said darkly.
A small scowl grew on the gorgeous woman's face as she looked up at him, "I didn't do it for you. Remember, you forced me to do this when I told you I didn't want to do it. The only reason I did is because of that information you have against me." she growled at him. He stepped forward and looked her in the eye.
A fruitless effort they both knew but he believed it was still appropriate to thank her for her help, "You were amazing Ultear, just like always." he told the woman.
Ultear snorted, "I know I am, but remember this. If it wasn't for that blackmail, you would have died today." The raven-haired Time Arc Mage said coldly before the man in front of her disappeared in the before she could blink an eye. She slowly closed her eyes and let the falling rubble surround her as the last of the Magic Council escaped. And in an instant, the leading, most influential force in the world came crashing down on the building. After she was done she began to make her own getaway so she wouldn't be caught and imprisoned. She just hoped Naruto would forgive her for what had happened.
Erza kept her eyes shut for a few moments more after everything had stopped around her. What she had felt was almost indescribable. There was an intense, almost unnatural light that bathed over them until they had to close their eyes to avoid going blind. It felt like a weight had started bearing down on them until she was worried they might crack the floor from the force. And the piercing hum was so loud she could still hear the ringing pulsate through the back of her head. It was a horrible experience to go through before being reduced to nothingness.
Which made it all the more strange that she was still feeling anything. And that the room was now much more frigid than it was moments ago. The redhead woman carefully opened her eyes and felt them widen at the sight around her. Erza looked around in disbelief as the chamber room they were fighting in had transformed completely into space filled with blue Lacrima in all shapes and sizes. She looked up at the crystal ceiling and back down at the floor beneath her that had transformed without her even noticing.
"Hehehe..." the laughter of Jellal caught her attention. Erza looked down at the man she was comforting in their last moment as he gently held her arm and slipped out of her hold. He stood up and walked a few feet away as he looked around and admired the unusual sight around them. "Hehehehe..." another chuckle escaped his throat as his shoulders relaxed. He turned back to her with a relieved smile "I'm so glad this actually worked." Jellal said with a dark smirk on his face.
"W-what?" Erza mumbled in confusion, "What do you mean?" she asked Jellal.
"This." Jellal motioned to the surrounding room, "This all worked in theory but this is the first time we had to test it out. It was either going to work or...well, the other option was a automatic given obviously." he told the redhead with a dark smirk on his face.
"Jellal..." she said shocked at his admittance. Hell Erza was still too stunned to properly process everything. "What is all of this? What did you do?" she demanded from Jellal.
"Erza, did you really think that just because I couldn't find a way to produce the magic necessary to make the tower work that I would just give up?" he asked with a raised brow towards the flabbergasted Mage. "If I couldn't make the magic, then I would just have to find a way to get it. So I made the Tower of Heaven completely out of Lacrima." Jellal boasted in pride as he looked around him with a proud smirk on his face.
It had went all according to the plan... perfect... now about that sacrifice...
"It wasn't easy, I'll tell you that much. It took a lot of preparation and time. I had to call in some advice from an old teacher of mine for ideas about proper magical storage and methods in return for some information about an old magic the Council was hiding. I had created pathways between the walls so I could align transmutation patterns along the insides so that the moment a large amount of magic coursed through it, it changed from rock and metal to Lacrima. It had to be perfect." he told her.
Erza slowly shook her head in disbelief "B-but how did you know this would happen? How did you prepare for Etherion? You couldn't have known they would use it!" she said with a shake of her head showing that something was amiss.
"Oh... we made them use it." a familiar voice said simply. Erza stood up startled and turned around to see Siegrain suddenly appear behind her with a carefree smile over his face. He saw the shocked expression on Erza's face as he walked past her to stand by Jellal's side. "I infiltrated the Magic Council at a young age when I discovered that they had a weapon with more than enough magic power to power the Tower of Heaven." he told the redhead. "I slowly worked my way into the graces of the other members and finally got a position on the Magic Council where I could get more influence. After that, I just had to keep diverting the Council's attention away from the Tower of Heaven long enough for it to be rebuilt and then scare them into using Etherion on it." Siegrain shrugged. "It was a long and hard job but it's all been leading to this moment." he told her as if it weren't that big a deal.
Erza looked between the two brothers in horror as she aimed her spite at the Council traitor, "You've been in on this the whole time Siegrain?!" She looked at the Wizard Saint in disgust, "So when you said you wanted to help your brother and that you didn't know where he was, that was all just a lie? Did the idea of hurting and betraying people just sound all too appealing for you to pass up on the chance?" she asked him.
Jellal and Siegrain looked between each other before laughing with a lighthearted tone despite the disdain Erza was emanating. Their laughing died down before Jellal addressed the woman, "Erza, I don't think you quite understand everything just yet." he told her with a humor filled laugh. Erza looked at him with confusion before she noticed Siegrain start to twitch and fade from the light. Jellal stepped forward and into his brother as a small light glowed over his body as he was complete once again. The horror on Erza's face was enough for him to know his intention got through "Siegrain isn't my brother. He never even existed. He was just a Thought Projection I used to fool the Magic Council. Of course I had to give him a more physical body to avoid suspicion but he still got the job done." he said as he looked at her.
Erza just stared at Jellal silently as she processed what had just happened. Siegrain wasn't real. He never was. He was just an illusion Jellal created to infiltrate the Magic Council. To fool all of them. She thought... for so long... that she had never gotten to see her friend for eight years because he had disappeared. But he was right in front of her...this whole time... watching... toying with them... Her shoulders started to shake with anger before she growled out, "How long?" she asked quietly, angrily.
Jellal perked up at her voice "How long what?" he asked curiously.
A sword appeared in Erza's hand and she gripped it tightly before leveling the most venomous stare she could muster at the blue-haired liar "How long are you going to toy with people's emotions and lie to them Jellal?! How long?!" she roared at him.
Jellal's smile flattened into a line as he finally took notice of the rage behind her voice. He turned to her with a firm stare, "Erza, that was my last lie. With Siegrain finished and Etherion done firing, I have completed my task. I no longer need to cheat, manipulate, or lie to reach my goal. Because I've finally reached it." He gently placed his hand on his shirt and coat, "From this point on, I will say nothing but the truth to you and everyone else. And here's my first promise to be held true..."
He tore off the damaged shirt and coat to reveal a sleek black undershirt that clung to his form tightly. He flexed out his hands before stepping forward with one foot to match the S-Class Mage in front of him "I will catch you... and we will resurrect Zeref together to change this world. Count on that." he said effortlessly. Erza didn't say anything. There wasn't any choice now. The Tower of Heaven was fully operational. If he caught her and made her into the sacrifice then the world would suffer unimaginable damage. So the only way to stop this from happening...was to stop him. Permanently.
Erza shook her head "Sorry Jellal, but I'm going to have to make a liar out of you once again." Her magic flared dangerously as she firmly yelled, "I won't ever submit to you or your dream!" before she charged at Jellal.
Jellal finally gripped his fists and nodded, "Yes...you will." he said calmly. Erza's foot dug into the ground until she made a furrow and dashed forward as she came down on a prone Jellal with a yell. She swung her sword towards his head-
Only to hit nothing as Jellal seemed to disappear and reappear just a foot away from her blade in an instant. Erza looked at him in surprise before she landed on one foot and launched herself with a spin with her sword out to slice him. This time Jellal was more animated with his movement as he slid back away from the sword and its vehement wielder. He started quickly moving and weaving his way through Erza's precise sword strikes as the redhead did not give him a moment to think before he had to react. Jellal took a chance and reached out to grab Erza's hands around her blade, forcing her to stop and gaining him a chance to catch her.
However Erza didn't let this hinder her as she flipped backwards and forced Jellal's grip to weaken and release her. She landed and immediately turned around to kick at his head as he ducked, Jellal jumping up to punch her stomach before she turned around and threw the sword at his head. The sword flew down quickly and imbedded itself in the floor halfway down the blade. But it missed its target as Jellal had disappeared once again. Erza righted herself and stood firmly as she caught sight of how Jellal evaded her attacks. The sword was coming down at his head one moment...then he glowed and vanished the next, leaving a sharp gust of wind behind him.
Erza slowly looked over her shoulder to see the blue-haired man standing across the room from her with a bright yellow aura surrounding his entire body. He stared her down, "My True Heavenly Body Magic increases my power and makes me faster than anyone can see. You won't be able to catch me off guard with a thrown blade." he told her calmly. Erza narrowed her eye at him in thought. Her armors were broken and she didn't have one to counterattack his magic like this. She couldn't just throw a blade at him. But she did have hundreds to offer. Another two blades slipped into her hands before she spun around quickly and threw them like javelins across the room. Jellal activated his Meteor again and quickly dodged the projectiles that had enough force to shatter and destroy the ground.
But Erza didn't stop there as with each throw a new weapon immediately appeared in her hand so she could throw it at her speedy opponent. He disappeared in a golden ball that left a light trail behind him as he avoided and danced between the onslaught of weaponry. Erza kept tossing her weapons as fast as she could, returning them to her Requip when they impacted the ground before throwing them again. Just as she was about to throw again she realized that she had lost sight of Jellal for just a moment- A gloved hand shot out behind her, locking one of her arms to her back and letting the other arm wrap around her neck in a chokehold.
Erza struggled against the powerful lock as Jellal whispered pointedly "Please don't destroy the surroundings. This took a lot of planning so-GAH!" he yelled out as Erza threw her head back and slammed it into the bridge of his nose snapping it. With his focus broken and his grip slightly lessened, Erza forced her locked arm out of his hand and grabbed the arm around her neck. She pried it off and turned to lock his arm tightly before he quickly covered himself in Heavenly Body Magic and spun in her grip, forcing her to turn off her feet and release him before separating from each other.
Erza landed first and thought of her options of how to fight. If she couldn't keep up with Jellal, then she was going to have to do what she could to wreck this plan. If causing damage to the Tower would ruin the process... Erza pulled a massive broadsword about as long as her body out of her Requip before turning around with it still over her head. She brought it down as hard as she could, "AHHHHHHHHH-" she yelled only for Erza to stop just an inch away from the blade connecting and smashing the ground. The massive sword shook in her grip as her arms and entire body started to tremble. She was so close to hitting but…
Her whole body just felt like it froze and went rigid. Erza struggled to move at all and was barely able to look down to see a serrated black snake tattoo twist around her body. The tattoo moved over her skin and restricted her arms, legs, shoulders, neck, and chest until she couldn't move and barely breathe. She choked before looking up to see Jellal holding his hand out towards her while the snake constricted. He droned out lowly, "I told you this took a lot of planning. I'd appreciate if you didn't destroy it so quickly." he told her sounding irritated.
He had set seals on her? Erza's mind started racing as she thought back to when she comforted Jellal, when he gripped her wrist, and when he had her in a lock. He was preparing for this. She choked out in a raspy voice as the tattoo cut off her air, "Dammit. Damn you, Jellal." she growled out. The blue-haired man flashed forward and slammed his palm into her chest and sent her flying backward into a massive crystal. She slammed into it and gasped in pain before she suddenly felt something smother her back and limbs. She looked aside to see her arms and legs slowly being sucked into the Lacrima like it was liquid.
Erza struggled to escape but couldn't find the strength with the seal restricting her movement. She yelled, "N-no!" Jellal lowered his hand and his face formed into a small smile in relief to watch her being assimilated by the Lacrima. Her body would be deconstructed into the magic, making her one with the magic and the Tower of Heaven. Then he would use that to take Zeref's soul back, reconstruct his body through the magic, and finally resurrect the Black Mage.
This was it.
His mission was complete.
"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame" Natsu's voice yelled before a sphere of red hot flames came down upon Jellal. Jellal held his hand out defensively as a massive amount of intense flames engulfed him almost completely. The fire died out after a moment and the smoke cleared to reveal Jellal with one of his gloves now completely burned off. He looked down at it silently before looking over to the figure that dashed over to Erza's side when he was distracted.
"Erza!" Natsu cried out as he came up to the crystal Erza was being assimilated into and snaked his arms under her armpits. He braced his feet against the Lacrima and with a huff pulled Erza out of the crystal before she was fully absorbed. They stumbled back and Natsu made sure that the scarlet haired beauty was okay as she laid motionless in his arms, "Hey Erza, you alright?" he asked her worried.
Erza struggled to move her head before looking up at the Dragon Slayer that saved her. She gave a small laugh and the concern in his face disappeared with a relieved sigh, "When did you get here? I thought you would leave before the Etherion came down and hit." she said confused.
Natsu grinned and shook his head "Nah, I wasn't gonna leave before breaking that dude's face apart for messing with you. I just really, really thought I'd make it out before that big light hit. Lucky for me this whole place just sorta... turned into a crystal. That was so weird." he said as he looked around. He then raised an eyebrow at the redhead. "How did you get here before me? I was running up here as fast as I could!" he said as he thought he was ahead of her... huh apparently he wasn't as far ahead of her as he had originally thought he was.
"Paths inside the walls. I took a shortcut." Erza responded when she saw the surprise on Natsu's face before he hung his head in defeat. She looked up at him and smiled, "Thanks for saving me Natsu." she said honestly.
He looked back down at her before he smirked "No problem." he told her. He finally noticed the intricate black tattoo that wrapped around her body before asking quizzically "What the hell are these things?" while he looked at them.
"Seals. Around my whole body." Erza responded with a flinch before looking at Natsu with a firm gaze, "I need you to help me get up. I have to finish this fight with him." she said. Natsu took a moment to answer as he looked her over from head to toe. She was littered with cuts and bruises and injuries that probably would have made anyone else topple over already. She looked tired and she couldn't even move right now. And all she wanted was to stand up and keep fighting this guy.
Natsu carefully shuffled backwards and dragged Erza further away to the side of the room. He carefully laid her on the ground as she looked around in confusion, "Natsu... what are you doing?" she asked. He stood back up and turned to face the man silently watching them from the center of the room.
Natsu asked without really waiting for an answer as he stepped forward, "This is the guy causing all the trouble, right?" as he looked to her to which she nodded her head yes, before something else clicked in her brain, he wanted to fight Jellal.
"Natsu! Natsu don't! You can't fight him! He has the power of a Wizard Saint, the same rank as Makarov!" she yelled out. Erza shook and writhed on the ground to get any sort of traction to move but failed. She yelled out "Jellal! Your fight is with me! Take this seal off me and leave him alone!" she yelled out.
"It's okay Erza. You've fought enough." Natsu slammed his fists together and released a heavy wave of flames off both when they impacted, "I'll handle it from here." he told the redhead.
Jellal watched the other young man step up to face him as they stared each other down. The blue-haired man smirked and looked his new opponent over, "Natsu Dragneel one of Fairy Tail's great dragon slayers... I've been itching to meet you face-to-face. I've already had the privilege of meeting one of you, and now I have the pleasure of meeting another." Jellal told Natsu.
Well that was discouraging to say the least "Oh?" Natsu grumbled. Well if he said it like that then what was the point of even wanting to meet him in the first place.
"Well when you've read so much about Dragon Slayer legends and the incredible amount of power they can wield, you want to put a face to the legend. And you've garnered quite a lot of attention and fought a lot of impressive opponents, just like your friend Naruto who is currently trying to fly up the side of my tower." Jellal stated. Naruto was on the way... thank... fucking... god... They were brought out of their thoughts by Jellal talking once again "So of course I've been looking forward to meeting you the son of Igneel the Fire Dragon King, he is the one you've been looking for correct." Jellal said.
"Well cool, I've been wanting to meet you too... Also leave my dad out of this or you'll pay for it." Natsu growled and turned his head to crack it while frowning at Jellal. "I finally get to see who the dick that's been toying with us and watching us through the walls looks like." He looked him over before glaring vehemently, "I didn't know what I was gonna see when I heard about the guy who was trying to hurt his best friends for no good reason after all this time."
That comment actually struck a chord as Jellal's smile thinned into a line. He defended, "I do have a good reason. Erza left this place together for me to finish. I decided to bring her back here to usher in a new world, together with my friend." Jellal said ignoring Erza's yell of her not being his friend.
"That doesn't look like you're doing anything together!" Natsu angrily stated while pointing back at the condition Erza was in, restrained and injured after fending off the attacks of his assassins. Natsu growled with venom aimed at the blue-haired man, "You hurt Erza! You tortured your friends! How the hell can you say you're doing anything for their sake when all you've done is cause them pain?! HOW THE HELL COULD YOU CALL YOURSELF THEIR FRIEND?!"
Jellal was silent as his eyes narrowed slightly in cold contempt for the pink-haired man seething in front of him. He closed his eyes and took a calming breath before speaking, "I suppose it was silly of me to believe I could negotiate with the 'Salamander' of Fairy Tail. I suppose in the end you best communicate through-" he didn't get to finish as Natsu appeared in front of him with his hand ignited.
"Fire Dragon's Meteor Fist" Natsu yelled out as he struck Jellal across the face hard as he could. Jellal was knocked back at the sudden strike to his face as he was sent back by the explosion. Natsu roared in fury and let his fire burn hotter than he had ever let it burn before. He dashed after the blue haired man and quickly landed a series of punches at his flying form. He clasped his hands together and brought them down on Jellal's back like a hammer.
The blue-haired man's body slammed roughly into the ground as Natsu came into his side and landed a flaming kick into his gut, "Fire Dragon's Talon" Natsu roared and then sent the Wizard Saint flying before puffing up his cheeks and blasting out a pillar of fire to engulf the man, "Fire Dragon's: ROAR" Natsu roared as he released his flames towards Jellal. *BOOM* The explosion rocked the entire room and Erza lowered her head to shield herself from the intense heat. The blast rang through their ears and they were blinded by the cloud of smoke that raised up in their vision.
Natsu stood firmly as the wind caused his scarf and vest to flap while he focused on the smoke cloud. He waited with baited breath and furrowed his eyes in fury... And watched as Jellal slowly emerged out of the cloud practically unscathed. He had a few bruises and some blood trailing down his chin from the attacks but didn't look winded from the combination of strikes Natsu used. Jellal stepped forward and came to a stop before wiping the blood off his chin. He rubbed it between his fingers for a moment before gazing back up at Natsu. His body started to emanate a faint glow and he spoke in a disdainful tone, "Was that all you had?" he asked.
Natsu stayed quiet before a small smirk came on his face, "Not even close." he told Jellal. He didn't waste another moment before he immediately threw his arms out to his side and created an intense sphere of fire and lightning around his hands. They started extending into large pillars as Natsu brought them together to attack, "Taste the power of the son of the fire dragon king"Fire Dragon's - Natsu didn't get to finish as Jellal managed to move faster than the dragon slayer.
"Meteor" Jellal called out as a magic seal appeared underneath him and he vanished.
The dragon slayer's words died in his mouth as Jellal moved forward through the gathering torrent of flames and lightning where he dispersed them with the air pressure of his movement alone. Natsu's eyes widened in shock and before he could move he felt a staggering fist slam into his stomach, making his eyes widen in pain as a muffled gasp left through his lips. Natsu's body was flung back and he bounced off the ground like a rag doll before Jellal disappeared in a flash of light and appeared again landing a sidekick into Natsu's side. Natsu skipped off the ground and the Fairy wizard tried to regain his senses after the almost instantaneous attack.
In an instant, Jellal was just standing there preparing to take the attack head-on. The next he was like a ray of light, vanishing forward and attacking him before he could even react. He couldn't even see him anymore. He was just that fast. Natsu pushed through the pain and landed on the ground before leaping towards Jellal and swinging his arms to envelop him in fire "Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame" Natsu yelled out.
Jellal's body was covered by light once again and he effortlessly flipped over the wave of lightning and fire like nothing. He landed behind Natsu and charged forward to land a kick in his back. Natsu let out a pained gasp before Jellal wrapped his arm around his neck and hefted him off his feet. Jellal turned and threw the dragon spawn across the room before speeding after him and slamming him into the floor. Natsu's eyes widened in agony before Jellal smiled and vanished again. The young man grumbled on the floor and struggled to turn over before pushing himself up to his feet. He tried to spot his enemy again and felt a strong blow land on his shoulder before he could react.
He threw his fist out to try and catch him but Jellal disappeared and passed by him again while leaving another strike. Natsu tried to retaliate and counter but Jellal's speed was so overwhelming that every time he came close to landing a hit the man had easily evaded and landed another strike on him instead. Natsu felt all kinds of strikes land over his body at blinding speeds as he powered through the pain. Even with each hit causing a flare of pain and a white flash go in the corners of his eyes, he could hear Erza yell at Jellal to stop. But despite her pleas the blue-haired Mage made no attempt to stop as Natsu felt another kick land on his back. He closed his eyes for a moment and let his senses calm down despite the situation around him. For a moment he felt his breath fill his lungs and his blood slow down as his ears blocked out all other distracting noise around him. He focused...and focused…
And heard the sound of a man moving so fast he was causing the air to barrel around him. "YOU'RE MINE!" Natsu yelled as he turned on his feet and threw his fist out to catch Jellal in a sucker punch. But the Wizard Saint changed directions at the last possible moment to get behind Natsu, "WH-!" Natsu started to exclaim only for Jellal to kick Natsu and knock him to the floor once again before slamming his foot down on his back. The floor cracked from the force as Natsu groaned and tried to lift himself up but couldn't get any leverage while pinned to the crystal ground.
Jellal looked at his enemy as he stood tall over him, "I expected more from you Natsu Dragneel. This is a rather lackluster performance so far." he sneered out to the pink haired man.
"Fuck you Jellal and the white horse you think you rode up on." Natsu muttered to the ground as he did what he could to lift himself up under the man's pin. He struggled to get off his stomach before seething in anger and glaring at Jellal over his shoulder. "If you want a real fight, stop running away and fight me you pompous ass bitch." he yelled out. What colorful language for a young man to have…
"I can say with certainty that my interest in watching you fight has been dulled greatly now. And I am tired of toying with you." Jellal said as he held his hand out and aimed his palm at Natsu's head as a small light started gathering at the point, "Goodbye, Salamander." he said emotionlessly.
"Fire Dragon's Roar" Natsu roared and a massive pillar of fire enveloped him, forcing Jellal to jump back and away for safety. The pink haired slayer pushed himself up to his feet and yelled loud enough to shake the whole room, "THERE IS NO WAY I'M GOING OUT LIKE THAT! I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU GET YOUR WAY!" he told Jellal.
"Sorry. But that isn't your choice." Jellal stated to Natsu and a brilliant light along with a magic circle appeared over their head and Natsu looked up just in time to see it shine even brighter. An identical magic circle appeared directly under him. Jellal hovered over the light and seven more magic circles appeared over the light, aiming down at the Dragon Slayer before he whispered, "Grand Chariot" and he was enveloped by the overwhelming light and power of the attack. Erza's eyes were shut as the massive air pressure and smoke cloud washed over her before it started to calm down.
She felt the billowing wind finally come to an end and she slowly opened her eyes to look up at the result of the immense attack. The smoke finally cleared and revealed Natsu sprawled out in the middle of a crater, blood and burns covering his limbs as he laid face down unconscious. She felt her insides go cold and she whispered out, "Natsu..." she whispered out in shock. Natsu was powerful, but to be taken down so easily was unthinkable. She wanted to reach out to him but felt the seal over her limbs restrict her movements completely. She grit her teeth and forced her hand out before she heard shuffling boots and looked over to see Jellal landing off to the side.
He looked down at Natsu's defeated form and gave an impressed nod, "That attack had the power of a meteor directly falling down on its target. The fact that you aren't a bloody smudge on the floor is quite admirable. I suppose you were quite a formidable adversary while you were still alive, Natsu Dragneel. Unfortunately, it still wasn't enough to face me at this point." Jellal said as he went to finish the pink haired dragon spawn off.
However before he could a voice called out to him angrily "Jellal!" Erza yelled at him in outrage. The blue-haired man looked over to see Erza glaring at him furiously for hurting Natsu like that.
He gave a small smile and turned to her, "To be honest, I was expecting someone else to stand in my way before I finished my plan." he told her before he started making his way towards her while a smirk started forming on his face. "Oh well. We work with what we're offered." he said as if it wasn't that big of a deal as it really was.
"H-hey." Natsu's weak voice called out to him. Jellal stopped his trek towards his target and looked back when he heard Natsu's voice call out to him. They watched the injured dragon slayer struggle to lift himself up before tumbling over to one side and catching himself before falling. He coughed up some blood and panted before finally making it up to his knees. His eyes were half-lidded in pain and he clutched his ribs before glaring at the blue-haired psychopath, "W-where do you think you're going? I'm just getting started." he stated, although it didn't look like he was actually about to start anything except fall over.
Erza looked at her friend in fear before shaking her head, "No, Natsu, stay down! You can't fight him! He's too strong!" she yelled out to the rosette.
"W-what are you talking about, Erza?" Natsu asked as he gave a hoarse laugh through the pain and smirked before locking eyes with Jellal, "I'm just getting started." he reiterated.
Jellal shook his head and scoffed, "Do you live in your own little world?" he asked Natsu rhetorically.
"WRAH!" Natsu roared as he leapt forward and released a torrent of flames at Jellal as he quickly moved and vanished from sight. Natsu followed his scent and ran as fast as he could in his injured state to intercept him again. But each time he threw a punch or strike, Jellal simply sidestepped or avoided it by a large margin. Despite his injuries, Natsu kept throwing as many attacks as he could to ensnare his foe in fire but to no avail. His body was getting slower while Jellal was possibly getting faster with each movement.
The pink haired teen threw a wide kick out to catch the Wizard Saint's head but Jellal moved and appeared on the other side of the room. Natsu made a weak landing and nearly fell to his knees from exhaustion as Jellal held himself up with his magic still flaring powerfully. The dragon slayer gave a cough and Jellal merely smiled at his pained expression "It was good while it lasted, but you've reached the end of the line, Salamander." Jellal said to Natsu with a dark look on his face as he was ready to end it. Natsu felt sweat start to run down his chin and drip to the floor as his vision started to go black in the corners.
He heard Erza's voice call out to him in panic "Natsu, you're going to die if you don't stop! There's nothing else you can do like this! You can't beat him!" she yelled out to the teen.
Natsu's cloudy eyes focused and aimed at the floor beneath him before he repeated what she said "Can't beat him..." and he clenched his hands and let his fingers roam over the Lacrima floor for a moment before they became fists. He gave a relieved sigh. He brought his arms up, let them catch fire, before slamming them down on the floor with fury "WRAAAHHHHHH!" he roared as he brought his fist down.
*BOOOOOM*
A massive explosion rocked the room and Jellal's eyes widened as a web pattern spread out beneath where Natsu struck. The Lacrima around the whole room seemed to flash in a dozen different colors like a spectrum before disappearing and resulting in a rumble. Jellal looked around in alarm before narrowing his eyes at the Dragon Slayer. Natsu let out a ragged chortle before he grinned with his sharp teeth. He gave a cocky smile to the Wizard Saint and mocked his angry expression, "What's wrong man? Wasn't I reaching the end of the line? Cause let me tell ya, tired or not..." he lit his hands on fire again as he gained a fighting expression on his face.
"If there's one thing a Fairy Tail Mage is guaranteed to do..." Natsu said and he brought his fists down and created another pair of craters that destabilized the magic contained within its body, "It's wreck important shit!" Natsu said as the cracks spread more.
"STOP IT!" Jellal yelled out as he came flying over and kicked Natsu over the head, sending him sliding across the floor and into a tired heap on the ground. The pink-haired man gasped and attempted to push himself up to his feet before he felt a massive surge of air pressure swirl around them again. He looked up and saw Jellal standing across the floor from him while creating another ball of intense light.
He gathered his magic power "Enough! I will not let you put everything I've worked for in jeopardy out of retaliation, Dragon Slayer!" He declared furiously and then roared in anger, "I will end you-" however before he could finish that statement.
"Dark Burst" Simon's voice called out before a blast of dark magic came over the top level and impacted against Jellal's side as he made no effort to dodge or block. The blue-haired man focused on finishing his magic attack and just let the pain from the surprise attack fade away before he spared a look in the direction it came from.
He saw a bruised and tired Simon panting heavily with one hand outstretched. Simon looked around at the injured Natsu and incapacitated Erza looking over at him. The scarred man composed himself before yelling out at Jellal, "Jellal! Stop this! You've gone too far!" Simon declared tiredly.
Jellal looked back at Natsu and spoke up so he could be heard "Simon, I need to focus on taking out this man first. If you want to stand in my way, like I know you've been dying to for so long now, then you'll need to wait." he said carelessly to the man.
"Is this really what you wanted, Jellal?" Simon asked the blue haired Wizard Saint. He then motioned over the entire room "Terrorizing Erza?! Torturing our friends?! Now that you've got the Tower of Heaven to function, do you just think you can act like this without consequences?!" he roared out.
"I never once believed I could do this without consequence." Jellal answered lowly, "But I've already bared every sin imaginable to reach this point. What's one or two more?" he growled. He then sent a quick look towards his old friend, "Beside's Simon...you were the one who put your faith in the Fairy Tail Mages solely because they were Erza's friends. Whatever terror they may have faced or injury they may have suffered...that's because you chose to bring them here." he answered.
The dark magic user stood there silently and grit his teeth as he couldn't find a response to what he said. Jellal was right. He was the one who planned Erza's retrieval and left the Fairy Tail wizards aware of where they were going. He was the one who wasn't strong enough to handle this fight alone and needed support. All the fighting that had gone up to this point was on him. Simon seemed to shake the thoughts away before looking over at Natsu. He resolved himself and went sprinting over to the dragon slayer's side before helping him up "I won't let anyone else get hurt because of this fight! It's over!" Simon declared to Jellal.
"Well, you're right about that." Jellal answered before he finished charging his spell and aimed at the two men, "Forgive me, Simon. Grand-" he didn't get to finish as Erza yelled out to him.
"JELLAL NO!" Erza pleaded out.
"-Chariot" Jellal finished without a care in the world. As if her senses had been super jolted, Erza saw Jellal's attack activate and start to leave his hand. It was aimed directly at Simon as he helped Natsu get to his feet. Jellal said that attack had the force of a meteor, and if it hit Simon and Natsu as they were... Dread filled her stomach and panic gripped her brain. And that was just the thing she needed to realize what she had to do to escape.
Doing the best she could to turn her hand towards herself, Erza summoned a sword out of her Requip space and sent the remainder of her magic towards her palm. A blade appeared in her hand and pierced her flesh once it had materialized, stabbing the black seal on her leg that was binding her and negating the magic that had created it. Erza ignored the searing pain from the gash in her leg and pushed herself up to her feet before using the last of her strength to dash towards her friends. She gripped her nullifying sword and felt its power start to radiate as she tried to reach the devastating attack before it hit them. But she was coming too slow... She wasn't going to make it.
With as much strength as she could muster, Erza leapt across the floor and desperately reached out to block the light attack before it hit her weakened friends... And then...just before they were engulfed by the brilliant light... A shadow dove in front of them and screamed- "HAAAAAAAAAAAA!" and then the attack was blocked by a iron shield created from the lost magic of its user.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOM*
Jellal watched silently as something impacted against his magic attack and caused it to erupt. A powerful gust of wind spread out in every direction and caused his hair to billow over his eyes rapidly.
He narrowed them in quiet focus as the smoke started to part and he got a better look of the man that defended against his powerful attack. Erza covered her eyes after the attack exploded and opened them again to see what had happened. She saw a tall figure with blond hair standing just in front of her after blocking the attack with his Earth Dragon's Heavy Metal. She and the others looked at his back as it gave a quick heave and tried to regain his breath. Erza stared at him as he lowered the sword to his side and stood there in silence while facing Jellal. "You finally made it... Naruto..." Simon stated quietly.
The blond perked up and turned around once he heard Simon say his name. When he turned around, his eyes immediately met with Erza's own set of brown eyes which were filled with relief. The two just silently stared at each other silently without a word spoken. Erza's eyes had bags underneath them and her hair was a mess with dust and dirt. Most of the bandages wrapped around her chest were ripped and torn away with traces of blood and her pants torn almost to her knees. She had cuts and bruises all over her body with dry blood covering her skin. And there was a nasty gash she had inflicted on herself to escape the snake seal that was still letting out a fair amount of blood.
Naruto looked tired. His eyes were heavy and he was panting after all the fighting and panic that had been going on. His clothes were torn to shreds and the remains had blood stains on them. His high healing factor may have closed the worst of his injuries but his reserves and stamina had probably taken a pretty big dive after all the fighting he had done. The two friends just stared at each other in silence as words seemed to fail them. Naruto regained his breath and seemed to struggle with the right thing to say to her. He took a deep breath in... He was silenced when he saw a small tear start to form in the side of her eye.
Naruto went silent when he saw that and Erza merely wiped it away before he could say anything. A relieved but sad smile came over his face before looking down at her, "I'm sorry you had to come back here..." he told the redhead softly. The two shared a quick moment of understanding together before the whiskered blond looked back to see Simon and Natsu standing by in wait. "Are you two okay?" he asked the two of them.
Natsu made sure he could support himself, slipping from Simon's hold before giving a small nod and powering through the pain "Been better, but no real complaints." Natsu said to his fellow dragon slayer.
"How did you get here so quickly?" Simon asked him curiously.
That was what interested him the most. Naruto gave a chuckle, "I was making my way up the side of the Tower. I was about halfway up when the sky split open and Etherion came crashing down. When I saw the top of the Tower start to change and withstand the whole blast, I sorta just moved on reflex and dove inside. Lucky me, huh?" he said with an embarrassed chuckle.
Natsu grinned, "Lucky bastard." he said to his friend although he didn't mean it. His smile seemed to falter as he motioned his head towards the foe behind them, "We've still gotta deal with that guy though." he said to Naruto.
Jellal was indeed the bigger problem than a tower that was now functional as he knew how to make it work. Naruto looked over them "Can you move?" he asked the two of them.
Natsu seemed confused by his question as Simon gave a quick nod "Yes. I can still move and do whatever is necessary." he told the dragon prince.
"Good. Simon..." Naruto said as he then helped Erza stand and the grip on Erza's shoulder seemed to tighten before he addressed the large man, "I want you to take Natsu and Erza and get them out of here." he said to the man.
Erza's eyes widened in horror as Natsu verbally fought the idea, "ARE YOU AN IDIOT?! I AIN'T LEAVIN'! THIS WAS MY FIGHT BEFORE YOU GUYS CUT IN!" he yelled at the blonde dragon slayer.
Erza pulled back from Naruto's grip and looked up at him as he had a somber expression on his face. Her eyes focused dangerously and she firmly shook her head, "I'm not leaving here without you or anyone else." she told Naruto.
She would not allow for someone else to sacrifice their life just for her own. "I'm sorry." Naruto whispered to her. Then he moved and Erza's eyes widened as the feeling in her limbs vanished at the swift chop to her neck. She fell to her knees, hands still gripping his shirt desperately to stay awake as Naruto gently lifted her up. Why did he have to cheat like that at such a time like this, oh the little prick. Her heavy eyes looked at him and he whispered out, "But I can't protect you against him while fighting him. And I won't lose you to him again." he told her silently.
She pleaded with a weak voice, "N-Naruto… please. D-don't-" but he ignored it.
"Simon, you need to take her and get off the island." Naruto carefully handed the injured woman off to his friend who took her in a bridal carry to not exasperate her wounds.
Simon looked down at the redhead teetering on consciousness in his arms before looking at the blond "Naruto... even if I take Erza away...all Jellal needs now to complete the Tower is someone with the sufficient amount of power. That means he could use you too." Simon said.
Simon then spared Jellal a look as the Wizard Saint just seemed to stand away from them in silence. The Darkness Mage was confused by his lack of action before addressing the blond once more, "You can't let yourself get caught by him. If you have to-" he didn't finish as Naruto interrupted him.
"I know that." Naruto interrupted before giving him a firm look, "But I can't let Erza get stuck as a pawn for someone's sick game. So please... get her and Natsu out of here." he told the big man. Simon was conflicted as he looked between Naruto and Erza in silent contemplation. Could he really choose between his allies like this?
He spared a look towards Jellal as he merely stood there in wait before lowering his head. He turned around and started carrying Erza away to safety at the request of his old comrade, condemning him to a fight against his evil friend and silently begging for his forgiveness. Naruto watched them walk off before speaking lowly, "Natsu...you need to go too." he told his fellow pink haired dragon slayer.
"No way in hell." the injured teen spat back with a growl, "Don't think just because you pop in and say so that I'm just gonna walk away. This was my fight first." Natsu declared. Technically Natsu was right about that, but he knew Naruto was also trying to prove a point.
Naruto gave a smile, "Technically it's my fight as you ain't in no shape to kick his ass." Naruto told Natsu.
Natsu scoffed "That's tough shit." Natsu argued as he started stepping forward to pass the blond and continue the fight, "I ain't gonna let you take this fight all by yourself-" Natsu didn't get to finish as he was blocked from moving any further.
"Natsu..." Naruto immediately held out his hand to stop Natsu's stomp forward as the pink-haired man turned to look at him. Natsu's eyes eased a little once he saw the plight on Naruto's face as his old friend looked to him. "I need you to go with them...because you need to protect the others in case anything goes wrong. I'll give everything I've got but against him. To be honest I'm not sure it will be enough. You need to be there for everyone...because I might not make it back this time." he told Natsu. He needed to be the one to find their parents and then kick their asses for abandoning them if this indeed happened. He needed to be the one to find Lisanna and bring her home if there was no other way. He needed to be the one to lead Fairy Tail through the darkness when there was no light for them to see with. He was Natsu Dragneel the son of Igneel the Fire Dragon King, just like he was Naruto son of Bahamut King of the Dragon's.
"You don't get to fucking say that you prick." Natsu growled out to his fellow dragon slayer. Naruto looked up at the angered glare Natsu was locking in on him as the Dragon Slayer spoke, "You don't get to take my fight and then say you might die. That's not you. That's this place messin' with your head. You don't say that you're gonna take my fight and then die, it's not gonna happen you hear me. And you're stronger than him." Natsu pointed at the blond accusingly and almost growled out angrily, "You don't get to die in this place. You don't even get to let that thought cross your stupid head. We are making it back to the guild. You have to make it back to play with Happy and Kurama and finish the guild and get rent money for Lucy...plus Erza still needs to kick your ass for knocking her down like that. Natsu stood up straight and placed his fist against Naruto's chest before sternly stating, "You win this fight... and you come back to Fairy Tail. You help me find Igneel while I help you find Bahamut. No exceptions." he told Naruto as a small smile came back over Naruto's face, still without any real conviction behind it but with a ghost of admiration aimed towards Natsu.
He nodded, "Okay. I'll see you soon then." he told the pink haired man.
"Damn straight." Natsu lowered his fist and started to move towards the stairs before saying one last thing, "Naruto...kick his ass." he told the blonde haired man.
Naruto just nodded before Natsu made his way down the stairs to follow after Simon and Erza. The blond stood there silently, his hand balled into a fist at his side and his hand slowly uncurling from the fist he had unconsciously made. He waited another moment in silence before asking over his shoulder, "You're just going to let them go?" he asked Jellal.
"They won't get far. I'll make sure of that." Jellal said to him. There was...something unnerving hearing Jellal say something so dark like that so casually. He took in a deep breath before finally turning around to face the blue-haired man. The two Wizard Saint level wizard's stood across from each other, taking a moment to size the other up.
There was so much to say but they knew there was nothing else that could change the paths that had set them down this far. Naruto spared a look around the room made of shimmering Lacrima and blankly droned, "You definitely know how to decorate a place I'll have to give you that one." Naruto told the man.
"Had to make some serious changes in order to make this thing work in the first place." Jellal said before narrowing his eyes and looking around with disdain in his voice, "I don't know how those morons from the cult were ever hoping to make this work in their lifetime. They were probably going to push it on their descendants to finish after generations of slavery." he said.
"And you did it in eight years. All it took was forcing your friends to work tirelessly for all that time and lying to them." Naruto spat out sardonically, "How does it feel to finally finish?" he growled out to the, now definitely former, Wizard Saint.
"No reason to be so derisive." Jellal countered, "I know no matter what I did and for what reason, as long as it involved the Tower of Heaven then I was putting myself at odds with you, Erza, and everyone who knew the true threat of the R-System." Jellal stated to the blond.
"So what are you going to do about the Magic Council?" Naruto inquired while looking around at the Lacrima. "If they can't use Etherion on this place anymore then they'll probably send a small army to attack you instead." Naruto stated which was true as it took a lot of power to make Etherion work.
Jellal smirked, "Oh I'm sure that won't be a problem considering I've destroyed their headquarters and dismantled Etherion in the process." Jellal said. His enemy looked shocked by that bit of news as Jellal created a quick Thought Projection of Siegrain at his side that quickly waved and disappeared. Naruto's eyes widened in horror as Jellal continued, "Nothing left to chance." he told Naruto.
Naruto's grit his teeth and then got control over his anger by taking in a deep breath and sighing. He looked at Jellal silently, "Simon said that you only need someone with enough power to finish the Tower now, right? He said I'd be enough to finish...but you aren't going to use me, are you?" he asked Jellal.
Jellal only shook his head "When I think about the new world in my mind, I can't imagine you being the key to ushering it in. You're too stubborn. And I'm certain you'd somehow screw up the whole plan if I put you in it." Jellal said.
"And you really think Erza isn't stubborn enough to change something like that if she tried?" Naruto asked rhetorically. That was the understatement of the century that redhead was more stubborn than Bahamut when she didn't get her cheesecake.
"Oh no." Jellal let out a dry laugh and shook his head, "If there was one person I thought could be more stubborn than any of us if she wanted to be, it's Erza. But I believe if I could tell her how this new world could be beneficial...how good it would be to start over, then maybe she'll do this willingly." Jellal said before he spread his arm out towards the sea and what laid beyond it.
"I could rid the world of all the Dark Guilds that corrupt it. I could stop all the needless pain and suffering people are put through by others. I...could stop people from killing others. I could bring Erza and the others parents back to them. They don't need to suffer anymore." Jellal said to him. Naruto's shoulders slumped at hearing Jellal talk about the benefits of what he was doing. He said he wanted to fix the world. Bring back the ones they've lost. Protect the people out there that couldn't be reached in time when they needed it the most. It sound nice. It sounded peaceful... But he knew better than anyone that it was all a lie.
A world created with the help of Zeref, the Black Mage that's warped history and created so much death after all this time would be too risky. And if Jellal wanted to complete this plan...by letting Erza die... it was bullshit... He wouldn't let it happen. "So you want to finish what your friend the Salamander started. Very well." Jellal said as he turned to face Naruto.
"You won't win Jellal... I'll stop you if it's the last thing I do." Naruto declared as his pour begun to pout off of his body just as Jellal's did the same.
Naruto was releasing a powerful aura of white energy that caused the world around him to shake as visible cracks appeared in the air around his body.
Jellal's body was glowing a golden color as he prepared his magic for battle. This wasn't going to be a battle between two powerful wizards. Now, this was a war between godly men.
XxX Enter Alestorm: Drink XxX
Suddenly the two men disappeared and clashed where the wall behind Naruto suddenly exploded into thousands of pieces of large rocks. It was almost as if it were a battle of raw power, their aura's soared through the air with one being white and the other being golden in color. Separating the gold aura struck against the white one before backing off to repeat the process. The aura of white energy shoved the golden aura back and through yet another wall destroying it in the process. Separating the two aura's clashed in the middle creating powerful shockwaves before they begun to truly battle for dominance as the white aura begun to push the golden aura around the air. The two aura's clashed once again as they were driven to the right, only to stop in another clash as one of the aura's pushed back to the left, spiralling in the air as they battled for supremacy.
The two aura's of energy separated and flew forward as the golden aura rose up while the white aura stayed low only to rise up and intercept the golden one in a clash that destroyed the roof nearly. The golden aura was easily shoved back by the white one where said aura dove down and shoved the golden aura through the floor, easily toppling the final six stories from the top of the tower as they exploded through it with their power. The white aura seemed to latch onto the golden one and they soared to the ground and leveled out just before hitting it and crashed through a nearby cliff causing it to crumble away into dust.
The two aura's separated once more as the golden aura struck the white one and drove it back, but not for long. Cracks appeared in the air before blasts of air deflected powerful streams of golden energy where they bounced off the cracks and swerved around the white aura and crashed on the ground around it. Naruto and Jellal slid across the ground away from each other. It was hard to believe that not even five minutes ago that their clothes were practically untouched, but now they were almost in tatters from their brief conflict. Jellal growled as he looked at Naruto, "I don't get how you are able to last so long in battle considering your reserves of magic are as low as they are, but I won't stand for it." he growled out.
Naruto smirked, "If that's the case then go light some candles on a birthday cake light freak." he said uncaringly. With a crack of the neck he spread his arms widely before he crossed them across his chest, "But if that is what you wanna think, then let me show you just exactly how weak I really am. Unlike Natsu I won't need my final transformation to fight against you." he called out as he lashed his fists out where the air around him cracked and begun to spread. However that wasn't all as the water around the island begun to swirl around before rising into the air.
XxX End: Alestorm: Drink XxX
From a distance away Tenten Higurashi went wide eyed at the sight as she recorded this fight on a Memory Lacrima, this went beyond normal Wizardry abilities she had been studying for these past eight months. Inside their protective bubble the previous members of Jellal's group stared in wonder, "What, did he do?" Wally asked in confusion.
"Did he just crack the air?" Millianna asked in confusion.
"Oh fuck, this isn't good." Kurama said in worry. And his worries were indeed proven right when the level rose ever higher and higher from Naruto's power.
As they reached the halfway point of the tower, Ezra felt the ground began to shake and looked out the window where she felt her eyes widen in horror, "He wouldn't do that, not here of all places where he knows we can't escape." she called out.
Simon arched a brow, "Why, what is it?" he asked as he followed her gaze and felt his confusion grow, "What the hell is going on?" he asked.
"We're doomed, if we don't get off this island in time. We need to hurry." Ezra said urgently as she looked back to Simon who carried the unconscious Natsu.
In the bubble Gray cringed in shock, "What the hell is going on, did Naruto set of some type of bomb?" he asked in confusion.
"I don't know what Naruto-sama did, but the sea is responding to it." she said as she gulped. So this was the strength of the one people called the Most Powerful Man Alive, it was unthinkable.
What many did not know was that if Naruto was in a fight and he was located at a large expanse of water, he always held the upper hand due to his quake based power's. This was merely him flexing his muscles in an attempt to show off just exactly what he was capable of.
Kurama shook his head, "It's what is known as a Seaquake, Naruto uses them to cause the ocean's themselves to shake before his power." Kurama told them where they eyes widen in shock. Oh boy, this was bad. This was very very bad.
"Oh my god, look at how high it is, just what kind of monster is he?" Sho exclaimed as he pointed to the continuously rising water.
"Not only there, look at that spot too, it's just as high right there!" Happy cried out.
Juvia felt herself get turned on a bit by this display of power, "Juvia knew Naruto-sama was strong, but nothing like this." she admitted.
Kurama growled to himself in annoyance, "See, this is why I said that some of us should have stayed at the resort, but does anyone listen to me? No~o, they decide to ignore the fucking cat with some type of brains in his skull." Kurama yelled out.
Suddenly the water level begun to lower more and more before the water's calmed down, and slowly begun to recede. Juvia gained a confused look, "What happened, I thought Naruto-sama was about to end the world just a second ago?" she asked.
Kurama shook his head as the pit in his stomach began to grow by the second, "No this is just the beginning." he told her as he gulped in a bit of fear, "This right here, it is going to get worse. You'll see." he told the water woman.
Wally nodded, "If you know anything about geography, then you know that seaquakes are the prelude to something that is tens of times greater then the effect. If he can do that, then my god we are fucked." he said.
Millianna swat him on the arm, "Wally, language." she scolded him.
Wally shook his head, "No Milly, you don't understand!" he said loudly, "We need to get the hell out of here before we get caught up in whatever the hell he just did. We won't survive it if we don't leave now." he told her with a frightened look in his eyes.
Ezra felt the ground settle and looked out the side of the tower once more and saw Jellal and Naruto standing still without moving a muscle, "Why is it so quiet?" she asked.
Simon shrugged his shoulders, "I can't answer that one." he said honestly, "I don't even understand what's going on right now." he said.
Suddenly the tide began to rise which drew Wally and Kurama's attention, "Dammit, we were to late." the red cat cursed to himself.
Wally felt his shades fall off as he pointed behind them, "Uh guy's, what the HELL IS THAT!?" he cried out.
"T-the horizon." Sho said quietly.
XxX Enter: Whitebeard Power Ost XxX
Kurama spoke the answer "Here comes the final payoff." he said as his voice begun to shake, "That harmless seaquake he set off earlier was just the prelude to a massive tsunami!" he said loudly.
Millianna felt the ground tremble more and more as she and Juvia turned to watch as massive waves crashed against the cliffside. Where Tenten was sitting she looked around in confusion, "What's with the tremor's?" she asked nobody in particular.
The ground was shaking like something big was coming, something uncontrollable. Something that should be impossible to have happened through natural means. Kurama looked to his friend, "Do you know what people of the council call him, they call him the Quake Man. He is the one who wields the power of the Quake Dragon Bahamut!" he cried out remembering how Naruto created his seaquake as the people on the island and inside the bubble tried to stay balanced. The only one who was truly unaffected by this phenomena was the one who created it in the first place.
"Oh my god, it's a TSUNAMI!~" Juvia cried out.
"NOT ONLY THAT, BUT THERE ARE TWO OF THEM!" Happy called out in panic. He knew Naruto was strong, but to such an extent of this level was never seen.
Jellal grew wide eyed at the sight of the two tsunamis coming for the island as they neared their crest, "So this is your true power." he gawked. "How could anyone hope to control such power, it's impossible. This kind of power, it could destroy the world." he said in a brief moment of sanity.
XxX End Whitebeard Power OSt XxX
Inside of Gray's head, the Ice Wizard was forming multiple plans on how to stop the impending doom making its way towards them when he was struck with a idea. It would have to be times, but that was the thing about magic, anything was possible. He just hoped he could stop this without dying.
Who would win? Who will lose, the outcome in the next chapter.
Adventreader221: And we are going to have to stop it right there with the aptly timed CLIFFHANGER NO JUTSU. So, Phoenixlord42 what are your comments on this chapter.
Phoenixlord42: Oh I don't know, how about NARUTO IS INSANE!
Adventreader221: Well that was a given when he set off his Seaquake. Now I want to point something out from our earlier discussion so don't hate me for changing the subject right quick. If that is fine by you.
Phoenixlord42: Go ahead.
Adventreader221: Awesome. Now we have discussed with each other how this story isn't exactly written 100% between the two of us without telling our reader's right?
Phoenixlord42: Yes.
Adventreader221: Well to those saying that this story isn't any good if I am a part of it, I would just like to point out one tiny problem with that.
Phoenixlord42: Oh what is the tiny problem?
Adventreader221: THIS STORY IS BASICALLY A COPY OF MY STORY SON OF THE PRIMORDIAL DRAGON like seriously, of you have the page for this chapter opened up along with the same chapter for Son of the Primordial Dragon, they are damn near the same. The only difference is the parts we have changed up to make the story as it is now which is the battle between Naruto and Jellal as well as me and you adding Tenten and the future appearances of the Ninja's from Naruto's homeland. Kinda funny isn't it?
Phoenixlord42: Eh does not matter to me really. Truthfully they are helpful and really it is fun to do.
Adventreader221: I know, but when people insult the time and effort I put into something with other people, and then diss me-it pisses me off.
Phoenixlord42: I know, now we will see you later I have to calm him down now.
Adventreader221: I DON'T WANNA CALM DOWN, YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!
Phoenixlord42: *Slams a frying pan onto Adventeader221's head knocking him out.* TO THE RING WITH HIM! *Then Phoenixlord42 drags Adventreader221 to the boxing ring*
Round 1: Fight
Please like and Review, see you later-adventreader221